Sandy Springs has struck a deal with an apartment complex owner to buy a strip of land so the city can construct a trail connecting Crooked Creek Park to a National Park Service parcel along the Chattahoochee River.

The City Council approved paying $39,500 to acquire 1.95 acres of undevelopable, mostly flood plain land at 3100 River Exchange Drive behind the Retreat at River Park apartments.

A pedestrian trail is planned to connect Crooked Creek Park, five acres owned by the city at River Exchange and Spalding drives, to the 40-acre Holcomb Bridge unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. The seller requests that a fence separate the trail from the apartments as a security measure, according to a staff report to the council.

In December, the council approved seeking a $200,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to create the Crooked Creek Park Trail. The grant will be matched by $50,000 from the city.