The head of the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee is calling for an agreeable solution to the restroom controversy on St. John’s Bordeaux Mountain.
Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, who has called a committee meeting for 10 a.m. Monday in the St. John legislative conference room, said he hopes the National Park Service can work with local merchants and the Public Works Department to remedy the situation.
"The Bordeaux Mountain restroom closure has caused a degree of inconvenience to tourists, taxi drivers and business people," Donastorg said. "I'd like to see a cooperative effort to construct environmentally friendly restrooms in the Bordeaux area."
As one of his last acts before he retired, Park Superintendent Russell Berry Jr. ordered the removal of two free-standing portable toilets at the junction of Route 108, Bordeaux Mountain Road, and Route 10, Centerline Road. Freely running sewage from those units was cited as the reason for the action.
St. John merchant Wilma Marsh-Monsanto, who owns Chateaux Bordeaux Restaurant and a group of adjacent shops catering to tourists, protested the action.
Monday's meeting is intended to sort out the issues. But Chief Park Ranger Schuyler Brown says he will not have a lot to say, although he plans to attend.
"That might end up in court," Brown said Friday. "We’ll go to the haring but we won’t be able to say anything."
Use of the restrooms becomes especially heavy on Wednesday mornings when cruise ships drop off dozens of passengers for island tours by taxi, most of which make a stop at Bordeaux Mountain.
The public is invited to testify at Monday's hearing. For more information call Donastorg's office at 693-3665.
