WESTLOCK – Westlock County councillors have poo-pooed a new $100,000 outhouse for the beach at Long Island Lake, with administration now looking to tear down the old structure and backfill the site.
After more than 40 minutes of debate at their April 11 meeting following a presentation from community services coordinator Adrienne Finnegan on a proposed $98,258 replacement of the beach outhouse, councillors first voted 4-3 against funding the new facility (reeve Christine Wiese and councillors Sherri Provencal and Francis Cloutier were in favour), then voted 7-0 to direct administration to craft a “standards guide” for all of the municipality’s rec facilities, as well do a capital assessment of the entire Long Island Lake campground, and bring it back to the May committee of the whole meeting.
While councillors thanked administration for doing the legwork to gather the quotes and agreed the outhouse needs to be replaced as Wiese noted “it’s been a long time coming and it’s not going to get any cheaper” and Provencal added that “Long Island is well used and we should have the proper facilities to go with it”, it appears sticker shock is what scared off the majority with Coun. Isaac Skuban saying point-blank, “that I feel 100 grand is a lot.”
“I voted against it, but I do see the need for it out there. I have a hard time swallowing $100,000 for one bathroom,” added Coun. Jared Stitsen, who said he wanted to see a “scaled-down option.”
Talk of building a shower facility at the site was also bandied about before the vote, with deputy reeve Ray Marquette saying administration had done its job gathering quotes for the outhouse project only and “a decision is to be made.”
“I know that a lot of work has gone into this and I appreciate it. But I think there are some other options and before we approve a $100,000 expense here, I think the due diligence of this council is to really understand what we want to do there,” said Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson, adding that following the provincial election he expects additional grants will be available for municipal projects. “If we want to build showers there that’s great but it’s not going to be $100,000, it’s going to be $300,000. And I think we’re kind of firing off shots here and we don’t have a clear picture of what needs to be there.”
Following the meeting, CAO Tony Kulbisky said that due to the dilapidated state and constant smell of human refuse from the outhouse on the beach, he’s asked his staff to “put together a work plan to have the outhouse that’s the problem one removed and get everything hydrovaced out of there.” Although the one outhouse will be razed and “backfilled with clean fill”, the second, which is within walking distance, will remain operational, as will the outhouses in the adjoining campground.
“So at least that takes care of the immediate concern that we’ve been hearing about from local residents as well as the odd complaint from people visiting the lake,” said Kulbisky. “If we take care of that immediate need, it buys us some time to figure out what the go-forward strategy is on a replacement. Really, to go another summer with that eyesore like that and the smell coming out it, we need to take care of it and fix the problem.”
Discussion on a replacement outhouse began during budget deliberations in the winter and terms of reference for the project were listed in the Alberta Purchasing Connection and the county received two bids for $98,258 and $171,209.20. The proposal in front of councillors included the demolition of the old facility, then construction of the concrete bathroom, plus a new vault pit, while $50,000 was slated to come from the previously-approved Spruce Island project that didn’t materialize, with the rest coming from this year’s capital budget.
Ultimately, Kulbisky recommended and councillors agreed on administration crafting a standards guide for its rec facilities and the amenities within them “so we’re all talking from the same handbook.” He expects that document to be back in front of councillors for perusal next month so they’re clear on “what the priorities are.”
“We need a guide or a level of service that we can all agree on and then we can price them out and include them in the capital plan going forward,” Kulbisky explained. “If we have a level of service that we’re prepared to stand behind, then we fund it accordingly and off we go. Are there cheaper options? Sure, there is. But I think what we were trying to do is present something that once it’s built, we’re not going to have future maintenance issues on it. If we’re trying to attract visitors or tourists to this region and if you go to a campground and all it has are porta-potties, it doesn’t send a strong message.”
