Hello,
I watched the Manitou Springs Work Session on Zoom Thursday. Parks Director Karen Palus gave a presentation asking the Mayor and City Council to reopen the Incline.
She said that the Incline cannot be put on a paid reservation system unless a NEPA process is conducted first. Is that true? NEPA stands for National Environmental Policy Act. Why would a paid reservation system need this? Did the Forest Service tell our Parks Department that the NEPA process would be required?
I have repeatedly read in the media that Colorado Springs manages the Incline. They claim that Manitou Springs only has authority to close the Incline because of the pandemic.
The Site Development and Management Plan produced by the Task Force indicates that at that time no decision had been made as to which entity would bear what responsibility. It says that the coming IGA would deal with the issue.
The IGA says that Colorado Springs maintains the Incline, and Manitou Springs operates it.
Please provide us with the written document that gives Colorado Springs management and operational control.
Manitou Springs is still being insulted by Colorado Springs, the Incline Friends group, and even the Forest Service by their bizarre complete silence.
During the Work Session Manitou Springs wanted to know who Director Palus expected to pay for the shuttle. She said that the IGA demands that they pay for the bulk of it, $204,000 a year. Our City pays $160,000 a year for the shuttle.
This is grossly unfair. How many taxpayers does each City have?
Manitou is upset and mentioned the possibility of terminating the IGA and keeping the Incline closed indefinitely. The Incline has exploded in use, causing growing problems with traffic, noise and parking. The shuttle has helped, but places an unfair financial burden on Manitou Springs.
The claims that Manitou reaps great tax revenue from Incline users shopping and dining is not true.
My sources tell me that Manitou Springs may never open the Incline again. I have pointed out a few of the flaws in the public comment process conducted by the Task Force to you on multiple occasions.
These are legal issues and do not go away. The claim that the Task Force did not explore whether the Incline would hold up over the long-term is not believable. Before the rails came off it was one piece and nothing could move. Once the rails were removed it was only a matter of time before the ties began migrating down the hill. Without the rails the ties will not ever stay in place. It is physics.
If the Task Force obtained an engineering analysis that told them about this problem that would be proof of public deception and grant fraud.
Please show us the engineering report that the Task Force commissioned.
This issue alone renders the Special Use Permit invalid.
Has the City of Manitou Springs expressed an intent to either disclose the “mistakes” to the public, or close the Incline permanently?
Please show us the legal definition of the Incline as stated in the Special Use Permit. City Officials work for the people - us. We have a right to all relevant documents. Please show us now.
Also please show us the document given to the City by Rocky Mountain Field Institute which discusses the estimated cost of repairs on the section of the Barr Trail that the City acquired in the land swap. If it says $40,000 a year, great, show it to us.
My questions about the land swap have not been answered, and it is an act of corruption to lie to us.
Did the Mayor tell Karen Palus to suppress what she learned about the Barr Trail during the public comment process for the land swap?
Is the City Council going to remove the Mayor or City Attorney from office?
Did the Mayor mock me at the ground breaking ceremony for the new Summit house, and if so why?
I have asked this question for two years, you have to answer, people want to know.
Will the Fire Marshall allow 1031 people in the new Summit House as the City said during the public comment process?
Why did the police run my plates to see if my car was a stolen car two days before it was stolen? It had been parked in that spot for only an hour or two. I parked there often, I am sure that the police know who I am, and that this was my car. I was a few hundred feet away in sight. Did the City send the Police to run my plates to send me a message, so that I would understand when my car was stolen two days later.
Where is my car today?
I have asked this question before. The City Council cannot suppress the answers to my questions just because they are ugly, or because they incriminate the mayor or some member of Council.
Why did the City Attorney get a raise last fall or winter? My sources tell me that she could not be further from good standing in the eyes of the District Attorney's Office.
Her actions and inaction are incurring great liability for the City, civil and criminal. Every member of Council knows all about this. I will not be specific in a spirit of political correctness today.
Why does the media not act on my material? Is this part of the City's defamation of my character? Does the City have legal right to suppress the freedom of the press? Which City Officials are ordering the media not to use my material, and is that legal? Does the City not have a huge conflict of interest?
Thank you, Carl Strow