Bus service is back on, temporarily, for some area residents who use transportation services through Special Programs for Aging Needs.

Service for about 17 people in towns such as Double Oak, Copper Canyon and Flower Mound, was in jeopardy when a grant SPAN used to provide services to them ran out at the end of 2008.

The grant, Job Access Reverse Commute, was for new projects to provide training and job access to people in that area, said Jennifer Sorenson, communications director for SPAN.

With the service, special-needs students rode the bus to North Central Texas College, and older residents used it to get around to medical and personal appointments.

“We are feverishly working for a way to fund this service for these people,” Sorenson said.

For the short term, the agency moved some money around in its budget to pay for it, she said.

For the longer term, SPAN could garner some funding from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The council would provide 50 percent of the money needed if SPAN can provide the rest. If the organization can’t come up with half the funding, it won’t get the assistance.

She said leaders for the agency and the council of governments plan to meet with residents soon about funding possibilities.

Part of the problem is that the grant served people in areas outside SPAN’s normal service area, Sorenson said.

“This is actually not the area we serve and are funded to serve. These are urban areas where DCTA [Denton County Transportation Authority] has the opportunity to offer service,” she said.

Dee Leggett, vice president for communications and planning with DCTA, said the transit authority needs local participation to provide service — “participation either through sales tax dollars or some kind of contract relationship,” she said.

She cited Corinth as an example. While the town opted not to support DCTA through a sales tax, it contracted with the transportation authority to provide an on-demand service for residents who need it.

Copper Canyon Mayor Sue Tejml said that before she became mayor, the town voted not to have the sales tax needed to become a part of DCTA.

Tejml said she has volunteered to meet with people in Copper Canyon and the surrounding area about transportation services. The mayor is aware of two families with students who go to college in Corinth and two adults who use the SPAN bus to get around.

“It’s definitely a concern; it’s just the town has never chosen which organizations to back for something like that,” Tejml said.

More meetings are planned between concerned residents and SPAN officials.

“Really, what has come through for these people time and time again is SPAN and the North Central Texas Council of Governments,” Sorenson said.

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail ad­dress is blewis@dentonrc.com .