Hello,
The claim that my questions about the land swap have been answered is just foolishness. I assume that Mr Pico, Mr Skorman and Mr Greene have not been on the Barr Trail recently, and I cant help but wonder if Karen Palus and Kurt Schroeder have been on the trail either.
I would be happy to go with City Officials and show them the many, many erosion ravines on the hillside that the City now owns. These are symptoms of drainage problems, water runs down the trail and leaves the trail in unnatural places and carves its own new drainage paths.
The erosion damage cannot be repaired until the drainage issues are fixed. The $40,000 of work that the City of Manitou Springs is doing each year does not improve the drainage at all. It is mitigating the harm from the drainage problems and the erosion that it causes, and working on stability issues and such. A bandaid trying to keep the trail afloat.
On the trail one sees places where washouts were repaired by RMFI, and because the drainage problem was not fixed the water is now carving a new washout right next to the repaired one.
It is a fact that this section of the trail which is known as the W is of a type that normally would have been closed years ago. It was built nearly 100 years ago before drainage issues were understood.
Ideally it would be closed and a new trail would be built according to modern drainage standards, but I do not believe that anyone favors doing that due to the mileage needs for the Marathon and other issues.
It is not possible for the drainage on this trail to ever be perfect. With an in depth study and drainage repairs the situation can be greatly improved, but this trail will require ongoing repairs and maintenance forever.
As of today this trail is going downhill. It's needs have been ignored for too many years and the erosion problems are taking a toll on it.
If the City is going to own this land you are required to be good stewards. This is a National Recreation Trail, and its condition does harm to our reputation. The erosion damage on the hillside is an ecological disgrace.
How much will it cost to fix the drainage problems? This includes a study to design the improvements, and the actual drainage work.
How much will it cost to repair the erosion damage?
Thank you, Carl Strow