CHAD WARBINGTON: Rails to Trails lawsuit … what exactly is a trail?

A quick look in Webster’s dictionary, and a trail (noun) is defined as “a beaten path through rough country such as a forest.” A trail (verb) is defined as to be losing to an opponent in a game or contest.

Since the verb defines my alma mater’s current football team, I wanted to write about the noun and especially as it relates to the recent $7 million lawsuit filed against the city of Albany by South Georgia Rails to Trails Inc.

If you went down to North Monroe Street, where the Rails to Trails property starts, you will find a “beaten path” that is regularly mowed and cleared, that goes all the way to Sasser. Right now, you could walk the trail all the way to Sasser, you could ride your bike all the way to Sasser or even drive an ATV all the way to Sasser. So this “beaten path” is truly a trail right now. So why is the city of Albany being sued for $7 million? Well, it’s all about the surface, the upgrades and the egos.

For the surface, five years ago when Albany purchased the Rails to Trails land, the contract clearly states that both parties would agree to a trail surface after the purchase. Yes, agree to a surface after the purchase. Most people would say the surface should have been decided before the purchase happened. I would love to sell you a car, take your money and then go pick out the actual car after I have your money. I would also love to build you a house, but let me go ahead and collect your money and then we’ll decide on the design, size and layout later.

None of us would do those things in real life, but somehow it happened with the Rails to Trails situation. They got the cart way before the horse.

For the upgrades, its easy to demand the upgrades when you are not paying for it. The $7 million lawsuit claim is basically full of unnecessary upgrades and amenities for a trail. The asphalt surface that has been mentioned is the biggest part of the upgrades. If you asked 20 trail experts, they will give you 20 different opinions on whether a trail should be dirt, grass, gravel, crushed asphalt, asphalt or concrete. The current “beaten path” trail crosses dozens of existing streets and roads. But we have to have the upgrade of two underground culverts for two future roads being built in Lee County that cost about $1 million.

Another upgrade is tearing down a perfectly good bridge and replacing it for another $1 million. A commonsense approach would be to open the trail “as is” with a modest budget, and when the popularity and buzz pick up from citizens and tourists, then you start evaluating the upgrades later.

For the egos, this is where we would use the phrase “does not work well with others.” Instead of inclusion, they have been focused on exclusion. Earlier in the year, Lee County was asked to participate and partner with Albany on the trail section in Lee County. There were plans to eventually ask Terrell County to join the trail initiative, too. It was made clear early in the process with Lee County that Lee should not be involved in the trail project, and criticism was given about their quality of work and construction.

The egos ended the Lee County and Albany partnership when a threat to sue Lee County was indicated in a letter to their county commissioners. What better scenario for the success of the trail than to have Albany and Lee County working together? But the egos ended that.

So I end with the definition of a trail, a beaten path through rough country such as a forest. We have a trail now. We could be using the trail now. It certainly is not the final trail or the permanent trail we eventually want. The trail could be gaining popularity with citizens just like it is. We could be building momentum to possibly work on the upgrades in the future. Albany, Lee and Terrell could be partnering and working together to develop the trail further. But, unfortunately, we have a few egos demanding upgrades and who want an asphalt highway to Sasser instead of a recreation trail.

And, oh, by the way, they want the citizens of Albany to pay $7 million of Albany taxpayer dollars for their wish list of upgrades in three different counties. I say open the trail now and as citizens begin to use it, let them decide if and when $7 million in upgrades are needed.

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