Aspoň káva #59 aneb Příběh jednoho mostu

At least Coffee 59 or The Story of a Bridge
The story of this bridge shows how municipalities need to know how to manage and what could happen if an electrician-minister of finance manages to steal the money saved by municipalities. Because this bridge could become history.
There is one bridge that is truly owned by the people of its village. Its history goes back to the interwar period. Back then, an old railway bridge on one line was being disposed of and the elders agreed to buy it and build it over the Otava in place of the existing ford. At that time, it was actually two municipalities, but the relations were so close that both municipalities participated in the whole action. Because they all had their own fields and forests across the river, some even lived there, and so really the whole municipalities were involved in the implementation of the plan. The farmers used their wagons to transport the actual construction as well as the materials for the bridge supports. And those who could not help in this way, participated in the actual construction. The bridge was built in 1927 and served for many years to the satisfaction of the inhabitants of both districts.
But you can't stop time, and so various pains began to be heard with this bridge as well. By the time the two municipalities were merged into one, the councillors began to think about repairing it. A static survey found that the pains were not so great and that it was not necessary to demolish the bridge and build a new one, just to reconstruct some parts, especially the bridge deck or the bearings, and the bridge could continue to serve. Even at the time of its construction, the locals contributed not only with their help but also with money, each according to their own abilities. This is proof that it belongs to all of us.
Time passed, the municipality put together money and looked for grant opportunities. Some money was saved, some was covered by a loan and about five million was given to the municipality from the South Bohemia Region from the Regional Investment Fund. In addition, a collection similar to the one held a hundred years ago was held again, and once again it turned out that the citizens not only of the village, but also of the surrounding area, who also use it frequently, care about the bridge. CZK 1,438,256 was collected, which is about one tenth of the total cost. For a village of some three hundred inhabitants, this really is proof that the bridge is "ours".
The government's economic experts argue that there is "dead" money in the municipality's accounts. On the contrary, this bridge is proof that the money is not dead at all. It's just waiting to be used. Without the savings, it would be impossible to fix our bridge. And it's the same for every other municipality. If they have a sensible council, they put all the unspent money in the banks, while they prepare the necessary investment projects.
I know that there are people who suspect the municipal leadership of God knows what financial machinations, but where the people are true municipal patriots and the council treats them as they deserve to be treated, there is certainly no money going into private pockets.
To make matters less simple, our municipality is also facing another major investment. And one of them will be another bridge. This time, a monumental stone bridge, which is, of course, wrongly called Žižek's bridge. Supposedly built by Žižka during his escape from Pilsen to Sudoměř. Which, of course, he would not have had a chance to do for time reasons. The bridge was built only during the reign of King Vladislav Jagiellon and was built - on our territory - by the citizens of neighbouring Katowice, so that they could drive their cattle to neighbouring Bavaria. But that does not detract from its importance. I hope that in some time I will be able to talk about it as a repaired one.