Citizens' Assembly Forstern: Many projects and still understaffed

Created: 03/28/2022, 11:00 am

By: Veronica power

Rainer Streu The mayor reported on current projects.

2511 euros debt per capita Appeal for help for refugees © Power

Forstern's administration is still lacking employees.

The children's home is scheduled to open in April.

Mayor Rainer Streu informed about this at the citizens' meeting.

Forstern

– The list of projects that are pending in Forstern this year is long.

Mayor Rainer Streu (AWG) took a look ahead at the citizens' meeting.

At the top is the completion of the children's home in Karlsdorf.

The opening is planned for April.

"We are currently still waiting for light switches that have not been available for eight months," said Streu.

Directly related to this is the conversion of the old children's home, Villa Wirbelwind, into an after-school care center: "We want to move the containers out of the town center and finally accommodate the after-care center in sensible rooms."

Broadband expansion will continue to occupy the municipality.

This project has recently caused quite a bit of criticism.

24 kilometers of civil engineering work had been completed, 44 kilometers of empty pipes and 75 kilometers of fiber optics had to be laid and 152 households had to be supplied.

Total volume: 1.16 million euros, "generously funded by the Free State and the Federal Government".

Flood protection, the development of the care center, PV systems on municipal buildings and the renovation of the sidewalk on Tadinger Straße - this is where things should start in April - are also on the agenda.

They also want to make progress with the new recycling center.

Investments totaling 4.35 million euros are pending.

At the end of 2021, the municipality had a debt of 9.5 million euros (per capita: 2511 euros).

"I don't want to sugarcoat it, but we created value with the money.

The new kindergarten, the fire station, the fiber optic expansion," said Streu.

Every child in Forstern gets a childcare place, and in 2021 six children from neighboring communities were even admitted because the capacities there were not sufficient.

Streu admitted: "2020 and 2021 were certainly not easy years." Three projects worth millions would have burdened the municipality, as well as the hope of his predecessor Georg Els, who said in the 2019 town hall meeting that new business and cash management would be possible again came into calm waters, "unfortunately it did not come true".

It was only at the end of 2020 that peace was restored with good replacements.

In the meantime, the community has hired more employees - for IT, for day care centers, for the residents' registration office and for human resources.

Looking for help from the building department.

Despite these changes, the auditing association warned again.

"As a municipality of our size, we need eleven full-time positions in the administration," said Streu.

There are currently five full-time employees, one trainee and seven part-time employees, which together make up three full-time positions.

"So we're still understaffed with at least three full-time positions."

In this context, Streu thanked the administrative staff for their ability to work under pressure and their willingness to work overtime.

He asked for the citizens' understanding if wishes and ideas could not be implemented as quickly as hoped or if one sometimes had to wait for an appointment.

"We're doing our best and we're striving to improve that," promised the mayor.

And he also looked back personally on the past two years.

Taking office in the middle of a crisis – not an easy task.

He was often told that he should be happy because he didn't have to attend so many events.

"But I would have preferred the opposite," admitted Streu, "because our society thrives on exchange, on community."

Lockdown, compulsory masks, vaccinations – the start of the Ukraine war on February 24 overshadowed all of that.

"Many exciting topics seem almost ridiculous in view of the pictures of desperate, injured people, of crying, disturbed children," said Streu.

He, like Martin Bayerstorfer, appealed to the helper groups to get actively involved again and to report possible vacancies.

Above all, you are looking for houses and apartments that are closed for rent and not individual rooms, said the district administrator.

But these offers are also accepted – if individuals can be accommodated.

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