Region 11: 2025 Meeting Minutes (5/21)

 

HSTP Region 11

Meeting Minutes

May 21^st

Mark Bollman	Comwell – RedBud
Tanya Ayers	JTC Academy – Cahokia Heights
Courtney Jewell	JTC Academy – Cahokia Heights
Melissa Jones	Human Support Services – Waterloo
Mike Egbert	Opportunities for Access – Mt. Vernon
Ron Gorst	Shawnee Mass Transit District – Vienna
Damon Loveless	Touchette Regional Hospital – Cahokia
Howard Penrod	Arrowleaf – Vienna
Ian Pierce	Five Star Industries – Du Quoin
Tunezia Badger	Spero Family Services – Mt. Vernon
Darla Harris	Jax Mass Transit – Carbondale
Jimmy Leadingham	Jax Mass Transit – Carbondale
Sara Nollman-Hodge	South Central Transit – Centralia
Justin Johnson	South Central Transit – Centralia
Jesica Gentry-Schlimme	Monroe-Randolph Transit District - Sparta
Mark Beare	Monroe-Randolph Transit District - Sparta
Brad Friend	Centerstone of Illinois – West Frankfort
Beatrice Reed	Centerstone of Illinois – West Frankfort
Jon Douglas	LINC – Red Bud
Brianna Gilson	Caritas Family Solutions – Belleville
Jill Buford	Caritas Family Solutions – Belleville
Robert Wilson	St. Clair County Transit District/Alternative Transportation Systems – East St. Louis
Jeffrey Drake	Rides Mass Transit District – Harrisburg
Riley Anderson	Assistant HSTP Coordinator for Regions 9, 10, and 11
Terri Finn	HSTP Coordinator for Regions 9, 10, and 11

 

        I.            Call to Order: The quarterly HSTP meeting was called to order at 11:03 a.m., by Chairperson Ron Gorst, in Redbud. Comwell was the host.

     II.            Introductions: All attendees introduced themselves and their agencies.

  III.            Approval of February 2025 Meeting Minutes: The minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed. No additions or corrections. Motion to approve by Sara Nollman-Hodge, seconded by Jimmy Leadingham.

  IV.            Guest Speaker: Jimmy Leadingham from Jax Mass Transit was the guest speaker. He discussed the rebranding and restructuring of Jax Mass Transit, formerly Jackson County Mass Transit, due to losing 5307 funds (urban funding). Despite the population growth, the census rules changed and let to Jax Mass Transit losing its urbanized status. IDOT jumped in to help discuss what the agency could do. They lost Saturday services, restricted the Carbondale/Murphysboro route, half of their routes were lost, cut residential service, and instituted layoffs. Then, the Saluki Express was passed from Rides Mass Transit to Jax Mass Transit. Jax had never had fixed routes before. This jumpstarted the rebranding and restructuring. They have moved locations and now have a maintenance facility. Rides Mass Transit shares a lot with Jax to have a place to store vehicles. St. Clair County Transit District donated a bus with brand new tires. They hired a marketing agency and RLS to do a transit study. They renamed the agency Jax Mass Transit. The logo and the website have been updated to better represent the agency as they grow. The agency is growing and expanding the routes and the staff. Before losing the 5307 funding, the agency was averaging 120,000 trips in a year. After, Jax Mass Transit is averaging 125,000 trips a month.

    V.            Regional Plan 2022: Riley presented the Regional Plan updates to the group. No new updates were noted. This marks the end of updates to the 2022 Regional Plan. Motion to approve 2022 Regional Plan by Jimmy Leadingham, seconded by Mark Bollman.

  VI.            Regional Plan 2025: Riley Anderson presented the 2025 Regional Plan. It was open for comments until May 1^st. Motion to approve the 2025 Regional Plan by Jill Buford, seconded by Jon Douglas. Riley presented the gaps and needs that will be addressed by the group in the next three years of working on this plan. Along with the coordination successes from the previous plan. If you have any updates to add to the plan, you can do that at the HSTP meetings or you can do that via email by reaching out to Riley or Terri. The plan will be available on the website and the blog.

Ron Gorst spoke about issues with non-emergency medical transportation and Medicaid. Shawnee Mass Transit works with Arrowleaf daily to provide transportation. Recently, the agency has run into issues with third parties contracted by Medicaid. The third-party has the ability to pick and choose which rides they want to provide, rides that Shawnee Mass Transit regularly provides. More often than not, the third-party vehicle is not ADA accessible and leads to the client/rider denying the trip. Jon Douglas mentioned that he has seen problems with Medicaid representatives referring riders with disabilities to Lyft or Uber, which is rarely accessible and not offered in rural areas.

VII.            Updates to the HSTP Region 11 By-Laws: Riley Anderson presented the old bylaws and the updated bylaws to the group and read through the updates. In order to be an active voting member of the committee, an agency representative must complete the OMA training. This is a one-time training that needs to be completed if you regularly attend meetings and do not already have the OMA certificate. Riley will send an email out to everyone with information on how to complete the training. The committee was given an opportunity for comments; no requests were made. These bylaws are to be reviewed on a semiannual basis. Jesica Gentry-Schlimme motioned to approve, seconded by Robert Wilson. The bylaws will be available on the website and the blog.

VIII.            Transportation Concerns: Some of the 5310 agencies have indicated interest in a meeting with only the 5310 agencies. As a result, Riley has coordinated two meeting options for the 5310 agencies to attend. One on June 3^rd in Alton at Challenge Unlimited and one on June 17^th in Flora at Clay County Rehab. In July, Riley will be reaching out to the 5311 agencies to coordinate another Scheduler’s Training.

Shawnee Mass Transit District spoke about issues with Medicaid transportation. Currently, even if Shawnee is scheduled to provide a Medicaid trip, random drivers can access the portal and grab the trip from the agency. This has led to issues with riders not being able to get to their medical appointment due to the vehicle not being ADA accessible. The question is: why do public transportation providers have to jump through hoops to be accessible to provide non-emergency medical transportation through Medicaid but random drivers are able to provide trips in non-accessible vehicles.

  IX.            General Discussion:

a.       IDOT Update: No IDOT personnel were present. The 2025 CVP application is anticipated to be available in the summer.

b.      Handouts/Resource Materials: Riley Anderson went through the handouts. Dave Patton from RTAC has retired and Ed Heflin will be retiring soon. Mable Kreps will be taking medical leave. If you email RTAC be sure to include Dave Maziarz from IDOT in the email, as RTAC may not respond. Save the date: IPTA Conference September 29^th through October 1^st.

c.       Next meeting is August 20^th at 11 a.m. at Epilepsy Foundation in Belleville

    X.            Adjourn: Briana Gilson motioned to adjourn at 12:29 p.m. and seconded by Courtney Jewell.