Town Council

The Odessa Town Council met Monday to hear from Kirstin Wilson of the Department of Enterprise Services Energy Program. The department is a cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the governor of Washington state and offers a statewide program of assistance to municipalities, schools, hospitals, etc. The program offers a free draft energy audit of all of the facilities of the entity requesting its services. The department has overseen projects at the Odessa Memorial Hospital and at the Odessa School District within the past several years.

The department works with about 12 general contractors who have been pre-qualified to perform work within the scope of any project planned and accepted by the department and its client. The program is able to offer a guaranteed, not-to-exceed price for the services rendered, and the energy savings expected to be realized are guaranteed to pay for the cost of the project within 10 years.

Council members will meet further with Wilson to learn more about the program.

Under the agenda item of Public Input, Odessa resident Jim Boss asked the council to pass an ordinance prohibiting the blocking of alleys within the town limits. He told council members that he has had difficulty repeatedly in accessing his back yard, which faces an alley that is frequently blocked by parked vehicles of varying descriptions. His requests to have the vehicles moved have at times been complied with only days later. Council members appeared surprised that such an ordinance did not already exist, citing prior issues with blocked alleyways that the council had addressed.

Boss responded that officer Bryce Peterson had researched the town’s ordinances and did not find any Omention of alleyway access. The mayor, council members and police chief Helen Coubra agreed to look into the matter in greater detail and to draft an ordinance addressing the issue. There was some discussion of the fact that the alley in question was a dead-end alley with only one way in and out. Having it blocked for hours or days at a time was not only an inconvenience to himself, Boss said, but also a safety hazard should emergency vehicles have to access that particular alley at some time in the future.

Lise Ott, representing the Old Town Hall Rejuvenation Society, told the council the group’s recent rummage sale had been a great financial success, bringing in $2,400 of which $900 was straight monetary donations. The Society was considering holding the rummage sale during the weekend of the alumni banquet in June. Ott said she felt that having announced the rummage sale during this year’s banquet was one reason why the rummage sale made so much money this time. She also considered offering tours of the Old Town Hall during that weekend, if the building structure were deemed sturdy enough to allow visitors to access the entire building. More research of that idea will be forthcoming.

The council approved the hiring of Century West Engineering of Spokane Valley to be the town’s new engineering consulting firm. Out of nine firms that responded to the original request for qualifications, five visited the town and produced proposals to submit to the council. Based on the proposals, the group was narrowed to three that were invited to interview with the council. Each firm was given at least an hour to present their case. After discussion, council members discussed the strengths and weaknesses of all three and ultimately approved Century West by a unanimous vote.