|
 Guests Alison-Rumler Gomez and Diane Turner of Community Action
Partnership of Central Illinois shared what has been happening with
public transportation the past few months and thanked Program
Compliance Oversight Manager Brenda Clark for all her help as they
have worked to set up deviated fixed routes. The routes will start
running in April.
Turner said she and Clark are ready to start working on the new 5311
grant that provides federal financial assistance for transportation
in non-urban areas. Turner is working on budget figures.
Rumler-Gomez said Community Action is getting ready to hire more
drivers and vehicles all ready. They recently got great reviews from
the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and have been
learning more from IDOT about setting up Deviated Fixed Routes.
Committee member Scott Schaffenacker asked about agreements with the
businesses the busses will stop at.
Clark said she has heard back from many of the businesses, but is
waiting to hear from the headquarters for Walmart and Cracker Barrel
about having bus stops at those businesses. Public transportation
needs to have permission to put signs up.
Committee member Kevin Bateman asked if they could put signs up on
the street in front of Walmart.
Clark said there are specific rules about signage on roads.
Andy Anderson, who has been working with the Transportation Advisory
Committee, said there will be 16 stops on the route.
Bateman said he would suggest busses do not deviate more than four
blocks. Anderson said that could be discussed at the April
transportation meeting since too many deviations from the route can
put busses behind schedule.
Rumler-Gomez said the on-demand calls will still be prioritized, so
the "on-demand" drivers could pick many up.
Rumler-Gomez said the "nuts and bolts of the pilot program" needs to
be approved. She said cash output will be increased by about $14,000
and right now that cash has to be injected into the program.
Clark said a $9,000 error in Community Action's favor could also be
added to the $14,000 and there could also be some local matches. She
said public transportation should look into local matches from
places where they have stops and the matches could be put in a
separate account.
Clark said the list of important points the Transportation Committee
has discussed includes an outline of the deviated route program, the
targeted service group, a map of the proposed route, locations for
stops, times per stop per location, allowable distances and times
for deviations from the route, a fare box collection system and
rider pass program, an advertising and marketing program,
responsibility of released program information, and frequency of
advertising.
 Committee member David Hepler said he is concerned that Brenda Clark
has not received information from Community Action about an accident
that occurred last year.
Rumler-Gomez said she was sorry that she had not responded, but
she needs to check with an attorney to clarify what information she
can share.
Turner said Community Action carries insurance on all the vehicles,
and the bus involved in the accident was fixed.
Rumler-Gomez said in the accident, a driver hit the overhang on
private property and promptly reported it to Community Action. It is
CAPCIL policy to have the drivers drug screened as a "precautionary
measure." Rumler-Gomez said "in this particular instance, the driver
refused to provide information that was requested when the incident
happened." The driver no longer works for them.
[to top of second column] |
Committee Chairman Emily Davenport said since the county owns the vehicles, they
should have been informed the day the accident occurred. Hepler said the State's
Attorney will add notifications about incidents into the agreement between
Community Action and the county.
Turner said the Midwest Trucker's Association performs random drug tests on
Community Action's drivers. Community Action also follows all federal guidelines
and CDL requirements. The supervisors have trainings and certification on
suspicion of drug and alcohol abuse.
Rumler-Gomez said employees are trained to spot warning signs such as excessive
absenteeism and lateness.
Bateman recommended the Executive Committee bring the suggestions of the
Transportation Committee forward at Monday's Board Workshop. Helper motioned
that "any incident or accident involving county vehicles must be promptly
reported in writing to the Program Compliance Oversight Manager." The State's
Attorney will craft the language.
County website update
Bateman said a new county website has been needed for a long time. Jan
Schumacher was working on it while she was still on the board, but had not
completed it before her move to Missouri.
The committee contacted Paul Adams, who built the city's website. Bateman said
they liked how that site was set up, so they asked him to work on the county
website. Adams and his wife Kari own Revizions, a company that designs and hosts
websites.
Adams said he is setting up the site so department heads can make their own
changes and updates to their part of the site. He has added a content management
system, Joomla, to save on costs. Adams said the website will be "streamlined"
and "simple."
The website will have photos of points of interest in the county, a search
engine, news sections, lists of upcoming events, and links to various
departments. Each department will be able to edit or add to their webpage. Adams
said the homepage can be customized and have as many links as the county wants.
Bateman said that to hold costs down, each department could work with Adams to
build their own pages at reasonable rates. He said the goal is for the website
to be "modern and user friendly," and it will be easier to make changes to it.
Bateman said it would be $125 a year for a LoganCounty.gov domain name and Adams
could host the site for $45.00 a month. It would cost $1,500 to get the site up
and running.
Bateman motioned that the board switch the site over to a .gov domain and have
Paul Adams build the website for the county. All committee members approved.
Committee members present were Chairman Emily Davenport, David Hepler, Kevin
Bateman, Scott Schaffenacker, and Pat O'Neill. Dave Blankenship was absent.
[Angela Reiners]
 |
