By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Despite a record breaking high of 84 degrees in Hays Wednesday, Hays Director of Parks Jeff Boyle was looking toward the weekend’s weather forecast calling for two consecutive nights of lows around 20 degrees.

“Every year when the cold weather starts hitting, we will be shutting down our restrooms and drinking fountains in our area parks to keep everything from freezing up and breaking,” Boyle said. “The restrooms are not heated–it’s pretty costly to heat all those.”

“We have to drain the water out of the system, disconnect all the P-traps and do all kinds of interior plumbing to get the water out of the system to keep the pipes from cracking.”

Parks Department employees started the work Tuesday. Each year the shutoff date varies based on fall temperatures.

“We’ve had a phenomenal fall this year and there’s been no need to close those restrooms down. Two years ago though, we were closed down by mid-October,” Boyle recalled.

“We watch the 10-day weather forecast, knowing it takes us four to five days to get our work done. It just depends on Mother Nature.”