Why Oberursel needs to have a culture of making savings

Oberursel’s town council may have approved the 2013 budget last December, including a range of tax increases and cuts in services, but the council obviously does not have the last say in the matter, because since then the town has been waiting for it to be approved by local government regulators.

That approval arrived last week and allows the town to move forward on projects such as the new traffic lights for the Frankfurter Landstraße.  But it is coupled with a series of restrictions in place not only for the current year, but for future budgets as well.

It is expected that the town: [Read more…]

Witness spots potential vandals at swimming pool

An observant member of the public reported two men to police who were behaving strangely within the grounds of the swimming pool in Oberursel last Saturday evening (6th April, 2013).

Both of the men had rucksacks with them and as police approached them, they fled.  The police officers were, however, able to catch up with one of them them and on searching the 17-year-old’s rucksack they found graffiti spray cans and alcohol.

A search of the grounds then found evidence of an attempted break-in on one of the doors, along with a metal bar which police presume to have been used in the attempt.

The teenager was arrested and the investigation is ongoing.

 

OBG says sauna would pose a risk for the town’s finances

Local political group the OBG do not belive that adding a sauna to the new indoor swimming pool would make financial sense, as they claim it would cost more to build and run than it would make in revenue.  In fact, the leader of their parliamentary group Georg Braun says that this has been clear to them since the summer of 2011.

According to an expert opinion, the income from a sauna would cover the running costs, but not when the cost of building it is added to the equation.  Georg Braun was quoted as asking “What use would the higher revenue be, if the investment costs are not covered?”

The OBG went into the pedestrian area of the town on Saturday morning, and reported that in many of their conversations with passers-by the people of the town are confused by what they call the “half truths” of the sauna supporters.  They also warn that if the sauna were to make a loss, then the taxpayer would have to pick up the bill. [Read more…]

Altkönigstraße closed until the end of May

Roadworks sign - ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / RedKoalaThe Altkönigstraße will be closed between the Theodor-Heuss-Straße and Rotbornstraße from Tuesday, 2nd April until Friday, 31st May, 2013.  This is to allow for work on the new swimming pool to take place.

A diversion will be in place via the Theodor-Heuss-Straße, Brüder-Grimm-Straße and Rotbornstraße.

Oberursel Swimming Pool – The Building Site on 15th March 2013

Photos of the building site taken from the Altkönigstraße on 15th March, 2013, with sun in the sky and snow on the ground:

(Click to enlarge)

Once upon a time, there was a sports field…

… and that field was one of the most discussed topics in Oberursel.

In fact, it was one of the decisive issues the last time the town council was elected, when the CDU and FDP were in favour of selling it to fund the new swimming pool, SPD, the Green party and OBG were against doing so.

How fast the parties can change their position became apparent last year, when the SPD and Green party sided with the CDU in a vote on the funding of the swimming pool project with a clause stating that the sports field would be sold if an alternative could not be found by the middle of 2013. [Read more…]

From the town council… dog tax, library fees, changing rooms and icebergs

This week saw the town council in Oberursel sit for the last time in 2012.

With major topics such as the new swimming pool, the budget, childcare costs, and even the station kiosk dealt with previously, this could have been a sitting to tidy up loose ends, and in many ways it was.  Except that all of those topics managed to come up again, the latter without even being remotely on the agenda.

At the beginning, the question and answer session revealed that although dogs are required to wear a dog tag to show that the tax for them has been paid, this is not checked unless there is a problem with dogs fouling a particular area.

We learnt of the confusion over the annual cycle races on 1st May, one of which the town is listed as a sponsor for, although the money comes from other sponsors that the town finds.  Sub-sponsors if you like.  It does not come out of the town budget. [Read more…]

Oberursel Swimming Pool – 11th December 2012

(Click to enlarge)

The photos were taken on 11th December, 2012, when the outlook pool was partially frozen and covered in snow.  The temperature was -2°C.

Cable theft at the swimming pool building site

Electricty cable worth around €12,000 was taken at some point during last weekend from the building site at the swimming pool.

The thieves opened the building site fence to gain access to the grounds, where they took 77m of loose cable and removed a further 237m of cable that had already been installed.

Police believe they must have transported the cable in a motor vehicle or a trailer.

 

Swimming pool car park closed from next Monday

Part of the car park at the swimming poolThe swimming pool car park in Oberursel will be closed from Monday, 15th October, 2012.

This is to allow for preparation work to take place, as the car park will be used for storing building materials for the new swimming pool, after which the land will be sold to build new houses on.

 

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