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Hello,

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

Good morning,

On February 24th, 2016, at the meeting at Gold Camp Elementary School Sara Bryarly gave a presentation for the city.

She said that the land the city wanted to acquire from the Cog Railway has drainage problems and erosion damage.

I have been asking for the details of those problems since that night.

We now know that the damage is so bad that some in our trails community are considering closing that section of the Barr Trail and building a new trail.

How much will it cost to repair the drainage problems?

How much will it cost to repair the erosion damage on the hillside?

The public comment process is invalid because the city withheld relevant financial information from the public.

Did the city learn during the public comment process that the appraisal submitted by the Broadmoor is invalid?

Why did the city refuse to answer?

Why is the city still refusing to answer these questions today?

On September 10th, 2019, I was informed by the city that my questions on this subject had already been answered.

That claim is untrue.

My questions have not been answered.

How much will it cost to repair the drainage problems?

How much will it cost to repair the erosion damage on the hillside?

I was told that the trail needs $40,000 a year in annual maintenance.

That has been going on for close to ten years.

Why have the drainage problems not been fixed?

Why has the erosion damage not been repaired?

This land was appraised at one million three hundred thousand dollars.

Close to four hundred thousand dollars have been spent on that land since 2013 but the drainage problems and erosion damage have not been fixed.

In preparation for the public comment process, the city was obligated to do an in-depth study of all liabilities that come with that piece of land.

The city may not make a mistake or omission of that magnitude.

The city is obligated to inform the public of the fact that they failed to disclose all financial liabilities that come with that land.

The city's ongoing refusal to make this public disclosure is suspicious.

You do not have the option of deciding not to inform the public.

As our elected representatives you must make the disclosure.

It would not be surprising if the city does not consider this matter to be of great significance, but it is also to be expected that some members of the public will strongly disagree.

The city is depriving them of the ability to decide for themselves.

Some might want to mount a legal challenge against the Broadmoor's appraisal or the land swap overall.

In the democratic process, the public has a right to all such information and the land swap and its accompanying documents have to be able to hold up to any legal challenge.

Thank you, Carl Strow