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The Harlan City Council was advised during the panel’s regular May meeting that long-awaited road repairs to the bypass (US 421) have been approved by the state, though it may be some time before the project begins.

City of Harlan Mayor Joe Meadors informed the council of the status of the project midway through the meeting.

“I will share some good news with you,” Meadors said. “It’s not official yet, but they have awarded the bid for the resurfacing of the bypass to Mountain Enterprises.”

Meadors explained the project will be extensive.

“It’s not going to be just a resurfacing,” Meadors said. “They’re going to dig it completely up. They’re going to go all the way to the base and replace the base and build up.”

According to Meadors, the job is larger than originally planned.

“It was supposed to be about a $1.5 million project,” Meadors said. “It’s going to be about $5 to $6 million now.”

Meadors noted more than repaving is required.

“You can’t continue just putting new blacktop down,” Meadors said. “What’s underneath is bad, too. So, they’re going to go all the way down to the base and replace it.”

The project is not expected to begin immediately.

“The engineer in Manchester told me he thought it was doubtful they would get to this project (soon), but they will definitely be done next year,” Meadors said.

Council member Chris Jones inquired about a possible time for the project to begin.

“It will be after July 1, but it’s doubtful they’ll start it this year,” Meadors said. “It’s a big project; it will be just like building a new road from Baxter all the way out to the hospital. It’ll be a tremendous job; traffic will be awful.”

Later in the meeting, a second reading of an amendment to the city’s tourism ordinance was performed.

Meadors explained the amendment adds food trucks to the existing ordinance, making them responsible for the same fee requirements as other city businesses.

“We’re picking up food trucks that come into the city,” Meadors said. “It’s only fair that we protect our own merchants and make everybody pay the same. I don’t see any reason to treat anybody differently.”

A motion to adopt the amendment was made by council member Jeff Phillips and seconded by council member Ann Hensley. The amendment passed with no opposition.