The Odessa Development Corporation on Monday met and tabled a deal that the Odessa City Council already had on their Tuesday agenda to approve.
The deal was to purchase property at 3215 W. Murphy St. for an inland port that will be operated by Permian Basin Inland Port. The agreement calls for the city to purchase the land for nearly $8.3 million and to put almost $1 million into escrow as a refundable earnest money deposit.
That is now on hold as ODC board member Melanie Hollman made a motion to table the issue pending several items, including asking Tom Manskey, executive director of Economic Development for the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, to connect with ODC attorney Jeff Moore to deal directly with the bankruptcy trustee who is selling the land. She also called for an appraisal of the property and for Manskey to connect with Moore for red line changes to the agreement including the earnest money deposit and its refundability. She said a feasibility period length needs to be addressed as well as the need for a survey, appraisal and the appropriate environmental review.
Hollman’s motion included coming back to the issue during the ODC November meeting.
The deal has been a couple of years in the making.
In July 2022, Mayor Javier Joven spent a couple of days south of New Orleans visiting with people at the Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District and businessmen who hoped to one day create a direct transportation line between the port and Odessa.
Joven said at the time two of the principles had ties to Odessa and they were in talks about building a rail facility and connecting up with existing Union Pacific railways.
The principles liked that Odessa is already familiar with oil, gas and chemicals, Joven said.
On March 28, 2023, council members heard a presentation from Taylor Rich of Sitelogx, a company that works with industrial rail shippers and commercial developers to design, build and operate rail-served industrial parks and ports.
Rich and one of his clients, Roger King from Pipeline Innovation, spoke about the lack of rail service in the Permian Basin and the need for an inland port.
King said smaller companies have a demand for rail service and an inland port would be an opportunity to level the playing field for smaller companies.
On June 13, the ODC signed a memorandum of understanding with Permian Basin Inland Port to assist and provide support for the development of the port.
Texas Secretary of State records show a Roger King is the registered agent for Permian Basin Inland Port and campaign finance records show a Roger King donated $1,500 to Joven’s re-election campaign.
Joven is facing Odessa attorney Cal Hendrick in the mayor’s race. Early voting started Monday.
