The Nugget
Vol. XLIII No. 32
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
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Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
Sunday afternoon’s intense thunderstorm left in its wake a glorious sunset over the Cascades captured by Sisters photographer Jay Mather.
Plan will shape future growth
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Sisters is growing and
changing rapidly. Those who
want to shape what growth
and change look like over
the next decades will have
a significant opportunity as
the City of Sisters updates
its comprehensive plan.
The City has contracted
for up to $95,000 with
Angelo Planning Group, Inc.
out of Portland for techni-
cal assistance with the state-
mandated comprehensive
plan update. Work begins in
earnest this fall.
<It9s the guiding legal
document for the City in
terms of growth and devel-
opment,= said City Planner
Nicole Mardell.
As required by the State
of Oregon9s robust land-use-
planning laws, the compre-
hensive plan covers trans-
portation, water/wastewater
infrastructure, an economic
opportunity analysis; a natu-
ral resources inventory and
a buildable lands inventory.
Development can only occur
within an Urban Growth
Boundary.
The principles outlined
in a comprehensive plan are
enacted through the City9s
Development Code.
The last full revision of
the comprehensive plan took
place in 2005.
<It9s been 15 years since
we fully updated it,= said
City Manager Cory Misley.
And in those 15 years, the
city has almost tripled in
size.=
While they are required
to have certain content in the
plan 4 including technical
See PLAN on page 16
Moving new roundabout Board
toward reality
meeting
focuses on
school start
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The City of Sisters, the
Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT),
and the Sisters School
District (SSD) are working
together to make the pro-
posed Highway 20/Locust
roundabout a reality.
The eventual construc-
tion of the roundabout
will require a right-of-
way acquisition from the
Sisters School District for
land at the grade school
that is the current site of
two tennis courts. The City
of Sisters is already work-
ing in conjunction with
the Oregon Department
of Transportation for
construction of the round-
about 4 when funds
become available 4 to alle-
viate long-standing traffic
safety issues at the Highway
20/Locust intersection.
The process has already
begun with the review by the
City and ODOT of the 30
percent Design Acceptance
Plan (DAP) provided by the
ODOT Roadway Team. That
review will be completed
in the next 30-45 days, at
which time the project team
will have DAP-approvable
plans ready to be submitted
to the State Transportation
Engineer. Those 30 percent
plans establish the proj-
ect footprint which defines
School administrators are
managing what seems to be
daily updates as to how the
2020-21 school year will
operate in light of the ongo-
ing COVID-19 pandemic.
The August 12 Sisters
School District board meet-
ing, conducted via Zoom,
took place a day after the
Oregon Department of
Education released its lat-
est update of guidance
See ROUNDABOUT on page 22
See SCHOOL on page 21
Santiam Lodge
restoration continues
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
Eighty years ago, the
Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) completed construc-
tion of a new recreational
ski lodge at the summit of
Santiam Pass. The unique
architecture is character-
istic of six ski lodges built
by the CCC in the Pacific
Northwest. For nearly a
half century thereafter, the
Santiam Pass Ski Lodge
offered outdoor recreation
opportunities, first as a pub-
lic skiing area, hiking center,
highway stopover and rest
area and, later, as a church
camp.
It all ended in 1986, when
the lodge was shut down.
So, for the next 32 years, the
lodge sat empty and deterio-
rating. Firefighters were able
to save the historic structure
during the 2003 B & B Fire,
which scorched over 90,000
acres in the area. Hope for
a new chapter in the lodge9s
history began two years ago
when Dwight and Susan
Sheets obtained a special-use
permit from the Willamette
National Forest to restore
the lodge, and Friends of
Santiam Pass Ski Lodge was
born.
<We both grew up in
Salem and spent a lot of time
on the Santiam Pass skiing,
hiking and backpacking,=
Sue Sheets said. <We vis-
ited the lodge when we were
younger and always loved
the place. As time went on
we became frustrated that
year after year the lodge was
falling into an increasing
state of disrepair.= And so,
she explained, that sentiment
led to their involvement in
See RESTORATION on page 23
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
Santiam Pass Ski Lodge, constructed by the CCC in 1939-1940,
is in the midst of an extensive restoration project. With the
removal of post-construction, non-CCC additions, the lodge is
now starting to resemble its original appearance.
PHOTO BY CRAIG EISENBEIS
Inside...
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Hike .................................. 8 Entertainment ................. 11 Crossword ....................... 17 Sudoku ............................19
Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements ...............10 Fit for Sisters ...................14 Classifieds ................. 18-20 Real Estate ................ 20-24