The Fishers City Council formed a “Committee Taskforce,” what some described as a “committee on committees,” in June of this year. The group, consisting of city council members and chaired by Council President Selina Stoller, was assisted by City Attorney Chris Greisl.  The goal was to formalize the council’s committee system.

At the October 11 council session, the Committee Taskforce will unveil its proposal to the full council.  It calls for two standing committees – Budget & Finance Committee and Rules Committee.  The council has had a standing finance committee for several years, but the proposed ordinance would formalize that panel.

The ordinance would call for a minimum of 3 members for each standing committee.  Each panel would have at least one member of the minority party.  Two of the nine council members are Democrats.  Crystal Neumann, a Democrat, serves on the Committee Taskforce.

According to the proposed ordinance, the Rules Committee will have the authority to consider and recommend proposed changes for the rules of the Common Council, State and Federal legislation, and any other matter properly referred to the committee by the Council President.

Each committee would vote on a recommendation, then the issue would go before the entire council for final action.

Appointments to the standing committees would be made by the council president following the first meeting each January.  A majority of committee members must be present for a quorum in order to conduct business.

The city council appoints members to various boards and commissions, and the proposed ordinance deals with that issue with the following language:

“Council members may indicate their preference for appointments to the Council President for any non-standing council committee, board, or commission where council
memberships or council appointments on the board or commission is required by Indiana
law or local ordinance. All annual appointments shall be made after the January Council
meeting in which the Council President is elected, and all council and citizen appointments shall be deemed final upon assignment by the Council President. The Council President may fill any board or commission vacancy at any time.”

The full council will have a first reading of the ordinance October 11, and two more readings would be required before final passage, short of a unanimous vote to suspend the rules.

Future plans for building and grounds maintenance for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) schools was the focus of a Wednesday evening school board work session.  One issue at the center of the plans is the future of Fishers Elementary School.

Fishers Elementary, located at 11442 Lantern Road, sets on 8 acres of land.  All other HSE elementary schools have 20 acres.  The school is just south of downtown Fishers, where there has been a great deal of commercial and residential development.

$12 million is the estimated cost of maintenance needed at Fishers Elementary in 2023.  School Superintendent Yvonne Stokes says the board needs to discuss the future of the school.

“The question is, do we put that kind of money into the building?” said Stokes.  “It’s landlocked in terms of space to build or add on to it.  If a decision was made to rebuild, where would we rebuild?”

Lantern Road Elementary is due for a $14 million maintenance program in 2022, but that could be impacted by any decision made on Fishers Elementary.

Facilities Director for HSE Schools, Harry Delks, went over all the plans for maintenance projects up through the year 2033.  Katy Dowling, Chief Financial Officer for HSE Schools, told the board all maintenance funding  plans are based on holding the current property tax rate for debt at .5898, the same rate HSE Schools have had since 2013.

No decisions were made at the work session.

The students at Durbin Elementary School will be headed to the new Deer Creek Elementary starting in August of 2022.  Durbin will undergo a $2 million – $2.2 million renovation project beginning in May of 2022 and expected to be completed by October of 2022.  Durbin is to house the Focus program, now in Fall Creek Junior High…The Transitions program, moving from both high schools….and the Academy, moving from space the school district currently leases.

For a more detailed look at the maintenance plan presented to the school board, use this link.   

The number of new COVID cases locally are flattening.  That’s the word from Josh Robinson, Fishers Health Department epidemiologist, in has latest video update posted late Tuesday.

Hamilton County has seen a decrease in the unique positivity rate –  13.3% last week and down to to 11.8% this week.

There has been a decrease in the local case incidence rate in the past 2 weeks, from  33.47 down to 29.76

However, there has been a slight uptick in the positivity rate at Fishers testing site, from  7 up to 10 this past week.

Overall, Fishers is seeing the same number of new COVID cases in latest 7-day lookback period, compared to the previous week…2 weeks ago 190 cases, 198 in most recent period.

“We are in this downward trend on some important primary metric areas,” says Robinson.

Hospitals in the local Fishers area are seeing an increase in the number of Intensive Care Unit beds and an overall flattening of hospital bed availability.

According to Robinson, local residents not already vaccinated should do so.

“We are continuing to see quite a disparity in the relative risk of infection for those that are unvaccinated compared to those that have received their vaccine,” Robinson says.

Anyone with COVID questions should contact the local hotline, 317-595-3211.

In other COVID-related news, the Hamilton County Health Department is reopening its mass vaccination clinic at the 4H Fairgrounds in Noblesville on Wednesday, October 6th. Hours will be 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Only those who are 65 years of age or older as well as those who are 18 years and older with underlying medical conditions or who live or work in high-risk settings are eligible for a Pfizer booster. Walk-ups are welcome, but appointments are preferred.

The Fishers Health Department mass vaccination site remains open.  Find more information at this link.

It appears Fishers will lose a downtown restaurant that has been there for 6.5 years, citing a lack of staff as the reason.  Pure Eatery, located in a strip mall on the south side of 116th Street, just west of the municipal complex, says the bar only will be open 2pm-6pm Thursday, October 7, so local patrons can say goodbye.

“This community welcomed us in 2015 when you didn’t know who or what we were,” Pure Eatery posted on their Facebook page. “We had a dream of bringing fresh, honest food, and local artwork in a space that welcomes all; to gather, eat, drink, and celebrate life. We’ve been so lucky to share our guests’ triumphs, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and provide a place to gather for life’s milestones.”

The post also praises their staff members.  “They have carried us thru the good, the bad, and now the ugly times and we cannot say thank you enough.”

There continues to be a Pure Eatery location in the Fountain Square area of Indianapolis.

The Fishers Board of Works and Public Safety approved all Verizon 5G tower requests at a Tuesday morning meeting, but an attorney representing Verizon reminded the city of the legal limits based on state and federal statutes.

Towers were approved for the following neighborhoods: Charleston Crossing, Fishersdale, Wildwood Estates, Heritage Meadows, The Pines and Northfield Estates.

During a discussion about a possible tower location adjustment in Heritage Meadows, Mayor Scott Fadness invited Verizon to comment.

Russell L. Brown, from the Indianapolis law firm of Clark, Quinn, Moses, Scott & Grahn, representing Verizon, reminded the board of the federal and state statutes limiting a city’s jurisdiction over 5G tower locations.  Verizon has worked in good faith with the city and neighborhoods, according to Brown.  He explained why, for technical reasons, the particular tower in question at Heritage Meadows would not feasible to move in this case.

Fadness responded by saying the city is walking a fine line, with Verizon essentially saying there is potential for litigation against the city in some of these tower location issues.  This is a tightrope the board must walk when weighing these tower location decisions. according to Fadness.

“I would say to the legal representation of Verizon and representatives from Verizon, although this might be costly and time-consuming for you, it shows and demonstrates that if we sit down with the HOAs (home owners associations) and actually work collectively we can actually come to a consensus and get these implemented,” Fadness said as the meeting came to a close.  “I’m sympathetic for the financial burden that is caused by interacting with our residents, but I do think you have a better outcome when you do it.”

A local organization is critical of Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) High School and HSE Schools following changes in the homecoming festivities this year, but the school district says all changes were led by students.

Fishers One issued a statement Monday night, citing the fact that no women were represented as homecoming royalty, a change from the king and queen, consisting of one man and one woman, in past years.  “The student council quietly passed a proposal to make the election gender neutral, with the approval of Principal Janie Ulmer,” according to Fishers One.

In a statement to LarryInFishers, the school district says the HSE High School student council presented a proposal in late August.  “Our Student Council requested that ‘Homecoming Royalty’ would be awarded to the two individuals that received the most votes,” according to school officials.

This year’s HSE High School “Homecoming Royalty” consisted of 2 males.

Nominations for Homecoming Court were $1, with the funds going to the student council. There were several nominations.  Students were not charged to vote, with the two individuals, regardless of sex, became “Homecoming Royalty” for this year’s HSE homecoming celebration.

Fishers One argues “there was minimal debate and no communication or transparency to the student body at large.”   School officials say the entire process was initiated by students.

“Homecoming has always been a student-led event, and this year was no different,” says the statement from the school district. “HSE values traditions and the voices of our students, and we believe that ‘Homecoming Royalty’ is an example of honoring both.”

Fishers City Hall will once again be adorned with art work in October, courtesy of the Fishers Arts Council.  The exhibit includes collections from Calligraphy Guild of Indiana and a three-month long exhibit by Margot Bogue.

There will be a free public reception on October 15th, 6-8 pm, at The Art Gallery at City Hall.  Take the opportunity to meet the artists of the Calligraphy Guild. Adult beverages, along with pre-packaged snacks, will be available. The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana exhibit will run through October 28th while Margot Bogue’s exhibit in The Alcove will run through December 29th. A reception will be held for Margot on December 10th.

The calligraphy exhibit looks at the art of calligraphy and features work by calligraphers of The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana. Calligraphy is artistic writing perfected during the medieval years in the illuminated manuscripts of that era. Alphabet styles, ornaments, design, illustration, tools and materials, methods and practices make up the history of early books.

Today, calligraphy letters and words are being used for design elements as well as traditional certification recognitions, announcements, promotional materials, and the hand-made book.

Activities of the guild include learning programs, demonstrations, and “fair” presentations. Membership is open to anyone interested and includes a subscription to the quarterly publication produced by the members in calligraphy.

Margot Bogue’s exhibit is entitled, “Ephemeral Indiana.” She focuses on scenes of Indiana that reflect a moment in time such as Cheeney Creek in winter, a fall day, clouds over the Capital and reflections of nature.

Margot, most recently won “Best of Show” at the 2nd Annual Juried Art Show of Hamilton County Artists sponsored by Jiffy Lube of Indiana. The Alcove exhibit features 26 of her oil paintings.

The Art Gallery at City Hall, One Municipal Drive, Fishers, is open weekdays from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The gallery is closed on holidays.

If you were a fan of the HBO series The Sopranos, you are aware of the main character in that series, Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini.  The final episode of that series ended in a very strange and uncertain way, leaving the possibility of more.  But actor Gandolfini died far too young so that was not an options.

Now, we have a prequel featuring the young Tony Soprano surrounded by his mobster family.  So, is the prequel worth seeing?  Here is my review:

Frequent users of the Hamilton East Library in downtown Fishers (I know there are many) should be aware that building will close Monday, October 4, through Friday, October 8.  As you may already by aware, the building and the area surrounding it are undergoing some major construction.  Library officials say the closing is necessary due to HVAC and utility upgrades.

The Noblesville Library is also part of the Hamilton East Library system and will be open October 4-8.

The leaders of the City of Fishers Engineering Department, Jason Taylor & Hatem Mekky, sat down for a podcast interview with me.  They updated road and trail projected and discussed a lot more.

Listen to the podcast at the link below.

(Note:  Jason refers to a video on etiquette for the Nickel Plate Trail produced by the city staff.  You can find that video at this link)