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7 <br /> DRAFT <br /> 217 Lisa Berkley: I wanted to bring up a couple of things that the Master Aging Plan and the groups that were thought to be <br /> 218 important in the transit plan. One has to do with the elderly and disabled transportation assistance program which is the <br /> 219 funding source for a lot of the demand services for older adults and people who are disabled. Could this program get <br /> 220 funding under the reallocation of transit from the light rail? <br /> 221 <br /> 222 Theo Letman: The tax district dollars go to the increased cost of existing services and for expansion services. It's a small pot <br /> 223 of money for rural operating assistance that we do get from the state. There are other funding streams that we get as well. <br /> 224 All programs are tied really to population, so the Census play as huge part in the level of funding that we get, and will play a <br /> 225 huge part in the coming Census. As areas go from rural to urban, those moneys will shrink even further. If you're asking to <br /> 226 utilize those funds to help offsetting the expenditures in rural areas that has to be put in the form of a project as an <br /> 227 expansion of services which we can look at doing or it can be utilized for capital expenses as in buying buses or for <br /> 228 purchasing more equipment. <br /> 229 <br /> 230 Lisa Berkley: How do we get that added to the plan? <br /> 231 <br /> 232 Theo Letman: Every month we have meetings, and we talk about the different types of services and the projects that we <br /> 233 want to provide to the rural areas. <br /> 234 <br /> 235 Janice Tyler:Who holds that pot of money that's been collected and makes that decision? <br /> 236 <br /> 237 Theo Letman: Orange County. <br /> 238 <br /> 239 Heidi Perry: Remember that$130 million already went to the light rail and not all of is from Orange County. <br /> 240 $158 million is what they're planning to have go to it before it finishes. <br /> 241 <br /> 242 Theo Letman:They are still doing the calculations on what is going to be spent on the remainder of the light rail project. <br /> 243 <br /> 244 Lisa Berkley: This is for a certain small part of our population for individuals who temporarily or full time are in a wheelchair <br /> 245 but are too frail to go on the buses that Orange County Public Transportation has. Is there a role that our public government <br /> 246 can play in offsetting the high price of transportation or having a vehicle that we can also help people with? <br /> 247 <br /> 248 Janice Tyler: Like a Sprinter vehicle? <br /> 249 <br /> 250 Theo Letman: They are called ambulatory services. Transit is a public service, so we can't be just exclusive to one person. <br /> 251 That's not to say we can't look at other types of services or concepts if we have need in our community. <br /> 252 <br /> 253 Erik Broo: Like a minivan that might cost a bit more than it normally would? <br /> 254 <br /> 255 Heidi Perry:Are there no private medical services? <br /> 256 <br /> 257 Lisa Berkley:There are plenty of private ones, but they are very expensive. <br /> 258 <br /> 259 Heidi Perry: I'm wondering if there's a way to partner with them, so we don't have to buy the van or the driver, but we can <br /> 260 maybe subsidize. <br /> 261 <br /> 262 Theo Letman. We will definitely look into that. <br /> 263 <br /> 264 Theo Letman. Seats on the Staff Working Group (SWG); that is part of the Technical Committee to the MPO are appointed <br /> 265 by the County Manager.You can attend the meetings, all meetings are public. <br /> 266 <br /> 267 Heidi: You can sign up to speak at these meetings and get a copy of the agenda prior to the meeting. <br /> 268 <br /> 5 <br />