The Spark Fishers downtown summer festival drew an estimated 20,000 people this year, based on a rundown provided to the Fishers City Council Monday by Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath. That attendance number includes events Friday (June 28th) and Saturday (June 29th).
The festival committee exceeded its goal in sponsorship, receiving $105,000 in sponsorship money and about $25,000 in-kind support. The city picked up the tab on the gap between the sponsor income and expense of the festival, which McGrath says was about $51,800. That gap is less than the projected figure of $85,000.
The Fishers City Council approved the hiring of a Parks & Recreation Department manager for the Agripark at 113th Street and Florida Road. Brandywine Creek Farms had been contracted to run the Agripark, but Mayor Scott Fadness told the council the city has severed its relationship with Brandywine.
In other City Council items from the Monday meeting:
–The Lake Meadows housing project planned for 11570 E. 126th Street received approval of its economic development agreement with the city. The development includes a developer investment of $24 million, providing 95,000 square feet of assisted living
housing, including about 123 assisted living apartment homes. In exchange, the city will waive up to $200,000 in fees.
–The council read two mayoral proclamations, one for Korean War Armistice Day, the other honoring 97-year-old World War II veteran Angelo Ray Marra
–Council members approved changes to the Unified Development Ordinance, including changes to the Comprehensive Plan related to right-of-way widths, the
Thoroughfare Plan, and the Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan.
The City of Fishers will likely need more apartments in the coming years, based on data gathered the city’s Planning & Zoning Department. Of all residential units in the city, only 15.5% are apartments. By comparison, Carmel has 19%, Noblesville 18%, Zionsville 17% and Greenwood 28%. The only area city with a lower percentage than Fishers is Westfield with 14%.
The apartment unit vacancy rate in Fishers is 5.7%. Zoning & Planning Director Tony Bagato says a good vacancy rate is normally in the range of 5% to 8%.
The average rent per unit is $1,170. 6% of Fishers apartment units are studios, 32% one bedroom, 49% two bedroom and 13% three bedroom.
The data show Fishers is projected to have 131,525 residents by the year 2040, with the population generally aging. This may increase demand for apartment living.
Mayor Scott Fadness and the City Council submitted a request to state officials to construct a low-income apartment project but were turned down last year. Fadness says the city will once again apply for that low-income housing funding from the state this year.
The work session presentation was for information and no decisions were made.
Fishers Police began working with ‘big box” retailers in Fishers in March of 2019, in an effort to apprehend a man police describe as a “millionaire shoplifter.”
Authorities say that led to the arrest of Ryan Walker, 35, from Indianapolis. He faces several charges, including 8 felony counts of forgery.
As officers tell the story, as the result of a joint effort involving area retailers, state, local, and federal law enforcemen, Fishers police were able to develop a suspect. After several days of surveillance, officers were able to gather information and evidence leading to the arrest of Walker.
According to Fishers Police, Walker had been selling stolen merchandise since 2010 through his on-line E-Bay Business Account and had customers from all over the world. Officers obtained a subpoena for E-Bay records and confirmed Walker had received payments in excess of 1.1 million dollars since 2010.
The rails along the Nickel Plate line in Fishers are now being removed. Mayor Scott Fadness tells LarryInFishers the removal process began Friday and will continue into the fall. The city has said construction of the Nickel Plate Trail would begin this fall.
In late July, the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority approved a bid to remove the rails by A&K Railroad Materials. Now that the cities of Noblesville and Fishers, along with Hamilton County, have also approved the bid, the rail removal process has begun.
The rail removal process is beginning at 146th Street and moving south. The A&K bid does not include removing the rails at road crossings, and Fadness says that removal will happen as the trail is under construction.
Some members of the Mock Trial team talk about their competition. Seated is their coach, Janet Chandler
The HSE High School National Champion Mock Trial Team and Teacher of the Year Mara Kussy were honored at last Wednesday’s Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Meeting.
Six members of the Mock Trial Team explained how the competition works, with some of the team playing roles as trial witnesses and other performing in the role of defense or prosecution attorneys. The national competition was held in Chicago during this summer. The team’s coach is HSE High School teacher Janet Chandler.
Some members of the team have graduated from HSE and are pursuing their college careers. The entire national championship team includes:
2019 graduates:
Jill Grant
Kaitlyn Ross
Tierra Sydnor
Current seniors:
Rami Daas
Madison Rossillo
Current junior:
Carter Nelson
Current sophomore:
Emily Boezeman
Both Jill Grant and Madison Rossillo were named top attorneys. Rami Daas won a witness award.
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Maria Kussy is among the 30 finalists as Indiana State Teacher of the Year, and talked with the board members about her work, as she is the Teacher of the Year for the HSE School District for the current school year. She is a Brooks School Elementary media specialist. Mrs. Kussy was selected from 23 finalists.
The other finalists were:
Todd Niswander, Cumberland Road Elementary
Abby Back, Durbin Elementary
Jean Doss, Fall Creek Elementary
Sara Larkins, Fishers Elementary
Lacy Rose, Geist Elementary
Kristen Morgan, Harrison Parkway Elementary
Katie Norton, Hoosier Road Elementary
Anita Harrison, Lantern Road Elementary
Tanya Cooper, New Britton Elementary
Tiffany Zaleski, Sand Creek Elementary
Jackie Renick, Thorpe Creek Elementary
Seth Zook, Fall Creek Intermediate
Hollie Vessels, Riverside Intermediate
Kirsten Toner, Sand Creek Intermediate
Jen Hill, Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate / Jr. High
Brandon Spidel, Fall Creek Jr. High
Alison Strole, Fishers Jr. High
Will Rogers, Riverside Jr. High
Amanda Howard, Fishers High School
Jennifer Pope, Fishers High School
Josh Gish, Hamilton Southeastern High School
Becky Schroeder, Hamilton Southeastern High School
Retired Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department Deputy, David Wyler, 65, Carmel, has been charged with five counts of Possession of Child Pornography.
Wyler
According to reports filed by Carmel Police Department Detective John Piracs, the Hamilton County Child Exploitation Task Force received a CyberTipline report from the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children. The report indicated that on March 22 a person had uploaded two images of unclothed children to Pinterest. Information provided by Pinterest indicated the username was “davidwyler1954.” Pinterest also supplied investigators with several IP addresses that had been used to access the Pinterest account.
According to police, some of the IP addresses appeared to geolocate to Hamilton County. According to Piracs, further investigation showed that there was David Wyler living on Goldfinch Drive in Carmel, and that his year of birth is 1954.
During an interview with police, Wyler admitted to having multiple boards on Pinterest, and some of his boards were named Young Boys, Young Girls, Girls and Boys. Wyler told investigators that he had last viewed images of children with uncovered genitals within the last two weeks.
During a forensic examination of Wyler’s phone, police found multiple images of nude prepubescent children.
Police reports indicate Wyler was arrested at his home and transported to the Hamilton County Jail.
Motorists on the west end of Fishers have been asking when the road construction project widening Allisonville Road to four lanes will be all open and completed. City officials tells LarryInFishers that, assuming unexpected weather does not cause further delays, that stretch of road should have all the construction crews finished by the end of this month.
The city provided its weekly update on construction projects in and near Fishers. The update below is for the work week beginning Monday, August 19th:
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KEEP FISHERS DPW SAFE
With all the road construction happening right now, remember to slow down and drive carefully around road workers. Watch here to see our DPW crew talk about worker safety.
I-69
The Indiana Department of Transportation continues work on multiple projects to improve pavement conditions and repair winter damage on Indianapolis area interstates.
Beginning Friday, August 16 at 9 p.m. until Monday, August 19 at 6 a.m., 116th Street collector lanes (mile marker 205.2) will be closed. Entrance ramps from 116th Street to I-69 SB will be closed starting tonight at 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Monday, August 19.
For more information and closures outside of Fishers, click here. Please direct any questions to INDOT at indot@indot.IN.gov.
STATE ROAD 37
Duke will have four separate 20 minute closures on SR37 Saturday night between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. to pull cables across the road for their relocation work at SR37 & 126th.
136TH STREET & CYNTHEANNE ROAD
The new roundabout is open to traffic. This area is still a construction zone with a 30 mph speed limit. Please drive with caution as the final items are being addressed throughout the project.
126TH STREET
All lanes of 126th Street at Parkside Drive are open to traffic along with the new access to Reynolds Drive. This area is still a construction zone with 30 mph speed limit. Please drive with caution as the final items are being addressed throughout the project.
ALLISONVILLE ROAD
The contractor has moved all traffic to the west side of the roadway north of 126th Street as the path and asphalt surface is being placed on the east side. Please drive with caution as the final items are being addressed throughout the project.
146TH STREET & ALLISONVILLE ROAD
Between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., the northernmost lane of 146th Street both east and west of Allisonville Road will be closed to all traffic for road work by Hamilton County Highway Department. Access to northbound Allisonville Road will be maintained. Advance warning signs and cones will be place before motorists reach the impacted area.
106TH & MOLLENKOPF ROAD
Watch for delays and lane restrictions near 106th and Mollenkopf Road for work related to intersection improvements.
PARKSIDE DRIVE
Parkside Drive in Fishers Marketplace has lane restrictions in place while work is being done for a new drive entrance. The lanes will be narrow so please drive with caution. Flaggers will be in place when necessary to help direct traffic.
96TH STREET
Utility relocation is beginning on 96th Street as part of the road widening project, resulting in periodic lane restrictions over the coming months. For more information about the 96th Street road widening project, view the Fact Sheet.
STATE ROAD 37
In June, Mayor Fadness announced the kick-off of the new marketing campaign to support the State Road 37 Improvement Project. 37 Thrives with its tagline Support the Drive, will keep the community informed, updated and connected to local businesses along the corridor. Watch the announcement on facebook.com/37thrives. Learn more about the campaign here.
When I asked Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart about the CrimeWatch phone app in a recent podcast interview, the chief said there will be a new system in place soon called Relay. Gebhart’s department announced the rollout of the Relay system Thursday afternoon.
Relay is described as a community engagement and crime prevention app, in a police department news release. It has the same features residents have used to report hundreds of incidents in Fishers with CrimeWatch, but now includes a streamlined user interface, and improved feedback and updates to residents who submit issues. More than 6,000 Fishers residents use the app to report non-emergency crimes to the Fishers Police Department. Relay is free to download via the Apple App and Google Play stores.
“The Fishers Police Department continues to make investments in technology to better serve our residents,” remarked Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart. “These investments are already paying off as our officers in the field receive timely detailed information that allow them to investigate matters more efficiently.”
The re-launch of the app comes on the heels of last month’s announcement by Fishers Police Department and HSE Schools for a new app-based tips program which replaced the former Text-a-Tip program. Residents can access the Fishers PD Crime Tips app via the Apple App and Google Play stores.
Fishers residents now have several ways to report crime and suspicious activity directly to the Fishers Police Department:
Call or text 9-1-1 for all emergencies
Relay all non-emergency crimes and suspicious activity via the Relay app (former Fishers CrimeWatch app)
General crime tips or tips on criminal or disruptive behavior at HSE Schools can be submitted through the Fishers PD Crime Tips app.
The bid has been accepted, the governments are acting and the removal of the railroad tracks along the Nickel Plate is beginning. Even with all that, two organizations are trying their best to sway public opinion to their way of thinking.
Two organizations, Save The Nickel Plate and Indiana Trails, are arguing that Noblesville and Fishers should not pull the rails out of the ground, but pursue a program of keeping the rails and building the trail around them.
I spoke with Logan Day and Tom Williams about what their organizations are asserting.
