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Residents raise concerns over locked park restrooms and porta-potties; staff explains winter closures
Summary
During public comment residents urged that park restrooms be open during daylight hours; city staff said permanent park restrooms are closed seasonally to prevent frozen pipes while Heritage Park facility has heating and should be open during park hours.
Two residents used the meeting’s public-comment period to ask why park restrooms are locked during daylight hours and to describe how porta-potties present an unappealing alternative.
Sharon Schuller said she frequently walks in Pioneer Park and was surprised to find the permanent restroom locked on a sunny Saturday morning; she described the porta-potty as unsightly and expressed concern about parents bringing children. Vendor and resident R. L. McFarland said the new Heritage Park restroom — intended for tourists and described in the staff presentation as heated — has also been locked at times, which he said inconveniences visitors and vendors.
City Manager Elizabeth Chamberlain responded that city park restrooms are typically closed between about Oct. 1 and March 1–April 1 to avoid frozen water pipes because the restrooms are unheated, and that porta-potties are placed as a winter alternative. She said the Heritage Park restroom was designed to be open year-round because it was constructed with heating and that she would check why that facility had been locked outside posted park hours.
