POST FALLS - Post Falls is playing ball with a different possible sports complex site than it has for the past year.

The City Council tonight will consider a contract with Gavin Associates of Liberty Lake for a site analysis and feasibility study of 80 acres at the southeast corner of Idaho and Hayden on the Rathdrum Prairie.

The site is part of the land application property the city owns that it eventually plans to use to discharge treated wastewater.

"A sports complex has been in our plans," said Dave Fair, the city's parks and recreation director.

Fair said the site - if deemed appropriate for a sports complex - could start to be developed in phases in as soon as three years.

"It would have to be a long-term project," he said. "Unfortunately, it's going to take time. We don't have a big pot of money sitting around for this."

The contract for the site analysis and feasibility study is for $29,946. The second planning phase, contingent upon the city giving a notice to proceed, would be for a master plan for $59,601.

Both parts of the contract would be paid for with impact fees.

Terry Werner, the city's public works director, said he doesn't envision land application to occur at the site for another five years. However, the city could tap into the East Greenacres Irrigation District system to water the site until land application starts.

Another site the city was exploring for a sports complex - 67 acres west of Highway 41 between Prairie and Hayden avenues - is now off the drawing board.

The city had the option of buying the site from developers Prairie Crossing West and Prairie Crossing West II of Amity, Ore., for $750,000 if a 234-acre annexation request was approved.

However, that option expired in September after an annexation request never came forward. The City Council in February agreed to give the option a six-month extension.

Brad Marshall of JUB Engineers, the developers' representative, said the annex request never came forward due to the recession. During recent joint annex policy discussions between the planning commission and City Council the area was not given a high priority for annexations.

City officials say the land application site isn't as good as the location off Highway 41 topographically for sports fields, but it offers advantages to the city including the city owning it.

"We will be able to design it and begin some construction through impact fees where we would have been limited with Prairie Crossing with having to purchase the land," said Eric Keck, city administrator.

The public will be involved in the design of the facility, but construction will be paid for from impact fees so a public vote is not required, Keck said.

The complex would likely consist of fields for softball, baseball, soccer, football and other activities, but details such as the number of fields and cost would arise in a site plan.

"The desire is to have a tournament-level facility for all sports," Keck said. "It will be a multi-year project most likely unless council goes to the public with a bond measure to build the facility."

A site has been in the city's plans for several years after efforts to acquire Quad Park fell through and Kootenai Health used its property that soccer was formerly played on for a cancer center.

"We get asked about (building a large sports complex) all the time," Fair said.

Fair said a centralized site would also ease the strain on city staff having to provide field supervisors at multiple places.

* In other business, the council will consider a request from Ron Nilson to defer frontage improvements such as pedestrian trails, trees and irrigation for the UnderGround Force manufacturing facility along Seltice Way.

Construction bids for infrastructure came in higher than anticipated, so grant funds will only cover the extension of utilities.

The request is to defer frontage improvements until all property owners in the area install them with one associated improvement project.