Gov. Beshear Awards Infrastructure, Education Funds to NKY Counties

Over $15 million is being distributed throughout three counties.

(Covington, Ky.) – Three northern Kentucky counties have received millions of dollars in infrastructure and education funding.

Today, Governor Andy Beshear delivered over $15 million in funding to Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.

The funding comes through the Governor’s Cleaner Water Program, his Better Schools Program, Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response funds (CDBG-CV) and the Energy and Environment Cabinet.

“Today’s awards will help our students, our seniors and everyone in between,” Gov. Beshear said. “World-class companies are choosing Kentucky because of our world-class workforce, and that means we have to keep investing in education, as well as our infrastructure and support for families, to make Kentucky an even better place to live and work.”

For Boone County, the Governor awarded:

• $4,763,200 to Boone County Schools through the Better Schools Program, part of Gov. Beshear’s Better Kentucky Plan. The funding will be used to renovate, expand and add programming at the Ignite Institute, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) focused high school serving more than 1,000 students across Northern Kentucky.

For Kenton County, the Governor awarded:

• $4,925,000 to Covington Independent Public Schools through the Better Schools Program, part of Gov. Beshear’s Better Kentucky Plan. The funding will be used to renovate the Chapman Vocational Center, including renovating the restrooms, replacing the lockers, replacing the electric system and renovating the science labs.
• $910,000 in CDBG-CV funds to the City of Fort Mitchell, in partnership with Easterseals Redwood, for the Fort Mitchell Redwood School and Rehabilitation Center Project. The center provides educational, therapeutic and vocational services to adults with severe disabilities. The funding will be used to update the building to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes installing new sinks and washing stations, adding easily sanitized flooring, renovating unused space to allow for social distancing and installing a new filtration system for purifying air.
• $155,116 from the Energy and Environment Cabinet to Kenton County. This will be used to repurpose waste tires and apply a new thin asphalt overlay layer onto county roads. Thin asphalt overlays utilizing rubber-modified asphalt have been shown to reduce noise, are more resistant to cracking and rutting, and increase the life of the roadway by 7 to 10 years.
• $1 million to the Northern Kentucky Water District through the Cleaner Water Program. This funding will support a 5-mile waterline extension that will bring clean water service to 81 households for the first time.

“Today’s awards will help our students, our seniors and everyone in between,” Gov. Beshear said. “World-class companies are choosing Kentucky because of our world-class workforce, and that means we have to keep investing in education, as well as our infrastructure and support for families, to make Kentucky an even better place to live and work.”