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.