While Assistant City Manager James Zentner took some ribbing for the bad news of a drop in Odessa sales tax revenue for the second time in 41 months, he had some brighter news at Thursday's Odessa Development Corp. meeting.

A $1 million loan the ODC made to Telvista for its Odessa inbound customer service call center was paid off last month, Zentner said. The money was part of a $3.8 million grant-and-loan incentive package issued when the company announced it was coming to Odessa in 2003.

"Now, they're free and clear," he said.

A $10,000 contract with Bear's Machine & Manufacturing was also repaid, Zentner said.

The repayments are a positive for the city, he said.

"That's a fantastic deal for the development corporation to get 'em started and get it repaid," he said. "Now we can do it again and get more jobs for Odessa."

One project the ODC would like to issue funds for is Summit Power Group's proposed $1.6 billion coal gasification power plant in Penwell. Mike George, president of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday that new funds would help bring the South Orient Railroad up to condition for trains to travel 20 to 25 miles mph.

Federal stimulus payments will pay for $15 million in upgrades for the railroad between San Angelo and Coleman, George said. The railroad's operator has agreed to put another $9 million in, while another $5 million could come from federal earmarks.

The upgrades affect Odessa because a north-south rail line would be needed for the Summit project, George said. This would make it easier to build new lines to connect with existing lines in McCamey.

"Good things are going to happen with that railroad," he said.

Arleene Loyd, the chamber's director of business retention and expansion, announced that National Oilwell DHT plans to break ground on its new site in the Odessa Industrial Development Corp.'s North Industrial Park next week. ODC is paying the company a $450,000 incentive grant to the company. It is expected to have 65 employees when it opens and expand to expand to 93 within five years.

The board also approved a calendar for adopting its fiscal year 2009-2010 budget. Zentner said the key dates would be July 9 and Aug. 13, when the board will review the budget and send it to city council for approval.