Commissioners mull COVID employee policy
Back when COVID-19 was still more commonly known as the “novel coronavirus,” Putnam County was handling the burgeoning pandemic on a day-by-day basis.
Sixteen months later, the virus is no longer “novel” and the Putnam County Commissioners are seeking a longer term plan for dealing with the employees who need time off, particularly as the delta variant of COVID-19 causes a new spike of infections.
“Whether we like it or not, here we go again,” Commissioner Rick Woodall said Monday morning.
The question the Commissioners have been dealing with is how to handle those who must miss work for COVID-19.
In the spring of 2020, all county offices were closed down for a time, with employees still paid, as it was not their choice to close county facilities.
As offices reopened but individual employees either contracted COVID-19 or had to quarantine for exposure, the county continued to allow remote work as well as time off without docking employees’ pay.
However, these practices are changing in some other counties. Woodall said he has asked other commissioners from around the state and all but one of the responses he has received indicated that other counties are treating COVID-related missed work like any other sickness.
However, this opens up more questions. What if an employee is not ill, but just being advised to quarantine? Does it matter if the employee has been vaccinated or not?
“If they have to be quarantined, I think it makes a difference if they’re vaccinated,” Commissioner Tom Helmer offered.
“How are you going to take care of the kids for 10 days or whatever the school says?” County Councilman Danny Wallace asked from the audience.
The Commissioners have not come up with a definitive answer to the question, though it is a question Woodall, Helmer, David Berry and County Attorney Jim Ensley will continue to explore.
Like any other meeting in the last year or so, COVID-19 was central to other discussions as well.
One of these is the ongoing question over the county establishing an electronic meeting policy. Ensley again brought this to the Commissioners’ attention on Monday.
While the county may never use it, guidelines are available from the state indicating how often remote meetings can be utilized both by the complete board as well as individual members.
Councilman Larry Parker offered that he doesn’t support any sort of remote meetings, as his home is just one example of a place in the county where internet connectivity is not good enough to utilize such technology.
Ensley said he plans to prepare a joint resolution for the Putnam County Commissioners and Putnam County Council to consider next month.
Woodall also gave a brief update on the county’s considerations for uses of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.
A joint ARPA advisory board composed of Commissioners Woodall and Helmer, along with Councilmen Dave Fuhrman, Stephanie Campbell and Jay Alcorn, had its first meeting on Aug. 4 to consider the use of the county’s $7 million in ARPA funds.
At this point, Woodall said, the county has heard 15 or 16 different proposals that would total around $5 million.
The next meeting for proposals is set for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
Woodall said that after the Sept. 1 meeting, the committee will move forward with putting together a plan.
In other business:
• The Commissioners appointed Mike Hildebrand to replace Robert Strykowski on the Floyd Township Fire Protection District Board.
Strykowski recently resigned from the position, an appointment set to expire on Dec. 31 of this year.
Greg Earnest was the other applicant interested in the position.
• Erica and Brand DeBord of South County Road 225 West in Cloverdale Township came to express concern over the condition of their road.
The dead end, which runs south of Blackhawk Campground Road, has about 15-20 residences at the end of the road.
The DeBords said the road was patched in spring, but these have not held.
“It’s patches on top of patches at this point,” Brandon DeBord said.
“It’s just gotten a lot worse and even the patches on really hot days, the tar starts melting and it gets on your car,” Erica DeBord added.
County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts said that at this point, resurfacing of the road is not on his agenda, though he is looking for a place to work it in.
Ricketts said work is due on Blackhawk Campground Road in the next year or two, as well as on Ivanwald, which is in the neighborhood.
He hopes to be able to work on the road in 2023.
“It may not be the actual answer you’re looking for, but it is down the pike in a year or two,” Woodall said.
• Ricketts reported he had met with INDOT officials over the ongoing resurfacing project on State Road 236 in the Roachdale area.
The discussion was regarding the unofficial local detour, which will be of particular concern when grain semis are trying to reach Gavilon Grain east of Roachdale during harvest.
The unofficial detour will utilize County Road 1200 North south of the highway.
• Ricketts also reported that the contractor working on Bridge 172 on Poland Road is asking for a one-week extension to complete the work.
Not only did contractors find the bridge to be in worse disrepair than originally thought, but last week’s high heat made it difficult to do any concrete work.
Ricketts said the work should still be complete before the end of August.
• The County Highway Department has also worked on an agreement regarding temporary use of a grader.
The lease on the county’s new Caterpillar graders were ordered so that they would be here by late August or early September, ahead of the expiration of the county’s current lease with John Deere.
However, the delivery date has been pushed back to December.
As such, Ricketts said he has worked out an agreement to use a Caterpillar grader at no charge in the interim to assist with the county’s ditching efforts.
• County officials continue to consider adopting a noise ordinance, though no decision has been made.
Additional issues discussed by the Putnam County Commissioners will be addressed in individual stories.
The next meeting of the Putnam County Commissioners is set for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7 on the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse. The meeting will be on a Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday.