A new, state-of-the-art toilet is coming to downtown Asheville. After much debate – and a thorough analysis of the cost – City Council members voted 5-1 to approve the installation of a $400,000 public bathroom at the corner of Rankin Avenue and College Street.
The toilet, called the Portland Loo, is ADA-compliant, easily cleaned, and nearly indestructible, according to the Capital Projects Manager Jade Dundas.
City Council previously allocated $650,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the project but was required to vote to authorize the contract last night.
In a presentation, Dundas said the Portland Loo is cheaper in the long-term than other solutions to Asheville’s bathroom problems. Dundas presented a cost comparison that considered a scenario where a regular public bathroom would be guarded 24/7 by human security.
The upkeep for existing bathrooms would cost upwards of $1 million dollars, including about $500 per day for “monitoring and security,” according to Dundas’ projection.
In contrast, the five-year projected cost of the Portland Loo is about $594,000. The Loo requires $20,000 a year for daily routine cleaning but does not require security.
Community member Elyse Marder spoke during the public comment session in support of the Loo.
“The prefab bathroom is specifically designed for high traffic areas. It's built to withstand greater demands than the current interior bathrooms. It can be power-washed. I don't think they can do that to the interior bathrooms,” Marder said. “It's also built with materials which are resistant to graffiti and vandalism. Again, the same cannot be said for the existing interior bathrooms.”
Have ARPA funds been used effectively?
Not everyone was as enthused about the new lavatory. Community member Kimberly Collins expressed outrage over the price tag and argued that the PEAK Academy, a Black-led charter school, deserved funding more than the bathroom.
“How can we as a city, even consider the kind of spend on a single toilet for basically the unhoused folks here in Asheville, amongst others, when Asheville’s educational achievement gap is the worst in North Carolina? And PEAK Academy, a school actually closing that gap, had made the [funding] request,” Collins said during public comment.
In January, a PEAK Academy founder Gene Bell spoke for 10 minutes about the school’s funding needs and requested assistance from council. At that same meeting, councilwoman Antanette Mosley suggested the city use ARPA funds to support the school.
“I got a call from a member of the community saying that we care more about where people take a sh*t, than we do about Black children,” Mosley said. “I don't want to leave that impression.”
Mosley was the only council member to vote against the bathroom funding at last night’s meeting.
Councilwoman Kim Roney called the choice between PEAK Academy funding and bathroom funding a “false narrative of either/or.”
“We need funding for public bathrooms and PEAK Academy. I hope that PEAK is provided a path to and applies for funding for either ARPA funds and or strategic partnership funds, that I intend to support,” she said.
Councilwoman Sheneika Smith also affirmed this position. “I think we can do both,” she said.
Roney also criticized how some of the city’s $26.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds has been used.
“There are still applications for our funds that are left unfunded that are higher rated for equity and feasibility. What contributed to that scarcity? We spent 1.6 million dollars fixing a mistake in parking funds and loss in parking revenue. We also spent half a million dollars filling gaps and cleaning up trash,” she said.
How much money do we have left?
This discourse prompted councilwoman Sandra Kilgore to ask “Could someone, sort of, give me an idea of how much money we have left?”
None of the council members appeared to immediately know the city’s remaining ARPA balance.
Mayor Esther Manheimer then calculated the money in real time, with assistance from Assistant City Manager Rachel Wood. She ticked off the remaining $500,000 non-allocated ARPA funds, along with the $500,000 previously allocated to the now-defunct Ramada Inn project.
“So if we don’t spend the money on this [bathroom] project, we’re at around one million and a half,” Manheimer said.
City Manager Debra Campbell confirmed that the city will have around $1 million remaining in ARPA funds after the Portland Loo decision.
Council members discussed splitting the final funds, giving $500,000 each to PEAK Academy and a low-barrier shelter. It is unclear the process City Council will follow to allocate these funds and whether or not they will formally reopen the ARPA application process.
“We can make a funding allocation from ARPA. We just need to add notice to the agenda, but it’s up to us if we reopen the ARPA funding process,” said Mayor Esther Manheimer, as council debated how to move forward.
The city held an extensive ARPA funding allocation process in 2021. Seventy organizations applied and at least 5 evaluators considered each application, scoring it on more than 18 factors including equitable community impact, project plan and evaluation and organization qualification. Twenty-four projects are currently receiving funding. PEAK Academy, which opened in the 2021-2022 school year, did not apply for ARPA funding.
“I don’t want to reopen the funding process,” Smith said. “I would like [PEAK] to submit an application so they can be in alignment with federal requirements.”
All ARPA funds must be allocated by local governments by the end of the year and must be distributed by the end of 2026.
Other tidbits
- As part of an 11-item consent agenda, council voted to temporarily pause the Land Use Incentive Grant (LUIG) program. The LUIG program was created in 2011 to incentivize developers to build more affordable housing units, but it has recently come under fire for its failures to incentivize more equitable, deeply affordable housing options. The city is reviewing the policy this month and expects to implement new LUIG requirements later this year.
- The Mayor signed a proclamation that February is Black History & Legacy Month. In the manager’s report, Debra Campbell shared a list of Black history month activities supported by the city.
- Council unanimously approved a conditional zoning request to allow the development of a BeeSafe Storage facility at 492 Sardis Road.
Every second and fourth Tuesday, Asheville City Council meets at the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza beginning at 5:00 p.m. See the full recording of the February 13 meeting and the action agenda.
