Hello,
This is my contribution to Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:
I urge the city to reconsider its claim that my questions about the land swap have already been answered.
The email response I got was written by Britt Haley, a respected and trusted employee of our Parks Dept. who is also an attorney.
Her email was commissioned by Councilman Bill Murray who voted against the land swap.
At the City Council meeting on September 10th, 2019, both Mr. Pico and Mr. Skorman told me that my questions had already been answered.
This is interesting because they are on opposite ends of the political spectrum and do not agree on many issues.
The Mayor's Chief of Staff also agreed with them that my questions had already been answered.
I have reviewed all correspondence that I have received from the city on this subject, and I cannot find the answer to my question.
“How much will it cost to fully repair the section of the Barr Trail that is on the land we acquired from the Cog Railway”.
In the email I received from Britt Haley she stated that “Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) estimates annual maintenance to the section of Barr Trail impacted by Incline return traffic to be approximately $40,000.”
This does not answer my question. I am asking the city to tell me how much RMFI estimates it will cost to do all needed long-term repairs to that section of the trail.
Once those repairs are complete the trail will no longer require $40,000 in annual maintenance.
The annual maintenance is insufficient. The trail and the hillside are suffering growing damage because the long-term repairs are overdue.
The erosion damage on the hillside will have to be repaired regardless of the long-term fate of this trail. Before that work is done a drainage study will have to be conducted to design drainage improvements to stop the erosion damage.
The city has owned this land for over 6 years, and that is plenty of time to do an in-depth evaluation of its needed repairs.
How much does RMFI estimate that a drainage study will cost?
How much do they estimate that it will cost to repair the erosion damage?
Thank you, Carl Strow