HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – The Hopkinsville City Council voted to pay additional match funds on a grant that will help fund a multimillion-dollar industrial park development, while also applying for a grant for the fire department.
The city previously applied for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Grant, which will help fund a massive roadway and rail spur development in Commerce Park II. The rail spur is a short line of railway that will connect to a mainline with the intention of accommodating for future industry developments in the area.
In its entirety through design and construction, the project will cost around $10.9 million, with the grant covering $7 million of that price tag. The grant stipulates that the city must match a certain percentage of the allocated funds up to $4 million.
The city council previously authorized three separate match payments of $3,642,000, $61,200, and $107,440. Again, during the recent meeting on Tuesday, March 4, the city council unanimously voted to authorize an additional $204,130 in local matching funds toward the grant.
Grant for firefighters
City council members also voted in regard to a grant that would provide funds through the Assistant to Firefighters Grant, which is a program from FEMA. The funding provided by the grant would be used toward Class 5 Brush Truck for Hopkinsville Fire Department. This project is currently estimated to cost $309,750.
Stipulations from the grant require a 20% match of the funds provided, which would leave the city to provide up to $61,000 toward the project. The municipal order allowing the mayor to apply for this grant was unanimously passed by the council.