David George is seeking another term to represent the Southwest District seat on the Fishers City Council.  Here is my podcast talk with him

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Pile driving, which caused suspension of work at the site of the new Levinson mixed use development in downtown Noblesville, will resume next week with a different method of installing support for the foundation of the new building.

Last month the pile driving was called off because vibration caused concerns about safety in buildings surrounding the construction site on Maple Avenue between 8th and 9th streets.

Some work has continued in recent days, but new equipment will be brought in next week to allow a method called “pile and lagging” to get underway. It will “eliminate much if not all the vibration” experienced by the former pile driving method, according to the Noblesville city public affairs office.

Additional costs involved will be absorbed by Hagerman Construction, the general contractor on the project, according to city spokesmen.

The Levinson should be completed by the end of next year. It will have two levels of underground parking including public parking, commercial space on the street level and apartments on the four upper floors. It is the first major downtown redevelopment in Noblesville. Rebar Development is owner of the building, with the city of Noblesville cooperating to provide the public parking space.

The project is named for the prominent Levinson family, which at one time owned the site. Through the past century or more the family contributed greatly to the community, providing funds the former high school gym, the Masonic Lodge, the Forest Park golf course and the ongoing Levinson scholarships given annually to two Noblesville High School graduating seniors.

The Fishers city election is set for November 5th, with early voting starting soon.  In order to vote, you must be registered to vote under Indiana law.  The voter registration deadline is Monday, October 7th.

If you have been registered but have a new address, you must file a change of address for your voter registration to remain valid.

If you need to register and/or submit an address change, you can do that online.  Go to the Hamilton County Election Office Web site at this link.

Early voting begins October 8th in Noblesville and October 23rd in Fishers (at City Hall) and other Hamilton County locations.  Below is the early voting information, from the Hamilton County Election Office Web site.

• Judicial Center Voting – Noblesville

Tuesday, October 8 – Friday, October 11  8 am to 4:30 pm

Monday, October 14 – Friday, October 18 8 am to 4:30 pm

Monday, October 21 – Friday, October 25 8 am to 4:30 pm

Saturday, October 26 9 am to 4 pm

Monday, October 28 – Friday, November 1  8 am to 4:30 pm

Saturday, November 2 9 am to 4 pm

Monday, November 4 8 am to noon

• Satellite Voting – Carmel, Fishers, and Westfield

Wednesday, October 23 – Thursday, October 24 2 pm to 7 pm

Friday, October 25 – Saturday, October 26 10 am to 3 pm

Wednesday, October 30  2 pm to 7 pm

Friday, November 1 – Saturday, November 2  10 am to 3 pm

Carmel Library – 55 4th Avenue SE, Carmel
Fishers City Hall – 1 Municipal Drive, Fishers
Westfield City Hall – 130 Penn Street, Westfield

The goal for the 2019 Pasta Bowl was 25,000 pounds of Pasta donations, but the volunteers collecting the food recorded a record 40,000 pounds plus.  Representatives of the schools collecting the most pasta gathered at the Meijer store on 96th Street.

Here are photos of the winning schools:

Continue reading Pasta Bowl Winners celebrate →

The Hamilton County League of Women Voters wrapped a series of municipal election candidate forums around the county at Fishers City Hall Tuesday night.  HSE High School teacher Janet Chandler once again moderated the discussion with 9 of the 10 candidates for Fishers City Council   Council President Rich Block was out of town and unable to attend.

For those in attendance, there was some agreement, but Democrats suggested that Fishers is not always getting it right. Republicans put center stage the city’s number 3 ranking in the most recent Money Magazine’s “best places to live in America” listing.

The GOP incumbent candidates also emphasized the AAA bond rating for city finances, the only city in Indiana with that high debt rating.  They also pointed to the mayor’s Mental Health Initiative and development underway such as The Yard.

Democrats took the city to task for over-using Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) to finance economic development projects, while Republicans argued that downtown development would not have happened with TIFs.

There was a lot of talk about transparency and participation by the public in council decision-making , with Democrats and Republicans agreeing this is important but parting ways on how to go about boosting transparency and citizen involvement.

A number of issues were discussed, including the 2 cents per $100 of assessed property tax valuation rate increase for 2020 and the council vote to approve the .1% increase in the county income tax, funding emergency 911 services.

This is the only forum scheduled with all council candidates invited.  I am in the process of recording 30-minute podcast interviews with all the candidates….four are now online.  Once all are complete, I will place a blog post online with links to all 10 candidate interviews.

The longest-serving member of the local Fishers municipal council (town & city) remaining on the Fishers City Council is David George.  He has a Democratic opponent in this year’s general election.  Here is my conversation with Adam Kaps, candidate for Fishers City Council, Southwest District.

John Weingardt has served municipal government in Fishers as an election official since 2012.  John is seeking another four-year term on the council in the upcoming general election.  Here is my conversation with John Weingardt.

Fishers City Council Vice President Eric Moeller invited Director of Engineering Jason Taylor and Troy Woodruff of RQAW to speak before a Council Connect session, held Friday morning before a small crowd at the Sunlake Apartments, near State Road 37 & 126th Street.

The State Road 37 construction project was the main topic of discussion.  Taylor said the remainder of 2019 will see preparation work for keeping 4 lanes of traffic open along 37 (2 northbound and 2 southbound) during the construction process.  That means some lane restrictions will begin on SR37 in October.

Relocation of utilities in the construction areas will be ongoing, according to Taylor.

When asked about when there will be closures and/or restrictions east-west along 126th Street, Taylor said there is no schedule from the contractor, but these closures will not likely start until the spring of 2020.  The 126th Street east-west project, installing an overpass bridge with a roundabout, is scheduled to be complete by at least November of 2020, according to Taylor, with the usual caveat that unforeseen conditions, such as weather delays, could always change that projection.

The reconstruction of the interchange at 146th Street and State 37 is expected to begin sometime in 2020, but east-west traffic is expected to be maintained on 146th Street during the construction, at least one lane each way.

There will be an ongoing monitoring of traffic signals in and around the construction area.  Taylor says his department will be watching that and make any changes to deal with detouring traffic.

My wife & I enjoy the live theater, and particularly love the many volunteers supporting community theater.  One of those community theaters in our area is the Belfry Theater in Noblesville.   Here is my review of the opening production for this season, Wait Until Dark.

(for more information, use this link)

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers put a scare into Indiana’s top-ranked high school football team Friday
night.

The Tigers, playing in front of their Homecoming crowd, went up 14-0 on Avon after one quarter of play. But the Class 6A No. 1 Orioles asserted themselves in the next three quarters, holding Fishers scoreless and scoring five touchdowns to hand the 6A No. 9 Tigers a 35-14 Hoosier Crossroads Conference defeat.

Fishers scored both of its touchdowns in the middle portion of the first period.
Dylan Scally took an 18-yard run into the end zone, then Marcus Roux connected
on a 15-yard TD pass to Reece Boland. Jack Phillips converted both extra-point
kicks.

The Orioles got on the board in the second quarter, cutting Fishers’ lead to
14-7 at halftime. Avon then added two touchdowns in each of the next two periods. Orioles quarterback Henry Hesson took over the game, throwing four passing touchdowns and running 35 yards for Avon’s final score of the game.

Roux finished the game 10-of-17, totaling 61 yards, with Boland catching three of those passes. Scally rushed 21 times for 80 yards.

The Tigers are 2-2 in conference play and 4-2 overall. Fishers will remain at
home next week, taking on Franklin Central.