The firefighters in the northern hochstadt district of zentbechhofen are already looking forward to their new vehicle. In a ring swap, they are to receive an HLF 20 from the hochstadter stutzpunktwehr, which will replace their old vehicle from 1989. But there is a new HLF 20 for the hochstadt fire department. A fierce dispute has now erupted between the city of hochstadt and the county over the financing of this vehicle.
Hochstadt’s mayor gerald brehm (JL) speaks of a "staircase joke" in response to a question from the FT. He is referring to the attitude of the district administration, which does not want to give a cent subsidy for the new car. "We have relied on the demand", the mayor grumbles and even sees "an attack on the honorary office" in the opinion of the district authority.
District council members decide
Whether or not hochstadt will receive a grant from the county for the new fire truck will be decided at the political level on friday, 14 friday. December, at 9 a.M. In the erlangen district administration office. Then the district committee meets.
If it is up to district fire chief matthias rocca, who advises the district on fire and disaster protection issues, hochstadt will not receive a grant from the district in this case. This is how the county administration recommends that the committee for tomorrow’s meeting reject the grant application from the city of hochstadt.
What sums are at stake? According to district fire chief rocca, an HLF 20 costs around 400,000 euros. Hochstadt has already a demand promise of the government of central franconia over 119 000 euro. According to its guidelines for the requirement of the fireplace system, the county was required to contribute 40 percent of the amount required by the government. For the HLF 20 in hochstadt, that was another 47,600 euros in subsidies.
This is the amount mayor brehm is now fighting for. He doesn’t understand "that all the vehicles of the other municipalities are required by the district, but not the one in hochstadt".
This statement is contradicted by district fire officer rocca. There have already been HLF 20 refusals in the district. He justifies his no to the current hochstadt application with the fact that the "supra-local necessity" was not met for such a vehicle for the hochstadter wehr is not given. This necessity would be the condition for the subsidy. The city of hochstadt already had two HLF 20, for which a supra-local necessity had been confirmed and also grants had been received.
Above 15 kilometers
Rocca does not deny that the hochstadt fire department needs the car, but in his opinion it is not necessary for supra-local operations. Rocca: "the supra-locality begins at 15 kilometers from the municipal boundary."
For mayor brehm, the proposed resolution "misses the point". Brehm argues with the planned new slip road onto the B 505 at high of zentbechhofen. This link enabled the centbechhofen fire department, with its future HLF 20, to reach accident scenes on the B 505 in this area much faster than the base fire department from hochstadt. Incidentally, the regional planning procedure for the new link is due to start next year.
Whether or not it’s a supra-local necessity, the state of bavaria is requesting 119,000 euros for the HLF 20 in hochstadt. According to the government of central franconia, the state subsidy is to be considered independent of a claim by the district.