ROCKLAND – Rockland City Councilors have voted to move forward with the Breakwater bathroom project. Specific details are still to be worked out, but councilors at the Monday, July 10, meeting made clear that the $50,000 anonymous donation for the facility will be put to good use. 

“I hope we can move quickly on this project, and see it through to fruition,” Councilor Adam Ackor said. “Something has to be done there because that is an abomination now.”

Ackor stated concern for the “shelf life” of the donation, as well as the fear of being bogged down in the details.

Councilors plan to use matching funds from reserve accounts along with the $50,000 donation to install a a single-unit prefabricated building with a toilet, urinal, and sink. During the Wednesday, July 5, agenda-setting meeting, a quote of $90,000 was presented. Since then, however, some members of the public have questioned the quote as overly expensive.

Ackor, who has experience in the construction industry, responded that there are always uncertainties in building. Warranties, supplies, sewer, and concrete also have to be considered. He told council that the price tag was high, yet he believed that the facility would serve the citizens. Also, he said, using a company known for this type of building allowed for a reliable resource.

“It is entirely necessary that we do something up there,” he said. “There’s just no doubt about it. We rely on tourism in this city. We ask people to come here and spend their dollars. Two hundred people a day walk on that breakwater and they have no facility there. It’s really just a shame the condition that that park is in. It’s also a shame that people have to go between cars to go to the bathroom.”

Councilor Ed Glaser, citing the high cost of the project, expressed a desire to see a bid process. He also shared his hesitancy in only installing a “one-holer.”

“Personally, I have some hesitancy — since I was the manager of the Porta-Pottys that were there for a number of years – that one single-stall bathroom would be enough,” he said. “...I’d hate for us, somewhere down the road, to look at this and say.... Why didn’t they put in a bigger bathroom?”

Mayor Will Clayton stated his approval for the project. He told council that he dealt with the bathroom idea five years ago, in his first term. At that time, the project hit a road block and failed to move forward.

Also, as an employee of the Samoset for 17 years, Clayton said he dealt with this every single day that I worked.

“This goes beyond just the City and the people there. It also effects the area residents that are there. Tourists, staff, and of course businesses.”

Related story: 

Rockland residents push for Breakwater restroom, share-the-road signs

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com