Sunriver firefighters rescure deer; video goes viral. Page 5
INSIDE THIS ISSUE SROA News ................... 4 Calendar ..................... 13 SHARC News ............... 22
Public Safety ............... 27 Classified .................... 38 Editorial ..................... 39
Beat the summer rush, renew your SROA Member ID and Recreation Cards now. Page 22
S U N R I V E R
S C E N E A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSOCIATION
JANUARY • 2018
VOLUME XLIV • NUMBER 1
Sunriver Police chief placed on administrative leave By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene Following an executive session held Tuesday, Dec. 5, the Sunriver Service District Board of Directors announced they had placed Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills on paid administrative leave effective Sunday, Dec. 3 and until further notice. The single agenda item stated that the executive session was “To hear complaints or charges brought against a public officer, ORS 192.660 (2)(b). On Dec. 7, the Department of Justice announced it was formally opening an investigation on this matter and would be working in conjunction with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s office. Deschutes County district attorney John Hummel released the following statement: “Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is heading the fact gathering phase of the investigation into the allegation against Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills. Once she completes her work she T C,
Sunriver water rate case settled The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved and adopted an 8.79 percent rate increase for Sunriver Water LLC, down from the original 24.7 percent the company requested in early 2017. Sunriver Water LLC, a subsidiary of Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership, filed an application (UW 169) on Feb. 16, 2017 for a general rate revision to increase its annual revenue $424,471 or 24.7 percent. According to the PUC’s adopted stipulation document, the reT W, SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XLIV • NUMBER 1 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
Board retiring SHARC loan ahead of schedule SROA NEWS – Following months of due diligence and research, the SROA Board of Directors unanimously approved at its Dec. 16 board meeting to pay off the remaining Bank of America SHARC loan balance in January 2018. The board was waiting to consider paying off the loan on the completion of the reserve study, 2017 projected year-end surplus amount and a forecast of the upcoming association operating cash needs. SROA also consulted with legal counsel prior to making the decision. The $1.8-million-dollar balance, and any required pre-payment penalties, will come from previously collected SHARC assessments and unrestricted monies in the SROA Maintenance Fund. Future SHARC assessment payments will pay back the Maintenance Fund and remaining assessments will be restricted
to SHARC reserve replacement items. History of the Bank of America loan In 2010, SROA’s members approved the Amphitheater Project ballot measure authorizing construction of what is now called the Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic & Recreation Facility (SHARC) for an amount not to exceed $18.9 million; in that same ballot measure, members approved a special assessment not to exceed $4,395 per residential property owner to finance the construction (final assessment was $4,258). The association secured financing for the project from Bank of America. The financing consisted of a fixed-rate loan for $6,133,000 at an annual interest rate of 3.55 percent, together with a variable-rate loan for the remainder, up to the total of $18,900,000. Certain conditions applied to pre-payments on the loans.
Special-assessment payments by SROA members have provided the revenue to make payments on the Bank of America loans. SROA’s members who are residential property owners had four options for paying their special assessments: • Lump-sum payment by Jan. 31, 2012 • Series of five annual payments, with the final payment in January 2016 • Series of 15 annual payments due in January of each year • Series of 180 monthly payments About half of SROA’s members (2,072 property owners) chose the lump-sum payment plan and paid their SHARC special assessments in full by January 2012, with the amount paid totaling $8.82 million. Another 839 owners opted for the five-year plan; the payments T P,
Sunriver’s beloved swan Chuck killed by illegal gunshot Chuck, the male trumpeter swan that has resided on Lake Aspen in Sunriver since 2013, was illegally shot on Thanksgiving and fatally wounded. Chuck, together with his mate Gracie and their four cygnets, had been exploring outside of Lake Aspen. Although they are wild, the swans are also flightless and generally only move among the waterways in Sunriver. Sunriver Nature Center staff had been monitoring their location and working to recover the swans to return them to Lake Aspen. On Thanksgiving, the Nature Center received reports of an injured swan approximately two miles downriver from Lake Aspen in Sunriver. Staff were able to retrieve Chuck and transport him to a veterinarian for examination. However, after extensive consultation with experts, it was decided that Chuck’s injuries were beyond repair and that intervention would cause further suffering for the swan. He was humanely euthanized. The Sunriver Police Department, in partnership with Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory and a generous gift of $500 from the East Cascades Audubon Society, were initially offering a reward up to $1,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) who shot Chuck. On Dec. 20, the Trum-
Two of the swan cygnets have been recaptured and returned to Lake Aspen.
peter Swan Society and Oregon Hunters Association Bend Chapter each added an additional $500 – bringing the reward total to $2,500. The Nature Center has been gratified by the hundreds of remembrances, stories, photos and art pieces received via Facebook. In addition, the center has received monetary contributions that will be used to memorialize Chuck, tell his story, and continue to support trumpeter swan conservation in Oregon Chuck and his mate Gracie were
placed at Lake Aspen as part of a breeding program supported by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to reintroduce trumpeter swans in the area. Their first successful breeding attempt produced two cygnets in 2016 which were subsequently transferred to Summer Lake Wildlife Area. Four cygnets hatched on July 4, 2017. The Nature Center Staff and volunteers have been monitoring Gracie and the four cygnets on the river. Two of the T C, PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213