Newbury Township Trustee Bill Skomrock announced he has finally received the go-ahead to move forward with Green Flush restrooms at Oberland Park after delays due to a potable water requirement.
Newbury Township Trustee Bill Skomrock announced he has finally received the go-ahead to move forward with Green Flush restrooms at Oberland Park after delays due to a potable water requirement.
The environmentally-friendly restrooms, going in at 14639 Auburn Road, hit a temporary clog as the Ohio Department of Health originally told trustees they had to have a 1,000-gallon tank for potable water that is required by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Since the bathrooms, which will replace the port-a-potties currently at the park, aren’t being used for human consumption, Green Flush officials did not think the 1,000-gallon requirement should apply.
However, Geauga Public Health recently approved a variance that allows a 240-gallon tank instead of the 1,000-gallon tank that is required by the Ohio EPA.
“Everything’s moving along smoothly now,” said Skomrock, who, after frustrating delays, said last month he was “about ready to throw the towel in.”
Newbury Township received a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the restrooms last year.
The total cost of the project will be around $270,000, Skomrock said last December, which includes delivery and installation.
The balance of the cost of the project will come out of the township’s capital improvement fund and about $52,000 will be needed from the general fund, Fiscal Officer Lindsay Pollock said last fall.
Trustees received a sign they will be required to post near or on the structure, citing they received funding from ODNR for the project.
Skomrock said he and his wife, Sue, decided on a cream interior color, white ceiling, a dark green for the trim, doors and frames and a grey color for the window frames.
In addition, they chose a darker sage green for the roof, instead of the originally planned red to match the other building at the park, he said, adding the red roof and green building would have looked like a “Christmas design.”
“I asked him (Micah Wirhol, Green Flush project manager), if he could send me a finished product picture and he (said), ‘No, we can’t do that,’” Skomrock said.
Trustees decided in January 2024 to contract with Green Flush Technologies in Washougal, Wash., for the units.
The project, which was originally expected to be completed in July of this year, is now expected to be completed in early October, officials said.
