BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — Some residents are not happy with the village’s construction of public bathrooms in Ives Park.

Two residents spoke out against the construction at the village board meeting Monday, Sept. 23. Residents stated that the construction, which the village board has talked about publicly for a couple years and has been the focus of several articles in local media outlets, was surprising.

One resident feels the construction is cramming more structures into a park that was better as an idyllic green space in the middle of the village.

Earlier in the meeting, Village Mayor Alexandra Jacobs Wilke reported to the board that the construction of the new bathhouse in the park was underway.

“As you know, construction has begun on the new bathroom facility in Ives Park. Thank you to Everett Scanlon and his company, they won the bid for that project, and it is moving along,” Wilke said.  

“I know I won’t be the only person who will be relieved that members of our public won’t have to relieve themselves publicly in our park,” Wilke said. The mayor said having a public restroom in Ives would be a big asset to the community by improving bathroom access for families with children and the elderly.

Village Administrator Isabelle Gates-Shult gave an update on the construction progress at the site later during the meeting.

“It’s really coming along. The underground plumbing is complete. The concrete work is finished and the wall framing is being installed this week,” Gates-Shult said. “So it sounds like, with our continued progress, that we should have this up and ready by November.”

However, not everyone at the meeting was as enthusiastic about the project.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Jan Rutella, who lives on Division Street, took the village to task over the construction.

Rutella, who has lived in the village since the 1970s, questioned why the village continues to add things to the park, which she said used to be a lush green space.

“I was very upset when I saw the construction of the bathroom in Ives Park, as were other people in the neighborhood,” Rutella told the board. “I didn’t know it was coming. I don’t think anyone knew it was coming. It just kind of appeared.”

“I’ve been in this town since 1979. I’ve had a very close relationship with Ives Park. I think it was the reason I fell in love with Potsdam,” she said.

“And, over the last two years it seems like we just can’t put enough stuff in that park,” Rutella said.

“I know we lost a lot of trees to the ice storm, but that park used to be just lush. It had a little sandstone meandering path, and trees. Then, first we built a gazebo. Then we put in signage. Then we put in a huge plastic boat ramp that quite honestly, I think wasn’t really necessary. The kayakers don’t really use it,” she told the board.

“And now, the playground which is beautiful, and now a bathroom right in the middle of the park,” Rutella said. She said she doesn’t have a problem with a public bathroom, but took issue with where it was located in the park, suggesting it could have been in a different location away from the main section of the space there.

“I lost sleep over this. It’s heartbreaking to me,” Rutella said.

She was critical of ongoing village discussions about building a boat house for kayak and canoe storage and rentals in Ives. “In the one corner of that is still dark and lush and private?” Rutella said. “This is not a parking lot.”

Robin Bovay of Hewittville also spoke, criticizing the village’s decision to build the bathroom. Bovay also claimed the village did not give the public any notice of the construction project.

“You guys always said ‘transparency, transparency, transparency.’ Why’d you hide the bathhouse?” Bovay said. “Nobody knew about it. Nobody knew it was coming till you broke ground.”

Bovay questioned if the job was put out to bid.

“You already have a pisser. They would have to walk a 100 yards, but just use the West Dam. At least it would be used for something,” he said.

Village Mayor Alexandra Jacobs Wilke later responded to the questions regarding the notification of the public of the bathhouse project, pointing out that the village board has discussed the issue in public multiple times over the last two years. She also said the project was publicized in local media outlets, and that the work was put out to bid, which was won by Scanlon.

“This was one of the projects that the board determined made it to our final list of projects funded by our American Rescue Plan money,” Wilke said. “And there was extensive public conversation, including a special meeting on how we would determine our APRA projects, what were our criteria for choosing those and kind of scoring those as a board which we did. This made the list.”

Wilke said she would be happy to forward the various news articles regarding the ARPA fund list and the project to those that wanted them. She said the board has also had numerous board meetings since then where the project was discussed.

The village board meetings are not only scheduled in advance and the public notified through several means, they are open to the public to attend and can also be viewed on the village’s Facebook page where they are broadcasted.

Village Trustee Lynzie Shulte reiterated the mayor’s comments on the bathhouse construction and how transparent the village has been in implementing the project over the last two years. She also defended the village’s potential plans to install a kayak and canoe house in the park. She said although there are kayak rentals at Sandstoner Park, the location was not ideal due to the nature of the river there, but added there have been no decisions made on the boathouse construction yet. “But it is something we are looking at,” Shulte said.