Town Council

General presentations

• SB040377 – Minutes of the Planning and Building Officer

  Minutes from the planning and building officer's disposal meetings were presented. 07.09.11 and 14.09.11. Item A was dealt with by the building control officer in accordance with the Building Act No. 160/2010. Submitted.

• 0912139 – Reykjanesbraut, junction with Straumsvík

  Item 2 from the SBH minutes of 20 September: The proposal from Arki for the detailed plan of the junction, dated 04/04/2011, was accepted. The proposal was advertised in accordance with Article 41 of the Planning Act No. 123/2010, together with an amendment to the general plan and an environmental report dated 30 June 2011, pursuant to Article 7 of the Act on Environmental Assessment of Plans No. 105/2006. The consultation period has closed; no comments were received. The Planning and Building Committee approves the detailed plan and that the procedure will be concluded in accordance with Article 41 of the Planning and Building Act No. 123/2010. The Planning and Building Committee makes the following proposal to the City Council:$line$“The City Council of Hafnarfjörður approves an amendment to the detailed plan for the aluminium smelter site in Straumsvík with regard to the junction of the Reykjanesbraut and Víkurgata, dated. 04.04.2011 and that the procedure shall be concluded in accordance with Article 41 of the Planning and Building Act no. 123/2010.“$line$

  The Hafnarfjörður Town Council approved the proposed recommendation of the Planning and Building Committee by 11 unanimous votes.

• 0705296 – Óseyrarbraut 25, oil storage depot

  Item 2 from the harbour board's minutes of 20 September. The Chairman of the Harbour Board reported on his and the Harbour Master's meeting with the representatives of Olíudreifing ehf, Mr Hörður Gunnarsson, Managing Director, and Ms Auður Harðardóttir, Finance Director. The Harbour Board agrees to propose to the Hafnarfjörður Town Council that the Town Council authorise Olíudreifing ehf to hand back the plot at Óseyrarbraut 25.

  Eyjólfur Sæmundsson took the floor. $line$$line$Borough Council of Hafnarfjörður approved, by 11 unanimous votes, the following proposed motion, read aloud by the Speaker of the Borough Council:$line$“The City Council authorises Olíudreifing ehf. to surrender the plot at Óseyrarbraut 25, with reference to the provisions of the lease agreement and in accordance with the further terms of the Port of Hafnarfjörður.“

• 1109147 – Harbour regulations for the harbour of Hafnarfjörður

  Item 3 from the harbour board's minutes of 20th September. Draft harbour regulations for the Port of Hafnarfjörður were taken for discussion. The Harbour Board agrees to propose to the Town Council that a new regulation for the Port of Hafnarfjörður be enacted in accordance with the attached draft.

  Eyjólfur Sæmundsson took the floor. First Vice-Chair, Valdimar Svavarsson, took over the chair. Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir took the floor. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason, the Mayor, took the floor. The Chair resumed the chair. The Hafnarfjörður Town Council approved that the harbour regulations for the Port of Hafnarfjörður be referred to a second reading.

• 1101098 – Minutes 2011, for presentation to the town council.

  Minutes of the Family Council from 21 September. Minutes of the Sports and Leisure Committee from 14 September. Minutes of the Environment and Operations Committee from 21 September. sl.$line$Minutes of the Education Committee from 19 September sl.$line$Minutes of the Town Council from 22 September sl.$line$a. Minutes of the Harbour Board from 20 September 2018.b. Minutes of the Culture and Tourism Committee from 13 September 2018.c. Minutes of the Board of the Ski Area of the Capital Region from 1 September. $line$d. Minutes of the Board of Strætó bs. from 26 August. $line$ Minutes of the Planning and Construction Council from 20 September.

  Mayor Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason spoke under item 6 – Loan refinancing – in the minutes of the town council meeting of 22 September. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason responded to the point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir spoke in reply for a second time. Geir Jónsson spoke in reply to an earlier speech by Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason replied. Geir Jónsson spoke in reply for a second time. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason replied for a second time. Helga Ingólfsdóttir spoke on item 6 – Nursing Home in Völlum – in the minutes of the Environment and Operations Committee from 21 September and item 6 in the minutes of the Municipal Council from 22 September. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason made a point of order. Gunnar Axel Axelsson responded to the previous speech by Helga Ingólfsdóttir. Helga Ingólfsdóttir responded to the response. Gunnar Axel Axelsson spoke on item 6 of the Town Council meeting minutes from 22 September. Kristinn Andersen responded. Gunnar Axel Axelsson responded to the response. Geir Jónsson made a point of order regarding Gunnar Axel Axelsson's previous speech. Gunnar Axel Axelsson replied to the point of order. Geir Jónsson made a second point of order. Gunnar Axel Axelsson replied to the second point of order. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir spoke on item 6 of the town council minutes from 22 September. Valdimar Svavarsson made a point of order. Helga Ingólfsdóttir made a point of order in response to Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir's previous speech. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir replied to a point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir spoke on item 6 of the minutes of the Town Council meeting of 22 September. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made a point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir replied to a point of order. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made a second intervention. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir replied to the second intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made a brief comment. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir made a point of order regarding Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir's previous speech. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir responded to the point of order. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir made a second point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir responded to the second point of order. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir made a brief comment. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson spoke under item 6 of the town council's minutes from 22 September. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to an objection. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a second objection. Valdimar Svavarsson spoke under item 6 of the town council meeting minutes from 22 September. Gunnar Axel Axelsson spoke on the same item. Valdimar Svavarsson made an objection. Gunnar Axel Axelsson replied to the second objection. Geir Jónsson spoke under the aforementioned item 6 in the minutes of the town council meeting of 22 September. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson made a point of order. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason, the Mayor, spoke on the same item. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order. Gunnar Axel Axelsson spoke on the same item. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson spoke under the same item. $line$$line$Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir spoke and made the following statement on behalf of the representatives of the Independence Party:$line$“The Town Councillors of the Independence Party believe that since various assumptions in the financial assessment which forms the basis for the re-financing of the municipality's loans are flawed, it is difficult to see how the town will be able to meet the repayment burden that will accompany the proposed refinancing for decades to come.Therefore, the DEPFA bank's liquidator should be approached again to attempt to renegotiate with the bankruptcy estate, in parallel with pursuing other options. In parallel, a comprehensive financial restructuring plan must be put in place, taking into account the town's ability to pay. Such a plan must take into account the statutory services that the municipality is obliged to provide to its residents, and the revenue streams intended to fund them. It is worth pointing out that in the last 18 months, expenditure has exceeded projections by around 1.5 billion, and that is unacceptable. Municipalities have previously had to work their way out of severe financial difficulties, both at home and abroad, but HafnarfjHowever, Hafnarfjörður differs from other parties in a similar situation in that the current majority of the Social Democratic Party and the Left-Green Party refuses to face up to the mistakes made in recent terms and to take real action on the financial crisis, with the interests of the town's residents and all creditors in mind.afa as their guiding principle.“$line$$line$ Valdimar Svavarsson (sign), Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir (sign), Kristinn Andersen (sign), $line$ Geir Jónsson (sign) and Helga Ingólfsdóttir (sign)$line$$line$Gunnar Axel Axelsson took the floor and submitted the following motion on behalf of the representatives of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party:$line$“It is important that public administration is open and transparent and that the public has reasonable access to documents and information. In exceptional cases, however, in the interests of private or public confidentiality, by law or by the nature of the matter, it may be important that the information presented at closed meetings of councils and committees remains confidential. The confidentiality obligation that rests on elected representatives in local councils is dealt with in section 32, subsection 3 of the Local Government Act No. 45/1998. Councillors for the Social Democratic Party and the Left-Green Party regret that information presented to the Town Council on 25 August as confidential documents has become public. This is a serious breach of the City of Hafnarfjörður's regulations (Articles 35, 39, and 48) and of Article 6 of the Code of Conduct for City Councillors of 19 May 2010. Such conduct is irresponsible, undermines trust and weakens the spirit of good cooperation that has, until now, prevailed among representatives on the Hafnarfjörður Town Council in resolving this matter. It is therefore clear that the publication of these documents does not serve the interests of Hafnarfjörður. On the contrary, their publication is likely to undermine credibility and create uncertainty with unpredictable consequences. The City Councillors of the Social Democrats and the Left-Green Party reiterate their motion from the last City Council meeting, which states that analyses have been carried out by independent parties on the creditworthiness and financial position of the City of Hafnarfjörður, showing that the city has full capacity to meet the forthcoming refinancing. $line$In light of the statements by the representatives of the Independence Party that talks should be initiated with representatives of the liquidators handling the affairs of Depfa Bank, it should be emphasised that discussions have been ongoing between representatives of the City of Hafnarfjörður and the aforementioned parties for a long time, as the representatives of the Independence Party on the town council are fully aware.“$line$$line$Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir (sign), Gunnar Axel Axelsson (sign), Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir (sign),$line$Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir (sign), Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason (sign), Eyjólfur Sæmundsson (sign).

• 1006187 – Councils and committees 2010-2014, elections.

  Proposed nomination for election to the Town Council:$line$Main member: Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir, of Thrasarási 3, in place of Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir, of Suðurgata 38. No objections were raised to the nomination and the above-mentioned is therefore declared duly elected as a main member of the town council. The composition of the council remains otherwise unchanged.$line$$line$ Election of the President, Vice-President and Secretary. A vote was taken. Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir, of 38 Suðurgata, received 11 votes as Mayor of the Borough for one year. She is therefore declared duly elected to the office.$line$$line$Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir took over the chair. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason, the Mayor, spoke and, on behalf of the town councillors, thanked the outgoing chair for their efficient chairmanship and wished the newly elected chair every success in their role.