I’ve been on the road a lot the last few weeks, so I was looking forward to acting like a retired guy (I get less of that these days), enjoying some chill time.
The past week just didn’t allow for that.
The first story I needed to follow-up on was the traffic mess outside Conner Prairie for the final Symphony on the Prairie concert. It appeared the whole world descended on the complex off Allisonville Road that night. Even Conner Prairie CEO Normal Burns was stuck in traffic and never made it to the concert. Officials with the City of Fishers, Conner Prairie and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra are all promising to do a thorough review as to why this happened and ensure it never happens again. In the meantime, if you never were able to use that final Symphony on the Prairie ticket, contact the Symphony Box Office for a possible ticket to another Symphony event.
The ground was broken, finally beginning the long-awaited reconstruction of State Road 37 in Fishers. For some, it’s the start of remedying a nasty bottleneck for motorists. For others, the pain of the construction period is all they can think about. Either way, it is starting now. The east-west traffic on 126th Street will be restricted or blocked for some time next year, no one know exactly when or any other details. As construction information becomes available, follow LarryInFishers.com and I’ll do my best to keep you updated..
Next, the three sets of chefs that will occupy the new Fishers Test Kitchen, to be located at the Yard development near the Hyatt Hotel, were announced this past week. I had the chance to tour the under-construction Test Kitchen and speak with Jolene Ketzenberger, long-time local writer about food, outlining the plans to what is described as a “restaurant accelerator.” It should be open in November. I’m looking forward to sampling the chefs’ creations.
Mayor Scott Fadness provided a briefing to the news media about the 2020 budget he will present to the Fishers City Council Monday night. The $119 million spending plan will call for a 2 cent property tax increase (per $100 of assessed valuation), what the mayor describes as a one-year rate increase to fund capital projects, which means the city will not issue bonds and create debt to fund these projects.
Council members will also vote Monday night on an increase (one-tenth of one percent of taxable income) in the Hamilton County Local Option Income tax. This increase is funding public safety emergency services. As the mayor explains it, state law calls for approval by councils representing a certain percentage of the county population. Under that formula, only Fishers and Carmel councils need to approve this increase for it to be enacted for the entire county. Most of the new money will pay for 911 service.
A Miami, Florida based firm, Sitel Group, plans to open an office in Fishers, leasing 42,000 square feet of space in the Jarden building, located at 121st Street & Cumberland Road. The State of Indiana is offering employment-based incentives and the Fishers City Council will vote on city incentives Monday night, including a 5-year property tax abatement. Sitel plans to employ about 300 people in the operation, which appears to mostly be a technology call center.
The Fishers District (the Yard will be part of that complex) announced artists tasked with creating murals throughout the development. The developer, Thompson-Thrift, announced those selections last week at the Fishers Arts & Culture Commission meeting,
During the mayor’s budget briefing, I couldn’t resist asking him about the progress of the construction on Allisonville Road, aimed at making it a four lane road south of 131st Street. The mayor said what should have been a 12-month project has stretched out to about 2-years, for a variety of complicated reasons. In what may have been a coincidence (or, maybe not) all four lanes along the Allisonville Road construction area opened for traffic late last week.
The past week also featured one of the biggest community events in Fishers each year, the Mudsock football game, pitting crosstown rivals Fishers and HSE High Schools in the ultimate local rivalry football contest. The stands were full and people were standing all around the field at Fishers High School. Fishers won this year. HSE won last year. It was a big night for the entire community.
As a side note, I discovered Twitter does not recognize the work “Mudsock” and routinely corrected it (in Twitter’s world) to “Murdock.” No, there was no Murdock game Friday night. That was embarrassing
So, I didn’t get much rest the past week. Your volunteer news blogger doesn’t get much rest the next few days, either. The City Council will be meeting & I’ve alluded to just some of the items on the Monday night agenda. I have podcast recording sessions scheduled. Then the HSE School Board has a work session early Tuesday morning (lucky me, I have a dentist appointment following that meeting).
One more thing. I have been heartened by the response to the GoFundMe page created for Chuck Knox, who suffered a serious injury at home recently. Even though he has insurance, this will be a big financial burden on Chuck and his wife Shari, both active volunteers around Fishers and all of Central Indiana. In case you missed my previous post, please consider contributing to Chuck’s GoFundMe page at this link.