On March 26, the residents of Kūlciem invited the management of the Talsi County Municipal Council to a meeting, during which the establishment of the Balgale, Kūlciem and Lauciene Parish Association administration, planned for April 1, was discussed, as well as the poor condition of the roads and frequent restrictions on the weight of vehicles.
Andis Āboliņš, the chairman of the municipal council of Talsi region, and his deputies Sandra Pētersone and Dainis Karols met with the residents of Ķūlciem parish. At the request of the head of the meeting, Arno Marnica, the chairman of the council explained why the municipality of Talsi is in such a bad financial situation, mentioning that there was a deficit of 8.3 million euros at the time of the budget approval. As a result, a specific action plan was developed to reduce it and balance the budget. The biggest items that have created this deficit are the financing of salaries, as well as the significant increase in credit interest. A. Āboliņš explained that solutions had to be found for the existing situation by making unpopular and difficult decisions. Sandra Pētersone commented that 2.3 million will be the expenses that can be borrowed for the completion of two projects. But in any case, there are still three million that are needed.
“In this case, the state will meet by allowing them to borrow. However, they will have to be returned in 2025 and 2026. This means that what we are doing now will not be enough for next year, which is why we have to make decisions very quickly. The action must be very operative and one that has a long-term impact,»
explained S. Petersone. Dainis Karols, on the other hand, informed that last year two areas faltered – personnel management, which includes both the creation of positions and salary increases; as well as the supervision of budget execution, which was the competence of the council president.
More legal than practical change
The residents of Kūļciems were concerned by the decision of the municipal council, which provides that the administration of the association of Balgale, Kūlciems and Lauciene parishes will start operating from April 1. Until now, there have been separate administrations in these territories, but the duties of the head of the administrations have been performed by one administration manager, namely Juris Upmalis. Both the leadership of the county council and the head of the administration explained that nothing will change in terms of services for the residents of Laucienes, Balgale and Kūlciems, saying that these are currently more legal than practical changes. Up to now, J. Upmalis has created a unified management system and approach to solving various economic issues. Some of the gathered residents of Kūlciem expressed their wish for the head of the administration to be available on site every day, but the council management explained that each city and parish will not have a separate head of the administration and this will not be possible.
“The monetary road fund and natural resource finances designated in each administration remain in the same amount, and nothing will be changed when this administration of the union of parishes is established. The only thing that will merge are economic matters, which were not foreign before. Let’s put together a priority list, and maybe not in every parish a little bit, but we can do something more in one parish,»
explained Juris Upmalis.
Residents were interested in whether the municipality will provide co-financing for the implementation of the association’s projects this year, to which an affirmative answer was received. One of the needs that could be addressed in this way is the improvement of the children’s playground. J. Upmalis informed that this year too, the existing children’s playground is planned to be supplemented with one playground element, but the full-fledged development of the existing playground is hindered by the existing high-voltage electricity line.
The condition of the roads has been a problem for decades
The state of the roads has been an important issue in Kūlciem for a long time. The arrangement of this section, as the locals themselves admit, has been relevant for several decades. This issue is still brought up at the level of the ministries, but no real results have been achieved so far. If previously it was possible to include the Kūlciems-Mērsrags section of the road in the development plans of the Ministry of Transport, it has now been removed from them. The municipality has indicated the arrangement of this section of the road as a priority from various aspects: in the context of business development, regional reform and arrangement of the school network.
In February, a letter was sent to both the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, where they were repeatedly asked to find an opportunity to fix this section of the road. As for the condition of the roads, local businessmen and farmers also expressed dissatisfaction with the regularly set vehicle weight limits (up to 10 tons), which affect residents in spring and autumn. Due to these restrictions, supplies of raw materials and fuel are difficult and almost impossible. J. Upmalis explained that he has discussed this issue with AS «Latvijas Valsts ceļi», but there is no solution if asphalt concrete is not laid on the relevant road sections. In the course of the meeting, the overflowing of Dzedrupe, which is facilitated by the non-existent drainage system, was also brought up. As this territory belongs to several private owners, the municipality is not entitled to invest funds in solving the problem.
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2024-04-08 12:27:05