by 

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

A group called Save the Nickel Plate Road has officially filed as a Political Action Committee (PAC) for the May 8 Republican primary election. The purpose is to elect five slated candidates pledged to work toward saving the Nickel Plate Railroad through Hamilton County. Save the Nickel Plate has a public rally scheduled for April 12 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Mill Top Conference Center, 802 Mulberry St. in Noblesville. The event is open to the public for refreshments and music.

During the program the organization’s endorsed candidates will be introduced. They are: Brad Beaver, candidate for State Representative; Matt Milam, for County Commissioner; Fred Glynn and Mark Hall for County Council and Brian Baehl for Fall Creek Township Board. There is no admission charge, but donations of $20 will be accepted. Officers of the PAC are Joshua Spencer, chairman, and Mike Bowen, treasurer. They filed their organization forms on March 9.

The community debate over the future of the rail line has been ongoing for about a year. Current plans determined by city and county officials include converting the railroad to a pedestrian and bike greenway south from Noblesville to 96th Street, and maintaining the tracks north of the city for excursion train travel planned by the County Tourism Bureau.

Slating candidates for elective office has a controversial history in Hamilton County, and has had mixed results on Election Day. Back in the late 1960s an organization was formed with the intent to changing the composition of the Board of County Commissioners. It was successful except that the winners betrayed the slate organizers after election thus causing great controversy.

Then in the 1980s the Republican Party organization tried slating. It was the first and only time the party tried to influence the outcome in the primary election. The attempt failed, and has not be tried since.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County will break ground on an expansion of its current jail at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 10. The first phase of the $13.5 million project will add 120 beds, but some are fearful that may not be enough.

“We’re bursting at the seams,” says Hamilton County Sheriff Mark Bowen. “The jail was built 25 years ago to hold 296 inmates. We’re currently pushing 400 inmates. I would expect that situation to get worse before it gets better.”

A change in state law back in 2016 added to the County’s woes. House Bill 1006 requires lower-level felons to serve their terms in county jails rather than state prisons.

“We’ve tried everything,” County Commissioner Steve Dillinger admits. “We even moved the female inmates from the jail pod to the Juvenile Facility. That’s what has allowed us to get by up until now, but we’ve run out of options and need to make more room.”

The initial phase of the jail expansion will feature 11 cell pods with 84 prefabricated steel cells consisting of two- and four-man cells. The expansion will also include an interior recreation area, classroom and medical support area. A second phase of the project could add an additional 136 beds. County Commissioners are hopeful that part of the expansion can still be completed this year, but are waiting for additional funds.

“Public safety is a top priority, so we want to be sure we do this right,” says Mark Heirbrandt, president of the County Commissioners. “It would make great sense to knock both these projects out at the same time if we can.”

Construction should be complete in April 2019.

If you have been motoring along Allisonville Road the past few weeks, you have seen construction along that roadway and there will be more coming.

A trail beginning at Conner Prairie and heading south is nearly finished, according the The City Of Fishers Assistant Director of Engineering Hatem Mekky.  The rain and unseasonable weather have not set the project back.

There will be a small gap in the trail’s connection to 131st Street, allowing for future construction in that area.  The gap will be filled once the overall construction is complete

However, there is more to come along that heavily-traveled street.

A planned widening of Allisonville Road was to have been under construction in 2019, but with other road projects planned (particularly the State Road 37 construction expected to begin in earnest in 2019) the Allisonville Road widening plans have been moved up, and are projected to be complete by the end of 2018 (assuming no major construction delays).  This will include improvements at the 131st and 126th Streets.

The Allisonville Road construction project should be bid in May, with construction starting in mid-summer.

“During the construction, there should be traffic maintained along Allisonville Road,” said Mekky.  “(Expect) some limited closures, or some closures on 126th and 131st just to get those tie-ins and elevation differences going in.  You will not have 126th and 131st (streets) closed at the same time.”

The tree removal project underway the past few weeks along Allisonville Road is to make way for the intersection improvements and lane expansion.

The trail along Allisonville Road is part of a plan to connect Conner Prairie with downtown Fishers.

“It will be really great for our residents to be able to just take their bike and ride safely to Conner Prairie, to visit their exhibits or go to Symphony on the Prairie,” Fishers City Director of Public Relations Ashley Elrod said.  “I think it’s an exciting connection point..”

That trail connection from downtown Fishers to Conner Prairie should be available by the end of summer this year.

The trail connecting Conner Prairie and downtown Fishers was originally named the Nickel Plate Trail, but will be renamed.    The planned trail along the Nickel Plate Rail Line is expected to receive the moniker of Nickel Plate Trail.  That trail plan is awaiting a decision by the Federal Surface Transportation Board.

You can keep up-to-date on traffic in Fishers by visiting the Drive Fishers section of the city Web site at this link.  If you are a Twitter user, you can get updates regularly by following @DriveFishers

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Big things are about to be announced that could transform downtown Noblesville into a more attractive and accessible city center with long-awaited parking, housing and other amenities. Results of various studies and proposals will be revealed in coming days which, if implemented, would place the downtown area on equal footing with various other communities that ring Indianapolis.

City community relations director Robert Herrington said that on April 10 a plan devised by consultants to change the appearance of streets around the Courthouse Square will be presented in a 5 p.m. public meeting at City Hall.

Context, Inc. has drawn up a proposal that would change angle parking to parallel parking, create bike lanes and wider sidewalks. This plan by Context consultants also recognizes the need for additional parking before their streetscape plans can be implemented. Comments at the meeting from the public will be sought.

The Downtown Planning Committee, on which merchants and city officials are represented, has reviewed the plan. The committee has access to $500,000 which comes from trash pick-up fees now charged to city property owners.

Proposing to meet the parking need, several private real estate developers have shown interest in building one or more multi-use complexes that would include commercial space, apartments and public parking in a multi-level structure. Such development would be located either south of the Square between 8th and 9th streets, west of the Square on the so-called Armory lot, or at a site near 6th and Conner streets.

City officials have not identified these developers. But, it is known that some of their plans are similar to the type of mixed use developments built in downtown Carmel and other cities around the country.

In the meantime, the Noblesville Parking Task Force is proposing improvements to existing municipal parking lots where aging meters, landscaping and pavement are said to need updating. For this improvement, some of the $500,000 may be available.

At nearly the same time as all this, there are plans to reveal the use of the former Nickel Plate railroad right-of-way between Pleasant Street and the downtown area for a walking and bike trail that will eventually link the city center with the Midland Trail, an east-west pedestrian and bike greenway now under construction.

The Nickel Plate will continue to be an active rail line north of downtown where an excursion train is expected to be running by this summer, according to County Tourism Director Brenda Myers. The train will take passengers to Atlanta and back which officials hope will add to the popularity of Noblesville’s downtown as a tourist destination. Add to this a soon to be announced a “marketing plan” for downtown, and the public can expect a much different downtown assuming the Noblesville city administration approves and can coordinate the various proposals.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County Commissioners on Tuesday conducted an emergency meeting with the primary topic being the recently passed controversial sign ordinance.

During the meeting, Commissioners Altman and Heirbrandt voted to repeal the ordinance passed in February that prompted county council candidate Rick Sharp to file a lawsuit.

Sharp and his attorney, Timothy Stoesz, allege the ordinance violated Sharp’s First Amendment right to free political speech.

Immediately following the vote, the commissioners then put in place a new ordinance that more clearly defines a county right-of-way, information on how the public can obtain specific right-of-way information, outlines how sign owners can retrieve signs collected from rights-of-way and provides an appeal process.

County Attorney Mike Howard explained that any person seeking information about a right-of-way may call the Hamilton County Highway Department at 317-773-7770 or email county.highway@hamiltoncounty.in.gov. The ordinance states requests must specifically identify the location of the right-of-way by street location.

Commissioner Christine Altman indicated rights-of-way are also available on the county’s website GIS mapping service.

The new ordinance now identifies a county-owned right-of-way as:

• The area between a Hamilton County street and the furthest edge of a public trail or sidewalk.
• The edge from the Hamilton County street to above-ground utility poles or other utility structures, which are installed parallel to the Hamilton County street.

The ordinance indicates a sign owner or their designee may retrieve signs removed by the county by paying a $5 fee for each sign six square feet or less or $25 for each sign larger than six square feet. According to commissioners the fee offsets the cost of removing signs in violation of the ordinance.

“These changes really help address what could have been valid citizen concerns,” says Mark Heirbrandt, president of the Hamilton County Commissioners. “It can be difficult to know exactly where County right-of-ways begin and end. These clarifications should help citizens better navigate this new law.”

The ordinance also eliminates penalties for the improper placement of signs.

Last week, Hamilton County Superior Court 3 Judge William Hughes conducted a hearing on Sharp’s complaint. Hughes is expected to announce a ruling as early as today.

Sharp told the Reporter he is concerned by the county’s actions. “It’s obvious they [the commissioners] want to get this in play before the election. I just don’t understand why they would be so eager to stifle free speech.”

Patrons of the Hamilton East Library in Fishers will once again be able to use the main entrance, starting Friday, April 6th.  The building has been recovering from damage caused by the bursting of a sprinkler pipe in January.

In the past few weeks, those using the library have been entering through the east entrance near the main meeting rooms, and only a small part of the building could be accessed.

According to an announcement released by the library on Tuesday, here are the changes you will see as of Friday:

• The front doors will be re-opened.

• Access to the Adult Services section, which will allow for the following:

• Eight (8) public computers with printing capability
• Scanner services to email & USB
• Copy machine services
• Browsing for:

• Fiction

• Non-fiction

• Large Print

• Audio books

• Graphic novels

• Paperbacks

• Music CDs

• DVDs

• All new materials

• Youth Services collections, services, and programs, including Teen Programs (see below) will continue.

• Previously reserved meeting rooms–please use the East Entrance and parking lot to more easily access these rooms.

• Holds, checkouts, and card services will continue to be available primarily in the Youth Services section.

• Vending machine services will resume.

There will continue to be restrictions even as of April 6th.  Here is how the library officials describe those restrictions:

• All private study rooms outside of the Youth Services section remain unavailable for the duration of the construction.
• Fishers Teen materials and space will be offline during this construction phase.
• Teen materials will be limited to items from the Noblesville location and retrievable using our holds process.
• Access and use of the lower level of the Fishers Library will remain closed for the duration.

See the map above, provided by the library, for more details.

The library expressed its appreciation  for the patience Fishers residents have shown during this difficult period.  If you have any feedback or suggestions, direct them to Beth Meyer at 317-579-0311 or at meyerb@hepl.lib.in.us

The Kroger Company issued a news release Friday with both good and bad news for Fishers.  First, the bad news.

Kroger will not be building a new store across the street at Allisonville Road and 116th Street as originally planned.

The good news is that the Cincinnati-based grocer plans a multi-million upgrade to the current store in that area.

In the release, the company is clear that the new store at 116th & Allisonville will not be constructed.

“The decision to remodel at 7272 Fishers Crossing Drive ends the discussion of building a new store across the street,” the Kroger release said.

Kroger does cite the fact that the corporation has invested $42 million in building and expansion in its stores around Fishers.

It should be noted that when Amazon announced it was buying the grocery chain Whole Foods in 2017, Kroger stock took a hit in market trading.  There is no way of knowing whether that had an impact on this decision, but note the following passage from the Kroger news release:

“In today’s business climate, refreshing the present building is the most logical decision and will still allow Kroger to provide even better service to our customers.”

Kroger announced no timeline or other details on the remodeling of the Fishers store.

With this announcement, that leaves open the question of what will happen to the demolished building site just across Allisonville Road, where the new Kroger was to be built.  I asked the City of Fishers for comment on how the Kroger decision may impact their economic development planning for that area, and received the following response:

“The City will continue to identify ways to reinvigorate that intersection and the west side of Fishers to ensure all areas of the city are vibrant and sustainable.”