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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2018)
Wednesday, September 19, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 City snapshot — new manager expected to be hired this week By Sue Stafford Correspondent • The selection process for a new city manager pro- gressed quickly, with the field of applicants narrowed to seven candidates and then three finalists. In an execu- tive session on Tuesday, September 18, the Sisters City Council was to make their final selection. The new city manager will be announced at the September 26 Council meeting. • For the period of time until the new city manager is in place, Public Works Director Paul Bertagna is acting as city manager pro- tem. Although former City Manager Brant Kucera said the staff is capable of run- ning the City until a new city manager is chosen, the City Charter says there must be a pro-tem appointed if there is no interim manager brought in. Bertagna can act with authority and is authorized to enter into contracts up to $25,000. He may not appoint or remove City personnel. Bertagna is the City employee with the most seniority and volunteered to assume the pro-tem position. • The City received six applications for the three open positions on the City Parks Advisory Board. Kris Rerat was reappointed for another three-year term. Rerat and her husband own Swiss Mountain Log Homes and have lived in Sisters for 29 years. Previously she served on the Planning Commission and the Sisters Community Action Team. Two new mem- bers will be joining her. Matt Flautt has lived in Sisters for 16 years and works as the ecological coordinator at Black Butte Ranch. His other volunteer activities include working with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bend Parks and Recreation Department. Molly Bauman, who lives outside the city, has worked in outdoor recreation for 10 years, managing multiple recreation sites and trails in Montana. • The City Council has approved an economic devel- opment services agreement with Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) for one year. The contract can be renewed for two more one- year periods before it must be renegotiated. Caprielle Foote- Lewis is the current EDCO representative in Sisters. Mayor Chuck Ryan directed Foote-Lewis to ensure the local EDCO committee meets on a regular basis with all members in attendance. She will update City Council on October 10 regarding EDCO activity. • City Council has directed the Public Works Department to install new coin receptacles in the Village Green showers that will accept both quarters and tokens. The tokens will be provided by the Family Access Network office to members of the community who do not have permanent housing. • Council approved a let- ter of support to the Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality concerning rule changes to Oregon’s Smoke Management Plan. The support is contin- gent upon the inclusion of the provision providing com- munities a clear, simple, and attainable process to obtain an exemption from the one-hour smoke threshold when they Th e seasons are changing. Start your day with something on the hearty side... 14-hour beer-braised corned beef, caramelized onions, house potatoes and two beautifully poached eggs! have implemented a smoke communication and mitiga- tion plan to advise citizens regarding prescribed fires and what they can do to protect themselves from the smoke. The exemption would allow for necessary prescribed burns on the Sisters Ranger District to reduce danger from wildfires, particularly in the wildland/urban interface that surrounds Sisters. Basically, the exemption allows for more prescribed fire flex- ibility. According to Bill Anthony of the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project board, they are looking for an attainable system for pre- scribed fires that can be used across Central Oregon. • Public Works Director Paul Bertagna announced that the landscape bids for the excavation and rock place- ment in the Highway 20/ Barclay Drive roundabout will be opened Wednesday, September 19. Most of the bids were received from heavy construction contrac- tors. Work will be undertaken this fall. • Bertagna also said seal- coating will be occurring at the City Hall parking lot, East Cascade Avenue, the City recycle center, and the Clemens Park parking lot. The project is covered by a $10,500 contract. • The five-year contract between the City and High Country Disposal for running the Sisters Recycling Center is up for renewal. Beginning in 2013, the decision was made to have the recycle cen- ter open 24/7 with no atten- dant. The result has been increased illegal dumping. In negotiating a new contract with HCD, decisions need to be made regarding hours and days of operation and whether or not the center will have an attendant. Costs of operating the recycle center have been increasing, and the City wants to find ways to reduce or eliminate the increasing costs. • The fire department will be conducting a Burn to Learn exercise on two houses located on East Jefferson Avenue and South Spruce Street. The houses were originally part of the Brooks- Scanlon logging camp in Sisters in the 1930s. At a later date they were moved to their current locations, like many other buildings in Sisters. The Three Sisters Historical Society salvaged a window, several doors, a variety of hardware, and two sections of picket fence from the prop- erties to be used in historic vignettes. • Patrick Davenport, com- munity development director, announced that feedback on the business survey sent out with business license renew- als indicates 70 percent of respondents favored or were neutral on a plastic bag ban in Sisters. Students at Sisters High School previously made a presentation to the Council, asking them to consider ban- ning plastic bags, which led to the question on the business survey. The Council will more thoroughly study the possibil- ity of a ban. • The City has received a grant from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development that will pro- vide a consultant to perform a needs assessment of housing and land supplies. No funds will be required from the City. The work will begin the end of November and be com- pleted by the end of the City’s fiscal year, June 30, 2019. The consultant will work with staff and the Housing Priorities Advisory Board. • At their October 18 meet- ing, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on time, place, and manner con- ditions for marijuana busi- nesses should the citizens vote in November to approve such businesses in Sisters. SAS EVENT SEPT 29–OCT 13 SAVE $15 ON ANY PAIR OF SAS SHOES 2680 NE Hwy. 20, Ste. 380, Bend 541-385-7405 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. NOW OPEN 7 days a week, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. 403 E. Hood Ave. | 541.549.2699 Serving Breakfast & lunch In the Costco Forum Center, across from Barnes & Noble Offers good through October 13, 2018. $15 off the regular price of any pair of SAS shoes.
