Reconstruction in the Ahr Valley 64 Tiny Houses: Transitional housing in Altenahr
Altenahr · In the Altenahr municipality, 64 mini houses, so-called Tiny Houses, are needed as transitional housing. They will probably be financed through the "Germany Helps" campaign. Plots of land have already been offered, said Mayor Cornelia Weigand in the Verbandsgemeinderat.
For reconstruction and restructuring in the twelve local communities, the Verbandsgemeinde (VG) Altenahr, which has been more than battered by the flood disaster, needs personnel. Thirty employees are planned for the administration and twelve for the local communities - a total of 42 new positions. The council voted unanimously, with four abstentions.
This had been preceded by lengthy discussions. Berthold Phiesel (FDP) considered the increase to such a large extent "not responsible". The VG could not finance the personnel in the long term and the state would not do so either. Phiesel suggested that, similar to the county seat and the municipality of Swisttal in the Rhein-Sieg district, tasks should be outsourced and project management should be brought in. Ingrid Näkel-Surges (CDU) thought the matter was moving too fast, and requested that the meeting be adjourned and discussed by the main and finance committee. Guido Schmitz (FWG) opposed this: "We have to decide, we can't wait long." Andreas Hermens (SPD) agreed. "We don't have much time, the communities and the administration need help now. If we wait too long, we could run out of time," he said.
Association Mayor Cornelia Weigand argued that the administration was already performing additional tasks. In addition, she said, the local municipalities had already hired staff to support the mayors, who work on a voluntary basis. "People have to live on something, employment through the VG gives them security." The local communities are authorised to issue directives, he said. According to Weigand, the local mayors have proposed the establishment of an AÖR (institution under public law) to manage the work. The VG council rejected the possibility. On the other hand, all speakers felt that a decision had to be made quickly, since good personnel was rare and hard to come by. Therefore, the proposal to advertise positions on a temporary basis was also rejected. "You can't get qualified people with temporary positions, the labour market is already tight," Edmund Schaaf clarified. The former mayor of the municipality of Montabaur has been commissioned by the Association of Municipalities and Towns to provide advice to the VG Altenahr.
The hiring of personnel results in a supplementary budget, which in turn must be approved by the district. After approval, Weigand intends to advertise the first positions as needed. The main and finance committee will be responsible for hiring the staff. Since almost all municipalities are affected by the flood, the VG wants to refrain from levying the VG apportionment for 2021 for the time being. It also expects restraint from the district with regard to the district levy. For this reason, the administration has lodged an objection against the determination and demand of the district levy for 2021 and applied for suspension of enforcement. The VG sees the self-administration right of the local municipalities endangered if the money is taken away from them now. Weigand is counting on the outcome of talks in Mainz ministries to clarify the matter.
In the VG 64 Tiny Houses are needed as transitional dwellings, which are probably financed by the action Germany helps. Land has already been offered, Weigand said. From a local meeting with representatives of the DB net the mayoress reported that the railroad line should be restored in principle to Ahrbrück. However, there are no plans yet.
Original text: Christine Schulze
Translation: Mareike Graepel
