Region 9: 2026 Meeting Minutes (3/12)

 

Region 9 HSTP Meeting

Meeting Minutes

March 12^th, 2026

Attendees:

Jerry McDonald	Tri-County Transit – Jerseyville
Nathan Nichols	Central Illinois Public Transit – Effingham
Gayle McElroy	Senior Services Plus – Alton
Michelle Shrout	Senior Services Plus – Alton
Pam Jones	Senior Services Plus – Alton
Eric Robke	Community Link – Breese
Sherry Hicks	FAYCO Enterprises – Vandalia
Peggy Dunn	Macoupin Co. Public Transit – Gillespie
Cara Watlers	Macoupin Co. Public Transit – Gillespie
Diana Krake	Macoupin Co. Public Transit – Gillespie
Mike Egbert	Opportunities for Access Center for Independent Living – Mt. Vernon
Felicia Voelkel	Glen Carbon Senior Center – Glen Carbon
Andrea Boda	Illinois Valley Rehabilitation Center – Gillespie
Joe Domer	Madison Co. Transit/Agency for Community Transit – Granite City
Jen McLain	Challenge Unlimited – Alton
Dale Deverick	Bond Co. Transit – Greenville
Perry Cox	IDOT - Springfield
Sara Nollman	South Central Transit – Centralia
Justin Johnson	South Central Transit – Centralia
Jennifer Bagwell	JewelRide – Edwardsville
Riley Anderson	Human Service Transportation Coordinator – Salem

 

        I.            I. Call to Order – The Region 9 quarterly HSTP meeting was called to order at 11:10 a.m. by Chairperson Pam Jones.

     II.            II. Introduction – All of those in attendance introduced themselves and announced the agency they represent.

  III.            III. Approval of March 2026 Meeting Minutes – No correction noted. Mike Egbert motioned to approve the minutes. Jerry McDonald seconded the motion.

  IV.            IV. Guest Speaker: Jennifer Bagwell from JewelRide was the guest speaker. JewelRide is a for-profit agency that provides non-emergency medical transportation across Illinois and Missouri. They do travel outside of their service area at times to places like Chicago and Springfield for medical transportation. Jennifer spoke about the importance of medical transportation as you age as missed appointments lead to a decline in health.

    V.            V. Regional Plan 2025 – Riley Anderson presented the updates from the previous meeting. Felicia Voelkel motioned to approve the updates to the plan. Sherry Hicks seconded the motion.

Madison Co. Transit (MCT) is expanding their service area into Marine Township and Pin Oak Township. Microtransit will be replacing the fixed route service in Troy and Maryville on July 13.

Central Illinois Public Transportation (CIPT) has filled the Medicaid/Non-Emergency Medical Transportation dispatcher position. CIPT is offering free rides to the polls in all the counties they serve.

  VI.            VI. Transportation Concerns – Several agencies shared concerns of their aging 5310-funded vehicles and expressed a need for the CVP applications to come available. One agency noted that they have had to purchase their vehicles due to their aging fleet.

VII.            VII. General Discussion –

a.       IDOT Update: Perry Cox was in attendance. There are no updates on when CVP applications will come available. He reminded the 5311 agencies of the April 1^st deadline. If you have any questions, contact your IDOT project manager.

b.      Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) updates: Riley expanded on what she has been working on regarding NEMT and shared the Medicaid Transportation Complaint flyer with the committee.

c.       Handouts/Resource Materials: Riley went through the handouts.

d.      Next meeting is June 11^th at IMPACT CIL in Alton

VIII.            VIII. Adjourn – Peggy Dunn motioned to adjourn the meeting at 11:58 p.m. with Jerry McDonald seconding the motion.