Region 9: 2012 Meeting Minutes (9/19)

Region 9 HSTP Quarterly Meeting Minutes

Wednesday Sept. 19, 2012

Attendees:

Kim Taylor	FAYCO
David Riegel	FAYCO\Fayette Co. Board
Mary Taylor	Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Southern Il.
Christina Brishke	CEFS\CIPT
Susan Thomas	ACT
Joe Domer	ACT
Vincent Riti	Challenge Unlimited\Residential Options
Vicki Clift	South Central Transit
Sheila Niederhofer	South Central Transit
Peggy Dunn	Macoupin Co. Public Transit
Michele Suwe	Glen Carbon Sr. Center
Fran Smith	Jarvis Township Sr. Center
Linda Vidmar	Il. Valley Rehab Center-Gillespie
Debi Lyons	Macoupin Center for the Developmentally  Disabled
Kimberly Rogers	Macoupin Center for the Developmentally Disabled
Missy Kichline	IMPACT CIL
Sylvia Mahle	Midland Area Agency on Aging
Stacey Rhodes	St. John’s Community Care
Lois Clark	St. John’s Community Care
Lacey Miller	Il. Valley Economic Development Center & Rehab Center-Jerseyville
Rachael Newsome	Il. Center for Autism
Terri Finn	HSTP Coordinator

The meeting was brought to order at 11:00am by Chairperson Sheila Niederhofer at the South Central Transit Training Facility in Centralia with introductions following.

Mary Taylor of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Southern Il. was the guest & gave a presentation of the Foundations programs & services.  EFGSI assists people with epilepsy, in most of southern Il., in getting medications, awareness of the disorder, limited transportation to medical appointments, etc.

A draft copy of the regional transportation providers & resource contacts was disbursed.  Terri asked that everyone look it over and let her know of any changes so the finalized list can be given to everyone at the December meeting.

Terri explained that the reason for the list is so everyone would have available resource information when trying to access or coordinate transportation.  

The conversation was open for anyone to share stories about efforts of transportation coordination that their agency had made with another agency, good or bad, so that another agency may be able to increase their efforts, to discuss how the situation might have been done differently or why the effort didn’t work.   Several Committee agencies gave examples of the coordination that is working for them & the communities they serve.

There had been questions at the June regional meeting about eligible\allowable activities for JARC & New Freedom funding.  Terri handed out an IDOT approved list of activities with the reminder that as the MAP-21 changes are announced, funding sources could change.   Any agency that applied for JARC or New Freedom in the last round should be notified in November if the application was approved or not. 

Bylaws:  Since there has never been an update to the Committee’s bylaws since they were established in 2007, it was suggested by the Coordinator that a subcommittee be formed to review & revise them.  Terri provided copies for everyone to look over.  The Committee decided that instead of forming a subcommittee, they would all review the document and email the Coordinator with changes.   These changes & an updated document should then be presented to the Committee for approval.

Terri gave an update of the status of the St. Clair Co. rural area transportation efforts.

Anyone wanting to promote their agency events or activities was asked to submit information to the Coordinator to be published in the HSTP newsletter.  Also, if an agency has staff or clients that are in need of Mobility Management training, please contact the Coordinator to schedule a training.

Some of the Gaps & Needs subcommittee members have been unresponsive to emails so it was announced that this subcommittee needs to get together & finish some business that is still in the works.

It was announced that IDOT is in the process of having public forums throughout the State to provide information on upcoming transportation related activities & to obtain input on what is working or needs to be done to improve any aspects of transportation.  Terri encouraged committee members to attend at least one forum or at least submit public comment on the transportation needs of Southern Il. as addressed in the Regional Plan.

The Rural Medical Transportation Network (RMTN) of SIU-Carbondale will be holding public meetings.  The forum in the Region 9 area will be held on Oct. 4^th in Hillsboro at the Montgomery Co. Health Dept. at 11:00.  The public is encouraged to attend & discuss transportation needs as related to medical appointments or emergency transportation.

The next Region 9 Committee meeting was scheduled for Wednesday Dec. 12, 2012 at 11:00 at the Il. Valley Rehabilitation Center, 217 E. Walnut St. in Gillespie (Macoupin Co.)

The meeting was adjourned at 12:00pm.