Kreuth was the last of the valley communities to take a stand on the valley-wide indoor swimming pool on Thursday (April 18). The local council sent a sign of solidarity for a sports pool. With restrictions.
Kreuth
– “We see the need for a municipal indoor swimming pool. On the other hand, we see our budget situation,” said Mayor Josef Bierschneider (CSU) before the agenda item. And also that the municipality could not take out the desired investment amount of 2.1 million euros as a loan. With a view to the detailed preliminary discussions and the fact that the decision to be made does not yet contain any statement on financing and finances, Bierschneider emphasized: “We are showing that we are there in solidarity, but only within the framework of what we can achieve.” Finally, operate Kreuth already has its own, very nice outdoor swimming pool for communal services. And that would already bring the community an annual deficit of 150,000 to 200,000 euros.
Kreuth follows the working group's recommendation for a functional bathroom
Against this background, Kreuth approved the working group's recommendations for a valley-wide municipal indoor swimming pool for schools, clubs and individual guests with a 5-lane sports pool, a teaching pool, a paddling pool, a 1-meter diving board and low staffing levels. The local council also approved the planned operating structure and the orientation of the indoor swimming pool.
Kreuth cannot get involved beyond a voluntary contribution
In order to play with open cards, Bierschneider admitted that due to the current budget situation, Kreuth could not contribute to the construction costs beyond a voluntary contribution. In principle, Kreuth is willing to contribute to the deficit - if possible with a solidarity contribution of around 45,000 euros, as was planned at the time when the communities were still considering the joint operation of a new bathing park.
Martin Walch (SPD) warned that Kreuth should stand behind an indoor sports pool, but really only behind an indoor sports pool. He complained about the additional costs that would arise from the delay when discussing extras such as a sauna. Group colleague Robert Gerg even saw this as counteracting the task given to the working group.
CSU local council: “We can only afford the small version”
Not only Mayor Bierschneider objected to this with the objection that the planning for a pure sports pool was not an explicit task given to the working group, but rather their suggestion. Max Breunig (CSU) also considered it quite legitimate for the financially strong communities to discuss what they want and what they can finance. “We can only do the small version in Kreuth,” said Breunig with a shrug. Leonhard Rohnbogner (CSU) then basically asked: “Is any option possible for us?” Third mayor Elisabeth Hartwig (CSU) said: “If some communities want more, they should finance it.” She was convinced that an indoor sports pool would also be appealing could be designed and that the future municipal pool would also be attractive. “I'm sure it will be nice. You can’t imagine an industrial hall there.”
Finally, Bierschneider suggested that Kreuther's contribution to the planning costs be fixed at 5,000 euros and thus around a tenth of the expected planning costs. “If more is necessary, we’ll just have to go back to the committee,” he said.
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