CHILDERSBURG — The city is now the owner of railroad tracks that run through its Coosa Industrial Park, and ownership will bring the city annual income from the lease of the tracks to railroad companies wanting to use them.Staff from the U.S. Army and its Corps of Engineers on Wednesday presented the city with a copy of a bill of sale transferring ownership of the roughly 12 miles of tracks from the Army to the city.
The Army previously transferred the city about 2,200 acres of land off Alabama 235 — property that was once part of the Alabama Ordinance Works, which made explosives during World War II — for development into the industrial park.
The Army, however, could not transfer the railroad tracks that run through the property until the city became licensed as a railroad carrier through the federal Surface Transportation Board.
The city received this license roughly a year ago; and on March 26 of this year, the Army signed the bill of sale ending the Army's ownership of the tracks and beginning the city's ownership, said Harold Duck, an Army Corps of Engineers transfer facilitator and lead negotiator who has worked closely with the city on the transfer of the AOW property.
Mayor B.J. Meeks said the main advantage of the tracks is that they will bring the city annual income paid by railroad companies wanting to use them.
The Army previously had an agreement, which ended the day the city took possession of the tracks, with CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads that brought the Army about $26,000 annually, Duck said.
The city now plans to negotiate a new agreement with the railroads and hopes to have such an agreement in place within 30 days, Meeks said.
The city, Army staff and management from the railroads previously met to discuss the transfer of the tracks from the Army to the city.
At the end of last year, the city's Local Redevelopment Authority, which comprises the standing mayor and council, later voted to extend the existing agreement between the Army and the railroads until a new agreement could be worked between the city and the railroads.
The goal of the extension was to make sure the railroads’ use of the tracks would not be disrupted when they changed ownership, Meeks said.
The city will start collecting money through the extended agreement from the day the city officially took ownership of the tracks, March 26, Duck said.
Money the city makes from the industrial park, including the lease of the railroad tracks, must be put back into the park's development or related activities for the city's first seven years of ownership of the property.
The Army gave the tracks to the city at no cost, the same way it gave the city the 2,200 acres of AOW property.
The transfer of the tracks was the last transfer of property from the Army to the city relating to the AOW property, Duck said.
The works once comprised about 13,000 acres, most of which were later returned to their original owners or sold to new owners over time until the final 2,200 acres remained.
Duck said the transfer has been a lengthy process but actually quicker than most other transfers of former Army sites under the Base Realignment and Closure Act.
On behalf of the Army and its Corps of Engineers, Duck said he wanted to express his appreciation for the cooperation of the mayor, council and city during the transfer of the AOW property.
"We congratulate the city of Childersburg on the final transfer (of the tracks) and wish them much success in the development of the industrial park," he said.
The completion of the transfer, however, does not mean the city and Army will become strangers. The Army will fulfill its previously agreed upon environmental obligations for the property, said Lt. Col. Greg Wright, a BRAC program manager.
The city will also have to submit for the first seven years of ownership annual audits of how the park is being developed, Duck said.
The Army presented the city with a copy of the bill of sale Wednesday. The actual bill of sale is expected to arrive by mail later this week, he said.
Meeks said the city plans to have the bill of sale recorded with the Talladega County Probate Judge's Office but this is not necessary to transfer ownership.
The purpose of Wednesday's presentation was not only to give the city a copy of the bill of sale but also to give the city a chance to meet Wright's replacement, Dirk French.
Wright is being reassigned to take command of a battalion at Ft. Meyer, Ga., he said.
