A sign affixed to a barrier restricts public access to the Elkhart County Administration building along Second Street in Goshen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff photo by
Joseph Weiser | The Goshen News
GOSHEN — Right out the gate, Elkhart County’s new commissioner sought to reopen county buildings that have been closed the past couple months as a COVID-19-prevention effort.
Brad Rogers proposed the idea and moved for a vote on it during the commissioners’ meeting Monday — their first of 2021. He called to open buildings run by the commissioners, such as the County Administrative Building along Second Street in Goshen and the Public Services Buildings near Dunlap.
“It just seems to me that we’re public servants, we ought to be able to have these buildings open for people to come in, who are conducting necessary county business,” Rogers argued.
No action was taken on the motion as the other two commissioners, Suzanne Weirick and Frank Lucchese, disagreed with reopening the buildings now. They favored waiting a while longer to see how the county weathers any potential surge in case numbers from the holidays.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to watch the situation and make sure we’re not jumping the gun,” Weirick said, adding hospitals in the county are still operating with large number of patients hospitalized for COVID. “I don’t want to give different messages that it’s safe to just go back and open everything back up.”
The discussion was held as Rogers attended his first meeting as a commissioner, replacing Mike Yoder. Rogers ended Yoder’s reelection bid by capturing the Republican Party nomination for his seat during the 2020 primary elections. He was then elected commissioner in November. Yoder has since been named Bristol’s new town manager.
With the new configuration, Weirick was elected board president during Monday’s meeting, while Lucchese retained his role as board vice president.
Arguing to reopen county government buildings, Rogers pointed out the facilities are not used for social gatherings. And since they were closed at the end of November — a move coinciding with the passage of the ordinance setting a fine schedule for violating county health department orders — Rogers said he’s seen people outside county offices in the cold, waiting to be let in for appointments, or that staff in some departments don’t immediately answer phones.
“It’s not like this is a hangout. People don’t come here to hang out. They come here to conduct business,” Rogers said.
He added residents should also be allowed to attend meetings in person, though county meetings, including Monday’s, have been held virtually since November. He also said his proposal wouldn’t apply to facilities where other elected county office-holders are based.
Lucchese preferred, and Weirick concurred, waiting a couple weeks to let any surge of new cases from the holidays pass. He suggested aligning with plans by local schools, saying he thinks they’re waiting until after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 18, to reopen for in-person learning. Currently, Goshen Community Schools plans to continue virtual learning for students in seventh through 12th grades until Jan. 19.
“I would be willing to do it, say opening them up by the 18th, just make sure we sort of follow the same lines as the schools are doing it,” Lucchese said. “I think there is going to be a surge. We’re hearing more and more people have gotten it. If we get past the surge, maybe we can reopen after that.”
Rogers replied, indicating the commissioners shouldn’t fall in-step with school system plans.
“We certainly didn’t see the surge with Thanksgiving that everybody claimed that there was going to have. And I think we should be the leaders and set the tone,” Rogers said.
Weirick disagreed with his assessment, saying while the county didn’t experience, for example, 100 deaths in a day, or local hospitals didn’t defer ambulances away every day, the health systems are still squeezed by pressure to treat both COVID patients and patients with emergency or urgent care needs, all while still under the state’s highest level of caution for weekly COVID positivity rates. Weirick said the current protocols for county buildings are intended to encourage residents to make appointments and to give staff a chance to make sure people wear masks before entering as a way for the county to do its part to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. She also advocated for waiting as vaccines are distributed locally.
“The issue is still making sure that the hospitals have the ability to serve the community. We are still in red, and that surge is still here,” Weirick said.
By the end of Dec. 28, Elkhart County had a seven-day positivity rate of 15.69% for all COVID tests. The county recorded 93 new cases Sunday, pushing the total up to 23,016 cases with 319 total deaths, according to figures from the Indiana Department of Health Monday. Meanwhile, the number of local positive cases per day has fallen 78% since peaking at 426 cases on Nov. 13.
Dr. Bethany Wait, the county’s new health officer, added the county is still at a critical time though the positivity rate has decreased and the availability of hospital beds has improved.
“Yes, I see that we didn’t get this huge surge that we were anticipating in November, but I think that’s because we did a good job. And I think the community did a good job about social distancing, masking and then keeping their pods small,” Wait said. “I’m not so sure that’s going to necessarily be the case for December. But only time’s going to tell.”
Wait was introduced as the health officer during the discussion. She took the role, succeeding Dr. Lydia Mertz who retired as health officer at the end of 2020.
Wait had also said while Goshen and Elkhart General hospitals are conducting vaccinations at their facilities, she hopes the health department will receive a shipment of doses next week and begin administering doses in about the next two weeks.
Rogers pointed out that businesses are still open, though operating under certain rules, as he made a final pitch for reopening county buildings.
“I just think as public servants we’re not doing our public a good service by keeping these buildings closed,” Rogers said.
Weirick disagreed, noting that while county buildings are closed, county government isn’t. And like many businesses, the county has set up extra protocols for safety.
Rogers moved to reopen the buildings, but Lucchese didn’t second the motion, arguing again for prudence to see how the next two weeks go. The proposal died without a vote.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.