Fishers has taken the first step toward increasing stormwater fees, following action Monday by the Board of Public Works and Safety.  The board voted to send the recommended fee hike to the Fishers City Council Finance Committee.  The full council could give final approval to the increase in September.

Rick Farnham, Director of Water Quality, an operation within the Fishers Department of Public Works, told the board that as a result of a  study by Policy Analytics, he is recommending a stormwater fee increase on residential customers of $1.71 per month.  Since most Stormwater Utility residential users are billed annually, they would see an increase of $15.40 in their yearly payment.

According to Fanham, if the city takes no action, the stormwater utility will be operating at a financial deficit in 2019.

Commercial users will see their rates increase between $3,000 and $63,000 a year, based on the size of their operations.  Farnham told the board the Hamilton Southeastern Schools will  be impacted by this increase.

Farnham told LarryInFishers that this is the first increase in the local stormwater fee in the last ten years.  Although this proposed residential fee increase is 35%, if you look at this on an annual basis, the increase comes out to about 3%-4% per year over the past ten years.

The fee increase proposal’s next stop is the City Council Finance Committee.  That panel will vote on a recommendation that will go before the full council for 1st reading at this month’s council session.  2nd reading would be scheduled for August, which would set-up the fee increase to receive a final vote in September, as part of the annual city budget process.

The Fresh Market located near 116th Street and Cumberland Road in Fishers is closing, according to a story posted on the Indianapolis Business Journal Web site, written by reporter Susan Orr.  The grocery chain is closing 15 stores nation-wide, and the Fishers grocery is one of the them.  The Fresh Market locations in Carmel and Broad Ripple will stay open.

For more details, use this link.

As we begin a work week following the week of July 4th, I hope all Fishers residents had a safe and enjoyable holiday period.  Now that we are back to the normal grind, I have a very simple but important request to make of people around our fair city that operate motor vehicles.

I have lived in Fishers for 27 years, so I have lived through major growth spurts.  When I moved here in 1991, the previous year’s census figure put the population within the Town of Fishers at about 7,500.  The year 2000 census lists the then-town’s resident count at 37,835, an increase over that ten-year period of almost 404%.   In 2010, the Census Bureau counted 76,794 souls in Fishers.  According to the City of Fishers, the city’s population as of July, 2017 was 91,832.

The bottom line is this….Fishers has been undergoing  steady growth, with some spurts in the local population.  As a result of all this growth, Fishers has done its best to grow the city’s infrastructure to keep up with the massive increase in residents.

One aspect of this is road construction.  Fishers and the surrounding area have often struggled to keep the road and street network up-to-date with the population growth.  So as a long-time citizen of Fishers, I have experienced more than my share of navigating through construction zones and busy detour routes.

Until I retired nearly seven years ago, I commuted, often in the middle of all that construction, to and from downtown Indianapolis.  It was important to constantly remind myself of a virtue I worked hard to instill in my daughters – patience!

It takes longer to get from one place to another when there is construction in place.  Motorists have an important responsibility to observe the lowered speed limits in construction zones and be on the alert for construction workers as they perform their often-dangerous jobs.

I have noticed something this spring and summer I have not seen in Fishers, at least at the scale I am seeing it now.  It appears a number of drivers in our community do not know the purpose of the yellow (some call it amber) traffic signal.  We all know green means we can safely drive through the intersection.  But I am seeing way too many motorists not observing the yellow light, sometime not even observing the red light.

The purpose of the yellow light on a traffic signal is to clear the intersection as the light prepares to turn red.  If you get too aggressive and move into the intersection after the traffic signal shows yellow, there’s a good chance your vehicle will be in the intersection when the signal facing you is red, and that is a clear traffic violation.

Many of us are in a hurry. Maybe we are late for work, late for the kids sports contest or we are just in too much of a rush to get wherever we are going,  I have a message for you…aggressive driving through a traffic-signal controlled intersection can cause you even more delay if there is a collision, and worst case, could injure you and others.

I am not being critical of my neighbors in Fishers.  I am just asking us all to take a deep breath and ask ourselves why so many of us are being so aggressive in our driving habits.

I hate to give you more bad news, but much more road construction is on tap for the next few years, including the rebuild of State Road 37 in Fishers.  Now is the time to think long and hard about how we drive.

I seen many careful and respectful drivers in Fishers, and to all of you I say thank you.  I am not excluding myself in the category of drivers sometimes behaving in a too-aggressive manner.  I am writing this piece to remind myself to do the right thing when behind the wheel.

So, my message to all my fellow Fishers residents is this – before you put the vehicle in drive or hit the clutch on a manual transmission, take a deep breath, and make a promise to yourself you will operate your car in a safe and respectful manner.  I plan to start doing that.  I hope you do too.

This week, Adam & I review the latest Marvel comics film offering, Ant-Man And The Wasp.  Our guests this week are from the Indianapolis Israeli Film Festival, set for July 15-19, Aaron Welcher and Marla Topiol.

What would Conner say . . .

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Should the historic Hamilton County Courthouse be given over to provide a home for non-profit community service organizations? It’s a proposal, perhaps a trial balloon, being floated by some county officials.

With next year’s expansion of the County Government and Judicial Center, the idea is to move offices of the county auditor, treasurer, assessor and recorder from the old courthouse to the judicial center. This would get all county government under one roof, making it easier for the public to get from one needed service to another, according to those who favor the move.

The courthouse might then be used for community service groups. It could possibly accommodate offices for six or eight organizations. Some of these groups such as Prevail, Senior Citizens or Meals on Wheels, currently in scattered locations, might like the idea. Other non-profits such as Janus, Red Cross and HAND have their own sizable facilities and probably would not be interested.

For those who might not favor the move of county offices, there is the fact that in the 1990s county government spent several million dollars restoring the courthouse and making arrangements for specific office needs in certain locations in the building. To provide access to the judicial center, a tunnel was built connecting the old and new structures.

And, there is this to consider: the Courthouse property was given to the county in 1823 by William Conner with the provision that it be used for the seat of county government. While officials might be able to claim that maintaining ownership of the site meets Conner’s intent, certainly the spirit of the original donation would be in question if all county offices left the building.

Most of Indiana’s older courthouses are still in use for county offices and courts. Others, including the Vanderburgh County Courthouse at Evansville is preserved and used as an event center where business meetings, weddings and ballroom dances are held. It is operated by the Old Courthouse Preservation Society. At Crown Point, the former Lake County Courthouse is a county museum with shops in the lower level.

It appears a debate on the future of our courthouse may arise in the coming year. It’s one of those local issues that is worth keeping an eye on. And, the public should not be timid about expressing opinions because the courthouse belongs to all the people of Hamilton County.

The road construction list in and around Fishers grows each week, as we are in the middle of the construction season.  Below is the complete list of road projects for the work week starting Monday, July 9th:

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113TH & FLORIDA ROAD 

Beginning on or after July 16, the intersection of 113th Street and Florida Road will close for approximately 90 days for the realignment and construction of a new roundabout at the intersection. See the Detour Map.

136TH STREET

On or after Tuesday, July 10, 136th Street will be opened between Southeastern Parkway and Prairie Baptist Road.  Southeastern Parkway will be closed from 136th Street to Isle of Man Way (Avalon subdivision) for approximately 30 days to complete a roundabout. Traffic will detour up Prairie Baptist Road to 136th Street. See the Detour Map.

141ST STREET   

Beginning July 2, there will be lane restrictions along 141st Street between Allisonville Road and SR37 for resurfacing work. Flaggers will be in place to direct traffic.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD

Allisonville Road construction is in full swing. Traffic has been shifted to the east to allow for widening on the west side. Restrictions may be in place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and flaggers will be on site directing traffic, as necessary. Through September, all southbound left turns from Allisonville Road onto 126th Street will be prohibited.

This will be an active construction site with reduced speed limits. For more info on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

116TH STREET & BROOKS SCHOOL ROAD

There will be lane restrictions on 116th Street and Brooks School Road this week for resurface work on both streets.

131ST STREET   

The intersection of 131st and Cumberland Road is currently closed for 45 days to construct a new roundabout. See the Detour Map.

Expect lane restrictions, weather permitting, along 131st Street between Allisonville Road and Lantern Road for the construction of the Conner Trail from Conner Prairie to the Municipal Complex. Lane restrictions will also take place on Lantern Road between 131st Street and Municipal Drive.

NICKEL PLATE DISTRICT 

For the Tuesday evening concert on Central Green, Municipal Drive in front of City Hall will be closed for stage construction beginning at noon. Also beginning at noon, North Street and Municipal Drive will become a right turn only, and Fishers Center Drive and Municipal Drive will become a left turn only. Beginning at 5 p.m., there will be road closures on Municipal Drive at 116th Street, on Municipal Drive at Fishers Center Drive (vehicles will still be able to turn left), and on Municipal Drive at North Street (vehicles will still be able to turn right). Roads will reopen at midnight. Street parking on Municipal Drive will be restricted from 2 p.m. until midnight. Guests can access the event from Fishers Center Drive, Municipal Drive (north), and North Street. Parking is available at The Switch garage, accessed from North Street.

The Board of Works recently passed an ordinance for no parking in the Nickel Plate District between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. See the Parking Restrictions Map for more information.

BROOKS SCHOOL ROAD  

Brooks School Road will be closed for 30 days beginning on or after July 5, south of 116th Street between Desert Glen Drive and Club Point Drive. The detour route is Hoosier Road and Fall Creek Road. View the Detour Map.

Brooks School Road is closed between 126th Street and 136th Street to build a sidewalk to the east side of the bridge over I-69. Detours via 136th Street, Promise Road, and 126th Street to get around the closure. The road will reopen in early August. Questions can be directed here.

106TH STREET   

106th Street is closed to through traffic from Eller Road to Allisonville Road and from Allisonville Road to Hague Road for the 106th Street Infrastructure Project. Closures for through traffic will also take place from Hague Road to the Crosspoint Boulevard/Lantern Road roundabout. For more info on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

I-69   

As part of a $92 million design-build contract, Milestone has added a third lane in each direction to the median, repaired and resurfaced existing pavement, and rehabilitated bridges and drainage structures on 15 miles of I-69 in Hamilton and Madison counties. Construction of an additional auxiliary lane between the 116th Street entrance ramp to I-69 South and the I-69 South Exit 204 ramp to 106th Street will continue through next spring.

I-69 South will be temporarily reduced to two lanes to allow space for the State Road 37 and 116th Street entrance ramps to safely merge while construction continues on the southbound auxiliary lane between the 116th Street and 106th Street ramps.

Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT via email or at 1-855-463-6848.

STATE ROAD 37

A public meeting was held on Tuesday, May 15 at the Delaware Township Trustee Office. The meeting presentation and updated information is available on the project’s new website. The State Road 37 improvement project is a $124 million joint project between Fishers, Hamilton County, Noblesville, and INDOT. Questions or concerns may be directed to SR37@rqaw.com. 

OUTSIDE OF FISHERS   

The City of Carmel has closed 116th Street between Towne Road and Ditch Road, and between Clay Center Road and Spring Mill Road, until August 8.

An 18-year-old male and 17-year-old juvenile are under arrest after a reported home invasion and physical altercation at a Fishers home on Adirondack Court, near 116th Street and Brooks School Road.

Jerron  D. Bond, 18, from Fishers, faces a felony count of Residential Entry and is being held in the Hamilton County Jail.  A juvenile girl, 17, from McCordsville, is facing  a felony charge of Residential Entry and a misdemeanor count of Battery.  She is in the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center.

Police responded to a report of a home invasion July 3rd, and found the resident and her juvenile daughter with minor injuries, which police say were from a physical altercation with the suspects.

The homeowner told police someone was banging on the door, the resident told people standing on her property to leave, but a fight ensued.  The suspects left when the homeowner called police.  The daughter provided authorities with names of most suspects involved.

Officers say they have most of the suspects, but are still asking for help from anyone with information about this incident.  Contact Detective David Finn at 317- 595-3341.

Fishers Police offer the following advice when dealing with a stranger at your door:

• Always keep your doors locked and consider installing a monitored alarm system.
• NEVER open your door to a stranger or anyone you are not expecting.
• From behind the closed/locked door loudly announce your presence inside the home.
• Announce you are calling 911.
• Call 911 and get to a safe place inside your home. If someone is inside your home, get out!
• If possible provide the Dispatcher with a description of the stranger and direction of travel.
• Wait for police to arrive

This is summer and sequels abound.  One of those sequels involved Ant-Man…here is my review:

Many consider Friday the 13th an unlucky day, but Fishers is hoping that day will bring them luck as they plan to stage the very first concert at the renovated Nickel Plate Amphitheater that night.

During a podcast recording session July 5th, Fishers Parks and Recreation Department Director Tony Elliot said his staff looks to host that first show at the remodeled venue, featuring Jennie Devoe, at 9pm, July 13th, as part of the Amp After Dark series.  The concert is also timed to coincide with the annual Nickel Plate Arts Crawl, which will run 6-9pm, with Nickel Plate District businesses hosting artists during that time.

Elliot did say the area to the south, between the new pavilion, named The Cube by city officials, and  City Hall, will continue to be under construction into the month of August.  But the area closest to the stage is expected to be ready by July 13th.

With construction, plans are always subject to change, but Elliot said the July 13th date “is what we’re shooting for.”

On another subject, I asked Tony Elliot to assess how the first Spark!Fishers Festival went last Saturday.

“I think, overall, Spark!Fishers was a phenomenal success.  I think it was a great, great first year event.”

Elliot said the city did its best to honor many traditions of the Fishers Freedom Festival, “but with kind of a fresh twist looking toward the future.”

The city staff is already looking at what to tweak and improve for next year’s summer festival, according to Elliot.  He said the city pays careful attention to feedback and encourages those with comments about the Spark!Fishers to contact the city with those suggestions.

You can listen to the entire podcast about the Fishers Arts Crawl at this link.

The annual Fishers Arts Crawl is a event organized by the city and puts artists together with local businesses to showcase artistic endeavors.  It talked with Laura Musall, Tony Alliot and Tracy Gritt about this year’s event.