Guest Column: Mayor Gerry Messmer

“Water we up to?”

The following is the eighth in a series of columns about life in Odessa written by Mayor Gerry Messmer.

ODESSA, March 10, 2021 -- Since I took office in April 2018, our water quality has been my top priority. We have desperately needed a solution for more than a decade.

Well, the solution is here! Many months ago, the Village began working with USDA-RD and JHA Companies to apply for, and were awarded, a $40,000 planning grant by USDA-RD. JHA has been working on the grant for several months and they now have a complete engineering design of how to fix our water issues once and for all!

This fix will include replacing many water lines (1938 installation) throughout the Village and an up-to-date water treatment plant to ensure we meet all NYS Water Quality requirements for the long-term future.

Monday, March 15th at 6:30 p.m., during our regular Board Meeting, JHA Companies will be doing a presentation to the Board and any residents who would like to attend. They will discuss the issues and how we will resolve them to bring clean, pure water to every resident. Additionally, they will discuss the timeline for this project.

I know many folks think nothing is going on and they continue to voice concern on social media over the water quality. Well, this is the time to come to a Board meeting and see how hard your Board, JHA, USDA-RD and DPW have been working to fix our problem!

In other news ...

Congratulations and a huge THANK YOU to Village Board member Aubrey Tomassi for working hard for many months to get Odessa certified by NYSERDA as a Clean Energy Community! This award brings an immediate $5,000 grant to the Village which we will use to replace the streetlights, in conjunction with NYSEG, to save the Village about $7,000 per year in electricity costs.

This NYSERDA Certification will be important in the future as we look toward facility improvements and possible grants for solar lighting and electrical service to reduce expenses.

For any questions, comments and ideas, feel free to e-mail me at mayorofodessa@gmail.com.

--Gerry Messmer

Photo in text: Odessa Mayor Gerry Messmer

To see Mayor Messmer's first column, click here.
To see Mayor Messmer's second column, click here.
To see Mayor Messmer's third column, click here.
To see Mayor Messmer's fourth column, click here.
To see Mayor Messmer's fifth column, click here.
To see Mayor Messmer's sixth column, click here.
To see Mayor Messmer's seventh column, click here.