Brief overview of the decisions adopted at the Jūrmala City Council meeting

Priorities for road and street repairs approved

The councillors approved priorities for street and road repairs, stipulating that priority investment should be directed to streets with the highest traffic intensity and streets served by public transport; streets located in densely populated areas; and streets with a high degree of wear whose current technical condition is unsatisfactory. At the same time, the council stipulated that at least EUR 1 million should be allocated in the budget each year for street and road maintenance and minor repairs. This amount does not include major road and street repairs. In 2020, the municipality invested EUR 5.4 million in street and road repairs. 

Support provided for a project to create a nature exhibition

The council supported the implementation of a project to create a permanent exhibition space and exhibition in the newly constructed multifunctional nature tourism centre in Ķemeri, at 28 E. Dārziņa Street, as well as to improve the adjacent forest park area at 17 Tūristu Street.

The project envisages constructing a permanent exhibition space and creating an exhibition about nature, natural processes and their interaction with people, as well as improving the forest park area by restoring the historic network of paths, installing benches for rest and information signs about nature, and carrying out other improvement works.

The project will be implemented within the framework of the operational programme “Growth and Employment”, under the specific support objective “Preserve, protect and develop significant cultural and natural heritage, as well as develop related services”. The project will create two new nature tourism services: a permanent exhibition about nature and its interaction with people in the exhibition hall of the nature tourism centre, and nature education in the centre’s grounds—the forest park.

The project must be implemented by 30 September 2022; its total cost is EUR 5,839,258.64, including eligible project costs of EUR 5,424,282.14, of which European Regional Development Fund funding amounts to EUR 994,331.00, the state budget grant to EUR 26,320.53, and the co-financing of the Jūrmala City Municipality to EUR 4,403,630.61. Ineligible project costs covered by the Jūrmala City Municipality amount to EUR 197,627.48.

Jūrmala Port to expand yacht berthing facilities

The municipal institution “Jūrmala Port Authority” plans to develop port services.

With co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), additional yacht berths will be installed at the port quay, an engine for the port service boat and a chartplotter for measuring depth will be purchased—these are necessary for placing buoys and navigation signs along the fairway and in the canal.

At present, the Jūrmala Port quay on Tīklu Street has berths for up to 80 yachts, and it is heavily used during the active tourist season. To accommodate more vessels, the port authority plans to purchase pontoons and floating walkways and increase the number of berths by more than 20 spaces.

ERDF co-financing for the development of port services will be attracted through the INTERREG Estonia–Latvia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme project “Improving and Promoting the East Baltic Yacht Harbours Network”.

The Jūrmala Port Authority will implement the project in cooperation with the Riga Planning Region, the Kurzeme Planning Region, and yacht harbours in Latvia and Estonia. The project’s co-financing will enable the development of yacht harbour services and the promotion of East Baltic coastal ports as sailing destinations.

The project is planned for completion by 31 December 2022. The total project cost is planned at EUR 120,000.00, of which 85% (EUR 102,000.00) will be ERDF funding, the co-financing of the Jūrmala City Municipality will be 13%, and the co-financing of the Jūrmala Port Authority will be 2%.

Reduced co-financing fees at Jūrmala Secondary School of Music and Jūrmala Art School

A decision was adopted to reduce by 50% the co-financing fee for acquiring professional orientation education programmes at Jūrmala Secondary School of Music and Jūrmala Art School. The reduction in the co-financing fee applies to the period of study from 1 November of this year until in-person studies resume in full. The reduction does not apply to parents who, under the binding regulations, are already entitled to a 75% or 100% exemption.

For parents of students who paid the full co-financing fee for November 2020, the payment will be recalculated by the educational institutions. The educational institutions will inform the students’ parents about the concession applied.

New regulations for the cultural project competition approved

At the council meeting, regulations for a new project competition, “Promoting Creativity and the Diversity of Cultural Expression in Jūrmala”, were approved.

The competition is intended to ensure a creative and diverse cultural offering for the public and to promote Jūrmala as a high-quality venue for cultural events. The aim of the competition is to support international-scale, long-term and innovative projects that promote cultural diversity for Jūrmala residents and visitors in publicly accessible locations in the city of Jūrmala.

Support increased in an emergency situation

At the meeting of the Jūrmala City Council on 26 November, a decision was adopted to reduce by 50% the co-financing fee for acquiring professional orientation education programmes at Jūrmala Secondary School of Music and Jūrmala Art School. 

Jūrmala to waive the street-trading fee until July next year

The Jūrmala City Council will extend until 30 June 2021 the period during which outdoor cafés and street traders will not have to pay the municipal fee for street trading and the provision of public catering services. To support businesses, the period during which the municipality will apply rent concessions to businesses affected by Covid-19 will also be extended until the end of this year.

New binding regulations on maintaining areas, cleanliness and public order approved

At the council meeting on 26 November, two new binding regulations of the Jūrmala City Council were approved: regulations on maintaining areas and sanitary cleanliness, and regulations on public order in the city of Jūrmala.

Image author: egor-220, Pixabay

Information: jurmala.lv