A few road projects are gearing-up in the coming week, and some ongoing work enters a new phase.

126th Street between Cumberland Road and Reynolds Drive is open as of late Thursday afternoon, after that roadway section was closed for construction work.  Improvements will now begin at 126th Street and Parkside Drive, and that will require some motoring restrictions 9am-3pm for the remainder of April.  See the fact sheet link in the information below.  Also, some lane restrictions will be in place on westbound 126th between Olio and Pennington Roads , also 9am-3pm, and also extending through the month of April.

96th Street will see lane restrictions for relocating utilities as a prelude to the upcoming land-widening project coming there this year.

Be aware of the ongoing construction along Allisonville Road and State Road 37.

See the listing below, provided by the City of Fishers, covering the work week beginning Monday, April 8th:

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

126TH STREET
Work has begun on intersection improvements for 126th Street and Parkside Drive. View the Fact Sheet to learn more about this project.

Periodic lane restrictions are in effect on westbound 126th Street between Olio Road and Pennington Road. Restrictions are active from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will extend through the month of April.

96TH STREET
Utility relocation is beginning on 96th Street as part of the road widening project, resulting in periodic lane restrictions over the coming months. For more information about the 96th Street road widening project, view the Fact Sheet.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD 
Southbound and northbound traffic on Allisonville Road has moved onto the newly constructed pavement as part of Phase 3 of the project.This will be the traffic configuration moving into the spring of 2019. The posted speed limit will remain 30 mph.

For more information on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

STATE ROAD 37
Drainage work for SR37 is in progress. Construction vehicles will be using the construction entrance on Lantern Road, between 126th Street and 131st Street, and may cause some short delays. There are no scheduled lane restrictions or closures along SR37 at this time.

Hamilton County Reporter

Attorney Tim Stoesz has requested Hamilton County Prosecutor Lee Buckingham to appoint a Special Prosecutor to review the Indiana State Police Investigation into the Treasurer’s Office.

Stoesz is now calling for Prosecutor Buckingham to release the full investigative report regarding allegations of late property tax penalties being waived by Treasurer’s Office employees.

Stoesz believes the public should have the opportunity to view the investigation and that Prosecutor Buckingham, an elected official, should not be permitted to investigate another elected county official.

“There is an inherent conflict of interest when one elected Hamilton County official investigates another elected Hamilton County official,” said Stoesz.

The Hamilton County Commissioners have said from the onset that the county has attempted to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest.

“That is why we asked the State Police to conduct the investigation rather than the Sheriff’s Department,” said Commissioner Steve Dillinger. “I trust Lee Buckingham will make the right decision in this case regarding the need for a Special Prosecutor.”

Buckingham has not responded to the Reporter’s requests for comment regarding the State Police investigation and Stoesz’s demand for a Special Prosecutor.

Separate from the State Police investigation, former Hamilton County Treasurer’s Office employee Susan Byer has filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County Superior Court 1. Byer’s suit alleges she was unjustly terminated, and the action was in retaliation for the confrontation with Kim Good over Good posting family members’ payments as on time when they were in fact late.

Stoesz represents Byer in the suit.

On Thursday, the Indianapolis Star reported Treasurer’s Office employees saying the office was fraught with paranoia.

“There is a lot of media attention on this and there is probably a lot of finger pointing,” said Dillinger. “The entire office is in upheaval.  I don’t like that and it needs to be fixed.”

Hamilton County Reporter

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has awarded Hamilton County $719,285 as part of its Community Crossings Matching Grant Fund Program.

The county will use the money to resurface various deteriorated areas along 146th Street, primarily the intersection of 146th and Hazel Dell Road. This funding will also be used to resurface 196th Street from Promise Road to State Road 13 in Wayne Township.

Davis

The Community Crossings Matching Grant Funds, which are administered by INDOT, will fund 50 percent of the construction up to the awarded amount. Hamilton County is responsible for funding the rest.

“We rate our roads on an annual basis and prioritize our resurfacing program based on condition ratings and available funding,” said Hamilton County Highway Department Director Bradley Davis. “These roads have definite age and condition-related needs. This grant money will allow us to stretch our budget and do more paving.”

Resurfacing the various areas along 146th Street between Adios Pass and River Road, as well as work along the 5.7-mile stretch of 196th Street from Promise Road to State Road 13, is tentatively scheduled to start in August.

When the City of Fishers needs to close a major thoroughfare, it’s normally done during a break in the local school calendar, like spring break, or during the summer vacation.

When 126th Street needed to be closed for some work, the city chose spring break as the time to do it this year.  That way, school buses do not need to to rerouted and a number of motorists are out of town during the school break.

So, 126th Street has been closed for the needed construction work this week, but the good news is that roadway is on schedule (as of Thursday morning) to open once again Thursday afternoon.

Keep in mind that rain could slow the process down, but as of now, 126th Street will be back open between Reynolds Drive and Cumberland Road Thursday afternoon.

Logan Day is challenging incumbent Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness in the 2019 Republican Primary election.  I talked with Logan Day about his campaign in the podcast linked below.

FYI, the Scott Fadness campaign opted to record a podcast interview later this month, so that recording will be done and posted later in April.

Hamilton County Reporter

On Monday, detectives with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect in conjunction with a series of burglaries in the central part of the county.

Three homes in the 700 block of West 186th Street, the 600 block of East State Road 38, and the 1200 block of East 203^rd Street were allegedly burglarized over the last weekend of March. Another residence in the 16700 block of Mill Creek Road experienced an alleged residential entry during the weekend.

Detectives were able to locate a vehicle seen leaving the area of at least one of the incidents and were able to locate and identify the owner of the vehicle as a suspect in the alleged burglaries. This along with other evidence led to the arrest of John Michael Kader, Jr., 52, Darlington, Ind.

Kader was transported to the Hamilton County Jail where he was booked on the following initial charges: Burglary of a Dwelling, a Level 4 felony; Burglary, a Level 5 felony; and Theft, a Level 6 felony.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

The deadline is April 8 for those who are not registered to vote and want to participate in the May 7 primary election. New voters may register at the county Government and Judicial Center or a license branch.

County Clerk Kathy Williams said last week that requests for absentee ballots are trickling in at the rate of about 10 per day. Early voting will be available again this year at satellite locations in Carmel, Fishers and Westfield beginning April 24 as well as at the county elections office.

Notices to nearly 40,000 voters go out April 12 advising of a change in their election day polling place. The majority of those affected are in Fishers.

The primary election will be for those voters within the city limits of Hamilton County’s eight cities and towns. There is no election this year for those in unincorporated areas of the county.

The County Election Board meets Friday, April 5 for approval of this year’s ballot and voting machines. Williams said that during the meeting the board may or may not consider a request from Democratic County Chairman Joe Weingarten to look into allegations of a financial offer allegedly being made to Carmel mayoral candidate Fred Glynn to drop out of the race.

by

Jeff Jellison

Hamilton County Reporter

Westfield-based attorney Tim Stoesz has issued a letter to Prosecutor Lee Buckingham, requesting a Special Prosecutor be assigned to an investigation of alleged misconduct by the Hamilton County Treasurer’s Office.

The Treasurer’s Office was the focus of a recent Indiana State Police investigation after a former employee alleged penalties were waived for late tax payments.

In December, Hamilton County Commissioners asked the State Police to conduct an investigation regarding alleged actions of the Treasurer’s Office.

Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt said, “While the county does not believe there is a factual basis for these charges, we feel it is our duty to ask an impartial party to investigate the claims. That’s why we have asked the Indiana State Police instead of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for help. We owe it to the taxpayers to investigate the claims and to assure them that their tax dollars are being managed properly.”

Stoesz feels the “impartial party” should also include the Prosecutor.

Stoesz, in his letter to Buckingham, stated, “It’s a well-known secret that the Indiana State Police has provided you with an investigation report of the Hamilton County Treasurer’s Office several weeks ago. During the past several weeks I have received information that you have failed to appoint a Special Prosecutor to review the investigation report and make determination if criminal charges are warranted.”

Heirbrandt recently confirmed the State Police investigation had been turned over to the Prosecutor’s office, but did not know the outcome.

“I believe there is an inherent conflict of interest when one Hamilton County elected official investigates another elected official,” said Stoesz. “In order to avoid an appearance of impropriety, Buckingham should immediately appoint a Special Prosecutor.”

In his letter, Stoesz concluded, “For the sake of good government and legal ethics, I strongly encourage you to seek a Special Prosecutor to review the Indiana State Police investigation report of the Hamilton County Treasurer’s Office and make determination if criminal charges are warranted.”

Stoesz told the Reporter, “I stand by my letter to Prosecutor Buckingham. I’m not going to stop until I’ve exhausted all of my remedies.”

The Reporter’s attempt to reach Prosecutor Buckingham for comment prior to press time was unsuccessful.

Stoesz represents a former Treasurer’s Office employee, Susan Diane Byer, in a lawsuit that alleges Byer was unjustly terminated from her job.

Court documents in the Byer civil case allege Deputy Treasurer Kim Goode may have gone through the desk of a recently terminated employee and shredded documents. Because of that, Byer, through Stoesz, filed a request asking the court to restrain the Treasurer’s Office from shredding or destroying further documents related to Byer’s complaint.

In addition, a county employee the Reporter has chosen not to name stated explicitly they had seen Susan Byer’s name on shredded documents prior to Byer’s termination.

The Byer case, filed in November of last year, has not yet been set for trial.

Members of the Senior Class at both local high schools, Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern, will be displaying their works of art through May 3rd at Fishers City Hall.

Awards will be presented in the categories of Best of Show and 1st, 2nd, 3rd places in the three categories of photography, drawing and painting. A total of $2000.00

This event will be held in concert with the city’s observance of Hope for Happiness, where the city partners with the Stigma Free clubs of Fishers and HSE High Schools to promote mental health and decrease the stigma around mental health. That Hope for Happiness will take place on the Central Green in front of the Art Gallery at City Hall.

The City Hall gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A public reception will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony at 8:00 p.m. on Friday May 3rd. at City Hall.

The organization “Save The Nickel Plate” issued a news release Tuesday, saying US Rail Holdings is appealing previous decisions by the federal Surface Transportation Board, and asking the board to allow the company to operate and purchase the Nickel Plate Line as a passenger train operation.  The City of Fishers says US Rail is filing the exact same arguments filed last year that the board rejected.

Save the Nickel Plate asserts in the release, “…the City of Fishers is now facing a significant challenge to their trail-only plan.”  The city argues otherwise.

“The latest filing by US Rail Holdings is merely an attempt to re-litigate its failed position before the Surface Transportation Board,” the City of Fishers responded in a statement.

The city points-out that the Surface Transportation Board’s December 2018 decision allowing the Nickel Plate Trail to move forward still stands.

According to Save the Nickel Plate, US Rail says First Transit has agreed to work with US Rail in providing passenger rail service to Union Station.

The city says it “does not support any proposal that leads to freight cars travelling through neighborhoods and clogging Fishers’ main thoroughfares multiple times a day.”

The US Rail request for an injunction from the Surface Transportation Board wants the board to order Fishers not to remove any rails along the Nickel Plate until the board rules on US Rails request to reactivate the rail line.

Fishers is moving forward with plans to begin converting the Nickel Plate Line to a trail, with construction scheduled to begin this fall.

Save the Nickel Plate has been arguing that the city did not properly consider a proposal to use concepts allowing a trail alongside the rails.  Fishers argued its engineers had looked at the rails plus trails idea and rejected it.  The City of Fishers then released an engineering study in February, 2019, conducted by Indianapolis engineering firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert, which estimated a trails and rails plan would at least cost an additional $20.5 million.

Save the Nickel Plate is planning a public meeting “to explore the feasibility and benefits of a rail-with-trail design as an alternative to the trail-only concept proposed by the City of Fishers.”  That meeting will be held April 8th, 6pm, at the building at Holland Park.