Cold Lake, AB - At its regular meeting held February 14, 2022, Cold Lake City Council voted to cancel the Downtown Public Washroom project and reconsider the initiative during the 2024 budget deliberations, and to un-restrict the money that was set aside for this project.

Originally approved by Council in 2021, the project was recommended by the Cold Lake and District FCSS Advisory Committee and the Economic Development Advisory Committee, with the intent being to provide convenient public washrooms in the downtown core.

The project has been postponed twice as deliberations have taken place over placement, concerns raised by the downtown business community, and administration researching appropriate solutions for public washrooms.

“We have a lot of projects on the go right now and council felt that having this money parked did not make sense, given the inflation we are seeing and the low chance that the project would be completed this year,” Mayor Craig Copeland said. “Council has heard some concerns relating to increased vagrancy around the location and the possibility for vandalism, but we’ve also heard about the need for a public washroom when events are happening. Given the projects we have on our plate and the inflation we are seeing, we voted to free up the money for other uses and revisit this project when we discuss 2024 capital projects.”

The City has a number of large, multi-year projects taking place, including Lakeshore Drive and the new Public Works Centre. These budgets are being challenged by inflation in the costs of construction. Administration advised that the probability of the washrooms being completed this year within the current budget was unlikely. By delaying the public washroom project until the 2024 budget talks and removing the restrictions on the $200,000 budgeted, the allocated funds won’t be subject to inflation and can be redeployed to current projects that are in the works.

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