Region 9: 2024 Meeting Minutes (8/13)

 

HSTP Region 9

June 13^th, 2024

Quarterly Meeting Minutes

Attendees:

Nathan Nichols	CEFS/Central Illinois Public Transit – Effingham
Jennifer Noel	Bond County Transit – Greenville
Melissa Marti	Bond County Senior Center-Greenville
Paul Klosterman	Community Link-Breese
Felicia Voelkel	Glen Carbon Senior Center – Glen Carbon
Mike “Spud” Egbert	Opportunities for Access Center for Independent Living–Mt. Vernon
Katlyn Meyer	Jewel Ride – Edwardsville
Andrea Boda	Illinois Valley Rehab Center – Gillespie
Gerald McDonald	Tri-Country Rural Public Transit – Jerseyville
Hailey Wright	Senior Services Plus – Alton
Kelly Morlen	Senior Services Plus – Alton
Peggy Dunn	Macoupin County Public Transit-Gillespie
Joe Domer	Agency for Community Transit/Madison Co. Transit – Granite City
Todd Nickel	Challenge Unlimited\Residential Options-Alton
Wendy Settles	IMPACT Center for Independent Living– Alton
Sherri Bassen	South Central Transit – Centralia
Riley Anderson	Assistant Human Service Transportation Coordinator – Salem
Terri Finn	Human Service Transportation Coordinator – Salem

Call to Order – The Region 9 quarterly HSTP meeting was called to order at 11:02 a.m. by Chairperson Nathan Nichols.

Introductions – All of those in attendance introduced themselves and announced their agency as well as what they like about their jobs and what they dislike about their jobs.  

Approval of March 2024 meeting minutes – Motion by Jerry McDonald, seconded by Joe Domer. Minutes approved with no additions or corrections.

Guest Speaker – Mike Egbert from Opportunities for Access Center for Independent Living in Mt. Vernon was the guest speaker. They serve sixteen counties in Illinois. The five core services offered are peer advisory, skills training, system advocacy, individual advocacy, and information and referral. OFACIL also assists with transitioning adults from nursing homes to their own homes and transition assistance to students and their parents from the high school setting to adult services. 

CIL’S serve persons of any age with any type of disability, free of charge. People with disabilities constitute at least 51% of the board of directors and at least 51% of all staff at the CIL. Personal choice is one of the main goals in the CIL’s. Currently, there is funding for home modifications and ramps if needed until the money runs out.

Regional Plan – Riley Anderson went over the updates that were entered into the Regional Plan from the last meeting (copies of gaps and needs portion provided to committee). Macoupin Co. Public Transit sent postcards to all their contacts to notify all of rate changes which were also posted on Facebook. This has brought people back to using transit.

Madison County Transit made changes in May to three of the fixed routes in accordance with the information they received from the zoom meeting with their riders to determine needs to improve routes as well as decrease “single” rider trips and discuss their needs. The updates are on the SIUE calendar.

Transportation Concerns – Agencies discussed new happenings with their agencies: Glen Carbon has been getting requests for trips outside of their service area. Troy is one of the areas requested.

CIPT has experienced the same issue. Struggle to make riders/facilities understand what transit can and cannot do.

South Central Transit mentioned a hurdle with hospitals. Some of the local hospitals have policies that do not allow transportation brochures to be displayed. Care coordinator/social services in a hospital will sometimes take them.

General Discussion –

IDOT Updates: Riley shared David Maziarz updates. IDOT is anticipating starting vehicle builds in August. The next CVP application is anticipated to be in the spring of 2025.

Handouts/Resource materials: Riley covered the handouts. Melissa Marti spoke about the article that Channel 5 wrote about students with disabilities volunteering at Bond County Senior Center and assisting with cooking meals, cleaning the facility and entertaining visitors to the Center.

Next meeting: September 12^th at Glen Carbon Senior Center in Glen Carbon at 11 a.m.

Adjourn – Felicia Voelkel motioned to adjourn with Jennifer Noel seconding the motion. The meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.