Here are my comments for the Tuesday City Council meeting:
Good afternoon,
Did the City learn during the public comment process that the appraisal submitted by the Broadmoor for the land swap was flawed?
Why did the City remove mention of these repairs from their presentations after the meeting of February 24th 2016?
Why does the City refuse to even mention the repairs to this day?
If members of this Council have learned that the land swap is legally flawed, you are each required by law to disclose this fact to the public.
If the City is claiming that they have not looked into the cost of these repairs, you should know that such a claim is not believable.
I asked and asked during the public comment process about the cost of the needed repairs on the land we were acquiring. If you are buying a used car and it needs engine work, do you not learn the cost of the repairs before purchasing the car?
I spoke at public meetings. I spoke before this Council. I sent emails to the Mayor, the City Attorney, and to this Council. Karen Palus and Jack Damioli both heard me speak on more than one occasion. The claim that the City did not investigate this question before approving the land swap is not believable.
Why is the City of Manitou Springs spending their own money to do repairs on the land that Colorado Springs now owns? When do they estimate that all repairs will be completed? What do they estimate the total cost of the needed repairs to be?
Historically, has the City of Manitou Springs been pushed around or taken advantage of? Did the Broadmoor cross the line in obtaining tax breaks from them for the work being done on the Cog Railway? I email my comments to them, why have they not spoken up about the cost of future repairs on the Barr Trail? Have they been discouraged from telling what they know?
Is it true that the original motivation for the land swap was to protect the Manitou Incline? My understanding is that the Federal Government never wanted the Incline to become legal, they preferred that it be shut down instead.
The Cog Railway owned a revocable license for the middle section of the Incline. If the Cog Railway was ever sold the new owner would have been able to force the rightful closure of the Incline. Most people either don't know about the problems with the Incline, or for some reason are not capable of speaking out about them. Did the City conspire to obstruct the government from carrying out its plans to eventually close the Incline?