Council supports municipal-setting designation

Though no official discussion took place during the meeting, Odessa City Council members approved a resolution of support for an industrial company applying for a municipal setting designation from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality during the city council meeting Tuesday.

Dickies Industrial Services will apply for a municipal setting designation on 5.71 acres of land at 2300 Production, 1121 South Meadow and 112 South Meadow near Flint Hills.

The land was formerly owned by Tartan Textile, which, during the 1970s and 1980s, used chemicals for onsite dry cleaning.

Municipal setting designations, or MSDs, apply only to property within a city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction or municipality. As an MSD, the groundwater underneath the property will be prohibited from use as potable water.

In the consent agenda, council members also made their second and final approval on an ordinance prohibiting the use of the groundwater for potable or irrigation purposes at the former Tartan Textile site.

With the city council’s approval, the application will be reviewed by the TCEQ for the site’s final status.

Also in the consent agenda, council members approved a $75,000 settlement between Thelma Siguaw and the city for a July 4, 2009, accident between Siguaw’s vehicle and an Odessa Police Department squad car.

According to the settlement, Siguaw was a passenger of a vehicle that was stopped at a red light at Golder Avenue and West Fifth Street when a police vehicle collided with the rear of the vehicle. The police vehicle was driven by Angel Sanchez, an officer of an unknown rank. According to Odessa American archives, Sanchez joined the department in September 2007, but he is no longer with the city.

Siguaw sustained injuries to her back and had medical bills more than $50,000, City Attorney Larry Long said. Long said the other two people in the vehicle didn’t have extensive injuries.

Finally, members made their final approvals on ordinances regarding speed limits and parking.

Council members approved to lower the speed limit from 45 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour on East Ridge Road due to increased development in the area.

A school zone will be established between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on school days on Pagewood Avenue in front of Compass Academy. And Seventh Street and Alleghany Avenue, adjacent to the Permian Basin Rehab Center, will have a two-hour parking limit.

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In other action, the council:

• Accepted $7,712 from the Texas “J” Regional Advisory Council, or “J” RAC, for the purchase of EMS equipment.
• Authorized Odessa Fire/Rescue to apply for grants in the amount of $7,492.50 and $23,200 from “J” RAC to purchase 75 adult and pediatric EZ-IO needles and an emergency utility vehicle.
• Approved an interlocal agreement with the Ector County Independent School District for the disposal of excess raw sewage in the City of Odessa’s collection system.
• Approved the request of LTI Pipe Rentals and S.W. Howell for light commercial zoning on 2.25 acres of land north of the intersection of Highway 385 and South Crane Avenue. The land will be used for an office building and accessory structure. (Second and final approval)
• Approved a Deed without Warranty to the Boys and Girls Club of Odessa for a portion of the property owned by the City of Odessa at 800 E. 13th St. (First approval)
• Amended the sales price limits for the City of Odessa’s homebuyer assistance programs from $90,000 to $95,000 for newly constructed homes and from $80,000 to $85,000 for existing homes.
• Approved the abandonment of Headlee Avenue between Fourth and Fifth Streets for development of school and church facilities at St. John’s Church.
• Reviewed the monthly financial summary report for November 2011.
• Appointed David Johnson to the Cable Franchise Committee.