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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2020)
4 Wednesday, May 20, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon City of Sisters Sisters recycling COVID-19 Situation Report center reopens The May 13 City Council meeting discussion ranged from the County reopening plan and State framework to all City operations and facili- ties that have been impacted by COVID-19. An overview of those discussions and decisions can be found in another section of this edition of The Nugget, as well as the packet materials and audio of the meeting on the City9s website. The Council made two key decisions: First, a res- olution was adopted to extend the City9s Emergency Declaration through May 31; second, the Council decided to let the Administrative Order discouraging tourism travel and visitor overnight stays expire May 13. These decisions were made after consistent monitoring and careful consideration of the County and State actions leading towards reopening of the economy. The County submitted a plan to the State earlier this month to move into Phase I reopening and was approved by the State on May 13. Earlier in May, the State extended their emergency declaration to July 6. There was some confusion as to whether this meant the <stay home, save lives= direc- tive was also extended until then 4 the answer is no. The emergency declaration gives the Governor the ability to adopt administrative orders implementing temporary policies that supersede exist- ing policies adopted by the State legislature. Think of the emergency declaration as a tool box and the <stay home, save lives= order was a tool used from that tool box. Furthermore, the emergency declaration allows access to Federal relief funds. The City extended its Emergency Declaration for those same reasons. We are still in a wait-and- see approach regarding the progression of COVID-19 as the economy opens up. For the previous month the City had discouraged tourism travel and visitor overnight stays in lock step with the County. Now that we are in Phase I, we are no longer dis- couraging that activity but at the same time are not encour- aging that activity in line with the County and State. The City, through a contract with the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, contributes hun- dreds of thousands of dollars each year to support market- ing and promotion of Sisters as a destination. Right now, none of those funds are being spent to attract visitors from afar, for safety sake. The City understands that we receive many visi- tors throughout the summer tourism season. As we all know, almost every pub- lic event has been canceled for the foreseeable future. Even though we won9t have a traditional event season we still will have a tour- ism season. No one knows how many people will come and exactly from where. At this point and likely for all three phases of re-opening (each phase requires mini- mum 21-days before mov- ing to the next assuming there isn9t a spike in cases), the City and Chamber will not be advertising for those outside of Central Oregon to come to Sisters. This is a shared approach by the coun- ties, cities, and chambers/ visitor centers across Central Oregon. The enforcement of activ- ity and precautionary mea- sures (such as social distanc- ing and gatherings) will be a team approach. Many public entities, in particular County Environmental Health, OSHA, and the City, will be triaging on a situation by situation basis. Most impor- tantly, the emphasis from all public partners is voluntary compliance through infor- mation and education. If that doesn9t work in a specific case, a warning and referral to an enforcement authority will be made 4 ultimately a citation may be issued in severe cases and/or refusal to cooperate. Within the City of Sisters, you can call the City if you have questions or concerns. We are all truly in this together. What we don9t want to have happen is we take one step forward and then have to take two steps back. These first few weeks in Phase I, including Memorial Day weekend and better weather, are critical in set- ting the right example for the coming months. The City is focused on supporting our commu- nity economically while at the same time maximizing safety during these chal- lenging times. The recipe for keeping COVID-19 at bay is relatively simple 4 yet easier said than done. Social distancing, regular sanitation of surfaces and hands, avoid- ing touching your face, and wearing of face coverings, if all done consistently, will make a tremendous differ- ence in keeping infections down. If not, we could revert to seeing cases rise and the potential for the reopening halted or reversed. We need to continue to focus on supporting local businesses. Every dollar spent locally will have a compounding effect on the recovery and resilience of our businesses and fellow com- munity members. We are still living in uncertain times and will continue to monitor the situation as we move through Phase I. We encourage you to do your part in keeping Sisters safe and prosperous. Learn more at www.ci.sisters.or.us NTED LADY PAI Antiques Say Aaahhh... We’re OPEN & practicing again on a limited basis! 541-904-0066 141 E. Cascade, Ste. 104 Quality Truck-mounted CARPET CLEANING Quality Cleaning 16 years in Reasonable Prices Sisters! Please call for an appointment as we will be prescreening patients prior to treatment. ENVIROTECH 541-771-5048 Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben — Credit Cards Accepted — Licensed • Bonded • Insured • CCB#181062 RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL ~ Serving Sisters Since 1993 ~ 541-549-0109 | 304 W. Adams Ave. | Sisters The Sisters Recycle Center reopened on Monday, May 18 with new restrictions. The City closed the cen- ter on March 26, out of an abundance of caution sur- rounding the transmission of the coronavirus. The following restric- tions will go into effect with the opening of the center: " Social distancing of six feet between people should be maintained while drop- ping off your recyclables. " Every other parking space will be closed, which will allow a maximum of four cars at a time within the facility. City staff will monitor operations to determine if designated operating hours need to be put in place for user and staff safety. If the City staff cannot safely clean the center while it is open, they will reduce hours of operations to allow staff to clean when the center is closed. Republic Services, formally High Country Disposal, has rescheduled the City of Sisters free resi- dential cleanup event to the week of June 1. Residents are asked to put their yard debris, miscellaneous house- hold waste, and appliances out on their regular collec- tion day either Tuesday, June 2 or Wednesday, June 3. Collection is only for residents within the City of Sisters. More details at may be found at ww.highcountrydisposal. com. Deschutes County Spring FireFree days are happening until May 24. Details can be found at https://www.firefree.org/ firefreeevents/. For updates and changes to City operations, visit w w w. c i . s i s t e r s . o r . u s / coronavirus. Made in Sisters, Oregon We skillfully fabricate your ideas (and ours) in steel, aluminum, copper & other metals. We do repair work, too. “Your Local Welding Shop” CCB# 87640 PHOTO BY ALEX JORDAN By Mayor Chuck Ryan and City Manager Cory Misley 541-549-9280 | 207 W. Sisters Park Dr. | PonderosaForge.com