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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2020)
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon s LETTERS Continued from page 2 failed Russia hoax, the failed impeachment, the failed rumor of bounties placed on our servicemen9s heads and numerous other hoaxes perpetrated by the left and now the <losers and suckers= hoax. Here are promises made and kept to our veter- ans by President Trump: " 2 0 1 8 Ve t e r a n s A c c o u n t a b i l i t y a n d Whistleblower Protection Act: Allows the VA to fire failing employees and establishes safeguards to protect whistleblowers. This resulted in 4,300 VA employees being removed, demoted or sus- pended for failing to provide adequately for our vets. " 2017 Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act: Stream lines the process for our Vets to appeal their disability claims with the VA. " 2017 President Trump signed the Veterans Educational Assistance Act 3 funded educational benefits to Vets, service members, and their fami- lies including tuition, fees, books, housing and additional costs. a post-9/11 GI Bill. " 2017 VA Choice Program 4 an additional 2.1 billion authorized by President Trump. Provides training in the private sector and training in the VA reciprocally for the private sector. " 2017 President Trump created a new White House VA Hotline dedicated to answer the needs of our Vets, Since May 2019 it has surpassed 250,000 calls. " 2018 President Trump signed the VA Mission Act, providing choices for our vets whether within the VA or within our community. " 2018 Anywhere to Anywhere Veterans Health Care allows VA providers to use telehealth technol- ogy no matter where the vet or provider are located. They can connect by video across the country. This doesn9t sound like a President who doesn9t care about our vets. Quite the opposite. President Trump promised to take care of our vets and he is doing just that. Are there failures in the system? Yes, but they are outnumbered by the successes. Again, if you are going to write to the editor, please set your personal prejudices aside and deal in facts. I, for one, am tired of your vitriol. D.S. Findlay 2012 RAM 1500 4x4, SLT, 5.7L Hemi, only 70K miles! and low-mileage consignments! s To the Editor: I am against the plan to rezone and to develop the 31 acre property previously owned by the Forest Service. Traffic on Highway 20 and the connecting side roads, McKinney Butte and Barclay through the roundabout is already congested to the point of vehicles stopped waiting for traffic to ease through downtown and those using Barclay as an alter- nate route. Adding up to 300 homes x 2 to 3 cars per home will only increase the already clogged highway. Previous traffic studies that were com- pleted for the McKenzie Meadows development with the expert stating <we need to preserve our roundabout= and the report of the future commer- cial development around Takodas and Bi-Mart are a joke. What about future developments? What are the plans for traffic flows? It is stated in the article <Zone change a major step for development,= The Nugget September 9, page 1) that they will preserve somewhere around 200 trees. How many trees are on that site? Whatever happened to the <City of Trees?= <Planning for the future.= What is the present citation with the water, sewage system and garbage service capacity and roads for the City of Sisters? This development of 300 homes and with the 200 homes presently being built by Hayden Homes at the McKenzie Meadows Village Development and the future continued development of another possible 600 homes directly behind that development, with an average of two cars per household. Affordability? People working service jobs and for companies that already provide jobs in the City of Sisters will not be able to afford 1,900-square- foot homes making minimum wages. There are 380-square-foot studio homes on McKinney Butte that rent for $1,200. Home developers are in it to make money. The City can not subsidize home- owners and renters. The City should do a survey of homes and apartments under construction and being sold pres- ently to see who is buying and living in Sisters. Are they the average local workers, people work- ing out of town or retired? What is the vacancy rate of the apartments that we presently have and looking forward to the five-apartment units under construction in the last phase of the Village at Cold Springs South? Marvin Inman s s s To the Editor: As expected the Sisters Planning Commission approved the rezoning of the 30-acre parcel on the northwestern edge of town as the first step in conceding to the owners9 desire to develop the property. Acting as the de facto agents of the owners, led by the CEO of Laird, the Commission glossed over or simply ignored the consequences of adding 250- 300 houses to the city, increasing the population by some 30 percent at one stroke. The primary objection to this housing is that it is unnecessary and will permanently alter the nature of Sisters. The CEO of Laird claims, on highly dubious grounds, that the housing is needed for his workers. But if that is true, it9s Laird9s problem, not Sisters9. The city is under no obliga- tion to provide housing for Laird9s workers, much less make the said CEO a multi-millionaire in the process. Try to imagine 600 more cars on the streets, plus increased pressure on the schools, public safety, and water resources, not to mention the inevitable increase in property taxes. And once the population reaches a certain threshold, the big box stores will come. All part of the Commission9s <Vision?= So, what is to be done? Three positions on the City Council are up for election. Vote for candi- dates who will work for the city and not special interests or speculators. Contact the city and tell the Council what you think of the Laird develop- ment. Demand that the City revise its zoning laws to give it more leverage over housing and industry. And demand that it join other cities and work with representatives in Salem to change State land-use laws in their favor, not those of special interests. Finally, demand a popular vote, if possible, on whether to allow the Laird development to destroy Sisters <Country.= Gary Leiser See LETTERS on page 16 Special $ 20,900 What’s Cooking? Best Price! No Hassles! CARFAX Certifi ed! Bring us your trade-ins s 15 TAPAS, FLATBREADS & DINNER SPECIALS… TRY OUR PAELLA! S Sisters isters Car Connection 541-815-7397 192 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters Dine-In, Outdoor Seating Tues.-Fri., 3 to 8 p.m., Sat., Noon to 8 p.m. 391 W W. C Cascade d Ave. A | 54 541-549-2675 4 1 549 2675 corkcellarswinebistro.com NuggetNews.com is your online source for Breaking News | Classifieds | Weather | Road Reports Sisters Dental WE ARE HERE FOR YOU! Trevor Frideres, D . M . D . Greg Everson, D . M . D . 541-549-2011 491 E. Main Ave. • Sisters www.sistersdental.com Hours: Mon., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tues.-Thurs., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. • Locally owned and operated • Large natural & organic selection • Meat cut & ground fresh daily • Huge bulk-foods department • Only 20 minutes from Sisters Located in the Cascade Village Shopping Center, Bend Open every day, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. A Farewell and Thank You from the Owners of B&R Gutters… A fter much deliberation, Jean and I have decided to sell B&R. It has been 25 years since we purchased B&R. It is time now to say goodbye. As many of you know, I had a serious fall in 2017. Compound- ing that, I have had to replace both shoulders. The ensuing years have taken away too much of my physi- cal and mental reserves, and Jean’s mental reserves. We are no longer able to do the job the way we believe it should be done. Luckily for us, and you, we have sold the business to our long-time employee of 20 plus years, and seemingly a member of the family, Scott Sims. Scott came to us originally with 10 years of experi- ence. This will ensure a smooth transition, as no one is more familiar with the operation than Scott. Scott has also retained all of our current installers, Bruce, Joe and TJ. Many of you have met Scott, and you should be assured of his commitment to continuing the highest standards of quality and service you have come to expect. A huge thank-you to three of our former installers who helped shape the company we are today. Tim “TR” Ryan, Jason “Puddin” Chapman, and Dale “ Wally” Voris. We want to tell you how much your loyalty, in good times and bad, has meant to all of us at B&R. We consider many of you to, not only be customers, but also friends. We will miss our interactions with you. It is time to go. — Jean & Richard Marriner