Hello,
It does not appear that I will go to City Council meetings anymore. I am not welcome. At the meeting on September 10th three City Officials made comments that were untrue and slanderous. The City made it clear that they will not tolerate my claims about the land swap any longer. The three men in question were President Skorman, Councilman Pico, and the Mayor's Chief of Staff Jeff Greene. Their actions constitute a cover up. The City acted criminally to get the land swap approved, now the City is committing a further crime.
Here are the comments I had prepared:
On September 10th I was told that my questions about the needed repairs on the Barr Trail had already been answered. I strongly disagree. I have asked for an itemized list of the cost for multiple categories of repairs. I have not been provided with any specific information other than one sentence.
Here is what I was told by our Parks Dept.:
“RMFI estimates annual maintenance to the section of the Barr Trail impacted by Incline return traffic to be approximately $40,000”.
This does not tell me what the estimated cost is for a study of the drainage problems, for the actual drainage work, or a new fence. There are several other categories of repairs that are urgently needed on this trail. I am asking for the estimated cost of each category.
The statement by our Parks Dept. also raises some questions. They said that the section of the trail that the City owns needs $40,000 worth of work each year to maintain it. How many trails in our area need $40,000 of maintenance each year? Are they saying that the trail sustains $40,000 in damage each year from weather or other influences? Or, are they saying that the trail needs a huge amount of work, and that the City of Manitou Springs is spending $40,000 a year to try to fix it?
Either way, it is clear that this trail has a problem, and Manitou Springs was already doing the annual maintenance during the public comment process.
Why was the public not told of this issue? How many years in a row will we need to spend $40,000?
Ten years of this would be more than enough to render the appraisal for this land invalid, as long as the work was already necessary before the land swap was approved.
On the other hand, if the trail sustains enough damage each year to need $40,000 worth of work, that should have been considered when determining the value of the land.
Why was the fact that $40,000 was being spent on the trail each year not mentioned during the public comment process? Our Parks Dept. mentioned in that email that CSU owns the Barr trail lot, the City of Manitou Springs leases it, and part of the lease agreement requires Manitou to use some of the funds from the parking fees to improve the lot, and or the trail.
On February 24th 2016 Sara Bryarly of our Parks Dept. stated that the trail has drainage problems, and that the hillside has erosion damage. Have these issues been fixed yet? I asked for the total cost of repairs because it affects the public's opinion of the value of this land.
This shows that there are problems that existed pre land swap that still have not been fixed. Is this because there more urgent issues that are now being worked on? The drainage problems are causing the growing washouts that I have been talking about, they get worse every year.
Does a study have to be done before the drainage work? How much will this study cost?
Is there a schedule for the work? In which year of the annual maintenance will the drainage work be done?
The City held a public comment process before approving the land swap. In such a process the public is invited to learn all about the proposed transaction, and ask questions. The city heard my questions and refused to provide the answers. I spoke at public meetings, before the City Council, and I sent emails to the Council, and to the Mayor's office. I urge the City to answer these questions in detail now to demonstrate to the public that no relevant facts were omitted before the land swap was approved.
Thank you, Carl Strow