The Odessa City Council came up with a tentative plan Tuesday night on how to spend roughly $8 million in American Rescue Plan Act money by December 2026.
Odessa Fire Rescue and the Odessa Police Department will receive a significant amount of the funds if the council moves forward with its plan during its Feb. 13 meeting.
The council has opted to spend $1.6 million on a new computer aided dispatch system noting the current system goes down frequently. They also plan to purchase new Stryker cots and power loads for eight new ambulances that will arrive in September and next spring ($600,000), hydraulic rescue tools ($315,000), a replacement tender truck ($600,000) and a wildland brush truck ($275,000).
The council has set aside $208,000 to upgrade OPD’s public restrooms, $113,000 to upgrade the agency’s elevators and $277,000 to demolish the parking lot at 201 N. Grant. However, the city is looking into the possibility of finding the money for the elevators and demo elsewhere.
Also topping the city’s list of purchases are new lights and safety rails at the Derrington Wastewater Treatment plant, upgrades to the plant’s cranes, new fencing and a grit removal system.
The council bemoaned the fact they weren’t able to tackle many of the city’s road issues. It set aside $1.6 million for a Dixie Boulevard project that will run from 46th Street to Walnut Avenue.
The city has until the end of the year to obligate the ARPA funds and until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend it.
The council unanimously voted Nov. 26 to de-allocate roughly $6.4 million of the $10.1 million it received in ARPA funds with council members stating they’d rather spend the money on infrastructure needs rather than on things like COVID testing, vaccinations, lost revenue, personal protective equipment and other services.
In other matters, the council approved three sets of infrastructure and facade grants pitched by the Odessa Development Corporation.
Scooter’s Coffee, which will open in early March at 801 N. Grant Ave., will receive a $125,000 infrastructure grant and a $25,000 facade grant.
Prodigy Imaging will receive a $25,000 facade grant for its property at 406 N. Texas.
E&L Housebuilders will receive roughly $133,000 for an infrastructure grant and a $25,000 facade grant. The company is turning the old Jim’s Big and Tall store, 423 N. Grant Ave., into a restaurant.
