Wednesday, June 17, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
solution that works for everyone.
Chris Lalli
LETTERS
Continued from page 2
Sisters population on the Ranch’s paths that
somehow that will benefit the Ranch?
We feel we are already connected to the
Sisters community in many ways without com-
promising the unique environment that we have
so cherished all these years.
Dianne Walta Hart
Thomas J. Hart
s
s
s
To the Editor
As a Black Butte Ranch homeowner and
frequent visitor to the area, I have followed the
debate about a paved bike trail between Black
Butte Ranch and Sisters for years.
The June 3 story how Oregon Solutions
“dropped out of the process” given “the inabil-
ity to bring key parties to the table” is beyond
belief that even a “mediator” can’t bring peo-
ple together to find a reasonable solution that
appears people support in concept but “don’t
want in my backyard.”
Step back and consider this: The town of
Sisters, population 2,200, has bike trails run-
ning through the town, two bike shops, pro-
motes biking as part of the attraction of Sisters.
Black Butte Ranch has 1,200 homes, 18 miles
of paved bike trails, a bike shop, and biking is
promoted as an attraction.
Yet, there is a visceral reaction to linking
the two communities with a “paved” trail, that
will run past other homes, “harm” the forest,
invite trespassing and invade privacy. How
were bike trails and paths ever approved and
constructed in Sisters and Black Butte Ranch?
In Lake Tahoe, California, there is a paved
bike trail from Squaw Valley to Homewood,
13 miles. Sun Valley created paved bike trails
that connect the towns of Bellevue, Hailey
and Ketchum, or 15 miles of paved trails run-
ning by streams, golf courses, houses, through
meadows and forest.
If other communities have done this by
working together, why can’t this community?
Instead of driving, wasting gas, polluting the
atmosphere, you could walk or ride a bike to
shop, eat, or just be out for exercise. I appreci-
ate the trail would be “carved” through the for-
est and be close to people’s homes, but is that
any different now with cars running past your
home or business on the existing road, or peo-
ple taking a walk on the paved street or path?
Surely there has to be a way for people to find a
s
s
s
To the Editor:
No roundabout on a major highway!
The people of Sisters need to wake up now
and object to this obscene waste of taxpayers’
money by ODOT and Peter Murphy over the
roundabout project scheduled for Highway 20
and Barclay Road intersection.
Are people really aware this project will
cost $3.4 million? A stop light intersection cost
$100,000-$300,000 (est.) at most, and doesn’t
interrupt the town in the process. This could be
paid for with the $300,000 Sisters will contrib-
ute to the process.
The roundabout will cost 10 to 15 times
more than a stoplight system. That extra $3
million saved would go a long way to improv-
ing Highway 20 from Sisters to Suttle Lake,
which is in dire need of repair, as are most state
highways.
A roundabout intersection: Slows traffic
down, stifling traffic flow. Costs 10 to 15 times
more to install the system. Will cause backups
similar to Quilt Show weekend that will hap-
pen most days in summer. Take up excessive
real estate. Hamper semi-truck traffic around
this obstruction. Block out our natural views of
entering Sisters with an artificial manufactured
view, cluttered up with some scrapyard piece of
junk called “art.”
I haven’t met anyone around Sisters that is
in favor of this roundabout. Everybody was
happy with the stop light installed last fall. Who
is pushing this project? ODOT, Peter Murphy,
or the Sisters City Council? The public needs to
know the answer.
People, hold Peter Murphy accountable with
your taxpayer dollars. It’s waste like this proj-
ect that keeps ODOT and other public agen-
cies always demanding more and more money.
They first need to spend what they have wisely!
Finally, Peter Murphy: stop lights do not
cause rear-end accidents — inattentive drivers
do! Oh, if you want to slow traffic down com-
ing into town as you so stated: A much cheaper
way is to put in rumble strips; cost is only a few
dollars compared to a grotesque roundabout at
$3.4-million-plus.
If stop lights are so bad, why are there a mil-
lion or more intersections across the country
equipped with them? Maybe ODOT needs to
do some soul-searching and rethink their data.
C. Childrey
Camp Sherman/Sisters
DROP-IN PUBLIC
YOGA CLASSES
Year-round
7 DAYS A WEEK!
FIREWOOD
SALES
SistersForestProducts.com
photo by Gary Miller
PRCA honored Sisters Rodeo for 75 years of excellence.
• The volunteers of the
Sisters Rodeo Association
deserve a big tip of the hat
for their efforts in stag-
ing the 75th Sisters Rodeo.
Creating and sustaining an
event of that caliber and
scope with an all-volun-
teer crew is a remarkable
achievement.
Barrelman J.J. Harrison
said it best: “What a great
place to have a rodeo!”
• Sisters High School
graduate Riley Gilmore has
been nominated for teacher
of the year in the Clark
County School District in
Las Vegas — the fourth
largest school district in the
nation.
Gilmore went through
Sisters schools for his entire
K-12 education and gradu-
ated in 2008 as valedicto-
rian. He was also crowned
Mr. SHS. He graduated in
2012 from Biola University
summa cum laude in phys-
ics. He also minored in
Bible and mathematics.
He was accepted into
Teach for America, the
national corps of top college
graduates who commit to
teach for two years in urban
and rural public schools and
become lifelong leaders in
the effort to expand edu-
cational opportunity. The
program is highly selective,
with the acceptance rate
below 15 percent.
Riley has been teach-
ing high school physics at
Mojave High School since
2012.
R i l e y ’s f a t h e r, E d
Gilmore, noted, “Lynn and
I feel very fortunate to be
a part of a community and
school district with caring
teachers that still ask how
my children are doing after
they have moved on. Since
our teachers in Sisters invest
so much into the life of our
students I think they long to
hear how that effort has paid
off. We are so proud.”
• Outlaw baseball stand-
out Jonathan Luz repre-
sented Sisters High School
in the Oregon 4A All-Star
Baseball tournament in
Roseburg last weekend.
Kick Yer Heels Up!
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FivePine Station • 750 Buckaroo Trail, Suite 104 • Sisters • 541-549-0531
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