Reader’s version
The matter began in 2015. Mr. Wiktor from Bolesławiec wrote to the city authorities asking for help in obtaining a place for a garage: “My wife and I, Janina, are people with disabilities. My wife has a significant motor disability—her right arm and leg are impaired, and she cannot maintain her balance independently.”
He added: “For this reason, we need a wheelchair [...]. We live in a block of flats where there is no possibility of storing the aforementioned wheelchair.”
Mr. Wiktor, who himself has suffered two heart attacks and undergone heart surgery (he also has an injured spine and hip, and only one-third of his heart is functioning), was informed that the City could not sell him a garage without a tender. Officials explained that they had no space. “So I found a place myself, an old pumping station on Kosiby Street,” the Reader told istotne.pl.
The municipal authorities then replied to the Bolesławiec resident that the building in question was managed by the “Bolesławianka” Housing Cooperative. However, officials assured him that they would acquire the property from the Cooperative. And they did so. (The former pumping station is currently administered by the Municipal Housing Management Facility.)
According to Mr. Wiktor, the Mayor of Bolesławiec initially promised that the couple would be able to rent the property for 10 years. Later, however, it turned out that the period would be only three years. What is more, the Bolesławiec resident would have to pay approximately PLN 140 per month to rent the room and renovate it at his own expense. As he himself determined, this would cost PLN 6,500. Moreover, the room could be used only to store the wheelchair; even car tires would not be allowed.
The couple’s household finances are tight. The rent immediately seemed too high to Mr. Wiktor and Ms. Janina. They also disliked the fact that they would have to renovate, at their own expense, a building they could use for only three years.
The municipal officials therefore offered the couple half of the room for PLN 50 per month. But, once again, our interlocutor would have to bear the costs of insurance and installing security measures.
Unfortunately, when the room was finally due to be handed over, plaster fell from the ceiling of the pumping station. The Bolesławiec resident decided that he would not rent the property after all, fearing that the ceiling might fall on either him or his wife. “I said I would take it over if you repaired the ceiling,” he adds. The result? Deadlock. “The wheelchair has been standing there for two years; my wife used it a little. In the… basement corridor,” our interlocutor adds sarcastically.
The wheelchair received by Ms. Janina weighs 90 kg. For some time, Mr. Wiktor even wanted to buy a lighter one, weighing 30 kg, because it could easily be stored even in a car.
“I don’t know what to do,” he admits. “The City can afford free public transport and can spend over PLN 1 million on a skate park by the viaduct, but it does not have PLN 6,000 to renovate a single room for a wheelchair.”
He adds: “It is already 2018, and we still have nowhere to keep the wheelchair.”
The Municipal Housing Management Facility’s version
The couple [...] (as they refer to themselves in a letter dated May 30, 2016) are people with significant disabilities. Mr. Wiktor [...] moves independently, while Ms. Janina [...] has very serious difficulties with this; therefore, a wheelchair, which she received on May 4, 2016, enables her to move around freely.
The couple [...], looking for a room in which to store the aforementioned wheelchair, asked the Mayor of Bolesławiec to rent them a room in a former pumping station located on Kosiby Street in Bolesławiec, approximately [...] from their place of residence.
Understanding the couple’s difficult situation and wishing to help, the room in question was acquired from the Housing Cooperative, as it had not been used for several years. It was then placed under the administration of the Municipal Housing Management Facility in Bolesławiec.
The rental of the room to Ms. [...] for up to three years, without a tender, was then proposed. This solution complies with the provisions of Resolution No. XVIII/145/11 of the Bolesławiec City Council of December 28, 2011, concerning the rules for managing commercial premises owned by the Bolesławiec urban municipality.
The room has an area of 32.24 sq. m, and the rental rate is regulated by Order No. 157/2012 of the Mayor of Bolesławiec of April 24, 2012, concerning the determination of minimum rent rates per square meter of usable area of commercial premises owned by the Bolesławiec urban municipality, which sets it at PLN 3.14 net per sq. m. (The average annual consumer price index in subsequent years and VAT must also be taken into account.)
Taking this into account, the monthly rent for the premises was to amount to approximately PLN 125, including VAT. Its technical condition was assessed by employees of the Facility’s Operations Department as adequate. It was agreed that the tenant would carry out the adaptation work using their own resources and at their own expense.
In response to the proposal, the couple [...] informed us that the renovation cost estimated by the company consulted (approximately PLN 6,500) exceeded their means, and that the rent was too high for such a room.
Because the premises did not require renovation work as costly as the interested parties indicated, the Facility upheld its decision.
In further extensive correspondence, the couple [...] questioned the condition of the premises and the rental rate. MZGM upheld its decision, supported by local law.
Taking the couple’s difficult situation into account and wishing to bring the matter to a positive conclusion, during one of their visits to City Hall and after an on-site inspection, they were offered the rental of half the premises without a tender for a period of three years, in its current technical condition.
The couple [...] initially accepted the proposal, but later submitted a written inquiry concerning the cost of insuring the premises and installing bars on the windows and additional locks. After being informed that the tenant was to bear the costs of these security measures, the couple obtained, through further negotiations, approval to rent half the room for PLN 50 per month. They accepted the arrangements in writing and asked for the keys to be issued and a rental agreement to be concluded.
A date was arranged for a meeting and the official handover of the premises, together with the signing of the agreement. On site, it turned out that plaster had fallen from approximately 1 sq. m of the ceiling on one side of the room. Mr. [...] refused to accept the premises, even though the area allowed the wheelchair to be stored in the other part, simultaneously declaring that he would accept it after the roof had been renovated and the ceiling plaster repaired.
In previous years, the Facility had renovated the roof covering of the room in question. However, due to earlier flooding and the fact that the room had been out of use for a long time (with no ventilation or possibility of drying), the plaster coating had eroded. In the remainder of the premises, its condition raises no doubts as to the possibility of using it.
While upholding the arrangements and taking into account the very lengthy negotiations and major concessions made for the interested parties, the Facility set a deadline for their final decision on the matter and informed them that after the deadline expired, the premises would be put out to tender in order to select a tenant.
In one of their letters, the couple [...] asked for permission to install a garage door in the aforementioned premises, which could suggest that they intended to use it for a purpose other than storing Ms. Janina’s [...] wheelchair. Nevertheless, taking into account the couple’s health and difficult situation, a number of concessions were made in their favor. Each concession led to further demands, which, bearing in mind the economical and fair management of municipal property, could not be accepted.
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