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Guest Column: Mayor Gerry Messmer

“Thanking some key people”

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

ODESSA, March 11, 2025 -- As I close in on the final 20 days of my tenure as mayor, I would like to take the opportunity to thank some key people and to update the community on the water project.

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate our DPW Supervisor Steve Siptrott on his upcoming retirement as of April 1st.

Steve has been the "face of Odessa" for many years and has worked tirelessly all hours of the day and night plowing snow, mowing grass, and fixing water main breaks in the dead of winter, and selflessly combined that with service in the Odessa Fire Department. His work ethic and commitment to Odessa are unequaled in the history of the village.

Clearly, he will be remembered for generations to come for his monumental efforts. If you see Steve, take a minute to congratulate him and, if you are a mind to, bake him some cookies or get him some donuts, his two favorites.

Also departing is Tom Letteer, who is not running for re-election to his trustee post. Tom has served this village as a trustee for nearly two decades and has been a superb deputy mayor working alongside me and the office to get things done. Every time I have been gone for one to three months, upon return it was as if I never left. Tom would run things with the skill and knowledge unparalleled by anyone I have met in village operations or in my career. We will miss Tom, but he needs more time to go fishing!

We also say goodbye to Kristine "Sparky" Gardner, who has been an invaluable trustee. Sparky is committed to Odessa and was always a breath of fresh air with her ideas, thoughts and common sense that she brought to the board meetings. Sparky is hands down the best Veteran Services Representative Schuyler County or New York State have ever seen, as validated by her recent awards at that position.

Finally, we say goodbye to Alijia "AJ" Bailey, who will be departing the Village Board as well. AJ brought a lot of great ideas and a positive attitude! When reviewing vouchers each month AJ would catch every mistake as she really is all about the numbers and accuracy. We will miss that scrutiny.

To close out this submission, Phase 2 of the water project will begin March 24th, weather dependent. This phase will be the construction of the new water treatment plant at the same location as the old one on Vacri Court, off Merchant Avenue. The plant will bring state of the art treatment processes, allowing for the system to grow and exceed all health requirements for the next several generations. This will take about 18 months to complete.

The contractors will be back as the weather gets warmer to re-seed and straw areas that need to be redone. Keep in mind, the area between the sidewalk and the street is in the village right-of-way and we are trying to make those attractive green strips to make the village look better. Please do not take it off, park on it or otherwise ruin the work that we have paid for. Let's all work together to make Odessa look better.

Finally, the old water tower will be removed this spring as a part of Phase 2. That should not take long, but it is an eyesore that needs to be removed and taken off the private property it is on.

After the election I will do one last written submission, with congratulations to the winners and to update all of you on each of the projects we have going on.

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.
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To see Mayor Messmer's nineeenth column, click here.