Region 11 HSTP Quarterly Meeting-9\28\11

Region 11 HSTP Committee Quarterly Meeting

September 28, 2011

Meeting was called to order at 1:00pm at the Marion Carnegie Library.  Those in attendance were:

Vincent Riti	Challenge Unlimited
Frank Mulholland	Jackson Co. Mass Transit
Debra Staggs	RIDES Mass Transit
Corky Longshore	Gold Plate Sr. Program
Dan Kowzan	Gold Plate Sr. Program
Stacey Fraley	Touchette Regional Hospital
David Woosley	5 Star Industries
Trudy Baxter	Epilepsy Foundation of Greater S. Il.
Mark Bollmann	Human Service Center
Donald Monty	Jackson Co. Mass Transit
Maureen Mann	Shawnee Mass Transit
Susan Odum	U of I Extension-Johnson Co.
Patrick Laus	Sr. Adult Services
Henry Long	Sr. Adult Services
John Smith	Egyptian Area Agency on Aging
Vicki Clift	South Central Transit
Sheila Niederhofer	South Central Transit
Jaime Blatti	HSTP Coordinator
Terri Finn	HSTP Coordinator

Jaime Blatti, the new HSTP Coordinator, introduced herself & provided information on her background.  All other committee members introduced themselves. 

Sub-Committee Reports- Gaps\Needs\Strategies sub-committee had met & sent an email to all committee members to review the current gaps\needs, rank them &\or give any input as to what should stay, go, etc.  2 responses were received before today’s meeting.  So, everyone in attendance was given a list of the current list and asked for input.  The committee recommended Rural Public Transportation in St. Clair county as a priority.  After much discussion about how to meet this need, obstacles that may be encountered & that there may be no money to fund such a project, the HSTP Coordinators will get more information on this & invite someone from RTAC to speak on this issue at the next meeting.  The next gap\need discussed was Coordination-how to better coordinate services in the region, efficiency of services, vehicle sharing, automated systems, etc.  Finally, Funding\Cost gaps-increase funding, with this being said, contacting legislators now was strongly suggested to everyone.

Plan Review sub-committee-until just recently, no one had volunteered to be on this committee so they had not met.  Debra Staggs & Bill Jung will be on this committee & Maureen Mann volunteered today so a teleconference meeting will be scheduled soon.  Jaime & Terri did add that upon asking IDOT what can be done with the plan, they were told there are specific pieces of information that each plan must include such as a regional program of projects (gaps\needs\strategies), inventory of resources, and needs analysis but the rest of the information can be included/excluded.  The appearance of the plan doesn’t have to meet any specific guidelines; it only needs to be submitted to IDOT and adopted by the regional committee.

Election of Officers- Nominations were asked for to fill the positions of Chairperson, Co-Chair & Secretary.  A nomination was made to elect Jim Schnipper (SAVE) as Chairperson as he had previously stated he would fill a position.  Maureen Mann volunteered for the position of Co-Chair  & Frank Mulholland volunteered for the position of Secretary.  A unanimous vote was taken to accept these committee members to these positions, and Jim Schnipper will be contacted to make sure he will accept the position.

General Discussion- Medicaid & medical transportation problems & managed care were brought up.  Don Monty started a discussion about future funding for transportation & how to plan when funding streams & the government budget status is unknown.  The Coordinators will contact either IDOT or IPTA to come to the next meeting to speak on this subject.  Also, the Coordinators will be meeting with Dennis Presley, SIU-C Center for Rural Health & Social Service Development, to discuss options & actions being taken to improve medical transportation in Southern Il.

Susan Odum asked for the committee’s input as to how broadband is helping or hurting agencies.

The next meeting date was set for Dec. 14, 2011 at 1:00pm.  The location will be determined & if weather is inclement the meeting will be done by teleconference.

Meeting adjourned