While the Burns Lake Public Library has been suffering from vandalism, vandals have also taken to the track washrooms in Burns Lake, destroying them and leaving them unusable.
During the Oct. 6 council meeting, the Village of Burns Lakechief administrative officer, Sheryl Worthing informed the council that the track washrooms were “yet again” vandalized and left for repairs sometime in the last week of September. According to Worthing, this is not a new occurrence and happens once or twice a year but costs the village dearly every time there need to be repairs.
Last time this happened was in October last year and the village had to shell out $1,800 towards the repairs.
This time the vandals have destroyed the washrooms with the sinks and toilets torn off, graffiti painted across the walls.
”At this point the facility is closed for repair. Having said that, they were to be closed for the winter this week anyway. We will reopen them in the spring,” said Worthing.
The council, disturbed by this constant occurrence, brainstormed over different ideas ranging from installing CCTV cameras to putting in steel sinks and toilets to minimize the damage. The council ultimately gave a go ahead for the repairs to be done.
Worthing said that the staff was now waiting on an estimate to install steel sinks and toilets which will then be relayed to council.
The track washrooms are closed during the winter months and open only from May to October each year however within the small time frame that they are open, several people walking the track find the facility beneficial.
The village is urging the community to come forward and contact the village or the RCMP if they notice any suspicious activity.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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