Plovdiv Municipality can redirect money for turning at the Water Palace to another more urgent item

In connection with the controversy surrounding the turnaround at the Palazzo dell’Acqua, Plovdiv24.bg contacted Ivan Totevmayor of Plovdiv from 2012 to 2019, when the idea was born.

Recently, politicians and ESPECIALLY citizens have discussed the issue of the turning point at the Palazzo dell’Acqua into the public space. In fact, this idea goes back to your administration. Tell me why did you abandon it and didn’t you notice then?

Because I learned very quickly to manage myself well. Surely after the Covid pandemic and the return to normal life, we have a growing problem with traffic in Plovdiv. But in this specific case, a traditional approach is applied. And he is a problem, a solution. That is. we have a problem – we find its solution. The breakout is a rather early warning and I would say wrong action. The right steps should be: define the problem, create a general concept and find a specific solution in the context of the big picture. At the beginning of the mandate – a year, a year and a half, in principle, anyone who begins to govern has little or no preparation and thinks in the traditional way: “problem-solution”. Unfortunately, sometimes this approach cannot be overcome. In fact, very often the solution of a problem leads to the deepening of other problems, and therefore the so-called “general vision” is necessary, which is a higher approach, I would say strategic.

The Water Palace roundabout was the optimal solution to turn “Maritsa” Blvd. – South into a normal passable road and reduce the load on “Shesti Septembi” Blvd. and the Cifte Banya intersection. I think it was largely accomplished. The breach was planned as a second phase, but it was quickly realized that it would cause a number of other problems and now we are seeing just that. At the moment, with the closing of the roundabout and its transformation into a T, we have a traffic organization identical to that of the future turn. We can see that the traffic jams on Maritsa Blvd. – south from the west have not only not decreased, but on the contrary they are bigger than ever. The right turn has become a great challenge. In the future, when the turning point is made, it will also be difficult to travel directly along “Maritsa” Blvd. – Yug. The intersection of Cifte Banya became busier, traffic jams appeared there, etc.

The very act of starting phase 2 at this time shows that the leadership of the Municipality of Plovdiv has not yet passed this first, so to speak, year of management “training”. I think now they need to start taking a broader and more comprehensive approach. For example, in the transport study, they assigned permeability only for the section around the breach. That is. the brief itself for the team that developed the analysis did not include adjacent intersections, let alone the entire area.

Years ago, it was understood that the turning point was not a solution to the problem. Also, building such heavy infrastructure in the city center and with this beautifully designed riverside area is already absurd. I stated this as my opinion a long time ago. To solve the problem of north-south displacement, other urban interventions must be carried out: the expansion of “Severen” Blvd., another bridge over the Maritsa River, which will indirectly solve this specific problem, etc. The Municipality has specialists and these are not some unknown solutions for them, especially since a lot of work has already been done in this direction.

Citizens were accused by the mayor Zdravko Dimitrov and the deputy mayor Plamen Raichev, that their reaction was delayed. Do you think so?

The citizens and residents of Plovdiv have their own problems and are under no obligation to follow the management policies of the mayor and the municipality so closely. And very often, when something has already started and hits them directly, they react: destroying the garden in front of the entrance or the bike path or not being able to cross the road because there is the entrance to a 6 meter tunnel. Here is the place for politicians to have a right position and a reaction that is anticipated.

In this case, many people in expert positions in the City know that there is a problem here, both architects and engineers. This is an entirely political decision of the management of the municipality.

Many people think that once a loan has been disbursed, a public procurement has been conducted and the contracts have been concluded, there is no going back. So what happens to the money?

We are talking about a loan here. Whether it is a project with European funding from the Fund for the management of cities, whether it is taken by an institution and then given to the Municipality, it does not matter, it is a pure loan. There is a loan of BGN 40 million, if 30 million is used it is not essential. So, to put it simply, the Municipality of Plovdiv can only absorb BGN 30 million. With a decision of the City Council, it is possible to make a brand new loan, for example for the “Cosmos” cinema. The other option is for the municipality. to renegotiate unused funds according to the rules and direct them to another important site for the city. Plovdiv has enough needs. However, time may not be enough, as the uptake of this funding has been extremely delayed, the projects themselves have been delayed – none of them are at an advanced stage. So if there is an object somewhere where there is serious progress, the City can redirect the money to it according to the rules of the program. There are no problems. I don’t have European funding, it’s just a loan.

Would these 10 million leva, which are foreseen, be enough if the Municipality decided to carry out the project against the will of the people?

This project is impossible to implement and with an unclear price tag right now. The problems in front of him are enormous, the ambiguities enormous, and that is why the engineers of the Municipality have issued the permit to build only for a part of the project, because there is no availability for the entire structure. There is a working draft, but it is quite conditional, as it is not clear what is underneath. Separately there is a problem with the properties located on the west side: the PUP for the central part of the city has not entered into force, only the preliminary design has been adopted. There is a property with an appointment for landscaping, the exchange of which must go through the City Council, provide for compensatory measures, etc. These are very long and complicated procedures that are unlikely to be implemented in the near future. And for 45 days it is impossible.

You mentioned the “Cosmos” cinema, when you were mayor the concept project for the cinema was made, the procedures took place, what do you think of the project as a whole?

The selection of the design team took place in the last year of my second term. This is the latest project inspired by Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019. In this period we have done a great job for cinema. We cleaned it, architectural and structural photography was taken, we expropriated the square space by freeing it from the pavilions that hid the building. We organized a competition, which was won by the company “Tectonika-B” Ltd. Plovdiv.

I am happy to see that this young team has presented a vision of the cinema that the public has been waiting for. Admiration to the Deputy Mayor Plamen Panov – ended and underwent this project, which was left on his shoulders. Maybe if Plamen had had a little more support, all of this would have been done a year and a half ago. But better now than ever.

Seeing that this project is about to be realized, I am happy that in the near future we will enjoy another wonderful cultural space, as Plovdiv deserves.

You recently had a personal vacation, you publicly thanked everyone who congratulated you. Indeed, you are one of the politicians who have not been forgotten and you continue to be active in politics, nationally and locally. What is your assessment of the time since you were not mayor?

There is no way to part with Plovdiv, I will always help the development of the city. I am happy that the direction in which Plovdiv started to develop when I was mayor is perceived by people as a given, and they are very sensitive when someone steps aside and reacts sharply. This is my greatest reward.

How do you see the city in a year, let’s not forget that then there will be administrative elections?

The people of Plovdiv will make the most correct decision on who will manage the city and the elected mayor will have to follow the policies applied to date: a cultural capital, an economically active and preferred city to live in. And he will have to be very careful not to create conflict situations like the one with the Palazzo dell’Acqua.