Plans for Jasper’s public washroom are up in the air following town council’s April 6 rejection of all tender’s received for the project. While the washroom is not cancelled, plans to make it an environmental technology showcase may be scaled back as they have contributed to the project’s higher than expected cost.

“A lot of people still seem to think that it’s a worthwhile exercise. Council is just going to have to decide if this is what they want to do,” said Ken Quackenbush, Director of Environmental Services for the Town of Jasper.

Jasper town council rejected five proposed plans for the washroom at their April 6 general meeting. Plans for the green washroom were estimated at $300,000. The contract bids from five separate contractors each came in around the $600,000 range, more than double what the town wanted to spend.

“We were maybe out of line in asking for such a high spec,” said Quackenbush. “Council aimed low because they thought that prices were going to drop . . . [but] it’s not something that we’re seeing [in Jasper].”

The companies that bid on the project are KT Construction Services Inc. based out of Edmonton, Flex-Co Construction Corporation based out of Spruce Grove, Total Concrete and Construction based out of Calgary, Castle Rock Construction based out of Lloydminister and Fillmore Construction Management based out of Edmonton.

Keith Thomas, the owner of KT Construction in Edmonton, the lowest bidder on the washroom (all bidders were within 10 per cent of each other) said that he had no comment when asked why the costs of his washroom estimate were nearly double the town’s.

Quackenbush explained that some of the features the town wanted for the washroom may have pushed the price higher than expected.

“It was just the environmentally-friendly thing to do, council thought. They wanted to show people that this is how you can go green,” said Quackenbush.

There were plans to install green grass on the roof of the bathroom which would help offset Jasper’s carbon footprint.

As well, an above average insulation system was planned which would lessen the need for a central heating system. The non-typical insulation may have also raised the costs for the washroom, said Quackenbush.

Quackenbush said the washroom probably would have been cold in the winter, but above zero degrees Celsius so that pipes would not freeze.

He added that the plan for the building was for it to be a net zero energy building, meaning it would be nearly completely self-sufficient.

Russyl Workman, chief estimator at Fillmore Construction Management, the company with the highest bid, also said that the main reason for the price differences was due to the materials that the town wanted to install.

“Finding a design and finish for the building that fits in with the parks design, the stone on the walls, the general theme of the park, that raises the costs,” said Workman, adding that some of the environmental features the park wanted also raised the costs.

He said basically, the town got the prices for the materials incorrect in their estimates.

He also said that he was not worried about the costs of bringing in workers to do the project in Jasper. He had employees who were willing to stay in Hinton to get the job done.

“It’s not that far a drive at all,” he said.