The Colorado Springs City Council spent more than five hours Monday discussing a wide range of issues, including discontinuing FREX and amending the TOPS tax.

The laundry list of items shows that City Council has months of work ahead. But, it was all talk and no action Monday during an informal meeting that included no votes.

Some items the council heard will be up for immediate action Tuesday. Others could be months down the road.They include:• Mayor Steve Bach’s Transit Solutions Team, which has been evaluating the way Colorado Springs delivers public transportation, presented its final recommendations, including instituting a competitive bid process for specialized paratransit service.The team’s most controversial recommendation is eliminating city funding for the FrontRange Express, also known as FREX. The city, which is providing nearly $800,000 in funding from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority for FREX this year, says it is exploring a vanpool as an alternative to the region’s commuter bus service to Denver.The presentation sparked a tense moment between Councilwoman Brandy Williams and team leader Robert Shonkwiler when Williams asked him whether he had used public transportation before issuing the report.“I don’t think you’ve got any right to ask me that question, and I respectfully decline to answer. It’s none of your business,” said Shonkwiler, who is a member of the city’s Planning Commission as well as the Urban Renewal Authority.Council President Scott Hente said he would like to have a public hearing before voting to cancel the intergovernmental agreement with the state for FREX.• The mayor’s Parks Solutions Team, which has been meeting since January, also presented its recommendations to council. They include amending the Trails, Open Space and Parks tax, or TOPS, to maintain all parks, not just TOPS properties. The team recommended a 2012 ballot initiative.Other recommendations include working with Colorado Springs Utilities to get lower water rates and reducing the number of irrigated acres by 10 percent, said Scott Smith, a member of the parks team.“Based upon the expenses that we know that are going to increase in order to keep the level of service at about six or seven on a scale of one to 10 …by the time we got to 2020, that gap will be about $4 million unless we do something about it now,” he said.• The council is recommending the appointment Jeff Markewich, John Henninger and Ray Walkowski to the Planning Commission and Bryce Schuettpelz as the alternate. They will replace Diann Butlak, Dan Cleveland and Carla Hartsell, who were term-limited

• The contract between the city and the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region will cost closer to $800,000 this year, more than the $632,000 initially reported by the city.

The mayor’s office is asking the council approval to spend $128,500 for various repairs at the recreation centers and pools before turning the keys over to the Y. The council also is being asked to approve $47,000 to top off Prospect Lake with water. While the Y will operate the swim beach at Prospect Lake, city officials said they would probably fill lake regardless of the contract with the Y because the lake is used for fishing and boating.

The money for the additional $128,500 would come out of the Conservation Trust Fund, or money the city receives from the state lottery.

Colorado Springs City Council Photo by City of Colorado Springs