Despite the pandemic, the 20th annual War on Weeds was a rousing success Page 6
INSIDE THIS ISSUE SROA News.................... 4 Nature Center................ 8 Calendar...................... 13
Public Safety................ 27 Classified..................... 38 Letters......................... 39
Owners travel the globe and take the Scene along Page 21
S U N R I V E R
S C E N E A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSOCIATION
SEPTEMBER • 2020
VOLUME XLVI • NUMBER 9
Sunriver’s endless summer of COVID
Turn to Summer, page 3
The speed limit on Spring River Road around Harper Bridge has been reduced to 25mph, above, and signs stating ‘No Diving or Jumping from Bridge’ have also been installed, right. SUSAN BERGER PHOTOS
County bans bridge jumping at Harper; lowers speed limit By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene In an ongoing effort to improve safety of the river access area at Harper Bridge, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners approved a new ordinance that prohibits jumping from the bridge, lowered the speed limit to 25mph through the area and requested a heightened law enforcement presence for the remainder of the summer. “This ordinance is a big step to give deputies the proper tools for enforcement of the area and is a step in the right direction, said Capt. Paul Garrison of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s office. Those caught jumping off the bridge are subject to a $250 fine. Safety issues at Harper have escalated over the years due, in part, to overall growth of the greater Sunriver/Three Rivers area and an influx of those seeking recreational river
opportunities. Although we are in the throes of a pandemic, you wouldn’t know it based on the crowds flocking to this popular access point. During the board’s Aug. 12 meeting, the commissioners acknowledged that challenges remain. In 2019, they did approve and implement several safety improvements – such as widening the area to create paved, designated parking for up to 50 cars along Spring River Road and bicycle “green” lanes. These improvements do help keep people further away from the traffic lanes while they unloaded watercraft, but doesn’t eliminate parking outside of designated areas, vehicles making U-turns and pedestrians crossing the busy road while hauling a variety of watercraft, tubes and giant floating islands. “What was done last year was two years of planning for
Sunriver named Oregon’s first ‘Dark Sky Place’
Turn to Bridge, page 3
FAQs: Ladder Fuels Reduction cycle continues to end of the year Ladder Fuels Reduction (LFR) work is currently underway on approximately 140 acres of Sunriver commons. Here are some frequently asked questions SROA receives about LFR work on commons: Q. What is Ladder Fuels Reduction and why do we do it in Sunriver? Ladder fuels is the accumulation of combustible materials that link the ground to the tree canopy and includes brush, live and dead limbs and tree seedlings. Thinning of larger trees reduces competition between trees to promote forest health as well as slowing the spread of fire should it reach the tree canopy. Removing unhealthy trees, thinning of smaller trees, and removal Turn to LFR, page 6
A crew from Arbor 1 trim limbs with hand saws following the state-mandated 1 p.m. shutdown for fire safety.
SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XLVI • NUMBER 9 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene This year is certainly turning out to be one for the history books. The globe has been gripped in a pandemic for months and turned our daily lives upside down. We’ve hunkered down and settled in – with the hope that things will return to normal sooner rather than later. In the early days of the pandemic following the governor’s state-wide shutdown, travel restrictions and countyordered short-term rental ban, much of the Sunriver community was closed between mid-March and mid-May. Initially, Sunriver’s summer looked rather bleak. Sunriver thrives and survives on tourism and travel restrictions have kept some away. But once the short-term rental ban was lifted in May – this veritable “ringing of the dinner bell” resulted in a flood of tourists with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Take a walk through The Village at Sunriver and you wouldn’t know there is a pandemic except that most people are now wearing a mask when out in public. Sunriver’s pathways and the Deschutes River are also packed with owners and visitors. Despite the stressors of the pandemic, limited occupancy and other coronavirus-related restrictions, some restaurants and businesses in Sunriver are experiencing a busy summer. Popular restaurants such as Blondie’s Pizza and Sunriver Brewing were quick to adapt to the new “normal” and have weathered the changes fairly well. Anyone who has eaten at Blondie’s knows how small their dining area was. With social distancing requirements they would have been unable to accommodate more than a couple diners at any given time. Taking advantage of the shutdown, Blondie’s underwent a remodel to create exterior order/takeout windows – a fixture that will remain – even after the pandemic is gone. Following the early days of the state-
PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213