The desk of Trigg County Judge-Executive Stan Humphries had a pile of plans and serious matters on it during Monday night’s fiscal court meeting — many of which he shared with magistrates and the public.
Among the highest order: he and a local contingent attended a private, quiet gathering in Fort Campbell to start the week. It was part of a humble reflection and honoring of the nine soldiers who perished in the March 2023 two-helicopter crash, while thanking those who brought effort to properly respond to and secure the site.
Humphries said this meeting couldn’t occur until final burials occurred in Washington D.C.’s Arlington Cemetery — the country’s most hallowed resting place for soldiers and their families.
Another part of this, however, continues to be the earnest development of a crash-site memorial, as well as a general military memorial in Trigg County. Humphries noted he’s already met with two state representatives, some family members and some military personnel within the last month, and that with formal consideration from the court, things could come in three phases.
1) A sign would be unveiled in late October on Maple Grove Road, near the crash location.
2) The fiscal court would take up the beseeching of the Kentucky General Assembly and its spring 2024 session, in which it would draft a resolution asking for one or two signs off of I-24 and US 68/80 leading visitors to the site.
And, 3) The fiscal court would then begin the process of having a full veteran’s memorial put up somewhere in Trigg County, and a portion of the memorial would discuss the tragic event.
This isn’t the only construction soon to be up for discussion and potential court approval.
The spec building, located on US 68/80 and the I-24 Business Park, is reportedly four-to-six weeks ahead of schedule, and could be complete within the next 14-to-21 days. Humphries said he and the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council are earnestly seeking tenants for the new facility — which will come industry ready.
Furthermore, Humphries told the court that he’d like to pick back up on one particularly loose end at the start of this new fiscal year: the Trigg County Rescue building. It’s his hope to see the organization vacated from its old Canton Road location and moved out in front of the county garage near US 68/80, and this is something that’s been mentioned often in at least the last four years — if not longer.
Another project for the body and its building & grounds committee to revisit: the bathroom fix for the Trigg County Recreation Complex.
The land/water conservation grant remains unspent, but the cost of materials and construction continue to rise. And these are things that were first addressed November 2022.
Humphries said a bridge over an unnamed creek along New Hope Road has seen its tonnage limit reduced to 10 tons by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. He said there’s hope to see the span either repaired or replaced by this fall, but that large vehicles like buses, tractors, semi loads and should be aware and possibly prepared to seek alternate routes if necessary.
Humphries also announced the hiring of a new Trigg County Solid Waste Coordinator in Ron Brown. He served the previous four years under former leader Jesse Thomas, the facility bears his namesake.
Brown said he moved to Trigg County in 1999, after frequenting the area following his parent’s retirement. At 65 years old, he called this his “last job,” and hopes to give back as much as Thomas did in his 15-plus years.
