Sisters artists featured
in exhibit page 9
Swim records fall at
district meet page 23
Fifth-grader wins middle
school Geobee page 26
The Nugget
mol. XXXX No. 7
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
City passes new snow removal rules
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Grappling with the most
significant issue facing
Sisters in the past couple
of months, the Sisters City
Council approved Ordinance
473 concerning snow and ice
removal within the city of
Sisters.
Issues addressed by the
ordinance include: prohib-
iting parking along desig-
nated snow routes and during
emergency snow-removal
operations and providing a
penalty for cars not removed.
Snow removal by City
crews has been seriously
hampered this winter by
vehicles abandoned or
parked on city streets, mak-
ing it difficult to impossible
for plows to sufficiently clear
and widen snow-covered
streets.
Up to this point in time,
the Public Works Department
has operated according to a
Local residents ponder
how to build their ark
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
People in Sisters are
interested in being prepared
should Whychus Creek reach
flood stage and overflow its
banks. That was evidenced
by the turnout for a flood
preparedness forum held last
Friday night.
The forum featured maps,
computers open to sites with
information and data, bro-
chures, and pamphlets from
the Federal Emergency
Management Agency
(FEMA), the Oregon Office
of Emergency Management,
the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, the City
of Sisters, and the Deschutes
County Sheriff ’s Office
of Emergency Services.
Inside...
the community.
Vehicles stopped, stalled
and/or parked on city streets
See ORDINANCE on page 18
See ART AWARDS on page 31
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Personnel from various agen-
cies were on hand.
Carol Kimball, a resident
of Sisters for 26 years, who
lives just beyond the flood
plain, found the event very
informative.
“The flood plain map was
very helpful. And I was glad
to hear about the coordina-
tion with the County. I wasn’t
aware of that,” she said.
There is currently a pleth-
ora of emergency information
available on the City of Sisters
website and at the Sisters-
Camp Sherman RFPD web-
site (www.sistersfire.com),
as well as websites for all the
other agencies represented.
The message of the eve-
ning, reiterated by every
See FLOODING on page 20
designed to keep transporta-
tion routes operational and as
safe as possible during snow/
ice storms in order to mini-
mize the economic impact on
Sisters art
students
honored
From a felt sandwich to a
deer sculpture, gallerygoers
enjoyed seeing student art-
work displayed at the 2017
Central Oregon Scholastic
Art Awards Ceremony. Sisters
middle and high school stu-
dents were well-represented,
with more than two-dozen stu-
dents awarded for their inspir-
ing artwork.
Last Saturday, February 11,
middle and high school art stu-
dents and their families gath-
ered to view the art gallery
and receive their award certif-
icates. The annual Scholastic
Art & Writing Awards is the
nation’s longest-running rec-
ognition program for artistic
teens grades 7-12.
“I love how the awards
validates students’ personal
vision, and how the ceremony
The City of Sisters has removed 7,000 cubic yards of snow. New rules are in place to make that easier.
plowing and sanding plan
that outlines plow routes
and priorities as well as
staff assignments. These
policies and procedures were
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Hearing covers airport issues
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The intended scope of
last week’s public hearing
by the Oregon Department
of Aviation (ODA) was
very narrow: Does Sisters
Eagle Airport meet one of
three criteria to be listed as
a matter of State concern in
Appendix M?
However, the majority
of concerns for community
members (for and against)
were actually outside the
scope of the hearing — and
wide-ranging.
Sisters Eagle Airport,
owned by Benny and Julie
Benson, filed an application
with ODA to have the airport
added to Appendix M — the
list of airports that are iden-
tified as a matter of State
concern (see sidebar, page
25). At this time, it is the
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Airport owner Benny Benson addressed a packed house at an Oregon
Department of Aviation hearing.
only privately owned public-
use airport in Oregon not
included on the list.
No one knows why
it is not on the list. Was
it an oversight? Did the
previous owners not want to
be included?
In response to an increase
in engine noise and the
See AIRPORT on page 25
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Announcements ................12 Bunkhouse Chronicle ........15 Sisters Naturalist ..............21 Classifieds .................. 27-29
Meetings ........................... 3 Movies & Entertainment ....13 Obituaries ....................... 16 Crossword ....................... 26 Real Estate .................29-32