Executive Council also awards water-management study, adopts procurement guide and records two planning approvals after processing deadlines expired
MARIGOT:--- Saint-Martin’s Executive Council has approved €2,551,518 in funding for five public secondary schools and €875,200 in mobility assistance for 185 higher-education students, alongside decisions on water management, public procurement and development applications.
The council took the decisions during its October 29, 2026 meeting and outlined them in a Collectivité press release issued November 3. Sixteen deliberations were examined.
The school allocation represents an increase of €295,050, or 13.1 percent, over the previous financial year, despite an overall decline of 18 students across the five institutions.
The council also approved a separate European Social Fund Plus allocation of €2,247,046.67 under a program supporting equal access to education and academic success.
School funding rises despite mixed enrollment trends
The €2.55 million allocation covers operating funding and specific-purpose grants for the 2026–2027 school year and is charged to the 2027 budget.
Collège Mont-des-Accords receives an additional €62,000. Most of that increase—€58,000—is in specific-purpose funding, while operating support rises by €4,000. Enrollment declined by 40 students, or 4.4 percent.
Collège Soualiga’s allocation increases by €21,000, entirely through specific-purpose funding. Its operating allocation remains unchanged. The overall budget increase of 7.2 percent broadly follows enrollment growth of 41 students, or 7.5 percent.
Collège Roche Gravée de Moho receives an additional €108,500, although enrollment fell by 30 students, or 7.5 percent. Operating funding increases by €40,500 and specific-purpose funding by €68,000.
The Lycée Général et Technologique Robert Weinum receives an additional €103,550, comprising €56,750 more in operating funding and €46,800 more in specific-purpose support. Enrollment increased by 38 students, or 4.8 percent.
The overall allocation for Lycée Professionnel Daniella Jeffry remains unchanged. An increase of €13,772.38 in operating funding is offset by an equivalent reduction in specific-purpose funding. Enrollment declined by 27 students, or 3.4 percent.
According to the Collectivité, the allocations respond to needs submitted by the institutions’ management.
Mobility assistance approved for 185 students
The council approved €875,200 in direct mobility assistance for 185 eligible students pursuing studies at BAC+1 level or higher.
A commission reviewed applications on October 6, assessing students’ study levels and the assistance applicable to each case.
The Collectivité will seek European Social Fund Plus cofinancing covering up to 85 percent of the expenditure.
This is a request for cofinancing, not confirmation that the European contribution has already been received.
Separately, the council approved €2,247,046.67 in FSE+ funding following an education-related call for projects promoting equal access to studies and academic success.
The release places that decision within Saint-Martin’s €20.85 million FSE+ allocation for the 2021–2027 programming period, compared with €16.60 million during 2014–2020.
€166,830 contract for water-management planning
The Executive Council authorized the award of the first phase of the territorial water-management project, known as the PTGE, for €166,830 excluding tax.
The study aims to establish a shared assessment of water resources, demand, and vulnerabilities, taking into account environmental conditions, socioeconomic needs, and climate change.
Priorities include more secure and equitable water management, stronger drought resilience and the development of treated wastewater reuse.
Potential alternative uses identified in the release include irrigation, street cleaning and watering green spaces, reducing reliance on drinking-water production for activities that could use appropriately treated water.
The project also aims to improve coordination among the Collectivité, EEASM, DEAL, OFB, SAUR and water users, while identifying investment needs over the short, medium and long term.
The eventual objective is a shared framework involving local stakeholders, including the Economic, Social and Cultural Council and neighborhood councils.
The release identifies contract number 2401030 but does not name the successful contractor.
Procurement guide addresses inconsistent practices and payment delays
The council adopted the September 2026 version of an internal public-procurement guide.
The Collectivité described inconsistent practices arising when departments lacked a common written reference and relied on rules applied in previous years.
The guide is intended to clarify applicable procedures and their effective dates, reducing both unnecessary consultations and purchases made without the required publicity.
The release also highlights delays within the expenditure-processing chain. It states that late validation of completed services reduces the time available to authorize payment and can expose the Collectivité to late-payment interest and a €40 fixed charge per invoice.
Measures intended to improve local businesses’ access to contracts include dividing suitable contracts into lots, paying applicable advances, allowing alternative proposals and reserving appropriate lots for integration structures and innovative young businesses.
The Collectivité emphasized that the guide governs its internal services. It creates no additional obligations for businesses and does not override the national public-procurement code.
The Executive Council will be informed of updated versions.
Two planning applications receive tacit approval
Of six planning files examined, two received tacit approval after the processing periods identified in the release had expired.
The first concerns regularizing an existing development completed in late 2025 at Friars’ Bay, involving a container fitted out for residential use and a warehouse.
The council recorded tacit approval because the one-month processing period had expired on October 14, 2026.
The second concerns a two-level storage building on an existing construction in Concordia. The release states that the three-month processing period expired on October 13, resulting in tacit approval.
These decisions differ from an express favorable assessment: the council’s stated basis was the expiration of the applicable processing deadlines.
A separate application to repair the roof of an existing building in Sandy Ground received a favorable decision.
Three development applications rejected
The council issued unfavorable decisions on three other applications.
One concerns an extension to an existing residence in Mont Vernon 1. The release cites provisions applicable to the UGa sector of the land-use plan.
Another concerns a Terres Basses project involving additional bedroom and leisure space, a swimming pool, a separate single-story building and two carports.
The third concerns adding a masonry floor to an existing building in Agrément to create two F2 apartments.
The release does not provide detailed grounds for the Terres Basses and Agrément decisions.
Collectivité declines four property preemptions
The Executive Council also decided not to exercise its urban preemption right in four property-sale files.
The procedure allows the Collectivité to consider acquiring qualifying properties before a proposed sale proceeds, for specified public-interest development purposes.
Those purposes can include housing, economic activity, heritage protection and public facilities.
The council’s decision means it will not use that priority acquisition right in the four cases reviewed. The release did not identify the properties or proposed transaction values.
The council also approved the agenda for the next ordinary Territorial Council meeting, scheduled for Friday, November 13, 2026, noting that it may approve changes during the session if circumstances require.
