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Cincinnati Council delays public restroom vote

Portland, Oregon government website

A Cincinnati Council Committee wants more information before proceeding with a plan to add freestanding restrooms in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

 City administrators will do more research and report back on the issue.  

The original plan called for installing a “Portland Loo” at Findlay Market as a test location.  But some Council Members balked at the $130,000 price tag for the project including Wendell Young.

“I’ll be honest and simply say that there’s a whole lot of poor kid left in me that just won’t let me spend that kind of money on a toilet,” Young said.  “But it doesn’t mean I don’t get it and it doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s a necessary issue.”

City administrators now estimate they've found an alternative to the “Portland Loo” that would cost closer to $60,000 to install.  

Council Member Charlie Winburn suggested a panel study the restroom issue.

“Put together a small blue ribbon committee of business leaders and community leaders, and let’s do it not piecemeal, let them come together with a plan,” Winburn said.  “And then after they get through with the plan, we need to challenge the business community to pay for it.”

A Council majority agrees the increasing population and activities in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine have created the need for additional public restrooms that are accessible 24-hours a day.

Some Council Members even suggested engaging university students in the region to come up with ideas for such facilities that have a lower cost.  

A committee could discuss the issue again in 2 weeks.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.