Pool vandalized; FOP offers reward for info

Much of Monday night’s town council meeting dealt with the June 19 vandalism of Odessa’s public pool, which was originally scheduled to open Thursday, June 21. Sometime early the previous Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, someone threw a container of red dye into the pool that was later identified as the dye that is added to diesel fuel before it is sold. Because the additive can irritate the skin, the pool had to be drained and cleaned, delaying its opening from June 21 to June 26.

The Friends of the Pool, a non-profit group that raises money to help defray the cost of operating the aquatic facility, is offering a $250 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person(s) responsible for vandalizing the pool with the red dye, according to Suzie Deife, FOP spokesperson. Members of the community have already contacted the FOP to donate toward the reward fund, she said.

Deife also indicated that the FOP is discussing plans to purchase a surveillance system for the pool/park, since this is the second time within the past couple of years that the pool has been vandalized.

Significant portions of both the public works and police department reports below provide additional information on the incident.

In other business, the council adopted Ordinance 649 amending the 2012 budget to include unforeseen revenues and the corresponding expenditures.

Public input

A resident of the town came to the meeting carrying a damaged cover originally intended to protect a utility shut-off on 2nd Avenue. He reported that his wife’s vehicle was damaged when it struck the cover, blowing out a nearly new tire, and inflicting other damage to the vehicle. He added that he did not know if the cover was bent prior to the incident, but that he felt that the cover’s material was too flimsy to be used on town streets. He requested that the town reimburse him the cost of the tire. Council took it under advisement.

Fire Department

In the absense of fire chief Don Strebeck, Mayor Doug Plinski reported that a letter to owners of property deemed a fire hazard due to overgrown vegetation will be sent shortly. As in the past, if owners do not attend to the matter, town crews will clean up the property, and the owner will be charged for the work.

Public Works

Town employee Rod Webster presented a report propared by Public Works Director Roger Sebesta, which outlined three items.

The most time-consuming topic was the vandalism at the public pool, which occured the night of June 19. According to Sebesta’s report, a red dye used in coloring off-road diesel fuel was thrown into the pool. The report included a communication from Gary Fraser of the Washington State Department of Health, which advised Sebesta that the active chemicals in the dye could act as a skin irritant.

Sebesta also contacted Renosys, the manufacturer and installer of the new pool liner. He was advised to use lacquer thinner to remove the dye, and that the use of the thinner would not affect the liner warranty.

The composition of the dye caused it to remain on the surface of the pool, leaving a red stain at the water line, and staining the skimmer baskets and weirs, which had to be replaced. The pool was drained and two town employees and three volunteers spent several hours cleaning as much of the stain off as was possible.

The opening of the pool for summer swimming was rescheduled from June 21 to Tuesday, June 26.

Sebesta also wrote that the motor for town well #3 was “making a lot of noise” due to a bearing being out. The pump has been pulled and sent to Spokane for repair, where it will also be checked for alignment issues which may be the cause of repeated bearing problems. Webster added that well #4 has been activated, so residents will notice that current water is soft. Webster added that the department is very busy, as is usual at this time of year.

Police Department

Deputy Marshal Bryce Peterson’s report was, in the main, about the pool incident. He said that he received a call about the vandalism as soon as he came on duty June 20. Peterson collected the empty dye bottle and placed it in an evidence bag. He then took the bottle to a series of businesses, and believed he had located the likely source.

Peterson said that he felt that sending samples of the dye in the pool to the crime lab would take a long time, as the town has yet to receive lab results in the aviation fuel theft case of late May. He called the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) certification center, which in turn directed him to Anatek Labs in Spokane. He personally delivered the samples to the lab, and results were available by the time he returned to Odessa.

Peterson reported that the incident is still under investigation, and that he will be reviewing surveillance video available from the business likely to be the source of the dye.

Other incidents included malicious mischief at the Avista building, where the outer half of a double-pane window was broken, as well as several reports of suspicious persons or behavior. Peterson also responded to a hit and run incident which involved liquor, a trespass and a report of identity theft.

Council Reports

Council member Frank White reported that he attended a Quadco meeting June 21, where he informed the group that Odessa had used all of the $16,500 grant awarded for the ADA mitigation study. He added that the next step would be to apply for grant money to proceed with the plan, once the council has resolved to adopt the plan.

Mayor’s Report

Plinski said that he will be doing a walk-through of the town with an engineer from USKH to review and prioritize needs. He said that only $10 million dollars will be available for transportation projects in the next funding cycle, and that “we need to be realistic.” He will be working with USKH to come up with a grant proposal which will balance the town’s needs with available funding and what is expected to be stiff competition for grant funding statewide.

Plinski also reported the most recent progress on the airport expansion project. He said that he has been working with the Odessa Gun Club to complete paperwork which may allow the club to obtain some property at the site. He also said that due to the reduction of federal and state fund matching, the town will need $33,000 to obtain the funding that it has only $22,000 budgeted for. He spoke of the possibility of partnering with a major airport tenant to obtain the additional $11,000.

Plinski ended his report with the information that he has been elected to the AWC (Association of Washington Cities) board of directors, representing towns of less than 5,000 east of the Cascades.

He said that the board consists of 25 members, including the mayors of cities as large as Spokane and Seattle. He said that he was impressed with the structure and procedure of the board, where every member has equal influence, regardless of the size of their community. The region Plinski will represent includes 26 communities affected by Odessa Sub-area Aquifer and related water issues.