Teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School System will receive a raise in pay this school year after the HSE School Board ratified a new one-year contract with the HSE Education Association.  Janet Chandler, President of the Association, told LarryInFishers most of the school district’s teachers will receive a 2.17% raise in salary under the new pact.  Teachers with more experience, higher in the step pay ladder, will receive a 2.71% increase in pay. Beginning teachers will see their pay go up by 6.12%.  Chandler says beginning teachers have not seen any raise in a number of years.  Teachers in the district have already ratified the contract.

In other school board news from the August 24th session….

Superintendent Allen Bourff introduced Sneha Shah to the board.  She will be leading the political action committee charged with advocating for the school tax referendum projected to be on the May, 2016 election ballot.

The board approved a new policy that conforms with state law, allowing staff members in HSE Schools, but living outside the HSE school district boundaries, to allow their children to attend HSE Schools.

The board discussed goals discussed at their recent retreat, dealing with student academic opportunities, student services and the operating referendum next year.

The good news is the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety approved the city’s share of building an upgrade in the area of Reynolds Drive and 126th Street, just east of State Road 37.  The bad news is that the project cannot be bid until the summer of 2019.  City Director of Engineering Jeff Hill told board members the plan is to move the access to 126th Street from the Reynolds Drive area further east to Parkside, near the Primrose Day Care.  The city will be responsible for 10% of the costs for this project, estimated to be $145,500, with state and federal funds handling the rest of the funding.  The board approved the contract needed to move forward with the project.

The board also approved a contract for road improvements on Cyntheanne Road between 136th Street and Southeastern Parkway.  The city will be paying 20% of the cost in this project.  This road work is currently scheduled to be bid in July 2016.

The Hamilton County Surveyor’s office is petitioning the city to relocate Thorpe Creek so that damage to 136th Street does not continue to occur. Sinkholes within the road edges are forming due to erosion of the creek causing the road shoulders to sluff off into the creek.  The board approved the petition request.

The board approved Capitol City Fencing’s bid of $182,500 for the removal and replacement of the existing deteriorating cedar fencing along the 116th St corridor. The fence is located on the north and south sides of 116th street adjacent to Sunblest and Sunblest Countryview neighborhoods. It was installed in the late 1990’s when 116th Street was widened to 4 lanes. Age, rot, and deterioration have substantially increased maintenance costs and brought about the need for the replacement.  Because this fencing is on the city’s right of way, it is the city’s responsibility, according to Mayor Scott Fadness.

Mayor Fadness asked for an update on the road work on 131st Street between State Road 37 and Cumberland Road.  The mayor said the road appears a bit “disjointed.”  Jeff Hill said the work is about to wrap up on that project.  Hill said the road is “disjointed and odd” at the entrance to the apartment buildings and commercial areas.  Hill said the future conversion of the 131st Steet and Cumberland Road intersection to a roundabout can lead to some improvements elsewhere on 131st Street.  The mayor indicated he would like to look at road impact fee credits being used to shore up that part of 131st Street tied to any new commercial developments planned in that area.

 
The Pasta Bowl is set once again this year.  It’s a drive to get donations of pasta boxes for distribution to the many food pantries in the area.  You can contribute pasta by dropping your pasta boxes in a donation bin.  You may begin to see some bins in the coming days but all should be in place by September 8th.

Part of the drive will be held at the Mudsock Football Game featuring Fishers High School taking on its crosstown rival Hamilton Southeastern on September 11th,  but you will also find bins located in the following places:

Area Meier stores (the sponsor of this year’s drive)

Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation Buildings

Fishers Fire Stations

The Fishers YMCA

Fall Creek or Delaware Township Trustee’s Office.

This year will also feature competition between Fishers and HSE High Schools to see who can collect the most pasta.  This is the 3rd year for the Pasta Bowl food drive.  The goal is to collect 20,000 pounds of pasta.

Sometimes, you get very good ideas from your readers.  I have one reader that got on a roll Friday night.  The issue was school start times.

Here in Fishers, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School System starts school early in the later grades.  For example, High Schools, Junior Highs and Intermediate levels all start classes at 7:35 in the morning.  The elementary buildings start classes at 8:55am.

According to the latest scientific studies, 7:35am may be too early to start school.  That’s according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control released in early August and a policy statement issued last year by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

My reader sent me tons of articles based on these findings.  The bottom line is this….the science indicates start times for middle school to high school should be no earlier than 8:30am.

The reason for the recommendation by the experts is the impact early start times have on student achievement.  Earlier start times lead to less sleep….less sleep leads to reduced performance in schools.

It should be noted that a group of students made a presentation to the HSE School Board some time ago citing the American Academy of Pediatrics data and asking that school start times be changed.  The board listened but has so far taken no action.

It should be noted here that changing start times is not as easy as it may sound.  The entire school transportation network is based on starting school at the times we have now. Fishers is a growing suburb with major traffic jams during rush hours in the morning and evening, which makes school bus scheduling a vexing problem.

That is one major reason the school board cannot act quickly to address these scientific findings.  However, with the evidence mounting that late start times are better in the later grade levels, one wonders if the HSE administration and school board may consider changes in the future based on all the data we see now.

In the meantime, my reader will certainly keep me posted on Twitter about the latest on students and sleep.

Ashton Wolf lives in Fishers, and he has written a production set in Fishers.  He uses the music of the past, but also wrote a special song he describes as “patriotic” just for this production.

The musical is called Heartlight and it makes its debut at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater, behind Fishers City Hall, just off 116th Street, Saturday, August 29th at 8pm.  Admission is free, just remember to bring along your lawn chairs.

For more information about Heartlight, use this link.

The latest edition of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) is out this morning and there are two articles of interest to Fishers.

A front page piece from reporter JK Wall dissects a study conducted by BioCrossroads, an Indianapolis firm heavily into the life-sciences.  The upshot of the study says the suburban counties surrounding Indianapolis are picking up the most number of high-tech jobs.  The consulting  firm Battelle, based in Ohio, was contracted to do this study.  Wall points to the business startup incubator Launch Fishers and its most successful alum, BlueBridge Digital, which specializes in app development for nonprofits, as an example.  BlueBridge founder Santiago Jaramillo lives in Marion County, but gives Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness high marks in finding office space for his firm when the company was looking at space on Indy’s north side.  BlueBridge is now headquartered in Fishers and has grown from 8 employees to 34.

Here’s an interesting quote from Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard in Wall’s story. “When I was making presentations in San Diego, I talked as much about Indianapolis as I did Carmel. I’ve got to sell the entire region,” Brainard said. “Our competition isn’t Indianapolis or Fishers; our competition is really across the globe.”

The second story comes from Lindsey Erdody which quotes a number of economic development people on how Carmel’s progress toward a human rights ordinance specifying LGBT people as a protected class may give Carmel a leg up in the economic development race.  Erdody mentions how Fishers quickly passed a resolution April 1st of this year when the Religious Freedom & Restoration Act (RFRA) debate was raging in the Indiana General Assembly making clear that Fishers is open for everyone.  But she also adds that Zionsville has created a human rights commission to handle discrimination complaints.  Mayor Scott Fadness recently told LarryInFishers that he and Fishers City Attorney Chris Greisl have been working on a human rights ordinance but he wants to be careful to set up a process that works.  Bottom line, Erdody’s reporting indicates just having a human rights ordinance at the drafting stage is giving Carmel an advantage over other suburban Indy communities, including Fishers, in the race to attract economic development prospects.

If you subscribe to the IBJ, I would encourage you to read these two articles.  I cannot link to them because they are protected by a paywall online.

Many of us in Fishers are very health conscious and some of us work out on a regular basis. I’m willing to wager that most of us, even the ones working out religiously, never work out like a firefighter doing physical training.

If you think you can handle it, the Fishers Fire Department is giving you an opportunity to work out alongside our local firefighters.

It all happens Tuesday, August 25th, 6 pm.  Lifetime Fitness trainers and Fishers Fire Department Peer Fitness trainers will be there to help you work out like a firefighter. Held at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater, participants will pull hose, drag dummies, and hit the Kaiser Sled to get just a taste of what firefighters train for.

If you dare, try to work on the fire ready body with burpies, pushups, sit-ups, overhead shoulder press and more.

Here’s a quote from the Fire Department news release:

“You may not be ready to run into a fire when you complete this workout, but you’ll look good while calling 911 to get your Fishers Firefighters on the scene of your emergency.”

The public is invited, but you must be 18 to perform Firefighter exercises.  No pre-registration is required.

For the sake of full disclosure, I am a fan of the Blues.  It is a special niche in the kaleidoscope of American music genres.  That makes me very excited about Labor Day weekend 2015 in Fishers

Labor Day weekend features a celebration of The Blues in Fishers.  It all starts with Blues on the Beach at Saxony Lake Friday, September 4th.  The Zach Day Band and Full Throttle will provide the music. Freedom Kayak Adventures will be renting kayaks, paddle boards and pedal boats for residents to use. Food trucks will be on site during the event.  The party is from 7pm to 9pm.

On Saturday, September 5th, you are invited to the Sun King Brewery Blues Festival Pre-Party at the Fishers Tap Room on 96th Street, from 2pm to 5pm.  You can register to win a $100 prize pack or a free tasting for ten. The winner will be announced at 5 p.m. so you will have plenty of time to move on to the next event.

That next Saturday event will be the 3^rd Annual Blues Fest presented by J and J Winery.  It takes place from 6pm to 10pm at the Nickel Plate District amphitheater and includes six live performances during the festival.​   Blues Fest acts will include:

Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel

Naptown Revue

Storm Cellar

Queen Delphine & The Crown Jewels

Bulletproof Soul Band w/ Tony Cheeseborough

Gene Deer and The Governor Davis Band.

The festival plans to honor local blues legend, Governor Davis.

More information on the Fishers Blues Fest can be found at this link.

The Fishers Fire Department has been very successful with its “We Care” program, which follows up on medical procedures, using city paramedics, for local residents opting into the program.  Now local firefighters are talking to departments in Ohio about the success of the Fishers program.

Division Chief Steve Davison, Lieutenant Joe Harding and Lieutenant Josh Mehling all traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio August 21st to brief fire departments in our neighboring state to the east about We Care.

State lawmakers in the Buckeye State recently enacted new statutes allowing their local fire departments to establish their own programs like We Care.

The We Care program in Fishers has been in place for nearly a year.

There are ongoing road projects continuing in Fishers, plus some new ones, scheduled for the work week beginning Monday, August 24th.  The full list from the city is below:

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Lantern and Commercial Intersection

Continuing the week of August 24th, lane shifts and restrictions will be in place as construction progresses. Lantern Road will be closed between North Street and Commercial Drive. During this time traffic on Commercial Drive will reduce to one lane each direction in the west bound lane. This will remain in effect until mid-September. On August 29th, Commercial Drive will be closed to allow for
placement of storm pipes. The August 29th closure will only be for the weekend.

Lantern Road

Lantern Road between 96th Street and 106th Street will have temporary lane restrictions the week of August 24. Flaggers will be onsite to help direct traffic.

Windermere

Continuing through the week of August 24, temporary lane restrictions should be expected along Windward Pass and Stillwater Court.

116th Street and I-69 Northbound Exit Ramp

On Thursday, August 27 the northbound exit ramp located at 116th Street and I-69 will be closed from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. During the time flaggers will be on site to help direct traffic, but residents are encouraged to travel alternate routes during this time.

131st Street
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A lane shift will still be in place along 131st Street between Parkside and Cumberland Road, with possible stop and go traffic as they pave the new south lane. Flaggers will be onsite to help direct traffic. Surfacing will continue onto 131st Street, and traffic will be interrupted during that time. For updates on this project be sure to follow @DriveFishers on Twitter.