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Wednesday, June 22, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
County site in running
for geothermal lab
City snapshots
BEND (AP) — The U.S.
Department of Energy is con-
sidering a site in Oregon’s
Deschutes County for a
national geothermal research
lab.
The land near Newberry
Volcano is leased by Seattle-
based geothermal firm
AltaRock Energy Inc., which
performs testing there. It’s
one of several locations under
consideration for the pro-
posed Frontier Observatory
for Research in Geothermal
Energy.
“We feel pretty confident,”
AltaRock Spokesman David
Stowe told The Bulletin. But
he acknowledged that “the
competition is pretty stiff,”
with sites in Idaho, Nevada,
California and Utah still in
the running.
Supporters of the
Newberry site say the facil-
ity would bring temporary
construction jobs, aca-
demic opportunities and an
economic boost for local
communities.
The DOE lab would serve
as a research site for scien-
tists and engineers to develop
and test new technologies
• Tickets are now on sale
for the 19th annual Quilts in
the Garden home and garden
tour, presented by the Sisters
Garden Club on Thursday,
July 7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The
$15 tickets are available at
the Chamber of Commerce
office and The Gallimaufry,
and provide admittance to
five local gardens and several
homes. Visit www.sistersgar
denclub.com for information.
• Three Sisters City
Council positions will
be open for election in
November. To qualify for
the ballot, perfected petitions
must be submitted by August
30, 2016. Election materi-
als are available at City Hall.
Candidates must live within
the city limits of Sisters.
• Citizens4Community
will be sponsoring a pub-
lic presentation by Sharon
Ellison on her model of
Powerful Non-Defensive
Communication on Tuesday,
July 12. She will discuss
the value of inclusive, col-
laborative communication,
for harnessing geothermal
energy. Researchers believe
that tapping into up to 2 per-
cent of the geothermal energy
potential in the West could
power the nation many times
over.
Geot herm al t ech n o l -
ogy wouldn’t contribute to
greenhouse gas emissions
and could operate consis-
tently, unlike intermittent
solar and wind-powered
resources.
Three potential lab sites
will advance to the next round
and split about $30 million in
Energy Department funding
for planning and permitting
before the DOE chooses a
final site.
The department plans
to spend at least five years
implementing the lab. Stowe
said researchers hope to
perfect enhanced geother-
mal techniques and make
them more efficient by that
time.
AltaRock has already con-
ducted enhanced geothermal
testing at the Newberry site
and partners say they have
the only site on the side of an
active volcano.
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
where there are no winners
or losers. Check out her web-
site for more information on
her work, www.pndc.com.
See next week’s Nugget for
details.
• The Community
Development Department
has started using new and
improved signs to advertise
public hearings. The brand
new sign used at the Village
at Cold Springs was vandal-
ized, kicked in or smashed by
a rock. The notice got atten-
tion but not the desired kind.
This is a frustration for the
CDD when they are trying
to find new and better ways
to keep the public informed
about upcoming hearings.
• There will be a special
Planning Commission meet-
ing on Wednesday, June 29,
at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, to
continue the public hearing
regarding Hayden Homes’
request for a modification
to their 2005 Master Plan
for Village at Cold Springs.
They are asking to divide
their 43-acre parcel of land
into two separate develop-
ments, to allow for a new
Master Plan application for
the remaining 18.37 acres of
undeveloped land (see story,
page 1).
• Sisters High School stu-
dent Alena Norris is creat-
ing an interactive black-and-
white poster of the civility
tenets for the Sisters Country
Civility Project, as well as
mini-decals that can be placed
on cell phones, tablets, or any
other surface as a reminder
to “speak your peace.” The
poster will be one that people
can color themselves.
• In a presentation to the
City Council, Jim Long,
Bend’s director of afford-
able housing, explained what
Bend is doing to encour-
age builders to build afford-
able housing. One interest-
ing point he made was that
federal housing programs
are directed toward cities of
over 50,000 residents. That
makes Bend eligible for them
but none of the other smaller
Central Oregon cities, includ-
ing Sisters. They are also
heavily weighted toward the
age of housing, which makes
the older urban eastern U.S.
cities more likely to receive
funding.
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