16
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
CITY RESPONSE:
Moving toward
recovery
Continued from page 1
center and other city facili-
ties and contingency plans
for whether and how the City
campground will operate.
The City has limited abil-
ity to act independently on
pandemic response.
<The City has limited
decision-making power, we
really do,= Ryan said. <We9re
following state and federal
guidelines.=
The City is awaiting action
from the State of Oregon and
Deschutes County to initiate
a three-phased program to
reopen economic and social
activity projected to start this
month 4 with restrictions.
The City9s current under-
standing is that, <the first
phase includes restaurants
and bars, most retail, child-
care, outdoor recreation, and
other personal services (hair/
nail salons, etc.).=
Criteria key off of Trump
administration guidelines that
say that reopening requires
downward trajectories of
cases during a 14-day period
or of positive tests as a per-
cent of total tests. They also
call for <surge capacity=
in healthcare systems and
<robust testing and contact
tracing.= Counties are sub-
mitting framework plans for
reopening; Deschutes County
was expected to complete
and submit its plan this week.
Some eastern coun-
ties have had very few or
no confirmed COVID-19,
while overall, the state has
seen 2,680 confirmed cases,
resulting in 109 deaths. As of
Monday, Deschutes County
has had 79 confirmed cases,
but no COVID-19 deaths.
Deschutes County has
seen neither a substantial
spike nor a marked, steady
decline in cases, which
makes it unclear how criteria
will be applied here. Misely
acknowledged that there is
uncertainty in the commu-
nity because we don9t know
when we9ll be in Phase 1 or
how long we9ll be in Phase
1. Misley and Ryan told The
Nugget that the City is com-
mitted to providing clear
information and guidance as
it becomes available.
Clarity and consistency
of communication and pol-
icy are significant goals for
council and staff.
<It9s a very fluid and also
nuanced situation,= Misley
said.
Ryan and Misley noted
that one of the things the
Council will have to deter-
mine is what message the
City is sending out into the
broader world regarding
Sisters9 posture. Currently,
the City is officially discour-
aging visitors.
Misley said that it9s hard
to envision actively encour-
aging an influx of visitors
any time this summer (and
most of Sisters9 major events
have canceled in part to avoid
doing so) but the City will
need to decide, <Do we need
to extend the discouragement
and what does it mean to be
8neutral9?=
Misely and Ryan recog-
nized that consistent guide-
lines and message are impor-
tant to businesses that are
trying to figure out what the
next steps are going forward
into summer.
Councilors and staff
spent several hours last week
reaching out to business own-
ers to see what their outlook
is. While the business com-
munity is clearly taking a
serious beating due to restric-
tions on activity, Ryan said
he was impressed by what he
heard.
<They9re not giving up,=
Ryan said. <They9re rein-
venting themselves in many
ways. I9m just amazed at the
resolve of these businesses.=
The City is also looking
at ways it might support the
community, including pro-
viding access to safety and
personal protective equip-
ment. Public Works Project
Coordinator Troy Rayburn
has been working on sourcing
hand-washing stations and
sanitizer, and other PPE, but
Sisters is one of thousands of
municipalities competing for
scarce resources.
<It9s pretty dry out there,=
Misley said. <It9s rough sled-
ding. There are hundreds of
small towns across Oregon
struggling to deal with this.=
Misley said that the City
is also open to looking at
ways it can support busi-
nesses in meeting state and
county requirements for
social distancing in restau-
rant settings and conform-
ing to other guidelines. It9s
also important that the busi-
nesses in Sisters are all on the
same page in meeting cus-
tomer and employee safety
requirements.
<How can we make sure
the businesses are being
as consistent as possible?=
Misley said.
While many Sisters events
have canceled on their own
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initiative, Misely said that
the City has never flatly said
that they will not issue an
event permit. Event permits
going forward will be sub-
ject to ongoing state-level
restrictions on gathering size.
City code requires that event
permit applications include a
public-safety plan. That plan
has to be signed off on by
the Deschutes County Health
Department.
<Within that plan, it needs
to address COVID-19,=
Misley said.
It9s not clear yet how that
will play out in practical
terms.
<We haven9t crossed that
bridge yet,= Misley said.
<We9re trying to build a chan-
nel to the county.=
As the Sisters commu-
nity seeks to emerge from
lockdown and move into a
social and economic envi-
ronment radically changed
by COVID-19, the City of
Sisters is striving to find a
way to balance public health
and safety and economic and
social well-being 4 with
constraints on their range of
action and limited tools in the
policy tool kit.
<It9s a perfect storm,=
Misley said. <It really is.=
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