On Monday, August 31st, several Fishers neighborhoods saw a large bus traveling through their subdivisions.  Most people living in these areas likely asked, what in the world is a large bus doing traveling through our residential streets?

Here is the answer.  A number of officials went on a bus tour of some areas in the city preparing for a new Fishers comprehensive plan.  Fishers, having been a town until 2015,  has never had a comprehensive plan.

The tour began at Cottingham Estates, a community approved in 1973 when Noblesville had legal jurisdiction for planning and zoning for that area.  The bus then traveled to Sunblest, approved in 1977.  The next stop was the Bristols, approved in 2001.  The Brooks Chase Planned Unit Development (PUD) area, also approved in 2001, was visited by the group.  Saxony, a subidivision approved in 2003, was the next destination for the bus tour. The bus ride ended with Silverton (2011), Gray Eagle (1995) and Hamilton Proper (1993).

The city’s Assistant Director of Planning, Rachel Johnson, provided commentary as the group rolled through the various neighborhoods.  For example, she pointed out that Cottingham, an early development, has no sidewalks.  Other subdivisions had various situations dealing with density and other amenities.

Mayor Scott Fadness reminded the group that all those involved in writing the comprehensive plan will need to consider what rules the city should lay out for future residential developments.

The mayor is heading up the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, which will oversee the various smaller committees tasked with writing various parts of the overall plan document.

The Hamilton County Council recently made a decision on the proposed public safety training facility.

You can read my Current in Fishers commentary at this link.

August 29th was a comfortable Saturday night in Fishers.  There were a few sprinkles of rain but nothing to spoil the energy of the crowd on hand to see Heartlight at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater.

The show Heartlight is the brainchild of local artist Ashton Wolf.  He found plenty of other people around Fishers with acting and musical talent, willing to volunteer time to put together an outstanding production.  Heartlight is as entertaining a show as you will find anywhere.  I haven’t been a theater critic for a long time, but this show gets a solid thumbs up from me.  If Ashton and his crew ever put this show on again, I would highly recommend you go see it.

While watching Heartlight, I also watched the large crowd assembled to see the show.  We have plenty of people in Fishers with theatrical talent.  We have people showing up to see productions like Heartlight and Ashton Wolf’s production at the Amphitheater last year of Beehive, a show dedicated to pop hits of the 1960’s from female artists.  With lots of talented people here, and lots of interest from people wanting to watch artistic productions, is it time for Fishers to take all this to the next level?

It is my view that Fishers, a city that will soon cross the population threshold of 90,000 people, is at a major crossroads.  Will the arts be an ingredient of Fishers’ future?

The Nickel Plate Amphitheater is a wonderful venue, but its design is basically for musical acts.  To put on a show like Heartlight or Beehive, the producers need to be very creative to find a way to get the stage to fit the production.

Is it time for Fishers to get an indoor facility to handle plays and musicals?  OK, let me be clear at the outset.  I am in no way in favor of building a version of Carmel’s Palladium in Fishers.  We could build a very different place that could have a number of other uses, such as a conference center.

I honestly do not know if there is sufficient interest to get a project like this off the ground. It would need financial support from the private sector and/or foundations.   The city could play a role in supporting such an effort, but I wouldn’t necessarily be in favor of the city building such a structure with taxpayer funds.

Is there enough interest, money and volunteer energy to make something like this happen?  I know there are people in Fishers already at work on this idea.

It is my view that a city that is willing to support the arts will draw tangible economic benefits from that investment.  We in Fishers need to study how supporting the arts can make this an even better community in which to live.

Would it make a difference if Fishers had an indoor venue to produce musicals like Beehive and Heartlight?  I think so.  Let’s see what happens next.

There will be no letup in the road construction schedule in Fishers for the work week starting Monday, August 31st.

The Fall Creek Bridge over Geist has been added this week with some lane restrictions.

See the list below provided by the City of Fishers….

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Fall Creek Bridge

Beginning the week of August 31st, there will be lane restrictions between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the Fall Creek Bridge over Geist Reservoir for crack sealing.

Lantern and Commercial Intersection

On August 29th, Commercial Drive will be closed for the weekend to allow for placement of storm pipes. Commercial Drive will reopen by 7 a.m. on Monday, August 31st. Continuing the week of August 31st, lane shifts and restrictions will be in place as construction progresses. Lantern Road will be closed between North Street and Commercial Drive. During this time traffic on Commercial Drive will reduce to one lane each direction in the west bound lane. This will remain in effect until mid-September.

Windermere 

Continuing through the week of August 31st, temporary lane restrictions should be expected along Windward Pass and Stillwater Court.

106th Street

106th Street will be closed to thru traffic on or after September 2nd between Allisonville and Hague Road.  The road is scheduled to be closed until the September 23rd for force main work.

131st Street 

Shoulder work and striping will be in progress the week of August 31st along Parkside and Cumberland Road. Please drive with caution when traveling through the area.

If you missed celebrating your pet on National Dog Day August 26th (or even if you did celebrate it) you have another opportunity September 19th in Fishers.  The Nickel Plate District, behind City Hall, will host the Dog Day Afternoon featuring Woofstock from 2:00-7:00pm.

Admissions is $5 per person.  Those 10 and under, pets and military service men and women (with a photo I.D.) are free.  All proceeds go to the Hamilton County Humane Society.  There will be plenty of food, entertainment and activities for all.  The event features the annual Parade of Paws and many educational booths..

When Scott Fadness assumed his post as the first mayor of Fishers this year, one of the issues at the top of his priority list was to deal with mental health issues.  As his Mental Health Task Force moves closer to a set of actions to be taken, the mayor reminded the group at the August 27th meeting why their work is so important.

In the last 2 weeks, the mayor said 5-7 people attempted suicide in Fishers, with about half those cases involving juveniles. The task force is working on how to intervene at an early stage and prevent suicides and other issues arising from the lack of mental health services.

The group is made up, in part, of city officials, city public safety leaders, local school representatives private foundations and private sector health providers.   The members of this panel have been putting their heads together with regular meetings throughout 2015.

The task force reviewed the many recommendations for action contained in their preliminary findings.  Fishers residents should expect to see an announcement of the recommended actions by the task force in 4-6 weeks.

Bringing such a large and diverse group of people from throughout the Fishers community is quite an accomplishment for Mayor Fadness.  He clearly believes directly addressing mental health in Fishers will make this a better community for all of us.  Let’s see what the final document recommends and what actions are taken as a result of this effort.

In a unanimous vote, a joint session of the Fall Creek Township and Fishers Boards of Zoning Appeals voted to deny a zoning variance requested by Geist Nursery, located in the area of the Windermere neighborhood, 9890 Mollenkopf Road. The business asked the boards to allow events on their grounds, such as weddings and other special events.

Both boards were required to vote on the zoning variance request because part of the Geist Nursery grounds are contained within the city of Fishers and the rest of the land is located in Fall Creek Township outside the city limits.

Out of 19 people speaking at the public hearing, 14 opposed the variance.  The most common concerns centered around noise late at night during the events and added traffic.

Fishers Police have one man under arrest and are searching for another in connection with a robbery at Chase Bank in Fishers near 116th Street & Alisonville Road, just before 1:00pm on Monday, August 24th.  Mark T. Williams, 27, of Indianapolis, is in the Hamilton County Jail facing felony robbery charges.  Police are searching for a second suspect. Here’s a description of that suspect from the Fishers Police Department News Release:

“Witnesses described the second suspect as a black male in his late teens or early twenties. The suspect appears to be approximately 5’8” tall with a medium build. During the robbery the suspect wore a yellow traffic vest, blue athletic shorts, tennis shoes, and a St. Louis Blues (NHL) ball cap.”

Chase Bank workers told police a suspect slipped a note to a teller demanding money. The teller provided the cash, and the suspect left the building and entered on what the employee described as a silver Dodge passenger car.

Police later saw what appeared to be the getaway vehicle, tried to stop it, but the driver of the car would not comply.   The vehicle crashed near 62nd and Binford Boulevard. Two men ran from the vehicle.  Williams was apprehended.  The second man got away.

No one was injured.

Anyone with information regarding the second suspect or any part of this robbery is asked to contact Fishers Police Detective David Finn at 317-595-3300.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Members heard some shocking news about a dramatic shortage of substitute teachers, at the August 24th meeting.  The board was told local schools could use about 100 additional substitute teachers.

The qualifications required to substitute teach may be lower than you think.  Most can qualify with 30 hours of college credit.  That’s roughly equivalent to one year of a full time college student course load.

If you have any interest in becoming a substitute teacher, HSE Schools would like to hear from you.  You can get started by using this link to begin the application process.

Most subs are paid $65 a day.

Imagine raising $1 million for a charitable group over ten years.  Imagine that records have only been kept 10 years, so the total is likely much higher.  Then imagine all this money has been raised at the elementary school level.

All the above has been true in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School system elementary buildings.  Parents in those schools have been raising money for the American Heart Association.

Parents from the following schools were recognized during the August 24th HSE School Board session, for raising these total amounts of money for the Heart Association:

Harrison Parkway Elementary School: $312,078

Fall Creek Elementary School: $187,795

Geist Elementary School: $180,383

New Britton Elementary School: $102,153

Thorpe Creek Elementary School: $91,460