ODESSA, Texas —
During an Odessa City Council meeting Tuesday, councilmembers delayed a vote on using a certificate of obligation bond to pay for a renovation of the city’s water treatment plant.
The issue was delayed after a petition that needed 2,923 signatures got 3,245. They will now move into the process of validating the signatures, and the petition could be validated by Monday.
It's a $95 million project and a big investment. Those for it said that if these renovations aren't made quick, 150,000 people could find themselves under a boil water notice.
Steve Thompson, District 2's representative is one of those. He said the facility needs upgrades and needs them now.
"We have another winter disaster, another summer disaster like we did, last winter the plant almost failed as I understand it and we were lucky because if that plant fails we’re gonna have 150,000 people boiling water and that’s not something I want to face and so the sooner we get started the better," Thompson said.
Mayor Javier Joven, who initially voted against using certificates of obligation, is concerned about the facility failing. However, he wonders why the issues with the facility weren't looked at sooner.
"Well that’s basically the narrative that’s been out there that if we don’t do this, we’re gonna be boiling water tomorrow, and if that was the case for a plant that was built in 1959, 60, 61, then why wasn’t that prioritized back in 2016 when all this began," Joven said. "I am always concerned about any kind of catastrophic event."
Councilman Tom Sprawls of District 4 has a big issue with the petition, which he said is misinformation. He said that the city would pay back the bonds through your water bill, not property taxes.
"The city works department runs on its own," Sprawls said. "It pays its own bills by charging for water, sewer wastewater, solid waste disposal. So those are paid for by themselves, so any debt we take on will be financed by or paid for by those water bills."
City council will bring the issue back up again on August 3.