The Town of Tryon may be seeking bids for businesses to offer public restrooms downtown. Council last week rejected a draft agreement with John Gargiulo, owner of the Shops of Tryon, that would have allowed public use of the restrooms at the Shops of Tryon.

The original draft agreement specified that the town would give Gargiulo free sewer services in exchange for public use of the restrooms. Council changed the agreement to read that the town would pay a monthly fee to Gargiulo instead of free sewer charges because no town official seemed comfortable with that arrangement.

Durham said before the town agreed to such an agreement, every business should be given the opportunity to provide public restrooms. &bsp;

Council advised interim town manager Justin Hembree to look into putting the contract service out to bid for the town to pay a business a monthly fee to provide public restrooms.

A vote on the draft agreement failed 3-2, with Mayor Alan Peoples voting against the agreement to break a tie. Council members Roy Miller and Dennis Durham voted against the agreement and Austin Chapman and Jim Scott voted for it.

Council also discussed last week the Carrie Lee Massey building the town owns adjacent to Rogers Park, which was purchaed originally to provide public restrooms. After estimates for repairs to the building escalated to $100,000, council decided to look into demolishing the building and possibly constructing new public restrooms there.

Hembree reported that he is checking on grants the town received to ensure that funding can still be used if the building is demolished. He said as soon as he meets with a landscape architect the demolition can occur.