WEST ODESSA, Texas — West Odessans had their voices heard Tuesday night at a town hall meeting. The idea was to meet with elected officials to try and better their community.
The conversations got heated at times as the people of West Odessa discussed their concerns, which ranged from Fire and EMS to road infrastructure. One obvious takeaway from the town hall was that West Odessans are a passionate group in Ector County.
It was standing room only for the town hall that heard West Odessans speak up.
“It’s not up to one person, it’s not up to me, it’s not up to any of us – it’s up to all of us," said Patti Kappauf, a concerned citizen. "And if we sign that petition, it will go on a ballot, and guess what? We better get our buts out there and vote because we don’t.”
Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett took many questions from the community, resulting in transparency.
“All of this involves tax increases," said Judge Fawcett. "That’s what services cost ladies and gentlemen. That is the hard conversation that I’m trying to have with you is in order to live and to thrive you have to have services.”
With just one volunteer firefighter department, that service was discussed.
“One of the main things that we’ve talked about is emergency services out here in the community and we severely need those," said Judge Fawcett. "And so we need to talk and have a conversation about ‘what is the pathway in order to get those?’ Is that an emergency service district? Is that incorporating into a city? Is it some other function? But we need to come up with a good concept to move forward.”
Judge Fawcett also explained the money that the county is looking to invest in West Odessa.
“We have significant road projects coming up," said Judge Fawcett. "We have $800,000 in ask for Kellus Turner Park, we have $10 million on Tripp, we have $4 million going to paving all the caliche roads in West Odessa, we have three other areas in – I couldn’t tell you the intersection – but that’s a total of $8 million that we’re talking about on this upcoming budget.”
The upcoming budget helped make this a timely town hall.
“We’re going to be actively going through our budget in our Ector County Commissioners’ Courts meeting and talking about the needs of our citizens, and how we budget and allocate funding," said Judge Fawcett. "And so I need to know what the citizens of this huge community are – what their needs are – and how we can properly allocate resources towards the future and growth of this facility and this community.”
Judge Fawcett mentioned that the census shows West Odessa would be the third-largest city in the Permian Basin. However, since it is not a city, educating people Tuesday night on the difference between city and county was a focus as well for financial purposes and responsibilities.