LEAP moratorium extended for a year, community pushback over health officer position

A year after the moratorium was first established to halt the LEAP project, the Tippecanoe County Commissioners voted to extend it Monday morning.

The LEAP pipeline is a proposed water pipeline that would pump millions of gallons of water from the Wabash, according to previous Exponent reporting.

The moratorium will prevent high-volume water exports and radial collector wells until Sept. 3, 2025 on Monday’s Tippecanoe County Commissioners meeting.

The changes are similar to the initial ordinance, according to Attorney Doug Masson, and were made to clarify what had happened in the last few months.

“It is important that the state address the issue,” Commissioner Tom Murtaugh said. “When we passed this the first time, we were hopeful that it would be done in a hot session, and that was not done.”

He also mentioned a change of administration in 2025 and ongoing studies on water exports, which Murtaugh said will be essential to future decisions.

“It is going to be something that maybe we don’t have to deal with immediately, but even if the project, the demand, goes away, water will continue being an issue,” Commissioner Tracy Brown said.

Debates over health officer position

There were only a few open seats at the meeting as concerned community members waited to speak in the public comment section. Although major topics such as the moratorium were on the agenda, most of the discourse was on the position of the incoming health officer.

The discussion regarded the resignation of former Health Officer Dr. Greg Loomis. Loomis cited frustrations with non-medical personnel making medical decisions and conflicts with local leaders as the reason for his resignation in an interview with local media in July.

After Julianne Stout, a physician and president of the Tippecanoe County Board of Health, gave a presentation about the need for a full-time health officer instead of a part-time position, the proposal was thwarted by pushback from the Commissioners.

Murtaugh expressed concern over the financial aspect of the position, which would have a yearly salary of $270,000, recommending that the board reconsider the project down the line.

“I don't see, at this point, that it's financially wise of us to create, basically, a new community clinic when we have two hospital systems out there,” he said. “Our agencies are doing superb jobs providing services in the community, and they lack the resources to expand those services. Now, with the Health First Indiana funds, we have the ability to help them. This kind of goes against that.”

Stout argued that although this wouldn’t be possible without a team that works closely with the health officer, she emphasized that even if the officer’s position were part-time, they would work significantly more hours, which is justified by the high salary.

Brown pointed out the need for a team of people regarding the position.

“After just pondering all weekend, I'm just absolutely convinced that … it's not a one-person job,” he said. “I'm worried about what happens if we wrap all these services up and lay on the doorstep for one person.”

What ended up being the most extended discussion item of the day was concluded with the commissioners all voting in favor of the position remaining part-time, but the conversation did not stop there.

Six community members spoke up about the need for a full-time position in the final agenda.

One of the speakers, Pauline Chen, a former employee of the Health Department and an epidemiologist, pointed out that Tippecanoe County is the only one out of the 10 most populated counties in the state without a full-time health officer.

“We want to grow (as a county), and we need to provide the public health services right to make sure that everybody, including the 50,000 students and the other 180,000 residents that live here, is able to be safe,” Chen said.