Gov. Beshear Announces More Than $15 Million in Funding to Northern Kentucky Communities

Infrastructure and education funding

COVINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 1, 2022) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear delivered $15,663,176 in infrastructure and education 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.”

Boone County
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.

Campbell County
For Campbell County, the Governor awarded:

• $1 million to the Northern Kentucky Water District through the Cleaner Water Program. This funding will support nearly four miles of waterline extension that will bring clean water service to 56 households for the first time.
• $2,145,300 to Newport Independent School District through the Better Schools Program, part of Gov. Beshear’s Better Kentucky Plan. The funding will be used to renovate the high school's Graphic Arts, Art and Mac Lab and create a space for the new culinary pathway program.
• $764,560 in CDBG-CV funds to the City of Newport to rehabilitate the Grand Towers Senior Housing multi-family housing building located in Newport. The rehabilitation will include the replacement of two elevators that provide handicapped accessibility for residents. Upon completion, the new elevators will provide the residents of Grand Towers with safe and adequate transportation for a population in need of handicapped accessible facilities.

“The funding announced today will help us better serve the senior citizens of Newport,” Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr said. “The new elevators at Grand Towers will provide handicapped accessibility, a must-have in a building serving senior residents. Newport is an inclusive city, and we want to thank Gov. Beshear for working with us on this project.”

Kenton County
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.

“Local Area Vocational Education Centers are important links from our public schools to the employers where skilled crafts are really in need,” Rep. Buddy Wheatley of Covington said. “This investment in Covington Independent Schools will further develop a workforce pipeline that pays long term dividends for our kids.”

About the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response Program
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated Kentucky’s Department for Local Government $38 million to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus pandemic from the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response (CDBG-CV) program. The CDBG-CV program guidelines can be found here.

About the Cleaner Water Program
Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and administered by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, $500 million has been appropriated through a bipartisan agreement with the General Assembly to provide clean drinking water and wastewater grants to fund projects across Kentucky since 2021.