Bathroom solutions are wildly unpopular

At the Keystone Town Board meeting  Wednesday, March 15, board trustees Sandi McLain and Matt Fullilove reported they received numerous phone calls regarding the proposed public bathrooms/visitor center options discussed at previous meetings. The responses to those options were “negative and wildly unpopular,” according to Fullilove.

“This has been on the agenda seven times, and we had a special meeting in February,” said trustee Casey McNulty, perhaps implying there have been many opportunities for residents to attend meetings and voice their opinions. 

“That’s how Keystone works,” said Fullilove. 

McLain suggested that people may be fearful of sharing their opinions in an open meeting, thinking they may be ridiculed.

Apparently, the two options discussed were buying a piece of property between the U.S. Post Office and Barlee’s Restaurant on Swanzee Street and building bathrooms and/or a visitor center or remodeling the Barlee’s building. Town board members have had preliminary conversations with the owner of Barlee’s. The restaurant and bar have not been open this winter as it was in the past. Patrons were concerned about the high cost of both options.

Derek Alexander introduced another possibility at the meeting last Wednesday evening. He talked to Rich Zacher of the Department of Transportation (DOT) who offered to give the city a 300 square-foot piece of property at the end of Winter Street near Boss’s Burgers. He too was concerned about the high cost of buying property or redoing Barlee’s.

“We don’t want to lose the tax revenue and we don’t want to lose a restaurant and bar. And there is so much stuff in that building,” said Alexander.

He also said the town could spend all the money in the world on a visitor center and bathrooms, but if it is not near the street through the center of town it won’t do any good. He said it needs to be visible.

He suggested, since the bathrooms are in the way of a DOT project, slated for summer 2024, the bathrooms could be moved six feet and set on a different parking spot. However, according to Cassandra Ott, Keystone finance officer, if the DOT has to remove the bathrooms, they will also have to replace them in a different location. That part of the project is covered.

“Why are we kicking the can down the road? We had an audience here last time that wanted us to purchase land,” said McNulty.

Fullilove, on the other hand, suggested they stop the momentum until they have more information about the options currently on the table.

Rick Greene, council president said, “We haven’t made any commitment yet. We are still exploring this.” 

He went on to say that at the next regular meeting scheduled for April 5, any suggestions on bathrooms should be in writing, preferably ahead of the meeting time, and there needs to be clarification from Zacher on what part DOT plays in this project. Fullilove will contact all the people who gave negative responses to get any additional input.

Ott explained in a later conversation that when DOT informed Keystone officials that public bathrooms would be removed, the council began to ponder the possibility of combining bathrooms with a new visitor information center. The Keystone Visitor Information Center, near the current bathrooms, is small and according to Robin Pladson, Keystone Chamber of Commerce director, “not viable for a long-term option, as the tourist traffic during the summer would negatively impact the director’s ability to complete work tasks.”

Later in Wednesday’s meeting, Pladson presented to the council a supplemental budget request for $24,700 to cover a cabin purchase, transport of the cabin, concrete pad, insulating floor, utility lines, building a bathroom, painting and gutters. This building would house the Keystone Chamber of Commerce office and director. She also requested the issuance and approval for a lease of an area near the ambulance barn where the cabin, measuring 18 feet by 16 feet and 14 feet tall could be placed. Both requests were denied by unanimous vote.

McLain said she understood Pladson’s request, but she had a hard time authorizing extra dollars when the business owners want to see more money spent on promotions. Pladson invited trustees to attend the upcoming chamber meeting. 

In other business, the election for town board members is scheduled for Tuesday, Apr. 11 with three people running for two spots on the council. They are Lynette Gohsman-Tyon, Casey McNulty and Will Parks. A candidate forum is scheduled for this evening.

In the second reading, by unanimous vote, the board amended Ordinance Chapter 51 by adding a new subsection. This would require customers who use the town’s sewer system, but not water, to install a water meter to measure their water usage. This will determine the correct amount of the customer’s sewer use.

Jerry Przybylski, public works director, said his department fixed the chlorinator in Well 1, conferred with the state regarding test results for the new well at Watson Park, plowed snow and repaired vehicles.

Ott informed the board that MetroPlains, which manages Keystone Elderly Housing, has finally received its SAMS number, updated by the federal government. This will enable it to offer the eight units of elderly housing at subsidized rates.

The next Keystone Town Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5 at 6 p.m.