Municipal Bulletin No. 8 — May 2006

THE MAYOR'S WORD

For three years, the Departmental Directorate of the Post Office has sought to disengage from Vierville. This results from a desire to abolish at the national level, all small postal offices in rural areas. Many of them have already disappeared, others have had to be taken over by the municipalities themselves with a range of reduced services and additional charges for residents.

The Vierville City Council continues to refute the arguments of the Post Office and pleads for the maintenance of the Vierville office in its current configuration.

I met, on several occasions, the Departmental Director; in the spring of 2005, a meeting was held in Vierville, in the presence of Mr. Lefranc, Deputy for Calvados. But the pressure is getting stronger and stronger, and during a new meeting (in Caen, on April 14) the newly appointed Departmental Director, tells me that the activity of the Vierville office continues to decrease. Those of us who use the services of our village office were able, on the contrary, to see a clear increase in attendance at Mrs. Colleville's counter. I got a new (last?) Suspension so that the Departmental Directorate can compare the turnover of the period MAY/SEPTEMBER 2006 with that of the corresponding period 2005. In the meantime, the Departmental Director maintains her goal of reducing opening hours at the end of 2006 to six hours per week, for fourteen currently.

Also, I urge all residents who are committed to maintaining a post office in our municipality to make the most of their services to:

-all postal operations

-withdrawals and deposits on CCPs and savings books

-book openings and securities purchases when they intend to

The Departmental Management counts all these operations to translate them into minutes of working time and turnover. Every time you go to the Vierville counter, you contribute to strengthening its chances of survival. If you wish to carry out financial transactions, only the Trévières commercial agent is authorized to advise you but demand each time that he travels to Vierville so that they are accounted for the benefit of Vierville and not Trévières.

Forbid yourself to cross any post office door other than that of Vierville and invite your friends from neighboring villages to come! The next four months will be decisive; after that, regrets will be in vain. Vierville sur mer should not join the long list of villages recently stripped of a remnant of public service for a single logic of profit-seeking that accelerates the death of the rural world, in defiance of any elementary rule of humane spatial planning. Looking forward to meeting you in the queue at the counter of our Post Office.

JEAN-MARIE OXEANT

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Work without a building permit

Due to their nature or small importance, a number of construction and installation works are exempt from the building permit but are subject, compulsorily, to prior declaration:

-constructions whose surface is less than 20 m2 (even if they are "temporary") such as garages, garden sheds, verandas, uncovered swimming pools, etc...

-fences, creations or removal of openings on a facade, roof window, etc...

A specific form must be used and deposited at the town hall accompanied by situation and mass plans, presentation of the project, before the start of the work.

All work carried out without respecting this simple procedure is illegal!

Do not hesitate to come and inquire at the town hall.

Activities of associations

"Friends of the beach"2006 Program

And all year round: Tennis Club Viervillais, 1 outdoor court, rue Pavée

Registration: go in front of the court, first door to the left of the grocery store.

Memorial Day, Sunday, May 28, 2006, at 8:45 am, Gerbes depos At the Monument to the Dead of Vierville

Militaria Fair on Saturday, June 3, organized by the CVMA (Collectors of Old Military Vehicles)

June 6, 1944 at 10:30 a.m., wreath deposit at the American Cemetery of Colleville
at 12:00 p.m., ceremony at the US National Guard Monument in Vierville

The CCAS is organizing an excursion to the Cotentin for the elders of Vierville on June 23.

The Charles de Bellaigue Association organizes on Sunday, July 23 from 12:30 p.m. a picnic at the Vaumicel, for the benefit of its humanitarian action in Benin.

Entrance 1 euro for adults, free for children, everyone brings their picnic. A refreshment bar and many Beninese craft stands will be installed on site and a folk group from Benin will be present all afternoon.

BUDGET 2006

The 2006 budget was adopted by the City Council on 29 March. It is expected 154,460 € of investments and 262,570 € in operation. The municipal local tax rates remain unchanged compared to 2005.

The surpluses generated over the previous two years make it possible to self-finance a work program in municipal buildings and various equipment

• Replacement of the roof (asbestos fiber) of the two garages of the town hall (2,262 euros), one will then be rented to an individual.
• Replacement of all the windows of the two dwellings of the old schools (7,000 euros).
• Renovation of the ceilings of the communal hall (3,000 euros).
• Replacement of the three gates of the cemetery (3,000 euros). The two major portals will be later. The wooden barriers had been installed in the late 1950s.
• Repair of the tip of the bell tower spire (with subsidies from Cultural Affairs and the Department (7,500 euros).
• The town hall's current computer equipment had reached its limits; it had to be replaced after 7 years of use (3,000 euros). A high-speed Internet connection is provided.
• A new tractor was bought to tow the beach supervisors' canoe (5,000 euros).
• The municipality has signed a Pole Contract with the Lower Normandy Region to carry out development work on the village in its East / West crossing. The proceeds from the sale of the museum land (40,000 euros) made it possible to complete the financing plan for this work, the cost of which is estimated at 100,000 euros and which will begin before the end of 2006.

PROJECTS

• The last revision of the P.O.S. dates from 1995. The Municipal Council has decided to revise it in order to adapt it to the new regulations, to take into account the Territorial Coherence Scheme (SCOT) and to take into account the classification of the OMAHA Site (the procedure launched by Operation Grande Site continues, and currently, the Rapporteur of the Council of State is preparing his conclusions).

The revision of the Land Use Plan is a cumbersome and long procedure (minimum 18 months) that requires the consultation of many Administrations and involves residents through an information meeting and a public inquiry.

• The Rescue Post no longer meets civil security standards; for several years, in the absence of an agreement on its location with the Civil Security Services, we have been renting a mobile building set up for the two summer months.

Following a meeting with the various Services concerned (Architect of the Buildings of France, Sub-Prefecture, Civil Security, Maritime Services, SNSM), we finally obtained an agreement in principle on the choice of its location (maintained on the esplanade). We will therefore now have to plan for the construction of a hard building, meeting the standards of the Civil Protection. This could possibly happen in 2007.

· Communal Subdivision (Guerberue district): the permit has finally been granted and the public procurement procedure will be able to resume with consultation of companies and completion of the development work.

A little history of Vierville: the first cadastre of Vierville in 1823 and the development of the beach (source: including documents by Mr. Michel Hardelay)

It was in 1823 that the first cadastre of the municipality was established, imposed by the legislation of the time.

This cadastre divided the municipality into 4 unequal sections, delimited by the roads from Port-en-Bessin to Grandcamp and the sea to Formigny

The Commune had communal land in each of the 4 sections, to the south the "vignettes" and to the north the "cliffs" including the lower parts at their foot, until the strike.

The Commune decided in 1846 to distribute the property by drawing lots, among the 85 families (we said fires at the time) of the commune, the "vignettes" on the one hand, the "cliffs" on the other hand. We do not know the reasons that led to this distribution. The land must have had little value at the time, but the idea of holiday and tourism stays had to begin to germinate, facilitated by the first railways projected in France.

West of the descent to the sea there was a mill in ruins with its water channel that received the numbers D1 to D6, on section C to NO. The cliffs further west had an area of just over 1 hectare and were divided into three lots.

To the east of the descent, the 29.5 hectares of cliffs were divided into 82 equal lots, of 36 ares 02 each.

All these lots were classified as "moors". Their limits, all parallel and perpendicular to the coast, stopped to the north, on the shore, and to the south, at the Customs Road on a cliff crest.

Of course the width of the lots was variable since the surface of each lot was the same. Near the descent to the sea, lot No. 6 had a width of nearly 45 m, because the lower part is narrow. In the center, towards Mr. Hardelay, the width was half or 22.25 m, further east, on the St. Lawrence side, it was only 13 or 14 m because the lower parts of these "moors" were much more extensive between cliff and st.

Below, the cadastre of 1823

In the East limit, there was a 5-meter path, adjacent to the municipality of Saint-Laurent, substantially perpendicular to the shore, and which turned at a right angle to the east about 80 meters from the strike, and still served as limits to the municipalities on 50 or 60 m. Lots numbered 84 and 85 therefore had no direct access to the sea and lot 83 was complicated.

Halfway to Saint-Laurent, there was a spring in the cliff, the source of the "Routoirs". The path that led to this source had been preserved between two lots.

This source was used to make the flax "red". At that time, the inhabitants lived a lot in a closed circuit and everything had to be produced on site except metals. As weaving fibers, flax was grown - the path that goes around Mrs. JACQUET's old property is called "Chemin de la Linière".

Two paths led to this source, one from the route du Hamel au Prêtre, in front of the current property of Jean Olard and, through the "4 furrows", joined the way of the Customs, and the other from the bottom, passing through the beach or on the ridge of the pebbles.

We will see in the next bulletin the tourist development of the beach, with the first villas, the cabins, the first commercial establishments (especially those of the Piprel and Le Gallois families), the construction of the boulevard de Cauvigny, the protection dike, then the war of 39-45, the re-membering, the reconstruction and the new holiday villas that gradually sometimes become the main residences of families and retirees.

All information regarding the construction dates of each of the villas on the beach, especially the oldest ones, will be welcome. You can contact Yves Cordelle (tel 02 31 22 44 91, or "yves.cordelle@free.fr")

Practical information

Town hall: Opening hours: Monday and Friday 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Tel.: 02.31.22.42.66 Fax: 02.31.21.38.57

Library Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at City Hall.

La Poste: In Vierville: Monday and Friday from 9am to 12pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm;

Mail lifts from Monday to Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

Cult:during the season, mass in Vierville on Sunday, at 11:00 am.

Firefighters: Tel. 18 Gendarmerie: Tel. 17 or 0231225103 SAMU: Tel. 15

Diste disposal:

The Port en Bessin waste disposal facility is open on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Thursday and Sunday. Other waste disposal facilities are available in the West of Bessin.

Household Waste: currently removal early Tuesday morning.

For July and August, a schedule change is being studied, with removal on Monday and Friday.

D.Day Omaha Museum open from 1^er April to November 11, and on request of groups, off-season

Contact: Mr. Brissard - Tel.: 02.31.21.71.80 - Fax: 02.31.21.71.80

OMAHA-BEACH BEDFORD Association (VA)

Subject: duty of Memory and reception of Americans visiting our sites.

President: Bertrand LE JEMTEL, tel.: 02 31 10 03 59 www.omahabeach-bedford.com

Association Charles de Bellaigue: humanitarian action in Benin - Tel: 0231517413

E-mail: "asso.charlesdebellaigue@voilà.fr" Website: "www.charles-de-bellaigue.org"

Association Beach Friends

President: Dominique GUERNIER tel. 02 31 22 60 41

Association Vierville Educational Leisure

Contact: Georgette RACINE, tel. 02.31.22.40.83. September to June, manual activities on Tuesdays from 2:15 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Old Combatants

Contact: Henri Guédon, tel. 02.31.22.49.83

Vierville-St-Laurent Hunting Society: Contact: René LENOURICHEL tel.: 02.31.22.40.27