Here are my comments for the City Council Tuesday:
Good afternoon,
Timberline Landscaping has been applying new mulch to the flower beds around downtown recently. Has anyone else noticed that many of the beds now have mulch on only about 90% of the surface area, and the remaining 10% is bare ground? Why is that being done?
I noticed recently that the new lane striping on Union near Fillmore was nearly faded away. 2C repaved that last summer. Are City crews watering down paint? The City owes the public an explanation. Are there any other streets in the City where the paint is fading in less than a year? The City restriped that stretch of Union again the other day. Is it not a waste of tax money for us to have to redo it?
Last summer I asked this Council if the Broadmoor was exaggerating the need to rebuild the tracks of the Cog Railway. What did you find? My sources tell me that the tracks are fine. Did the Broadmoor commit extortion in obtaining tax breaks from the City of Manitou
Springs? The Broadmoor has to be accountable. Has the Broadmoor conducted all necessary environmental assesments to do such work on Forest Service land? Has the Forest Service allowed the City to do work on the Incline that was not properly permitted?
Has the Broadmoor begun construction at Strawberry Fields? Please tell me that this is not the case. That land rightfully belongs to the people of this city. It is pristine park land. The City metes out harsh punishment for anyone caught digging in a City Park, is the Broadmoor now digging on our land?
Recently I heard rumors that construction has already begun. Did the City discourage the media from reporting this event to deter protesters from showing up? The members of this Council should be out there protesting, or talking to the media about the appraisal submitted by the Broadmoor.
Who is the contractor? Do they know that the land was illegally acquired?
My research shows that replacing the fence along the Barr Trail on our land will cost no less than $200,000, and may cost as much as $400,000. Does the City agree with my numbers? Have you checked them? Is the appraisal for that land accurate, or not?
Why does the City refuse to answer my simple question about the cost of the needed repairs on that land? You just spent $5 million on the Incline, these repairs are for the trail used to come down from the Incline.