Court approves CDBG administration contract and commits $3.5M for Caney wastewater cost overruns

The Knox County Fiscal Court on June 16 approved two related resolutions for the Caney (Canyon) wastewater treatment plant project: one to contract with the Kentucky River Area Development District for administration of Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, and a companion resolution to commit county coverage for project cost overruns.

Presiding officer (Speaker 2) read the administrative contract rationale, noting that the county lacks staff trained to manage HUD-administered CDBG grants and named Leah Fuentes as a licensed HUD administrator at the regional district that can provide the expertise. "She is a HUD administrator for the administration CDBG funds, and the county wished to contract the district," Speaker 2 said.

The court also approved a resolution authorizing commitment of $3.5 million from a budget line item (cited as set aside via House Bill 1) to cover cost overruns on the Caney wastewater project. Speaker 2 described the line item as a specific appropriation intended to address additional funding the project requires.

Both motions were approved by voice vote. The transcript does not include a recorded roll-call tally by individual names for these items.

Next steps: staff will finalize the administrative contract with the district and proceed with project administration under CDBG-DR rules; the county will account for the $3.5 million commitment in its budget records and tracking for the project.