County officials this week were hastening to recast
the supervisors’ vote two weeks ago to create a visitor center
in Point Reyes Station.
On that week’s Board of Supervisors agenda was
a recommendation from the Public Works Department that the board "authorize
the president [of the board] to execute an agreement with C3 Design
Alliance in the amount of $77,500 for architectural services for the
Point Reyes Visitor Center (Project No. 237-2407)."
Exhibit A of the agreement begins: "The County
of Marin will construct a Visitors’ Center in Point Reyes Station
on a small parcel of land on the north side of Mesa Road across from
Toby’s Feed Barn and adjacent to 631 Mesa Rd., an affordable housing
project currently under construction.
"The project will include parking and a permanent
public restroom for the many tourists who visit Point Reyes Station.
Other features of the facility may include a play area (tot lot) for
children, a pathway [to the main street] via an easement through Toby’s
Feed Barn, and a community bulletin board. Signage for way-finding is
also part of the project scope.
"The extent of these features will be finalized
through a series of community meetings. The project cost is estimated
at $250,000 for the building and $200,000 for the site improvements."
After hearing the wording of what was voted on Oct.
4, Bob Beaumont, chief assistant director of the Department of Public
Works, on Wednesday told The Light:
"That’s a little bizarre. I can confirm
for you we’re building a couple of bathrooms. A small parking lot
and two toilets – that’s the entire project."
Beaumont did not know why DPW staff worded the architect’s
contract and the supervisors’ agenda as they did.
Reached in Denver, where he was attending a transportation
meeting, Supervisor Steve Kinsey in a phone interview said, "I
am clueless as to how DPW came up with the ‘visitor center’
title. I think it is completely unexplainable."
His aide Liza Crosse speculated that DPW was just
being overly "delicate" when it referred to two toilets as
a "visitor center."
The supervisor said that, at the request of the West
Marin Chamber of Commerce and others, he tried for years to get the
county to install public restrooms in town, but townspeople never reached
a consensus as to a site. Finally, a site was designated when the supervisors
approved a masterplan for the EAH affordable-housing project, he noted.
Where’s the money going?
If "the projected cost is estimated at $250,000
for the building," as the contract reads, and the building consists
of merely two toilets, where is all the money going to be spent?
Kinsey said DPW must have over-estimated the cost
so as not to have the project come in over budget. The septic system
for the two toilets could cost as much $80,000, he added, but "I’m
not interested in gold-plating anything." The restrooms "should
be modest" with "clean toilets."
The small parking area outside the restrooms should
be "unpaved," Kinsey also said.
Pedestrian shortcut
As for the pedestrian shortcut from Mesa Road to the
main street mentioned in the contract, Kinsey noted he had been talking
with Toby’s Feed Barn owner Chris Giacomini, who is receptive to
providing an access easement between his property and the Station House
Café.
The DPW contract estimated $200,000 for "site
improvements" in addition to the $250,000 for the two toilets,
and some of the $200,000 could be spent on the easement.
It would have to accommodate wheelchairs, but it wouldn’t
necessarily have to be paved with asphalt or cement. If the shortcut
is created, Kinsey said, "it’s not going to be a big-ticket
item."
Had the county government actually planned to build
a visitor center and not merely install two toilets, the $250,000 building
and parking area would not have fit on the designated site, and The
Light incorrectly reported the facility would extend into a pair
of neighboring commercially zoned lots owned by the county. Our apologies
for the mistake.
Village Association
The significance of all this will be discussed by
the Point Reyes Village Association at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 13,
in the Dance Palace.
Also on the association’s agenda are plans for
the "farm parcel" within the EAH property. The association
this week reported the new owner, Tom Ritchey, has submitted to county
planning staff plans for "a residence, second unit, and bar to
be located uphill from the EAH residential development."
Town meetings
Beyond that, Kinsey aide Crosse this week announced,
"The community is invited to a meeting to discuss the proposed
bathroom on Wednesday, Nov. 9. We will begin with a site visit at 4:30
p.m. and will then convene in the theater space at the West Marin School
at 5:30 p.m."
Editor’s note: With a second community meeting
regarding the two toilets scheduled for "early 2006," the
discussions should make for great theater.