During a two-hour special meeting Wednesday afternoon, multiple volunteer fire departments, Medical Center Health System and the Ector County Utility District asked for American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The court currently has to disburse $16 million from the ARPA, while it’s scheduled to get another $16 million in ARPA money from the U.S. Treasury Department this summer.
Ector County Judge Debi Hays started the agenda detailing no action would be taken on Wednesday afternoon and that the meeting was solely to hear the needs of the agencies. The total amount the five agencies asked for came out to a little more than $26 million.
Hays said many of the agencies that she expected to come out did on Wednesday, but she also explained there were some that didn’t. She said agencies are welcome to submit requests to the court, whether it’s through a phone call or in writing. Hays said the court plans on distributing the funds within the next 30 days.
“There are a significant number of needs throughout the community that would benefit our community as a whole,” Hays said.
An Austin consultancy firm, Grantworks, was hired by the court to review the various requests. Grantworks ARPA Project Manager Andrea Souflee opened the agenda item by saying there are five prohibited activities: no offsetting of reduction of new tax revenue, no deposits into petition funds, no debt service or replenishing financial services, no satisfaction of settlements or judgments and no projects that conflict with ARPA.
Souflee added that every project that is approved by the court will need a letter of justification because it has to tie back into COVID.
The volunteer fire departments that asked for funds during Wednesday’s meeting were the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department, South Ector County Volunteer Fire Department and the Goldsmith Volunteer Fire Department.
WOVFD Chief Richard Pease requested a little more than $5.6 million that included equipment and a new fire station. Pease said the fire station alone would be about $4.5 million and a tanker truck would be $500,000 and two brush trucks would be $330,000.
“You don’t know how much sleep I’ve lost knowing that I’ll have to spit this number out,” Pease said during the meeting about requesting about $4.5 million for a new fire station.
Goldsmith Volunteer Fire Department asked for funds that would help them purchase a tanker truck, a small brush truck and fire rescue equipment, while the South Ector County Volunteer Fire Department asked for funds that would help them pay for grants, bunker gear rack and PPE cleaner.
ECUD asked for about $13.6 million that would be used to fund 13 projects. The projects are also listed in priority.
Tommy Ervin, ECUD president, gave the Odessa American the same packet of information that was given to the court.
The top priority is the Buddy West Elementary waterline, which details the project would be an 8-inch waterline in front of Buddy West Elementary School. The justification for the project is currently ECUD’s fire hydrant in front of the school is connected to a 4-inch waterline which doesn’t have the required fire flow capacity. That project would be $443,600.
Ervin said he’s hopeful that 100% of the projects that he requested funds for would be approved.
“Hopefully, they will fund it all, but they won’t,” Ervin said after the meeting. “They won’t fund 100% of that.”
MCHS President and CEO Russell Tippin asked the court for $7 million for staffing and supplies. Tippin said the requested funds would go toward contract labor, which are contract nurses and contract respiratory therapists.
“At our highest time, we had over 100 contract nurses and contract respiratory therapists in the hospital and now that number is down to 61,” Tippin said during the meeting.
Commissioners also heard from Ector County Elections Administrator Lisa Sertuche about the canvass vote totals for the election held on May 7. Sertuche said there were 7,843 votes cast out of 82,527 registered voters. That’s a turnout of 9.5%.
The court also approved the tax abatement for GCC Permian LLC, in Ector County (Precinct 4). Hays said one of the stipulations to be approved for the 10-year tax abatement was that GCC Permian, LLC, needed to pay their taxes in full.
Commissioners also approved notifying the Boy Scouts of America that they will not renew the organization’s lease on the Henderson Drug Building, located at 204 N. Grant Ave. The lease ends in September and Hays said the Boy Scouts of America are using that building primarily as storage. The court is willing to help the Boy Scouts of America find a new building.
