Town Council

The Odessa Town Council met Monday, February 13, in the public library at the community center.

Hal and Jan Patterson were introduced as new members of the community attending their first council meeting.

A local citizen returned to appear before the council with a complaint about his water/sewer/garbage billing. He said he is being charged double for his service because he has a rental apartment in his garage. The sewer and water lines, however, extend directly from the main house sewer and water lines. There is no second hookup.

At its previous meeting, the council had agreed that the charges would be stopped because no one is currently living in the rental space. The change was not made prior to mailing out the new bills, however, and Mayor Lois Hubbard said the change would be made by the next billing cycle.

The citizen maintained that he should not have to pay for a second sewer hookup and that he would be taking the matter to small claims court for a judge to decide.

Plans for Amerifarms to build a marijuana processing facility on land owned by the Deife family located between the town limits and the Odessa cemetery are proceeding. The town council’s concerns about the depth of the water main to the facility have been addressed. The depth of the line that traverses the Odessa Golf Course was found to be greater than expected. In other areas where the line was more shallow, Amerifarms brought in fill material to solve the problem. A water meter has been installed at the site and a water users agreement needs to be signed before construction can proceed at the site. The agreement was to be reviewed by the town attorney prior to final approval by the council, although the draft version was given provisional approval.

Council members also discussed hiring a new airport engineer, approved a building permit for a reroofing project and approved a public records request policy and ordinance as drawn up by the town attorney. Town employee medical insurance was also discussed.

Town fire chief Don Strebeck announced that two long-time firemen had retired from the department, Steve Luiten and Bill Crossley.

Four new volunteer fire fighters were brought on board, bringing the crew to 20 with an additional two reserves. The new firement are Mark Sebesta, Colley Walter, Chris Shafer and Trevor Smith.

The fireman’s auction is March 4, and Strebeck expressed concern that the snow on the ground has hindered people from bringing in items for the auction. [Editor’s note: A situation remedied since the meeting by warmer temperatures and rain.]

Police chief Tom Clark told the council that he and deputy Bryce Peterson had handled 15 cases, including three felonies, over the last month.

Clark said he had applied for a grant for four radios to be used to facilitate communications in the event of an emergency or disaster. Trying to communicate over cell phones under those circumstances could be problematical, he said, and the radios would help first responders to keep in touch with one another.

Clark confirmed that an Avista employee was the person who left footprints in the snow at several Odessa homes, which had caused homeowners to have concerns about a prowler.