The Jefferson City Council met in special session on Friday. The two items discussed were Cobblestone Hotels, LLC bringing their business to Jefferson and the possibility of the city purchasing the Raccoon Valley Golf Course.
City Administrator Mike Palmer presented to the council that Cobblestone Hotels wants to build a 36-room facility with an 8,000 sq. ft. conference room for a total cost of $3.2 million. The current proposal is that the city would pay $1.1 million with carrying costs, $1.35 million from Home State Bank, $300,000 from Region 12 and $750,000 from investors.
Comments from the public and council members were that a conference room is vital for the community. The idea is that it would attract more businesses to Jefferson to hold meetings, wedding receptions and other professional and public functions. If the project is approved, then Greene County Chamber and Development would donate three acres of land on the north side of the business district to build the hotel.
The other discussion item was the Raccoon Valley Golf Course. It was recommended if the city purchases the golf course, it would cost $250,000 to purchase it from Home State Bank in Jefferson. The city would lease the club house out for revenue and manage the grounds. The council was split on the issue of the city owning the golf course. While it is viewed as a community asset like the municipal pool and community center, Mayor Pro Tem Shannon Black says that there isn’t a strong enough pull from the residence to make it an economical option.
“When we can look back at the statistics and see that it’s lost money in the past and we can’t be guaranteed that it’s going to make money. It’s hard to look at the citizens of Jefferson and say we can’t afford to do this and we can’t afford to do this, but oh guess what, we’re going to buy a golf course.”
The golf course memberships are currently at about 130 which is 3% of Jefferson’s population. Both items have been tabled to the next regular meeting on February 12th. No action was taken at Friday’s meeting.