John Weingardt not only was elected as Fishers City Council President for 2023, he also confirmed for LarryInFishers he will seek another term on the council.

2022 Council President Todd Zimmerman said voting on next year’s officers in December will allow the January meeting to begin more smoothly.  Cecilia Coble will serve as Council Vice President in 2023.

The only dissenting vote on the new officers came from Councilor Jocelyn Vare, who cited council rules as requiring the vote for officers to be conducted in January for that calendar year.

John Weingardt was first elected to the Fishers Town Council in 2011 and took office for the first time in 2012.  He was elected to the City Council once a referendum passed making Fishers a second class city.  He has previously served as president for both the Fishers Town Council and City Council.

David Giffel currently represents the Southwest district on the Fishers City Council, and is seeking his first full four-year term.  Giffel was elected to take the council seat by Republican precinct officials when incumbent Councilor David George announced his resignation from the council.

“I am proud of the council’s work over the last year, and I want to continue to focus on strategic job growth, maintaining roads in our neighborhoods, and lower tax rates,” said Giffel in a news release from his campaign. “It is so important to me that the residents of Fishers maintain a high quality of life.”

Giffel has been supportive of economic development projects, such as the Andretti Motorsports headquarters.  He cites several  civic and charitable activities featuring his involvement since moving to Fishers in 1997.

Giffel will be a candidate in the Republican primary election set for May of 2023.

Update at 3:15pm Monday:  A Winter Storm Watch has been issued locally, from Thursday evening through Saturday morning.  For more details, use this link.

The Monday morning update from the National Weather Service is not encouraging for those planning Christmas travel.  The latest Special Weather Statement says the first big winter storm of the season will begin to move into our area Wednesday and continue into Christmas Day (Sunday).  Snow, wind and dangerously cold temperatures are forecast.

For more details, use this link.

Update as of 2:55pm Sunday – The National Weather Service now says a “significant winter storm” is expected to move into our area Thursday and continue through the upcoming Christmas weekend.  Read the entire statement at this link.

The forecast team at the Indianapolis National Weather Service office is not known to be hyperbolic when issuing statements.  The one released Sunday morning is worth notice.

The Weather Service says there is “potential for an impactful winter system later this week.”  It is too early for more specifics, but it looks like our first major winter storm of the season may hit us by Friday, although the timing is also not exactly known.

Hamilton County Emergency Management in Noblesville says now is the time for winter storm preparation.  The advice includes:

–Checking your emergency kit

–Replacing flashlight batteries

–Testing generators

–Test snow-blowers

–Find enough ice melt.

Those are just a few reminders in case the winter storm materializes Thursday or Friday this week.  Watch the latest news from the National Weather Service.

When the City of Fishers setup a map of home Christmas lights, I decided to check out a few and video record them.  The video linked below as my first attempt to provide some examples of what can be found around our fair city.

It is a bit amateurish but a small attempt at video recording some home holiday lighting at the link below.

The Consent Agenda of a Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting is normally a list of routine matters, basically detailed financial items and personnel actions.  But the December 14th Consent Agenda contained an item that appears to settle a legal dispute going back many years.

It all started in 2016 when that same Consent Agenda listed a 5 day suspension for employee number 10042.  The WTHR News investigative reporting team asked who that employee was, and it was disclosed Fishers High School varsity football coach Rick Wimmer, also a teacher, was the person suspended.  Mr. Wimmer has since retired.

WTHR asked for the facts surrounding the decision and never received a response that the television journalists believed were consistent with state law.  Public Access Counselor for Indiana, Luke Britt, ruled twice against HSE Schools, saying facts about the suspension must be disclosed.  Those opinions are advisory and HSE chose not to follow Mr. Britt’s advice.

The Reporters Committee For A Free Press, a nonprofit group that provides legal help for issues such as this dispute, provided attorneys to pursue the issue in court on behalf of the WTHR investigative reporters.  HSE prevailed in the county court and the state court of appeals.  The Indiana Supreme Court is not required to accept every case appealed to it, but chose to hear this dispute.

In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled in favor of WTHR, essentially saying HSE Schools must disclose a factual basis for Mr. Wimmer’s suspension in 2016.

The case was remanded back to the local court.  In that Consent Agenda item approved at the school board meeting last Wednesday, HSE agrees to pay WTHR $35,000.  The settlement agreement says HSE School officials admit no wrongdoing in settling this matter.

As to the disclosure of facts surrounding Rick Wimmer’s 2016 suspension, the settlement agreement does not address that.  I will let Bob Segall and his investigative news team broadcast that story when they are ready about that part of the issue.

One of the most talked-about docuseries ever offered by Netflix is now available.  All six episodes of Harry & Meghan are ready to be seen.  I have watched all six.  Here is my review.

The City of Fishers plans to request bids on the interchange at 141st Street and State Road in August of 2023.  City Controller Lisa Bradford and City Councilor John Weingardt both confirmed that plan at Wednesday’s City Council Finance Committee meeting.

Bradford told committee members INDOT is scheduled to have a large road construction bid award a month before August of 2023, allowing contractors losing out on that bid cycle to submit serious bids for the 141st Street and State Road 37 interchange project.

According to Bradford, contractors have been submitting bids that are “inflated and outrageous” lately that are not “realistic,” including the bids received in May of 2022 for the 141st & SR 37 project.

“The hope is that by going (with the bid letting) after INDOT, you’re going to actually get some real bids, some real, actual, truthful, this is really what I would do he project for, bids,” said Bradford.

Bradford emphasized that the city does plan to move forward and is “fully committed” to constructing the roundabout on 141st Street and an underpass at State Road 37, and does not wish to delay the project any longer.  The city has announced what it describes as an “interim” measure, converting the current traffic signal at 141st Street and SR 37 to a right-in right-out on 141st Street, that will prevent east-west motorists from using 141st at SR 37, but allows the free flow of vehicles on SR 37 at that location.

Finance Committee Chair Weingardt said State Road 37 will likely see an increase in traffic soon with a number of projects coming to Allisonville Road to the west.  Hamilton County will need to close the intersection of 146th Street and Allisonville Road for a period of time to construct a roundabout on Allisonville Road in 2023.  He added that there will be city construction projects coming on Allisonville Road at 116th Street and 96th Street that will cause motorists to use State Road 37 as an alternative.

A list of new proposed high school courses were presented to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board at the last regular meeting, and board members unanimously voted to approve the listing.  The new courses will be available to students in the 2024.2025 school year.

Included is one class that sparked a positive response by board members previously, sports officiating, that will be available to juniors and seniors.

The full listing of the new courses can be found at this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board recognized two state championship teams and welcomed two new building administrators at Wednesday night’s meeting.

The HSE High School girls volleyball team won its first state championship.  Also, the Cheer team at HSE took top state honors as well.

The board formally approved two new administrators.  Sarah Riordan will be an Assistant Principal at Fishers High School.  Katie Luck has been named Assistant Principal at Hoosier Road Elementary School.