Hello,

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

Good morning,

During the public comment process for the land swap, the city failed to inform the public that $40,000 in repairs were being done each year on the section of the Barr Trail that the city wanted to acquire.

Rocky Mountain Field Institute or the city of Manitou Springs would have been required to inform the management of the Manitou Incline that they would be working on the section of the trail used for Incline return traffic.

I assume that each year Incline management was asked to make sure that Incline users would use caution when passing through a work zone.

The city cannot claim that they did not know that annual repairs were being done.

The failure to disclose the cost of the annual repairs during the public comment process is very suspicious.

Had the $40,000 in annual maintenance been disclosed, the public would have asked for the total cost of all needed long-term repairs.
This would have discredited the appraisal that was submitted by the Broadmoor for that land.

Surely the city did not act with intent to obstruct public understanding or conceal relevant financial information.

However, if the city wishes to avoid a public investigation of this matter the land swap must be reversed now.

Thank you, Carl Strow