Town Council

General presentations

• SB040377 – Minutes of the Planning and Building Officer

  Minutes from the planning and building officer's disposal meetings were presented. 15.08.12, 22.08.12 and 29.08.12. Item A was dealt with by the building control officer in accordance with the Building Act No. 160/2010. Submitted.

• 1206178 – Steinhella 10 zoning plan

  Item 4 from the SBH minutes of 4 September: A proposal from the Planning and Building Department for an amendment to the Hellnahraun 1 detailed plan, concerning the plot at Steinhella 10, was taken for discussion. The plan was advertised in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 43 of the Act no. 123/2010. The consultation period has closed. Comments were received.$line$ The Planning and Building Committee endorses the responses of the Planning and Building Department to the comments, approves the detailed plan, and recommends that the process be concluded in accordance with Article 41 of the Planning and Zoning Act No. 123/2010. The Planning and Building Committee makes the following proposal to the Town Council: $line$“The Town Council approves the detailed plan amendment for Hellnahrauni 1, with regard to the plot Steinhellu 10, dated 11 June 2012, and that the matter be concluded in accordance with Article 41 of the Planning Act No. 123/2010.“

  Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir took the floor. The Hafnarfjörður Town Council approved the proposed motion with 11 unanimous votes.

• 1208524 – Employers' refund rate on paid pension

  Item 2 from the minutes of the BÆJH meeting of 6 September. A proposal was presented from the Municipal Employees“ Pension Fund, dated. 29 August 2012, with a proposal approved by the fund's board regarding the reimbursement rate for pension payments.$line$ $line$Beyarstjórn leggur til við bæjarstjórn:$line$“Bæjarstjórn Hafnarfjarðar samþykkir að endurgreiðsluhlutfall launagreiðanda á greiddan lífeyrir Eftirlaunasjóðs starfsmanna Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaðar verði 66%."$line$

  Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir, the mayor, took the floor. Then Kristinn Andersen. The second vice-chair, Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir, took over the chair. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason took the floor. Kristinn Andersen intervened. Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason replied to the intervention. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson spoke. The Chair took over the chairmanship again. Kristinn Andersen intervened. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to the intervention. Kristinn Andersen made a second intervention. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to the second intervention. The Hafnarfjörður Town Council approved the proposed motion with 11 unanimous votes.

• Budget for the municipal fund and its enterprises 2012-2015.

  Item 9 from the minutes of the BÆJH meeting of 6th September: The Town Council proposes to the City Council: “The City Council of Hafnarfjörður approves the attached Appendix III to the budget of the municipal treasury of Hafnarfjörður.“$line$

  Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir, the mayor, took the floor. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made an intervention. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir replied to the intervention. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a second intervention. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir replied to the intervention for a second time. Kristinn Andersen spoke. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir made an intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson spoke. Valdimar Svavarsson made an intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson replied to the intervention. Valdimar Svavarsson made a second intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson responded to the second intervention. Valdimar Svavarsson made a brief comment.$line$$line$The Hafnarfjörður Town Council approved the proposed motion with 6 votes. 5 abstained.$line$$line$Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir spoke and submitted the following statement on behalf of the representatives of the Independence Party:$line$$line$“It is unacceptable that the supplementary budget now published does not provide for funding for pay rises for staff, decided last week, amounting to tens of millions of kroner. There is therefore still no budget allocation for this decision, which is irresponsible governance. It is also clear that further funding is required in other areas of the council for which no provision has yet been made in the supplementary budget for this year. In a new analysis by Reitun of the council's finances, the Independence Party's warning is confirmed that the council's financial position is very fragile and that nothing can go wrong without serious consequences.“$line$ Valdimar Svavarsson (sign), Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir (sign), Kristinn Andersen (sign), Geir Jónsson (sign) and Helga Ingólfsdóttir (sign). $line$$line$Gunnar Axel Axelsson took the floor and submitted the following motion:$line$$line$“The councillors of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party consider that the preparation and work on the drafting of Annex 3, which is before us for approval, was carried out in a perfectly normal manner. Councillors for the Independence Party, however, choose on this occasion to make a special note regarding a matter that does not concern the said addendum.This position, along with their abstention during the matter's processing in the town council, can hardly be interpreted in any other way than that the Independence Party councillors are against meeting the staff's wishes in a fair manner. correction of those pay cuts that the town council decided following the crash of 2009.“$line$$line$Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason (sign), Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir (sign), Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir (sign), $line$Gunnar Axel Axelsson (sign), Eyjólfur Sæmundsson (sign) and Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir (sign).

• 1201159 – Minutes of 2012, for presentation to the town council.

  Minutes of the Family Council from 5th September. Minutes of the Sports and Leisure Committee from 29th August. Minutes of the Environment and Operations Council from 5th September. Minutes of the Board of Sorpa bs. from 27 August. Minutes of the Education Committee from 3 September. Minutes of the Town Council from 6 September. a. Minutes of the Harbour Board from 21 August and 4 September. b. Minutes of the Board of Hafnarborg from 24 May and 20 August. c. Minutes of the Board of the Ski Area of the Capital Region from 27 August last. Minutes of the Planning and Building Board from 4 September last.

  Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir spoke under item 8 – Quarterly accounts 2012 – in the minutes of the town council meeting of 6 September. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir intervened. Gunnar Axel Axelsson spoke under item 5 – Federation of University Staff, pay and conditions -, item 7 – Creditworthiness, contract for analysis and assessment -, 8. item and 13th item – Nursing Home in Völlum – in the minutes of the Municipal Council from 6th September. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order. Gunnar Axel Axelsson responded to the point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order for a second time. Helga Ingólfsdóttir made a point of order regarding Gunnar Axel Axelsson's previous speech. Gunnar Axel Axelsson responded to the point of order. Helga Ingólfsdóttir made a point of order for a second time. Geir Jónsson made a point of order regarding Gunnar Axel Axelsson's previous speech. Gunnar Axel Axelsson responded to the point of order. Geir Jónsson made a second intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson replied to the second intervention. Geir Jónsson made a brief comment. Kristinn Andersen spoke under items 5, 6 and 7 of the minutes of the Town Council meeting of 6 September. Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir made an intervention. Helga Ingólfsdóttir spoke under item 3 – Public transport, intra-urban traffic – in the minutes of the Environment and Operations Committee from 5 September. and item 4 – Ásland School, leisure centre (youth centre/after-school club) in the minutes of the Education Committee from 3 September. Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir made a point of order. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson made a point of order. Helga Ingólfsdóttir replied to the point of order. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson made a point of order for a second time. Helga Ingólfsdóttir replied to the point of order for a second time. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson made a brief remark. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made a point of order regarding Helga Ingólfsdóttir's previous speech. Helga Ingólfsdóttir replied. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made a point of order a second time. Helga Ingólfsdóttir replied a second time. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir spoke on items 5, 6 and 10 – loan refinancing, the Freedom of Information Act, a ruling from the Information Appeals Board – in the minutes of the Town Council from 6th September. Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir made a point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir replied to the intervention. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson spoke on items 5, 6 and 8 of the town council's minutes. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a point of order. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to the point of order. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a second intervention. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to the second intervention. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir made a brief comment. Helga Ingólfsdóttir made a response to Eyjólfur Sæmundsson's previous speech. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to the response. Helga Ingólfsdóttir made a second intervention. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson replied to the second intervention. Helga Ingólfsdóttir made a brief comment. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson made a brief comment. Valdimar Svavarsson spoke under items 7 and 8 of the minutes of the town council from 6th September. Eyjólfur Sæmundsson made a point of order. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to an intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made an intervention regarding Valdimar Svavarsson's previous speech. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to an intervention. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made an intervention for a second time. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to an intervention for a second time. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made a brief comment. Valdimar Svavarsson made a brief comment. Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir made a response to an earlier speech by Valdimar Svavarsson. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to the response. Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir made a second intervention. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to the second intervention. Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir made an intervention regarding Valdimar Svavarsson's previous speech. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to the intervention. Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir made a second intervention. Valdimar Svavarsson replied to the second intervention. Geir Jónsson spoke under item 1 – Disabled people, housing – from the minutes of the Family Council meeting of 5 September. Gunnar Axel Axelsson made an intervention. Geir Jónsson responded to the objection. Helga Ingólfsdóttir spoke under item 4 – Sports and Leisure Committee, Kaplakriki Sports Hall, construction – in the minutes of the Family Council meeting of 5th. September last.$line$$line$Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir took the floor and submitted the following statement on behalf of the Independence Party representatives:$line$$line$“Complete denial $line$S The discussion that has taken place regarding the 2012 year-end accounts shows the denial that the majority councillors are still in. Although external conditions are favourable at present, an extremely difficult debt situation is still being dealt with, and heavy refinancing looms in the next term when a 10 billion króna loan falls due, or as stated in a new Reitun report: “Debt is too high, the refinancing risk is considerable and the market risk is quite significant.?? $line$Therefore, tackling the problem properly has been pushed into the next term, but representatives of the Independence Party repeatedly pointed out that the debt problem had to be tackled comprehensively for the future, which could have led, among other things, to a portion of the town's debts being written off. Experts at Landsbanki Íslands appear to have been of a similar opinion to the Independence Party, as it was recently made public that the bank made it a condition for domestic refinancing that 3 billion would be written off by Depfa Bank.“ $line$$line$Sigurður Svavarsson (sign), Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir (sign), Kristinn Andersen (sign),$line$Geir Jónsson (sign) and Helga Ingólfsdóttir (sign).$line$$line$Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir spoke and submitted the following motion on behalf of the representatives of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party: $line$$line$“Operating cash flow positive by 912 million$line$$line$The title of the budget for the year 2012 is BALANCE IN OPERATIONS? INCREASED SURPLUS AND DEBT PAYMENT. The half-year accounts presented to the Town Council last week confirm, beyond any doubt, that all these plans are being met. The main conclusion of the half-year accounts is that the operating result of the municipal treasury's Section A, and of the consolidated accounts of Sections A and B, is positive before finance charges. The operating result of Section A before financial items is a positive balance of almost 751 million króna, and the operating result of Sections A and B is a positive balance of 1,156 million króna. The financial items have a negative impact on the overall result of the accounts due to unfavourable price developments during the period, which were much greater than anticipated. The operating result for Section A after financial items is a negative 198 million króna, and the operating result for Sections A and B is a negative 137 million króna. Both operating income and operating expenses are in line with the 2012 budget, but there are variances in financial items, which are explained by accrued indexation during the period, amounting to the same level as that budgeted for the whole of 2012. $line$ $line$ Cash flow from operations in Section A is approximately 551 million króna, and in Sections A and B it amounts to approximately 912 million króna. Total assets of Sector A amounted to kr. 35,810 million at the end of June, liabilities and commitments amounted to kr. 30,956 million and equity amounted to kr. 4,583 million. $line$ $line$ Total assets of parts A and B amounted to 46,710 million króna at year-end. Liabilities and commitments amounted to 38,884 million króna. Equity at the end of June amounted to 7,826 million króna. During the period, revenues from road construction charges amounted to 65.7 million króna and investments totalled 21.6 million króna. New loans of 410 million króna were taken out, while loan repayments during the period amounted to 725 million króna. The operating result for the first six months of the year is in full accordance with the forecasts made last year and is due in no small part to the disciplined working environment and the concerted effort and diligence of the town's management and staff. Furthermore, the fact that refinancing loans in foreign currency is more favourable by 389 million over the period, compared with domestic borrowing during the same period. This confirms that the interest rate environment for foreign loans is currently much more favourable, and the situation would be different if the town's foreign loans had been refinanced in the Icelandic currency."$line$$line$Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason (sign), Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir (sign), Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir (sign), $line$Gunnar Axel Axelsson (sign), Eyjólfur Sæmundsson (sign) and Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir (sign).

• 1102236 – Councillor, dismissal from office.

  First Vice-President, Kristinn Andersen, took over the chair.$line$$line$Lay before a letter, dated. 12 September 2012, from Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason, in which he requests to be relieved of his duties as a city councillor in Hafnarfjörður. $line$$line$ Guðmundur Rúnar Árnason took the floor. $line$$line$No comments were made on the request and it was therefore deemed approved. $line$$line$Gudrun Agusta Gudmundsdottir took the floor. Then Valdimar Svavarsson.

• 1006187 – Councils and committees 2010-2014, elections

  A vote was held to elect the Mayor of the Town Council for a one-year term. $line$$line$Margrét Gauja Magnúsdóttir received 11 votes and is therefore declared elected as Mayor of the Town Council. $line$$line$The Chair took the chair. $line$$line$Proceeded to a vote on the election of the second deputy chair of the town council for a one-year term. $line$$line$Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir received 11 votes and is therefore declared duly elected as the second deputy chair of the town council.