Christian County Judge Executive, Jerry Gilliam provided updates on storm debris clean up, county revenue and medical marijuana during his appearance on WHOP on Wednesday.
On May 26, storms with heavy winds and an EF-2 tornado struck the county resulting in damages to buildings and utility poles. Vegetative debris clean up started on June 3 in the southwest portion of the county and Gilliam says debris pick up is continuing on Lafayette Road and crews are making their way to Fort Campbell Boulevard in the southern portion of the county.
Those with vegetative debris on their property from May’s storms such as trees and tree limbs should place the debris along the roadway for it to be disposed of but not near street signs, fire hydrants, power poles or its stabilizing wires.
Turning toward county revenue, Gilliam shared that he was extremely proud to see Christian County ranked ninth out of Kentucky’s 120 counties for tourism spending. Along with tourism spending, Gilliam says the county was ranked in the top 10 for business permits given out in 2023.
In 2023 visitors reportedly spent a record amount of $239.1 million which is $1.9 million more than the previous record set in 2022. Gilliam credits small and local businesses in the county that are focused on tourism for helping the county set a new revenue record.
Gilliam also discussed medical marijuana in Christian County. In the 2023 Kentucky General Assembly, lawmakers voted to legalize medical marijuana in the state which will come into effect by 2025.
Gilliam says county government is still discussing how to locally implement medical marijuana, but Christian County is within a seven-county region where four dispensaries will be located so there is a chance that a dispensary will not be in the county.
Gilliam says he still wants to hear how members of the community feel about a possible medical marijuana dispensary in the county.