WAUPACA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Transportation Coordination Committee Minutes

April 10, 2014

This meeting and all other meetings of this committee are open to the public.  Proper notice has been posted and given to the press in accordance with Wisconsin statutes so that the citizenry may be aware of the time, place and agenda of this meeting.

Meeting called to order by Chairman Gerald Murphy at the Waupaca County Courthouse, Waupaca, WI, Room – Lower Level 43, at 2:00 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Carl Kietzmann, Karl Schulte, Gerald Murphy, Teri Moe, Dave Lowe, Gene Ruppert, Robert Thompson

MEMBERS EXCUSED:  Nancy Ferg

MEMBERS ABSENT:

OTHERS PRESENT: Christie Gonwa, Nick Musson, Ron Johnston, Wisconsin Veterans Home and Lisa Dowhen, Wisconsin Veterans Home

INTRODUCTIONS WERE MADE:  Both Ron and Lisa represented the Wisconsin Veterans Home and spoke of their background with the transportation program at King and their collaboration with Waupaca County.  It is undecided if Ron or Lisa will be the member representing the Veterans Home, but both will try to attend all meetings and will partner with Waupaca County in supporting and growing transportation services within the county. 

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

Christie gave background of a meeting recently held with Ron and Lisa in which the Veterans Home had offered one of the 5310 vans from year 2008 be sued by the county for proposed transportation to the nutrition site in Weyauwega and Fremont.  There is already a policy by the Veteran’s Home to allow use of their 5310 vehicles by the county when not in use by King.  This vehicle is low mileage and is not used at present.  It could be kept at the Veteran’s Home, and since under contract with the county for the year 2014, it will be insured and maintained by the Veteran’s Home.  A plan is not yet in place to be presented for action by the committee, but Ron and Lisa were thanked for their willingness to share their expertise and support of the expansion of transportation in the county.

I. ADOPTION OF AGENDA: Christie requested that both items VII and VIII be deleted from the agenda as they were put there in error.  Motion by Teri Moe, second by Robert Thompson to approve the agenda as corrected. Motion carried.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Carl Kietzmann, seconded by Robert Thompson to approve the minutes of the March 4, 2014 meeting. Motion carried.

III. NEW LONDON COMMITTEE SEAT:  Christie inquired as to the necessity of having someone from New London be on the committee since all others within the 5310 grant program were represented on the committee.  This was discussed as a possibility at the previous meeting with direction to be sought from County Clerk, Mary Robbins.  Christie did talk with Mary, who was unsure.  She felt it should be discussed by the Health and Human Services Board for direction.  This will be done at the next meeting.

IV. TRANSPORTATION TRUST: Christie reported that the 85.21 year-end report was completed and that an insufficient amount of county levy was used for transportation needs in 2014.  Per grant guidelines, that amount must be set aside in trust for future use of the program.  The amount is $28,007 and must be used for either purchase of vehicles or the maintenance of vehicles.  Dave corrected Christie in saying that the guidelines of the trust had not been amended, but by statute, the funds could be used for any facet of the program. 

V. MOBILITY MANAGER: The development of the position of Mobility Manager was cited as a priority in the 2013 – 2017 Coordinated Transportation Plan.  Christie has had conversations with a person who works for Options for Independent Living on the western side of the state who oversees services for several counties.  She has offered to provide any information that may be helpful to our county.  She also writes grants to compensate her wages in addition to services that have been expanded in the community.  Christie said that she felt should there be any staffing changes within our program it was none too soon to begin work on this study.  Nick also said that he would be happy to meet and help us begin looking at this position and which counties may be most interested in collaborating on it.  The committee encouraged that this study begin.  Christie also said that she knew there had been previous discussion with Karl regarding central dispatch in our county, and that she would like to meet with Karl to further discuss this option as well.

VI. TRANSPORTATION UPDATES:

Christie will be working with Lana Draeger and Jeanette Newell in submitting the Title VI. Civil Rights Plan for Transportation Services for the county by April 30^th.

The Iola/Scandinavia transportation program in collaboration with Iola Living Assistance is getting closer to starting.  Nancy  Ferg and Pat Rosemann, the new nutrition site manager, are planning to go to service organizations in the Iola area to recruit volunteer drivers.  The program will start running a day or two a week only in the Iola area to start, partially around meal times at the site.  Volunteers will drive as well as man the office and schedule the rides. Iola Living Assistance is providing the van, the oversight of the program by Pat, maintenance of the vehicle and insurance, and the county will provide money under the 85.21 grant for gasoline.  A contract between Waupaca County and Iola Living Assistance will be brought to the next meeting for approval.

Eight Town Hall meetings are being held around the state by Mark Gottlieb, Transportation Secretary of the DOT.  Karl has attended one of the first meetings, and the Secretary is very interested in learning about the needs of transportation for individuals, such as for elderly and specialized needs.  He is gathering information about how the public feels the budget should direct most of the monies, be it for road construction or subsidy of services.  Present monies are limited and addition taxes or means of increasing revenue are also being discussed.  Christie intends to go to one of the meetings being held in Oshkosh.  She will get the list of meetings out to all of the committee members.

Christie furnished the most recent statistics on Non-Emergency Transportation being furnished by the state-brokered vendor, MTM, Inc.  While there are much fewer complaints in our county compared to others, there are still times the county must step in to provide transportation for doctors’ appointments in which the customers have been denied services.  The percentage of complaints identified by MTM is quite low, but there is no measure for how truthful these statistics are, as was the problem with Logisticare.  Christie provided copies of a resolution drafted by Rock County Board requesting that the state perform an audit of the non-emergency transportation services.  Thus far, this request has not been brought forth by legislators, even though the request has been made by citizens for well over a year.  People are still being encouraged to talk with their legislators to support the audit.  The committee suggested bringing a draft of the proposal for Waupaca County to the next committee meeting for discussion and action.

VII. ADJOURN

Motion to adjourn made by Dave Lowe, and seconded by Teri Moet. Motion carried.

NEXT MEETING – July 10, 2014 – at new meeting time of 10:00 AM – Waupaca County Courthouse

Respectfully Submitted By:

Christie Gonwa, ADRU Manager