In the latest step for the new public plaza near North River Street in downtown Batavia, the Batavia City Council on Monday approved the purchase of a public restroom facility for the area.

Approved unanimously by the City Council, the purchase of the bathroom from Urben Blu is set to come in at around $330,000, according to a memo about the purchase included in Monday’s meeting agenda. That cost could be slightly higher, the city has said, depending on design choices like a water fountain and air conditioning.

The public restroom will be part of a public plaza that the city is in the final planning stages for, according to the memo about the purchase from Assistant City Administrator Max Weiss.

Batavia City Administrator Laura Newman said on Monday that the city wants to add additional benches in the area because seating is “at a premium,” particularly during busy times like the weekly farmers market. Per a memo from the city in March about the plaza, the project is set to include accessible paving, seating and landscape features, along with the public restroom.

In April, the City Council approved an agreement with Upland Design Ltd. for professional landscape architectural services for the project.

The plaza is set to be on North River Street where the Tin Shop was previously located, according to Newman.

As for the restroom facility purchase, the city has vetted the maker of the restrooms, Quebec-based Urben Blu, and looked at other cities where its facilities have been installed, Newman said. It will have a production lead time of about 16 weeks, per the memo about the facility, so the city plans to place the order immediately so it will arrive in time to be installed concurrently with the plaza construction.

The restroom facility, which would be a double unit, cleans after each use and deep cleans every hour, Newman said at Monday’s meeting, and is meant to be vandalism-resistant. It’s set to be open year-round.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com