An important item on the agenda of the City Council session held on Wednesday, 28 September, was a report on budget implementation in the first half of 2011. It was presented by Mirosława Mitek, Bolesławiec’s treasurer. The official informed councillors that in the fourth quarter of this year “it may become necessary to incur additional municipal debt of PLN 8–10 million.”

After the treasurer’s address, Mirosław Sakowski, head of the Civic Platform councillors’ group, spoke. “I would like to draw councillors’ attention to a worrying trend: sales of residential units in our city are falling,” he stressed. “In the first half of last year, the municipality sold 103 units; in the first half of this year, only 74. This is a very worrying phenomenon, especially since the treasurer has just mentioned that she intends to increase the city’s debt by another PLN 10 million.”

“We do not know whether it will be PLN 10 million,” Mitek pointed out. “It may be a much smaller amount, and if funds from ISPA (PLN 8 million) reach us, the budget will cope and we will not apply for an increase in debt,” she added.

According to the official, Bolesławiec’s debt at the end of the year—taking the worst-case scenario into account—should not exceed PLN 70 million (it had previously been assumed that the amount would be PLN 13 million lower).

There are many reasons for this situation. Bolesławiec residents are not paying their rent and owe the Municipal Housing Management Company nearly PLN 3 million (we wrote about this in the article MZGM Open to Debtors). The crisis in the real estate market is also significant. “Issues related to the sale of residential units are a nationwide problem. But the Municipal Commune is not burying its head in the sand and is trying to counteract it. Apartments are being sold, although not at the pace we would like,” said Kornel Filipowicz, Bolesławiec’s deputy mayor, during the September Council meeting.

Also joining the discussion was Jan Kisiliczyk, head of the Municipal Property and Spatial Management Department. “As far as apartment sales are concerned, the situation really does not look good,” he admitted. “Every week we receive several applications to defer the deadline for purchasing an apartment. Bolesławiec residents simply do not have the money.”

Mayor Piotr Roman also spoke, addressing the issue of the plot on Father Popiełuszko Square (a shopping gallery was supposed to be built there, but so far no investor has been interested in buying the property). “I recently spoke with the deputy mayor of Wrocław. Even the capital of Lower Silesia is having problems selling well-located properties; it has still not managed to sell Kępa Mieszczańska,” he noted. “Perhaps the situation in our region will change when KGHM announces a decision to exploit copper deposits in Bolesławiec County.”

We will return to this matter.

Wolanin Named an Honorary Citizen of Bolesławiec

That day, councillors unanimously adopted a resolution granting honorary citizenship of Bolesławiec to Bronisław Wolanin, an outstanding ceramic artist. The document’s justification states: “For years, Bronisław Wolanin has given Bolesławiec stoneware his distinctive artistic character. He created hundreds of designs of vases, bowls, salad bowls, urns, cups, teapots, serving dishes, mugs, cups, plates and other functional, decorative and unique vessels for the ‘Ceramika Artystyczna’ Cooperative, distinguished by elegant forms, carefully selected proportions, sophisticated colours and intricate decorations [...]. The artist continues to introduce new shapes, glazes and decorations into production, thanks to which Bolesławiec products enjoy enduring recognition at home and abroad.”

Among the honorary citizens of our city are, among others, Rev. Władysław Rączka, Rev. Edward Bober, boxer Ryszard Tomczyk and scouting instructor Hubert Bonin.

New Fleet for MZK

The Council also decided to grant an almost PLN 6 million loan to the Municipal Transport Company. With this money, the company will purchase seven buses as part of the project “Purchase of a Modern Bus Fleet as a Means of Promoting Environmentally Friendly Public Transport in Bolesławiec.”

(information: ii)