Sulkingly, the city council of Coevorden agrees to the repair of the parking deck at the De Gansehof shopping center costing 1.3 million euros. The lease of 27 years ago between the municipality and the owner of the shopping center states that the municipality is responsible for this.
The municipality of Coevorden is responsible for repairing the leaks in the parking deck at De Gansehof shopping center. Research shows that it will cost 1.3 million.
“Whether we like it or not, we have the contractual obligation,” said councilor Thieno Nijenbanning (BBC2014). Nor is the discussion about the ‘mandatory’ investment. “But the contract needs to be adjusted, so as not to face the same surprise in 25 years.”
The entire council agrees that the municipality cannot ignore this receipt, but is then concerned about more corpses in the closet. “The municipality is not alert to contracts made,” says Sandra Katerberg of the CDA. “We would like better supervision on that.”
The agreement, which states that the municipality is responsible for the maintenance of the parking deck and that owner Kroonenberg Groep is responsible for the rest of the building, is tacitly renewed every five years. Changes can be made again in 2025.
PvdA member Michel Blanken wonders whether the municipality can distance itself from the contract and whether the parking spaces will still remain public. According to Floris Vulto (VVD), the alderman must negotiate favorable conditions in 2025 or else terminate the contract.
Alderman Steven Stegen agrees that the contract cannot be extended in this way. “This 1.3 million euros now hurts for a while, but before that we have been able to use this public parking lot for almost thirty years.”
“If we now pull out the wallet, it will be fine for 25 years and we should not expect any financial risks,” says Stegen. He says about any other surprises from the past. “We’re going to dig through our filing cabinets to monitor these analog-era similarities.”
Jerry Stoker of Progressief Acoord Coevorden points out the large capacity and limited use of the parking lot to the council. He uses satellite photos to show the number of cars in certain parking spaces, which shows that the parking deck is poorly occupied by cars.
He asks for a count of the actual use of the parking lot. Alderman Stegen agrees. Henk Bouwers of the Political Party Coevorden summarizes the decision succinctly: “Pay first, then see how the parking capacity is solved.”