An interview with Wojciech Długoborski, the Mayor of Gryfino.
-The commune of Gryfino has been for years consistently investing in the development and modernisation of the municipal infrastructure.
-Every year, the Town Council of Gryfino allocates a significant part of budget funds for investments. This year it is 18,5 per cent. But the thrift of a given commune's local government is proven not only by the share of investments in the commune's budget but also by the size and the range of the off-budget investments inspired or supported by local authorities and resulting in the upgrade of inhabitants' quality of life.
-The most famous Gryfino investment now is undoubtedly building the Aquatic Centre LAGUNA.
We are pleased that the cycle of building this huge sports-recreational-rehabilitation complex lasting several years will soon be terminated.
Two years ago the basic sports part together with a 25 m swimming pool was open. Currently, the building of the second, recreational part with the complex of swimming pools, artificial waves, sauna, fitness and regeneration centres is being finished.
It is a typical joint investment realised by the Fund for Sports Facilities Building of the Town and Commune of Gryfino. The commune participates in it by a contribution in kind. It is a 13 ha area. The commune has also signed bank warranties associated with drawing a 4 million credit. One of the main founders of the investment is Dolna Odra S.A. Power Stations in Nowe Czarnowo.
-Building of a large dwellings house in the centre of Gryfino is also coming to an end.
-A 44-family building in Garbarska Street is the investment of Gryfino Social Housing Association which was founded by the transformation of a former Dwellings Management Company. Gryfino SHA was granted an area by the commune. The Office of the Town and Commune was helping in dealing with all the formalities. Council flats deserted by the inhabitants of a newly built house will be allocated to the families of the lowest incomes.
-Recently, the commune has also been an investor of a block of flats.
-This year we inhabited a 4-family council building in Chwarstnica, built in the place of a so-called House of Teacher pulled down many years ago. The investment is associated with the development of a local primary school and with building a gym. The whole undertaking will be finished in 2002. Building the house cost us about 800 thousand PLN and the total cost of school's development will amount to about 3 million PLN.
-The biggest investments of the commune however, concern the development of municipal technical infrastructure.
-That is true. Last year when we started realising a long-term investment programme based on the commune's Study of Conditions and Directions of Spatial Management, we began to comprehensively provide northern parts of the commune with sewage and water supply systems. This undertaking was accompanied with the modernisation of the national road no.118 between Radziszewo and Daleszewo realised by General Directors of Public Roads, Local Branch in Szczecin.
Both systems are laid in the excavation under the place where the road is being built. Water will flow next year as soon as the net linking those villages with the water intake in Dębce is constructed. The sewage system will start working in 2003 after the development of municipal sewage treatment plant in Gryfino will be terminated.
-Do you plan to develop the sewage treatment plant?
-We have to. It was built in 1996 with 5 thousand m3 per 24 hours of capacity and now in the peak it takes about 4.5 thousand m3/ 24h. The number of waste suppliers is constantly growing. According to the programme accepted some years ago we now start building the next module which will enlarge its capacity by further 2.5 thousand m3/24h.
-In the interview conducted two years ago (see 'RB', No 3 (27) article entitled 'Towards Normality') you mention the intentions of building sewage system and sewage treatment plant in the summer-resort village of Steklno.
-The sewage system was built there last year and by the end of this year the start-up of a local treatment plant of capacity of 200 m3/24 h should take place. In future we intend to develop this sewage plant and linking small neighbouring villages to it.
-Investments of water supply and sewage systems are not the only undertakings associated with realisation of Commune's Environment Protection Programme passed by Town Council.
-For years we have been taking efforts resulting in reduction of energy consumption. In school buildings step by step leaky windows are being exchanged for new ones and coal boiler houses are replaced by environment-friendly gas or oil boiler houses. Serious investment undertaking associated with thermo-isolation of subtransmission grid was terminated by the Company of Heat Energy Industry Ltd. Council and building associations' houses are being warmed up and further houses are being linked to the town's heat supply system.
-Although (or maybe because) we live in the era of universal motorization, more and more people use a bike.
-Thinking of those people, two years ago we managed to built a bike path leading through Międzyodrze towards the Gryfino Mescherin border crossing. Last year, thanks to the support of the PHARE fund a 2.5 km long section was constructed leading from Gryfino towards Wełtyń. The bike path will be lengthened provided financial sources allow.
-Many inhabitants of the commune as well as tourists benefit from public transport.
- The Board of the Town and Commune accepted a 3 year programme of building and renovation of island station roofs at bus stops. Thanks to the advertisement and information boards the roofs are to become the place of commune's promotion. This year, 25 such roofs between the village of Pniewo and villages situated in the north of the commune. The program's target number amounts to building about 100 roofs.
-When will major investments of the commune be terminated?
-The process is endless. In future local authorities will always face the dilemma, as we have it today, which necessary undertakings should be treated as investment priorities.
