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After a trio of split votes, the Troup County Board of Commissioners has voted to move forward with two Parks and Recreation projects.

During the Tuesday morning work session, the commissioners discussed bids for the ongoing expansion of the Whitesville Road Soccer Complex and a new covered batting cage for Shuford Fields.

Plans for the soccer complex include two new parking lots, with 471 parking spots, three full-sized soccer fields, and lighting for the fields so play and practice can continue after dark. Bids were received for the construction of the parking lots and grading the fields, with staff recommendation going to 4-H Clearing and Grading for $3,267,325.53. A separate bid from West Georgia Lighting to provide lights for the soccer fields at $578,000 was also recommended by county staff.

Assistant County Manager Jay Anderson also discussed plans to build a 50-foot by 50-foot open-air pole barn at the Shuford softball fields to serve as three covered batting cages similar to the ones at the George Harris Baseball fields across the street.

Shuford Fields currently has batting cages, which are usable but they are not covered which limits their use during and after rain. The move is partially to provide equivalent facilities for players, County Manager Eric Mosley explained.

“The moment [the Harris batting cages] went up, we got a lot of praise from the baseball players, but then we got a lot of calls from softball players saying, ‘What about us?’” Mosley said.

Anderson recommended awarding the bid for the construction of the batting cages to the low bidder, River City Construction. The company is already working in the area on the new pickleball complex and they will provide the vendors, same contractors, and same materials, nearly identical to the other cages across the street for $56,833, he said.

The only difference is the green metal roof to match the design at Shufford, Anderson said.

Money for both projects will ultimately come from SPLOST VI funds, but will initially come from the county’s capital fund account.

Mosley said in the past the county has borrowed money for similar projects but with these two they can just borrow the money from their own accounts and pay it back with SPLOST funds.

Commissioners Jamie Thrailkill and Rex Scott questioned waiting until the money came in from SPLOST before moving forward.

Anderson explained that going forward with the projects now will prevent the price tags from going up due to inflation.

“One of the reasons the county has bonded before, which is like taking a loan, is that with how inflation has been. If you have a chance to build something now for say $100,000 but you waited and waited two, three, four or five years to build it later, instead of a $100,000 project, it could be a $160,000 project,” Anderson said.

The board approved bids for both projects but not before County Commission Chairman Patrick Crews needed to break a tie.

In all three measures, Commissioners Jimmy McCamey and Morris Jones voted to approve the bids with Commissioners Jamie Thrailkill and Rex Scott in opposition. Crews broke the tie, approving the measures, 3-2.

Thrallkill said afterward he wasn’t against the projects but wanted to wait until the money came in before moving forward. Similarly, Scott said he voted no because he wasn’t sure how much they would ultimately cost.