A bridge over a stream, there is no trace in recent maps. One street, two in fact, which residents say are public. The Municipality instead claims they are private, one managed by a consortium. These are the boundaries within which the tug of war has been taking place for months between a dozen residents of a slice of hill in Castel San Pietro Terme and the Municipality. Among them is Anna Lisa Aguiari, from Portomaggiore, an employee of a transport company.
On May 2 last year, the flood, a river of water. He explains: “The area was flooded for days. The river overflowed its banks. The situation remained like this for days. When the water receded from the bridge there was very little, it had dug underneath. Even the two roads , via Gaianetta and via Vignola, have been damaged. Now the cars can’t pass on that bridge, the trucks have to stop. If something serious happens, the emergency vehicles won’t be able to arrive. Just the other day, something new. The Gaianetta consortium, the date on the document is May 2nd, calls a meeting with residents for May 16th. On the agenda is the estimate for the asphalting of a stretch of via Gaianetta. The municipality will pay 50%. But the question of the bridge, a passage for about ten families, remains open. The mayor of Castel San Pietro Terme, Fabio Tinti, says: “One road is managed by a consortium of which we are part, the other street and the bridge are not public property. Among other things, they are not main roads but branches”. What worries residents is the crossing on Rio Vignola that leads to the houses. “The asphalting for which the estimate was made – they underline – is not essential while the reconstruction of the bridge is, of course”. He rains in the wet. Anna Lisa Aguiari’s house, a stone structure, needed work even before the flood. After the bad weather in May the situation worsened. A crack cuts a corner. “The trucks don’t come by to do the work, the companies refuse to come. So I had to leave, with my daughter who is an engineer – she says –. We took our horse away, holding it by the bridle, guiding it step by step along that road , on the bridge. Now we have taken him to Ostellato. We had to give away the other animals. We went to live in our house in Portomaggiore and we left everything there, we can’t take anything away, the furniture pass by with a truck.”
A complex story. Via Gaianetta belongs to a consortium which includes the Municipality and private individuals. According to residents, Via Vignola is for public use, but the municipality believes that this is not the case. Then there is that bridge, which is not found in the most recent maps. You need to access the military maps that are in the archive in Florence. “The bridge is located over a river, it is therefore public – Aguiari’s belief -. And our house is there, with that crack, without being able to carry out the work, without being able to take our things away. We have sent some certified e-mails to the Protection civil, asking for an interest. No response”.
