Council salaries

After an hour and 51-minute closed session, Mayor Larry Melton and the rest of the Odessa City Council emerged to announce that salaries for the five council appointee positions would remain the same.

Melton told the few remaining people in the council chamber that the long review wasn’t because of any negative feeling toward City Manager Richard Morton (who made $167,000 last year), City Attorney Larry Long ($120,000), City Secretary Norma Grimaldo ($58,476), Municipal Court Judge Carol Gregg ($87,721) and Associate Municipal Court Judge Dennis Jones ($75,335).

"In essence, we told them each they were doing an outstanding job for the city," Melton said.

With the other 900 city employees not getting a raise for the first time since he became city manager in 2002, Morton said it made sense for him to be treated the same.

"I was very happy with the evaluation, and the words ‘good job’ meant more to me than a pay raise anyway," he said.

When asked if his evaluation went better than last year, Morton said, "It was a good evaluation."

Councilman Bill Cleaver, who along with the late Councilman Michael Sanchez, voted against Morton’s 3 percent pay raise in 2008, said all the council appointees did an "excellent" job this year.

"Unfortunately, we couldn’t give anyone a pay increase this year," he said after the meeting. "We are facing a tightening of the belt."

Council also authorized the city to make a 20-percent match on a project that will add trees and greenery along Fifth Street between Medical Center Hospital and Odessa Regional Medical Center.

Nancy Wells, executive director of Main Street Odessa, said she would now write a grant for the city to the Texas Department of Transportation, which could take a year to evaluate it. If approved, the city will be responsible for $356,608, with TxDOT paying the rest of the project’s $1,783,038 cost, which Wells said would come from federal stimulus funds.

"They don’t come along every day," Wells said of the grants. "So I’m very grateful that city council agreed to support this project."

With more than 3,000 employees between MCH, ORMC and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Odessa campus, Councilman Royce Bodiford said the project is worth the expense.

"It’s a big deal, and sometimes you overlook that," he said. "It’ll be great for the enhancement of the city of Odessa."

In other action, council approved:

>> An application for a Texas "J" RAC Tobacco Grant.

>> A bid award for purchase of 37 automotive vehicles for $596,013.

>> Second and final approval of the request of Leeco Properties to rezone from Single Family-One-Drill Reservation-Surface Drainage to Light Commercial on 0.82 acres at the Chimney Rock Center at Highway 191 and Northeast Loop 338.

>> Second and final approval of the request of W.F.D.R., owner, for original zoning of Retail-One on approximately 50.1 acres northeast of the intersection of Faudree Road and Dorado Drive.

>> Second and final approval of a request of Leeco Properties to rezone from Multi-Family-Two to Retail for approximately 14.1 acres north of the intersection of Faudree Road and Fairway Drive.

>> Second and final approval of amending the city’s "offenses and nuisances" rules to allow for provisions for paintball guns and supervised paintball courses.

>> Second and final approval renewing the ARCO, Mueller Inc. and Odessa Country Club industrial districts.

>> Approval of Stan Tinney as Emergency Management Coordinator.

>> Emergency expenditure of funds for the repair of an electrical transformer at the Water Treatment Plant for $66,772.

>> An interlocal agreement with the University of Texas of the Permian Basin for street services.

>> Renewing public entity liability insurance with States Risk Retention Group.

>> Renewing excess workers’ compensation insurance with Wells Fargo.

>> Having only one council meeting in December.

>> Amending city code to send appeals of decisions under the fire prevention code to the building board of appeals.

>> Reappointing Phil George and Karen Hildebrand to the parks and recreation advisory board.