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No one word was too loud. At the last Territorial Council meeting of the year, held on Friday December 20 at the Hôtel de la Collectivité, elected representatives kept their words to a minimum. This was undoubtedly the result of two seminars financed and organized by the presidency, one of which was held on the eve of the meeting, to provide territorial councillors with "good elected official" training. After more than two years of governance marked by a gradual decline in relations between elected representatives, and also with some of the territorial services, working on the form is unlikely to save the substance. In fact, even if no outbursts disrupted the smooth running of the debates at the December 20 meeting, discord was once again the order of the day. In a calmer tone, for the moment.
The agenda proposed to councillors was relatively dense. Fifteen deliberations were examined with, for the most part, serenity. The first six items put to the vote (on working hours, compensation, the training plan, a budget amendment and the digital plan, etc.) were unanimously approved. The amendment to the Energy Code concerning the system of aid for the development of renewable energies (a system offinancial assistance for the installation of photovoltaic panels) required some explanation, but was approved. The same applied to the introduction of a bonus for electric vehicles. On the other hand, other issues were discussed in greater depth.
Purchase of former Cem premises rejected
For example, the proposed purchase for eight million euros of the plot of land on which two buildings stand in Gustavia, opposite the Post Office. One of the structures housed the offices of the Cem (Chambre économique multiprofessionnelle) before it moved to the Centre Elvina in Saint-Jean. The other, a real estate company. "A file that's dragging on", stressed the president of the Collectivité, pointing out that the former Cem building is not "classified". The first vice-president, Marie-Hélène Bernier, remarked that the sale price was "very expensive" and that no parking space had been allocated to the space. Third vice-president Bettina Cointre says she is "divided", mentioning the high sale price, the lack of accessibility and the nine-year lease. "This means that part of the building cannot be used for some time," she explains. For Dimitri Lédée, if the sale price is "too high", "the seller will find a buyer anyway". He therefore suggests that this buyer should be the local authority rather than a private individual or company. This building does have a certain cachet," continues Francius Matignon for the Saint-Barth d'Abord group. But we can't buy at any price. We need to talk to the owner again and find out if he can make an effort. "The President of the Collectivité then declared: "I believe there was an offer of ten million. "Nothing that can be reliably confirmed. Second Vice-President Marie-Angèle Aubin assures us: "The price is high, but we mustn't let it slip through our fingers. "Alexandra Questel, territorial councillor for Saint-Barth d'Abord, raises the difficulty of this transaction.
She explains: "We're really above the market. We're talking about 50,000 euros per square metre." Fourth vice-president Maxime Desouches adds: "With this acquisition, we would be validating a price per square metre that would not be advantageous. "While a number of elected representatives regretted that such a dossier should come before the territorial council "without having been debated by the executive council" or in a meeting organized prior to the meeting, Alexandra Questel suggests "postponing the item to discuss it again with the owner". The Chairman preferred to proceed to the vote. Six votes in favor, two abstentions and eleven "against" votes later, the deliberation was rejected. We can only hope that the owner has not listened to the exchanges between the elected representatives. The latter's hesitations, live and on an obviously delicate issue, could legitimately lead him to sell his property to a higher bidder. And less indecisive.
Tinkering and lack of political vision?
The purchase of a plot of land in Grand Fond for 4.7 million euros did not give rise to any debate, as it was unanimously approved. On the other hand, the umpteenth revision of the Collectivité's organizational chart clearly annoyed several elected representatives. Starting with Alexandra Questel, candidate in last June's legislative elections. "We need an overall plan, a political vision, to avoid coming back to this deliberation again and again. "For her part, Bettina Cointre "regrets that there was no time for collective work on the organization chart" before this dossier arrived at the territorial council meeting. "There are still some points that are clear," tries to temper Rudi Laplace. Not in the eyes of Dimitri Lédée, who says: "I don't see where we're going with this organization chart. For example, I would never have imagined when I was working on the new pound that it would be entrusted to the environment department. The same goes for the foreign workers department. Why aren't they affiliated to the territorial police force? "To provide an answer, the President of the Collectivité called on an outside speaker present in the room. He explains that there is "a risk of crisis management" if the police, who are primarily responsible for issuing fines against vehicles, also take charge of the impound yard. Nevertheless, he assures us: "All scenarios are possible. "Alexandra Questel and Bettina Cointre ask that the deliberation be postponed until a future meeting, while Maxime Desouches openly pisses off: "We're still tinkering. "However, the vote took place and the item was narrowly adopted (9 votes "for", 8 "against" and 2 abstentions).
Backtracking on CFAE
If there's one trademark (soon to be registered?) of the current term of office, it's undoubtedly "backtracking" or frankly retreating on important or delicate issues. This, despite the obvious goodwill shown by the territorial councillors involved in the work. Thus, after the issues of waste collection, the tarpaulin covering of lorry skips, regulations on beach catering for hoteliers and, most emblematic of all, the project to relocate schools, the CFAE (Contribution forfaitaire annuelle des entreprises) has now been added to the list.
On September 26, the elected members of the territorial council adopted a modification to the system for calculating the variable portion of the CFAE on the basis of salaried employees. This change was welcomed by the French Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Council (CESCE), but was clearly poorly explained to the industry, prompting some protests. The President of the Collectivité is therefore proposing to "stay with what worked originally". Alexandra Questel points out that "quite a few professionals have not understood how this modification to the CFAE works". "It's a pity that we've voted for a code and now we're going backwards," laments the elected representative of Saint-Barth d'Abord.
For his part, Maxime Desouches questions the fact that "many points concerning the contributions code have still not reached the territorial council". In particular, he cites "two questions about two establishments on Saint-Jean that do not comply with town planning regulations". The Chairman replies that these matters are currently being dealt with.
