The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Ettringen citizens' meeting: digging, building boom and lead feet

2021-10-12T10:04:13.593Z


Ettringen - The last citizens' meeting took place in July 2019. After that there was radio silence due to the pandemic. Some issues had pent up among the citizens, which Mayor Sturm was available to answer questions. In addition, the Corwese company presented the concept of broadband expansion that is pending in Ettringen.


Ettringen - The last citizens' meeting took place in July 2019.

After that there was radio silence due to the pandemic.

Some issues had pent up among the citizens, which Mayor Sturm was available to answer questions.

In addition, the Corwese company presented the concept of broadband expansion that is pending in Ettringen.

At the beginning of the meeting, the First Mayor, Robert Sturm, presented his new local council, before a major topic, the planned broadband expansion in Ettringen, was discussed, on which Jürgen Schuster from Corwese GmbH explained the various technologies of broadband expansion to the citizens. Many lacked an understanding of how exactly the internet got into the house and why it made a difference which solution a municipality opts for. Jürgen Schuster explained all of this in his presentation.


There are currently subsidies of up to 90% of the costs for the expansion, but only if the download via the Internet is below a certain bit rate.

The performance of private connections must currently be less than 100 Mbit per second, and commercial connections less than 200 Mbit / s.

Anyone who is already well positioned in terms of the internet will not receive any funding.

In Ettringen, 418 addresses are currently eligible, 317 of them for private use, 101 for commercial use.

The cost of the development would be around six million euros.

Since the so-called hardship rule applies in rural areas, the municipality would get 90% of the costs reimbursed by the federal government.

The co-payment would then be around 600,000 euros.

If the municipality gives the green light for the expansion in a timely manner, it will take around five years to complete the measures.


A lot of digging, but it's worth it

"When you see how many kilometers we have to dig, it's a project similar to the sewer system," moans Mayor Sturm. But it is clear to him that the community must now set the course. A critical citizen asked the question whether it was even checked who had a need for 100 Mbit per second. The expert Schuster then explained that the demand for Internet performance doubled every 18 to 24 months. Even if the current owner sees no need, his successors would curse him if he does not look into the future now. Schuster assumes that in ten to 15 years it will not matter who provided the fiber optics. Once the infrastructure is in place, it will be similar to electricity and gas.


Robert Sturm wanted to know whether there was a minimally invasive alternative to mole-like digging.

Schuster pointed out that trenching (the milling of narrow slots) has the disadvantage that in the event of unexpected road construction interventions, it may be necessary to relocate the cables if they are not deep enough.

Trenching only makes sense on long, straight stretches.

In addition, road construction interventions in the context of communication mostly took place on the sidewalks.

Many municipalities do this again immediately after the relocation.

In view of the zeitgeist, which will also move more jobs to the home office, Sturm sees no alternative to the upcoming digging work, even if his community has to give up financially.


District fleeces communities

What gives him more stomach ache is the district levy, which the community has to cede to the district every year: it was 1.6 million euros last year.

And there will be more in the future, as the clinic expansion in Mindelheim is also pending.


“The district treasurer will help himself with his hands in our trouser sack.

I appeal to the district to go into borrowing more instead of cupping their own communities more and more, ”said Sturm.

Overall, however, the Ettringen balance sheet for 2020 can be seen, which is also thanks to treasurer Karl-Heinz Müller.

“Our financial situation can be described as very orderly,” said Sturm, praising the work of his thrifty financier.


Use the Flexibus offer more!

Sturm also appealed to citizens to make more use of the Flexibus offer. Booking a bus via app or phone call that stops a maximum of 200 meters from your own front door is a revolution in local transport in rural areas.


Another topic was kindergarten. The municipality had only invested two million euros in the extension, but the premises were already reaching their capacity limits, which is why there would be no avoiding further construction work. Speaking of building: The development plan for a newly planned building area is ripe again. At this point, Sturm wanted to dispel rumors that the building sites were already being given out in secret. In some municipalities, green meadows would be sold before the purchase of the land has even been notarized. It is different in Ettringen. Fortunately, you have always been able to drive a local model here, which was also thanks to the farmers who sold their land to the community at fair prices.


The fact that municipalities, as some citizens suspect, enriched themselves by selling building land is not the reality, said Sturm.

On the contrary: on average, the municipality always has to add around ten percent of the costs.

In Ettringen, they want to continue to grow moderately and designate building areas with 15 to 18 building sites.

The liberal construction methods, which rob the townscape of its Swabian charm, are also to be put to a halt in the future.

“We don't want to be a second Königsbrunn,” Sturm added.


What drives the citizens

After the official agenda, the citizens took the floor. A topic that has been causing displeasure for a long time are the speeders, which make the place unsafe at speeds of sometimes 80 km / h. One young father expressed concern about the safety of his children. He wanted to know what options the community has to put a stop to the lead feet. The problem was not new to Sturm, for which there is no quick solution, however, because the local road belongs to the district. Efforts to impose Zone 30 fell on deaf ears. Perhaps something could be done by the citizens, said Sturm. In the event of a storm, there would be a speedometer at every entrance to the town. However, the idea did not find fertile ground in the local council.


Another citizen asked about the state of affairs in the area of ​​the station.

While Sturm continues to dream of reactivating the perennial railway, people are also thinking about building housing on the site, but not yet specifically.


In the social center, a senior citizen's apartment was converted into an office.

This happened to a citizen who took the view that the space was too valuable and meant a departure from the social center.

Sturm denied this.

The office is for the organization of the day care, which is more of a strengthening of the planned concept.


Some citizens would like a cycle path that also leads to the planned Raiffeisenmarkt.

Sturm welcomed this suggestion, as did the idea of ​​allowing anthracite-colored roof tiles in the future.

At the latest when a photovoltaic system comes onto the roofs, they will be gray or even purple anyway.


What particularly pissed off an elderly and loyal visitor to all public events were the “half-parking spaces” along the main street.

These not only slowed down the traffic, but also blocked the view at intersections.

Sturm explained that these were once built to support the tradespeople in the town center because walk-in customers could park there easily.

What Viktor Polansky sees as a curse is in turn a blessing for others, as the cars, which are half parked on the street, force the speeders to slow down.

Sturm promised to take the matter with the building committee under the microscope.


No nepotism

For the development of the new building area, a citizen wanted to have assured that individuals who already own properties would not be preferred to other applicants and that they would be allowed to build a house that they would not move into but rent out.

Sturm assured that this would not happen here.


Regarding the building boom, one citizen asked when the load limit of the infrastructure (sewer system & Co.) had been reached.

Sturm's answer: “The limit is the sky.” Ettringen is well positioned.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-10-12

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-29T11:44:36.708Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.