Côte-d'Or Departmental Council Discusses Municipal Challenges and Funding Opportunities in the Mayors Meeting 2023

“I believe in the couple commune-Department which embodies the Republic of proximity”, declared the president of the departmental council, this Thursday, June 1, in Alise-Sainte-Reine. “There has never been so much money to carry out projects”, assured the prefect Franck Robine.

The traditional meeting of mayors organized by the Côte-d’Or departmental council took place this Thursday, June 1, 2023, at the MuséoParc Alésia, located in the town of Alise-Sainte-Reine, administered by Amandine Monard.

More than 350 mayors, parliamentarians and partners responded to the invitation of François Sauvadet, president of the Côte-d’Or departmental council. Ludovic Rochette, President of the Association of Mayors of Côte-d’Or, Bruno Bethenod, President of the Association of Rural Mayors of Côte-d’Or, as well as parliamentarians Hubert Brigand, Alain Houpert, Fadila Khattabi, Anne- Catherine Loisier, Didier Martin, Didier Paris and François Patriat notably took part in this meeting.

An appointment to discuss the major topics that will fuel the second part of the mandate of municipal elected officials. Water, digital technology, the Olympic Games, but also security issues and social issues fueled the speech by the Chairman of the Department. Selected excerpts.

“The rise in violence is worrying”, warns François Sauvadet

“We need unity around the values of the Republic more than ever. We and our agents are confronted on the front line with the rise in violence in our country, which is worrying. Inadmissible acts are also perpetrated against the police and our firefighters who daily risk their lives for others. And I have a thought for the three police officers who lost their lives in service in a road accident. I have a thought for this nurse killed following a violent stabbing at her workplace.

“I am also thinking of the rise in violence against elected officials. The despicable attack against the mayor of Saint-Brévin-les-Pins in Loire-Atlantique is an extreme manifestation of this which should not exist. In Côte-d’Or also, some elected officials are intimidated, threatened, attacked. There must not be any trivialization of violence against elected officials and civil servants. All violence is intolerable and must be denounced and firmly sanctioned.”

“We are in a crisis of public action”

“The task is not easy when you are mayor. It is a commitment at all times, every hour, every day. I know it, I experienced it in my town of Vitteaux where I was mayor for more than 12 years.

“I am worried to see that a number of mayors and municipal councilors are resigning: 34 mayors in Côte-d’Or since the last municipal elections in 2020. Faced with the difficulties experienced by our compatriots, the question that is put to us directly it is that of our capacity to act. We are in a crisis of public action.

“I believe in the joint-Department couple which embodies the Republic of proximity to provide concrete answers to the difficulties that our compatriots experience on a daily basis.”

“The Department is and will remain resolutely committed to your side”

“For the only Department of the Côte-d’Or, 335 million euros of social expenditure, we passed the bar of 330 million euros. To date, we have gone from 5 to 11 million euros in energy expenditure with soaring energy prices and fuel prices maintained at an extremely high level.”

“And the real estate crisis will impact us. But I say it, there is no fatality! The Department is and will remain resolutely committed by your side, in the adversity of daily life, in the complexity of your missions at the service of our fellow citizens, in the face of the crisis which can fuel despair. We will continue to prepare for the future in the face of the major challenges facing us, in our areas of expertise, which are also our priorities: Solidarity, whether human or territorial.”

“We have set up a large Marshall Plan intended for rural and peripheral municipalities, with particular attention to the smallest municipalities. We must continue to invest to protect their heritage, which is the face of the Côte-d’Or and also a bit of the face of France. This massive and historic plan of 150 million euros also aims to support major structuring investment projects that contribute to the attractiveness of the entire Côte-d’Or. It complements the devices you know well.”

Penalties for fiber optic deployment providers

“We will complete this year the deployment of very high speed with optical fiber in each territory, in each village. I applied penalties to service providers who do not respect their commitment. I remind you that the municipalities did not pay for the deployment.

“Preparing for the future also means facing the challenge of dematerialization. The Department will put in place a range of services that we will present to you to enable you to take up the digital challenge in your municipalities with a bouquet of services that Ingénierie Côte-d’Or will carry.

Continued deployment of France Services Houses

“With you, municipalities and intermunicipalities, alongside the State, the Department has invested in an unprecedented partnership for the development of France Services Côte-d’Or, with the support of the State. Already seven Maisons France Services Côte-d’Or have been created and two more will see it very soon.

“Their deployment will continue, with in particular the objective of covering all the chief towns and former chief towns of cantons by a France Services Côte-d’Or space in order to ensure a balanced network of public services between town and country. It is a concrete response for strengthening access to the right of our fellow citizens, for the fight against illectronism with our 7 digital advisers who intervene throughout the territory.

“Guaranteeing all Côte-d’Oriens access to quality water”

“The Department is already strongly committed to guaranteeing all Côte-d’Oriens access to quality water, in sufficient quantity, at a bearable price, everywhere in the territory and for all uses. We have protected the collection points, we are analyzing the quality of the water with our Departmental laboratory. We support wastewater treatment plants, we support interconnections. For the future the tensions on the resource will be strong, we must explore all the avenues to secure access to the water resource which is essential to our rural and peripheral territories because without water, no new construction and therefore no development. . For this, the Department will present a new Departmental Water Plan in June setting the course. This will be the second major subject.

“We will continue to secure our roads”

“I tell you again, we will continue to develop the Côte-d’Or, to maintain and secure our roads. We will continue to safeguard and enhance the richness of our heritage. We will continue to preserve our remarkable species and landscapes with our sensitive natural areas. We will continue to defend our Côte-d’Orient agricultural model, the diversity and richness of our productions.”

“There has never been so much money to carry out projects”, assures the prefect

Representative of the State, the prefect Franck Robine took part in the meeting. François Sauvadet did not fail to greet him by evoking another hat: “a sign of fate, Mr. Prefect, you were already present in Côte-d’Or, as chief of staff to Prime Minister François Fillon, when he inaugurated the MuséoParc on March 22, 2012”.

“I say it in front of the president of the Association of mayors of Côte-d’Or and the president of the Association of rural mayors. I know that it is not always easy to respond to our requests, because you yourself are faced with questions from citizens… but I think, in any case, that by showing the links with the state, we returns an image to the mayor other than a white image,” said the prefect.

“There has never been so much money to carry out projects”, he assured the elected officials. “Since 2017, the DSIL [dotation de soutien à l’investissement local] increased by 17% and the DETR [dotation d’équipement des territoires ruraux] by more than 30%. So the reality is that, it is that we have the means to help you by letting you make your plans.

The President of the Department also greeted the students of the Bernard Loiseau hotel school, located in the Anna Judic high school in Semur-en-Auxois, who prepared part of the buffet offered to the participants.

Marie Quiquemelle