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City staff recommends repurposing $1 million contingency to start boardwalk bathroom planning
Summary
Assistant City Manager Haggard recommended using $1,000,000 of unused construction contingency to begin engineering and land acquisition for additional Town Center boardwalk bathrooms; council asked staff to evaluate parking, temporary luxury restroom trailers and total ownership costs before committing to full construction.
Assistant City Manager Haggard told the council staff "is recommending that $1,000,000 of unused construction contingency be repurposed to begin engineering and land acquisition for additional bathrooms at the boardwalk," framing a discussion about when to build permanent restrooms versus using temporary options for events.
Why it matters: the boardwalk and surrounding event space at Town Center are expected to attract large crowds when the park opens; councilmembers said bathroom access and parking are critical to user experience and public safety. Haggard said permanent restrooms were not included in the initial project scope and staff has identified the North Pond area as a primary candidate for siting new facilities.
Council raised three practical concerns. Multiple members said temporary luxury restroom trailers could be a more cost‑effective near‑term solution for events, but they also pointed out tradeoffs: rentals shift maintenance and logistics burdens to staff or vendors and the city would still need a long‑term plan for regular public restroom access. One councilmember argued that $2,000,000 for permanent bathrooms would be difficult to justify, while others said authorizing up to $1,000,000 in contingency for planning and land options was reasonable as a next step.
Staff said it had secured shared parking agreements totaling more than 1,500 spaces and will continue to seek agreements with neighboring property owners. Council asked staff to return with a cost‑benefit comparison that includes: (1) permanent construction (location and estimated total construction cost), (2) purchase vs. rental of luxury restroom trailers (capital, operations, staffing and maintenance implications), and (3) parking impacts and potential shared parking sources.
The council gave direction to "explore all options" but asked staff to come back before spending contingency dollars on engineering or land acquisition.
Direct quotes from the record included Haggard's summary of the proposal and a councilmember's caution: "we can authorize the staff to explore the next steps... but I would want the city staff to come back before spending any of this dollars," and another member said, "I cannot authorize $2,000,000 for construction of bathrooms."
