Todd Co., Guthrie seeking grant to help with Novelis infrastructure

Todd County Fiscal Court and the City of Guthrie are applying for Community Development Block Grant funds to help pay for infrastructure at the new Novelis plant to be constructed on US 79.

Pennyrile Area Development District Associate Director Amy Frogue told magistrates Friday that an engineer has already been procured and cost estimates are coming in to extend natural gas from Clarksville to the site and to build the necessary electrical infrastructure.

She says they’re applying for $2 million, but the grant could come in at a lesser amount.

Novelis is making a $300 million investment into the plant and it should create 125 new jobs once it begins operations.

Magistrates approved the resolution to join Guthrie in the application and also approved a resolution to fund relocation of an abandoned cemetery on the property where Novelis will build its facility.

In other business, representatives of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet say they plan to repave about two miles of US 79 beginning at the state line and US 41 from Guthrie to the Christian County line this year. They’ll also resurface a section of Tress Shop Road near Old Bells Chapel Road and make drainage enhancements to the flood-prone Penchem Road between Trenton and KY 181.