Larry posts a review of Morgan Freeman’s TV series The Story of God

The new Braden Business Systems Building, to be constructed in the Fishers Municipal complex, will be a 12 month project and should be completed around June of 2017.  That’s the word from Brandon Dickinson, Fishers Economic Development Director, in comments before the Fishers Redevelopment Commission.

The commission unanimously approved the master lease with Braden at a Friday midday meeting.

Dickinson said the city, through the Redevelopment Commission, will be leasing the second floor of the Braden structure and possibly some residual space on the first floor. There has been “significant interest” expressed by companies wishing to locate in the available Braden space, according to Dickinson.

The city has been successful in the past in leasing space in the downtown area to technology corporations.

Dickinson told LarryInFishers the type of firms looking into locating at the Braden space are companies like CloudOne and Bluebridge Digital, basically high-tech operations.

The rent for the second-floor available space will be $22.75 per square foot annually, including full service.  Dickinson described the rent cost as “pretty good terms,” for both the potential tenancts and the city.

The completed building will consist of four stories and will be a $7 million investment.  It will be located near city hall, with the Switch Building on one side and the city court on the other side.  The space is currently a parking lot.

Larry reviews a film all about the Oval Office meeting between then-President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley

The planned Exit 210 Double Crossover Diamond Interchange configuration

Have you ever heard of a Double Crossover Diamond Interchange configuration, also known as a Diverging Diamond Interchange?  That’s what is coming to I-69’s Exit 210. There is one in the Greenwood area of I-65, and one on I-69 at Dupont Road in Fort Wayne.

This is a different interchange setup than one is accustomed to seeing, but INDOT officials say this is the best interchange design for the Exit 210 interchange reconstruction.  The work is scheduled to begin just after July 4th, 2016, and should be completed just before Independence Day, 2017.

INDOT officials and contractors provided an update Thursday evening at the Hamilton Southeastern High School cafeteria.

INDOT is also planning to conduct a rehabilitation project needed for the Brook School Bridge over I-69 in Fishers.  This will be done after school is out in late May or June of 2017. The bridge will be closed during the work, with 136th Street, Promise Road and 126th Street to be the detour route.

INDOT will also begin work on adding a traffic lane each direction on I-69 between State Road 37 and north to State Road 38 in Pendleton.

Below is information from an INDOT news release about work on I-69:

Milestone Contractors plans to begin work to patch and resurface existing pavement as early as next week.  Weather permitting, overnight (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) single-lane closures will begin on or after Tuesday, April 26 on northbound and southbound I-69 between Exit 205 and Exit 210.  Two lanes will remain open during peak daytime travel times.

The speed limit on I-69 through the work zone will be reduced to 60 mph and further reduced to 50 mph when workers are present.

After existing pavement is resurfaced, crews will begin work to rehabilitate existing interstate bridges.  Beginning in June, traffic lanes between Exit 205 and Exit 210 will be shifted away from the median to set temporary concrete barrier wall and begin construction of the added travel lane.  

Only a handful of people were on hand, but the conversation was lively as Hamilton Southeastern School officials made their case and answered questions about the May 3rd tax referendum.  The ballot measure is asking for 12.75 cents more per $100 of assessed property tax valuations beginning in 2017.

The event was held Wednesday evening at the Delaware Township Community Building.

One lady questioned why the school system was pushing staff raises when she has no children in the school system any longer and had no increase in her Social Security benefits this year.  Administrators said school staff have forgone raises for years, with many years of no pay raises at all, and the referendum is an effort to catch up and be more competitive with neighboring school corporations in attracting and retaining staff members.

Another person in attendance said he supports the referendum, but is involved in marching band parent organizations in the HSE Schools and is getting “roughed up” about the referendum by some band parents.  HSE School CFO Mike Reuter pointed out that there has been a considerable investment in band facilities in recent years.

There will be another opportunity for the public to ask questions about the school referendum on Tuesday, April 26th, also at the Delaware Township community building.

Jeff Hern’s campaign manager Debbie Driskell sent an e-mail Wednesday afternoon to his supporters saying the Hamilton County Council candidate is in a “tough situation” and will not comment on an ongoing investigation into allegations of campaign sign theft.

According to Driskell, Hern “respects the decision of the prosecutor’s office to look into this matter and will continue to cooperate fully.”  Driskell’s message goes on to say that Hern will not be commenting on the matter personally at this time “due to the ongoing nature of the inquiry.”

An opposing candidate for an at-large council seat, Rick McKinney, reported to sheriff’s authorities that a cell phone belonging to Fall Creek Township Trustee Hern was found near the site of a location in Fishers where McKinney says his campaign signs were taken. Hern has been interviewed by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department about the incident and the prosecutor’s office is reportedly reviewing the matter.

Hern and McKinney are 2 of 5 candidates in the council race.  The three candidates receiving the most votes in the May 3rd Republican primary election will appear on the general election ballot in November.  No Democrats have filed to run for the council seats.

The Nickel Plate District in downtown Fishers now has its lineup of musical acts in place for the 2016 summer season.  Here’s the list, from the City of Fishers:

Tuesday Night Concert

Jun. 7 – My Yellow Rickshaw

Jun. 14 – The Innocent Band

Jun. 21 – The Bishops

Jun. 28 – DUDE!

Jul. 5 – Endless Summer Band

Jul. 12 – Parrots of the Caribbean Jul. 19 – Dave and Rae

AMP After Dark Fridays 9 – 11 p.m.

Jun. 3 – Woomblies Rock Orchestra

Jun. 10 – Bad Brad and the Slipsey Slims

Jun. 17 – Sounds of Summer: Beach Boys Tribute

Jul. 8 – Souled Out

Jul. 15 – Jennie DeVoe

Jul. 22 – Dogs of Society: A tribute to the music of Elton John

Jul. 29 – Rodney Stepp and Steppin Out

Aug. 5 – Torn Aug. 12 – The Reno Connection

Aug. 19 – Carrie Newcomer Aug. 26 – Jon Banard

Specialty Shows 

May 14 – 80’s at the AMP from 6 to 10 p.m.

Jun. 4 – Jamestown Revival – 7:30 p.m.

Jul. 9 – The Wild Feathers – 7:30 p.m.

Larry talked with Sam Elliott, the editor for the local weekly print publication Current in Fishers.

The many coffee drinkers looking forward to a new Starbucks at 116th and Olio Road will have to wait a little longer.  The Fishers City Council delayed a final decision because a traffic signal would likely to required along 116th Street with the Starbucks added to that area south and west of the intersection, near the Walgreen Drug Store.

There was a lot of discussion among the developer, members of the council and Mayor Scott Fadness.  Council members expressed concern about how to pay for the traffic signal.  The developer says he cannot foot the entire bill for the signal.  Also, Kroger has committed to paying for a signal on either Olio Road or 116th Street as part of their expansion project.  Olio is a county road and 116th is within the city’s jurisdiction.

City officials will continue to work with the developer to find a solution to the added traffic a Starbucks would create in that commercial area.  Council members approved 2nd reading for the proposal…the text amendment is not final until approved at 3rd reading.

In another issue of commercial development….

City officials told the council Top Golf will not  be located near 126th Street and Cumberland Road, behind Fresh Market, as originally planned.  The development will now be located along I-69, just north of 116th Street.  You can see a map of the location at this link.  For more background on TopGolf, use this link.  The fee waiver offer from the city of roughly $666,000 remains in place.  Fishers Economic Development Director Brandon Dickinson says the amendment to the impact fee agreement approved by the council will allow the project to move forward.

In one other item from the April 18th session, council members took the first step to increase the park impact fee for single family homes newly constructed from $1,070 per property to $1,667.  This would be the first park impact fee increase in Fishers in the past 10 years.  If all goes as planned, the new impact fee would likely take effect in 2017.

Overnight travel along I-69 in the Fishers area will be a little more difficult in coming days.  The reason?  the construction leading to a new interchange at 106th Street.

See the details below in a news release from the Indiana Department of Transportation.

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