The new Yard culinary development, now with a residential component, is starting to get construction underway, but an old issues are coming back on drive-through windows.

A coffee shop proposed for The Yard says it needs a drive-through in order to locate there but the city has taken control over those issues in that area of the city.  Any drive-through must be approved by the Fishers City Council.

The council voted Monday night to allow the coffee shop drive-through, with one no vote from Councilman Brad DeReamer.   Council member Rich Block abstained from that vote due to potential conflicts of interest with his private sector work.

The council also approved an economic incentive package for Flexware, a company already located in Fishers, to build a new headquarters building on the north west end of the municipal complex, behind the Amphitheater.  Councilman DeReamer questioned why the tax abatement is front-loaded with the largest part of the incentive in the early years.  DeReamer voted no on the economic development package, and Council Members Pete Peterson and John Weingardt abstained from voting due to possible conflicts of interest tied to their private sector work.

Council members also approved an economic development package for Thyssenkrupp, an industrial firm that plans to create a number of high-paying positions in Fishers.

At the public comment period at the end of the meeting, former Fishers Town Council Member Mike Colby expressed concern about the bad conditions on privately owned streets near commercial areas in the neighborhoods close to 116th Street and Allisonville Road.  Mayor Scott Fadness replied that the legal issues surrounding this issue are complex and the city is working on holding the private parties responsible for maintaining those streets.  The mayor added that he would not allow private roads in such commercial areas again, instead keeping those roads under the city’s jurisdiction.  Fadness described the situation as a “sin of the past.”