The Cheaha Trail Riders have signed on as active participants in the development of the property.
In the email, Hubbard writes, “The deed to transfer the Coosa River Storage Annex to the Public Park Authority of the cities of Lincoln and Talladega has just been approved by the National Park Service, today (Dec. 23). All it takes is the signature of the Talladega County Commission Chairman, who has already been charged by a resolution passed by the Commission, to sign the deed transfer. The deed should arrive in Talladega the week of December 27th and after signed, it will be final. The park for which we have worked hard to see come to fruition is now here. The Park Authority is moving forward with resolutions to begin securing timber management contracts and development should begin soon.”
Hubbard said, “It is time to go to work and show how well we volunteers can turn a piece of land into a wonderful outdoor park. That is what we do!
“If you would like to volunteer to be a part of helping in the development of this park, send me an email and I will place your email on the list of volunteers. We can use all the help we can get and I know you will find it beneficial to you also. We will be holding workdays in the near future. If you would like to ride the Coosa River Storage Annex with the Cheaha Trail Riders, Inc., come be our guests, Saturday, Jan. 15, at 9 a.m. Go to www.CheahaTrailRiders.com for more information.”
The property was originally taken by the federal government to store gunpowder during World War II. After being decommissioned, it was left up to Talladega County to come up with an appropriate, strictly recreational function for the property. An arrangement with the Talladega County Board of Education was deemed an inappropriate use under the agreement, and the county lost the property. The city of Lincoln submitted the winning proposal for a multi-use recreational facility that would include horse and ATV trails, shooting ranges, campgrounds and a zip line among numerous other activities. The city of Talladega protested the award to Lincoln, and eventually a board consisting of members approved by the two cities and the commission was created by the state legislature.
The board eventually got its charter rewritten as an authority, with the county no longer having any appointments to it. The authority held its first meeting last week, even though it has the same members and officers as the board.
