The City of Fishers is starting the process of using the Barrett Law to improve a section of deteriorating roads owned privately.  The Barrett Law finances improvement, resurfacing or reconstruction of a roadway, paid for by property owners located along the roads.

There are two areas covered in the resolutions enacted by the Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday morning.  One is just west of State Road 37, between 141st and 135th Streets.  The other area is just east of State Road 37, between 141st & 126th Streets.

City Engineering Department Director Jason Taylor says this is the preliminary step in the Barrett Law process with a public hearing part of the next step.  Property owners along these roadways have been contacted in the past 6-9 months and Taylor described the feedback as generally positive.  These are commercial, not residential roads.  The commercially owned private roads are being targeted first, according to Taylor.

Once the Barrett Law work is completed, these roads will then become the city’s responsibility to maintain.

The Barrett Law financed cost of the road work is estimated to be $2 million for the project west of State Road 37 and $1 million for the east side work.

A group of Girl Scouts in the HSE Schools is advocating for Foster Families and has taken that cause to members of the Indiana General Assembly.  Makenna Kenworthy, Grace Link, Sophie Holladay, and Katie Bergman have spent time at the Statehouse lobbying lawmakers to allow Foster Families to have free admission to Indiana State Parks and The Children’s Museum.

The legislation (SB151) is being sponsored by local State Senator Kyle Walker.  As part of the project, The girls collected data and surveyed several Foster Care families across the state and presented their findings.

Three members of Troop #1937 spoke before the Hamilton Southeastern School Board as a Snapshot of Success during last Wednesday’s regular school board meeting.

I first became aware of the Students In Action (SIA) group at Fishers High School when a student of that group at FHS, Casey Alexander, provided help for me in producing school board candidate podcasts in 2020 and 2022.  I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from SIA saying I had been nominated for a Jefferson Award, a high honor for people and organizations contributing to their local communities through volunteer work.

It was a great surprise to me.  I never imagined my little local news blog being up for such a high honor.

Friday night SIA had their inaugural gala at Conner Prairie.  It was a celebration and fund-raising event for their upcoming Day of Service.  I have covered a number of events like this gala and give the SIA students high marks for putting on a first class event.

I am humbled to have shared the stage with so many local people that have made a difference in our local community – Kit Malone of the Indiana ACLU, FHS Teacher Tammy Snyder, student Sam Wain, Women & Hi Tech and the Heart & Soul clinic.  Each one had an important story to tell.

But I want to highlight Jefferson Award Winner Mike Fassold, a military veteran that spent the last 26 years in his second career as a teacher at Fishers Junior High School.  Mike has taken a group of students on the FJHS We The People team to the national finals year after year, winning a number of national titles.  We the People is a competition all about civic knowledge.

Mike has molded his We The People students into future citizens that will be aware of their local civic duty wherever they may live as adults.  That is no small accomplishment.

But Mike was very kind to me, complimenting the work I have done on this news blog.  I guess we are part of a mutual admiration society.

Mike is in has last semester of teaching as he transitions into retirement.  Knowing Mike as I do, he will find something important to do in retirement.

Friday night was an evening I will always remember.  A Jefferson Award is something I never imagined achieving.  My thanks to SIA and those nominating me for this honor.  I accept it with a great deal of humility and respect.

It may feel like winter at the moment, but the list of Fishers road construction projects is a bit longer.  Look for same lane closures around town, plus resurfacing in the Winding Creek neighborhood.

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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STATE ROAD 37 AND 141ST STREET
A pre-construction phase at SR 37 & 141st Street is currently in place. During this phase, 141st Street will be a Right-In-Right-Out (RIRO) traffic configuration. 
This is not the permanent configuration. This will allow for traffic to flow more freely along SR 37 until the next phases of construction can be activated. This will eliminate backups along SR 37 that have caused dangerous stops to the free flow traffic and backups on the 146th Street interchange. Again, this is not the permanent configuration for 141st Street. The full timeline for the 141st Street interchange will be provided after project bids are accepted in the Summer of 2023. View detour routes here.

Beginning on Monday, March 13, ADA ramp and curb reconstruction will take place in Winding Creek as part of the 2023 Resurfacing Project. Homeowners will be notified via door hangers prior to any curb restoration near their home. After ADA ramp and curb reconstruction is completed, those areas will be restored with topsoil and seed. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to water the seed for the seed to germinate. Prior to road resurfacing, residents will be notified via street signage for street parking restrictions. For additional project information, view the Capital Project Dashboard here.

The decision by the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board to discontinue the Panorama survey has ignited controversy, and the attention of Indianapolis media.

Rachel Fradette, education reporter for the Indianapolis Star, did a deep dive about the vote and its aftermath in a story posted to the IndyStar Web site Thursday.  She went over the comments made during the meeting and how board members cast their votes.

The HSE Schools released a statement Thursday addressed to “HSE Families and Staff.”  The statement says the HSE district has “previously used the survey to gauge student growth, which informs building staff about what services and supports are needed to increase academic success. The survey also fulfilled requirements set by the Indiana Department of Education as part of yearly school improvement plans.”

The statement goes on to say HSE Schools “will begin the process of evaluating other ways to gather this important data and will share any updates with you as we learn more.”

The board voted 4-3 Wednesday night to discontinue the Panorama Survey, despite the fact that the district has paid $152,000 in advance for surveys for the next 2-and-a-half years that will not be conducted by Panorama.  The district has conducted only one of the surveys from that contract.

Fishers One, a local political group that supported the four school board candidates that won seats on the board in last year’s election, issued a statement Thursday applauding the board vote.

Here is the full text of the HSE Schools statement issued Thursday:

Dear HSE Families and Staff:

 As previously communicated to you, the Panorama survey was scheduled to be given later this month to better understand students’ experiences in our schools. We have conducted this bi-annual survey since 2019.

 During last night’s regularly scheduled Board of School Trustees meeting, the board voted to cease the use of Panorama in our schools, effectively immediately.

 HSE teachers, administrators and school counselors have previously used the survey to gauge student growth, which informs building staff about what services and supports are needed to increase academic success. The survey also fulfilled requirements set by the Indiana Department of Education as part of yearly school improvement plans.

 We will begin the process of evaluating other ways to gather this important data and will share any updates with you as we learn more.

 Thank you in advance for your understanding as we all work together to provide the best educational opportunities and supports for all students.  

 Sincerely,

 HSE Schools

When Harry Delks decided to retire as the person in charge of facilities and maintenance at HSE Schools after 22 years, everyone wondered, who would replace him?  The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board officially approved Matt Rapp to replace Mr. Delks Wednesday night.

Matt Rapp has a varied background, having overseen facilities at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis and worked for Indianapolis Public Schools, overseeing the large campus that is Arsenal Technical (Tech) High School.  He is a Navy veteran.

The Panorama Survey will be discontinued by a vote of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night, but the school district may be on the hook for $152,000 already paid to the firm for the remainder of the contract. The vote was 4-3, with Ben Orr, Tiffany Pascoe, Juanita Albright and Suzanne Thomas casting votes to discontinue use of the survey.  Board President Dawn Lang, Sarah Donsbach and Sarah Parks-Reese voted against the measure.

The motion offered by Suzanne Thomas calls for discontinuing the use of the Panorama Survey, asking for legal review of the payment situation as part of the termination process and requiring the HSE Schools staff to come up with a survey internally.

“You’re making a motion to discontinue use (of the Panorama Survey) and we paid over $150,000 for a two-and-a-half year agreement, where the termination clause in the agreement says the only way we can terminate it is through a breach, which Panorama has not done, so we are going to pay $152,000 for something that should only cost us $61,000 a year,” said Sarah Donsbach.   Then, the district staff will need to spend more money and supply a new survey internally that will not be vetted, peer reviewed, researched and reliable, according to Donsbach.

Assistant Superintendent Matt Kegley said the board approved the Panorama contract in February of 2022 for two-and-a-half years.  Kegley said he had contacted legal counsel and there is nothing in the contract allowing the school district to recoup funds, unless Panorama chose to do that, because HSE Schools would be breaking the contract and Panorama has their money from the district up-front.

The Panorama Survey is a national survey given in the past to HSE students measuring a number of issues, in line with Indiana state requirements.  Any internally-created survey put together by HSE Schools staff would be required to conduct any survey meeting state guidelines.  Parents were allowed to opt-out of the last survey cycle and less than 5% of HSE families chose the survey opt-out.

John Weingardt is back once again as President of the Fishers City Council.  I sat down with John and we talked about a number of issues in this podcast.

March is a busy month in Fishers because the Advisory Committee on Disabilities is having a number of events for Disability Awareness Month.  Cecilia Coble and Kelly Hartman are co-chairing the celebration and join me in this podcast.

As many parts of Fishers have seen development, the area north and west of 96th Street on the city’s southwest side has had several proposals that have fallen flat in the past.  Tuesday morning, CRG Residential and the City of Fishers celebrated a ground breaking ceremony for the $135 million River Place project at 96th Street and Allisonville Road.

The plans call for 381 luxury apartments, 81 for-sale townhomes proposed to be built by Pulte Group, and 35,000-square-feet of mixed-use space. Construction begins this month with plans for move-in ready units in 2024. In addition to construction, CRG Residential will be supporting the city’s effort to re-configure the intersection from a Michigan Left to a roundabout, which will commence this spring with an anticipated completion date of the end of 2023.

The city plans a park along the White River, which Mayor Scott Fadness says will be financed through a READI grant provided by the State of Indiana.