Jun. 11—Editor's Note: The following is the third in an ongoing series of articles looking into the proposed 13.6-mile Albany-to-Sasser recreation trail that is the subject of a $7 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by South Georgia Rails to Trails against the city of Albany.

LEESBURG — To this point, involvement of Lee County officials in the South Georgia Rails to Trails vs. city of Albany lawsuit has been this: The city, represented by Commissioner Chad Warbington, offered to give the 6-plus miles of the 13.6-mile rail bed the city had purchased to Lee County to develop as part of the proposed trail. Lee County agreed and planned to use its Public Works crews to complete some of the work on the trail.

SGRT, in the person of Dougherty County Attorney Spencer Lee, said, "No way." In fact, the refusal came with a threat aimed at Lee officials: "If you do anything on the trail property not approved by SGRT, a lawsuit will follow."

To which Lee officials responded: "We'll see ya later."

"Actually, a lot of our interest in the trail property was that we were having trouble getting access to build roads," Lee County Commission Chairman Billy Mathis said Friday. "The city of Albany graciously offered to give us the part of the property in Lee County to develop, but the (SGRT) folks wouldn't go along with it. I don't know all of the details, but Spencer made it clear that they were the managers of the trail.

"They threatened litigation, so we said, 'We'll let you guys figure it out.' We had no interest in getting involved in litigation."

Mathis said when talk of building the part of the Dougherty County trail system that stretches from downtown Albany, through Lee County into Sasser was initially broached, Lee County property owners along the rail bed were opposed to a recreational trail. That property has changed ownership, and the new owners actually are in favor of completing the trail.

"There's no question that this would be a good quality-of-life thing to have in Lee County," Mathis said. "But the question that's arisen is who's going to pay for it. We offered to build out the part of the trail that runs through Lee County on our terms and our schedule, but Spencer said no.

"When chatter grew about putting in a dirt or rock trail with no bathrooms — which our folks would not want — we drew up an ordinance with certain restrictions so that there would be certain requirements."

That ordinance, some say, could potentially keep the trail from moving forward.

"Look, this new Albany Commission (five of the current commission's members were not on the board when the trail agreement was reached) has worked well with us," Mathis said. "We put an ordinance in place to protect our interests, but we're willing to be flexible. Like the members of the Albany Commission, we truly want to see this get resolved."

Mathis notes that it was Lee County officials who told the city of Albany about the possibility of using American Rescue Plan RAISE grant funds to help finance the trail.

"I can tell you, our folks in Lee County are ready and willing to work with all the groups involved in getting this trail project moving," the Lee Commission Chairman said. "But we have no interest in getting involved in any type of litigation. Until the city of Albany and South Georgia Rails to Trails folks get that worked out, we're spectators. That's a wise place for us to be."