This is an email I sent to the City, to Manitou, the USFS and the media today:
Hello,
The paper towel dispenser in the men's room at the downtown bus terminal is still broken. Has it been two weeks already? Is Mountain Metro having a barrier installed between the two urinals? To my knowledge bus drivers have been asking for this for months already.
Why has the urinal on the right not been adjusted or repaired yet. When Olsen's installed new controls for the automatic flush months ago it was left flushing with far too much pressure resulting in extreme over-spray leaving water on the floor all of the time.
They still run the rear seat heater every day no matter how hot it is. They still do not display the time on the buses like they used to, why did they make that change? This is a reasonable question, please answer us.
I hiked a ways up the Barr Trail Friday. This was the 4th time I have done so since the Incline reopened, and this was the 1st time that the numbers of people coming down the Barr Trail seemed to be close to 45 per half hour.
That being said it is undeniable that allowing 45 people to come down from the Incline in a half an hour completely ruins the experience for anyone who is hiking up the Barr Trail. This is unfair, and is bad management.
I got on the Incline Shuttle across the street from Hiawatha Gardens. I was sitting on the bus waiting for it to leave when I noticed that the couple sitting across from me were not wearing masks. They looked like tourists rather than Incline hikers.
I mentioned this problem to the driver, and he did have masks for them, but he was impolite to me as if I were being unreasonable. The couple was very rude to me, as were other passengers on the bus. Some were making comments to me such as: just go sit over there, 6 feet away from them.
No person is allowed to ride on a Mountain Metro bus unless they are wearing a mask.
The drivers are always extremely strict in this matter. If the bus is moving and the driver spots a passenger in their mirror who has their nose uncovered, the driver aggressively tells them that they cannot ride the bus unless both their mouth and nose are covered.
Why did this driver allow those people to get on the bus without having masks? Did someone affiliated with the Incline tell the driver to do so? Did the driver somehow know that I was going to be on his bus?
The conduct of Incline hikers coming down the Barr Trail is shocking. The City of Manitou Springs closed the Incline and spent months supposedly working on a comprehensive strategy to enforce social distancing and protect public health.
Nothing of the sort is to be found on the Barr Trail. Most Incline hikers and runners do not make any effort to put distance between themselves and others. They pass me in the most narrow places very nearly touching shoulders. People running also. These people are necessarily broadcasting tiny imperceptible droplets of saliva.
Less than ten percent of those I encountered made an effort to create distance between us, and less than ten percent were wearing masks.
Why did Manitou Springs close the Incline? Did something change their minds along the way? They are showing complete disregard for public health on the Barr Trail.
Why would they close the Incline for months, and claim to be developing a plan to ensure that social distancing was enforced, then implement a plan that achieves no social distancing at all?
This is from the Incline reservations page:
“Face coverings are not required when using the Incline. However, when you cannot maintain a physical distance of 6-feet from members of other households, for example when passing others on the Incline or Barr Trail, face coverings should be used.
· Face coverings are currently required both indoors and outdoors in Manitou Springs through an emergency order when a distance of 6 feet cannot be maintained.
· While passing, warn other users of your presence before you pass, and step aside to let others pass”.
None of this is taking place. I complained about this a few days after the Incline reopened, yet no changes have been made.
They had been talking about letting between 12 and 25 people hike the Incline per half hour during the pandemic emergency, why are they allowing 45?
Will more be allowed once the emergency is over?
Will the same number remain the standard after the emergency is over?
That would mean that they are not reducing the numbers at all for the pandemic.
After months of discussions and debate, considering all issues, how could our leaders still not know what is appropriate for the future?
Manitou Springs City Officials seemed to be principled and determined to keep the Incline closed until it could be operated safely.
For some reason that seemed to anger Mayor Suthers and Karen Palus.
Then Manitou completely abandoned all of that.
Today the Incline posses a threat to public health.
That is beyond suspicious.
Will the City Attorney please tell us:
Did any secret or inappropriate discussions take place while the Incline was closed?
Was any inappropriate pressure applied to get the Incline reopened?
Was compensation of any kind offered to Manitou Springs, or it's leaders for abandoning their principles?
The City Claims that they have an alternate route down from the Incline in the works. Great, why not greatly reduce the number of people hiking the Incline until that trail is open in a few years? Barr Trail hikers have suffered and tolerated the excessive numbers of people coming down from the Incline for ten years or more, why not respect their rights going forward. Why can the Incline not pay its own way, or sacrifice for a while?
The numbers of people hiking the Incline needed to be limited all along. 45 per half an hour is reckless during the pandemic time. It ruins the Barr Trail period, and is too many even for normal times.
Are any Incline users cheating and parking in the Barr Trail lot? Anyone can stop at Hiawatha Gardens and get free proof of parking from one of the kiosks there. Did City Officials not consider this obvious loophole, or is that part of the nature of the Incline?
Why is the Incline not paying its own way? Are Colorado Springs taxpayers paying for part of the “free” shuttle? Why not charge a fee for hiking the Incline?
The shuttle could charge the senior and disabled rate of .85 cents per passenger. They could be given a transfer and use it to ride down for free. It would expire after two hours but they could simply show it to the driver and he could verify that it is from the same day. Or they could pay .85 cents each way.
If 500 people a day paid .85 cents just over $155,000 a year would be collected. Would that save the taxpayers of our city money? Shuttle users park for free at Hiawatha gardens, surely paying the senior Mountain Metro rate would not deter them from using the shuttle.
Where else can they park and ride cheaper?
I asked how much taxpayers spent on porta potties to serve the needs of people who hiked the Incline illegally when it was closed. I am waiting for that information.
I asked how many people hiked the Incline each month that the Incline was closed. I am still waiting for this information also.
Would the city please show us a copy of the NEPA paperwork that legitimatized the connecting trail from the top of the Incline down to the Barr Trail? Does the City have some good reason to refuse? Is this available for a CORA request?
Does the City Attorney claim that a NEPA process was not legally required to legitimatize that trail?
Has the City Attorney reviewed my claim that the Special Use Permit is invalid because #10 on the list of actions required before legal opening of the Incline was not performed?
Can we have a legal opinion from the City?
Thank you, Carl Strow