Stonington ― The Board of Warden and Burgesses has scrapped a $400,000 plan to build public restrooms in Wadawanuck Square and will instead place them in Borough Hall at significant cost savings to taxpayers.

Warden Michael Schefers said Tuesday that the $87,000 in American Rescue Plan funds the Borough has designated for the project should cover construction and renovation expenses for two unisex public restrooms on the lower level of Borough Hall.

The plan, by local architect Julia Leeming, will use the current bathroom on the lower level of Borough Hall on Church Street as an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restroom, and place a second restroom under a set of stairs inside the entryway of the building.

Last August, a committee was formed after residents expressed concerns about costs, security and the need to pursue options other than the $400,000 plan to construct a building containing two unisex restrooms and baby changing tables, a water bottle filling station and a maintenance room behind Stonington Free Library at the north end of the square.

The Comfort Station Committee recommended relocating the potential public restrooms to Borough Hall, and the Board of Warden and Burgesses approved the recommendation in November.

Schefers said the restrooms should be open by next summer, but Burgess Kevin Rogers, the borough’s commissioner of public buildings, said Monday during a public hearing on the village’s 2024-25 budget that the plumbing is currently being assessed, and he hoped the project would be complete by this fall.

The hours of operation have not been officially determined yet, but Schefers said he anticipated the restrooms would be available year round from 7 a.m. until dusk.

Unlike downtown Mystic, which has two public restroom facilities for tourists, the only facilities for the public in the borough are single portable toilets at Dubois Beach and the Town Dock. This has resulted in businesses and the library being inundated with visitors asking to use their restrooms, with some residents even saying they have had strangers knock on their doors asking to use bathrooms.

Despite the expected costs of the project as well as significant increases to budget lines for maintenance, supplies, and sewer and water service, the borough’s 2024-25 budget is expected to decrease.

The proposed $1,477,151 budget is $27,537, or .2% less than the current $1,449,614 budget, and includes a tax rate decrease of 7% from 2.2 to 2.05 mills.

Burgess Kevin Bowdler said he believes the Borough is the only municipality in the state to see such a significant reduction in property taxes for residents.

Schefers said the decrease is due to lower-than-expected expenditures in the current budget, a decrease in overall expenses and increased revenue, including a projected 4% return, or $56,000, that the borough anticipates receiving on conservative, low-risk investments it began making last year.

Borough residents will vote on the proposed budget at the annual meeting scheduled for April 27 at 10 a.m. at Borough Hall.