by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

John D. Proffitt, longtime Hamilton County attorney, was awarded the prestigious title of Legendary Lawyer by the Indiana State Bar Foundation at the organization’s banquet Thursday. Proffitt also received a Sagamore of the Wabash for his nearly 60 years of service in the legal profession. Formerly a partner in the Noblesville law firm of Campbell, Kyle and Proffitt, he is now associated with the firm of Altman, Poindexter and Wyatt. Proffitt and his wife, former Circuit Court Judge Judy Proffitt, reside in Carmel.

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The four announced candidates for county sheriff in next May’s Republican primary election vowed Thursday to make new and effective efforts to fight Hamilton County’s dangerous opioid drug crisis if elected. Bill Clifford, Eddie Moore, Mitch Russell and Jason Sloderbeck each spoke briefly to a crowd of more than 200 at the Carmel Clay GOP Club’s annual Pork Roast. Also attending were Congresswoman Susan Brooks and newly elected State Sen. Victoria Spartz.

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Enrollment in Hamilton County’s public schools has reached 60,000 this school year, up from 58,600 last year. Hamilton Southeastern is the largest with well over 20,000 students. Sheridan is the smallest with around 1,100. (Figures do not include private schools Guerin Catholic or University High School.) In 1970, when the county’s total population was 55,000, school enrollment was about 14,000. Many school officials say enrollment will soon “level off,” but obviously not yet.

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County Commissioners have changed their next two meeting dates. There will be no meeting Sept. 25. Commissioners will meet Oct. 2. An Oct. 9 meeting has been called off. They will convene again on Oct. 23.

Greg Sorvig of the Heartland Film Festival is the guest, Adam talks about his trip to Italy and a film he saw on the plane.  Larry does reviews the 2016 film Hidden Figures.

POSTED BY: RICHIE HALL

POSTED BY: RICHIE HALL

Fishers Police are searching for a suspect in an overnight robbery at the Circle K convenience store on Allisonville Road, just north of 96th Street.

The store clerk tells police the man entered the store, showed a knife and demanded cartons of cigarettes.  He then exited the premises.  No one was hurt.

The suspect remains at large, but the store security camera system supplied pictures of the suspect.  The person being sought is described as a black male, 30-40 years old, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, white shoes, and a gray/black hat.

If you have any information on this incident, call Detective/Sergeant David Flynn at 317-595-3334.

Fishers Police say the shooting Thursday evening near 131st Street and State Road 37 does not appear to be random, based on information detectives have found so far.  A police department news release says the victim of the shooting was 18 years of age and is from Fishers.  The name of the victim has not been released.

A 911 call was received just after 7pm Thursday about a man shot.  Officer found the shooting victim behind a business.  The victim was rushed to an area hospital where he remains Friday evening.

A witness told detectives a suspect may have escaped the area of the shooting in a blue passenger car.

Fishers Police say this is an active investigation and ask for the public’s help for information.  Contact Detective/Sergeant David Flynn at 317-595-3334.

If you do not believe housing is at a crisis level in southern Hamilton County, consider the following facts:

–In order to afford a market rate apartment in Fishers, you will need to make $20-$30 an hour (that translates to $41,600 to $62,400 income per year).

–The unemployment rate in Hamilton County is 2.8%.

–The retail and hospitality industries account for nearly 14% of the private sector work force in this area.

–Over 1,000 new jobs are coming to the area of Fishers around 116th Street and Interstate 69.

–Fishers job growth is projected to be 11.6% by 2021.

–There are no mass transit systems operating between Hamilton County and Indianapolis.

Put all these facts together and you find that a large number of the people needed to fill jobs coming to Fishers cannot afford to live in Fishers.

That was a major theme of the Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development (HAND) organization during its annual conference, held Friday at Conner Prairie.   Low income housing is not always for those in poverty without work…low income housing is needed for those with steady work, but have incomes too low to live in market rate housing available in places like Fishers and a large part of Hamilton County.

RealAmerica LLC is a Fishers-based firm aimed at developing and constructing apartment housing through the use of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.  Ronda Shrewsbury Weybright, President and Owner of RealAmerica, told the crowd on hand for the conference about the many successful low-income housing projects her company has constructed in places like Daleville, suburban Fort Wayne and Nashville (Indiana).

Building low-income housing in suburban areas was the center of the discussion for much of the event.  There was talk about how to convince neighbors that facts show low-income housing does not normally reduce property values in the area and does not draw crime to the vicinity of the complex.

Other speakers at the HAND conference included Peter Nelson from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, and Lisa Sturtevant with the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing.

For those of you using 116th street during the middle of the work day, starting Monday, there will be lane closures on parts of the roadway off-and-on from the City Hall area east to Brooks School Road.  Also beware of some work along some stretches of 126th Street.

Below is the full list of road work for the work week beginning Monday, September 25th.

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116TH STREET   

Beginning on Monday, September 25 (weather permitting), one lane of westbound 116th Street will be closed between Municipal Drive and Fishers Pointe Boulevard for utility work.

Lane restrictions will be in place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in each direction of 116th Street west of Brooks School Road as crews complete median work in front of Simply Dental. Work is expected to be complete by the end of the week. Signage and flaggers will be present during the restrictions.
Periodic lane restrictions will occur on 116th Street east of Allisonville Road as the contractor repairs concrete curbs and ramps and begins resurfacing work on the roadway. Restrictions will be in place between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Please note that overnight work will occur while traffic volumes are reduced. The City greatly appreciates residents’ patience with construction noise.

126TH STREET   

Possible lane restrictions may occur on 126th Street near Parkside Drive while utility work is completed.

Periodic lane restrictions will occur between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on 126th Street between Allisonville Road and Lantern Road as crews complete a passing blister. Flaggers will be present during the restrictions.

I-69   

Improvements are currently underway to rehabilitate existing bridges, pavement and drainage structures along the 15-mile stretch of interstate. Two lanes of traffic in each direction of I-69 are currently shifted to accommodate construction of the additional travel lanes. Signs direct large trucks to use the left lane while traffic is shifted toward the right shoulder through the work zone. The speed limit is reduced to 60 mph and further reduced to 50 mph when workers are present.

I-69 is expected to open to three lanes in each direction between State Road 37 and State Road 38 before the end of this year. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT at eastcentralin@indot.in.gov or 1-855-463-6848.

STATE ROAD 37   

Geotechnical drilling began along the State Road 37 corridor in May as part of the final design phase of State Road 37 Improvement Project. Lane and shoulder restrictions will be active through September 30. The geotechnical drilling will cause lane restrictions on SR 37 at the 126th Street intersection on or after August 7 and are anticipated to last until September 30. Southbound restrictions begin after 9 a.m. daily and northbound restrictions will be completed daily before 4 p.m. to allow for maximum traffic flow during peak rush hours. Crews will maintain a minimum of one through-lane at all times.

The SR37 improvement project is a $124 million joint project between Fishers, Hamilton County, Noblesville and INDOT. Questions or concerns may be directed todrivefishers@fishers.in.us.

OUTSIDE OF FISHERS   

On or after Monday, August 21, Hamilton County Highway Department will close Cyntheanne Road between 146th Street and 156th Street until December 1, 2017 to replace the bridge over Keiser Drain. Please contact Hamilton County Highway Department at 317-773-7770 with any questions.

Fortunately, shootings are rare in Fishers, but there is a man, 21, in critical condition following a shooting behind the Which-Wich sandwich shop Thursday evening.  Police are looking for a suspect in the case.

The 911 call was placed after 7pm.  One witness told police a blue car was seen leaving the area after the shooting.

Officials are working to find out why Fishers received $600,000 less in County Option Income Tax (COIT) money than had originally been projected.  Mike Reuter has done the income projections for Fishers local government over a number of years.  His projections are usually very accurate.

But during this budget cycle, Reuter’s estimate was off by about $600,000, meaning the city’s distribution of COIT money from the state will be less than projected.  That resulted in a city council committee recommending a reduction in the support nonprofit organizations will receive from the City of Fishers during 2018, in order to bring next year’s spending plan into balance with a small surplus.

During the budget process, the Fishers City Council Finance Committee learned that even though Fishers and Carmel have similar population numbers, Carmel is expected to receive millions more in their COIT distribution from the state compared to Fishers.

Now Fishers is trying to determine how this happened.

“Mike Reuter…because he doesn’t do Carmel’s (budget) work, he has to reconstruct all of Carmel’s financial models to figure out what it is they did to be able to get so much income tax revenue,” Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told a City Council work session Monday.

In a work session meeting with State Representative Todd Huston in October of 2016, the mayor and city councilors raised the issue of how Carmel collects so much more money from COIT distributions than Fishers.  Huston promised to look into it.  In a podcast with LarryInFishers in December of 2016, Huston told me changing the COIT formula is “candidly, not an easy lift” in the General Assembly.