PEMBERVILLE – The Wood County Park District Board is continuing to flush through ideas for a restroom at
Bradner Preserve that can operate without water and sewer.
At Monday’s meeting, which was held at William Henry Harrison Park, the board voted to spend $1,850 on an
engineering study, which is required through the Environmental Protection Agency, for a self-contained,
odor-free toilet made by Romtec, based in Roseburg, Ore.
If purchased, the restroom, which is a free-standing, rustic-looking building, would cost $16,609,
including the $1,850 for the study. Park district staff would install the restroom on a concrete pad.

There were differing opinions on the price tag.
"I was kind of surprised at the cost," said board president George Thompson.
"I was surprised it wasn’t higher," Munger said.
Munger said he researched toilets that don’t need water and sewer because those services aren’t offered
at the 228-acre Bradner Preserve.
He said the Romtec toilets are odor free due to the design. "It all has to do with the way you
position them."
Some of the park staff traveled to Marblehead Peninsula in Ottawa County where they have had a Romtec
toilet since 1997.
Munger said two other similar toilets were considered, the Eloo and the Clivus Multrum. He said both cost
significantly more.
He also said that he couldn’t find an Eloo, which was developed in South Africa, in use in the area. A
Clivus, which is a composting toilet, has been used at Zimmerman School since 1997 or 1998, Munger said.

The Bradner Preserve restroom would be located off the Timmons Road entrance near where a Boy Scout
campground is. In the future, the board hopes to put in a multi-purpose facility with restrooms off
Caldwell Road.
Compared to a portable restroom, Munger said the Romtec model would be "something a little more
permanent, a little more aesthetically pleasing, a little more user friendly and get away from the
monthly cost."
Also at the meeting, the board:
¥ Voted to spend not more than $41,350 on a Ford F-550 truck from Bi-State Ford in Toledo. Only two bids
were received for the truck.
¥ Heard plans are in the works for the 75th anniversary celebration set for Sept. 19 at W.W. Knight
Nature Preserve in Perrysburg. There will be canoe rides, children’s activities, food and nature
programs.
¥ Went into an executive session to discuss land acquisition.
¥ Heard the next board meeting would be July 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Otsego Park.