Outlaws ride in equestrian
competition page 9
Women set to build
Habitat home page 16
The Nugget
Vol. XXXVIII No. 13
Club benefits from
anonymous donor page 25
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday,April 1, 2015
Champs!
Sisters
roundabout
project
moving
closer
FS plans
restoration
project on
Indian Ford
Creek
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
The design for a round-
about at the west end of Sisters
passed a pair of live-fire tests
by the trucking industry with
flying colors. That moves the
long-contemplated project
a significant step closer to
reality.
The Oregon Department
photo provided
the outlaws won the Chandler Prep Baseball Classic in Chandler, Arizona, for the third year in a row over
spring break. the squad went undefeated in its roll to victory. (see story, page 4.)
See rouNdABout on page 30
News Editor
Nineteen Sisters property
owners will have to wait to
hear whether they have been
approved for grant funding to
assist with exterior improve-
ments to their commercial
properties in downtown
Sisters.
The Sisters City Council
on Thursday, with Mayor
Chris Frye absent, tabled the
grant applications that were
before them after council-
ors David Asson and Nancy
Connolly raised concerns
about whether the grants
were in the public interest and
whether other uses for urban-
renewal funds might be more
appropriate.
The Council had previ-
ously allocated $100,000 for
the grants, and the City of
Sisters had called for applica-
tions in February. Funds for
the grants come from tax dol-
lars paid by property owners
Inside...
The Forest Service is plan-
ning a significant restoration
project along Indian Ford
Creek, restoring wet meadows
and aspen stands and improv-
ing fish passage and riparian
habitat.
The project would cover
about 1,432 acres, with 454
seeing active management.
A draft environmental anal-
ysis (EA) for the “Indian Ford
See restorAtIoN on page 34
Council tables urban
renewal project grants
By Jim Cornelius
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
of the Urban Renewal District,
which basically encompasses
the downtown commercial
district of Sisters. The grants
are matching reimbursement
funds for up to 50 percent
of the cost of façade and site
improvements (up to $10,000)
and up to 50 percent for sig-
nage with a $1,000 cap. There
is also a $500 reimbursement
grant for design costs.
Property owners were
required to submit three bids
for a proposed project as part
of the application.
Twenty-one properties
applied; two were found
ineligible, one because it was
outside the Urban Renewal
District and one because the
bids were not completed.
“I have serious concerns
that it is not in the public
interest,” Councilor Asson
told The Nugget. “I think
some of the projects are more
building upgrades instead of
See grANts on page 14
City working on Creekside park fixes
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
The City of Sisters is
moving closer to fixes for
Creekside Park that will make
it more functional for travel-
ers in their RVs and less of a
burden for neighbors who feel
increasingly impacted by the
presence of the park.
City staff presented a
phased proposal to the City’s
parks board on Wednesday
afternoon.
The proposed actions
would eliminate four sites
close to Locust Street, which
are a problem for neighbors;
eliminate one site along the
Tyee Drive border of the park;
replace those sites by convert-
ing five sites in the center of
the park to full-hookup sites;
move the dump station to
the east; and improve and
increase screening berms.
Plans also call for creating
a parking area for “walk-in”
camping at the eastern end of
the park and developing some
dry-camping non-RV sites.
Plans call for widening
photo by Jim Cornelius
the Locust street entrance is a point of concern for residents.
an apron inside the park near
the Locust Street entrance to
eliminate “staging” out on the
street and eventually closing
the Locust Street entrance
entirely. Closing the Locust
Street entrance would please
neighbors, but, as planned
that is a “Phase III” develop-
ment, dependent on opening
an ingress/egress on Highway
20 near the weigh station.
Sisters Public Works
Director Paul Bertagna
explained that the land in
that area is up for a land
swap between the Oregon
Department of Recreation
and the Oregon Department
of Transportation (ODOT).
ODOT wants the land for
eventual highway widening.
Bertagna encouraged the City
to let its needs be known so
See CreeksIde on page 28
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Announcements ............... 10 Real Estate Report .......17-24 Crossword ....................... 32 Real Estate ......34-35, 39-40
Meetings ........................... 3 Movies & Entertainment ....11 Paw Prints ........................31 Student of the Month ....... 33 Classifieds ..................36-38