Two photographers will now be part of the Historic Houses of Odessa, as the Odessa Mayor and Council approved a request from the Historic Odessa Foundation to allow the lease of office space in the Odessa Bank building to Luminosity.
    Luminosity is a photography business run by sisters Stephanie Leight and Tammy Lashey that specializes in photography of children and families.
    The request, dated Sept. 23, states that the office will primarily be used to meet with clients and prospective clients, and to showcase the portfolios of the photographers.
    Luminosity is a corporate member of the Historic Odessa Foundation.
    The request states that rental proceeds will support the foundation’s preservation and programming efforts. Also, the photographers will provide photography services for the foundation free of charge.
    Mayor Kathy Harvey said because the office is located in the historic district of town, special approval was needed.
    “The requirement is they must get historic appropriate approval,” she said. “The Historic Commission met and approved the request as submitted.”
   
Snow plowing
    The town voted to approve a proposal from Mill Creek Construction, Inc., for snow plowing services.
    Harvey said in previous years, the town used Sleepy Hollow Lawn Care & Landscaping Inc. to plow and salt the streets when requested to do so, but that company has secured other contracts that allow plowing in any event of snow.
    As a result, the company will move their equipment north and it will not be available to Odessa.
    “With development, these small businesses can secure other contracts,” Harvey said. “It’s harder and harder for us to get a contract for snow plowing on demand.”
    Under the contract with Mill Creek, which is based in Smyrna, the town will call for snow plowing after two inches of snowfall. The cost to plow in two- to four-inches of snow is $325. For four- to six-inches, the cost is $575. For snow more than seven-inches, the cost is $825.
    Harvey said she called many companies, some of which didn’t respond, and this was the contract best suited to the town’s needs.
    “This is much in line with what Sleepy Hollow originally did,” Harvey said.
    In the case of ice, the town would have to authorize the use of salt and/or sand.
    Salt for all streets will be $375. Spot salting costs usually between $100 and $200.
    To apply a sand and salt mix to all streets costs $425.
    “We usually pinpoint streets that are really bad [for salt],” Harvey said. “We only had one instance where it was been bad enough to salt all the streets. If we need to salt the streets, we will salt the streets.”
    Councilmember Betts Jackson said she thought the proposal was fair based on all the research Harvey did.

Safety update
    Lt. Mark Daniels, of Delaware State Police Troop 9, said in October there were two burglaries, two vehicle crashes, one disorderly conduct, two suspicious persons/vehicles, one traffic violation and one wanted person arrest.
    There were 16 calls for services and six traffic citations written.
    “We haven’t noticed any trends or patterns,” Daniels said. “It’s a two-way street. We’d like to know what impacts you.”
    Harvey thanked Daniels and Troop 9 for their noticeable presence on mischief night and Halloween.      

Annexation vote
    Voter registration applications for the Odessa Common annexation referendum, which will be held Monday, Dec. 8, are available at the Town Hall, 315 Main St., Odessa.
    The Mayor and Council voted to move the Monday, Dec. 1 meeting to Monday, Dec. 15, so the town could ratify the annexation if it passes.
    The Mayor and Council will not meet in January 2009.