The Héraclès file was once again invited to the municipal council, Thursday June 20, via a deliberation aimed at terminating the commercial lease of the association, which the City wishes to dislodge. A deliberation which obviously made Jean-Luc Bouzon react.
There was a storm in the air on Thursday June 20. And not just in the sky. In the council room of the Town Hall too, for the last meeting of elected officials before the holidays. Especially when it came to the thorny Heracles issue. Twentieth item on the agenda of the session, the termination of the association’s commercial lease by the City, which bought the building as part of its “Reveal Saint-Dizier” project, called “Saint-Dizier 2020” at the time.
“When you bought the building, Heracles was already there”
“This building was part of your “Fiasco 2020” operation, but when you bought it, there was already Héraclès, so it is up to you to rehouse them,” reacted Jean-Luc Bouzon. “Héraclès means 35 years of volunteering. It’s an association that does a lot in the social sphere. It’s serious to attack an association made up of volunteers like you are doing! »
And the elected communist opposition member continued: “I always remember the famous sentence of Rachel Blanc (first deputy, Editor’s note): “We will accommodate the most poorly housed associations in Saint-Dizier at the former Décathlon. ” The worst housed in Saint-Dizier is Héraclès. »
“We are told: “The building is dilapidated”. But it was you who ruined it. You’re the one who broke everything around. It’s an Olympic year, it would still be stupid if you made Heracles die… You took them to court. Twice. Like criminals, like bandits… You lost twice. You are now asking for 1,500 euros in rent per month. It would be the only association in Saint-Dizier which would pay for premises in the City…”
“At some point you have to be serious”
“We will never agree, but that doesn’t matter,” replied Mokhtar Kahlal, deputy in charge of Community Life. “We have been supporting the association since 2017. From the start, we knew that the situation was precarious. This equipment was not functional, they knew it, they had been told. This is even why we made rent free at the time. If we do the math, we are not far from 126,000 euros…”
“We’re not pushing hard at all, but there was this desire to stay in an ever-larger space, with fewer members. Proposals were made, but some were far-fetched. We can propose the town hall hall, we can propose lots of things. But at some point you have to be serious. »
“We are not in relentlessness, but rather in kindness”
As for the legal aspect, which saw the eviction procedure start from scratch, Mokhtar Kahlal made it clear that the City “was not dismissed. The Council of State told us: “Be careful, you are on a commercial lease. So you have to charge the rents.” This is the famous 1,500 euros that we could have retroactively applied. But as we are not in relentlessness, but rather in kindness, we just started from the judge’s decision of January 2024. And I would like to point out that to date, no rent has been paid . »
To respect the six months of legal notice, the municipal council adopted this deliberation, with a view to leaving Héraclès from municipal premises in December 2024. Jean-Luc Bouzon and Geneviève Donato voted against. The other opposition elected officials abstained.
P.-J. P.
