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Daviess County approves CDBG application for YMCA childcare renovation; YMCA says 71 slots planned amid regulatory delays
Summary
Fiscal Court authorized a CDBG application for YMCA renovations to create a licensed childcare facility expected to add about 71 slots. YMCA representatives said regulatory requirements and specialized HVAC needs have delayed full opening.
Daviess County Fiscal Court voted Aug. 7 to authorize a Kentucky Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application from the YMCA to renovate space for a state-licensed childcare center that would add about 71 new childcare slots.
Mister Johnson explained that, under CDBG rules, the county may submit one annual application in either public facilities, housing, or community projects; Resolution 14-2025 authorizes applying with the YMCA’s community-project proposal, which carries a $850,000 grant ceiling. The motion to approve the resolution carried by voice vote.
Tom Boninger, speaking for the YMCA, told the court the YMCA plans to open infant and toddler preschool spaces on Sept. 2 using internal remodeling funded in part by about $40,000 the YMCA board approved. He said a full new childcare center — the phase the CDBG application would fund — is targeted for a January opening (Boninger said Jan. 1 or Jan. 2 is the goal), but the YMCA has encountered regulatory and equipment delays that pushed that timeline.
Boninger said a state child-care requirement that the center’s air-conditioning be a hospital-grade unit produced a roughly 10–12 month lead time and an associated cost the YMCA estimated at about $300,000. He also said a separate fire-suppression requirement initially appeared to apply but was worked through with city and county staff; Boninger said the YMCA will not install a suppression system in the newly opened rooms because those rooms have outside doors within 15 steps of egress, which the YMCA presented as satisfying applicable child-care rules.
Boninger said prior county and state funds totaling roughly $330,000 helped advance the project and that the full renovation’s cost was estimated at about $2.5 million for the 71 slots. He said the YMCA had 41 families actively seeking childcare and cited high summer camp and wait-list numbers as evidence of need. Boninger credited local donors and contractors for in-kind or reduced-cost work on phase 1.
The court voted in favor of Resolution 14-2025 authorizing the county’s application to the CDBG program. No members of the public spoke in opposition during the recorded discussion.
Votes at meeting: Resolution 14-2025 (YMCA CDBG application) — approved by voice vote.
