What happens in the City Council? What decisions are taken? With our new info series we keep you up to date! Here you can find out what the municipal council is discussing, what decisions are made and what proposals and questions we as a group are asking.
Constitutive meeting of 28 August 2024
The first meeting after the elections dealt with important personnel and organisational decisions. In addition to the obligation of the council members as well as the election of the local mayor, the deputies and committee members (we have already reported on this), the council unanimously adopted the new rules of procedure of the local council. It determines how meetings are convened, public participation, the conduct of meetings and the handling of requests and enquiries.
Communications and enquiries
The mayor, Ferdi Düber, informed the council that the purchase of the community center will be about 35,000 euros more expensive. The reason for this is the real estate transfer tax, which is now due – contrary to what was originally promised to him orally by the tax office. A notary sees no chance of success for an objection, as the purpose of use of the building has changed from ecclesiastical to municipal, which triggers the tax liability.
Since the first deputy of the Verbandsgemeinde (VG) Wirges, Mr. Schwickert, was present, topics of the Verbandsgemeinde were also addressed.
Our new member of the Council, Dr Manuel Misgeld, asked whether it was customary for meeting templates (such as the proposal for committee composition) to be distributed directly at the dates. The local mayor explained that this was due to the high workload of the association community due to the many constituent meetings. However, the CDU group leader criticized the repeatedly short lead times and called for a change.
Fiber and infrastructure
A major topic of discussion was the sluggish expansion of the fibre optic network. Several council members expressed criticism of the delayed construction work, the poor road conditions and the still outstanding house connections. The first deputy of the VG showed understanding and stated that the responsible construction company had already been informed of the problems. But that wasn't enough for many council members. The second deputy of Dernbach spoke out clearly against the current situation and took the Verbandsgemeindeverwaltung into the duty to become more active here.
Bus transport: Deterioration of the offer
Manuel also mentioned that the new bus schedule for Sunday entails a significant deterioration for Dernbach. Instead of the usual hourly rate, the bus now runs only every two hours, as line 425 is diverted via Wirges and runs at the same time as line 420. In Wirges, there are now two buses running in quick succession, followed by a two-hour break.
The local mayor was surprised and declared that he had only learned of the changes by Manuel's hint. He promised to take care of it. However, the leader of the CDU parliamentary group dampened expectations and pointed out that the district, as the carrier of public transport, paid little attention to the concerns of the local communities. When asked by the CDU group, Manuel confirmed that the new roadmap had nothing to do with a new call for tenders, as it was only planned in a few years. He also stressed that the buses were also busy on Sundays – just no longer run over Dernbach. We as a group will continue to pursue this issue, because this deterioration must not be accepted, especially for environmentally conscious citizens and people without a driving licence.
English (UK)