There has been another natural gas line break in Fishers tied to MetroNet.  The latest was this morning near Prairie Fox Drive and Mollenkopf Road.  As a result, the City of Fishers has issued a city-wide no dig order to MetroNet for new installations.

MetroNet, an Internet Service Provider, has been digging in the Fishers area, installing fiber optic cables underground.  The firm had been ordered to stop digging in Fishers earlier this week, but was allowed to dig again following a promise to use different methods and equipment.

Any Fishers residents suspecting a gas leak or line break should call 911.

In a news release, the City of Fishers listed action taken on the MetroNet situation once notified of the Thursday morning gas line rupture:

·         Fishers Fire Department was dispatched to secure the scene, conduct voluntary evacuations, and mitigate the hazard.

·         Fishers Departments of Engineering and Permitting were dispatched to the scene. All utility permits issued to Metronet have been placed on hold until further notice.

·         City of Fishers held a call with leadership at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to voice the City’s complaints toward the safety of Metronet’s operations. The IURC Pipeline Safety Division has opened an investigation toward Metronet.

·         All new utility work by Metronet is on hold until IURC’s investigation is complete, with the exception of planned repairs.

·         Upon completion of the safety investigation, the City of Fishers and IURC will review the findings and will work with Vectren (gas utility) and Metronet to determine if Metronet will be allowed to proceed with future utility work.

Indiana State University Professor Steve Gruenert has spoken before many school boards and provided information on school corporation climate surveys.  He had some very good news for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night.

“I’ve done a lot of research over the years and I’m in the company of what I believe to be the schools with the best, highest scores that I’ve ever worked with,” Dr. Gruenert said.  “My challenge now is, how do you make the best better?”

The professor studied the school culture and climate of the HSE Schools in the final months of the 2016-2017 school year, including the impact of the climate on staff collaboration.  Gruenert said the research shows a clear connection between a school’s culture and the level of student achievement – the better the culture, the better students will achieve.

The study was based on a survey of the school staff.  A 30% return rate on those surveys is normal, which would provide enough data to compile a report.  HSE Schools staff returned surveys at a rate of 70%-80%.

The level of collaboration is so high Dr, Gruenert recommends professional development should be done in-house.

“You seem to have a family here,” Dr. Gruenert told board members.

You can read the climate survey report submitted to the board at this link.

In other school board news from Wednesday night’s meeting:

–Fishers High School had a power outage a good part Monday morning, according to Superintendent Allen Bourff.  School officials have been in contact with Duke Energy but no cause for the outage is known at this time.

–The 2017 President’s Champion Award will be given to Robert (Dub) and Jeanne Clark. Robert was a student of Fishers High School from 1937-1941. Jeanne served as treasurer for Hamilton Southeastern Schools from 1977-1988 and subsequently on the Board of Trustees from 1990-1998. The award will be officially presented to the couple at the Mudsock Football Game September 8th.

–The board approved a lease agreement which provides a legal framework for the school corporation to incur debt, allowing construction plans for the new elementary school on Cyntheanne Road to move forward.

— Board members received a demonstration of the new Canvas software system.

–Final action was taken approving child abuse and neglect reporting policies to incorporate changes in state law.

–The board honored members of the Hamilton Southeastern High School Boys and Girls Track Team, who won several coveted top finishes during the spring competition season.

2017 IHSAA State Champion Pole Vault — Kennedy Drish

As a sophomore last season Kennedy joined the track team for the first time. She only began pole vaulting in February and was not even varsity until May 1. Despite this, she was able to win the state meet with a vault of 12’ 0” in June after her family rescheduled their vacation.

Event Coach: Collin Gayde

2017 IHSAA State Champion 400 Relay — Olivia Burgess (9), Tierra Sydnor (10), Mia Mackenzie (11), Camille Christopher (11); Alternates – Jada Edson (11), Jessica Bray (11), Amani Dickenson (9), Sydney Thixton (9)

The 400 relay team had only won 2 races during the 2017 season and had come in second to Fishers for 3 weeks straight before pulling out the victory with perfect handoffs at the state track meet. Only 8 hundredths of a second separated 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in one of the most thrilling races of the night. The alternates were a big part of this victory as they practiced each day and gave the relay members someone to chase.  They also ran on the relay during the season as other members battled injury.

Event Coach: Jennifer Hill

Head Coach: Julie Alano

2017 IHSAA State Champion 1600 meters – Gabe Fendel

Gabe Fendel, a senior, had an impressive season. Among his accolades, Gabe is the Hoosier Cross Roads Sectional Champion in the 1600 and 3200. Regional Champion in the 1600. Undefeated in both the 1600 and 3200 during indoor and outdoor track seasons.

He set a state junior-class record this spring, running the nation’s fastest 3200 time by a junior this year, became No. 5 on the all-time state list and No. 5 on the year’s U.S. high school list.

Event Coach: Joe Golden

Head Coach: Chris Swisher

The ban on MetroNet construction in Fishers was lifted at 1:30pm Tuesday.  The Internet service provider has been digging around Fishers installing fiber optic lines.

Fishers City Councilman John Weingardt told fellow council members at a Monday evening work session that MetroNet had been ordered to halt work around Fishers after several cases of rupturing natural gas lines around his subdivision.

State Senator Jim Merritt became involved.  He represents Fall Creek Township in Fishers and chairs the State Senate committee on utilities.  Natural gas utility Vectren was also involved in resolving the issue, since the gas lines belong to the company.

“Metronet has agreed to begin utilizing a new, safer method for digging in dry conditions, known as hydro-excavation,” according to a statement from the City of Fishers. “This method is expected to prevent gas line damage. It will create some noise as the machine involves water pressure and a vacuum, with the noise level similar to a large lawn mower. As such, Metronet will be limited in the hours of permissible excavation from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.”

Selina Stoller talks about a number of issues before the council, including the sports complex, upgrades planned for the downtown Amphitheater and the possibility of economic development in the area of 116th Street and Allisonville Road.

City Councilman John Weingardt told the Fishers City Council Monday evening he lost patience with MetroNet over hitting gas lines and the city has shut down its construction project in Fishers.  MetroNet is an Internet Service Provider and has been laying underground fiber optic lines throughout the city of Fishers in recent months.

“MetroNet has been in my subdivision in the last few days and have hit gas lines on three or four different occasions,” said Weingardt.  “We’ve shut ’em down.”

The company has been instructed to come up with a better method to bury its fiber optic lines.

When you hear the sales pitch from the developers of the proposed Saxony Sports Complex, there are a few messages that come through crystal clear.

First, the bonds to fund the project are going through the Fishers Economic Development Commission and the City Council only to allow part of the bond issue to contain tax exempt bonds, which are easier to market to institutional investors, but the city will not be backing these bonds in any way.  The complex will be owned and operated by a nonprofit organization.

Second, there will be no Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for this sports complex.  The development will be located in a TIF District. but there is no TIF, only the issuance of Revenue Bonds.

Third, since nonprofit organizations are not required to pay property taxes under state law, the owners of this project have committed to pay Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), which is a way for nonprofits to pay the equivalent of property taxes.

This is a complex expected to cost $70 million to construct, with a ceiling of $75 million that can be borrowed.  The nonprofit running the undertaking will use any funds over expenses to support amateur sports.

Those backing the project claim it will become a center for regional, national and even international sporting events.

The City Council passed a resolution moving forward, with Council President David George voting no, saying he is still concerned about the size of initial payments to the developers as the project gets started.  But George did vote to suspend the rules and approved the bonds financing the complex.  Both measures passed, allowing the plans to move forward.

Developers say the bonds should be sold within 30-45 days, with construction starting as early as fall of this year.

Here are some numbers about the complex itself…..

On the first floor:
–a 265,482 square foot turf field house, which includes six (6) turf fields and a
separate 17,600 square foot turf area for baseball training

–a 87,530 square foot hard surface court fieldhouse which includes twelve (12) hard surface courts that can be used for a variety of court sports

–a 32,231 square foot ground floor commons and fitness area

–a 29,225 square foot center support area.

On the second floor:

–a viewing area concourse

–a walking/jogging track

–family lounge —

–offices

–on-site parking containing approximately six hundred
(600) parking spaces to accommodate the Fieldhouse (jointly, the “Project”)

Motorists traveling north on Hoosier Road find the road ends at 126th Street “T” intersection.  Those same drivers find it difficult to turn right, and almost impossible to make a left turn onto 126th.

City Councilman John Weingardt asked that an item be added to the Monday night Fishers City Council session directing the city’s staff to begin the process of installing a traffic signal at the intersection.  Weingardt said there is money in the 2017 city budget to fund this stop light.

Mayor Scott Fadness told council members he will begin the bidding process so the council can act on the funding for this traffic signal at next month’s council session.  The mayor hopes to have the signal in place by the end of this year.

Beth Meyer at the Fishers Library knew they had something big on their hands when phone calls flooded their phone lines asking about the eclipse event at the downtown Fishers Amphitheater during the morning hours before the afternoon eclipse.  The crowd on hand exceeded any forecasts as the city and library partnered for a community gathering.

Fishers Parks Department Director Tony Elliott estimated the downtown crowd at 2,500.  The library offered the special viewing glasses for $1 each, but ran out around 1pm.  But people were sharing their glasses all over the municipal complex.

The Hamilton Southeastern Schools took this opportunity to make the eclipse in science classes throughout the district,

The City of Fishers is once again offering local students a chance to get some hands-on experience in connecting with the community where they live.  The Mayor’s Youth Council is offering this opportunity to students in the Hamilton Southeastern School corporation.

Beginning on Thursday, September 21 from 9 to 11 a.m., the program rotates at locations throughout Fishers and into surrounding communities. This year, Mayor Fadness has challenged participating students to build a policy position that details how Fishers Parks & Recreation can launch and incorporate adaptive programming in its repertoire of services offered to the community. Monthly activities will take place during the school day, but students should expect to spend time outside of school hours working on projects or activities.

Parental permission is required for students to be approved into the program. As a member of the Mayor’s Youth Council, students will utilize public speaking, critical thinking, STEM, budgeting, creativity, athleticism, leadership and many social studies/civic skills. The program was developed in partnership with Fishers High School, HSE High School and Hamilton Southeastern Schools to ensure it helps support and enhance classroom curriculum. Students can learn more at this link or contact program coordinator Dan Domsic at his e-mail address – domsicd@fishers.us.in – or by phone at (317) 595-3151.

Everyone wants to be safe, and Fishers is having an event aimed solely at making your life safer.  Safety Day is returning to the St. Vincent Fishers Hospital parking lot Saturday, September 9th, 10am-2pm.   This will once again be a free gathering featuring booths with information and free demonstrations.

Local public safety agencies, hospital personnel and even the World Drone organization will be there.

“For over 20 years, the annual Fishers’ Safety Day has served the community by providing free, relevant messaging and experiences in an effort to keep families and visitors protected,” said Fishers Fire & Emergency’s Chief, Steve Orusa, in a city news release. “Our partnership with St. Vincent Fishers has resulted in a safer and healthier Fishers.”

You can find more information about Safety Day at this link.