Lienhoop says a whole bunch of people need to get vaccinated and another mask mandate would be difficult to enforce. He's also motivated to help refugees start a new life in America, and is supportive of Amtrak service through Columbus.
On this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop addresses these issues and more on a Zoom conference call. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: We know as far as vaccinations, half of the state has yet to take it. COVID rates around the state as high since January. Same with hospitalizations. What's the update there in Columbus, Bartholomew County?
Lienhoop: Well, what needs to happen next is a whole bunch of people need to get vaccinated. I don't think that we want to soft pedal that notion at all. You know, I keep track or I get reported to me the inpatient data at Columbus Regional Health related to COVID. But July 25 we had four, August 1 a week later it was eight, a week after that it was 18, then 22. On August 22, it was 29. And on August 29, a couple days ago, it was 28. This virus isn't going away.
If you're vaccinated or not, you will find yourself at Disney World, or a Colts game, or at a big box retail store where you're in rather close proximity with others, a virus is going to be blown around. I mean, it's going to be out there. And if you don't have the vaccine, if you don't have the protection that the vaccine affords, well, you'll get sick. And when you do, if you've not been vaccinated, your symptoms will be a lot worse. And they may be fatal, you just don't know.
READ MORE: 133 COVID-19 Hospitalizations In District 8 Thursday – Highest Since Jan. 9
But but one of the worries that we have is whether or not the healthcare system gets overwhelmed. And I think the numbers that I've shared with you earlier, make it a little easier to see that we can fill up and then the hospital can can reach its capacity.
Hren: Any thoughts about further restrictions, mask mandates to try and get those levels down?
Lienhoop: Mask mandates is difficult to enforce. We've got one here at the city of Columbus, we expect all visitors, I mean, if I've stepped outside those doors, behind me where my phone is, I need to put my mask on. And we continue to conduct our public meetings, virtually. And so, we'll continue to try to emphasize the necessity of masking and vaccinations. And hopefully people will get the message.
Hren: Camp Atterbury will be accepting Afghan refugees. For those that don't know, Columbus is not that far - first, your your thoughts on that, and any details on how that will unfold?
Lienhoop: As I understand it, these people who are coming have been friends of the United States, they have been helpful to us in our endeavors over there. And I believe that if they stay, they are at risk. So I'm somewhat motivated to try to help them enter the United States and start a new life.
These people will need services, they will need to be fed, they will need to be attended to medically, they'll probably need some kind of counseling. And so we've been told that the government will be bringing their own health care personnel. So we will not should not see an additional stress on the health care systems in Johnson or Bartholomew counties.
READ MORE: Indiana Prepares For 5,000 Afghan Evacuees At Camp Atterbury
If they have a VISA to enter the United States, they will stay for 14 days long enough for the medical quarantine to expire, and then there'll be free to move about the country. Which is what they could have done if they did this on a commercial airline, in the regular course of business. We have already had employers from some of the industry here in Columbus contact us, just making us aware that if there's an opportunity, they would like to talk to these immigrants to see whether or not they could be candidates for a job at one of the factories here. Our unemployment situation is such that we've got a number of open positions in factories all around Columbus.
Hren: I think it was about a week ago Amtrak looking to re-establish service between Louisville and Indianapolis. It's a route they used to service, but they talked about the stops in Jeffersonville and Columbus. Would the city support this?
Lienhoop: I think we would be supportive. I look at a map of the United States and it'll have on it the Amtrak lines, and they'll be in black or blue, and then there'll be green lines for proposed routes. And sure enough, we're a green line on the map.
READ MORE: Amtrak Unveils Plan For Extended Service In Indiana
We used to have a rail station downtown, it's been gone - oh golly, 50s or 60s. We would be asked to assist in the construction of a new rail station. I think we'd be interested in that. But we have to think a little bit about the location. One place that would set up really nice is at Mill Race center. We've got a bus station there, but we've also got crossings at 8th Street and 11th Street, and it's hard for me to imagine a train that would stop at the train station there and not block both of those streets.
So we may move them a little further south to Melrose Park. We may find another place somewhere else. But we've just got to wait to see whether or not the funding comes through for the train? And if so, how long do we think that funding is going to be there?
Hren: In the past city stops have paid Amtrak a monthly fee for service to help fund it. I think at one point West Lafayette was paying around $7,000 a month, would Columbus pay help pay for it?
Lienhoop: Nobody said anything about paying, I mean, that never came up when they was asking for whether or not we would be supportive. You know, the notion that there's some money in this for them, that didn't come up, but it would all be based upon use and ridership. If there would be a way for us to recover the fee by some kind of a fee that we charge travelers, it's hard to say, we'll just have to wait to see what the proposal actually looks like.
READ MORE: Third Exhibit Columbus Explores Future Of The Middle City
Hren: The Commons playground is overdue - any update on completed renovations?
Lienhoop: The commons playground is subject to some delays. We've put a new flooring, new covering in there, and we're having a little problem getting some of it adhered to the sub floor. Is there a timeline? Six months ago? We continue to be a little frustrated. We've ordered the parts. They're on their way. When they get here, they'll get installed. But yeah, it's taken a lot longer than we had hoped. And we're still hopeful it's finished by the end of September. But we can't guarantee anything.
Hren: We did get an email from Art. And he wants to know about the old Holiday Inn that was demolished more than a year or two ago. There's a big hill of rubble right at the entrance to town, and it's an eyesore. So he wants to know if there are any plans for development of that site or cleaning up of the rubble.
Lienhoop: That site is owned by Columbus Regional Health. And they have plans. In fact, I'm going to have a meeting this afternoon to talk to their developer and hear what they have to say. I will tell Art and anybody else that Columbus Regional got a permit from the state of Indiana to do what they're doing, basically, that pile of rubble that you see is some concrete that had been I-65, the partial portion of the pavement between State Road 46 and want to say State Road 11. That portion of the interstate was recently rebuilt. And so the old concrete is what you see there in the pile. And it's piled there waiting for development of the site. I agree that it is frustrating. I agree that it is unsightly. But I can tell you that they are taking the appropriate steps to get it taken care of.
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