Hello,
The City says that Rocky Mountain Field Institute has told them that the section of the Barr Trail that they now own needs $40,000 in work each year. Great! Please show us a copy of that document. I do not believe that this is an honest interpretation of what the City has been told, prove me wrong.
I have been doing research on the Incline by studying both the Site Development and Management Plan that was produced by the Manitou Incline Task Force, and the IGA (intergovernmental agreement) between the City of Colorado Springs and the City of Manitou Springs.
I found several problems, the worst of which is the fact that those documents required that significant repairs, including tie stabilization, be substantially completed before the legal opening of the Incline.
The tie stabilization was finally completed only a few years ago. This means that the Forest Service erred in issuing the Special Use Permit. The conditions that were required for the legal opening of the Incline had not been met. Because those conditions had not been fulfilled on the date that the permit was issued, the permit is invalid.
This is the same principle that makes the closing of the land swap invalid because on the date shown on the paperwork no valid conservation easement existed.
I have included some screenshots of the sections I refer to.
First is a table from page V – 11 of the Management Plan titled “Actions Required prior to legal opening in 2011”.
#10 - Safety repairs to Incline including:
“debris and hazardous rebar removal and tie stabilization. Incline will be closed during work”.
The chart allots 3 and one half months for that work to be done. They had an army of experts on the Task Force, how could they have been so unrealistic?
Next is a section from the IGA. Note “C” saying that the Incline will not open legally until the 13 steps laid out in the above document are substantially completed.
The Site Development and Management Plan also refers to an “expedited NEPA process” to legalize the social trail from the top of the Incline down to the Barr Trail. Was a NEPA process done? Does the City have paperwork for that trail? Please let us see that now.
On page V – 12 the document has a graph titled “Actions Recommended prior to legal opening in 2011”. #2 says “Reroute of social trail at top of Incline to Barr Trail”. There is a note nearby saying “Following Completion of Special Use Permit”.
Did the Forest Service do an end around by authorizing the reroute of this social trail in the Special Use Permit without conducting the NEPA process?
My research has determined that Manitou springs does not manage the Incline, though they do have some part in its management. I do not believe that they have legal authority to put the Incline on a reservation system on their own.
This is from the IGA. It says that Colorado Springs has “General management oversight”.
The section that describes the Obligations of Manitou Springs does not mention General Management Oversight.
The IGA does direct the creation of a committee that will report back to both Cities. Is this the one that is named “Incline Management Oversight Committee”? I have asked for agendas and such and have been stonewalled. Does this committee exist today? Why have they not made any public statement recently?
Is Mr Bill Beagle on the committee? Has he been making public statements and failing to identify himself as a member of the committee?
If this committee exists I demand to have access to its agendas and past minutes. Colorado does have an Open Meetings Act, does it not.
This is from the IGA. See b.
The issue of management does seem to be somewhat vague, which City does what, and what responsibility or authority the committee has.
While Manitou springs may not be able to put the Incline on a paid reservation system on their own, they are not required to spend money on the Incline, and they do have a right to terminate the IGA. That would effectively close the Incline. They have a right to terminate access to the Incline because the excessive numbers of people are ruining the Barr trail, the Incline, and the quality of life in their City.
This is from the IGA.
I watched the Manitou Springs Work Session Thursday June 11th on Zoom. One of the Councilors asked Karen Palus who she expected to pay for the shuttle, and Karen Palus told Manitou Springs that the IGA requires them to pay for part of the shuttle.
The property owners were each given a revocable license, and the Cities may each terminate the IGA. Clearly the Task Force understood that problems existed so they granted all parties an easy way out in the event that any party wanted to close the Incline permanently, for any reason at any time.
Why is the City of Manitou Springs now being criticized for keeping the Incline closed?
Both the Management Plan and the IGA claim that hundreds of thousands of people were hiking the Incline per year in 2010.
The following is from the Management Plan page III – 20.
The Management Plan says that CDOT placed visual counters on the Incline from September 10th 2010 until September 27th. Could trespassers see those counters? Would it have been possible to manipulate the results?
This claims that there are no more people hiking the Incline now days than there were in 2010. That is absurd. Did someone direct more people to hike the Incline during the 17 day test period? Did the Task Force report false data?
The Task Force used a GOCO grant for all of this, the information in the Management Plan has to be perfect, completely accurate. The Task Force was composed of members representing both Cities, the USFS, CSU and the Cog Railway, among others. Every entity has a legal obligation to make it right. They may not lie.
The last few years the available parking near the Incline have been full. Add to that the numbers of people riding the shuttle, that many people could not have parked and accessed the Incline in 2010. They began the shuttle because the problems were getting worse and worse.
In those days the Barr Trail was a nightmare in the morning hours but OK the rest of the day. Now it is overrun all day at any hour. Not quite as bad in the morning as in the past, but ruined all of the time.
Did the Task Force lie about the numbers? You have to disclose the truth or close the Incline permanently.
If any of my analysis is inaccurate or incomplete please show us the sections that prove this.
These documents are not huge, though they are somewhat difficult to decipher. Which City Officials have long term familiarity with them, and or have reviewed them recently as I have?
There are serious problems at Mountain Metro.
The rear row of seats on the buses has heat because they are on top of the engine compartment and can be very cold in the winter. During the winter a year and a half ago, it was great. On a cold day, when the temperature outside was 20 degrees or less the back row of seats would be very warm, a delight after standing at a bus stop freezing.
Last winter the heated seats were off, or on very, very low. These days it is on every day on virtually every bus, often the entire rear of the bus is warm. I never sit in the back of the bus anymore because of this.
Sometimes the air conditioning is not used even on a very hot day. The buses used to always be very cool on hot days.
The men's room across the street at the downtown terminal was closed for weeks recently. The sign on the door said damage. The security officers and bus drivers were allowed use it, but not the public. When it did finally reopen the only thing new that I saw was one urinal.
The urinal that was not replaced has had a problem for months. Last winter Olsen's replaced the automatic flush sensors on both urinals and the toilet. The urinal on the left was not adjusted properly. It has major over-spray. The floor in front of it is always wet. That creates unsanitary and dangerous conditions. This issue was not corrected during the weeks long closure. Why was that not fixed? I am certain that Mountain Metro was aware of it.
The buses all have a display near the front of the bus. Normally it shows the time and up coming stops, or announces that someone has requested that the bus stop to let them off.
Why do the displays never show the time anymore? Passengers need to know the correct time because they are hoping to connect with another route and need to know if they are on time.
The ticket vending machines in the terminal across the street were turned off when the Stay at Home order was implemented, they are still disabled. The Coke machine and chip/cookie vending machines there are still on. Does this not endanger public health and manifest a double standard?
What is going on at Monument Valley Park near Fontanero Street? I was there a couple of weeks ago, the bathrooms are still closed for the winter season, and the water fountains are off. All of the grass is dying, acres of it. They have been trenching here and there, and some PVC pipe is on the ground. I was there on a weekday afternoon and no workers were on site.
Why would our Parks Dept embark on this project during the summer? Could they not have made a few repairs and then replaced the entire irrigation system in October when the grass would not have been killed?
What are the City's plans? When will the sprinklers be on? Are we letting all the grass die and replacing it? How long will it be until the grass, in what used to be an amazing park, recovers?
Why has there been no mention of this project in the media?
Thank you, Carl Strow
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