The Odessa City Council is scheduled to decide Tuesday if it wants to enter into an agreement with a Lubbock company that hopes to create a prefab framing factory facility it says will create 71 jobs during the next five years.
City documents detail that Rhodes USA will either lease an existing facility or build a new one and if the council agrees it will qualify for a $1.4 million grant from the Odessa Development Corporation for the former or nearly $1.8 million for the latter.
City documents indicate Rhodes will invest nearly $3 million in machinery, tools, equipment and logistics in the first 12-18 months of operation if it leases an existing facility and they’d spend $10 million if they build a new facility.
The ODC approved the agreement last month. The ODC also approved an agreement with a Mississippi forklift company that wants to build an 18-bay maintenance facility in Odessa and the council is expected to consider the agreement Tuesday, too.
Taylor Holdings/Sudden Services, which was founded in 1927 and has facilities in 10 states, wants to build a maintenance facility that will also include office space, a paint booth and a rebuild shop at a total cost of $3.2 million.
City documents detail the company has 31 full-time employees now and the new project would allow them to hire another 24. If the council agrees, Taylor Holdings/Sudden Services would qualify for a five-year grant of nearly $886,000.
The council will also decide Tuesday if it should grant a $576,000 contract to Vaca Underground to install traffic signals at Golder Avenue and East Yukon Road, Faudree Road and Tres Hermanos Boulevard and Dawn Avenue and 52nd Street.
The Houston company was one of three to submit bids on the project and it came in with the lowest bid. The other bids were $579,000 and $615,000.
The council will also consider whether it should take out a subscription with a Delaware company called Lexipol to help the police department update its policies and procedures manual.
City documents detail that Lexipol’s software program and the training that will come with it will help the department obtain statewide accreditation and update policies as the laws change.
If the council agrees, the city would use the state’s forfeiture-minor computer programs fund to pay $39,000 to implement the software and $29,000 annually for updates and training. The contract would automatically renew annually unless the city provides written notice it will not renew its subscription.
The council is also considering purchasing equipment that would allow Odessa’s police and fire departments to communicate with Midland first responders. The Critical Connect + Wave PTX Public Safety equipment and subscription would cost just under $162,000.
The council will also discuss approving the concept for a mural on the city’s parking garage at the Odessa Marriott and Conference Center. Florida artist Ernesto Maranje beat out 147 artists for the right to create the mural. His design includes a Texas longhorn, a golden cheeked warbler and a barn swallow. The $50,000 project will be funded by grants and private funds.
Maranje, 38, is a Cuban-American artist whose murals can be seen in Ukraine, Iraq, the Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanon, Greece, Spain and all over the United States.
In other matters, the council will consider:
>> Passing a resolution allowing the West Texas 4H and Junior Olympic Athletics Development Club to lease, for free, 64 acres of city land near West Eighth Street and Avenue L for archery practice. Any tournaments would have to be approved by the council at least 90 days in advance.
>> Approving the annual purchase of 150 refuse containers, one compactor and one receiver for $168,000 from Roll-Offs USA of Durant, Oklahoma. The only other bidder, Warrior Tank Manufacturing of Odessa, bid $241,300 on the contract.
>> Awarding Warrior Tank a $60,000 contract to supply the city with 100 refuse container replacement panels and 200 refuse container replacement bottoms. Roll-Offs USA bid $90,800 on the contract.
>> Accepting a grant of nearly $30,000 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that would pay overtime for Odessa police officers to combat speeding, distracted driving and driving while intoxicated issues from October 2022 through September 2023.
>> Accepting a $15,000 donation from Occidental Petroleum to purchase video surveillance equipment.
