Odessa City Council Meeting (May 23rd) - What You Need to Know
HOLDING UNINSURED DRIVERS RESPONSIBLE
Odessa Mayor Javier Joven and Odessa City Council Members took action in hopes of holding uninsured drivers even more responsible. They unanimously approved an ordinance to impound vehicles of uninsured drivers. They’re hoping it will also help to bring insurance rates down for Odessa drivers.
According to Kris Crow with Farmers Insurance, 40% of the people in Odessa DO NOT have car insurance. He says it has a ripple effect causing HIGHER RATES for those drivers with insurance.
Crow gave this example. We’ve seen it on TV numerous times, an uninsured driver runs into a house. Who ends up paying for that? The insurance company of the one with insurance. In this case, an insured homeowner.
Crow also says each year, insurance companies evaluate how much money they collect in premiums and then balance that against how much they pay out in claims. Last year, several insurance companies paid out approximately $1.49 in claims for every $1.00 they collected in premiums. This is why auto insurance premiums are increasing! If we can get everyone that is driving on our roads in Odessa to pay their fair share of insurance costs, these premiums will begin to come back down!
Some were also concerned about overloading OPD which is currently short-staffed officers. Council added a clause to help officers in the event something more pressing was happening at the same time, it shall be within the police officer’s discretion.
SECURITY A MAIN PRIORITY AT CITY POOLS THIS SUMMER
The Odessa City Council voted to pay the majority of the cost to include security at three of the city pool facilities.
Those parks include Sherwood, Woodson, and Floyd Gwin Parks. A security guard would be used six days a week from 1 pm to 7 pm. That would come with a price tag of around $20,000. The City of Odessa would pay 60 percent and the YMCA would pay 40 percent of the cost.
Council Members also brought up adding a “clear bag” policy for those who come to the parks. It would be added to the ordinance and enforced by the YMCA.
Fights and shootings have taken place in some of these areas and our local leaders want to continue to be proactive in deterring crime.
Odessa City Mayor Javier Joven said, “We live in a society where we have to take extra precautions.”
RECYCLING CENTER LATEST
“We’re actively working towards re-establishing the recycling program but we have to find a viable path that works for the city. It takes some work and this is just the baby steps back toward it,” said Interim City Manager Agapito Bernal.
He says there are plans to place containers at the Recycling Center (also known as the Time Machine) on West 42nd where people can drop off those recyclables. It would be primarily for cardboard and plastic.
City leaders stressed again that 80 percent of the containers used for recycles were being contaminated. That meant people were pushing trash in there and they were having to be taken to the landfill.
Odessa City Mayor Javier Joven also answered numerous questions after the city council meeting. Here’s that full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHtIbtpypLw
Full Odessa City Council Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0M_ByFZXEo