Council still debating fence definition

At Monday night’s meeting of the Odessa Town Council, the rewritten draft ordinance defining a “fence” was seen by council member Frank White as too restrictive and likely to cause more problems for the council than it solved. He asked that the issue be tabled again for further discussion, and the other council members concurred.

A variance was granted for the revised request for a backyard fence on Amende Drive to provide running room for the owner’s dog.

A permit for a reroof and new fence on east Third Avenue was also approved by the council.

Fire Department

Town Fire Chief Don Strebeck reported that the firemen’s BBQ on July 4 was a big success with somewhere in the vicinity of 200 guests eating lunch and enjoying the warm weather. Many stayed and visited with their friends, family and neighbors after eating.

Strebeck also said that letters have been sent to property owners whose yards have tall weeds or other unkempt vegetation that could represent a fire hazard during the hot days of summer.

Police Department

Deputy Bryce Peterson said he and Chief Helen Coubra had completed training on a new in-car computer system that would help the department save a great deal of time on the reporting of incidents.

Call volume was fairly high, he said, but no major incidents were reported.

Public Works

Public Works Director Rod Webster reported on the purchase of some low-cost asphalt that his department used to repair the large potholes on Cedar Street near the Crab Creek Coffee Haus.

He also reported that spraying of weeds continues on town properties.

Following an expression of concern by a citizen regarding the use of normal household bleach to boost the chlorine level in the Odessa pool, Webster called the Department of Health and consulted with them on the issue. An inspector will also make a courtesy call to Odessa soon.

The DOH person with whom Webster spoke appeared to be unconcerned when Webster read him the test results from that day but agreed to send someone out nevertheless. Chlorine levels in the pool water are tested twice each day, with an automatic chlorinator dispensing chlorine into the water. The chlorine percentage can change throughout the day depending on the number of people using the pool or the temperature level of the air.

If the chlorine amount has dropped below a certain level, additional chlorine is added using regular household bleach. This is a standard practice in municipal pools, Webster said. The proper range for chlorine is 2 to 10 ppm (parts per million). The tests performed by Webster himself before the pool opened and by the lifeguards later on were both well within that range.

AWC conference

Council members Lois Harp and Lois Hubbard accompanied Mayor Doug Plinski to the recent conference of the Association of Washington Cities in the Tri-Cities. The three attended several different sessions and brought home with them much food for thought.

Airport project

On July 17, the mayor said that he and council members will open the bids received by the deadline for the road relocation project at the Odessa Municipal Airport.

The council’s next meeting is July 22 at 7 p.m. in the public library at the Community Center.

Mayor’s Report

Mayor Doug Plinski received an early morning call from members of the public works crew recently, informing him that someone had apparently trimmed the downtown trees sometime during the night, leaving all of the branches piled on the sidewalks for the town crew to deal with. Plinski said the trimming may have been done with the best of intentions, but the lack of clean-up afterward was bothersome.

Plinski wanted to remind the council and townspeople that the care and maintenance of the town’s sidewalks is the responsibility of the individual property owners whose real estate abuts or is adjacent to the sidewalks. Trees or other plants growing up out of the sidewalk are therefore also the responsibility of the property owners.

The downtown trees were purchased and installed by the Odessa Chamber of Commerce in an effort to beautify the downtown area. The town has agreed to provide water for the downtown trees from an underground irrigation system at no charge to the businesses or the Chamber, Plinski said. However, it is still the responsibility of each property owner to maintain the trees, he said, citing town ordinance number 240.