The Harlan City Council voted down approval of an ordinance that would have rezoned an area from a Residential to General Business district. The 3-to 2 vote followed a public hearing on the ordinance to amend the property at 812 Hill Street from R-2, one and two family residential, to a general business district. There were no comments from the public, either written or spoken with regard to the matter.

Councilman Dave Miller voted against the ordinance, saying he was concerned about a business being placed in a residential area. He said “By rezoning that, we are interjected a business in a residential area. Anything that is allowed under B-2, general business, in the future can go on that lot. If the monument business decides at a future date to sell, that could be an automotive repair shop, auto dealer or tire repair shop. There are any types of business that could go in there and be at the center of a residential area.”

The council did, however, approve a motion that pertained to how they would fund the increase in insurance cost for the city. In a previous insurance committee meeting on January 20^th, it was reported by City Clerk Debra Sawyer that the city will see an increase of 4.1% for the City’s medical insurance. Mayor Gene Gettys told the council the city has a fund saved for just that type of occasion. According to Gettys, “In recommendation from that (meeting) to mitigate the increase, we carry the balance or to have a sizeable fund to offset the cost of the increase. The recommendation was to offset the cost to have a zero net effect on the insurance cost.”

In other business, during the Mayor’s report, Gettys said the city has received $132,000 for the renovation of the Pioneer park walking trail. He said the city is very short of the goal of $320,000 and believes by the end of summer or fall the city could start the project. The funding came from Transportation Alternative Plan funds.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)