More information has been requested from administration at city hall, before council approves a project to make more public washrooms available around Timmins.
Maintenance and cleaning are among questions at Tuesday night’s council meeting, such as from Councillor Steve Black.
“I do think it’s a concern in terms of washroom accessibility if we only have a cleaning service that shows up once a day at 2pm or 4pm and something happens in that washroom at 9am or 10am,” he said, “and then the staff there are forced to lock the washroom.”
Black says without that information, he’s not comfortable in approving the project.
Councillor Cory Robin – who is also executive director of the BIA – said there are 300 washrooms in that area, most belonging to private businesses for the use of their patrons. As a result, some people are defecating in laneways.
“Last year, the BIA put a proposal out for a biohazard vacuum truck to help deal with kind of thing,” he told council, “and I’ve got positive feedback from the workers who drive it and the guys cleaning up downtown.”
Administration at city hall is gathering information about cost, maintenance and cleaning, and hours that any washrooms would be available.