HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – After several years of effort, there is a plan to shorten tall trees that are affecting air traffic at the Christian County Airport and threatening the safety of pilots. This ongoing issue was discussed during the March 11 Christian County Fiscal Court meeting.
“It wouldn’t be a Fiscal Court meeting if I didn’t talk about trees,” said Magistrate John Bruce during the meeting. As a member of the Christian County Airport Board, he shared the latest update where there is a plan in place to stake and put ribbons around trees as crews prepare to cut or top off extremely tall growth on the west side of the Pennyrile Parkway.
According to Bruce, the FAA requires certain altitude clearances by the end of the runway to allow planes to land safely. Trees in the surrounding areas are supposed to be trimmed and maintained to prevent this from being blocked.
While the concept of topping off of a few trees does not seem complex in theory, Bruce explained that the trees in Hopkinsville have several different property owners over different jurisdictions. They are divided up between various parks, including the Trial of Tears, along with the City of Hopkinsville and the county.
“It’s been two years and three months that I’ve been involved in it, but it’s actually been going on longer than that,” Bruce told Christian County Now. He explained that another roadblock was finding available, qualified arborists that are able to scale trees upwards of 90 feet tall and get the work done safely. Especially with recent storms, their focus has been primarily on severe weather responses in the county.
This issue is specifically clustered to where the runway meets the Pennyrile Parkway as the area on the other side of the airport is mostly owned by the city and the county. The cutting process will be underway as soon as next week. It is likely the trees will not have to be topped off for another five years.
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