Town bids farewell to retiring clerk

The Odessa Town Council meeting Monday night turned into a festive occasion, as council members quickly dealt with issues on the agenda, then spent the rest of the evening wishing a fond farewell to retiring town clerk Linda Burghard.

Mayor Doug Plinski and the council members also presented Burghard with a parting gift engraved with their thanks and best wishes. Refreshments followed.

Police Dept.

Police Chief Helen Coubra reported that things had been very quiet over the past two weeks, with a small number of calls to assist other agencies.

Public Works

PW Director Rod Webster reported that gravel is being used to fill potholes around town right now. Cold weather is not a good time to be applying asphalt, he said, so the gravel is being used as a stop-gap safety measure until warmer weather allows a more professional repair job.

Work on the sewer line to the Old Town Hall found a pipe with three major problems, any one of which could have caused the backups experienced during Deutschesfest this year. The pipe was replaced and Webster said he expected no further difficulty there.

Cleanup work continues at various town-owned sites, Webster said. The garage area at the Old Town Hall has been cleared out and is now being used to store some of the town’s equipment out of the weather.

Pool

Pool committee chair Lois Harp reported that USKH engineer Kennet Bertelsen had connected her with someone who was an expert in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). She learned that the slide pool at the Odessa Aquatic Recreation Center will most likely not be required to have a lift installed for the handicapped because it is a specialty pool. The lift that has been purchased and will be installed at the lap pool is likely to be the only one required to put the Odessa facility into full ADA compliance.

Budget

The council adopted the annual budget for 2013 (see legal notice, page 5).

Plinski reminded council members that the town will be required to be using more biofuel-fired vehicles by 2018. Beginning in 2013, the council and mayor will begin looking at additional sources of revenue for the town, so that it can meet all of its obligations.