A normal mid-summer list of road construction in and around Fishers as July leaves us and August appears.
Below is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:
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Continue reading Fishers area road construction update for the work week starting Monday, July 29
Perhaps it is because I began working in journalism during the mid-to-late 1970s, the post-Watergate era, that I am sometimes skeptical about certain things. If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know I have written often about ranking cities.
I do respect Money Magazine’s listing of the best places to live in America, having looked at how they do the rankings. There is credibility there. In 2017, Fishers was named by Money as the best place to live in America.
There are plenty of news and other organizations that have put themselves into the game of ranking cities as to their “livability.” A Web site that specializes in such rankings, Livability.com, has just come out with new rankings and Fishers is listed as the number 4 place in the nation for livability. By the way, our neighbor to the west, Carmel, was ranked number one.
I often do not report on most such rankings because there is no way, in my mind, to measure the most important ingredient in assessing any local community – the intangibles that do not show up in any set of measurable data points.
I do find Livability.com has a good measuring system, so that is why I am writing about this ranking. Fishers should be happy with this high ranking nationally.
In its assessment of Fishers, Livability.com cites “affordable homes, good health care and a diverse business sector, and transportation assets include Interstate 69. The highly regarded Hamilton Southeastern School District has more than 21,000 students, and recreation attractions include Geist Reservoir, 14 parks, and 85 miles of trails and greenways.”
For more on how Livability.com measured Fishers s #4 in the nation, use this link.
The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board always has a meeting early in the month, and lists a second session in the month as optional. The board opted not to meet in late July.
However, members of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) decided to picket the school administration building as a message that the local teachers’ union is not pleased with how the current board and administration are handling relations with teachers and HSEA.
In the video linked above, HSEA President Abby Taylor tells those assembled that HSE Schools did not properly handle responses to the HSEA’s filing of an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) which extends the time to process the action. Taylor did say school officials claim HSEA “misinterpreted” comments by school administrators. Taylor says the union has documented comments from school officials that are fairly clear and would be unlikely misconstrued.
The ULP alleges that the current administration has created a toxic work environment at HSE Schools.
In the video above, an official with the Columbus, Indiana, teachers’ union spoke in support of HSEA. Also on hand for the picketing was Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) President Keith Gambill.
In the video linked above, Taylor deals with emergency vehicles speeding to a response on Cumberland Road, but kept on with her comments.
The recommended Fishers trash collection bid from Republic calls for a $16.39 monthly charge for residential service in 2025, and by the 10th year of the contract, the cost per month will be $26.89.
“The $26.89 amount is substantially lower than…about 50 per cent of residents are currently paying,” says Mayor Fadness’ Chief of Staff Jordin Alexander.
Think about that. In year 10 of the Republic contract, year 2035, that rate is lower than about half of what Fishers homes are paying for residential trash collection service now.
A public hearing is set for August 13 on the recommendation from city staff to award the city-wide trash collection contract to Republic. I do expect a large crowd and the Board of Public Works and Safety will move its meeting to the small conference room on the third floor of City Hall to the theater, with a lot of additional seats.
I was writing this blog in 2023 when the Town of Fishers first proposed a trash service for all Fishers residents. The feedback was universally negative, basically telling Town of Fishers officials at that time they did not want the government telling them which trash service to use.
However, the cost of trash pickup in those days was much lower and there were many companies offering the service. When WM (formerly known as Waste Management) acquired Ray’s, that left just 2 trash services currently available to residential users currently – WM & Republic.
Most of the cities surrounding Fishers already have city-wide trash collection contracts. The increase in fees for this service has resulted in residents lobbying the city to start the process.
There are lots of details to explain. For example, if you are a snowbird leaving Fishers for more than a month in the winter season, you can stop your service temporarily and not be charged. There will be provisions for leaf and additional waste pickup twice a year.
The city has setup a section of their Web site dedicated just to the trash issue at this link.
I know this is a big issues with a number of people in Fishers wanting to save money on trash pickup. I will have more on this issue as the year moves along, with the expectation the new trash collection will be in place during January of 2025.
Kevin Stumpf teachers Social Studies and Tony Sturgeon is an English teacher, both at Fishers Junior High School. A City of Fishers Education Innovation Grant allowed the two to travel to Washington DC & Philadelphia, bringing back ideas for teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern School District.
I spoke with the teachers shortly after their return to Fishers.
The west side of 96th Street at the Allisonville Road construction site will close and the east side will remain open. That’s the word today from the City of Fishers
Here is the text of that message from the city:
After months of going through the process and negotiating over the final bid numbers, the Fishers administration, under Mayor Scott Fadness, is recommending Republic receive the 10-year trash collection contract for residential customers and city government. Priority had the lowest bid, but Republic already has about 60% of the residential customers in Fishers and would be ready to start the city-wide service in January of 2025.
The city would collect the monthly trash collection fee and Republic would provide customer service. Mayor Fadness says this gives the city some clout with the trash pickup provider that the city has not had in the past when residents run into service issues.
The residential rates are set with no ability for Republic to add a fuel surcharge during the 10-years of the contract. The mayor’s Chief of Staff Jordin Alexander says there are over 32,000 residential trash customers in the City of Fishers now, with some growth expected during the 10-year span of this contract.
Fadness says the rates may be a bit more than a few Homeowners Associations (HOAs) have now that are near the end of a multi-year pact, but Republic made it clear there would be big increases in rates once those contracts expire.
Those “snowbirds” that head south for the winter will be allowed to pause service while out of town.
There will be leaf and landscaping pickup in April and November each year, with 20 extra bags or bundles per week allowed per household of landscape waste.
Many more details are to come. The city plans a public hearing in August and will have other events to explain the proposed contract and answer questions. The City of Fishers has established a section of its Web site to the trash collection contract at this link.
The City Council will vote on the contract provisions later this year. The new rates could be effective as early as January of 2025.
Yesterday, I wrote that the 4 Hamilton County delegates to the Democratic National Convention were not available for comment following the announcement by President Biden he would not seek re-election to the presidency. President Biden then endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
With the Biden delegates free to vote for any candidate, I was curious how the HAMCO Democratic delegates were reacting to this news. Monday night, I got my answer.
The State Indiana Democratic Party announced that all 88 delegates to the national convention from the Hoosier State have committed to voting for VP Harris. That obviously includes the Hamilton County delegation.
I don’t write much about national politics on this blog, but we have already had plenty of unexpected developments in this presidential election cycle. There could be more ahead.
Yesterday was a Sunday, and as a mostly retired guy, I did what I do best on many early afternoons, take a nap. I was resting peacefully yesterday when my wife Jane burst into the room telling me Joe Biden had announced he will not seek another term.
In my lifetime, the closest I could recall to this was 1968 when Lyndon Johnson announced he was not seek another term in the White House. So this was an important day in American history.
After visiting my new granddaughter Maya, I came home and thought about the fact that all those delegates to the Democratic National Convention, beginning August 19, are no longer pledged to Joe Biden. I discovered there are 4 delegates from Hamilton County headed to Chicago for the convention.
Since they are no longer required to vote for Biden on the first ballot, what are their thoughts about this new reality? So far, I have not been able to contact any of those HAMCO Dem delegates. I suspect they are soaking in all this new information as are the rest of us.
Look like I need to time my naps better in the future.
I was married late in life at age 39 and became a father with twin daughters, Allison and Mary, born in my early 40s. I wondered whether I would ever know any of my grandchildren.
Let’s just say God has been good to me. Just days ago, my third grandchild was born, Maya Marie Cahill. My daughter Mary and her husband Tyler are proud parents and will bring Maya up the right way.
I am also happy for Tyler’s parents, DeOn and Jim Cahill. Maya is their first grandchild and Jane & I are so happy for them.
I had the chance to hold Maya the other day and she opened her eyes, looking at me. It was a special and emotional moment.
Now Jane & I have Dakota and Callie Lewis, along with Maya, as our three precious grandkids. We love them all so much.
And, thanks to the readers of this blog. When I posted the personal note that I would be away from blogging a bit, you were so generous with your comments. I have a special group of people reading this blog.