During a meeting on Tuesday, the Harlan Fiscal Court replaced two members of the Harlan County Industrial Development Authority whose terms had expired.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley explained there were two vacancies to consider due to expired terms.

“Harry Gibson’s term expired June 4, and Jody Gluck’s term expired June 19, which is today,” Mosley said.

Mosley then opened the matter up to the court for discussion.

“On my end of the county, I’ve only had a couple people even show any remote interest in sitting on this board,” Magistrate David Kennedy said. “The current members have not contacted me, have not showed any interest at all. Like I stated earlier, I don’t see a purpose in this board at all.”

Kennedy pointed out the existence of the Harlan County Economic Development Authority, stating the EDA and IDA perform similar roles.

“We’re duplicating,” Kennedy said. “The only one I would recommend would be Chris Dixon. He is a lifelong resident of the county and business owner. He’s the only one that’s contacted me.”

Mosley made a motion to nominate Dixon for appointment to the Harlan County Industrial Development Authority for a term of four years. The motion passed.

The court then moved on to the second vacancy.

Magistrate James Howard suggested Lonnie Lowe.

“He’s a resident of Harlan, and he lives on Airport Road,” Howard said. “He has spent most of his career in the mining industry.”

Mosley also mentioned a person for the court to consider.

“The only one who’s expressed interest to me — other than Harry (Gibson) who expressed today that he was still interested in being appointed — was Dr. Geoff Marietta. He is the current Executive Director at Pine Mountain Settlement School. He’s president of the Harlan County Chamber of Commerce. He has recently acquired a building in downtown Harlan.”

After some discussion, a motion was passed appointing Marietta to the Harlan County Industrial Development Authority.