Hello,
This is my contribution for Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:
Good morning,
At the time of the public comment process for the land swap the city of Manitou Springs was doing $40,000 a year in repairs on the land owned by the Broadmoor and Cog Railway.
Are we supposed to believe that the Broadmoor was not aware of that?
Is the city going to claim that this fact was not relevant financial information?
How much has the city of Manitou Springs spent on the trail over the last ten years or so?
How much more has to be spent to complete all needed repairs, and so that the trail will no longer need $40,000 in annual work?
What is the number?
The public comment process is not legally valid if either party fails to provide all relevant financial information.
Has the city investigated my questions?
Does the city now believe that the Broadmoor intentionally withheld the flaws and liabilities that come with that land?
The public comment process is invalid regardless of whether the Broadmoor acted intentionally or not because the information was not presented.
The two parties in the land swap are not allowed to make mistakes of that magnitude.
The public was not able to make an informed decision. The liabilities that come with that land were not revealed.
There was a large organized opposition to the land swap. They raised money and took legal action to try to stop, or reverse the deal.
The city has to disclose to the public the fact that some of the flaws and liabilities in the land swap were not disclosed to them during the public comment process.
I can prove that I asked the city to tell me the estimated cost of all needed repairs on that land over and over throughout the entire public comment process.
This is documented on the Facebook page that I manage titled “COS Land Swap”.
The city refused to provide the requested financial information.
This fact must now be disclosed publicly.
Thank you, Carl Strow