HOULTON, Maine — Having completed most of the goals on their to-do list, members of the Riverfront Committee on Sept. 28, 2015 told Houlton town councilors that they now want to tackle building public restrooms in Riverfront Park.
Though privately raised funds would pay for the cost of building the restrooms, the committee is seeking council approval because the town would have to foot the bill for maintenance. Bob Anderson, chairman of the Riverfront Committee, updated councilors during a meeting about progress the group has made renovating Riverfront Park. The committee created the downtown park, which centers on Gateway Crossing, a pedestrian footbridge that stretches from the North Street Bridge across the Meduxnekeag River.
The Riverfront Committee is an all-volunteer group that formed more than a decade ago to transform the riverfront area, which was mostly home to a tangle of trees, weeds and trash, into Riverfront Park. Members worked for five years to clean up the area and raise the $1 million needed to build the 187-foot footbridge. Members also secured grants and donations to create a lighted park furnished with picnic tables and other amenities, a groomed fitness trail, and storyboards lining the bridge and walking path depicting the history of the town and other facts about the community.
Anderson told councilors that in the past two years, members have created a rain garden, replaced two picnic tables and designed a children’s play area, which they hope to construct in the future. The immediate goal, however, is to build the bathrooms, at a cost of $75,000, he said.
The Riverfront Committee first approached the council about the bathrooms two years ago. The group believes that restrooms are needed in the area for shoppers and visitors. Portable toilets have been used in the park in the past few years. Town Manager Butch Asselin said that there had been no damage to the toilets this year though vandals have targeted them in the past.
Asselin said he recently gathered maintenance estimates based on the restrooms being open 26 weeks each year, from May to October. He said that combined with cleaning costs and the costs of paper products, it could cost the town between $8,000 and $9,800 a year to maintain the bathrooms.
Councilors have been cool to the idea of the restrooms because of the maintenance costs and fears of vandalism. Anderson said the committee has looked into the possibility of getting time locks installed on the doors of the bathrooms in an attempt to lower maintenance costs.
Anderson said the committee has raised approximately $45,000 to build the restrooms and is applying for grants to secure additional funding. He said that pending council approval, construction is on tap for the summer of 2016.
“We certainly do want council approval on this,” he said.
Councilors did not vote on the matter on Monday, but action is expected at their next meeting.
