Senior Center Bus Barn Grant Hits Snag

The Buffalo Senior Center’s bus barn project took a hit recently when the Wyoming Business Council informed them that the project may not meet the criteria for a grant award form the organization.

That is according to Senior Center Executive Director AJ Mock, who updated the city council at their recent meeting.

Mock said the senior center has submitted grant applications to the King Foundation, the Wyoming Community Foundation, and has had conversations with the Scott Foundation and the Buffalo Senior Center Foundation to acquire match funding for the project, and he is confident he may have resources for the match without asking for money from the city or from 1% funding.

The city applied for the $93,000 Wyoming Business Council grant on behalf of the senior center as a match for the estimated total cost of the project of about $460,000.

They have already been awarded 80% of the funds from a Wyoming Department of Transportation grant for the project, which will house the senior center’s vehicles and protect them from weather, as well as free up parking for visitors and staff.

The Wyoming Business Council, according to Mock, looks at job creation/job retention as priorities when giving grant funding, which is why it is believed this project would not qualify for funding.

The council advised Mock not to pull the application, but to send it on to Cheyenne to see if the state would fund the request anyway, while continuing to search for additional funding for the proposed project.