Wednesday October 12, 2011

OCBA voted to partner with OFI and hire John Williams with PN Projects out of Wilmington, NC to provide a report on the best options for addressing Ocracoke’s lack of public restrooms within the village. Mr. Williams is a soil scientist with experience in developing environmentally friendly and innovative wastewater solutions along the coast. His research will detail options, cost to install and long term maintenance costs. Once the initial research is complete a meeting will be called to review and to discuss locations and potential sources of funding.

OCBA, OFI and Saltwater Connections have partnered to provide funds for preliminary research.

Wednesday December 14, 2011

John Williams with PN Projects out of Wilmington, NC attended the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association meeting to present the different village restroom options Ocracoke has. Mr. Williams is a soil scientist with experience in developing environmentally friendly and innovative wastewater solutions along the coast. His research will detail options, cost to install and long term maintenance costs. 

View a PDF slide show of the presentation here.

The Vault Privy is an excellent alternative until a permanent solution can be found.  Once the following obstacles/challenges are addressed these units  can be put into action:

The footprint is approximately 8’0″ x 8’0″ – not large but does require land on which to be placed. Within the village this means private property owners would be asked for  a public restroom to be placed in their yard – typically the front or side. Questions that arose were: Who would pay for the cleaning? Who would carry the insurance? Who would pay the taxes that Hyde County would impose because this would be classified as a structure? Would the variance board approve the structure being placed within the set-back?

Funding – It was generally felt that funding should be requested from the Occupancy Tax Board once the questions listed above were addressed.

Information:

Different Vault Privy Models
Architectural Elevations of a custom designed unit for Ocracoke
Architectural Plan View
CXT Quote – Identifies cost for the complete unit or just the underground system where local contractors would stick build the structure. 

Village Restrooms  

Which would Ocracoke visitors be happier using?