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Wednesday, January 27, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
KyRGyzSTAN:
Volunteers are sought
for another adventure
GOALS: Staff is
ready to take on
additional work load
Continued from page 3
Continued from page 1
and resume the relationship
with this wonderful and very
appreciative family.
This will be the third
trip to Barskoon for Jack
and MaryAnne, who have
found helping families in this
breathtaking country to be
such a rewarding and fulfill-
ing experience.
Sisters Habitat for
Humanity is seeking adven-
turous volunteers to join the
McDonnells. No building
experience is required, only
a desire to help a family in
need of a decent home while
learning about each other’s
cultures in the process.
Sisters Habitat contrib-
utes 10 percent of the net
proceeds from the Thrift
Store and ReStore to Habitat
International for building
homes overseas. Last year
Sisters Habitat contributed
$10,000 to Kyrgyzstan. Since
its inception, Sisters Habitat
has contributed funds to build
97 homes abroad.
For more information on
the upcoming build, contact
Sharlene Weed at Sisters
Habitat for Humanity at 541-
549-1193, sharlene@sisters
habitat.org, or info@sisters
habitat.org; or MaryAnne
and Jack at 541-549-6337 or
jmjaaneho@msn.com.
Nancy Connelly; and coun-
cilors David Asson; Amy
Burgstahler; and Andrea
Blum.
Also there represent-
ing the City staff were: City
Manager Andrew Gorayeb;
Public Works Director
Paul Bertagna; Community
Development Director
Patrick Davenport; outgo-
ing Finance Director Lynne
Fujita-Conrads; incom-
ing Finance Director Joe
O’Neill; and City Recorder
Kathy Nelson. Three citizens
came to watch City govern-
ment in action.
Some of the goals are for
work already undertaken,
such as finalizing outstand-
ing urban-renewal grants and
establishing a forgivable loan
program to help attract new
traded-sector businesses to
Sisters.
Prior to the meeting, each
councilor had submitted his/
her own list of priorities,
which were then consoli-
dated by the City Recorder to
act as a template for discus-
sion of goals by the Council.
The proposed goals were
organized under six cat-
egories: economic develop-
ment; community develop-
ment; city finances; improve
connectivity; improve
community outreach; and
City Manager/Administrator.
The far-ranging discus-
sion considered a multitude
of city issues, activities, and
responsibilities, clearly high-
lighting the complexity of
maintaining and improving
the operations of a smoothly
running City.
Several times council-
ors raised the question as
to the impact of increased
workloads on a staff that
is currently smaller than in
the past and being asked
to take on more and more
responsibilities.
“Have you heard anyone
complaining?” Gorayeb que-
ried, assuring Council that
staff can handle the work.
One new hire being con-
sidered is a building official
who would take over the
duties now being performed
on a contract basis by staff
from the Deschutes County
Building Department. There
is also preliminary interest in
looking at the viability of hir-
ing a part-time grant-writer/
public-relations person.
Deliberation on the goals
lasted for three hours until
several Council members
needed to leave for other
commitments. At a future
workshop, Council will
complete discussing a few
remaining items and then
will determine their final
2016 goals and prioritize
them according to impor-
tance and timeliness.
One goal suggested by
a majority of the Council,
with agreement to pursue it,
was review of the need for
an increase in the system
development charges (SDCs)
currently charged develop-
ers and builders when they
apply for permits. SDCs are
levied to help cover the cost
of increased sewer and water
infrastructure to handle the
impact on the City’s systems
by the new construction.
SDCs ensure that current res-
idents are not required to pay
for expansion and improve-
ments necessitated by new
building projects.
There are also parks
SDC fees to cover expenses
for increased demand on
the City’s parks system.
Currently, Sisters SDCs
are considerably lower
than those of neighboring
communities.
Another concept proposed
for investigation is the pos-
sibility of a “Makers Lab
Initiative.” The City could
look into what an industrial
arts/creative arts/startup
incubator facility might
offer Sisters in terms of local
entrepreneurship and eco-
nomic opportunity.
There was much dis-
cussion about the ongo-
ing concern for improv-
ing Council outreach to
the community, to provide
adequate transparency and
communication. Several
vehicles are already planned
to keep the community bet-
ter informed, including a
quarterly newsletter from the
Community Development
Department about new proj-
ects being proposed in the
city as well as any code
updates.
Public Works Director
Paul Bertagna plans a quar-
terly news release to run
in The Nugget to help keep
the community informed
on upcoming projects, road
maintenance/construction,
potential traffic delays, pub-
lic events, and water/sewer
system work planned.
Council will continue
to post important notifica-
tions and information in the
monthly City utility bills.
They will also explore, in a
future workshop, improving
the clarity of the agenda item
summaries.
Affordable-housing
needs in Sisters, and pos-
sible enhancements by the
city to attract developers to
build such projects, are still
at the top of the Council pri-
orities. They will also con-
tinue to work with EDCO to
attract family-wage jobs to
encourage families to move
to Sisters.
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