As an original Guelphite, I am very concerned with the state of our downtown core and in particular, the advent of Pissoirs in an attempt to overcome the despoiling of our public and private property by over imbibing Bar attendees during the early morning hours.
I watched the Council Meeting of early July when a motion passed with an amendment to allow this pilot project (no specific time limit) for pissoirs at the intersection of MacDonell and Wyndham Sts. from late afternoon on Wed. Thurs. Fri. and Sat. until early the following morning of each following day. Then they would be removed and cleaned before re-installation that day. These were to be fabricated by city employees to reduce costs. The amendment that passed stated that no funds for this project would be coming from the City coffers and that the expense would be shared by all those businesses with a vested in interest in assisting the City to clean up this disgusting situation.
So you can imagine my dismay, when I read in the Tribune that Councillor, Ian Findlay, was bringing up this subject again for discussion with many aspects of the motion and amendment changed. The pissoirs will now be purchased, will be permanently affixed to the sidewalk/road and that the City can pay for this permanent initiative from the money collected from the miscreants charged by the Police for fowling the roads, alleyways and sidewalks. In my naivete, I thought the Pissoirs were meant to eliminate these infractions so there would be no fines to pay. Nice double speak from Councillor Findlay. What are the rules underwhich this subject can again be discussed at a Council Meeting and be re-voted on?
Another thing that bothers me immensely, are the restaurants that are sit down facilities during the day which must supply a washroom but during the late hours of opening they can pile their chairs and tables and become take-out only. Should the terms of these licenses not be met day or night?
I my opinion the cause of needing Pissoirs in the downtown core are threefold –
1. Bars are open too late and should be cut back by an hour as I understand is the time for closing by our neighbouring cities and towns.
2. Bar tenders are obviously over-serving their customers which is against the law.
3. Bar washrooms are not sufficient to serve the number of customers at each establishment and should be checked out by our licensing department.Thank you for your kind attention herein. ML
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Thank you for your email.
All citizens find the fouling of our City repugnant. It is a negative public health practise.
We just can not ignore the problem any longer.
The City of Guelph does not issue liquor licenses. That is controlled by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). The AGCO controls the hours of operation for all licensed establishments.
While Downtown Guelph will change significantly over the next few years, legally licensed establishments will almost certainly remain. The City of Guelph and the Nightlife Taskforce are committed to encouraging responsible behaviour on the part of both patrons and managers and owners of licensed premises. The objective is to create a safe and healthy entertainment district.
Edmonton, Victoria, Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg and Windsor have all installed pissoirs or are about to.
Edmonton has just finished a very successful pissoir pilot project. They located 3 pissoirs on Whyte Avenue during the busy weekend evenings last summer.
Edmonton collected 500 litres of liquid each weekend! That’s 500 litres not contaminating our public spaces.
This summer Edmonton will move to have permanent all day locations and they expect it to be even more successful..
The City of Guelph encourages bar patrons to act responsibly in public spaces.
The task force is recommending the purchase of pissoirs and that they remain located in the downtown throughout the day. The taskforce believes that this will greatly decrease the cost and operating expenses and provide a greater level of service to citizens.
The task force is very optimistic about the pilot project. It would be fantastic if Guelph Police were not able to issue any fouling tickets because of the overwhelming success of the pissoir project.
Hope this helps,
ian