First, I’d like to invite all of you to our Day of Friendship Community Event on Monday, Aug. 1. The event starts at 3 p.m. with live music and then transitions to live poetry, a community potluck, the Ice Cream Social and Pie Baking Contest, and a concert by Little London Winds.
This is an event for our community, and it was created so we can celebrate the friendliness and sense of community that we all share. More information is available at bit.ly/Manitou150. I hope to see all of you there!
In 2022, we have made great progress toward improving our community members’ quality of life, and we are placing great emphasis on health and wellness. Starting in 2023, we will no longer contract our ambulance service through AMR, the regional emergency service provider.
Instead, we will bring our ambulance services in-house, with two ambulances operating out of our fire department 24/7. This is a great step toward providing the best services we can for everybody in our city.
This will reduce response time for ambulances, as they will be dispatched directly from the center of our city.
Health and wellness aren’t exclusive to public safety. Health and wellness can be as simple as learning a new hobby or even doing yoga once a week. Just this year, we have introduced recreation programs for our youth, and more broadly, for every Manitou resident!
Currently, many recreational options are available, ranging from youth flag football to yoga. To view all of our recreation opportunities, please visit bit.ly/MSRecreation.
The Pool & Fitness Center is another recreational opportunity and has served our community for decades. It was just awarded a $10,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and the Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
This grant will go a long way to expand staffing and hours of operation.
In addition, the process has started for Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathrooms in the Pool & Fitness Center. You should expect the city to go out to bid on this project sometime this fall!
I wanted to remind all of you to enter the Residential Parking Credit Program. Manitou Springs residents can now receive 50 free credits for paid parking in Manitou Springs. One credit equals one hour of parking. These credits are accepted at a flat rate and are not subject to our progressive rates.
To apply for the Residential Parking Credit Program, please stop by our offices at 606 Manitou Ave. or, for your convenience, fill out our online Parking Permit Request Form. Just visit www.manitouspringsgov.com/562/_Parking-Mobility and click “Forms” on the blue bar to the left.
One initiative I would like to bring to your attention is the maintenance of our sewer system.
Our Public Works Department finished a great effort testing our sewer system through manholes in Manitou Springs. This gauged the flow capacity of our sewer lines and determined what areas need to be serviced so we could direct our resources to the areas that needed more attention.
After the testing was finished, 70 percent of our system was considered “good,” therefore allowing our water and sewer crews to focus their maintenance efforts on the 30 percent that could use maintenance. We will continue to do this on a yearly basis, therefore reducing the risks to our system and increasing the longevity of our infrastructure.
As always, I would like to provide all of you with some data on all the progress that our departments have made so far in 2022. We have mailed more than 10,000 water bills, planted 15 trees, serviced 8,250 pool patrons, issued 573 Residential Parking Permits, approved 166 Property Improvement Permits and have filled more than 340 potholes.
When you see a city worker, please take the time to thank them for what they do. They spend many long nights serving this community to make a positive impact.
As a reminder, I am always available to meet one-on-one with anyone who has a compliment or concern to share; contact me at dhowell@manitouspringsco.gov or 685-2626.
In addition, I host a monthly Coffee with the City Administrator at Adam’s Mountain Café, 26 Manitou Ave. Upcoming dates are 7-9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, and Thursday, Sept. 8.