As we near the July 29th & 30th inaugural Spark!Fishers Festival, Mayor Scott Fadness says the city will be providing cash support to the first year event.

In a podcast interview recorded Monday morning, Mayor Fadness says in the first year of the Spark!Fishers Festival, he expects the cash contribution by the city to be similar to the amount provided in the past to the Fishers Freedom Festival.

“Keep in mind that this is our first year,” the mayor said. “There’s some heavy lifting to get it up and running, but even the fact that they are holding it to one day brings down our in-kind costs, because if you look back in the day when we had to have police, fire and public works out there for two full days, that really started racking-up on overtime bills for the work that we did.”

Fishers Parks and Recreation Director Tony Elliot told me during the same podcast recording session that he expects those involved with the festival will learn a lot the first year and become more efficient in subsequent years.

“I’ve served on the sponsor committee and we’ve learned a lot,” said Elliot.

City Councilman John Weingardt said in a podcast interview last week that he expects the Spark!Fishers Festival to have “very minimal” cash support from the city, but did say he had not seen the numbers.

In 2017, the Fishers Freedom Festival received $45,000 in cash support from the city and $45,000 in in-kind support.  In-kind support is from the city departments, such as police, fire and public works.

Parks Director Elliot, in the same podcast recording session, described a very different Geist  “Blast On The Bridge” this year.  The July 4th celebration will no longer close-off the Geist bridge at roughly 4pm, as in past years, instead concentrating on the local restaurants in that area.

The bridge will close at 8pm this July 4th so people can gather to watch the fireworks display at 10pm.

Finally, when asking about the IKEA-sponsored Maternity Lounge at the festival, Mayor Fadness mentioned his wife Aunna may take advantage of that.  Scott & Aunna Fadness are expecting their second child in late August, and, according to the mayor, their second child will be a boy.

You can listen to my podcast cited above at this link.

Pickleball players packed the Fishers City Hall council chambers Monday afternoon to support more Pickleball courts at Cyntheanne Park.  The players, many from the Britton Falls neighborhood but others as well, told the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety about the high demand for the four Pickelball courts already in place.

The Pickleball advocates want the city to add four new courts, but only one bid was received for two courts, none for the option of four additional courts.  Myers Construction, the firm that constructed the current four courts, was the only bidder.  The board awarded the contract for two courts to Myers.

Although only two new Pickleball courts were approved Monday, Mayor Scott Fadness promised to try and find the money for the additional two courts.

Fadness said he would “look at our donations account, continue to try find as much money as we can.  If we can put two more (Pickleball courts) in we will.”

The city could use the current bidding process to add courts later in the year.  If funding goes into 2019, the bidding process starts anew.

In other items approved at the Monday Board of Works meeting:

–The Kincaid House move from its current location along I-69 to a nearby roundabout was okayed through a complex set of legal moves resulting in the relocation to a nearby roundabout.

–Pricing changes for rental contracts at the Ambassador House and Saxony Hall gained approval.  The prices will be reduced due to efficiencies implemented by the city.

–The board officially approved the intersection changes already implemented at 126th Street and Reynolds Drive.

–A supplemental one-year agreement with RQAW for management services in the State Road 37 construction project received board approval.

There are numerous reports of a gun discharging at the IKEA store in Fishers…it appears no one was hurt…..here is the latest from WISH-TV, at this link.

The TigerONE sports booster club for Fishers High School handed out scholarships to FHS students at their May 16th Awards Night.  All the award-winners had GPAs of 4.0 or higher, were judged to have made outstanding contributions in their respective sports, were leaders on their athletic teams and had demonstrated academic achievements as well.

The winners of $500 scholarships each were:

Julia Drozd: Julia was Captain of the Volleyball team her senior year and All
county honorable mention and received the Sportsmanship award her junior
year. She has a 4.60 GPA and graduated summa cum laude; is a member of the
National Honor Society, founder and chapter president of the DECA Business
Club, one of Fishers High School’s representatives at Hoosier Girls State and
also served as the Senior Class President.

• Danielle Harrison: Danielle was a two sport athlete in Track and Field and
Competitive Cheerleading. She was captain of the Girls Track & Field team three
out of four years; competed at the State track meet every year and has six state
medals as a finisher in the top nine within three different events. She also has
multiple school records. Danielle also was a varsity competitive cheerleader,
Captain of the squad and has been a part of two state championships all while
maintaining a 4.16 GPA; she is a member of the National Honor Society and was
the recipient of the prestigious Wendy’s Heisman Scholarship.

• Teegan Heiniger: Teegan was a two sport athlete in Wrestling and Lacrosse.
He was team captain for the wrestling team for two years; received the Iron Man
award and was Academic All-State his junior and senior year. He also was the
Team Leader for Lacrosse. He has been a volunteer at his church for 10 years
and has been on numerous humanitarian trips here and abroad serving others.
He has a 4.34 GPA and graduated summa cum laude.

• Sam Kuhn: Sam was a three sport athlete in Cross Country, Track and Field
and Swimming. In Cross Country, he earned four varsity letters, was All-County
and All-Conference in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and Academic All-State in 2016 and
2017. He was Honorable Mention All-State in 2015 and All-State in 2017. He
also won the Tiger Leadership Award in 2017. In Track and Field, he earned four
varsity letters, was Second Team All-County in 2017 and was Academic All-State
in 2017. In his third sport, swimming and diving, he earned four varsity letters and
was All-County in 2016 and 2017. He participated in Riley Dance Marathon for
three years and still had an incredible 4.61 GPA.

The TigerONE Board awarded over $18,000 in grants to 18 different Fishers High School athletic teams.

TigerONE Team Grants included the following:

• Donation to help pay for CONNEX COMMAND CENTER communication sets to
Football
• 12 sets of pinnacle Nike practice gear to Boys Basketball
• Foam rollers, Agility Ladder, Mini-Banks and a Ball Cart to Girls Basketball
• Donation to help pay for the Hack Attack pitching machine to Baseball
• Crossover symmetry strength band system to Softball
3
• Donation to help defray player and travel costs for the National Invitation
Tournament in Kansas City to Rugby
• Range Finder, Scorecard holders and FHS Golf poker chips to Boys and Girls
Golf
• Nike Training Bibs, Nike Club Team Swoosh Ball Bags, Kwik Goal Speed
Ladders, Disc Cone Sets, Weighted GK Training Balls, Speed training hurdles
and new Soccer Balls to Boys Soccer
• Deep tissue muscle equipment for exercises/training including foam leg rollers,
deep muscle rolling sticks, spiky half yoga balls and new soccer balls to Girls
Soccer
• Four Pop-Up Backstops to Girls Lacrosse
• Four Pop-Up Backstops to Boys Lacrosse
• Track equipment including cones, small hurdles, stopwatches and shot puts to
Unified Track
• New video camera & tripod and Hauppauge HD Recorder to Volleyball
• Donation to help pay for permanent chain link fence slats to Boys and Girls
Tennis
• Cross training equipment and medicine balls to Girls Cross Country
• Mat repair supplies to Wrestling

TigerOne has awarded $110,000 in scholarships since group’s creation in 2013

As I post this, the Spark!Fishers Festival is just a matter of days away.  What are we to expect from this new festival?  I spoke with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness and Parks Director Tony Elliot about the new summer celebration….

I have never owned my own business, but I did work as a manager twice in the private sector and once with the federal government.  I found a lot has been written about perks employees want.  I found an outstanding article on this subject in the latest Indianapolis Business Journal opinion supplement, Forefront.

The piece was written by John McDonald, CEO of Clear Object, a tech firm headquartered in downtown Fishers.  He cites five things that employers can offer, that their workers will value, and they all cost no money at all.

The first item listed is the program called “flexible work schedules.”  Under this plan, employees work the same number of hours each week, they just set their own schedules.  I have seen this work very successfully, particularly during my days with the federal government.

The second may be a bit more controversial, unlimited vacation time.  McDonald argues that employees tend to take the same amount of time-off as provided in strict company vacation rules.  He says when employees know they can take time off when they genuinely need it, trust is created between employee and employer.

The third is paid time-off for volunteer and community service work.  This provides employees with a balance in their lives and benefits the workers’ local community.

The fourth item may be the most important – managers actively supporting professional growth within their work force.  While a federal government manager, I placed a high priority on developing my employees so they would be competitive when openings were available.  Once I had a reputation for getting my own people promoted, I had tons of applicants for any job listing within my own shop.  I learned first-hand the benefits of providing opportunities for advancement.

The final item is providing a safe place to fail.  That was a little harder to do in the government setting, but I tried not to be heavy-handed when employees did fail on the job, emphasizing learning from any mistakes and failures, then moving forward with a better outlook.  The tech world is definitely tuned into this.  When there is a fear of failure, innovation suffers.

I would recommend you read John McDonald’s Forefront piece in full.  I could not agree with him more that employers can provide important benefits to their workers with little or no cost.    You can read his article at this link.    (NOTE:  If you are not an IBJ subscriber, you may be limited on the number of articles you may access for free)

The Spark!Fishers Festival will be using up a lot of space and motorists need to be aware of temporary street closures in the downtown area Saturday, June 30th.

All that information, plus updates on a number of other projects throughout the Fishers area, is listed below, as provided by the city:

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• 116th Street between Municipal Drive and Lantern Road (reopens at 9 a.m.)
• Entire Municipal Complex (reopens at 11:59 p.m.)
• Maple from North Street to 116th Street (reopens at 11:59 p.m.)
• North Street from Lantern to Municipal (reopens at 11:59 p.m.)

Full street closures beginning at 7 a.m.

• 116th Street between Holland Drive and Municipal Drive (reopens at 9 a.m.)
• Lantern Road between 116th Street and 126th Street (reopens at 9 a.m.)
• 126th Street between Lantern Road and Saksons Blvd (reopens at 9 a.m.)
• Saksons Blvd/Holland Drive between 126th Street and 116th Street (reopens at 9 a.m.)

Lane restrictions beginning at 5 p.m.

• Technology Drive (reopens at 9 p.m.)

Full street closures beginning at 6 p.m.

• Lantern Road between 116th Street and Sunblest Blvd (reopens at 10 p.m.)
• Holland Park Drive to Ellipse Parkway to Sunblest Blvd. (reopens at 10 p.m.)
• 116th Street from Lantern Road to Holland Park Drive (reopens at 10:30 p.m.)

This Week, Adam & Larry review a very different film in the genre of horror and paranormal, Hereditary.  Our guest is Bob Swanay, Director of the Carmel-Clay Library

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Is a new public safety local income tax in our future? It is not certain, but there is talk among political leaders that such a tax might be the answer to funding the very important and expensive 911 communications operation.

Most folks probably don’t pay a great deal of attention to how 911 is funded. Currently the countywide operation, housed at the county sheriff’s department, costs about $9.2 million per year, according to county auditor’s records. About $3.6 million of that comes from a user tax levied on telephone subscribers. The other $5.6 million is paid by the cities of Noblesville, Carmel, Westfield, Fishers and county government.

County officials have been seeking to have the other smaller communities in Adams, Jackson, White River and Wayne townships pay their shares of the expense. For budget year 2019 there has been no agreement reached. For next year only, county commissioners are asking only a token amount of 10 percent of a smaller units’ obligation in 2019.

But, for the following year something new is expected to be implemented. And, the speculation centers around an increase in the countywide Local Income Tax. State law allows one quarter of one percent of individual income to be levied for public safety purposes.

In Hamilton County that would raise about $35 million. That figure is far in excess of the current 911 annual costs, so officials could be expected to reduce the $35 million potential collection to current and then subsequent inevitably rising needs of the 911 communications operation.

All those figures may sound confusing, but we can assume local officials and their advisers will calculate needs and wants in the coming year if the political climate appears to allow proceeding.

At present the Local Income Tax of one percent on individual income is the saving grace for local government, bringing in more than $140 million countywide for the participating units of government. Because average county incomes are high, the income tax now exceeds the property tax in public revenue.

One might think that within all that money, the $5.6 million needed for 911 could somehow be found. We will have to wait and see, but it is a matter that bears watching because it seems all taxes start out small.

There is another candidate for Hamilton Southeastern School Board and his name is Brad Banks.  He plans to file for the District 4 seat now held by Terry Tolle…board member Tolle says he will not seek another term.

Banks grew up in Marion, Indiana, received his Communications degree from Purdue and earned his degree in law from Valparaiso University in 2000.  He worked in the prosecutor’s offices in Hamilton and Marion Counties, then opened a private law practice with partner Adam Brower on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

His campaign issues are shown as an acronym, SAFE.  That stands for Security, Academics, Facilities and Extracurricular.

Candidate Banks says Security means providing a safe and secure place for students and teachers.  Academics means every student should have the best possible learning experience.  In Facilities, Banks pledges to work diligently in maintaining and expanding school facilities in a prudent, financially responsible manner.  In Extracurricular, the candidate says these activities build bonds between local students and their schools.

Brad Banks has been married to his wife, Jenny, for 19 years. They have two children, Trevor, 13, and Sydney, 9. Trevor will be an 8th grader at HIJH and Sydney will be a 4th grader at Thorpe Creek Elementary. Jenny and Brad have called Fishers home since 2003. The Banks family has resided in the 4th school board district of HSE the entire 15 years they have lived in Fishers. The family has had homes in the Royalwood, Avalon, and now Silverton neighborhoods.

HSE School Board District 4 takes-in all of Wayne Township, and a large part of northeast and far eastern Fishers.  Candidates begin their official filings with the Hamilton County Election Office beginning July 25th.  The HSE School Board election will be part of the general election set for November 6th.