Hello,

This is my contribution to Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:

At the first public meeting for the land swap Sara Bryarly give a presentation for the city.

She stated that the section of the Barr Trail on the Cog Railway's land had drainage problems and erosion damage.

The city opened the door to the discussion about the repairs so I naturally assumed that the city had the answers to my questions, and I began asking about the scope of the problems and the projected cost of the repairs.

I already knew from hiking the trail that the problems on the trail were extreme and that the remedy would require major trail work.

At the time of the public comment process, I was not aware that $40,000 was being spent on the trail every year.

Had I been told I would have objected to the city trading our beloved Strawberry Fields for such a lemon.

I feel sure that other citizens would have also felt differently about the deal.

Just the fact that the Barr Trail needs $40,000 a year in annual maintenance is significant.

“This is a great used car and it only needs about $8,000 a year to keep it on the road”!

The fact that $40,000 a year was needed to keep the Barr Trail afloat is relevant financial information.

Then in January 2018, the city told me that since 2013 Rocky Mountain Field Institute had spent $211,128 on this section of the Barr Trail.

We the people are the owners and shareholders of the city. City officials alone do not get to decide whether this is a game-changer, the public has a right to form their own opinion.

The public has a right to change its mind about the land swap in light of this new information.

Does anyone know why the media did not report this new information when I shared it with them 4 years ago?

If $40,000 a year is being spent on the Barr Trail we can assume that approximately $130,000 had already been spent on the trail at the time of the public comment process.

That is 10% of the appraised value of the land and that money had not scratched the surface of the needed repairs.

This fact is relevant!

It is still relevant today. The city must disclose to the public that they inadvertently omitted some relevant financial information during the public comment process and allow the public to decide if it is enough to change how they feel about the land swap.

Thank you, Carl Strow