For several hours earlier this month, a person locked himself in the bathroom at Babbott Park to use drugs.
At last week’s Waterville Village Board meeting, DPW Superintendent Jamie Bechy described what happened.
It began with a call from someone who was walking at the park and said someone had been in the bathroom for at least four hours.
Bechy went to the park and found the door locked.
He called 911 and unlocked the door, finding a person in there with drug use paraphernalia, including needles left on the changing table.
“I’ve very upset,’’ Bechy said. “The bathrooms are being misused. My grandsons use that park and bathroom. What if a kid had gone in there after this person?’’
The person inside ran after Bechy opened the door.
When law enforcement arrived, they looked at photos from the park’s cameras and identified the person.
Bechy said the police went to the person’s house in the village.
The person had been arrested a couple of weeks prior for drug possession; under the Bail Reform bill he was processed and released.
Bechy said that Friday was a rainy one, likely pushing the person to look for an indoor place.
It was estimated he had locked himself in the bathroom for at least six hours, but Bechy said he could have been there overnight.
Village Attorney Stephanie DiGeorgia suggested closing the public bathrooms unless there are events at the park.
It’s the latest in misuses of the bathroom, which includes vandalism, that’s happened this summer.
In other matters, Bechy said the almost 3 inches of rain that fell that Friday showed the work done on the creek to prevent flooding held up. The creek was rerouted to move the water differently.
The latest creek project to address flooding near the Wastewater Treatment Plant has started.
The Village Board, which ...
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