PAXTON — Ford County board members plan to meet soon with their counterparts in Iroquois and Livingston counties to begin negotiating a mutually acceptable intergovernmental agreement to provide public transit to rural residents of the three counties.

The Ford County Board voted 8-0 during a special meeting Wednesday, Nov. 27, to approve a resolution formally stating its intent to move forward with the negotiation process for the proposed tri-county Rural Transportation Partnership.

“Once we get this (resolution) in place, the three counties will begin conversations about establishing a board (to oversee the rural transportation program) … and then begin the process of agreeing to the terms of the intergovernmental agreement,” Ford County said Board member Cindy Ihrke of rural Roberts.

Ihrke said negotiations would need to get underway quickly, noting that Ford County’s existing intergovernmental agreement for rural transportation services expires in seven months.

“We need to get to work on it right away,” Ihrke said.

In her final meeting as Ford County Board Chair, Debbie Smith of Paxton speaks during a special board meeting Wednesday, Nov. 27, in the basement board room of the Paxton Sheriff’s Office and Jail, as Ford County Board member Chuck Aubry of Gibson City looks on.

According to the resolution, Ford County is currently part of an intergovernmental agreement with Iroquois, Livingston, DeWitt, Macon and McLean counties to provide public transportation to rural residents of the six-county area, but that agreement is being terminated effective June 30, 2025. .

Under the existing agreement, McLean County serves as the “primary participant” in the rural transit program, with the authority to apply for and accept state and federal grants to support the program under Section 5311 of the Federal Transit Act of 1991 and the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Downstate Operating Assistance Program (DOAP ). The existing arrangement involves an “annual purchase of service agreement” with an independent not-for-profit agency, Show Bus, to provide services.

However, the McLean County Board passed a resolution on June 13 stating that the existing model “does not optimize rural transit services for McLean County residents” and authorized its chairman to notify IDOT that “the County intends to relinquish its role as the primary recipient of Section 5311 funding” under the existing agreement and to terminate its agreements with Show Bus and Ford, Iroquois and Livingston counties at the end of next June, allowing McLean County to “establish transportation services in rural areas focused on McLean County citizens beginning July 1, 2025,” according to the Ford County Board resolution.

As a result, officials in Ford, Livingston and Iroquois counties are considering a new partnership involving only those three counties. The resolution states that the three counties “desire to establish a sub-recipient structure in which Livingston County serves as the ‘primary participant’ with the authority to apply for and accept state and federal non-urban grant aid … on behalf of and for the support of rural transportation in the participating counties .”

“The Ford County Board wishes to allocate and transfer all Section 5311 and DOAP funding for rural transportation services to Livingston County as the primary recipient pending negotiation of a mutually acceptable intergovernmental agreement with Ford, Livingston and Iroquois counties prior to July 1, 2025,” the resolution states . “The Ford County Board will assign and transfer to Livingston County the responsibility for providing rural transportation services pending negotiation of a mutually acceptable agreement prior to planned transition date of July 1, 2025.”

The Ford County Board’s Ihrke said she worked with John Shure of rural Buckley, chairman of the Iroquois County Board, to draft the resolution, which is identical to one the Iroquois County Board will consider. A resolution from McLean County, provided by IDOT, was used as a starting point, Ihrke said.

Under the proposed Tri-County Rural Transportation Program, Livingston County would hire someone to manage the grant funds received and to solicit donations of matching grant funds. The county councils would annually publish a request for proposals and traffic service organizations would have the opportunity to submit tenders.

“Where Ford County stands … we want to make sure the needs of our citizens are met,” Ihrke noted. “We could do our own request for (proposals) to choose which companies will best serve our county.”

Representatives of two rural transportation organizations — Show Bus and the CRIS Rural Mass Transit District of Vermilion County — were present at Wednesday’s Ford County Board meeting. Ihrke noted that each would have the opportunity to submit a proposal for consideration.

In the event that no intergovernmental agreement can be reached between Ford, Iroquois and Livingston counties, Ihrke noted that Ford County can still partner with either CRIS or Show Bus on its own.

“If, for some reason, all three counties can’t come to an agreement … then we’d probably end up directly paired with CRIS, I would think,” Ihrke said. “But this (dissolution) allows us to at least try to come together as three counties.”

In addition to their geographic proximity, the three counties coming together to ensure adequate and reliable transportation services are available, according to the Iroquois County Board’s Shure earlier this month, are because there is “strength in numbers.” Not only would that allow for greater “flexibility” in the event a bus breaks down — because buses can be shared between counties — but the size of the rural area involved could help bring in more grant funding, Shure said.

“I think it gives us a little more weight when we have to deal with IDOT in Springfield and all that,” Ihrke noted Wednesday. “But…there are many more rings we have to conquer here to get all of this in place.”

“I know there’s going to be a lot of negotiation,” said Iroquois County Board member Lyle Behrends of Ashkum.

In addition to Cindy Ihrke, Ford County Board members voting for the resolution were Lesley King of Piper City, Tom McQuinn of Paxton, rural, Chuck Aubry of Gibson City, Chase McCall of Gibson City, Tim Nuss of Roberts, rural, Debbie Smith of Paxton, and Ann Ihrke, rural in Buckley. Absent were Gene May of Paxton, Sarah Mussman of Gibson City and Carson Vaughn of Paxton.