6
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Parks board makes Creekside recommendations
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Sisters’ Parks Advisory
Board (PAB) has become an
active and important body in
their advisory capacity to the
City Council on park-related
issues. That was evident at
their May 6 meeting.
The board became more
active with the controversy
over plans for the Creekside
Overnight Campground
back in January 2014. Since
then they have reviewed
data gathered during last
summer’s camping season
and made site visits to the
campground and talked to
the camp host. They have
listened to public testimony
from the neighbors around
the park multiple times, and
worked with neighborhood
representatives to be sure
their concerns were heard
and considered.
At their May meet-
ing, the PAB voted unani-
mously to pass on to Sisters
City Council their recom-
mendations for six differ-
ent capital improvements
with a projected price tag of
$460,000, to be completed in
phases.
Project 1, Phase 1,
which is already under-
way, involves improved
signage and stripping on
Locust Street to hopefully
eliminate RVs missing the
entrance to the campground.
The entrance/exit would be
widened, with the creation
of a staging area inside the
campground for campers to
park when they first arrive,
rather than creating conges-
tion on the sides of Locust
and Tyee, and close to the
restroom.
Project 2, Phase 1, would
involve converting four
existing campsites to ADA-
compliant sites by paving the
spaces and installing ADA-
compliant picnic tables and
fire pits. A cost of $7,000 per
site is estimated. Site #62
has definitely been identified
for conversion because of its
location near the path close
to the restrooms.
Project 3, Phase 1, with a
price tag of $93,000 — a def-
inite priority of the neighbors
— involves the construc-
tion of sizeable landscaped
earthen berms on both the
Locust and Tyee sides of the
campground to help screen
visual and auditory activ-
ity in the campground from
the neighborhoods. The
berms will be constructed
with the least amount of
impact possible to exist-
ing trees. The City doesn’t
have the heavy equipment
necessary for the job so it
will be put out to bid. The
berms will be tall and wide
with a 3:1 and 4:1 slope,
making them a projected
eight feet high and 50 feet
wide.
Project 4, Phase 2, would
replace the existing rest-
rooms with ADA-compliant
split men’s and women’s
restrooms with four stalls,
and four showers and sinks
on each side, doubling the
current capacity. Use of
the showers is currently
included in the camp fee
but a suggestion was made
that perhaps they could
be pay showers to help
defray expenses. Estimated
cost of the new facility is
$265,000, for which the City
would likely make a grant
application.
Project 5 would relocate
the dump station from near
the front of the park to north
of the access road with a
turnaround providing easy
ingress and egress. Estimated
cost: $35,000.
Project 6 involves access,
circulation and traffic analy-
sis. The traffic study, if done
now rather than waiting for
the city-wide Transportation
Safety Plan (TSP) update
would look at the Locust/
Highway 20 intersection in
terms of traffic counts and
trip volumes during the sum-
mer when the campground
is fully operational. The
data collected could later be
folded into the overall City
TSP update. The data would
be used to help determine
the feasibility and impact
of several different sce-
narios for the campground
traffic, including total clo-
sure of the Locust Street
entrance/exit and having all
“When I hear music I fear no danger, I am
invulnerable, I see no foe. I am related to
the earliest times, and to the latest.”
— Thoreau
Dr. ponnie Malone, DC
access shifted to Buckaroo
Drive.
Phase 2 would also
include the relocation of five
full-hookup sites away from
Locust and Tyee. One other
modification would involve
moving the camp host to a
larger site that would allow
for two camp hosts with two
RVs in order to provide for
everyday coverage on the
same lot while providing
appropriate time off for both
hosts.
Phase 3 has no cost esti-
mate and is much further
down the road. It would
involve having the camp-
ground entrance and exit on
Highway 20 near the cur-
rent truck weigh station if
the State relocates the weigh
station. That option would
be considered as part of the
overall TSP.
Steve Bryan, a resident on
Tyee, gave a presentation to
the PAB regarding entrance/
exit options for the camp-
ground, looking at informa-
tion provided the City by
Kittleson traffic engineers
as well as Google photos
of the Locust/Highway 20
and Buckaroo/Highway 20
intersections.
The option Bryan rec-
ommended, which could be
implemented immediately,
would be to have camp
visitors enter the camp-
ground from Buckaroo and
exit onto Locust, with a right
turn only out to Highway 20.
The traffic issues in Buck
Run and Coyote Springs
could be ameliorated; traf-
fic for both FivePine and 4th
Sister condominiums would
be improved with RV traf-
fic only entering and not
exiting the campground on
Buckaroo; and the traffic
flow and safety for camp-
ground visitors would be
improved.
It is up to City Council
to make decisions regard-
ing traffic flow on city
surface streets, not requir-
ing the involvement of
the Oregon Department
of Transportation. A traf-
fic study is not required
but would add weight to
Council’s decision. Without
a traffic study, the changes
could be implemented at any
time.
Tate Metcalf, owner
of Sisters Athletic Club,
located in the FivePine cam-
pus, encouraged the PAB to
continue the professionalism
they have exhibited thus far
regarding the campground.
He urged them to recom-
mend to Council that they
hire professionals to do a
traffic study before making
any changes.
Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben
General, Cosmetic, Implant
and Family Dentistry
~ Celebrating 20 years Serving Sisters ~
541-549-0109
|
304 W. Adams Ave.
|
Sisters
Sisters Chiropractic Clinic • 16190 Hwy. 126, Sisters • 541-549-7141
Serving Sisters for 33 Years
CONCEAL CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
HAIR
Nails
Natural & Artif icial
484 W. Washington Ave., Ste. B
541-549-6566
“ Best Breakfast
I’ve had in
a long time.
Super-amazing
service, and a
very good price.”
� � � � �
Trip Advisor Review
4-25-15
Breakfast & lunch
6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Full-service dining in the bar
nightly until 10 p.m. (21 & over)
171 W. Cascade Ave., Sisters | 541-549-2631
OREGON - UTAH
VALID 35 STATES
Friday, May 15
1 p.m. & 6 p.m.
Best Western Ponderosa Lodge:
500 Hwy. 20 W., Sisters
OR/UT (valid in WA) $80
or OR-only $45
360-921-2071 | Call or Text
FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com
www.FirearmTrainingNW.com