[July 28, 2011] City Council allocates $2M+ to agencies Tweet Jul 27, 2011 (Odessa American - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ODESSA, Texas -- Without much difference of opinions and eager to let the evening come to an end, the Odessa City Council allocated more than $2 million to outside agencies during their meeting Tuesday. In what seemed like a never-ending line of requests that took up the majority of the council meeting, community representatives came up to the podium to ask council members for hotel-motel tax funds. Council members allocated $2,164,164 for the 25 requests. District 3 Representative Barbara Graff in particular praised organizations such as the Black Cultural Council, which mentioned the City of Odessa as one of its sponsors for their events. "I've been amazed that we provide funding for them and they don't even mention the City of Odessa," Graff said of certain unnamed organizations. The Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Odessa Council for the Arts and Humanities received the most funds, receiving $905,153 and $308,672, respectively. "All the organizations that receive funding really appreciate it," Kathryn Graybill, Globe Theatre artist manager, said on behalf of OCAH director Carla Bryant, who was unable to attend the meeting. "It's essential for venues and attractions to continue to function," Graybill said. Council members also doled out $134,229 to Keep Odessa Beautiful from the city's solid waste fund and $85,377 to Teen Court and Crime Stoppers from the city's general fund. Teen Court coordinator Tammy Hawkins announced before the council that Teen Court will soon be made into a national TV series, "Texas Teen Court," after production rights were bought by Discovery Studios. The show will be shopped around to various networks such as the Discovery Channel and Oprah Winfrey's OWN. Prior to the flood of funding requests, City of Odessa Planning and Zoning director Marwan Khoury announced that a new Rosa's Cafe and Texas Burger will be moving into the ever-expanding north side of Odessa. The council made their first approval on the request from White Knight Properties for 5 acres of tract land on the west intersection of Highway 191 and Faudree Road. The council also: --Renewed Tiburon CAD/RMS public safety software. --Approved requests from Apollo Perforators for original zoning on approximately 80.3 acres, original zoning on approximately 24.9 acres and original zoning for 4.1 acres northwest and southeast of the intersection of Lufkin Road and Groening Street. --Approved requests from Bernal Homes for original zoning on 20.4 acres southwest of the intersection of Eastridge Road and Faudree Road. --Adopted guidelines for the Enterprise Zone and established the Tax Incentive Zone. --Reviewed the financial report for June 2011. --Approved the request of Jack Mousa for original zoning on 34 acres of land southeast of the intersection of Gravensteen Avenue and Bastrop Avenue during the public hearing. --Approved an agreement with ECISD for park improvements at San Jacinto Park. --Approved an interlocal agreement with ECISD for the school attendance court program. --Appointed George Salinas to the Parks and Recreation Board, Kathleen McCulloch to the Historical Preservation Commission and Vickie Gomez to the Board of Survey. --Heard a presentation for the Highway 191 Corridor Study during a briefing before the council meeting. To see more of the Odessa American, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.oaoa.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Odessa American, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]