Mike Reuter, long-time Chief Financial Officer for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Corporation, was awarded a Key to the City by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness during the OneZone Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday.  Reuter has announced he will be retiring at the end of calendar year 2019.

Mayor Fadness recounted what a resource Reuter was to him 13 years ago when Fadness was an intern at the Town of Fishers trying to figure out municipal budgets.  Reuter has been a trusted financial resource for a number of municipalities in the area, including Fishers.

Reuter told the assembled crowd of over 700 that there were about 4,000 students in HSE Schools when he started there, and now the student count is at nearly 22,000.  He called HSE schools “a great place to be.”

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness sent out a Twitter message the day before delivering his State of the City address.  As he was putting the finishing touches on the speech, he wrote, “It looks to be a bit unconventional.”

Unconventional it was.  The mayor gave up a good deal of his allotted time to local school officials and his senior staff, to talk about what they are doing.  I don’t know many mayors that would give up most of his speaking time to others, but that’s what Scott Fadness did at the OneZone luncheon Wednesday.

The mayor was brief but to the point on what needs to be done in his second term – Indianapolis, as a metropolitan area, has problems, and those problems can be solved only if all local officials in the region are willing to be part of the solution.  Then the mayor reeled off a litany of data showing Indianapolis metro as behind a number of other regions.

For example, the Indy area ranks very low in public health, quality of life, higher education, health and environment, smoking and mental health.

Fadness called on local officials in the Indianapolis metropolitan area to “come together and work as a region to tackle these…issues, not because it’s simply the right thing to do, but because every other region out there that we are competing against is already doing it.”

When companies look to relocate, Fadness says they do not look at a state, they look to a metropolitan area, such as Indianapolis.  The mayor compared the Indy area to other regions and our area does not fare well in data such as poverty levels and level of wages.  Based on that data, other areas, such as Nashville and Austin (Texas), have made progress on those areas, while during that same period, the Indianapolis region has been falling behind.

Fadness argues that a state measure, championed by local State Representative Todd Huston, would have allowed regions to “marshal revenue streams” for improving an entire metro area.  That bill did not pass during this year’s legislative session, but the mayor vows there will be an effort to enact the proposal in next year’s session of the Indiana General Assembly.

The mayor gave an example of how a cooperative effort between Fishers Police and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department IMPD) in processing evidence resulted in a number of matches for IMPD to follow, just in 90 days.

The mayor envisions a region speaking with “one collective voice” beyond what one city in central Indiana could accomplish.

“I’m committed to seeing this happen in my next term in office,” said Fadness, “not only because I think it’s the right thing to do, but it’s because I believe it is directly tied to the long-term success of of the city that I live in, the city I love, Fishers.”

The event was held in Noblesville at the Embassy Suites in the Hamilton Town Center area, near Fishers, because there is no facility in Fishers that could meet the space requirements in order to handle the size of the crowd.  OneZone Chamber President Mo Merhoff said there were 710 people at the luncheon.

Noblesville Deputy Mayor Steve Cooke poked some fun in remarks made at the event, because Fishers State of the City address was being held in Noblesville.

When summer is once again upon us, there is something everyone in the Fishers Community needs to understand – although we are a generally affluent city, there are many among us struggling to make ends meet.  Many students attending our local Hamilton Southeaster (HSE) School District will miss meals once school is out for the summer.

Families enrolled in the free or reduced lunch program will not be able to properly feed their youngsters during the summer months without help.  That’s where the Fishers Youth Assistance Program (FYAP) comes-in.

FYAP is looking to feed 700 kids a record 63,000 meals for the upcoming nine-week program.  In 2018, FYAP served more than 600 students, which was a 229 percent increase over the prior year.  As you can see, even more students need help this summer.

Lynda Carlino, the long-time Executive Director of the HSE SPORTS program, retired from the job a few years ago, but remains a busy lady in our community, directing the summer meal program for the second consecutive year.

“We are so grateful for the past support our entire community has provided to this worthy cause,” FYAP Board President Leah McGrath said. “This year is no different as we have quickly exceeded the number of families who need assistance in the summer months. It is an opportunity for businesses, families, and others to come together to help their fellow neighbors.”

FYAP is asking individual citizens and local businesses for help in this important project.  Here are the ways you can make a difference:

The Fishers City Council put the spotlight on a number of local groups Monday night.

There was a graduation ceremony for those completing the Fishers Government Academy, with the presentation of certificates to the graduates.  The ten-week class gives local residents an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at how their city government works.

Council members also brought the spotlight to two organizations at Fishers High School – the Color Guard & the Percussion Ensemble.  Both won state and world championships.

The council also issued proclamations for:

Mental Health Month

National Public Service Week

National Gun Violence Awareness Day

It may not feel like it with the cooler-than-normal temperatures Fishers has experienced in recent days, but summer is just about here.  The City of Fishers released a summary of major road road projects on tap in the coming months.

Here is the information, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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Allisonville Road
Construction has begun for the second phase of the Allisonville Road project. The second phase involves widening the existing two-lane roadway to four lanes—two northbound and two southbound lanes—from the bridge at Smock Creek to the River Highlands intersection. In addition, new lighting will be installed along the roadway, along with pedestrian trails on each side for enhanced connectivity to existing trail networks. The estimated cost for this phase is $1.6 million, which is locally funded.

The first phase, which includes roadway resurfacing and striping along with intersection improvements at both 131^st Street and 126^thStreet, is still under construction. Both intersections are changing from single lane signalized intersections to signalized intersections with multiple lane approaches. An additional left turn lane will be added to Westbound 126^th Street for motorists turning south on Allisonville Road. In addition to the intersection improvements, pedestrian walkways, new storm drains, and additional lighting are being installed. Phase 1 is primarily federally funded (80 percent for 131^st Street and 90 percent for 126^th Street, with an estimated total cost of $9.3 million.

Both phases are expected to conclude this summer.

126^th Street & Parkside Drive 
A roundabout is under construction at the intersection of 126^th Street and Parkside Drive. As part of the project, the median will be transitioned to a raised concrete curb at the intersection of 126^th Street and Enterprise Drive/Reynolds Drive to allow for right-turn-only movements. Left turns in this area will use the roundabout to improve safety and traffic flow. 126^th Street remains open but has been reduced to one lane in each direction during construction.

The estimated construction cost of this project is $1.7 million. The project is 90 percent federally funded, and 10 percent locally funded. The roundabout is estimated to be completed in September 2019.

96^th Street
Periodic lane restrictions are in effect as utility work is underway on 96^th Street as part of the road widening project, which includes the installation of additional lanes on 96^th Street between Lantern Road and Cumberland Road. During this project, the bridge over Mud Creek will be replaced with a widened structure. A roundabout will be added to the intersection of 96^th Street and Sargent Road. Pedestrian pathways will be installed on both sides of 96^th Street, in partnership with Indianapolis DPW. This project is 80 percent federally funded, and 20 percent locally funded, with a total projected cost of $8.5 million.

136^th Street & Cyntheanne Road 
Utility work is underway at 136^th Street and Cyntheanne Road to prepare for roundabout construction. The City will convert the current, four-way stop intersection into a one lane roundabout intersection. Temporary lane restrictions are in effect while utility work is completed, and the intersection will close for approximately 45 days this summer while the roundabout is being built.

Road Resurfacing
Several roadways around Fishers are being resurfaced. Neighborhoods including Timber Springs, Hamilton Proper, and Hawthorne Ridge will have their roadways resurfaced as part of Phase 1 of this project. Resurfacing will also occur on 121^st Street between Cumberland Road and Hoosier Road, and on Cumberland Road north of 121^st Street to I-69 during Phase 1.

In addition, the City will work with Hamilton County to resurface roadways outside of both jurisdictions. Resurfaced routes include 113^thStreet from Florida Road to Southeastern Parkway, and Connecticut Avenue between Cyntheanne Road and east of Atlantic Road/Southeastern Parkway.

Phase 2 will occur later this summer and will include New Britton Woods; Geist Woods; Allisonville Road from approximately 146^th Street to 131^st Street; Hague Road from 116^th Street to the railroad tracks south of 106^th Street;

Brooks School Road from approximately Club Pointe Drive to Fall Creek Road; and Kincaid Drive from 106^th Street to 96^th Street.

State Road 37
Drainage work for SR37 is in progress. Construction vehicles will be using the construction entrance on Lantern Road, between 126th Street and 131st Street, and may cause short delays. Construction is slated to begin this summer, beginning with the intersection of 126^thStreet and State Road 37. Visit www.drive37.com for updates.

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“These projects will improve the safety of our motorists and pedestrians—the top priority of the City of Fishers’ engineering team,” said City of Fishers’ Director of Engineering, Jason Taylor.   Taylor took over the job of engineering director after Jeff Hill left the city in late 2018 to accept a private sector job.

Roachael Coverdale is the owner of the local consulting firm.  Andrew Greider is the firm’s Vice President.  They both work on local election campaigns.  We talked about that in my podcast discussion with both of them.

After deadlocking on a 4-4 vote April 15th, the Fishers City Council voted 8-1, approving a rezoning for Jeffrey Cummings  of Remax Real Estate, allowing his firm to use what was once a residential for his office.  The lone “no” vote Monday was cast by Councilman Pete Peterson.

On April 15th, the council had a lively debate on the pluses and minuses of rezoning the property from residential to commercial.

Peterson said he wouldn’t stand in the way of this project, but still voted no.

The measure approved by the council contains the following conditions, recommended by city staff:

• Uses be limited to general office (no medical office)
• Signage and lighting shall be residential in character
• Property owner will voluntarily annex into City Limits
• If property to the west rezones to commercial, shared access to both sites
will be through one (1) driveway off of 126th Street.

The Fishers City Council had a lengthy agenda Monday with a total of 27 items.  Most were handled quickly and routinely, including economic development projects and a revised ordinance on weeds and vegetation standards within city limits.

However, the item that fueled the most discussion was about allowing one goat at Riverside Intermediate School.  That’s right, our Fishers City Council spent 15-20 minutes debating goat policy.

The city Planning Department explained that the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) was previously amended to allow the Fishers Director of Planning approval authority for fowl animals located in and around  Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools.  Other farm animals were not included.

The staff was asking council members to allow an exemption from the current UDO to allow the one goat on the school corporation’s property adjacent to Riverside Intermediate, and to allow the city Planning Director approval authority for not just chicken coops (fowl) but also farm animals.

Councilman Pete Peterson was the first to speak and voiced concerns about how the goat will be handled, and staff explained that the Riverside principal asked for the exemption and is confident the school can handle this goat.

Councilman Todd Zimmerman asked how many animals could be approved as a result of the UDO exemption authority, saying he is not against what Riverside is trying to do, he’s concerned about what may come later.

City Planning and Zoning Director Tony Bagato said his staff was just trying to keep the council from approving every request for farm animals by schools.

Peterson responded that he trusts city staff to handle the approvals, however, “…if something happens to those animals, it falls back on the city’s lap and (City Attorney Chris Greisl’s) lap, if they have a horse, if they have a bull, you have four cows, and they create chaos running down the middle of 116th Street, and some stampede, because they’re animals,” Peterson said.  He wants to be sure any approval takes all this into consideration.

Mayor Scott Fadness chimed in to say that there is precedent for city planning staff to allow for animals in Fishers under the current rules in place.  He recommends the City Council enact rules and let the staff handle specific animal requests.

Bagato recommended that the council approve the one goat requested by Riverside Intermediate, because council action is needed for a grant application by the school.

The mayor recommended a 30-day delay, allowing the staff to have more UDO language prepared for the council.  A motion was made and seconded to allow Riverside their one goat.  Then Councilman David George said he planned to vote against that motion because goats are much different animals than chickens.

At that point the motion was suspended and a new motion was passed to table the entire matter, which passed unanimously.

After the longest discussion about any agenda item considered that night, the Fishers City Council made no decision on the one goat requested by Riverside Intermediate.  We will wait until next month to determine what will be decided in the great goat debate.

The Fishers municipal primary election is well in the rear-view-mirror, and I’ve been a little busy covering other news around here, so allow me a few comments on the election results.

First, I always congratulate the winners and losers.  Why do I congratulate the losers, you may ask?

It takes tons of work, money, volunteers and organizing effort to mount a campaign for public office.  When you lose, it is very frustrating after all that effort.  But that’s our political system – we have winners and we have losers.

So, I admire the willingness of anyone to run for public office.  It is difficult and you make personal sacrifices just to be a candidate.  So, losing makes it doubly hard.

So, to the losers, thanks for being a part of the political process.  As a community, we should tip our hats to all the candidates, winners or losers.

As far as the results go, all incumbents in the Fishers Republican primary election ran for re-election.  There were five contested races in the GOP primary, with all those incumbents prevailing by easy margins.  The closest election was City Council At-Large, where Gurinder Singh lost by over 1,300 votes to the next in line in the tally, Rich Block.  Cecilia Coble and Todd Zimmerman won re-nomination by a wide margin in the At-Large contest.

Singh invested a lot of resources in his campaign, including money and volunteers, but fell short of getting his name on the general election ballot.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness won a decisive victory over challenger Logan Day.  Fadness had more than 67% of the vote.  The mayor told me on election night that residents of Fishers should expect more of the same in his coming four-year term.

Day was in good spirits when I visited him on election night.  He felt the campaign he ran involved more people in the political process, and his view is that involvement is a good thing.

But GOP primary voters, by a very wide margin, appear to like the development strategies Scott Fadness has employed in his first 5 years from the second-floor corner office at City Hall.  The pace of development in the city was a major campaign issue, and Fadness’ strategy of “full-speed-ahead” on development received a vote of confidence from a large majority of primary voters.

City Clerk Jennifer Kehl, along with City Councilmen Pete Peterson and Brad DeReamer, coasted to easy victories in their primary campaigns.  DeReamer says this was his last campaign and does not expect to seek another term on the council.

We do have some Democrats set to be on the general election ballot.  Jocelyn Vare will be campaigning in the fall for an At-Large seat on the Council.  Lane Skeeters is challenging John Weingardt in his Council District and Adam Kaps has filed to run against David George in the Southwest Council District.

Hamilton County Democratic Chairman Joe Weingarten has the authority to appoint candidates where there are none on the ballot, but must decide later in the summer.  Weingarten told Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter he has no plans to appoint a Democratic mayoral candidate in Fishers.

Allow me to make one comment about voter turnout.

The Fishers voter turnout was 15.8% of registered voters.  That just considers those eligible voters that bothered to register.  There are no hard numbers on the percentage of eligible voters choosing to sit this election out, but it would likely be down into the single digits.

Many involved in Hamilton County political life have been asking the question – why are the primary election turnout numbers so low, and how can that be improved?

I have a humble suggestion that neither major political party will like, but it is the only way I see of getting voters to the polls for primary elections.  Indiana needs to find a way to get independent voters involved in primaries.

The way Indiana’s election laws work, the state essentially pays for an election run by the two major political parties so those parties may nominate candidates for the November general election.

There are many ways this could be changed.  Some states have open primaries, but there are inherent problems with that system.  I am not married to any particular solution, but unless independent voters are brought-in as part of the solution, it is unlikely these voter turnout numbers will improve.

Whether we like it or not, more voters than ever do not identify with either the Republican or Democratic Parties.  That growing pool of voters would likely have more incentive to be a part of the primary election if our law did not tie the process to declaring for one of the two major parties.

So, I hope there is some discussion of making changes to our primary election system in Indiana.  If not, turnout numbers will not likely go up (short of a major public issue in a particular election).

Just something to think about.

At a time when Mikhail Gorbacheve is considered a pariah in his own nation of Russia, because he presided over the dissolution of the Soviet empire, it took a German film director to make a documentary film based on his interviews with the former Soviet leader.

Werner Herzog handles the interviews, and Herzog joins Andrew Singer to direct the film “Meeting Gorbachev.”  Here is my review.