Odessa Public Works Director Thomas Kerr explained to the city council during its Tuesday work session about the increase in chemicals for the water treatment plant.
Kerr’s presentation included consideration to award bids for algaecide, sodium hydroxide, liquid ammonium sulfate, liquid/gas chlorine and liquid aluminum sulfate. The combined total for the five bids would be $1.14 million.
Each of the five chemicals increased from a year ago.
“We’ve seen dramatic increases in some of these (chemicals)” Kerr said during the work session. “A lot of it appears to be related to oil byproducts. It could also be COVID related issues. These are those price increases that we’ve been hearing a lot about.”
The highest increase came from liquid ammonium sulfate, which rose 58% to a total this year of $126,400. The most costly of the chemicals is liquid/gas chlorine at $345,390, which increased 56.14% for the 1 ton cylinders and 31.33% for the 150 ton cylinders. Liquid aluminum sulfate rose 27.14% for a cost of $311,250.
“We don’t know if this is a one-year thing,” Kerr said during the work session. “We certainly don’t expect this type of increase next year.”
During the work session, Kerr explained that all of those chemicals went out for bids with the lone exception for liquid/gas chlorine as DPC Industries, Inc., is a sole supplier in the region.
According to the city council agenda, algaecide is used for algae control in winter and summer months, liquid ammonium sulfate is used with chlorine for disinfection of the water and sodium hydroxide is used to de-chlorinate effluent water. Liquid/gas chlorine is used for disinfection of the water, while the liquid aluminum sulfate is a coagulant in removing small particles from the water.
City council spent more than 30 minutes on the opioid settlement presentation given by the Office of the Attorney General. The deadline for states to sign on was Aug. 21, 2021, while subdivisions would be Jan. 2, 2022.
The City of Odessa would be included in Region 14. As of Tuesday, the confirmed sign-ons in the region include the City of Alpine, City of Pecos and Pecos County, City of Midland and Midland County, Howard County and Reeves County.
If the city council decided to join the opioid settlement, there is one scheduled meeting between Tuesday and January 2, 2022. That meeting as of Tuesday would take place Dec. 14.
City of Odessa Assistant City Manager Phillip Urrutia spoke about considering approval for purchasing two street sweeper trucks for the street department.
The purchase would reportedly be for a TYMCO 600 regenerative air sweeper from Tymco and a Schwarze M6SE mechanical sweeper from Heil of Texas. The total of the two trucks would be $570,088. Urrutia said the two street sweeper trucks would replace two trucks in its six-vehicle fleet.
Odessa Information Technology Director Mike Parrish spoke to the council about considering the annual renewal of Motorola P25 Radio System Maintenance and Support. The renewal would cost $447,693.
When he was asked what the radio system does, Parrish said it’s used as the primary radio system for Odessa Fire Rescue and Odessa Police Department in the field.
Odessa Director of Building Services Scott Anderson spoke about considering the award of a base bid for air handler unit C4 and alternate bid no. 1 to the existing air handler C1 motor for the Municipal Court unit. Anderson said the current unit is 35 years old.
Odessa Risk Management Director Darrell Wells spoke about a variety of items including considering renewal for Group Life Insurance, AD&D coverage, and Retiree Life Insurance with Standard Insurance Company, considering renewal of Medical Stop-Loss insurance with Berkshire Hathaway, considering renewal of contract for benefits claims administration, considering renewal of contract for property insurance with TML Intergovernmental Risk Pool, considering renewal of Excess Worker’s Comp insurance with Safety National Casualty, considering renewal of Public Entity Liability Insurance with States Retention Group and recommending adoption of the Family Health Project, revision January 1, 2022.
