Update: The City of Manitou Springs Public Information Officer Mitchell Carter said David and Chris Jenkins have agreed to present their proposal at the July 16 City Council meeting. See section “Developers ask for closed session, City says only in public” below.
Manitou Springs City Council voted 5-2 to move ahead with the original proposal for the Creek Walk Trail Phase 4 design. Julie Wolfe and John Shada voted against the proposal.
John Chavez, owner of Chavez Consulting Inc. – contracted with the city for the project – and Glenn Ellis, client manager with JR Engineering, gave council an overview of the Creek Walk Trail Phases 4 and 5, including anticipated challenges that would arise in Phase 4 if proposed changes in the trail’s alignment were adopted.
When complete, the Creek Walk Trail will connect the Midland Trail from Colorado Springs with the corridor to Ute Pass. The intent is to provide accessible and safe walking, biking and running routes that connect users to Manitou while reducing car traffic and promoting health and fitness, according to the 2018 Creek Walk Master Plan.
Chavez noted that Phase 4 will extend the trail from Mayfair Avenue behind the Chamber of Commerce office, across Fountain Creek via an existing bridge and terminate at Hiawatha Gardens Transit Hub (10 Old Man’s Trail). The trail will run immediately adjacent to Manitou Avenue in the existing right of way to avoid creating any new disturbances.
Phase 5 will extend the trail to City Hall, filling a gap in the trail to allow accessibility to City Hall with connections to the Manitou Springs High School and Middle School campuses, Hiawatha Gardens and several city parks.
Chavez said he anticipates that this phase will be completed within budget, though the city will need to submit a funding extension request to the Colorado Department of Transportation; the current agreement expires at the end of the year, and work will not be completed by then.
The city received $400,000 for Phases 4 and 5 from CDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), which it will supplement with a $100,000 local match. Chavez said combined $500,000 in state and local funds will serve the required 50 percent match to make a Multi-Modal Opportunities Fund request to the state, bringing the total funding for the project to $1 million.
Chavez said he looked at the original design for trail alignment, as well as a proposed change to bring the trail closer to Fountain Creek, under the riparian canopy, for a more nature-oriented course.
He said that a completely new design would require stream bank stabilization, a new bridge, tree removal and additional permitting. He pointed out that a redesign would have significant impact on cost and work time.
The current Phase 4 project budget is $1 million, with approximately $779,837 of that remaining to be spent.
With the proposed realignment, the project costs would increase into the ballpark of $3 million to $5 million and require duplicating the workload previously expended on the project. Chavez said the realignment would add two years to the time required for project completion.
He noted that in the potential cost column for the current design, the project is projected to cost $1.29 million while funding is at $1 million. Jacobs Engineering, a firm previously contracted for the Creek Walk Trail project, provided this cost estimate.
“As it’s designed, we’re a little more than a quarter million dollars over budget,” Chavez said, noting that implementing the alternate alignment could put the project $3.5 million over budget.
Wolfe asked why the city had switched engineering firms for the project. Chavez said he did not have the background on that, and Ellis said he did not, either.
Resident Katie Klavon, a resident and an ecosystem restoration manager, said she’s in favor of the original plan, to “keep the pavement up on the road” and avoid both disturbing the creek ecosystems and bringing more people down to the creek, and to avoid the permitting involved with the re-route.
Resident Mark Slater also favors the original route and keeping pavement away from the creek.
“I hope that we can keep that area more natural without a lot of disturbance,” he said.
Chavez, Mayor John Graham and City Administrator Denise Howell noted that smaller changes – such as adding a tree or a bench in places – did not need to be worked out before the vote that night, and that a final plan would come to council for approval.
Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Fortuin moved to approve the original design to progress from 90 percent complete to 100 percent, and Councilor Natalie Johnson seconded.
Water infrastructure upgrades
Council unanimously approved an ordinance to accept loans from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development: a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan and a Water Pollution Control Revolving State Fund Loan.
The Drinking Water Loan will finance upgrading the city’s 40-year-old water treatment plant, rehabilitating the Mesa storage tank for the treated water, rehabilitating the backwash recovery pond and replacing upper Midland water utility line.
The Water Pollution Control Loan will finance replacing the upper Midland sewer utility line.
Howell noted that $1 million of the loan had already been forgiven and so the city will be obligated to pay back only $3,053,000 of the $4,053,000 loan. It is a 20-year loan at 3.25 percent interest with bi-annual payments of $104,396 per year through 2044.
The Water Pollution Control Loan is for $450,000, with a 20-year loan at 3.25% interest with bi-annual payments of $15,388 per year through 2044.
Council unanimously passed the ordinance.
“That’s great news for Manitou,” Graham said.
Pride Month proclamation
Councilor Michelle Whetherhult read the proclamation aloud; due to space constraints, it can be read at tinyurl.com/PrideMonthproclamation.
Council voted unanimously to approve the proclamation and it was officially adopted.
Developers ask for closed session, City says only in public
Graham said that developers David and Chris Jenkins asked to “present their ideas” in an executive session, and that the mayor had forwarded a related email to council members.
Graham said that the city attorney advises doing that in an open meeting and asked if council had any interest. Graham did not elaborate on the legal reasons for keeping the meeting public.
The mayor speculated during the June 4 city council meeting that the prominent Colorado Springs-area developers might be behind a survey texted to many Manitou residents.
At the June 4 meeting, several residents voiced distress that the survey was sent by an unknown source and seemed to have an agenda: pushing hypothetical ballot initiatives for the city to accept a donation of 15 acres of privately owned land and the creation of a Ruxton Avenue access road and a parking lot.
(See “Who sent the survey to Manitou Springs residents? City says ‘it wasn’t us'” in the June 7, 2024 Bulletin or at pikespeakbulletin.org).
Council members expressed agreement on inviting the Jenkinses to make their presentation in a public meeting. Wolfe said she’d like a minimum of two weeks’ notice to give community members ample heads-up.
Graham said it would be a July 16 meeting at the earliest, so two weeks would not be a problem. Wolfe asked if public comment would be allowed; the mayor said the Jenkinses would make their presentation, council would have time to ask questions and then there would be an opportunity for public comment.