$100 coming for county employees who get COVID shot. St. Mary hill house stuck on endangered list
Tippecanoe County commissioners will pay employees to get COVID-19 shot, along with time off for quarantines. Plus: St. Mary’s hill home makes state endangered structures list
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Back at it after at three-day weekend. You ready? Just a couple of nuggets to get the ball rolling …
$100 STIPENDS FOR COVID SHOTS?: Tippecanoe County commissioners have been reluctant, so far, to impose countywide COVID-related restrictions, including mask mandates. County facilities remain without a mask requirement in place at, say, West Lafayette City Hall or all indoor classrooms and buildings at Purdue.
But commissioners appear ready to up the ante for Tippecanoe County employees.
Up for approval on Tuesday morning’s commissioners agenda: A $100 incentive for employees who show they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. A resolution refers to the $100 as a stipend, available to anyone with both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson version. (No mention, at this point, of boosters – but with Tippecanoe County’s overall vaccination rate at 52% as of last week, why get ahead of ourselves.)
The proposed policy also would create a “COVID-19 Leave Benefit” for vaccinated employees, running through Dec. 31. The policy would set aside the equivalent of two weeks of time off, instead of using sick time or vacation time, for employees who test positive for COVID-19 or who have to stay home from work for quarantine issues, including those when an employee’s minor child or dependent can’t go to daycare or school because of a COVID-19-related issue.
The policy also would allow work-from-home options to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
Last week, the West Lafayette board of works signed off on a policy that created a COVID-19 leave program for employees who showed they were vaccinated. Unvaccinated employees in West Lafayette will be required to use regular sick time or vacation pay if they get COVID-19 or are asked to quarantine due to a close contact with someone with the virus.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Lafayette was looking to do something similar.
IF YOU GO: The Tippecanoe County commissioners meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St.
ST. MARY NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE ON ENDANGERED LIST, AGAIN: Things have been at a standstill for the 19th century house at 1014 South St. since 2018, when St. Mary Cathedral first posted a demolition sign on the fence near the corner of 11th and South streets. Once targeted for a new rectory for parish priests, the church backed away from those plans after a concerted push from St. Mary’s Neighborhood residents and historic preservationists. The diocese hasn’t offered much publicly about what’s next for a house built in 1884. But the lull has been enough to earn the Falley-O’Gara-Pyle house a spot on Indiana Landmarks’ 10 Most Endangered list for a second consecutive year.
Initially thought to have been built for Meyer Rose, a partner in a Lafayette cigar factory, Indiana Landmarks gives this description: “Built (circa) 1884 for Susannah Falley, wife and business partner of hardware merchant James B. Falley, the home served as a single-family residence for decades before being subdivided into apartments. Though it shows signs of deferred maintenance, the landmark retains handsome details, including limestone door and window surrounds featuring a carved floral motif.”
The Lafayette Diocese hasn’t committed to what’s next. (Attempts to get an update in recent weeks weren’t immediately answered.) But preservationists with the Wabash Valley Trust for Preservation and Indiana Landmarks, among others, have floated a handful of ideas since 2018.
“No news,” Sean Lutes, with the Wabash Valley Trust, said. “The bishop has been given several generous solutions but has not taken any of them up. It is entirely up to him. The city, the neighbors and preservation oriented folks have offered to buy, swap, etc. the property"
For the rest of the Indiana Landmarks list, check here.
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