CUMMING — Just months after the first contested city council election in 12 years, it appears Cumming voters will be returning to the polls this fall.

Three seats — Posts 3, 4 and 5 — are up for re-election Nov. 3 and at least two of them will see turnover after the incumbents announced Tuesday night they will not run again.

Ralph Perry in Post 4 and John Pugh in Post 5 said they will be leaving office when their terms expire at year’s end, while Post 3 incumbent Lewis Ledbetter stated he plans to defend the seat he has held since 1971.

The offices are elected citywide by post. Cumming has about 2,600 registered voters. Qualifying for the election is set for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 and 2.

Both Perry and Pugh expressed that health was a factor in their decisions, with Perry saying he would have preferred to continue serving.

“I’ve had two heart attacks in the last two years, and my heart’s not good now, but this is a decision I had to make,” Perry. “I would have stayed in office, if I could, the rest of my life.

“I’m not planning on moving out of Cumming. I’ll be here in Cumming until the Lord calls me home.”

Perry was elected to the council in 1979 and Pugh in 1992. Both men are Cumming natives.

Perry is retired from Sawnee Electric Membership Corp., while Pugh is a local businessman who worked with Wilson and Co. and Pugh Brothers Garage.

“I’ve enjoyed it. I don’t think I’d do it again,” said Pugh of his 23 years on the council. “I’ve loved doing this as much as anything I’ve ever done.”

Ledbetter also credited his health, which is “good as far as I know,” and desire to see current city projects finished as reasons for seeking re-election.

“We’ve got a lot of things that we’re working, which we’re working on stuff about all the time, but we have stuff that we’re working on now that I’d like to see through,” he said.

The decisions by Perry and Pugh mean there will be at least two more new faces on the council, which until this spring hadn’t seen any turnover since the early 1990s.

In June, local banker Chuck Welch won a special election to fill the Post 1 seat of Rupert Sexton, who stepped down in spring to enjoy retirement. About 18 months remained on his term.

Welch, a 41-year-old Cumming native, was sworn in to office in July. He became the second member of his family to be elected to the council. His late father, Charles Welch, served on it from 1972-86.

Welch was the top vote-getter in a four-person field that also included Linda Ledbetter, a former county commissioner, Julie Tressler, a real estate agent and small business owner, and Roger Crow, a past president of the local chamber of commerce.

It’s possible that any or all of the three could run again this fall.

Elections had previously been a rarity in a town with little turnover on its governing body. Prior to the spring, the last contested election the city had held was in 2003, when Mayor H. Ford Gravitt faced opposition.

Gravitt and Post 2 Councilman Quincy Holton are half-way through four-year terms they secured in 2013, when they ran unopposed. Holton has served on the city’s governing body since 1969 and Gravitt took office in 1970.

Earlier in the meeting Tuesday night, Gravitt read statements from both Perry and Pugh regarding their decisions and thanked them for their service.

“These two council members have been a great honor to serve with over the years,” Gravitt said. “I can’t express how appreciative I am of John D. and Ralph for their continued support of this board and also the residents of Cumming and Forsyth County.”

Ledbetter said he would miss his departing colleagues on the council.

“I’m sad, sad with the situation,” Ledbetter said. “We’ve all been together for a long time. We’re all personal friends, along with serving together.

“They have done a wonderful job, and there’s unity in the city and we’ve all worked together all these years and I hate to see them go.”

As for qualifying later this month, potential candidates for city council must be registered to vote, at least 21 years old and have lived in the city limits for at least one year. The fee to qualify is $180.

Barbara Luth, Forsyth County’s supervisor of voter registrations and elections, said candidates would have to declare which post they are seeking and that advance voting would begin Oct. 12.