The Odessa Development Corporation is set to host the Ector County Commissioners’ Court and the Odessa City Council for a joint workshop discussion.
This meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Saulsbury Conference Room at Odessa College located at 201 W. University Blvd.
The agenda items set to be discussed during the joint meeting include interlocal agreements about Odessa Fire Rescue, Ector County Law Enforcement Center and the Odessa Animal Shelter. There will also be discussion about the Ector County Assistance District.
Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett on Monday morning said he hopes to open up dialogue on matters important to both the County and the City.
“The public expects us to work together on behalf of all citizens,” Fawcett said. “The ultimate goal is to open up those dialogues. We chose these topics because they impact both parties, but they have also been pushed aside in years previous. No one really wanted to address these issues.
“What I found is that these interlocal agreements and this sales tax agreement are really what’s causing the wedge between these two entities and we really want to break down that wedge to work positively on behalf of all Ector County residents.”
After discussions about the Ector County Assistance District, Odessa Fire Rescue, Ector County Law Enforcement Center and the Odessa Animal Shelter. there will be an opportunity for citizens to comment on non-agenda items.
This joint meeting is only a workshop, so there will be no action taken on topics discussed.
Fawcett said the topic that he’s most interested in discussing is the Ector County Assistance District.
“We want to have a business climate that is expected in our county and in our city to be attract new businesses to bring new investments, whether it’s in housing or commercial real estate,” he said. “Those businesses and those citizens need to know what type of services they are going to get whether it’s water or utilities.”
As far as a timetable for continued discussions between the City and County, Fawcett hopes they can meeting a minimum of once a quarter. The City and County have regularly scheduled meetings twice a month throughout the year.
Fawcett said he knows a constant communication between the City and County needs to take place.
“At a bare minimum, quarterly,” he said about joint workshops moving forward. “We still have a lot of other topics to address. This includes the Joint Airport Zoning Board… We should talk about some of our long-term plans both within the downtown footprint and everywhere else. What does our assets management look like, their properties our properties. Can we find some synergies to perhaps partner on a project?”
