Council approves committee decision for washroom placement

PENTICTON  – The question of where to relocate the city’s portable washroom unit in the downtown area was answered by city councillors earlier this week.

City of Penticton Director of Operations Mitch Moroziuk presented council with options coming out of the downtown revitalization sub-committee’s recent deliberations regarding the placement of Gyro Park’s mobile washrooms.

The mobile washroom trailer was displaced as a result of 100 block revitalization work last fall that created the Gyro Park link road.

Moroziuk said connections for plumbing had been placed at two locations adjacent the link road for the washrooms, but no electrical connections would be placed until council decided on a location.

The biggest issue surrounding placement involved whether the unit should be within or outside of the fenced off portion of Gyro Park, which would result in some inconveniences for the general public’s use of the facility for those not attending events in the fenced off area.

Moroziuk said the intention was to open the washrooms seven days a week to make them available to everyone.

Three options were considered by the committee, who ultimately recommended placing the unit to the back portion of the parking lot located at the north side of city hall.

Coun. Helena Konanz sought clarification on anticipated link road usage, expressing concerns increased traffic on the link road could result in safety issues with people crossing back and forth.

Moroziuk said the intention was for the link road to be open only in the event Main Street was closed.

Coun. Judy Sentes, who sat on the committee, said due diligence was paid to a resolution.

“The market is only one pressure point for washrooms in the downtown area. There are several pressure points,” she said.

Council moved unanimously in favour of the committee’s recommendation to locate  the unit in the parking lot on the north side of city hall.

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