Green River Star -

The Green River Urban Renewal Agency/Main Street organization is applying for a grant to help pay for a feasibility study to determine if Green River’s downtown district could support a another grocery store.

The study, which is being done for Wild Sage Market, would help determine if a natural foods market would survive in the area. The Green River City Council approved the request last week.

The grant, which would come from Wyoming Main Street, would pay $8,080 of the total $10,100 the study is anticipated to cost. The other 20 percent, $2,020, would come from Wild Sage Market itself. The city and Green River URA/Main Street organization would not pay for the study. Jennie Melvin, Green River URA/Main Street administrator, said bringing a store to downtown Green River is part of the organization’s development strategy.

“We all know Green River wants another grocery store,” Melvin said.

However, Melvin said to convince someone to invest in opening a store in Green River, they need hard data to support the need. While Melvin admits some don’t like the idea of a feasibility study, but the study would help determine the size of the store city residents would support. She also said the grant is competitive, as Wyoming Main Street only has approximately $70,000 to distribute to the state’s main street organizations. While the normal match is 10 percent, Melvin said a Wyoming Main Street representative told her the larger match makes the grant more appealing for the state group to approve.

The grant was approved by the Council, though Gary Killpack voted against it.

Councilwoman Lisa Maes said she supports the grant application because she likes the idea of a neighborhood store in the downtown area. Killpack voted against because he said he doesn’t believe the proposal was the right thing to do.

However he does admit the application, if approved by Wyoming Main Street, would be free money for the Green River URA/Main Street.