Should the Cherokee County Country Club be annexed into the City of Centre?

That is the question being considered by a new committee charged with looking into the matter.

The committee, made up of residents Shane Givens and Ed Allen Jr. as well as members of the city council, held its first meeting Tuesday, and some progress was made.

Mayor Tony Wilkie and Givens had this exchange regarding additional revenue the country club would bring to the city.

Perhaps the biggest issue standing in the way of annexation is the cost of providing adequate water service to the area and fire protection.

According to Mayor Wilkie, if the country club is annexed right now, the city’s ISO rating would be a 5/9 with Centre residents remaining a 5 and country club residents staying at 9.

However, when the city is reevaluated later this year, annexation might mean that insurance rates for all Centre residents could go up without water system improvements, and those improvements could cost as much as 722-thousand dollars.

The city will only be able to apply next year if there is a viable project serving low and moderate income residents and a water system improvement for the country club would likely not be eligible.

There is also the issue of providing adequate police coverage.

Police Chief Kirk Blankenship says two more officers would have to be added to the night shift to be able to patrol the area.

So, the question remains…Would the country club be self sustaining if annexed into the city?

Committee members will gather additional information and will meet again on Monday, January the 27th at 2 p.m. at City Hall.

There will also be an update given to the full Centre City Council at 4:30 the following Tuesday.