Hello,
This is my contribution for Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:
Good morning,
According to our Parks Dept. Rocky Mountain Field Institute says that the section of the Barr Trail that the City owns needs $40,000 of maintenance per year.
Is that all that RMFI said? That statement is suspicious, and much too vague.
Coincidentally, that is the exact amount that Manitou Springs is spending annually.
Is the City claiming that RMFI said nothing about the need for a drainage study?
Has the City asked them how much it will cost to complete the needed repairs?
How many more years will Manitou Springs need to spend $40,000 per year? Is that long term?
Does the trail sustain damage that costs $40,000 to repair each year?
Please tell us everything that you have learned about the cost of the needed repairs.
The land swap was approved in May of 2016.
This means that $200,000 has been spent on repairs to this land since the City Council voted to approve the land swap.
That is a little over 15% of the appraised value of that land.
Why did the City refuse to discuss this issue during the public comment process?
The City had a legal obligation to provide all information about the land we were acquiring.
I asked these specific questions over and over.
The City failed to provide relevant financial information.
You must now disclose this mistake to the public.
The City should have told us “The Cog Railway land is appraised at $1.3 million. It needs some work, maybe as much as $1 million worth of work, but the City still considers this land to be a very good deal”.
“The Broadmoor is trading us land that is worth $3.3 million, in exchange for land that is worth $2.2 million”.
Might this have changed how some people felt about the proposal?
The integrity of the public comment process cannot be compromised. Any mistakes or omissions must be reported to the public.
Many citizens did not want to trade Strawberry Fields to the Broadmoor. Some people complained that the deal did not feel right, now we learn that we did not get all of the financial data that the public requested.
Those who were opposed to the land swap have an absolute right to learn of the flaws in the public comment process. Some may want to consider a new legal challenge.
The City may not deprive them of their right to decide this for themselves.
Thank you, Carl Strow