Day 51 in Carcassonne
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3rd Day of the 8th week of confinement
Today is quite an important day on 3 counts:
- The official rules for Carcassonne following the mayor’s speech are now officially on line.
- The final “DĂ©partements de-confinement map” will be made available later today.
- The Prime minister M. Edouard Philippe will then present the new confinement rules and expectations at 16h00.
THE CITY PRESENTS ITS CRISIS EXIT PLAN
The crisis exit plan consists of 7 sets of decisions and actions:
- Measures concerning the functioning of the institution and public services
- Measures in favour of associations
- Accompanying measures for the destitute, lonely and suffering people
- Aid measures for the recovery of economic activity in favour of enterprises, craftsmen, traders and self-employed professionals
- Measures to announce the return to school
- Measures to support youth
- Measures to support culture, events and heritage
1 – MEASURES CONCERNING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE INSTITUTION AND PUBLIC SERVICES FROM MAY 11TH TO JUNE 1ST
Resumption of activity mobilising between 20 to 60% of the staff to gradually reach, if possible, a full activity at the end of June. This will be reviewed at the end of May. Until the end of June, attendance to be authorised after making an appointment. The reception in the town hall remains assured. Installation of 3 reception boxes in the Jean Cau room in order to avoid the circulation of petitioners in the town hall and to facilitate distancing. The services concerned are
- Town planning
- General Regulations
- Finance – Taxation – Human Resources
- The City Council will meet on June 11, 2020 to :
- Budget Orientation Debate
- Budget Vote
- Voting on the administrative account
- The City Council will also meet before the summer, no doubt on June 25, 2020.
Relaunch of the procurement procedure to encourage the resumption of economic activity and a meeting of a tendering committee in May.
The investment budget as planned at the January and February budget meetings of 15,000,000 euros is maintained. There will simply be delays of a few months due to the epidemic. In addition, the City is maintaining 30 jobs that had to be stopped in the name of solidarity so as not to add to the misery.
PROTECTION OF AGENTS AND THE POPULATION
Agent protection
City officers are equipped with masks and orders have been placed for their protection until December 31, 2020.
Protection of the population
The City placed an order for 100,000 masks that will be distributed free of charge to the population.
- 50,000 FFP1 masks that will be distributed as of May 11, 2020.
- 50,000 reusable and washable fabric masks placed in a group order with the Region, the Department and the Agglo, a third of which will be delivered on 18 May 2020, with the balance to follow.
- These masks will be distributed as soon as they are received. The terms of distribution will be specified by the elected officials concerned: Madame Bardou(*) and Madame Pichard on 7 May 2020.
- The distribution sites will be as follows:
- Congress Center: Halls 1 and 2
- Halles Prosper Montagné
- Houses of the Capuchin Associations
- Gymnase du Viguier
- Foyer Saint-Jacques
- Foyer du MĂ©ridien
- Gymnase de Grazailles
- Domec reception structure
- Gymnase Camille Saint-Saëns
- For the hamlets: in their homes
As an indication, the inhabitants will have to provide information on the identity and composition of the family. Fragile or at-risk persons known to our services will not have to travel; our agents will go to their homes to bring them the protective masks.
The total number of masks ordered is 332,500.
(*) A friend of mine
Personal note: I apologise, for those who went looking for masks yesterday , because my post mentioned that the masks would be available immediately in the town hall. Two things happened:
- The mayor in his speech did say masks would be available immediately
- I did not double and crossed check, as I usually do, the transcript sent by Teresa which also mentioned immediate availability and town hall.
I put 2 and 2 together too quickly
2 – MEASURES IN FAVOUR OF ASSOCIATIONS
In accordance with the powers conferred on to the Mayor by the appropriate provisions and orders, the decision was taken to pay all the associations the amount of their subsidy during the month of May.Some associations will be provided with additional support in the order of €1,500 to €2,000.
These are:
Social associations that have worked usefully alongside the City in the fight against the epidemic. Subject to complementarity, which may be proposed by the Assistant for Social Affairs, they are: Social associations that have worked usefully alongside the City in the fight against the pandemic:
- The Red Cross
- Les Restos du cœur
- The Food Bank
- Solidarity grocery store
- The Saint Vincent de Paul Association
- Aude Urgence Home
- Sports associations in difficulty and which have an important impact on the City’s sports policy, particularly on the action taken towards young people, will also benefit from a special grant. This is subject to complementarity provided by the sports assistant of :
- HBCC
- Olympic Carcassonne
- Cultural associations in difficulty, particularly those providing education, will benefit from the same regime. This is subject to complementarity, which may be proposed by the Deputy for Cultural Affairs of : The GRAPH
3 – MEASURES IN FAVOUR OF DEPRIVED, LONELY AND SUFFERING PEOPLE
Aid is created in favour of people in need, whose names and addresses will be made known by the social service and specific associations. A special aid fund of €100,000 will be created. This amount of aid per beneficiary person will be a maximum of €50, which will be in addition to the aid from the State and the competent public institutions. This aid will be provided through vouchers with priority being given to food and hygiene needs. This special fund will be managed by the City’s social service. Accompaniment of isolated people throughout the epidemic by the social service, which is currently monitoring 220 people. Isolated persons who were accompanied throughout the epidemic by the social service, i.e. about 250 people, will continue to be monitored. Continuation of the daytime reception plan in the gymnasium of the Greenhouses for the Homeless until the reopening of the centre in Patte d’oie on 11 May and maintenance of the night reception centre which is operating at its maximum capacity (10 beds) In addition, by letter dated 30 April, the Mayor contacted the directors of local supermarkets in order to request their support. Each of them is being asked to pay €10,000 in vouchers that the social service will distribute to the people concerned. The large commercial surfaces are : Carrefour, GĂ©ant Casino, Leclerc, IntermarchĂ©, Leader Price, LIDL.
4 – AID FOR THE RECOVERY OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Aid for the resumption of economic activity for enterprises, craftsmen, traders and self-employed professionals
COMMERCIAL AND ARTISANAL ACTIVITIES
1-Indirect aid :
– Exemption until 30 August 2020 of the various royalties: terraces, markets FOR CARCASSONNAIS.
– Exemption of rents paid to the City by shopkeepers and craftsmen until 30 August 2020 (Halles …)
–Â In order to make it easier for customers to come to the City, there will be 1 hour of free parking in the surface and underground car parks in the city centre until 30 August 2020.
– Exemption from the Local Outdoor Advertising Tax in 2021 for 86 shops (under 12 m²).
2- Direct aids :
Creation of a competition fund to help traders in financial difficulty and independent professional craftsmen to restart their business. This aid will supplement State aid from the Region and the urban area and may not exceed €1 000.
It will be allocated after the opinion of a special commission on the application or after an interview if necessary, in accordance with the model already set up for the core city operation.
The special commission will be composed of
The Mayor,
From Elected Officials to the Public Domain
From elected officials to trade
From the General Manager of Services
From the Director of Technical Services
Director of Public Finance
This competition fund will be in the order of €125,000. On the proposal of its President, the Urban Community is considering the creation of a Territorial Intervention Fund to complement the one initiated by the Region. This fund will be financed by payments from the communes of the Agglo region up to a maximum of €5 per inhabitant. This means that the City of Carcassonne will provide 235 000 € in direct aid. This is a cash assistance repayable with a one-month deferral, for which the President of the Conurbation will give all the necessary explanations on this subject.
In addition, a crisis unit has been set up which will have to manage all of its interventions globally, in which the CCI will be able to take part, among others.
BUILDING ACTIVITIES AND OTHERS
In order to allow the resumption of activity of craft or other enterprises in the construction or other fields it is planned to :
Suspension of the by-law prohibiting work in the Town and the Cité from June 1st.
The work will be allowed to take place unless a specific ban is decided by the City in case of inconvenience generated by the construction site for commercial activities. The order was signed on April 30. Exemption until August 30, 2020 from scaffolding barrier fees for the companies concerned. Resumption of work and work in progress :
- Route de la Fajeolle and Leon Blum
- Since May 4th:
- Aqualudique pole
- Storm drains
- As of May 11th:
- Saint-Vincent Church
- Bike paths on hold to be restarted
- MJC
- APAJH Maintenance
- Coming up:
- Service road PĂ´le aqualudique June 2020
- Bicycle paths on June 25
- Odeon House of Associations
- Dome Roof
NO SITE WAS STOPPED, those who could not be continued were granted extensions of time without late penalties . The City’s investment volume will not be impacted and will not impact the businesses involved in this area.
TOURISM ASSISTANCE
Free use of the digital tools of the Municipal Tourist Office for :
The promotion of the activities set up by the restaurants
Free online booking software for restaurants and accommodation providers
The provision of communication elements free of charge in a general way
Cash facility for the payment of the tourist tax (deferment of payment)
5 – MEASURES TO SUPPORT YOUTH
In order not to harm children who are unable to go on holiday, the City is organising the following activities in addition to the usual activities:
The summer at La Cavayère will be equipped with new sports activities and an increase in its capacity (from 1300 to 2300 people) with an opening at the end of June instead of early July: Canoeing, climbing wall, beach tennis, introduction to fishing, archery, Nordic walking, orienteering …
Treasure hunts will be published and distributed free of charge.
In partnership with neighbourhood associations, activities will be proposed during the months of July and August to animate around works such as the redevelopment of the premises, the creation of frescoes or actions such as “clean up nature”.
All the other activities that we will propose will be declined in a more exhaustive way later on.
6 – MEASURES TO SUPPORT THE RETURN TO SCHOOL
Back to school on May 11th. The government has decided the start of the school year for May 12 with a pre-start on May 11, 2020. The City will open its 31 schools and 160 classes. The arrangements concerning the ATSEMs and maintenance workers have been stopped and we are waiting to know the number of children to be accommodated which we will communicate to the school directors on the request that the Deputy Education Minister and the Mayor of Carcassonne made in writing on April 27th.
The measures concerning cleaning, disinfection, hydroalcoholic gel, organisation of entrances and exits outside the buildings, etc. have been taken and stocks have been built up.
7 – MEASURES TO SUPPORT CULTURE, EVENTS AND HERITAGE
The ephemeral exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Carcassonne will begin in mid-July and will be the subject of a special communication.
The Cistern in the city
We will find again the summer exhibitions of Marta Solsona square Gambetta with an additional acquisition, unless banned from circulation in Spain.
Unusual visits of the Calvary garden, which are a novelty, will start from July to mid-September.
Concerning the festival, performances until 14 July are prohibited. The Prime Minister’s speech of April 28, 2020 indicates that concert halls where one remains in the same place in a closed environment are prohibited from activity. Since there can be no concerts after July 15 at the Jean-Deschamps theatre, a closed venue for seated performances, the IN Festival is cancelled.
As for the Off Festival, an outdoor festival, the guidelines will be known in early June. The Mayor has asked Mr. Dupont to monitor these directives very carefully to see under what conditions concerts could possibly be organised, subject to the rules in effect on July 1st, at Place Carnot, Square André Chénier and Place Marcou.
The daily Dashboard
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France
Departements
Tonight the final map will be revealed
Occitanie
JJ’s prediction
59 days or July 12Â till the end of the lockdown in France
Information & News
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▶︎ Curfew
In therory, also announced on Cherie FM Radio (merci Polly), the current curfew in Carcassone will stop on May 11th which is the official date for the progressive de-confinement. I cannot verify this in the official web pages yet but I picked up a copy of the original decree from March 23rd (see below) which clearly states that the curfew is valid till the end of the current confinement period or its prolongation as stated by the Prime Minister.
There is nothing official written down today that I can find to confirm this. I hear however that the mayor did make a statement on the subject earlier today which is probably what Cherie FM has picked up.
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Got the car out yesterday for the the first ride on 2020 and even if it was only to go to the garden centre and back, it was very pleasant probably due to the minimal traffic and the road and the brilliant sunshine we had. Today, I shall clean it thoroughly and adjust a coupleof things. Classic cars are top.
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▶︎ Carcassonne Festival
The terms and conditions for the reimbursement of tickets will be available as of June 15, 2020 on :
- the festival website (www.festivaldecarcassonne.fr),
- the city’s website (www.carcassonne.org)
- the PAC Billetterie 10 rue de la république or by phone at 04 68 115 915
Food & Drinks
From yours truly and because it is the season
Cream of asparagus soup with scallops
Fun
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The daily selection
The dreaded Statistics
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1. International Statistics: Top 10 countries according to the deaths count
Wednesday May 6th 2020
Tuesday May 5th 2020
The UK figures are taken as of 6pm yesterday are lower than the official ones.
2. International Statistics: Percentage increase of deaths from one day to the other:Â
Wednesday May 6th 2020
3. International Statistics: Cases by country v population (1.000 cases or more only)
4. National Statistics: France follow-up
5. Â Regional Statistics: Occitanie & Aude
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I do it my way 
Thanks so much JJ for all the work you put into helping us non-native French speakers. It is VERY much appreciated. Cheers!