Tanners Bathrooms Could Re-Open Next Year, Council Says Tear Down Nature Center

Tanners Lake Park Bathrooms Could Re-open: With the absence of lifeguards at beach, Oakdale City Council members said they weren’t comfortable opening up the brick restroom building at the park for public use due to concerns about crime. However, council members said they’d like to see a vendor come in and staff the concessions stand next summer, and that having people around would make them more comfortable opening the restrooms again, at their meeting Tuesday, July 26. City staff will pursue nonprofit organizations such as the Lions Club, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to see if there’s a local group that would like to run the stand as a fundraiser, said Parks Superintendent Randy Bastyr. If no club wants to run the concessions stand, Council Member Stan Karwoski suggested having  a “Plan B” for keeping the restrooms open, such as seeking out seniors who would volunteer to monitor the area.

Council Says Tear Down Parks Building: Oakdale’s former nature center building, which was damaged when an oak tree fell on its roof July 18, is destined to be destroyed. The Oakdale City Council voted on Tuesday, July 26, to let the fire department use the building for training and then demolish it. The city had been using the building for storage, so staff will likely have to rent some storage space, said Parks Superintendent Randy Bastyr. The parks commission talked about the possibility of constructing a garage for storage at the site of the building, Commission Member Bill Rasmussen told the council.