Usansolo has taken a significant step towards its consolidation as a fully autonomous municipality. The City Council has recently awarded three contracts for 'essential' services: gardening and park maintenance, domestic waste collection, and home care assistance. Until now, all these services were managed from Galdakao, but following the expiration of current contracts, the young town has been able to put them out to tender for the first time to manage them independently. The total investment for these services will be close to four million euros.
Usansolo became an independent municipality in December 2023, and the following year, it established a collaboration agreement with Galdakao to continue managing 59 of its corresponding contracts. 'At that time, canceling certain services would have caused problems for both them and us, which is why we maintained them. As they expire, we are gradually managing new agreements until we can take charge of all of them,' clarifies the mayor, Agustín Aizpuru.
The 'urban waste collection' service has been awarded to the UTE (Temporary Union of Companies) Samos y Campezo, which will also be responsible for transporting the waste to treatment plants. The tender includes a period of eight years, extendable to a ninth. The total budget is 2,380,000 euros, which the City Council will pay annually.
Regarding the SAD (Home Care Service), two companies submitted applications, and finally, Zaintzen S.L. will manage it for the next three fiscal years for a total of 653,000 euros. Lastly, the company Elai Zerbitzuak will be in charge of the 'conservation and maintenance of parks and garden areas.' This will also be for a period of three years, costing 747,000 euros.
Currently, Galdakao manages twenty-four shared contracts with the neighboring town. Fifteen of these expire this year, seven more in 2027, and the last two before March 2028. One of them is street cleaning, 'the most important one we are missing,' notes Aizpuru. 'From this year onwards, we will have practically 90% of the services in our hands,' he points out. In return for these services, both municipalities have agreed on an annual payment of 231,522 euros from Usansolo.
It is worth remembering that the town of Usansolo will have its own Police force after the authorization granted last April by the Governing Council. 'I hope we can have it operational after the summer,' explains the mayor.
The municipality expects to exceed 5,000 inhabitants by 2029, which is why it requested authorization from the Basque Government for the creation of a municipal police force. 'We see the need to equip ourselves with our own resources to address various issues, including the increase in traffic, parking problems, and the lack of means to ensure compliance with municipal ordinances,' states Aizpuru.
