The Nugget Vol. XLVIII No. 3
Sisters casts wary eye on fire danger
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Off to a strong start...
Homeless count set for end of month
By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
Raging fires in Los Angeles are set to be the most catastrophic natural disaster in the state’s history surpassing the 2018 Camp Fire in the town of Paradise that scorched more than 150,000 acres and was the deadliest wildfire in California’s history. Ninety-five percent of the town burned in that fire. The fire killed 85 people and destroyed almost 19,000 buildings in November 2018. The fire was active for
PHOTO PROVIDED
The Outlaws girls team placed second out of 22 teams to kick off the Alpine ski season (see story, page 9). Pictured left to right: Grace Hudson, Mary Rogers, Brooke Duey, Ella Eby, Tallis Grummer, Ava Riehle, Lauren Sitz, Payten Adelt, and Sydney Welbourn.
See FIRE DANGER on page 14
Correspondent
As of January 8, Sisters has a new mayor, Jennifer Letz, who won re-election to the Council, and new president, Sarah McDougall, who is new on Council. The fivemember body also includes newly elected Councilor Cheryl Pellerin and Councilors Michael Preedin and Gary Ross who continue the remaining two years of four-year terms. The three recently elected councilors were each sworn in by City Manager Jordan Wheeler. Every two years, the newly elected and returning councilors determine who amongst them will be appointed mayor and president. A councilor nominates another councilor for the position, another seconds the nomination, and if there are no other nominations, they all vote yea or nay. Both the new mayor and president were uncontested nominations and appointed by unanimous vote of Council. A couple of the visitor comments
Inside...
In an effort to get a snapshot of the number of people living in vehicles and tents in Sisters Country, the Homeless Leadership Coalition and Sisters Community Leadership Initiative will conduct their annual Point In Time (PIT) Count in Sisters Country January 28–February 3. Surveys will be conducted on where individuals resided on the night of January 27. The PIT Count collects data used for funding requests and to build awareness and engagement within See HOMELESS on page 23
New Sisters city councilors sworn in By Susan Cobb
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
acknowledged appreciation for seeing this peaceful transfer of power. After being appointed by Council, Mayor Letz immediately thanked former mayor, now councilor, Preedin, expressing her respect and admiration for his four years as mayor. Throughout the meeting, Preedin was complimented and sincerely thanked by his peers. At the tail end of this three-hour council meeting, Preedin suggested that the process of appointing a mayor needed review. There followed a brief discussion of term limits, clarifying the appointment process, and maybe making it a charter change rather than an addition to council rules. Preedin stated this will be revisited when Council works on goals. Preedin next noted that he had spent a couple of long nights to create an assessment of effort expended as mayor to share particularly with Mayor Letz, to give her See CITY COUNCIL on page 23
Metabolic Maintenance has sold By Bill Bartlett Correspondent & Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief One of Sisters’ largest employers, founded in 1984 in San Diego and operating locally since 1993 under the ownership of Ed Fitzjarrell, has been acquired by WM Partners, LP, of Aventura, Florida, a suburb of Miami Beach. Metabolic Maintenance produces pure, preservativefree nutraceuticals without added excipients, fillers, or binders. Their products,
created, formulated, and packaged in Sisters, are sold nationwide. The company with sales of around $10 million, according to industry estimates, has a workforce of approximately 48 and has been trending up. They have one of the largest building footprints in Sisters occupying a 29,000-square-foot office and production facility at 601 N. Larch St., opposite the Post Office. The building is principally owned by Fitzjarrell, and is not included in the sale.
WM Partners lists eight brands in its current portfolio, all in the health and wellness field. They have spun off another six brands in the same sectors. The brand building enterprise’s fund has $1.1 billion invested in companies like Metabolic Maintenance. They grew one of their acquisitions, Nutranext, and sold it to The Clorox Company for $700 million. See SALE on page 10
PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT
Metabolic Maintenance has been acquired by a Florida company. Operations in Sisters will be wound up over the next six months to a year.
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Obituaries .........................7 Entertainment ................. 11 Fun & Games ....................19 Classifieds..................21-22 Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements...............10 Sisters Country birds .......18 Crossword ...................... 20 Sudoku ........................... 23