Washington County Mini Bus is a step closer in getting a new facility.

The Washington City Council approved an agreement to sponsor an application for a Public Transit Infrastructure Grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation. The grant could fund up to 80% of the facility renovations if awarded. Council Member Danielle Pettit-Majewski voiced her excitement for this advancement, citing several years she has served on the mini bus board. City Administrator Brent Hinson mentioned that the council previously approved an agreement for the same grant two years ago, but did not get funded because there was a higher scoring application from Benton County, and the DOT typically only funds one project per region, “So the reason that we have to be involved here is minibus is a private non-profit and for this grant there has to be a governmental sponsor, so we become that governmental sponsor. I don’t think it does anything as far as risk for the city. Theoretically, where this could come into play is someday down the road minibus goes belly-up financially or something then we own a facility.”

Hinson says that situation would be highly unlikely, but if that were to happen the city would be involved in finding another transportation provider anyway as they have provided support to the service through their local option sales tax. The minibus agency is applying for the grant through the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, to reconstruct their building with driveways and parking.