Focus on history

A cadre of representatives from a deteriorating local historical site asked county officials Tuesday for help with the building’s maintenance before a list of increasingly urgent damages threatens to close the facility’s doors for good.

Ector County commissioners heard Tuesday from members of the White Pool House Board of Directors about the increasingly dilapidated state of Odessa’s 122-year-old registered historical site, which they said is in need of repairs ranging from new brick mortaring to a replacement for the facility’s hot water heater.

“My house needs maintenance. I’m sure your house needs maintenance,” board vice chairman Ann Brickner told commissioners during the meeting. “Certainly, the White Pool House needs maintenance.”

Heeding Brickner’s requests, commissioners unanimously voted to give the go-ahead to the county’s building maintenance department to perform an on-site evaluation of the building’s condition and report back to the board with a list of necessary repairs and a timeline in which they can be made.

Most urgent among the museum’s needs, Brickner said, is repairs to the dry rot threatening the structural integrity of the building’s porch and renovations to the mortar holding together one of its load-bearing brick walls that has sustained damages from repeated water damage from rain.

She also requested repairs to the building’s bathroom that continually sustains water damage from an outdated hot water heater above it. Brickner suggested that the board look into replacing the gas water heater with a more modern electric model placed in the basement.

Although the county’s existing operations do include some maintenance for the White Pool House, which was last remodeled in 1986 and has an annual operation budget of about $37,000, Brickner suggested commissioners look into creating a more regular program to keep the aging facility in a condition compatible with its annual operations.

After the meeting, Brickner commended commissioners’ decision to look further into the facility’s needs, adding that she and her fellow volunteers have committed a great deal of time and energy to the museum and are merely “looking to the future” of the museum and its ability to continue operating.

“I think we came here because we feel that if this is not attended to, we’re going to lose the property,” she said. “We don’t want to lose it, no question about it.”

Also, regarding the matter of the Ector County Public Library, commissioners approved — with Commissioner Greg Simmons casting the lone dissenting vote — the reduction of late-return fees for videotapes from $1 per day to 10 cents per day.

Because of the library’s current late fees and the financial burden they can place on forgetful or busy borrowers, library director Rebbecca Taylor said, many do not return materials to avoid the rapidly accruing late fees. Overall, reducing the fees should help increase the return rates.

“Research has shown that big fines don’t reflect a larger return rate,” Taylor said.

Simmons, however, said the library’s existing fees are comparable to those of private video rental stores, which Taylor replied, operate on a different standard than a public library.

“I think we’re already the best deal in town,” Simmons said. “If they want to choose that route, they need to bring (the tapes) back.”

Commissioners also voted unanimously to approve the library’s creation of a “Food for Fines” campaign offering borrowers with late fees to bring in canned goods to settle their fees. Donated foods will then be donated to the West Texas Food Bank.

In other business, commissioners also unanimously approved the acceptance of $100,000 in federal stimulus funding from the City of Odessa to go toward the Neighborhood Stabilization program in areas not incorporated by the city.

Gino Solla, director of the Ector County Health Department, said the city already has a program to repair and beautify various private vacant buildings, but the county does not.

He said his department will now oversee the distribution of the money with administrative help from the county.

In other business, commissioners:

>> Reduced the speed limit along the stretch of 56th Street between Loop 338 and California Avenue from 55 mph to 45 mph.

>> Voted unanimously to approve an approximately $472,000 annual contract with the insurance company Arbor Benefits to provide the self-insured county with protection in the event one of its employees files medical claims exceeding $95,000 in a single year.

>> Approved a counteroffer for a contract for the oversight of Schlemeyer Field.

>> Approved an addendum to the county’s agreement with the Permian Basin Regional Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

>> Approved the renewal bond and oath for the county’s elections administrator, including a $20,000, two-year contract.

>> Appointed County Judge Susan Redford as the county’s responsible reporting entity authorized representative in matters pertaining to issues such as Medicare and Medicaid.