Despite a dramatic increase in the price, the Odessa City Council approved by a 4-2 vote a $36 million Faudree Road expansion project Tuesday night. The council also directed the city’s legal team to draft a new ordinance that will eventually result in the demise of all game rooms within the city limits.
As a result of Tuesday night’s vote, the city will widen Faudree Road from a two-lane road to an urban five-lane road from State Highway 191 to Yukon Road.
Utilities Director Tom Kerr told the council the construction portion of the project was expected to be around $20 million, but it has since ballooned to $31.5 million, which also increases the amount that must be set aside for contingencies.
In addition, design costs have gone up so the project is now going to cost more than $36 million, Kerr said.
Kerr agreed with District 2 Councilman Steve Thompson’s assumption that the cost of the project increased dramatically because the area has a large drainage issue that requires a great deal of asphalt and concrete. Those items, along with other construction materials, are currently skyrocketing in price.
Altogether, Kerr said the 28-month-long project will require roughly 6,000 feet of concrete culverts.
The council agreed to save $600,000 by reducing the size of the project’s sidewalks from 10 feet to five feet and by using box culverts that have not been certified by the Texas Department of Transportation, but still meet required standards.
The project will be funded with roughly $5 million left over from certificates of obligation issued in 2013 and 2019, $726,000 in roadway impact fees and $10.9 million from the city’s general fund.
Odessa businessman Larry Robinson asked the city council to wait on the project, noting only two contractors bid on it. With the economy in “turmoil,” he said he expects additional contractors will want to bid on the project in the future.
“I think the money is totally out of line for the taxpayers. It’s weighted towards that side and the country club side and away from the rest of the city. I think it draws too much money and not everybody can live outside their budget,” Robinson said.
Thompson responded by saying, “Whether you like it or not our city is growing and we haven’t kept up with it.”
Robinson retorted, “Well it’s not whether we like it or not, it’s whether we can pay for it or not.”
Odessa Development Corporation board member Kris Crowe blasted Thompson and the council for even considering the project now.
“Thirty-six million is asinine in a time when we’re trying to figure out how to pay our firefighters and we’re trying to figure out how to replace valves for our water system. Faudree Road is not going to pay to hydrate our children. Faudree Road is not going to pay to put out a fire when someone’s house in Parks Bell catches fire,” Crowe said. “We’ve got to get control of our spending one way or another. These pet projects are getting crazy.”
Mayor Javier Joven and District 1 Councilman Mark Matta voted against the project; District 4 Councilman Tom Sprawls was absent from the meeting.
In other matters, the council directed the city’s legal staff to draft an ordinance stating the city will no longer grant business permits to game rooms within the city limits of Odessa. If the new ordinance is adopted, existing game room permits also wouldn’t be extended beyond their renewal date.
Dan Jones, senior assistant city attorney, told the council the City of Pecos did the same thing in 2018 because the council came to regret allowing game rooms to move into the city beginning in 2014.
District 5 Councilwoman Mari Willis asked Joven, who placed the item on the agenda, to clarify if he wants to eliminate the game rooms because they are illegal or because the businesses are a nuisance. She told her fellow council members she is firmly on the side of law enforcement, but is concerned about putting the city in a precarious position legally.
In past discussions, Joven has said he believes recent appellate court rulings have declared game rooms illegal and he thought the city would be on firm legal ground to simply seize their 8-liner machines. On Tuesday night, he conceded not everyone agrees they are illegal, but he still thinks the city can still eliminate them because they are a nuisance.
Joven said the game rooms are a drain on the city’s resources given the number of police calls associated with them. The city needs to set a standard for the community he said, noting he has always hated the adage that people go to Midland to raise families, but come to Odessa to raise hell.
Jones told Willis he can’t recall Pecos being sued over their stance, but “I would much rather sit here and warn you that we will probably get sued, just because we are Odessa. We probably will get sued.”
Thompson noted $33,000 was recently seized by the Odessa Police Department after undercover officers discovered a game room was handing out cash instead of the “fuzzy prizes” allowed by law.
“There’s a criminal element in this town that’s very disturbing,” Thompson said.
The councilman said his constituents are “screaming all over the place” about their dislike of game rooms. Willis said residents all over the city are screaming, but reiterated she wants to make sure all of the city’s I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed when it comes to liability.
Realtor Kelly Clark thanked the council for addressing the matter of game rooms. She said she constantly hears from people who say they aren’t moving to Odessa because of crime and the education system.
Resident Jeanette Villanueva expressed worry that once the game rooms are gone criminals will “have nothing to entertain themselves.” She fears they’ll turn to breaking into homes and cars. She questioned why game rooms are being treated differently than bars, which also get a number of police calls.
“Are they attracting human trafficking? Are they attracting the criminality that have happened at the game rooms? We’re not going off speculation. We are going off basically what we are being presented as evidence and the evidence is the constant calls that are occupying our police department,” Joven responded.
Villanueva then referenced an April 24 article in which Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke and Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis both said that although they believe the game rooms are involved in illegal gambling, game rooms are not at the top of their priority list.
“It’s not the top 50%. When you look at what we do, we concentrate on violent crimes and things that cause that violent crime… and when you look at homicides and aggravated assaults and that sort of thing in Odessa, you really have two causes. One is narcotics, money and you know, crimes of passion and that’s not really something that we’re seeing from game rooms,” Gerke said at the time.
From April 11, 2020 to April 11, 2022, OPD responded to roughly 440 calls to game rooms and the ECSO had responded to about 120 calls. Reports were only required in roughly 30% of the calls.
Traditionally, Gerke said bars have been a “much bigger issue” for OPD than game rooms, but also noted it all depends on who is operating the bar or the game room.
Gerke and Griffis said some games rooms account for an inordinately high percentage of the calls, but many aren’t problematic at all.
Jones and other city attorneys are expected to prepare a draft of the proposed ordinance and provide it to the council for its consideration in the near future.
In other matters, the council:
<<Unanimously voted to expand the geographic area eligible for ODC infrastructure grants of up to $200,000 and facade grants of up to $25,000.
<<Unanimously agreed to sign a two-year, no-cost lease with UTPB for the Jurassic Jungle Sprayground.
