RealAmerica is a local Fishers business that develops low-income housing projects in many Indiana locales, but has never developed such a project in Fishers.  That may change if the firm is successful in getting state and federal approval for the credits needed to construct such an apartment complex in Fishers.

The Fishers City Council, acting on an agenda item added at the very last minute, passed a resolution Monday night establishing incentives in a project agreement with RealAmerica to construct a 70-unit apartment development on Lantern Road and Appel Drive, near I-69 and 116th Street.

RealAmerica would be investing $14 million in this plan.  The incentive package would have the city waive up to $100,000 in fees over a 30-month period.  Waivers would include impact fees, Improvement location fees, building permit fees, and other such fees.

This development, if approved by state and federal officials, would serve residents within 60% of the geographic area’s median income.  City officials argue residents in this development will help fill local work force needs in Fishers

After months of discussion and debate, the Fishers City Council passed a cycling ordinance, with the minimum amount of support.  The measure passed on a 5-3 vote (Councilman Eric Moeller was absent).  Council members Selina Stoller, Pete Peterson and John Weingardt voted no.  The yes votes were Brad DeReamer, Todd Zimmerman, David George, Rich Block and Cecilia Coble.

The main provision of the new ordinance will provide a 3-foot “halo” around a bicyclist in an effort to keep the cyclists safe when encountering vehicles on the road.

At the end of the meeting, the council allows anyone to give a 3-minute comment, and several proponents of the cycling ordinance expressed their thanks to the council members voting yes Monday night on the cycling measure.

To read the entire ordinance passed by the council Monday night, use this link.

A proposed hike in Fishers storm water fees is headed to the full City Council after the council’s Finance Committee passed the proposal with a positive recommendation Wednesday night.  The Board of Public Works and Safety also voted a positive recommendation for this fee increase July 9th.  If enacted, most residential customers would see a $1.71 increase in their monthly storm water charge.  Since residents are billed annually for this fee, homeowners would see an increase of $20.52 in their yearly billing.

Many commercial users would see much larger increases, with the Hamilton Southeastern Schools facing an annual increase of roughly $63,000 per year under this proposal.

Mayor Scott Fadness told the committee that the Board of Works has held sessions with Rick Farnham, Director of Water Quality for the city’s Department of Public Works, and his staff, about policy decisions related to how any fee recommendation must be planned.

For example, Fadness said one policy decision was whether the city should be responsible for all retention ponds, which would be an expensive proposition financially.  The decision was made to have city staff work with Homeowners Associations and educate them on how to conduct preventive maintenance, avoiding expensive work on their ponds.

“I’m fully supportive of Rick (Farnham) and his team’s recommendations moving forward,” Fadness told the Finance Committee.  This issue will be considered with the city’s 2019 budget proposal.

Farnham told the committee this fee increase will allow his department to begin work on a long list of capital projects, totaling $8.3 million, including work to prevent flooding along 106th Street when the city experiences heavy rain events.

The local storm water utility has been working on the same rate structure for ten years, going back to when the storm water district was first established, according to Farnham.  The mayor said the city cannot handle the storm water financial needs through growth in the city.

Without this rate increase, the operation will be in a structural financial deficit beginning next year.  The city would need to pick up the slack from its budget, and services would likely be cut.

Saturday morning was Biz Kidz Day at the Fishers Farmers Market in the city’s Nickel Plate District.  Over 40 booths staffed with younsters ages 5 through 17 were selling and people were on hand to buy.

Here are a few pictures I snapped while enjoying the event.

Continue reading Biz Kidz Day Is A Hit At Fishers Farmers Market →

Things are not too exciting at this time in the summer movie-going season, but  Adam & I review the latest film starring Christopher Plummer, Boundaries.  Out guest is James Moriarty, with the Carmel Film Forum.

Hamilton County Reporter

By JENNY DREASLER

WISH-TV

Thieves targeted a Hamilton County cemetery, stealing plaques honoring veterans of the five branches of the U.S. military.

Officials with Fall Creek Township said some time over the last week five plaques were stolen from an Eagle Scout veteran’s memorial inside Arnett Cemetery in Fishers, just off 113th Street and Florida Road.

Doug Allman, Fall Creek Township Trustee, said he doesn’t know who could have taken the medallions, or why.

“That’s what kind of amazes me. I don’t know what you do with these things,” said Allman. “We wanted to get the word out there, that if somebody shows up with these things at home, maybe a teen or a youth shows up with these, that the parents recognize that they came from this place.”

The plaques, along with the bench and rock wall, were built by former Hamilton Southeastern student Zach Hughel as part of an Eagle Scout project last year.

Allman said the medals were meant to honor the five branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

“This is a very old cemetery; we have people buried here that served in the Civil War, going back that far. It’s meant to honor those that have fallen,” Allman said.

Allman said he just wants the plaques in their rightful place, so that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice can be honored the way they should.

“Even if they magically appeared back here, that would be great,” explained Allman. “We just want to see them returned and put back up to memorialize these folks. We’d like it made right.”

If you know anything about this, contact police or the Fall Creek Township Office at 317-841-3180.

by

Richie Hall

Hamilton County Reporter

Megan Wiley’s journey to becoming the Hamilton County 4-H Fair Queen could be called “third time lucky,” but luck had nothing to do with it.

Learning, working, and above all confidence led Wiley to being crowned as the Queen at Friday night’s 4-H Fair Queen Pageant, which took place at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds. Wiley was one of 12 queen contestants at the pageant, beginning her reign in front of over 200 spectators.

“It feels amazing,” said Wiley. “I don’t think it’s real. I’m very blessed, though. Very blessed.”

This was the third year in a row that Wiley, a member of the Giddy Up Gang, had competed in the Queen Pageant. In 2016, she was the First Runner-up, but missed the court last year.

“Two years ago I was on court and last year I wasn’t, and it taught me a lot,” said Wiley. “Nothing is ever handed to you and confidence is really key, no matter what you do.”

Queen contestants do a five-minute interview with the judges prior to the Friday night pageant, then during the event compete in professional wear modeling, and in an evening gown competition where they were each asked a question by Master of Ceremonies Adam Good.

Wiley’s question was “What life skills have you learned from 4-H that you think will benefit you the most in the future?” Wiley responded that she learned about “time management, always being confident and never be afraid to fail.”

Wiley, 19, is the daughter of Douglas and Kristi Wiley. She will be a sophomore at Purdue University this coming school year, and is majoring in Agricultural Communications, with a double minor in Crop Science and Farm Management. After graduation, she plans to serve in the Peace Corps. She has completed 10 4-H projects.

“I’ve learned so many life lessons and so many friends have influenced me in my future plans, and it’s all been very beneficial,” said Wiley.

And now she gets to enjoy the 4-H Fair, which starts next Thursday, as the Queen.

“There’s so much to do, there’s so many people to see and so many smiles to be made,” said Wiley.

Ashlyn Robertson of Progressive Farmers is the First Runner-up, while Hailey Rivers of Noblesville H&H is the Second Runner-up. Rivers was also named as Miss Congeniality, which is voted on by the Queen contestants themselves, and she greatly appreciated the honor, saying that it’s nice to know the other contestants look up to her.

“It means a lot, because everybody was just so wonderful this year and I just loved everybody,” said Rivers. This was her first year in the pageant, and it was a great experience for her.

“It was extremely positive. I got a lot of confidence from this and I met a lot of new friends and made wonderful memories.”

Breanna Stewart of Jolly Rogers is the Third Runner-up, while Madeline Teal of Walnut Lassies and Laddies is the Fourth Runner-up.

This year’s Fishers Nickel Plate District Arts Crawl featured a pairing of downtown businesses and area artists.  There were painting, music and more.

The best way to show an arts event is to just show you pictures, so you will see below the photos I capture during the Friday night event.

Continue reading Fishers Arts Crawl 2018 →

Road work continues at a very busy pace throughout the city.  Below is the weekly update, for the work week starting July 16th, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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When you assess the housing situation in Fishers, there are two issues that come up quickly…can the city’s own employees afford to live in the city in which they work, and how can employers attract and keep workers when those prospective employees cannot afford to live in the area where they work?

Those were some of the issues explored in a housing discussion held at Fishers City Hall Friday morning all about housing, sponsored by the local nonprofit housing group HAND.  There were representatives of city government, the private sector, the One Zone Chamber of Commerce and other nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity.

One item revealed during the meeting is that the local Fishers firm RealAmerica Development is in the final stages of receiving approval to construct a low-income apartment development on Lantern Road in Fishers.  Although RealAmerica has its headquarters in Fishers, and has several developments around the state, this will be their first project here in Fishers.

After the meeting, I spoke with Jennifer Miller and Andrea Davis from HAND and Julia Smith from Novogradac about the meetings held around the county so far…