A solid turnout for comments on the Allisonville Road Corridor study
When the City of Fishers asked citizens for comment on what should be included in an Allisonville Road Corridor study, they chose to come and comment at City Hall. Thursday evening, city officials and the consultant, HWC Engineering, were on hand to answer questions and solicit comments on how Allisonville Road, between 106th and 126th Streets, should be developed.
City Planning and Zoning Director Megan Vukusich says a wide net is being used to get as much comment as possible from people in the area. The Thursday night event is one method, but there have been outreaches at the Farmers Market, a community survey and a steering committee consisting of area residents and property owners.
“We’ll take all these results and put together some recommendations based on these results,” Vukusich tells LarryInFishers.
The overall study should be complete by fall of this year.
In the first half hour of the 2-hour Thursday event, Vukusich says she counted more than 100 people at the City Hall auditorium.
Vukusich emphasized that the feedback from all the outreach activities will determine whether the city will pursue significant redevelopment along that corridor or seek reinvestment in what is there now.
People at the City Hall event wrote comments on notes that stuck to the maps
“I have never, ever opened up a new building, and boy, is it an experience”
Those were the words to Linda Ededuwa, Principal of the new Deer Creek Elementary School. This is the first Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) school building with a Noblesville address, at 156th Street and Boden Road, located in Wayne Township.
The Thursday morning ribbon-cutting and reception found plenty of HSE school officials, past and present, on hand for the ceremony. Current HSE Superintendent Yvonne Stokes handled the MC duties, but previous Superintendent Allen Bourff was also there for his efforts to have the school constructed.
Past and present school board members made an appearance. Current Board Vice President Sarah Donsbach subbed for President Julie Chambers, who was under the weather and unable to attend.
Tons of staff members and contractors were recognized for their work to make the ribbon-cutting happen. The teaching staff at Deer Creek received two hearty rounds of applause.
The staff and students from Durbin Elementary are moving to the new Deer Creek Building in August, along with students from several other elementary buildings in the area. This will ease overcrowding at nearby elementary schools, including Southeastern Elementary.
Here are photos from ribbon-cutting day at Deer Creek Elementary:
I know it is hard to believe, but students in the Hamilton Southeastern School District have their first day of classes Wednesday, August 3rd, two weeks from the time this story is posted.
That’s why it is not too soon to be thinking back packs. If you drive I-69 in Fishers, you have likely seen the office building, once occupied by Roche, now housing Verizon TCC and Wireless Zone, part of Round Room. That operation is spearheading a program to give away back packs for returning students this fall.
On Sunday, July 31, between 1-4 p.m. local time, more than 1,200 TCC and Wireless Zone nationwide stores are inviting local families to their locations to pick up a backpack filled with pencils, paper, a pencil box, folders, a ruler and glue. One backpack per child present will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
In addition to the backpack donations, families can enter their students in a sweepstakes to win a $10,000 college scholarship through the giveaway’s Big Impact. Children in grades K-12 are eligible for entry and can be registered at their local TCC and Wireless Zone stores during the School Rocks Backpack Giveaway event. Five scholarships in total will be awarded to randomly selected winners.
“For the School Rocks Backpack Giveaway to reach its tenth edition is truly monumental for all of us at Round Room, TCC and Wireless Zone. This event is now an annual staple in communities nationwide and we couldn’t be more proud of how much we’ve been able to positively impact students these last ten years,” said Scott Moorehead, CEO of Round Room, in a company news release. “The rising costs of school supplies have made it immensely difficult for many families to adequately prepare their children each school year. Our goal is to alleviate these challenges for as many families as we can through this annual give back event.”
According to Verizon, School Rocks Backpack Giveaway has provided more than 1.2 million backpacks full of school supplies to children across the U.S. as they prepare for their upcoming school years.
The referendum tax rate for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools will expire at the end of 2023, so the school board has decisions to make. Should the board ask taxpayers to keep the rate where it is? When should the referendum appear on the ballot, in the May or November elections of 2023?
Those and many other questions were before the board in a 90-minute work session held Tuesday morning.
The current referendum rate adds 22.75 cents (per $100 of assed valuation) to the local property tax rate. There were many questions asked by board members and a number of comments made, but no member indicated publicly they plan to oppose the referendum vote.
HSE Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling pointed out that HSE, the fourth-largest school corporation in the state, is in the bottom three in state financial support per student, along with Zionsville and Carmel. Without the referendum funding, Dowling told the board that 15% would need to be cut from the HSE Schools budget, which would amount to $25 million per year.
Assistant Superintendent Matt Kegley reminded the board that 90% of that budget goes to the people employed by the school district.
Dowling also reminded board members that state law requires the language on the referendum ballot to use the word “increase” four times, even if the board asks taxpayers for a renewal of the current referendum rate.
The board must also decide whether to hire an outside firm to help with the referendum campaign.
Board President Julie Chambers said a referendum recommendation for the board should be ready for consideration by the end of August or early September. There could also be another work session scheduled to further discuss plans for the referendum.
Board President Julie Chambers (left) & School Supt. Yvonne Stokes watch the board discussion
Tom Britt likes to tell the story of how his publishing business started in Geist with a feature magazine. That operation has grown to include franchising his approach to publishing. A new franchise for his magazine concept is starting-up in Muncie.
In this podcast, Tom Britt talks about Fishers, Geist, Spark Fishers, his time capsule project for the Fishers Sesquicentennial and much more.
The Fishers City Council honored six Fishers Police Officers for 20 years of service at Monday night’s meeting. Here are the officers with 20 years in police work:
Major Mike Pedersen
Sergeant Eric Patton
Sergeant Wayne Druelinger
Officer Robert Gaines
Officer Cory Robinson
Officer Robert Thompson
Sergeant Patton was also recognized for his retirement that is scheduled for August 1st.
First Internet Bank is a very different financial institution. It has no branches. It has no tellers. You do your banking online. That was a very revolutionary idea in 1999 when David Becker founded the First Internet Bank.
Mr. Becker is now an appointee to the Next Level Indiana Fund Investment Board. This board runs a pool of cash created by the Indiana Legislature in 2017 to make investments in Indiana venture capital funds and Indiana companies using $250 million of allocated state funding.
“The Next Level Indiana Fund is a critical economic development resource to attract more venture capital to Indiana, support the creation of new Indiana venture capital funds and accelerate growth of Indiana-based, innovation-driven companies,” Becker said in a news release. “I look forward to joining the Board and supporting the goals of the Fund to fuel Indiana’s tech and innovation industry.”
First Internet Bank will soon be moving into its new headquarters building in the heart of downtown Fishers.
Mayor Scott Fadness, before the City Council, explains why the city needs a common nuisance ordinance
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a nuisance as something causing harm or injury, or “one that is annoying, unpleasant, or obnoxious.” The City of Fishers is considering an ordinance aimed at addressing “common nuisance.”
Mayor Scott Fadness and City Attorney Chris Greisl explained that the city is using a lot of resources to answer 911 calls placed at a certain group of commercial businesses. They have researched common nuisance ordinances already in place in the cities of Fort Wayne and South Bend.
A “common nuisance ordinance” essentially tracks emergency calls and if they become too numerous, the city would work with the business owner to establish an action plan to reduce the number of emergency runs.
If the business refuses to work out an action plan with the city, or does not adhere to the action plan it establishes with the city, fines would be charged to these businesses.
Several of the offenders were local hotels, but city officials did not reveal the names of the establishments during the Monday night work session. Council member Brad DeReamer urged the city to name those problem businesses in the future.
Fadness said he will present a proposed common nuisance ordinance to the council in August for further consideration.
In other items on the City Council work session agenda:
–City officials told the council that in new home construction, 90% of the city code inspections fail and 75%-80% of the second inspections fail. Members of the council were split on how to handle the issue, particularly on whether to charge more for each inspection step. Mayor Fadness said this is a public policy question and the added charges would simply help reimburse the city for its own expenses of conducting the code inspections. The mayor promised to bring more than one option next month for council members to consider.
–An area with about 35 homes in the area of 101st Street and Flat Fork Creek may wish to have a voluntary annexation into the city of Fishers due to septic system problems. Director of Engineering Jason Taylor told the council several homeowners are facing septic systems that are failing. He has had discussions with homeowners there and it is possible to use funding from the Indiana Finance Authority to provide a 0% interest 20-year loan to bring the area into the city’s water and sewer services. The key is having enough homeowners sign an annexation remonstration waiver. The council will be updated on this issue.
The Fishers City Council Nonprofit Committee has voted to recommend distributing $120,000 to 9 local organizations. 25 groups applied for the city grants.
The vote was 2-1, with Cecilia Coble and Jocelyn Vare voting yes and Pete Peterson casting the no vote. The proposal will be presented to the full council for a final vote in August. The money is included in the current year city budget.
Here is a listing of the organizations receiving the funds, along with how much they are recommended to receive from the city:
–Conner Prairie Museum – $30,000
–Outside the Box – $26,500
–Cherish Child Advocacy Center – $20,000
–Youth Mentoring Initiative – $15,000
–Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation – $10,000
–Shepherds Center of Hamilton County – $10,000
–Fishers Youth Assistance Program – $5,000-
–Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide – $3,000
The start of a new school year is approaching and I asked to sit down with the principals of our two local high schools as they prepare for the first day of classes.
Jason Urban is the seasoned veteran with more than 15 years experience as principal of Fishers High School. Reggie Simmons is the new principal at HSE High School.
