Previous discussions of the Mäntiperä energy park: Technical Committee 6.9.2023 § 52, 21.8.2024 § 53, 26.2.2025 § 23, Municipal Board 11.9.2023, 26.8.2024 § 129

Planning consultant Esa Säkkinen and the project implementer's representative Kari Tuominen will present the matter at the meeting. In addition, the technical director will be an expert.

Attached are the reports

The municipal government grants, upon application, general grants to support activities to communities in Kihniö or to applicants whose activities are located in the Kihniö area. When granting grants, the scope of the community's activities, the openness and effectiveness of the opportunity to participate, and the effectiveness of the grants are taken into account. The general principle is that the grant activities must be effective and support the municipal strategy. The application must include the action plan for the current year, the previous year's financial statements, a report on the use of the previous year's support, and justifications for the need for support. The budget has earmarked 7.500 euros for grants. Applications received by the deadline, requested grants, and a proposal for the support to be granted are attached.

The amount of euros distributed as grants as part of the economic adjustment measure was halved from the previous 15.000 euros to 7.500 euros.

Grant applications can be viewed at the meeting and before that at the municipal office.

Appendix 1 grants

The Kihniö municipality's collective bargaining negotiations ended on 20 February 2025 when the employee representatives approved the negotiation proposal. The negotiation proposal includes a review of work processes, discretionary unpaid official and work leaves, exchanging holiday pay for leave, a review of job descriptions and combining tasks, as well as measures to support coping and well-being at work, so that sickness absences would be reduced.

In accordance with Section 51 of the Administrative Regulations, the municipal government decides on the establishment and abolition of a position and on changing the position title.

The position of mayor became vacant on December 12, 2024. In accordance with the administrative regulations, the duties of mayor (acting) have been performed by the Director of Finance and Administration in addition to his own duties.

In order to implement the decision of the collective bargaining negotiations and achieve the targeted cost savings, it is appropriate that the positions of the mayor and the director of finance and administration be combined. The office holder has been consulted on the matter and has agreed to the combination of the positions.

According to the current administrative regulations, the mayor is responsible for the activities of the municipal government's department and manages and develops operations under the authority of the municipal government. The mayor manages the municipal office as the head of the office. The mayor decides: 1. on the division of work between departments and the use of labor 2. on the proposal of the head of the department, on the division of the department into areas of responsibility. When the mayor is absent or incapacitated, the director of finance and administration acts as the mayor's deputy. However, the municipal government may, if the position is vacant or the absence lasts for more than two months, appoint a temporary caretaker to the position.

According to the current administrative regulations, the head of the Finance and Administration Department is the Director of Finance and Administration. The head of the department is responsible for the operations, finances and financial monitoring of his or her department, and manages and develops operations under the supervision of the municipal government, the mayor and the board. The head of the department decides on the internal use of the department's workforce. The heads of departments keep minutes of their decisions. The municipal government appoints a deputy head of the department, who will perform the duties of the head of the department when he or she is absent or incapacitated.

The above-mentioned tasks will be combined and the administrative regulations will also be amended later as necessary.

By combining the positions of the mayor and the director of administration and finance, the position of the director of finance and administration will in practice cease to exist. The employer's redeployment obligation laid down in Section 37 of the KVhL requires that the office holder must be offered primarily a position or employment relationship that most closely corresponds to his or her previous employment relationship, and then another employment relationship for which he or she is suitable in terms of his or her professional skills and abilities.

The employer may be required to offer a more demanding or higher-level position than the previous one, provided that the job can be considered suitable for the dismissed person. The matter is assessed on a case-by-case basis by comparing the professional skills and abilities of the office holder in relation to the duties of the open position and which requirements for the person selected for the position are justified in terms of the duties. An open position cannot be refused to a suitable person under threat of dismissal, for example on the grounds that more experienced or qualified applicants would be available through an external search, unless such additional requirements can be reasonably required for the position.

If it is possible to appoint an officeholder to the position of mayor on the basis provided for in Section 37 of the above-mentioned KVhL, then it is possible to deviate from the public application procedure provided for in Section 4 of the KVhL.

In this case, the current Director of Finance and Administration, Kristiina Mäkelä, has handled He has also served as deputy mayor on several occasions, so he also has the necessary experience and qualifications to hold the position of mayor in the municipality of Kihniö.

When combining the positions of mayor and director of finance and administration, the municipality of Kihniö has the obligation and opportunity to offer Kristiina Mäkelä the position of mayor in order to fulfill its reinvestment obligation under Section 37 of the Municipalities and Local Government Act, as she is suitable for the position of mayor of the municipality of Kihniö due to her professional skills and abilities.

According to Section 41 of the Local Government Act, the mayor is elected by the council, and according to Section 42 of the Local Government Act, the municipality and the mayor must enter into a management agreement, which sets out the conditions for management. The management agreement is approved by the municipal board. It is appropriate to approve the management agreement as soon as possible after the election.

According to Section 4 of the Act on District Court Laymen (675/2016), which entered into force on 1 January 2017, the municipal council elects laymen for a period corresponding to the term of office of the municipal council. The term of office of the current laymen ends when the municipal councils have elected new laymen and the elections have become legally binding.

The jurisdiction of the Pirkanmaa District Court includes 22 municipalities. The District Court has a total of 52 lay judges in the period 2021-2025. The number of lay judges in the District Court is confirmed by the Courts Office. The number was most recently confirmed by the Courts Office's decision of 16 June 2021 (TIV/67/2021).

The Courts Office has asked district courts to assess the need for lay judges in total and for each municipality in the court district. When assessing the number, the development of the number of cases to be decided by lay judges should be taken into account.

The total number of cases heard by the jury has continued to decrease due to legislative changes. In 2017, there were a total of 379 cases, and in 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were only 131 cases. In 2024, there were 152 cases, although the COVID-19 pandemic no longer affected the number of cases being heard.

In the period 2017-2021, there were 74 jurors and the jurors sat on average for three sitting days per year. In the period 2023-2024, the jurors have sat on average for seven to eight sitting days per year.

The District Court will propose to the Courts Office to maintain the total number of jurors at the current 52 jurors.

The Pirkanmaa District Court is giving municipalities within its jurisdiction the opportunity to provide their opinions regarding the number of jurors to be elected from the municipality. Any opinions are requested to be submitted to the District Court by 4 April 2025 at the latest by email, pirkanmaa.ko@oikeus.fi.

Kihniö has had one board member, so there would be no change in this regard.

The number of jurors by municipality in the period 2021-2025 is attached.

The acting mayor will present the financial situation at the meeting.