Trails and Open Space Coalition, Colorado Springs

135 fans of the Incline became Incline Friends at a membership drive sponsored by Phantom Canyon. New members got  a great short sleeve "tech" running shirt with the Incline logo. And there was free beer for first 50 new members. Long sleeve tech running shirts will continue to be available for purchase. Membership donation is $35 annually and will be used to support Incline maintenance efforts.  If you missed out and would like to join - contact the TOSC office.

The goal is to get the Incline safe and legal during 2012.

Supporting the newly formed Incline Friends, assisting with efforts to open the Incline to the public and turning it into the asset it can be are TOSC priorities for 2012.

A portion of the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail is scheduled to reopen Thursday from America the Beautiful Park to just north of Bijou Street. Colorado Springs Utilities performed wastewater system improvements. Colorado Springs has used this opportunity to improve the trail with a new pedestrian/bicycle bridge. The $110,000 bridge was just installed. Money came from the bicycle tax, Conservation Trust Fund and some support from CSU. As the greenway is considered the  "I-25 of the city's trail system," the parks department was committed to completing the project in a timely fashion to allow commuters and recreational users a safe means of getting in and out of the city near Bijou. 

A portion of Shooks Run was closed over the holidays to allow for major repairs.
940' of trail between San Rafael and Cache Le Poudre has been resurfaced. Cracked asphalt was replaced by concrete. Problems related to grade and erosion were also corrected. Tree roots and limbs currently interfering with the trail were  pruned.
Shooks Run is one of the city's primary trails and is used by students of North Middle School for commuting. With students currently on holiday break, city workers decided to use the time to make much-needed trail improvements.

Colorado Springs City Council voted 6 to 3 to override a mayoral veto concerning tennis court maintenance. City council had approved $175,000 for repairing tennis courts in city parks. Mayor Steve Bach vetoed that budget request calling tennis courts maintenance an "unessential item." Council disagreed and restored the money.

13 of the city's 57 tennis courts are currently unplayable. In years past, the parks department spent between 50,000 and 100,00 annually for tennis court maintenance. That practice ended in 2009 when general revenue to the parks department was drastically cut. (Picture: Thorndale Park)

• Give 2011! officially ended at 11:59 p.m.on Dec. 31st.
  Results:
  TOSC finished with $26,114 dollars from donors, 290 overall donors and 61 young donors.
  By surpassing $20,000 we will receive our entire matching grant on $7500 (Thanks Mountain Chalet!)
  As first in our category in # of donors and # of young donors we will receive an additional $3000. Total benefit for TOSC:  $36,614. Remember, those of you who donated at the $50 level will get a coupon for a free Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Red Rock Bar. Those who donated at the $100 level will get the chocolate bar and a coupon for a bottle of our Incline Wine courtesy D'Vine Wines. Be sure to redeem those coupons! And we wholeheartedly thank John Weiss, Publisher of the  Colorado Springs Independent  and his staff along with a plethora of partners who made this years' Give possible.
  
  
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Thanks to all who came to our annual TOSC member and friends meeting. It was a chance to reconnect with fellow trails and open space users and advocates, learn what's new with the organization AND have some one-on-one time with those city and county workers committed to improving our trail system, bikeways, greenways, open spaces and parks. Congrats to Mike and Amanda Bristol (Bristol Brewing Company) Guardians of Palmer Park and Friends of El Paso County Nature Centers for winning this years' conservation awards. Special thanks to Sarah Bryarly (TOPS), Kristin Bennett,  Jason Meyer (El Paso County Parks Planner) and Steve Bremner (Incline Friends) for coming out to talk to attendees.  And thanks to the Gay and Lesbian Fund for use of their wonderful building.

Great Parks - Great Communities is NOT asking El Paso County Commissioners to put a .15% sales tax increase on the November ballot. The reason? Lack of support from elected officials - especially Mayor Steve Bach and county commissioners. Without that support the initiative could not go forward. Even though in a recent poll 60%  of county residents said parks are in fair or poor condition and nearly 60% said they would support a small sales tax increase to support parks maintenance. And a whopping 82% supported letting the people decide.

What now? Great Parks - Great Communities will go forward with a new strategy. We will work to increase the 2012 parks maintenance budgets in El Paso County and Colorado Springs. And we will encourage a dialogue between the city and county to promote cooperation between parks departments.

  Some 30 guided tours of Corral Bluffs were given this year. If you missed out, contact corralbluffs.org and reserve a spot next spring.
Corral Bluffs is located 4 miles east of Powers Blvd. It's an amazing open space and definitely worth seeing. Currently closed to the public,there are plans to expand Corral Bluffs into a regional park. Eventually a public master planning process will determine public access and trails.The Corral Bluffs Alliance is the group offering guided tours of the property.  

Starting Sunday, November 6th - cleanups will begin from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Corral Bluffs Alliance hopes to finish cleaning up an old farmer's dump jost north of the open space. Most heavy items have been removed, but many small items need to be sorted for recycling. Meet at Hoofbeat and Davis Road at 1 p.m. For more information: corralbluffs.org