Wednesday was a big night for Clint Wilson.  He brought his wife and three children to be a part of his swearing-in ceremony as he assumes a seat on the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board.  Wilson replaces Mike Bottorff, who resigned from the board in late May.

I recorded a podcast interview with Clint Wilson recently and it is available at this link. 

Bottorff had been serving as President of the HSE School Board, so now that the board is back at full strength with seven members, Superintendent Allen Bourff told board members Wednesday night that they will need to conduct an election of officers at the July 24th meeting.

Board Vice President Sylvia Shepler has been serving as acting board president since Bottorff’s resignation.  Michelle Fullhart is currently serving as board Secretary.

So, HSE Schools will have a new Board President after the election of officers July 24th.

A brand new school building about to open is a very busy place – furniture is still being put together, a few teachers are already there setting up their classrooms and the final touches of construction continue.

Former and current members of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board toured the new Southeastern Elementary School Wednesday, near Southeastern Parkway on Cyntheanne Road.  The building is set to open next month when classes begin for the 2019-2020 school year.

School officials had estimated that about 540 students would occupy Southeastern Elementary in its first year of operation.  It is now expected that 682 youngsters will be taking classes in the new building,  The capacity of Southeastern Elementary is 707 students.

Here are more pictures of the brand new Southeastern Elementary School:

Continue reading New Southeastern Elementary School nears completion with more students expected than estimated →

You may have seen the new Fishers sign (sans the I) on the Pavilion building between City Hall and the Nickel Plate Amphitheater.  It was installed in late June, but was officially unveiled in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday night.

The idea came from a group of 4th grade students at Harrison Parkway Elementary School.  The idea began with student involvement in plans for the Nickel Plate Trail.

The students envisioned a “Be in the I in Fishers” sculpture along the trail, where residents would be invited to complete the artwork by posing as the “I” in Fishers.

Through a grant by the Indiana Arts Commission and approval from the Fishers Art and Culture Commission, the City of Fishers worked with local artist Rachel Kavanthe to adapt the concept into a large-scale, graphic print on the side of the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater Pavilion.

The Fishers Arts Crawl is a summer event for the past few years, and in 2019 there will be three Arts Crawl evenings.  The first is set for Friday, July 19th.

As in past years, there will be plenty of art work on display, artists performances and local businesses participating with special offerings.

For more Arts Crawl details, use this link.

The City of Fishers has approved a bid of $122,000 to demolish buildings once used by Irving Materials Inc. (IMI) next to Geist Reservoir to make way for the new waterfront park planned in the area.  The Board of Works and Public Safety voted to move forward with the bid at the Monday meeting.

The demolition  will include three main building and a few smaller ones.    The city plans to take the demolished concrete and crush it, producing around 4,500 tons of material to be incorporated into the construction phase of the new park.

The demolition will be financed by part of the proceeds from the sale of land by the city that currently includes a cell phone tower.

In other Board of Works actions:

–A professional services contract totaling $145,100.00 with Butler, Fairman and Seufert was approved, for water and sewer services.  The services will be used by the new developments under construction in the area of the Fishers Municipal Complex.  The funds will  come from the Department of Public Works Storm and Sanitary Fund, along with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money.

–Delays in the Allisonville road construction project due to weather and utility relocation  will require additional inspections, and the board approved $99,912.50 for those inspections.  Director of Engineering Jason Taylor is asking for 90% reimbursement on this cost, but asked the board for full local funding pending his request for reimbursement from the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

The Indianapolis Business Journal published an editorial in the July 5th edition that was tough on the Hamilton County Democratic Party, arguing that the Dems must “reinvent themselves to bring two-party politics to the county.”

After reading that editorial, I asked to meet with Joe Weingarten, Chairman of the Democratic Party in Hamilton County, as well as a Fishers resident from the Geist area.  He has another point of view.

Going back 2-5 years ago, Weingarten argues that there was no Hamilton County Democratic Party to speak of, just occasional Democrats running sporadically on their own with little or know help from the party.

“It’s a task, but you can’t build the party overnight,” Weingarten told me.  “We’re slowly building the party and it’s growing.”

Democrats fielded a number of candidates in the 2018 election, but Weingarten has found it more difficult to find people to run for local offices.  Mayoral candidates balk at the enormous amount of money that must be raised to challenge incumbents such as Jim Brainard in Carmel and Scott Fadness in Fishers.

Democrats have four candidates for Fishers City Council on the ballot for the November 5th general election, and Weingarten is encouraging those candidates to focus on what he calls “discontent” among many people living in Fishers for many years.  He points to the Nickel Plate railroad tracks about to be removed, which he thinks will need to be laid again if light rail transit comes to the area.  The Democratic Chair also cites the large building projects downtown and the uprooting of trees near City Hall to make way for private development, as reasons for the public discontent he hears from local residents.

Weingarten is also critical of the way Fishers has gone about formulating a comprehensive plan.  He believes the city should have contracted with a professional firm to formulate the plan, rather than having the City Council take charge of the process.

There will also be an emphasis on transparency in government from Democratic candidates. “If a Democrat is elected to the (City) Council all these secret deals, or deals behind closed doors, vanish,” Weingarten said.

“The people of Fishers, as well as the other communities around here, have to realize that single party government breeds the possibility of corruption,” according to Weingarten.  “Not saying there is corruption, but the possibility.  It also breeds where the voice of the people becomes ignored.”

So, Joe Weingarten says he is building a party where one did not stand, and he continues to build the organization and its people, despite what the IBJ wrote in that editorial.

“The IBJ article missed the boat,” said Weingarten.  “They just threw-out a general statement.”

Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Weingarten tells LarryInFishers a candidate has been named to oppose Eric Moeller in the November general election.  Samantha DeLong will run in the Fishers City Council North Central District.

DeLong joins three other Democrats as candidates for Council seats.  Jocelyn Vare is running as an at-large candidate. Adam Kaps will be on the ballot in the SouthWest District, taking on incumbent David George.  Lane Skeeters in running in the SouthCentral district, opposing incumbent Republican John Weingart.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

I was asked the other day if there is another Hamilton County in the country, and the answer is definitely yes. In fact there are 10 Hamilton counties in America. Besides our own, the one best known to us is probably in Ohio where Cincinnati is located. It’s the largest Hamilton County in population with nearly 1 million residents.

Our county is second with at least 300,000; but, the surprise, at least to me, is that Hamilton County, Indiana is the smallest of the 10 in land area. We have 401 square miles of territory, which seems like a pretty good chunk of real estate, but there are several twice as big.

The name Hamilton comes, of course, from Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary War hero, trusted aide to George Washington and the first Secretary of the Treasury who put the nation on a path toward a sound economy.

Hamilton’s name was popular in the early 19th century, especially after he was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Several counties, towns and institutions were named for Hamilton in the years following his death.

Many folks may not know some interesting characteristics of the counties that all bear the same name.

Hamilton County, New York, for example, is home to the popular Adirondack Mountains which take up most of its 1,808 square miles. But, the county’s population is only 4,542.

The famous Suwanee River, subject of Stephen Foster’s folk song, is found in Hamilton County, Florida, and Chattanooga with its famous Lookout Mountain is located in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

The other Hamiltons are located in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. The one in Kansas is 998 square miles in area, but is least populated with a mere 2,690 residents.

In other words, it is more than twice the size of Hamilton County, Indiana in land area, but with a population about the same as Sheridan.

That makes for a lot of wide open space.

The 4th of July holiday was over but the holiday weekend continued as the sun rose over Fishers Friday morning, July 5th.  But the light of day also revealed what local authorities say was the work of arsonists.  Yes, the day after July 4th, an American flag was burned.

Not just any flag, but the 15×25 foot flag behind the Nickel Plate Amphitheater stage.  It took some daring to attempt this criminal deed – the Amphitheater is almost across the street from Fishers Police Headquarters.

Fishers Police Officers wasted no time in finding and charging two suspects, both age 18 and residents of Fishers.  That was quick work by our local men & women in uniform.

I have seen plenty of social media comments about this incident, as to why anyone would do something like this?  I must be honest, I have no idea.  The suspects, as always in our criminal justice system, are entitled to the presumption of innocence and will also be entitled to their day in court.

But I must also give a shout-out to the Fishers City Department of Public Works for coming in on a holiday weekend and cleaning up the damaged Amphitheater wall.  As of Saturday afternoon, the wall was totally repaired.

I cannot get inside the mind of any arsonist, so this makes no sense to me, and it may never make sense to any of us.  We should just be thankful for a good group of public servants that have done their jobs on the 4th of July weekend.

Another busy week is on tap for road work in and around Fishers.  Be aware that lane restrictions will continue at times along Allisonville Road in the River Glen area.  Workers will flags will control traffic as the roadway will sometimes be limited to one lane.  Also be aware of lane restrictions in the area of 116th Street,  between Regency Drive & Holland Drive.

Here is the full listing of road construction, as provided by the City of Fishers, for the work week beginning Monday, July8th:

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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.  

OUTSIDE OF FISHERS
The Indiana Department of Transportation have begun work on the northeast quadrant of I-465. Contractors will work to patch and repave segments of I-465 and I-69 from U.S. 31 all the way down to I-70. To learn more about this project click here.