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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Public Safety ............... 27 Classified .................... 38 Letters ........................ 39
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SROA News ................... 4 Calendar ..................... 13 SHARC News ............... 22
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A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSOCIATION
FEBRUARY • 2018
VOLUME XLIV • NUMBER 2
DA charges Sunriver Police chief with harassment
T C, SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XLIV • NUMBER 2 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
Country Store/Village
New Village Access Beav e
r DR
New Pathway
Resor t
Abbot
Cafe Sintra
New Ponderosa Road Access
osa der Pon
By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene On Jan. 4, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel completed his review of the investigative findings of the Oregon Department of Justice and, based on the facts revealed, charged Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills with the misdemeanor crime of harassment. The charge resulted from Mills’ action on Dec. 1, 2017 to physically strike Sunriver Police Sgt. Joseph Patnode. Both were on duty at the Sunriver Police station at the time. The physical altercation took place in front of an administrative staff member and another officer. The Sunriver officer reported the incident to the Deschutes County Sheriff ’s office. Mills was placed on paid administrative leave by the Sunriver Service District (SSD) managing board on Dec. 3. “We expect and demand that our law enforcement leaders respect and comply with the laws we entrust them to enforce,” said John Hummel, Deschutes County District Attorney. “The Sunriver officer who made the brave, courageous, and correct decision to report what happened should be proud.” The SSD initiated its own administrative investigation, separate from the criminal investigation, in December. The SSD board held a special meeting on Jan. 8 to discuss its progress. More than 40 owners were in attendance. SSD board chair Jim Fister addressed the crowd stating that the board has made “no specifics on employment decisions.” It was also noted that the administrative investigation has been expanded to include “other workplace violation claims.” “We are not able to make any comments on the specifics of the investigation at this time,” said Fister. He did indicate that the timing of the
ABBOT/BEAVER INTERSECTION CONCEPT
DR
Realigned Pathway
(right turns only)
Improved turnout at map kiosk
Abbot D
R Exit
Intersection improvement planning continues to progress By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene With conceptual agreements and a critical land easement now in place with the adjacent property owners, The Village at Sunriver and Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership, the Sunriver Owners Association (SROA) – along with its engineering team – continue toward finalizing plans to improve the intersection at Abbot and
Beaver drives. Numerous meetings between SROA, the Resort and The Village at Sunriver have been ongoing since 2015 as some of the land required for the project overlaps onto Resort and Village property. Without the agreements, and the ability to use those pieces of property, SROA would have been unable to do much with the
intersection in terms of traffic flow and safety. “There was a lot of work with stakeholders so there are no surprises along the way,” said Hugh Palcic, SROA general manager. “We’re very pleased with the cooperation of the stakeholders… the T I,
Sunriver fire crews help battle California blazes By Jim Bennett, Sunriver Fire Public Information Officer We don’t often hear about wildfires during the month of December but 2017 was different as catastrophic wildfires plagued Southern California – late for a “typical” wildfire season. The fires scorched hundreds of thousands of acres and destroyed more than 1,000 structures. The Thomas Fire, located north of Ventura, grew to become the largest wildfire in recorded California history. In accordance with interstate and federal agreements, California called for help and the State of Oregon answered. As part of the 15 strike teams sent from Oregon, Sunriver Fire and Rescue participated with a local strike team made up with crews from Bend fire, Sisters Fire, Redmond Fire, and Aumsville Fire, sending wildland interface Engine
242, captain Jared Jeffcott, engineer Nic Newcomb and firefighter Travis Cooper. Engine 242 and crew headed out to the fire from Sunriver on Dec. 6, driving continuously (rotating between drivers) and arrived the following day at the Creek Fire near Los Angeles. After a day at fire camp, the strike team was deployed to the Lilac Fire near San Diego and ultimately were sent to Ventura County to assist battling the enormous Thomas Fire. The Santa Ana’s (warm, dry winds that originate inland in the desert) wreaked havoc by fanning the flames with heavy, warm winds. Temperatures in the 70s were common and soared into the high 80s making firefighting efforts difficult. Our fire crew worked 24 hours on and 24 hours off, spending some periods sleeping in their fire engine and at other
Water drop in Toro Canyon.
times, sleeping and eating in the massive fire camp. The fire camp provided large sleeping trailers where the firefighters bunked and cooled down under the T C, PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213