SPRD offers watercolor
pet portraits class page 8
Sisters merchants feel
winter’s chill page 9
Contractor builds to
last in Sisters page 19
The Nugget
Vol. XXXX No. 3
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Winter hits
homes and
businesses
hard
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
A snow-covered village at sunrise...
By Steve Kadel
After the
big snow,
worries
about
flooding
Correspondent
Schools aren’t alone in
suffering harsh conditions this
winter.
Homes and businesses
throughout Sisters Country
have experienced broken
water pipes as tempera-
tures plunged, according to
Roxanne Grier, office man-
ager for Sweeney Plumbing.
“That’s all we’ve been
doing for the past week,” she
said — thawing and repairing
frozen pipes. “Exterior walls
are usually the most vulner-
able. We’ll see another round
of this when the part-time
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
PHOTO BY PETE RATHBUN
Sisters has lived under a blanket of heavy snow for several weeks now. The snow has put a chill on some
businesses and stress on roofs and temperaments in Sisters Country, but all of us take a moment now
and then to take in the chilly beauty winter creates.
See WINTER on page 15
See FLOODING on page 24
Hearing set on
Sisters airport listing
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
The Oregon Department
of Aviation will hold a pub-
lic hearing regarding Sisters
Eagle Airport’s request to
be added to the State of
Oregon’s listing of signifi-
cant airports on Wednesday,
February 8, at 6 p.m. in the
Sisters High School Lecture
Room. Sisters High School
is located at 1700 McKinney
Butte Rd.
ODA will add an air-
port to the State’s Aviation
Plan, Appendix M, Privately
Owned Public-Use Airports
if it meets the criteria
described in the statute ORS
836.610(1b):
1. Provides important
links in air traffic in the state;
Inside...
With warmer temperatures
and rain forecast for mid-
week, the latest concern here
in Sisters is for the water level
and speed of Whychus Creek,
which comes out of the Three
Sisters and runs right through
town, past many houses along
its banks.
The City of Sisters Public
Works Department is prepared
for potential problems that
could arise. Any citizens con-
cerned about possible flooding
2. Provides essential safety
or emergency services; or
3. Are of economic impor-
tance to the county where the
airport is located.
The airport apparently
qualified for such listing
years ago, but the original
owners did not complete the
process for listing.
The potential listing was
an issue of interest to many in
the community in large part
due to questions as to whether
the boundary of Sisters Eagle
Airport could be expanded
as part of the listing process.
That question has already
been put to rest.
Last month, the ODA,
acting on an opinion from
the Oregon Department of
See AIRPORT on page 26
Chuck Ryan named Sisters Mayor
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Chuck Ryan has been
selected by his fellow coun-
cilors to serve as mayor of the
City of Sisters.
By charter, voters don’t
vote directly for their mayor;
he or she is elected by coun-
cilors to preside over meet-
ings and to act as the direct
liaison between the Council
and city manager and to rep-
resent the City in ceremonial
duties.
Three citizens were
installed as members of the
new Council at the first City
Council meeting of 2017.
Andrea Blum and Ryan will
each serve four-year terms
and Richard Esterman two
years, based on the number
of votes each received in the
November election. Ryan
will serve as mayor for the
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
Andrea Blum, Richard Esterman, and Chuck Ryan were sworn in as city
councilors last week.
next two years and Nancy
Connolly will continue as
Council President.
Council has decided to
change the day and time of
their meeting to the second
and fourth Wednesdays of
the month starting in March.
Workshops will take place at
5:30 p.m. and Council meet-
ings at 6:30 p.m. A resolution
formalizing the changes will
be presented in February.
Councilors have accepted
their appointments as rep-
resentatives of Sisters on a
variety of Central Oregon
intergovernmental com-
mittees. Ryan will serve
on the Central Oregon
See MAYOR on page 24
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Fit for Sisters ................... 10 Announcements ................12 At Your Service............. 16-17 Classifieds .................. 27-29
Meetings ........................... 3 Sisters Salutes .................11 Movies & Entertainment ....13 Crossword ....................... 26 Real Estate .................29-32