16
Wednesday, June 17, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LAW: Contract takes
effect in Sisters
this summer
Continued from page 1
and levels of law enforce-
ment. The survey showed a
willingness to pay more for
increased and enhanced law-
enforcement service, with
52.5 percent of respondents
<very willing= or <somewhat
willing,= while 23.9 percent
were neutral, and 23.5 per-
cent were <somewhat unwill-
ing= or <very unwilling.=
The data gathered indi-
cated that the one biggest
perceived threat to public
safety in Sisters as perceived
by the respondents is traffic,
with a 50.2 percent response,
followed by property crimes
at 22.5 percent and drugs at
12.8 percent.
Data did not show a sig-
nificant increase in crime,
especially serious crime, and
Sisters remains a safe place
by any measure 4 but Misley
notes that people9s perception
is that public safety in Sisters
has <slipped.=
<The perception of pub-
lic safety is very important,=
Misley said. <Our conclu-
sion is that we did need more
police, and the question
becomes how much more.=
The City of Sisters con-
tract with the Deschutes
County Sheriff9s Office was
due for renewal, which made
it an opportune time to revisit
Sisters9 law enforcement ser-
vices. While there was some
sentiment in the community
that Sisters should reconsti-
tute its own police force, the
financial, logistical and lia-
bility requirements to do so
were daunting.
<I can say with confidence
that having a police force&
is a very large general fund
expense for cities that have
one,= Misley said. <We
would have to essentially
double what we9re contribut-
ing to law enforcement if we
had our own police force.=
In actual dollar terms,
that would be approximately
$1.5 million rather than the
$725,000 called for in the
new, enhanced contract. And
that is not counting start-up
costs such as vehicle and
equipment purchases.
The Sisters City Council
signed the contract with the
sheriff9s office at its March
11 meeting. The contract
calls for Sisters to have a
dedicated force of one lieu-
tenant and three deputies.
The Sisters contingent
will have distinct markings
on its patrol cars.
More than simply having
more deputies on the streets,
the new program allows
for considerably more local
control. The deputies will
be <Sisters= deputies, work-
ing in the local community.
Consistency of staffing was
a critical component of the
agreement 4 as close an
approximation to having its
own police force as Sisters
can realistically afford to
come.
<They (citizens) want to
know who (is) in those uni-
forms,= Misley said. <They
want to know that they are
working every day in our
community& that they have
relationships in this commu-
nity&. People are going to
see a difference and they9ll be
getting to know deputies and
getting to know a lieutenant
that they9ll have a relation-
ship with. They9re going
to have a really good lay of
the land, and that9s really
valuable.=
Another critical ele-
ment, according to Misley,
is a community public safety
plan, which will allow Sisters
to determine its priorities for
law enforcement.
<We9ve never had that in
the past,= Misley said. <We
will be creating that over the
first year of the contract.=
The Sisters contingent
remains under the command
of Sheriff Shane Nelson,
so local control is not abso-
lute, and the City and the
sheriff9s office will have to
work together to determine
priorities and how resources
should be used.
<I don9t want to overstate
these changes,= Misley said.
<I think they9re substantial&
but I don9t want to overstate
that whatever we ask for
we9re going to get.=
Misely feels that the new
contract hits a sweet spot, the
bottom line of which is that
<this contract creates more
law enforcement presence in
Sisters, Oregon.=
HOUSING: Project
has seen many
modifications
Continued from page 1
meeting to allow Hall to
respond to potential condi-
tions of approval proposed
by Council members during
the May 27 meeting.
In the original 2007 devel-
opment agreement between
the City and ClearPine, the
developer agreed to construct
eight affordable-housing
units as part of the develop-
ment and they were to be
constructed by May 2020.
Early in the process, Hall told
the City he doesn9t normally
build affordable housing so
they would be completed
by another builder, or per-
haps Habitat for Humanity or
NeighborImpact.
As market-rate hous-
ing construction continued
in ClearPine, and another
builder had not been identi-
fied, Hall agreed to sell six
lots to Habitat for Humanity
at a reduced price to build
affordable housing. The other
two units, being built by Hall
as rental units, consist of a
two-bedroom, two-bathroom
single-family home for four,
with a one-bedroom acces-
sory dwelling unit (ADU) on
the same property. They will
both have deed restrictions to
maintain them as affordable-
rental units for 20 years.
The original deadline
for all the affordable units
to be built was May 2020.
Due to delays in acquiring
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then the onset of COVID-19,
the May 2020 deadline has
come and gone.
The coronavirus shut-
down of the Habitat for
Humanity Thrift Store and
ReStore has negatively
impacted their income stream
that is a key revenue source
of Habitat9s affordable-home
construction program.
In the meantime, 3 Sisters
Partners has constructed the
single-family home/ADU to
meet the original requirement
(modified) of a two-unit
duplex and will record a deed
restriction in order to be sure
those two units will remain
affordable for the required
20-year period.
Council wanted to have
conditions of approval that
are straightforward and easily
enforced, given the history
of modifications requested
in the past. One condition
requires that building per-
mits for the six affordable-
housing units being built
by Habitat must be secured
prior to Hall being able to
move forward with Phase 4
of the subdivision. During
negotiations, Hall agreed to
cover the cost of the trans-
portation and parks system
development charges (SDCs)
for four of the Habitat units
(approximately $3,400 each).
He told councilors he would
be encouraging Habitat to
secure their building permits
by December 1, so he can
begin work on Phase 4.
With the conveyance of
the six lots to Habitat for con-
struction of affordable units,
3 Sisters fulfilled its obli-
gation to provide and con-
struct a six-unit rental com-
plex as specified in the 2007
Development Agreement and
subsequent land-use approv-
als. The City approved a
modification that allowed for
the units to be built as three
two-unit affordable-housing
buildings for Habitat owners.
The construction of the
deed-restricted single-family
and ADU rental units fulfills
the developer9s obligation to
provide and construct a two-
unit duplex as specified in the
2007 agreement. Filing deed
restrictions ensure such units
will remain affordable for the
required 20-year period.
By placing two afford-
able-rental units on the mar-
ket in 2020, and Habitat
offering six affordable-hous-
ing units for sale to its client
base in 2021 and beyond, the
City decided 3 Sisters has
fulfilled all obligations to
construct and provide afford-
able-housing units within the
City of Sisters as specified
in the 2007 Development
Agreement and all subse-
quent land-use approvals.
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