The push for an outhouse at Mosquito Lake campground continued at Monday’s meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.
Committee chair Rich Chapell reported a state estimate of $80,000 for a new outhouse.
Committee member Lori Lapeyri Smith said she found someone who would donate an outhouse with a 50-gallon holding tank. She said Community Waste Solutions would charge about $600, once or more a month, to pump the tank.
For any outhouse, there would need to be a three-way agreement between landowner Division of State Parks, Haines Borough as the responsible party, and a volunteer group to do maintenance.
Smith said Division of Parks was concerned about liability if the outhouse was not maintained, and wanted to release that liability through a written agreement.
“Could there be a volunteer-based group that are local to the area of Mosquito Lake who might be willing to have the maintenance task to do a tag team and maintain a good old-fashioned pit privy style outhouse?” said committee member Burl Sheldon.
“The borough would be on the hook if the community association failed,” Chapell said.
Don Turner Jr. asked about the legality of digging a hole, and Jack Smith Jr. said a hole would have to be 100 feet from a body of water and six feet above groundwater.
Discussion to put an outhouse near Mosquito Lake began in spring of 2016 when Chapell suggested it would make the popular recreation site more hospitable.
Sheldon agreed to research the details of the written agreement, who at Mosquito Lake would be willing to maintain an outhouse and the legality of building the new facility. It will be on the next meeting’s agenda Wednesday, June 28.