FRANKFORT, Ky. — Shelby County was awarded $1.8 million, the first recipient to receive funding from the Better Kentucky Plan’s $250 million Cleaner Water Program.
The program will deliver clean drinking water and improve water and sewer systems across the state, creating approximately 3,800 jobs.
The Shelbyville Municipal Water and Sewer Commission will use the funding to construct a new 36-inch gravity sewer main to the new Shelbyville Wastewater Treatment Plant. The new sewer main will replace two sewage pumping stations, one of which is at capacity and is prone to sanitary sewer overflows caused by heavy rain.
At a meeting of the Shelby County Water Management Council, members unanimously agreed to direct their entire $1.8 million county allocation to the Shelbyville project.
The Kentucky Regional Planning and Development Agency submitted the funding request to the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA), the agency responsible for administering the $250 million Cleaner Water Program.
Cleaner Water Program funding will be allocated in three ways:
- $150 million will be allocated based on each county’s proportion of the state’s population, with the exception of Jefferson County’s share, which is discounted by 50% based on its high per capita allocation from the federal act. A list of the allocations by county can be found here.
- $50 million is available for grants to utilities to provide drinking water services to unserved, rural customers or to utilities under a federal consent decree. The KIA shall consider social, economic, and environmental benefits in determining the allocations.
- $49.9 million is available to supplement grants for projects with a cost in excess of a county’s allocation amount and other available grant sources. The social, economic, and environmental benefits shall be considered in determining project allocations. KIA will receive $75,000 to administer the grant program.
A call for Cleaner Water Program funding requests launched June 1, 2021. Water Resource coordinators, representing Kentucky’s 15 Area Development Districts and Area Water Management Councils, may submit project profiles through the Water Resource Information System portal to indicate interest in funding from the Cleaner Water Program. Eligible government agencies, such as city-owned water or sewer utilities, water commissions, water and sewer districts, and counties, may collaborate with a coordinator and council to submit a project. The application and award process will be ongoing throughout 2021 until all funding is committed.
Information about the Better Kentucky Plan, including the Cleaner Water Program, as well as grants for broadband expansion, school facility upgrades, and vocational education center renovations, can be found at https://governor.ky.gov/BetterKy/.
The Better Kentucky Plan adds to recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger following the effects of the pandemic.
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