Peachtree City residents may get a chance to vote on two expensive additions to the city’s recreation system this November.

Voters will be heading to the polls at that time anyway to fill the two expiring City Council seats currently occupied by Judi-ann Rutherford and Stuart Kourajian.

Thursday night, the council will consider whether or not to ask voters if the city should finance construction of two multi-purpose sports fields and an expansion of the city’s Gathering Place senior citizen’s center.

According to city estimates, design and construction cost for the two fields and practice area ranges from $2.2 million for real grass turf fields and $3.56 million for fields with artificial turf, which would allow them to be used year round by football and soccer programs.

The design and construction cost for the Gathering Place varies from $1.47 million up to $2.3 million depending on the size of the expansion and the type of kitchen facility that would be built.

The two items would be listed on the ballot in separate questions, city staff has indicated based on direction from City Attorney Ted Meeker.

An expansion of The Gathering Place has been bandied about by city officials for several years but it was most recently put on hold to determine if the new community center at First Baptist Church would be able to accommodate its overflow.

Recently, some senior citizen activities have been moved into the city-owned building next to the Gathering Place that also houses the city’s amphitheater and the Southern Conservation Trust.

The city’s recent approval of more than 600 homes in a special subdivision aimed at active adults also may add more to the city’s recreation base for seniors as it will have an activity coordinator and a clubhouse to host events.

As for the sports fields, the city’s football program has been held at Riley Field for many years, but in recent seasons noise complaints have cropped up from neighbors and the program has grown significantly, although many of the participants are from outside Peachtree City, officials have said.

The youth football association has said having the new fields would allow for adequate practice space, playing space and parking for the program.

If the new fields are astroturfed, they could also be used by the city’s soccer program, and would eliminate a lot of maintenance issues with grass, according to Randy Gaddo, the city’s director of leisure services. It would also allow soccer and football programs to host more tournaments, Gaddo said in a memo to the City Council.

If regular grass is used, however, the fields would not be available for use by the soccer program, Gaddo indicated, because of the wear and tear that both sports have on the fields.

While the city’s soccer participation has been trending down recently, it is expected to pick back up. Also, the city’s football program recently had to cap its registration due to lack of room at Riley Field.

But the level of out-of-county residents participating in the football and cheerleading programs has been around 50 percent, which association officials have said is due in part to make sure there are enough kids to fill out rosters.

The football association has also worked with the city to reduce noise at Riley Field, banning noisemakers and re-directing the speakers used during the game.

City staff is proposing to expand The Gathering Place by either 6,725 square feet ($1.36 million) or by 11,372 square feet ($2.19 million). Those prices would increase slightly if the city opts to add a commercial kitchen as opposed to a standard kitchen area.

The amount of additional staffing for the facility depends on the size of the final building, with one full-time “leader” position, two part-time leader positions and two part-time maintenance positions if the smaller version is built and an extra maintenance worker if the larger size is selected, officials have estimated.

The athletic fields are projected not to bring in any additional revenue to the city, but the Gathering Place expansion could result in an additional $12,000 a year, and perhaps more if the city decides to allow alcohol to be served at functions there, which is currently prohibited.

In addition to being rented out for functions, the facility earns money from a portion of the fee for instructional classes.

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