sisters man treks cross-
country on bike page 7
Young Outlaw lives a
football dream page 15
The Nugget
Vol. XXXIX No. 30
A time to give
back page 23
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Grinding it out...
skydive
landing
zone
requires
permit
Skydivers in Sisters have
been landing on a field on the
west side of Camp Polk Road
across from Sisters Eagle
Airport this summer — an
activity that requires a land-
use permit that the City does
not have in hand.
City
Community
Development Director
Patrick Davenport sent a let-
ter to the owner of the North
Sisters Business Park (NSBP)
Mayor to
step down
from post
photo by Jerry baldock
local cyclists tested themselves in a climbing event on three Creek road last Sunday.
See PErmIt on page 22
Correspondent
The City of Sisters
Community Development
Department (CDD) at City
Hall has been a beehive of
activity this summer. CDD
Director Patrick Davenport
and planning technician
Carol Jenkins are carrying
the load without the aid of a
senior planner.
Earlier this summer, plan-
ner Darcy Reed was married
and moved to California to
accept a job closer to fam-
ily. The City has posted the
vacant position in all the
usual places, but the current
surge in building makes it a
planner’s market.
“Yes, we are busy. The
market for planners is very
tight. As the economy grows,
cities and counties hire up
more staff and we are com-
peting with the private sector
as well. A few years ago, we
had the opposite. It’s a cycle
Inside...
Mayor Chris Frye and his
family are moving outside the
city limits, and he will there-
fore resign from his post next
month.
In a note to city council-
ors, Frye wrote: “Peggy and
I just purchased a house in
Crossroads and will be mov-
ing at the end of the month.
This obviously means I will
no longer be able to serve on
council. My last meeting will
be the last meeting in August.
It will be bittersweet.”
Sisters’ city charter
requires that all city coun-
cilors reside within the city
See mayOr on page 16
City planning staff
short-handed
By Sue Stafford
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
based on the economy,” said
interim City Manager Rick
Allen.
Davenport added, “It’s
tough to compete with the
bigger local governments in
the region that can pay more
than Sisters can.”
Temporary help has come
in the form of a summer
intern, who Davenport said
is helping with some daily
tasks.
Both Davenport and Allen
are asking for the public’s
patience as CDD staff per-
form their tasks with fewer
employees.
“As for workload, we are
getting things done and meet-
ing our statutory timelines;
however, some issues like
code violations and other
long-range planning projects
must take a back seat,” said
Allen.
Those statutory time-
lines relate to permits and
See StaFF on page 30
Enjoying the new Overlook trail
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
It didn’t take long for
word to get out about the new
accessible trail south of town
on the Three Creek Road. Just
a few weeks after the formal
dedication of the Whychus
Overlook, the new feature
was already seeing new users
for whom the project was
intended.
John Schubert, a former
Forest Service employee, was
one of those involved in the
planning and construction of
the project; and he mentioned
the new trail to his neighbor,
Nancy Stevens, who is blind.
“I was so intrigued with
(John Schubert’s) stories
of what goes into planning
and developing a trail that I
wanted him to share the story
with others,” Stevens said.
“I thought this would be
really cool to bring some of
us from the accessibility com-
munity to enjoy something
we didn’t have to go out and
fight for. So, I had this idea
to get some folks from the
photo by John Schubert
Volunteers and members of the Central Oregon accessibility Committee
enjoy an outing at the new Whychus Overlook.
Central Oregon accessibil-
ity group together; and I sent
out an email and asked who
wanted to do this.”
As it turned out, she had
several replies; and it was
also a perfect opportunity for
the group to use the brand-
new accessible bus purchased
through a grant from Oregon
Adaptive Sports.
“So, for one of its first out-
ings we had 11 people on the
bus, three in wheelchairs, four
of us who are blind, and four
volunteers.”
Schubert, of course, was
among those volunteers; and
he served as a nature inter-
preter and guide for the group.
“It was very gratifying
to see the visitors enjoy and
appreciate all the work that
went into the trail,” he said.
“They seemed eager to bring
others to the trail.”
“It was wonderful to enjoy
a trail that is accessible,” said
See NEW traIl on page 25
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Announcements ................12 sisters salutes .................15 Crossword ....................... 26 Classifieds .................. 27-29
Meetings ........................... 3 Movies & Entertainment ....13 sisters saver ................... 24 Obituaries ....................... 26 real Estate .................29-32