There are now two candidates in Hamilton Southeastern School Board, District 4.  Julie Chambers filed her candidacy Monday at the Hamilton County Elections Office in Noblesville.  Brad Banks has already filed his candidacy in District 4.

Ms. Chambers is a former prosecuting attorney with Marion County and now has a private law practice with an office in the Fort Harrison area of Lawrence.

Her main campaign slogan is – “Leadership that will listen.”

Ms. Chambers explained her main campaign issues in an e-mail to me.  She would like to see more accountability and transparency from the board and work on improving communication between the board and the community.

Her other main issues include focusing on teacher recruitment and retention, mental health outreach within the HSE District, and school safety.  She adds that school safety goes hand in hand with the mental health component.

She and her husband, Sean have two daughters.  Emily is 6 and is in 1^st grade at Fall Creek Elementary and Morgan is 4, attending preschool in Fishers. Ms Chambers is in her second year volunteering as Troop Leader for Emily’s Girl Scout Daisy Troop.

“There are a lot of people that take their kids to Riverside Junior High that will be happy to hear this.”

That’s what Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said when the Board of Works and Public Safety passed a change order Monday afternoon, speeding up the construction project along 106th Street.  City staff verified for the mayor that the entire project in that area, sewers and the road work that goes with it, will be complete by the end of November.  Even with the additional money to be spent on that change order and others approved Monday, the entire project will still be completed at less than the budgeted $12 million.  Staff also told the mayor that all road work on Eller Road is complete and now open to traffic.

The board also put its stamp of approval on a professional services agreement between the city and Wiss, Janey, Elstner and Associates to study the physical condition of City Hall and two fire stations.  The firm is to provide the city with a comprehensive report on an estimated cost of repairs and a schedule that identifies what repairs should be made.  This schedule should provide the city with a financial plan for repair needs for these structures over the next five years.  The fire stations involved are #94 on Cumberland Road, just north of 106th street….and station #95, located on 131st Street near Promise Road.  The city expects the report by the end of August so this can be a part of the 2019 budget plan.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board is poised to elect a majority of its members – four – in the November election.  However, as of the close of business Friday, August 10th, only four people have filed their paperwork to run in the election, and no one has filed to run in District 1.

Janet Pritchett has filed to become a board candidate in District 2.  Pritchett  has served as PTO President at Fishers Elementary and Riverside Intermediate. She also served as a board member at Riverside Junior High and Fishers High School, in addition to being involved in the classroom at both Fishers Elementary and New Britton Elementary.

Mrs. Pritchett’s platform includes the following points, according to her campaign Web site:

• Explore alternative testing methods
• Continue to and expand upon our partnership with the City of Fishers and unique learning opportunities. opportunities for students and a possible connection to future employers.
• Use my excellent interpersonal skills to collaborate with all stakeholders in the educational system. I believe it’s important to have input from all sources in order to make decisions.
• I promise to keep an open mind and be accepting of opposing viewpoints.
• Be transparent in decision making (excluding topics that are not legally public) a
• To continue to strive for promoting & encouraging parent engagement at all levels.
• Strive to continue to make HSE an employer of choice and focus on teacher retention.
• Always keep ALL of our 20,000+ students’ best interests at heart, without losing sight of the individual child.

Frank Whelan has already announced his candidacy and filed his paperwork to be a candidate in District 2 as well.  Matt Molter has announced his intention to become a candidate in District 2, but had not officially filed as of August 10th.  If Mr. Molter files for the District 2 seat, there will be at least 3 candidates in that District.

Incumbent Michelle Fullhart has filed for a second term in District 3.  Attorney Brad Banks has filed as a candidate in District 4.

Anyone wishing to run for one of the seats on the HSE School Board has until Friday, August 25th, at noon, to submit the required paperwork.

Seed a map of the board districts at this link

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

One of Hamilton County’s oldest homes will be preserved while surrounding acreage is developed with 237 new homes in a somewhat unusual cooperative effort involving the developer and local historians.

Many times in our rapidly developing county, landmark structures are lost in the tide of new construction. But, in the case of Hull-Brennan house near Keystone Parkway and Smoky Row Road, history and development will both win if current plans succeed.

The house involved started as a pioneer log cabin in 1834. The William Wilkinson family members later added a large two-story brick house to the cabin in 1853.

The property was owned and occupied by members of the Hull and Brennan families for more than 100 years. William Hull died there about three years ago, and Brennan heirs placed the property for sale.

Old Town Companies, headed by Carmel native Justin Moffett, will purchase the 60-acre parcel, assuming re-zoning is granted. Old Town plans 103 single family homes and 134 condominium units, and will save the historic house probably for use as a “community gathering space.”

The re-zone request goes to the Carmel Plan Commission at their September meeting. Members of the Carmel Clay Historical Society, who brought the house to the attention of local officials, have indicated approval of the development plans. The historical society called upon Indiana Landmarks Inc. for assistance in documenting the historic value of the project house.

The new development will be named The Overlook, and three acres of the site will be devoted to the pioneer homestead, which was once part of a 630-acre tract received by William Wilkinson in an 1822 land grant from the federal government.

This week, Adam &I review the latest Tom Cruise film, “Mission Impossible – Fallout”….this week’s guest is Tony Tellez, who plans to begin posting a film podcast in September along with his partner..

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board is getting accustomed to hosting state champions.  In just the past few months, the board has honored the Fishers Baseball Team, HSE High School Lacross squad, and Wednesday night the HSE High School Girls Track Team joined the club of local state champs.

Coach Julie Alano described the rainy night of the state finals, which took hours to complete.  But in the end, the HSE High School girls triumphed with a state crown.

Board members lauded Coach Alano and her team

by

Jeff Jellison

Publisher, Hamilton County Reporter

Law enforcement officials and representatives from Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center aren’t saying what caused the Rascal Flatts concert to end with the band being rushed off stage and the venue being evacuated.

The Reporter has learned there were multiple phone calls, deemed to be credible, indicating an explosive device may have been on site. Sources told The Reporter no one was injured as a direct result of the bomb threat. It is currently unknown if anyone was injured during the evacuation.

A statement issued by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department reads, “As this is an open and active investigation, the Sheriff’s Office has no further details, including the type of safety issue, available for release at this time.”

Ruoff Music Center is located within the City of Noblesville; however, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said, “The Hamilton County Sheriff is responsible for policing and security at events.” Jowitt declined further comment on the incident, saying only, “We are referring people to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s office.”

Concert promotor Live Nation issued the following statement, “Last night [Thursday] a safety concern presented itself during the Rascal Flatts’ concert in Indianapolis. Venue staff and local officials followed standard protocols to ensure the safety of guests, the artist and staff. Law enforcement agencies are investigating the matter.”

On Friday, the band stated, “Due to a security concern at the show last night [Thursday], standard procedures were quickly executed and everyone was able to safely leave the building. The safety of our fans, band and crew is always the top priority for us, so we are so thankful for everyone who jumped into action and for your understanding. We will be back soon!”

Fans in attendance at the 24,000-seat venue turned to social media with questions about why the Rascal Flatts’ concert was cut short and fans forced to leave.

Jordan Bentley tweeted, “Don’t blame @rascalflatts for how their concert ended. They can’t help that a few stupid people threatened the safety of everyone in the venue. I’d rather walk out disappointed that I didn’t hear a couple songs than carried out on a stretcher or in a body bag. Great job RF!”

Caitlyn Conlon tweeted, “Something bad happened at Rascal Flatts tonight. Security guards had us scared. Told us things were not ok.”

Ruoff did reopen Friday evening with the Jeff Beck, Paul Rogers and Ann Wilson performing.

Dr. William Carnes should be a familiar name to people around the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District – he served as interim superintendent after Dr. Brian Smith left to lead the Indiana School Boards Association.  He continued to serve in that post until Allen Bourff reported to work as the new permanent HSE School Superintendent.

Dr. Carnes has taken up a new interim role – Assistant Superintendent, as HSE Schools begin the search to replace Mike Beresford, now serving as the superintendent of schools for the Carmel-Clay District.

As part of his interim responsibilities, Dr Carnes will be overseeing the latest redistricting plan.  With the new Southeastern Elementary set to open in August of 2019, redistricting will be required.

Carnes provided a timeline to the school board at Wednesday night’s meeting.  The process starts with what he describes as “cluster groups” meeting September 10th & 11th.  The process ends with school board approval of the new boundaries on December 12th.

Here are the steps in this timeline, as presented before board members by Dr. Carnes:

September 10th & 11th:

Cluster boundary committees will meet at each of the four intermediate schools.  5-8 representatives from each elementary school will gather for these sessions and will look at strategies to begin the process.

September 26th & 27th:

Five focus groups, each representing different sections of the local community, will meet.  Each will review the work produced by the cluster committees

October 24th & 25th:  

Each meeting  begins at 6pm…October 24th at Fishers High School and October 25th at Hamilton Southeastern High School.  Those attending will be assigned to a group working on possible redistricted boundary lines.  For those unable to attend, an online questionnaire  will be made available through 8am, November 2nd.

November 6th:

School District staff will meet to review all the input up to that point and submit a final draft recommendation to the school board.

November 20th:

The school board will convene a work session to review the work that has been done, and prepare a final redistricting recommendation.

November 28th:

Superintendent Allen Bourff will publicly present the school administration’s recommended redistricting plan to the school board.

December 12th:

The school board will vote on the redistricting plan.

Dr. Bourff said Wednesday night that board members need to communicate parameters to the cluster committees before they begin meeting September 10th

As Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness reviewed his 2019 budget proposal before the City Council Finance Committee Wednesday night, he projects a 5.5 cent increase in the city’s property tax rate.  He told the council panel that this would fund debt on two fronts – paying for the Nickel Plate Trail construction and financing renovation projects for the city’s fire stations in need of the work.

The mayor said a lot of the property tax rate increase is tied to the fire stations.

“We’ve built-in a pretty aggressive financial scenario for the fire stations, where we’re basically building-in a $2.5 million annual payment to pay for the fire stations, so that we can get ahead of this and deal with it,” Fadness told the council committee members.

The projections for the city tax rate show a slight decrease in years 2020 & 2021.

City Controller Lisa Bradford told the committee she ran some numbers on how much the rate increase would cost homeowners in 2019.  She looked at a home with an assessed value of $208,000, and projects a tax increase of approximately $57 a year.  Homes with a higher assessed valuation may hit the property tax cap, and that can get a bit more complicated.

Both Bradford and Fadness told the council panel that the largest driver of local property tax increases is not tied to the tax rate, but is created by an increase in the home’s assessed valuation.

Fadness is pleased with what is projected in the revenue side of the 2019 budget, with assessed valuations of property in the city rising.  The assessed value is expected to rise 5.3% in 2019, compared to a 3.7% increase in 2018.

The road construction listing has a lot of the usual suspects…closures on Southeastern Parkway and 113th & Florida Road.  One piece of good news is the opening of Brooks School Road in recent days.  Be on the lookout for some other road work and one-lane areas where people with flags in their hands will be directing traffic.

The most recent update from the city says 106th Street closures as part of the infrastructure project will remain in place until the end of November.

Below is the road construction listing for the work week beginning Monday, August 13th, as provided by the City of Fishers.

========================================

BROOKS SCHOOL ROAD
Brooks School Road has reopened south of 116th Street between Desert Glen Drive and Club Point Drive.

HOOSIER ROAD
There are periodic lane restrictions on Hoosier Road south of 116th Street while Hamilton County Highway Department completes the resurfacing and striping of Hoosier Road and 111th Street.

FALL CREEK ROAD
There will be temporary lane restrictions on Fall Creek Road on Tuesday, August 14 and Wednesday, August 15, just west of Windjammer North, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for utility work. Flaggers will be in the area to help direct traffic.

126TH STREET
The eastbound lanes of 126th Street between Hoosier Road and Brooks School Road will be closed nightly from Sunday, August 12 through Thursday, August 16 for concrete joint repairs. The closures will be in place overnight from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Traffic should detour south on Hoosier Road to 116th Street and back up to Brooks School Road.

NORTH STREET
The westbound lane of North Street between Lantern Road and Maple Street will be closed from Friday, August 17 through Monday, August 20 for concrete replacement.

113TH STREET & FLORIDA ROAD 
The intersection of 113th Street and Florida Road is closed for the realignment and construction of a new roundabout at the intersection. The closure is expected to last appropriately 90 days. See the Detour Map.

SOUTHEASTERN PARKWAY 
Southeastern Parkway is closed from 136th Street to Isle of Man Way (Avalon subdivision) for approximately 30 days to complete a roundabout. Traffic to detour up Prairie Baptist Road to 136th Street. See the Detour Map.

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

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.

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.