It has been a banner year for the Fishers High School (FHS) Marching Tiger Band.

The group placed 12th in the nation at the Bands of America Grand Nationals Finals in early November, competing with a total of 92 marching bands and some 15,000 students. They made their biggest appearance to date as the “Santa Band” in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

FHS was one of six high school bands selected to perform in the event. Of the 260+ band members that performed, 70+ were juniors and seniors, 190+ were sophomores and below.

Band Director Chad Kohler appeared Wednesday night before the Hamilton Southeastern School Board with some band members.  The students all talked about their experiences seeing Broadway productions, going to the Radio City Music Hall, seeing the Statue of Liberty and many other activities during their time in New York City.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has awarded Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools a $750,000 grant to establish an employer-sponsored child care program.  HSE’s Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling told the HSE School Board Wednesday night such a plan would be cost neutral to the district with a return on investment of 13%.

Any child care system would serve not just teachers but all HSE Schools workers, for children ages 6 weeks through pre-school age.  Abby Taylor, President of the local teachers union, spoke in favor of such a program because it would bring child care closer to the work place and eliminate logistical problems of dropping off and picking up children at day care centers throughout the area.

The only cost to the district would be some minor school building alterations, which would be financed through existing bonds.

The grant must be expended by the end of this calendar year.

Next steps include putting together an implementation team and finding a child care coordinator or consultant.  An employee survey will be conducted to gauge demand.  Potential facilities will be evaluated and a operations structure established.

HSE School Board members expressed support for a child care program.

Dawn Lang may no longer be President of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board, but she provided the update Wednesday night on the search for a new superintendent.

There are still 5 finalists for the job, and each has completed a first round of interviews.  The second round of interviews will soon be underway.  The board has had, and is scheduled to continue, a number of executive sessions interviewing superintendent candidates.

The timetable continues to be offering a superintendent contract in late January – early February.  Lang cited state law requiring the superintendent’s contract to be posted publicly for 10 days prior to a public hearing on that pact.  Although the contract will likely be hammered out in February, the report date for the new superintendent will be negotiable, but not later than June 30 of this year.

I began covering the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board in January of 2012.  At first, regular meetings were on Monday nights and work sessions started at 7:30am.

Later, administrators asked that regular board meetings be moved from Monday to Wednesday evenings and it has been that way for many years.

Wednesday night, the board voted to move up the meeting time by one hour.  The evening meetings have started at 7pm since I began covering HSE Board meetings in 2012.  Future regular evening board sessions will begin at 6pm.

Board members said the earlier start time was requested by school administrators.

After serving as Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board President during 2023, Dawn Lang handed the gavel to fellow board member Juanita Albright as president of the board for 2024.  The vote to approve Albright as board president was 5-2, with Sarah Donsbach and Sarah Parks-Reese voting no.

Ben Orr will serve as vice president of the board and Suzanne Thomas will be the board secretary.

Also, as part of the consent agenda, the board approved the resignation of Michelle Brittain-Watts.  Ms. Brittain-Watts had served as Executive Director of Secondary Education for HSE Schools since June of 2021.

The Fishers Arts & Culture Commission has a job to do in 2024, sorting out 26 grant requests totaling $173,000.  The Commission is provided a $60,000 annual budget from the Fishers City Council to support the arts locally.  There is also another fund that the Commission has for supporting the local arts, totaling more than $151,000.  The $60,000 from the City Council must be spent in 2024, with any remaining funds at the end of the year going into the city’s general fund.  The more than $151,000 fund continues year-to-year.

The Commission now has the job of reviewing each funding request and evaluating which projects will be funded and in what amounts.  Each Commission member will be evaluating each request.  You can review the requests at this link.

In one other item, Jocelyn Vare was elected to serve as the Commission’s Chairperson in 2024.  Angie Frazier will serve as Vice President.

When entering the room Tuesday covering the Fishers Armed Forces Commission meeting, there was an air in the room that something was about to happen.  Secrecy was important because Commission Member Eddie Rivers was about to have a big surprise.

His family was hidden from him at the start of the session, then Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness joined Police Chief Ed Gebhart, Eddie’s family, along with many others, into the meeting room.

Governor Eric Holcomb issued the Sagamore of the Wabash award to Eddie Rivers.  This has been described as the highest regular honor to bestow upon a citizen of Indiana.  It harkens back to  Algonqian language American Indiana tribe, where the term “Sagamore” is used to describe a lower chief or a leader among the tribe to whom the true chief would look for advice and wisdom.

There were indications from those in the room that House Speaker Todd Huston may have had a hand in Governor Holcomb’s decision to award the Sagamore of the Wabash Award to Eddie Rivers.

Mr. Rivers is a West Point graduate and holds a degree in Jurisprudence from the Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law. He is currently a business owner and is  involved in Kids Voice of Indiana.

Once the award ceremony was complete, the Commission meeting continued, with one item worth mentioning.  A military Field of Honor is being planned in an area near the under-construction City Hall/Arts Center.  There will be announcements coming soon on how local people and organizations will be able to financially support this project,

Mayor Scott Fadness remarked that going to a music concert is different these days, because rather than looking at the stage, the audience seems tied to their cell phones.  Realizing this, the city approved a contract Tuesday morning with Airwavz Solution.  The firm will provide cell service for those in attendance at the new Fishers Events Center, scheduled to open in November of this year.  This is a 10-year pact that can  be extended.  The pact will be cover physical equipment, network design, installation, and licensee maintenance, resulting in an operational expense of $16,665/month.

In other actions taken at the Tuesday morning Board of Works session:

–Contracts are now in place for the development of art on the Nickel Plate Trail.

–The Health Department has a new contract for marketing and communication services.

–The city has a new contract with Key Bank for lockbox services, processing paper check payments.

–The city has a $707,617.50 contract with Miller Pipeline to rehabilitate approximately 2,000 feet of sanitary interceptor sewer using cured-in-place pipe. This also includes manhole rehabilitation. This rehabilitation project focuses on large diameter concrete pipe in the collection system in two locations: Sunblest Blvd/ Allisonville Road and parallel to Lantern Road north of 106th Street.

–The city agreed to continue upgrades to its Internet service and cloud computing capabilities.

The Hamilton County Commissioners are making news in a couple of ways Tuesday.

First, Mark Heirbrandt has been elected 2024 President of the Hamilton County Commissioners.  Under Indiana law, most Indiana counties have 3 elected county commissioners, that act as mayors for the counties.  In Hamilton County, the Commissioners traditionally rotate the role of president.  Commissioner Steve Dillinger served as president in 2023 and will serve as vice president in 2024.  The third commissioner, Christine Altman, has served as president in past years.

Secondly, the Commissioners are asking for input on how to spend the county’s share of a national settlement with the pharmaceutical industry.

Below is the text of a Hamilton County news release detailing what the county plans:

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The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, in collaboration with the Hamilton County Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (HCCOAOD), has opened a Request for Funding (RFF) for the National Opioid Settlement Grant Program. This initiative aims to provide support for evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and other services related to substance use disorders. 

The State of Indiana will receive $507 million as a part of the $26 billion national settlement with Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors – and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids. Hamilton County will receive a total of $10,261,773.96 in annual allocations through 2038.  

County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt emphasized the importance of community collaboration, stating, “We’re hopeful these grant dollars will allow us to break out of the ineffective silos we’ve been working in for so long and encourage our community to work collaboratively toward a community-driven response to substance use disorders.” 

The HCCOAOD and its nine-member Board of Directors will oversee the community grant award process. Executive Director Monica Greer offered these tips to interested applicants, “The settlement is giving us some freedom to choose new ideas without the similar restraints we’re accustomed to, so we encourage organizations to bring forth innovative proposals that will make a lasting impact. We look forward to reviewing proposals that demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as a sustainable impact beyond the funding period.” 

There will be two rounds of funding. Submissions for the first round are due Friday, February 23 at 4:30 p.m. Awards will be announced Friday, March 22. Projects must run from Monday, April 1, 2024 through Monday, March 31, 2025. Proposals for the second round of funding will be due Friday, August 23 at 4:30 p.m. Awards will be announced Friday, September 20. Projects must run from Tuesday, October 1, 2024, through Tuesday, September 30, 2025. 

The HCCOAOD Board will evaluate proposals based on the criteria outlined in the RFF, with final funding decisions made by the Board of Commissioners. Award recipients do not need to be located in Hamilton County, but all services funded by the grants must be provided in Hamilton County. All award recipients are required to submit quarterly program outcome reports until project completion. Funding will be distributed on a reimbursement basis. 

Interested organizations should submit proposals to Monica Greer via email (monica.greer@hamiltoncounty.in.gov). The subject line of the email should read “Hamilton County Opioid Settlement RFF.” 

The construction work at 146th Street and Allisonville Road continues into the new year.  The next traffic pattern shift is expected sometime early this year, according to officials at the Hamilton County Highway Department.

Below you will find the latest updates on the construction, as provided by the county:

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