In this week’s Fishers area road construction report, watch for sidewalk repairs underway in the Sunblest neighborhood.

Below is the full update, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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Continue reading Road construction report – work week beginning January 15 →

The Fishers Arts Council elected officers for the 2024 and approved 4 new members to the board of directors

Ross Hilleary, also Planning & Zoning Director for the City of Fishers, will serve as Council President.  Chris Hayes will serve as Vice President, Doug Dusseau Treasurer and Olivia Harris Secretary.

New members of the board are Sue Dickey, Amanda Wilhite, Latricia Schooley and Tom Rich.

In her Executive Director’s Statement, Les Reinhardt points to Council progress made in 2023.

“We’ve forged new relationships with artists, artist groups, sponsors, students and community partners,” writes Reinhardt.  “It’s going to take a lot of work to maintain and nurture these relationships, and it’s something I’m looking forward to in the new year.”

An ongoing program for the Arts Council is the monthly art gallery presented with the Hamilton County Community Foundation.  The Second Friday events drew new records in attendance during 2023.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools have reduced their share of the property tax rate since 2018, with a 10.25% rate reduction during that period.  HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling provided that update at the Wednesday HSE School Board session.

“We all know assessed values have gone up and we were certainly on that trend of (tax rates going) down,” Dowling told board members.

She explained the reductions,  detailed by year in the graphic above.

This has been possible through increases in valuations of property.

“Not everybody has reduced their tax rate as they have seen AV (assessed valuation) growth,” Dowling said.

Several board members complimented Ms. Dowling on her work.  However, it should be noted that she, along with fellow administrator Jimmy Lake, did not have their contracts renewed, normally a routine action by the board.  Those contracts remain on hold.

In other news from the HSE School Board meeting:

–Skillman Construction was awarded the contract for the $28.9 million renovation of Fall Creek Intermediate School.  Facilities Director Matt Rapp reminded board members and the local community that 25-30 years ago HSE Schools underwent a “boom” in building.  “We’re lucky our buildings do look very nice but they do need updates,” Rapp said.

–The board formally voted in favor of raising the mileage reimbursement rate for employees using their personally-owned vehicles for business.  The rate has been 43 cents per mile for HSE employees the past several years.  In the future, beginning in 2024, employees will be reimbursed based on the standard mileage rate provided by the IRS.  The 2024 standard mileage rate is 67 cents per mile.

–Acting Superintendent Matt Kegley provided data on the 2023 graduation rates for the two high schools.  Fishers High School had a graduation rate of 98.4% and HSE’s rate was 97.04%.  Kegley provided the board with a comparison chart, measuring our high schools with others in the Indy metro area (chart shown below).

It has been a banner year for the Fishers High School (FHS) Marching Tiger Band.

The group placed 12th in the nation at the Bands of America Grand Nationals Finals in early November, competing with a total of 92 marching bands and some 15,000 students. They made their biggest appearance to date as the “Santa Band” in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

FHS was one of six high school bands selected to perform in the event. Of the 260+ band members that performed, 70+ were juniors and seniors, 190+ were sophomores and below.

Band Director Chad Kohler appeared Wednesday night before the Hamilton Southeastern School Board with some band members.  The students all talked about their experiences seeing Broadway productions, going to the Radio City Music Hall, seeing the Statue of Liberty and many other activities during their time in New York City.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has awarded Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools a $750,000 grant to establish an employer-sponsored child care program.  HSE’s Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling told the HSE School Board Wednesday night such a plan would be cost neutral to the district with a return on investment of 13%.

Any child care system would serve not just teachers but all HSE Schools workers, for children ages 6 weeks through pre-school age.  Abby Taylor, President of the local teachers union, spoke in favor of such a program because it would bring child care closer to the work place and eliminate logistical problems of dropping off and picking up children at day care centers throughout the area.

The only cost to the district would be some minor school building alterations, which would be financed through existing bonds.

The grant must be expended by the end of this calendar year.

Next steps include putting together an implementation team and finding a child care coordinator or consultant.  An employee survey will be conducted to gauge demand.  Potential facilities will be evaluated and a operations structure established.

HSE School Board members expressed support for a child care program.

Dawn Lang may no longer be President of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board, but she provided the update Wednesday night on the search for a new superintendent.

There are still 5 finalists for the job, and each has completed a first round of interviews.  The second round of interviews will soon be underway.  The board has had, and is scheduled to continue, a number of executive sessions interviewing superintendent candidates.

The timetable continues to be offering a superintendent contract in late January – early February.  Lang cited state law requiring the superintendent’s contract to be posted publicly for 10 days prior to a public hearing on that pact.  Although the contract will likely be hammered out in February, the report date for the new superintendent will be negotiable, but not later than June 30 of this year.

I began covering the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board in January of 2012.  At first, regular meetings were on Monday nights and work sessions started at 7:30am.

Later, administrators asked that regular board meetings be moved from Monday to Wednesday evenings and it has been that way for many years.

Wednesday night, the board voted to move up the meeting time by one hour.  The evening meetings have started at 7pm since I began covering HSE Board meetings in 2012.  Future regular evening board sessions will begin at 6pm.

Board members said the earlier start time was requested by school administrators.

After serving as Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board President during 2023, Dawn Lang handed the gavel to fellow board member Juanita Albright as president of the board for 2024.  The vote to approve Albright as board president was 5-2, with Sarah Donsbach and Sarah Parks-Reese voting no.

Ben Orr will serve as vice president of the board and Suzanne Thomas will be the board secretary.

Also, as part of the consent agenda, the board approved the resignation of Michelle Brittain-Watts.  Ms. Brittain-Watts had served as Executive Director of Secondary Education for HSE Schools since June of 2021.

The Fishers Arts & Culture Commission has a job to do in 2024, sorting out 26 grant requests totaling $173,000.  The Commission is provided a $60,000 annual budget from the Fishers City Council to support the arts locally.  There is also another fund that the Commission has for supporting the local arts, totaling more than $151,000.  The $60,000 from the City Council must be spent in 2024, with any remaining funds at the end of the year going into the city’s general fund.  The more than $151,000 fund continues year-to-year.

The Commission now has the job of reviewing each funding request and evaluating which projects will be funded and in what amounts.  Each Commission member will be evaluating each request.  You can review the requests at this link.

In one other item, Jocelyn Vare was elected to serve as the Commission’s Chairperson in 2024.  Angie Frazier will serve as Vice President.

When entering the room Tuesday covering the Fishers Armed Forces Commission meeting, there was an air in the room that something was about to happen.  Secrecy was important because Commission Member Eddie Rivers was about to have a big surprise.

His family was hidden from him at the start of the session, then Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness joined Police Chief Ed Gebhart, Eddie’s family, along with many others, into the meeting room.

Governor Eric Holcomb issued the Sagamore of the Wabash award to Eddie Rivers.  This has been described as the highest regular honor to bestow upon a citizen of Indiana.  It harkens back to  Algonqian language American Indiana tribe, where the term “Sagamore” is used to describe a lower chief or a leader among the tribe to whom the true chief would look for advice and wisdom.

There were indications from those in the room that House Speaker Todd Huston may have had a hand in Governor Holcomb’s decision to award the Sagamore of the Wabash Award to Eddie Rivers.

Mr. Rivers is a West Point graduate and holds a degree in Jurisprudence from the Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law. He is currently a business owner and is  involved in Kids Voice of Indiana.

Once the award ceremony was complete, the Commission meeting continued, with one item worth mentioning.  A military Field of Honor is being planned in an area near the under-construction City Hall/Arts Center.  There will be announcements coming soon on how local people and organizations will be able to financially support this project,