Costly washrooms

New washroom facility and changerooms are coming to Ameliasburgh’s Roblin Lake Park

The construction of the new washroom facility at Ameliasburgh park will move forward after the County awarded the contract to Standard Paving Limited over two competing bids in the amount of $159,194.69 plus HST. Council also increased the capital budget for the project by $97,725.55 because the lowest tendered bid exceeded the original budget for the project. These new facilities would replace the ones damaged by fire in May of 2017 and will include washrooms, change rooms and storage/mechanical rooms.

The comments around the horseshoe were that that price seemed unreasonably high for washrooms, but it was explained by Development and Works Commissioner Robert McAuley that the price is higher because the original plan was to put a small addition onto the existing Canteen building at the Park. But before they could do that the existing washroom building at the site was destroyed by fire. When the insurer came back with the claim, it wasn’t close to being sufficient because the washrooms destroyed were situated on a holding tank and the new ones would now have to be on a septic system. McAuley said that the facility would require new water lines and a brand-new washroom, where before the budget had only been set to add a couple of stalls to the existing building.

Councillor Jamie Forrester wanted to explore all options before jumping in and spending the money. “I do support putting washrooms into the park, but I cannot support spending this type of money.” Forrester explained that portable washrooms might be a solution. “One business just put one in. Three washrooms, three showers, plus an accessible washroom and accessible shower, plus a $20,000 deck, they can be propane or electric, they can go directly into a septic system or a holding tank, shingled roof, built for three seasons, and deck around it for $100,000.”

“The nice thing about this too, these can be wheeled in, it could be moved if there was a need somewhere else, or if there was flooding, it can just be pulled out.” said Forrester.

Councillor Roy Pennell reminded council that this has been an ongoing issue. “There has been so much controversy on trying to get a washroom and changeroom there. We have been using portable washrooms for two years, which I suspect probably are $500 to $600 a month minimum. The people that use the park are no different than if they lived in Wellington, if the lived in Bloomfield, Picton or Athol. They have a right to have a washroom.”

The County’s insurance adjuster gave an estimate of $78,087 for damages lost in the fire. The County’s deductible for property claims is $100,000 and it self-insures losses under that number. So the estimate of $78,087 will come from the insurance claim line in the 2018 budget. The other funding will come from the previously budgeted $85,000 for the original canteen expansion and the remainder will be taken from the County’s Capital sustainability reserve. In total, the washroom project will receive funding of $175,054. The motion was passed in a 14-2 recorded vote The two councillors opposed were Jamie Forrester and Kevin Gale.

In an interview after the meeting, Councillor Pennell wanted to make sure that the public knew where the money was coming from.

“There is money budgeted for everything involved in this project. Taxpayers will not see any increases from this build and it’s something that both the park and the community need,” says Pennell.