The Kalkan Belediye Board held their monthly meeting on Tuesday.

It lasted a little longer than usual, due to the inclusion of a review of this administration's first year, given by Mayor Saim Karakurt.

Read our report on the proceedings below.

Below: The Mayor, in the white shirt, indicates a point of interest on the new town plan.

Sub-committee vote
A secret ballot was carried out, with Board members writing down names and placing them in an envelope, to nominate two of their number to a sub-committee (encümen) - a kind of working group, which spends time looking at various local issues, and reporting back to the main Board.  

The existing two members were Arif Ernez and Hasan Erkek.  They were re-elected.

Review of the year
Mayor Saim Karakurt gave a presentation to the Board, outlining what the current Belediye had achieved in it's first year in office.

A significant amount of resources have been applied to imrpoving the reliability of the Kalkan water supply.  This administration inherited a water infrastructure that was not in a good condition.  

Work is ongoing.  As we are not yet into the main season, there are currently only 5 pumps out of 13 in commission.  The aim is to have up to 11 pumps up and running to meet peak demand.  

In the short term, residents may find that there are further temporary water cuts, as equipment is overhauled and fixed, in time for the arrival of large numbers of visitors.

The issue of disaster emergency land in Kalkan is still unresolved, despite comments at earlier meetings, (which were reported on KTLN), suggesting that a solution had been found.  

The Belediye continues to engage with the relevant authorities in an attempt to find an acceptable outcome.  We intend to publish a separate article about this over the coming days.

Another issue that the present administration inherited, was a lack of alignment between national plans for the D400 highway, and local road plans.  National plans lacked access points into town, whereas local plans showed them.  The Belediye acted swiftly to get the national plans amended to provide these access points, including a pedestrian footbridge, near to the bus station.

It should be mentioned that the local topography is giving rise to a number of issues on how exactly these junctions will be built, however that is something for the experts to resolve.

Twinning with Cupramontana was mentioned, although no practical steps have yet been taken to translate the desire to be twinned, into reality.

The Kalkan Kent Konseyi was recently reintroduced.  We reported on this in an earlier news article.  You can read the article here.

The management of Kaputaş Beach was taken over by the Turkish Tourism Board, however the Kalkan Belediye continues to press for this responsibility to be returned to itself.

The Belediye has obtained a number of trees and shrubs, which will be planted around town to make Kalkan a little greener.  If you look at the land adjacent to the Belediye building, you can see these trees and shrubs, all ready to be planted around town.

The Belediye has supported the development of the new theatre at Kalkan First School.  This will not just be used by the children, it will be a community facility.

The local sports area behind the Belediye offices (mostly used for football), has been maintained and improved by the Belediye.  This is a community facility, which is available free of charge.

The Belediye has supported a number of local initiatives, for the benefit of residents and visitors, such as the cleaning of the Kalkan sea-shore, the Project Aware underwater clean up, the Kalkan Tourism Week concert, and the Republic Day party at the harbour.

The Belediye continues to negotiate with potential investors, regarding the creation of a new marina, outside the existing harbour breakwater.  This is a complex matter involving several agencies, but the Belediye is working hard to overcome a number of obstacles, with a view to making Kalkan more attractive to passing boats and yachts.
 
As reported recently on Kalkan Turkish Local News, the harbour has been dredged, for the safety and convenience of all vessels.

The Belediye has initiated a project to reinstate a local fresh water spring close to Kalkan Beach.  Test are being undertaken to ensure the water is safe to drink.  Some of you may have read our recent Day in the Life article, where Enişte told us how, many years ago, he used to distribute this fresh water to the village.

Two services - rubbish collection and mosquito spraying, had been taken back in house at the Belediye, however this was not working effectively, so the Belediye has put these services back out to private businesses.  Standards are being monitored to ensure that the community is getting good value for money.

The Kalkan town plan (map) is being enhanced to make it more user friendly, for residents and vistors.  A large scale copy of the plan will be put on display in the Belediye building.

Kalkan Turkish Local News also intends to secure a copy of the plan, and details will be published in our Knowledge Bank - available to all KTLN members.

The Mayor has attended various meetings to promote Kalkan as a tourist location, including tourist fairs in Istanbul and Antalya.  He has also lobbied to secure funding for the development of cultural facilities in Kalkan - most notably the old First School in the centre of town, which is to be transformed into a cultural centre for Kalkan.