A portable toilet near the synthetic soccer fields in Lucchesi Park caused a stink recently, leading Parks and Recreation to install a second unit at the popular playing fields at the east end of the park.
Resident Sharon Kirk visits the fields most Mondays and Wednesdays, when her son plays soccer there, and she says that for the last few months the toilet has been "a health hazard."
To address the issue, which she says many parents were upset about, Kirk wrote a letter to the Argus-Courier last week vividly decrying the toilet's lack of maintenance, and later called Ron DeNicola, parks and landscape manager for the city.
DeNicola said it was the first complaint he'd received. He called United Site Services, the company that provides and cleans the portable toilets. The company reassured him it was cleaning the toilet every Monday, as the city had requested, he said. DeNicola said the city has ordered a second unit to take pressure off of the first.
"Apparently it was getting over-used," he said. "Those fields get so many patrons."
United Site Services also contacted the Argus-Courier, expressing concern over the issue. Jim Krantz, Internet marketing manager for the company, said in an e-mail that the issue had been taken care of and that having additional toilets should make the issue avoidable in the future.
"We here at USS understand Sharon's concern and want to stress that customer service is our top priority," Krantz wrote.
But Kirk maintains that, despite what United Site Services told DeNicola, the toilet is rarely clean even on Mondays, the day of the week it is supposed to be serviced. She said that she and other parents had called the phone number on the outside of the portable toilet earlier, but hadn't seen any changes.
The company's customer care manager, David Tooman, said that it's possible the toilets were cleaned later in the day, after soccer practice had happened, but he couldn't say for sure, as the cleaning schedule often changes from day to day. He added that complaints are supposed to be forwarded to the operations department, where they can be taken care of.
"It's embarrassing (the problem) had to be put online, but if that's what it took to get it fixed, then we're glad it happened," Tooman said.
The Argus-Courier visited the toilet around noon on Monday, Sept. 19, four days after Kirk's letter had been published. At that time, the toilet looked freshly cleaned, if not shiny and new.
(Contact Jamie Hansen at jamie.hansen@arguscourier.com)
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