In order to comply with Oregon laws, SROA has created a permit and load tag system owners must use to collect firewood in Sunriver.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Nature Center ............... 8 Calendar ..................... 13 SROA Board................ 22
Public Safety ............... 30 Classified .................... 38 Commentary ............... 39
Sunriver owners are a globe-trotting bunch in the latest installment of Making the Scene travel feature
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S U N R I V E R
S C E N E A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSOCIATION
DECEMBER • 2014
VOLUME XL • NUMBER 12
New water rates take effect Dec. 1 By Brooke Snavely New water rates take effect Dec. 1 for the approximately 4,500 customers of Sunriver Water LLC. As a result of stipulations in case number UW 160 between the water company, the Oregon Public Utility Commission and the Sunriver Owners Association: • Average residential bills will increase from $17.71 to $20.06 • Average multi-family bills will increase from $14.38 to $16.17 • Average commercial bills (1-inch meter) will increase from $53.09 to $60.49 • Average irrigation bills (2-inch meter) will increase from $210.87 to $256.64 • Flat-rate customer bills will increase from $19.69 to $24.60 • Golf course customer bills will change from a $1,699.14 base rate to a $2,235.43 base rate. While rates went up for most customer classes, they did not go up as much as the company proposed. PUC disagreed with several water company proposed expenses. Disallowed or adjusted expenses • PUC disallowed a $20,000 audit fee paid to the parent company, Sunriver Resort LLC. “It is not reasonable for the (water) customers to pay for the Resort’s audit since no audit of the water utility is performed, nor is one required. Further, this is an affiliated interest transaction for which there is no approved affiliated interest contract.” • The company sought to increase wages by about $66,000. PUC staff adjusted test year wages to reflect actual wages shown in the employees’ 2013 W-2s. PUC disallowed the salary of an employee “that more appropriately belongs in the Management Agreement (an agreement between the water company and their parent Turn to Water, page 3 SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XL • NUMBER 12 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
Maintenance fee sees increase of 4.5 percent for 2015
BROOKE SNAVELY PHOTO
Winter is here Winter arrived with a bang in
SUSAN BERGER PHOTO
late October with rain and windstorms that knocked down more than a dozen trees in Sunriver, left. The windstorms were followed by below zero temps, snow and freezing rain in mid-November. If you haven’t already winterized your house, now would be a good time to do so.
By Scene staff The Sunriver Owners Association’s maintenance fee will be $112.48 per month in 2015. The SROA Board of Directors approved the rate at its Nov. 16 meeting. The 2015 rate is $4.84 more than the 2014 maintenance fee and constitutes a 4.5 percent increase. This is the second consecutive year the board of directors has selected a maintenance fee increase that is less than the 6 percent it is authorized to increase without a vote of the owners. The maintenance fee increased 5 percent in 2013 and 6 percent the previous nine years with two exceptions when owners approved larger increases. With the 4.5 percent increase in 2015, SROA expects to fully fund its reserve replacement accounts, maintain a $150,000 contingency and $150,000 operating reserve, and cover projected legal expenses. Turn to Fee, page 12
Letters to and from a Sunriver-area resident serving in Afghanistan By Mike Beeson Travis West of Sunriver, an infantry officer in the Oregon Army National Guard, is in Herat Province, Afghanistan. His unit (C Troop, 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry Regiment) is assigned to defend the base. West, 28, has lived in the Sunriver area since 1999. He’s married to Amanda who has lived here all her life, and together they have two daughters, ages one and three. West said he looks forward to raising his children in the Sunriver area. West gets periodic letters from WE CARE, an effort facilitated by Sunriver Christian Fellowship. Each week a member of the group is designated to write a letter to a person serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. The recipient is Turn to Letters, page 5
Travis West with locals in Afghanistan’s Herat Province.
PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213