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fromAnnette Schlegl
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Politicians in Langen objected to the financing model for the expansion of the Montessori children’s home. The parents are angry because 37 childcare places are at stake.
There is currently a shortage of almost 500 daycare places in Langen. In the short term, 37 childcare places could now be created through the expansion of the Montessori children’s home run by the independent sponsoring association Nanus, and the necessary educators would already be there – but politics is contradicting itself. The main reason: the office building belongs to a real estate group that only wants to contribute a good 36,700 euros to the estimated renovation and furnishing costs of around 1.3 million euros. That was disproportionate, said the committee members.
The Montessori daycare center is located on the ground floor and first floor of the seven-story office complex in the Neurott district. Office space has become free on the first floor, which could be used by the children’s home after a renovation.
Only the Greens voted in the main and finance committee on Thursday evening for the resolution proposed by the magistrate to provide almost 200,000 euros this year and 1.1 million euros in the 2022 financial budget. The CDU and Free Voters voted against it, while the SPD and FDP abstained. Opponents said that the financing model was not acceptable – also against the background that there are currently no more funds for new childcare places. The lion’s share of the renovation costs is devoured by an external staircase as a second escape route.
The result of the vote met with incomprehension from some parents. The First City Councilor Stefan Löbig (Greens) announced at the beginning of the meeting that in talks with the landlord he had succeeded in increasing the rental period for the Montessori daycare center from ten to 25 years. “That gives you planning security for 25 years,” say the parents. The originally required dismantling of the area that the children’s home uses or will use is also off the table; Löbig had also negotiated this with the real estate group.
The parents consider it cheap that the landlord has been charging EUR 8.50 per square meter in rent for five years. Exactly this amount is shown in a rental offer for the other areas. Incidentally, the Offenbach district’s specialist service described the costs of expanding the daycare center as “normal average”. Langen had to be grateful for every daycare place, wringing his hands.
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