Hello,
This is my contribution to Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:
The problems on the Barr Trail are fairly well documented.
There are erosion ravines all over the hillside.
Manitou springs is spending $40,000 a year to try to keep up with the washouts and other annual damage.
These problems are symptoms of the fact that the trail was built at a time when trail builders did not understand drainage issues.
The solution to these problems is to have a professional drainage study done to design drainage improvements on the trail.
We are wasting money by allowing so much annual damage to occur on the trail.
I don't have sure knowledge, but my understanding is that the needed drainage study will cost $100,000 or more.
Is that correct?
Rocky Mountain Field Institute does the annual work on the trail, and they are some of the leading experts in trail work in our area.
What have they told the city about the cost of the needed repairs?
We have owned this land for over five years.
Does the City Council claim that our Parks Dept. has not obtained a detailed estimate of the cost of the needed repairs on our land?
The only answer I have been given by the City Council so far is this:
“Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) estimates annual maintenance to the section of Barr Trail impacted by Incline return traffic to be approximately $40,000.”
I am not asking for the annual maintenance cost but rather for the total cost of all needed long-term repairs.
No other trail in our area needs $40,000 in annual maintenance. This proves that this section of the Barr Trail needs major upgrades to become sustainable.
The city chose to become the owner and steward of this land. We did not own it, it was owned by the Cog Railway. We acquired this land in 2016 in the land swap with the Broadmoor Hotel.
In doing so the city chose to become stewards of this section of the Barr Trail.
I am one of many people who love this trail and care deeply about its deteriorating condition.
The city obtained millions of dollars in grant money to do repairs to the Manitou Incline, but the city is being negligent in its stewardship of this section of the Barr Trail.
Please provide me with the estimated cost of each category of repairs that this trail needs.
Thank you, Carl Strow