Public washrooms: no relief in sight
The answer to the public washroom problem in Creemore is to spend some money and build permanent facilities that are connected to sewers, said Marty Beelen, Clearview council member and chair of the management board at Station on the Green.
Faced with vandalism and capacity issues, board members are becoming more and more reluctant to open the washrooms at Station on the Green, having already opted to limit public access when the facility is rented for private events.
“Vandalism happens when we open them to the public,” said Beelen. “How do you stop vandalism? It’s senseless.”
He said Station on the Green is on the hook for additional cleaning costs and restocking the washrooms, when damage occurs and when the washrooms are taxed by large crowds.
For example, Deb Hill, who cleans the facility and acts as booking agent, said she was notified of an incident of vandalism on Saturday. She arrived to find what she describes as walls painted with chili, which was all over the floor. The emptied cans had been wedged into the toilets. She said all six toilets were clogged and overflowing, urine and faeces everywhere. She said she locked the door and walked away. The next day, it took her and her husband more than four hours to clean up the mess.
It wasn’t the first time she had faced a biohazard. Last summer, on a Saturday morning, she found the wall smeared with blood and a dirty sanitary pad on the floor. Other, albeit less graphic, instances of vandalism happen regularly involving food in toilets, gravy on the walls, full rolls of toilet paper shoved into the toilets.
“It is costing us too much time and money,” said Hill. “It’s hard to know who is doing it but it seems to happen when the park is full.”
Board members note that the washrooms were built to the capacity of the Station on the Green, which is 200.
Beelen said the Station board has earmarked funds for a renovation to the kitchen and the washrooms but there is a reluctance to proceed until the issues of vandalism and overuse are addressed.
As a temporary solution, the Township of Clearview purchased a new portable washroom trailer.
Terry Vachon Director of Parks and Recreation said there have been some operational issues with the trailer including manufacturer defects and user error, which have resulted in closure of the washrooms, but another issue is capacity.
“The size of the washroom isn’t big enough for the events that are happening in Creemore,” said Vachon. “So a lot of times we are stuck having to close down the washrooms because the holding tanks are full.”
Because the trailer is not hooked up to municipal water and sewer, during busy events, the 400-gallon holding tank is not keeping up, said Vachon. He said the service provider is not available to pump it out until Monday. He said it was initially estimated that the tank could be pumped out once per week, but in reality it needs to be pumped three or four times per week.
“Council and staff are going to have to reevaluate the effectiveness of that washroom,” he said. “Those portable washrooms were purchased and installed there as a temporary means to offset the pressure of what was going on with respect to the amount of folks using the Station on the Green washrooms and some of the conflicts with the clients.”
He said the hope is that a permanent solution is found.
Beelen would like to see washrooms and changing rooms added to the Village Green. He is also open to the idea of coin access facilities, like in Europe, to generate revenue and limit access to vandals.
“These big events need more washrooms,” said Beelen. “I don’t know why they’re not bringing in porta-potties.”
Stuart Lazier, a founding member of the Creemore Community Foundation that built the Village Green, said initially determined that the existing washrooms at Station on the Green would be adequate.
“Frankly we didn’t really know how successful it was going to be,” said Lazier. “But because of its success it has obviously created some issues.”
He said the Foundation is in the early stages of talks with the municipality.
“What we have to do is come up with a longer term solution which requires capital,” said Lazier. “We’re open to conversations about it.”
“I don’t see this as an acceptable long-term solution,” said Lazier.
He said thanks to Village Green manager Jeremy Mantesso the park has been hosting some great events, and as the community continues to engage and grow, these are the kind of problems that surface.
“Everyone is well aware of it and we’re thoughtful about it,” said Lazier. “It’s a problem now to manage for the township… and we’re happy to be part of a conversation for a solution.”
He said that conversation could include a financial contribution toward permanent facilities and bringing in addition portable toilets for big events.
