16
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
City Council acts on
affordable housing
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
An ordinance to create and
preserve affordable housing
in Sisters passed unanimously
at the Sisters City Council
April 10 meeting. The afford-
able housing program has been
under consideration for the
past six months.
In a separate resolution,
the Council granted to Sis-
ters Habitat for Humanity to
cover parks and transportation
system development charges
(SDC) that were originally
waived on nine properties in
the Desert Rose Loop project.
The ordinance allows the City
to dispense funds to cover fees
originally waived. This is basi-
cally a housekeeping item with
which the SDC funds will not
be reduced by waivers granting
non-payment.
From here on Habitat will
need to apply for affordable
housing grants for items such
as this. If the properties don9t
remain affordable for 25 years,
the grant would have to be
repaid to the City by Habitat.
Resolution 2019-05 adopted
the 2019/20 Council goals
which provide clear direction
to staff, commissions, boards,
Council and the community for
actions taken and projects under-
taken in support of the goals.
Council voted to award a
public improvement contract
to Robinson & Owen in the
amount of $521,607.87 for
work identified as Schedule A
in the Lazy Z Ranch wastewa-
ter reuse expansion. All bids
came in higher than expected,
so for now only the trunk line
to the site will be completed.
Value engineering for the rest
of the project will be com-
pleted to get the overall cost
closer to original estimates.
Tri-County Paving was
awarded a contract in the
amount of $76,345.80 for the
2019 street overlay project,
which is lower than a previous
project. Engineers had esti-
mated the cost at $90,000.
A professional services
agreement was approved to
contract with Olson LLC for
backflow testing. All water
accounts will see about a one
dollar increase in the annual
charge and $1.50 for commer-
cial accounts. The public can
use their own tester if they will
provide proof of the test results
to the City.
City snapshot
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
" The
Planning
Commission and the Housing
Policy Advisory Board will
hold a joint meeting on
Thursday, April 18, to review
the Housing Needs Analysis
with the consultant who pre-
pared it.
" At the April 24 City
Council meeting there will
be a public hearing on the
McKenzie Meadow Village
land-use packages. Public
testimony will be taken.
Written comments may be
submitted for the record prior
to the meeting.
" City staff is working with
NXT Consulting to create a
16-page brochure explaining
the Sisters Horizons Vision to
be used as a tool for promot-
ing Sisters by the Chamber of
Commerce, EDCO, Sisters
School District, and any num-
ber of businesses. It should
be completed and coming
off the press by late May
or early June. The Vision
Implementation Team will be
appointed at the start of the
2019/20 fiscal year.
" Sisters Habitat for
Humanity will be celebrat-
ing the grand opening of their
new thrift store on Cascade
Avenue in the former Sisters
Drug and Gift building on
Saturday, April 27 at 9 a.m.
The current thrift store build-
ing will be sold, with the
proceeds going toward pay-
ing off the new building. A
small army of volunteers has
been working every day for
six weeks to prepare the new
store.
" C o m m u n i t y
Development Director
Patrick Davenport reported
that since the new short-
term rental (STR) regula-
tions took effect, the City
has denied 16 STR applica-
tions due to the 250-foot buf-
fer required between rental
units. Davenport said there
are currently about 90 STRs
in town. June 30 is the cutoff
date to obtain an STR opera-
tor9s license for those who
had an STR prior to the new
regulations.
" The Deschutes County
Commissioners will come to
Sisters on April 25 at 5:30
p.m. to present their plans
for non-prime resource lands.
Those lands include exclu-
sive farm use (EFU) and for-
estlands that are not being
used for their intended pur-
poses. The commissioners are
considering reserving those
lands for future development.
There will be discussion
about how the County9s plan
affects the Sisters Horizons
Vision Plan. The meeting
will be in Council chambers
at City Hall.
" There is one open-
ing on the Urban Forestry
Board for a one-year term
for someone representing the
Development community.
Contact Paul Bertagna for
information 541-323-5212.
Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben
General, Cosmetic, Implant
and Family Dentistry
~ Your Dentist in Sisters Since 1993 ~
We are here to help you smile with confi dence!
541-549-0109
|
304 W. Adams Ave.
|
Sisters