A lack of 24 hour washroom facilities in downtown Penticton is prompting city council to consider placing portable toilets at strategic locations for the rest of summer.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
August 02, 2016 - 1:13 PM
PENTICTON - Penticton city council are being asked to provide temporary portable toilets downtown in an effort to reduce the incidents of public urnination and defecation.
City engineer Ian Chapman recommends in a report going to city council at their regular meeting tonight, Aug. 2, three portable toilets be placed at strategic locations for the remaining summer months. He cites the lack of 24 hour washrooms downtown as the reason behind the increase in incidents of public urnination an defecation.
Chapman says the areas around the library and museum, Yacht Club and Main Street alleys are places where the problem is most noteable.
Council will consider placing portable toilets at strategic locations and make them available 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Existing public washrooms at Gyro Park, Okanagan Lake Park and Rotary Park are closed each night at dusk to prevent them being used as overnight shelters, the report states.
The cost of cleaning and installation of three porta potties is estimated at $9,000. It presently costs between $10,000 and $12,000 annually to clean the city’s public washrooms.
Alternatively, Chapman notes discussions are underway with the Downtown Penticton Association to share responsibility for temporary washrooms already available in the 200 block of Main Street where they serve the Saturday markets. The cost sharing would allow the units to be left open 24 hours a day, reducing the cost of renting more portables toilets and making better use of the facilities already in place.
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