Hello,
This is my contribution for Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:
Good morning,
The city failed to provide relevant financial information during the public comment process for the land swap.
The city itself admitted that the land owned by the Cog Railway had drainage problems and erosion damage.
I asked the city to tell me the total estimated cost of the needed repairs on that land many times before the land swap was approved.
I was challenging the validity or accuracy of the appraisal for that land.
The public can no longer have faith in that appraisal because of the city's refusal to answer these simple questions.
The city and others have claimed that the lower section of the Barr Trail is being damaged by overuse.
I see little or no damage of that nature.
The visible damage to the Barr Trail is a result of major design flaws.
This section of the Barr Trail was built nearly 100 years ago, and it's design is far from modern drainage standards. Trails of this type, having many tight switchbacks, are not built anymore.
This accounts for both the drainage problems and erosion damage.
The city of Manitou is still spending $40,000 a year, every year on the trail, and there is no end in sight to the repairs.
This is proof that the appraisal submitted for that land is badly flawed.
It also proves that my questions were relevant. The scope of the needed repairs is not trivial or irrelevant, the cost of the repairs is significant.
That land was appraised at $1.3 million.
The total cost of the needed repairs at the time of the public comment process amounted to at least hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The city must tell us:
How much has been spent on this trail since the spring of 2016?
How much more needs to be spent to complete the repairs of the drainage problems and erosion damage?
Thank you, Carl Strow