Fekete gave his report to members of the HMRRA Board of Directors during their May 6 meeting.
Water lines will be put in at Buffalo Mountain in Mingo County, noted board member George Poole, who has been working on an underground pipeline access for riders in that area of the trails.
Fekete said he had good news for Poole and other Mingo Countians as more trails are scheduled to be added to Buffalo Mountain. Expansion agreements for Matewan have also been signed for expansion.
“This will be a big deal for Matewan,” Fekete said.
Fekete had big news for riders of Logan’s two trail systems, Bear Wallow and Rockhouse.
One is located near Logan and the other near Man, but soon the two trailheads may be connected.
“Yes, we are looking at a connector between Bear Wallow and Rockhouse,” Fekete said, which will be good news for many riders who wish to travel from one trail to the other without having to load up their ATVs in campers and haul them from Logan to Man, or vice versa.
The proposal should be good news for local outfitters and those in the hotel, motel and lodging business as it would allow folk to get from one end of the county to the other by one trailhead or the other, keeping them in either town longer.
Fekete said he is working with Logan Economic Development Authority Director Roscoe “Rocky” Adkins on the Fountain Place Mall trail connector project and that it’s a matter of getting approval from property owners to move forward on the project.
Fekete said he has been working with land companies on the Twin Falls connector, which he said he hopes will be moving forward soon.
Fekete said trail agreements have been put together for a proposed trail system in Lincoln County in the Harts area, which will require about 20 mapping agreements to be signed with property owners.
Fekete said the project was problematic due to the large number of small landowners in that area. Most of the time the authority deals with large land companies which keeps the legal paperwork at a minimum, he said.
Fekete said the Lincoln County Commission will get the agreements turned over to them when they are completed.
Fekete said the Blue Stone Coal Company signed its first agreement in eight years last week for a connector project involving Indian Ridge and Pinnacle Creek. Pocahontas Land Company’s agreement should be signed this month, he said.
HMRRA Attorney Chip Shaffer said he has been working with landowners on mapping agreements in the Boone County area for a new Boone County/Madison trail. He said mapping is almost done for the Mercer County trail system.
Fekete said the authority is looking for a place near Montcalm to put a trailhead in. Pinnacle Creek is scheduled to get more ATV and single track trails.
Executive Director Jeff Lusk said all three trailheads — Pinnacle Creek-Indian Ridge and Montcalm — should be connected when that trailhead is done.
He said a grand opening will be held when they are officially opened.
Fekete did have some bitter news for board members, however.
Last year the authority had to reroute the connector to Gilbert, which became one of its most expensive projects, due to the sheer amount of paving that had to be done on the new connector.
“It looks like we are going to have to move it again,” Fekete said, explaining that coal mining is expanding in the Gilbert area causing the trail to have to be moved.
A proposed trail system for the town of War is also being mapped. Jeff Lusk said the authority will look at developing a trail system for the Camp Creek area and that it will be fully funded by the Wyoming County Commission which is paying for the mapping. The HMRRA will provide oversight for that project and for a connector to War.
“All we have to do is map those projects and see if they are feasible,” Lusk said.
Wayne County board member Bob Paisley discussed a meeting that Fekete and Executive Director Jeff Lusk had with Wayne County officials recently.
“We will get all our ducks in a row and go to the governors office and sit down with him and Senator Richard Browning and see if we can get this kicked off,” Paisley said, noting that some of the delays to the Wayne County project came from the fact that the proposed area being looked at is a wildlife management area.
“We hope to get this moving by the fall,” Paisley said.
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