Region 9: 2014 Meeting Minutes (3/13)

HSTP Region 9

Quarterly Meeting Minutes

March 13, 2014

Attendees:

Jared Rowcliffe	Shelby Co. PCOM
Kim Taylor	FAYCO
Sherry Hicks	FAYCO
David Riegel	Fayette Co.\FAYCO
Linda Vidmar	Il. Valley Rehab Center-Gillespie
Sara Berkbigler	Main St. Community Center
Lacey Miller	Il. Valley Rehab Center-Jerseyville
April Blount	Challenge Unlimited
Michele Suwe	Glen Carbon Sr. Center
Michael ‘Spud’ Egbert	Opportunities For Access
Carole Drew	Macoupin Co. Transportation PCOM
Susan Thomas	MCT\ACT
Joe Domer	MCT\ACT
Sheila Niederhofer	South Central Transit
Anna Oestreich	Bond Co. Transit\Bond Co. Sr. Center
Lisa Casterline	Central Il. Public Transportation
Jill Jones	Bond Co. Transit\Bond Co. Sr. Center
Missy Kichline	IMPACT CIL
Kimberly Rogers	Macoupin Center for the Developmentally Disabled
Dennis Shiley	Central Il. Public Transportation\CEFS
Beth Hake	Community Link
Chris Markel	Beverly Farm
Jayne Hamilton	Senior Services Plus
Terri Finn	HSTP Coordinator

The quarterly HSTP Region 9 meeting, held at the Bradford Room in Greenville, was called to order at 11:03am by Chairperson Lacey Miller.  Introductions were done by all attending. 

The meeting minutes from December 12, 2013 were reviewed.  David Riegel asked that his name be added to the attendance list as he did attend & Lisa Casterline asked that it be noted that Dennis Shiley had mentioned the need for increased funding for vehicles to be added to the Regional Plan’s gaps & needs.  These changes were noted and will be added to the minutes.  A motion was made by Linda Vidmar and 2^nd by Sherry Hicks to approve the minutes with additions.  Motion carried.

Committee members had been asked to review the latest updates to the Regional Plan, including their agencies Provider Inventory, and provide any further changes that may need to be made.  Provider inventory changes were brought to the HSTP Coordinators attention.  These will be made and the Plan will be emailed to everyone so it may get final approval at the next meeting. 

Missy Kichline brought up the issue of group travel needs, especially in Madison Co.  She did advise those that may have group travel needs to use the Region 9 resource list to try to initiate coordinated travel and use of 5310 vehicles that might not otherwise be used for this purpose.  Several other Committee members joined in and added to this conversation.  Sue Thomas added that public transit agencies are not permitted to provide charter service and group travel can be construed as charter.  Sheila Niederhofer stated that SCT has done group travel but any individual wanting or needing transportation along the route that is being traveled is able to board the bus.

At the December meeting there had been discussion about surveying rural area residents, within the region, to better assess the unserved &\or underserved areas and the transportation needs of the residents of those areas.  The public providers spoke of trip denials that are documented in their scheduling systems along with tracking of where these trips are from, times of day the trips are needed, etc.  There was some discussion on riders needs vs. wants.  The Committee was asked if they were still interested in doing surveys and establishing a subcommittee to evaluate the survey’s results.  The Committee decided that at this time a survey would not be a time or money worthy effort.  It was decided that public providers will bring trip denial statistics, for a quarter, to a future meeting for further discussion.  

Dennis Shiley questioned Committee members that have JARC contracts if they will be granted extensions or if their contract funding is being dropped.  It was explained that funding for JARC will stop at the end of the contract, as with any contract, unless there is unused funds from another agency that gets redirected to another provider.  Since the end of SAFETEA-LU and the reauthorizing Bill, MAP-21, JARC and New Freedom grants are no longer available and are currently rolled into 5311 and 5310 grants, respectively.

Terri Finn told the Committee that May is National Transportation and provided information on possible activities that transportation agencies might want to do to acknowledge the event.

The next HSTP quarterly meeting is scheduled for June 12^th.  CVP applications will be due to IDOT by May 30^th so a voting meeting would need to take place to hear applicant requests for possible endorsement before that date.  The Committee decided to cancel the June meeting and reschedule to May 8^th.  CVP applicants should bring their vehicle requests, reasons for requests and be prepared to answer questions from members.  The May meeting will be hosted by South Central Transit and held at the SCT Training Facility in Centralia. 

A motion was made by Linda Vidmar and 2^nd by Beth Hake to adjourn at 12:23.            

Approved by Committee on 5\8\14