Now in my 8th year of writing this local news blog here in Fishers, I strive to provide my readers with all the important news in and around Fishers.  I must admit, as a volunteer doing this blog as a one-man-band, I miss a few stories.

Lately, with news of the recent city council meeting, community meeting about the State Road 37 construction to come and news about the Nickel Plate Trail, it has been a busy week for this blogger.

But, I must admit, there is a story I missed this week.  I am embarrassed to tell you that I did miss this important public safety story.  I am late on getting you all the facts about the great goose attack at the Wal-Mart parking lot on 96th Street.

For full disclosure, I did see the initial Police Department’s Facebook post about the attack and I do believe one must take this sort of thing seriously.  A goose can get very territorial and if you do not know you are near a nest, the goose will attack and people can be injured.

I suppose its a bit of a surprise to me that so much media in the Indy area picked-up this story so quickly.  I guess there are fewer stories to cover in the metro area.

But, here it is.  You see the goose picture below provided on Facebook by Fishers Police.  I may be late to the party on this story, but it least it is here now!

Hamilton County Superior Court Judge David Najjar has dismissed a legal action filed by the Save The Nickel Plate organization against the City of Fishers, and awarded attorney fees and court costs…meaning Save the Nickel Plate has been ordered by the court to pay the city’s legal expenses tied to this case.

“This Court finds that [Save the Nickel Plate] brought and continued to litigate frivolous and groundless claims… Accordingly, the Court finds an award of attorneys’ fees and costs to the taxpayers of the City of Fishers is warranted under these unique circumstances,” Judge Najjar wrote in his ruling.

Save The Nickel Plate alleged in the lawsuit that the City of Fishers had not adhered to the state’s Open Door Law in approving plans for the Nickel Plate Trail.

Jennifer Hallowell of the Scott Fadness re-election campaign was quick to release a statement on the judge’s ruling.

“Logan Day has only resided in Fishers less than six months but he has cost Fishers’ taxpayers thousands of dollars in what the Court ruled were ‘groundless’ claims on a ‘fishing expedition’ resulting in ‘frivolous’ failed lawsuits,” Hallowell said. “Day used the Nickel Plate Trail proposal to build a business for himself and raise his own profile. Logan Day has subjected Fishers’ residents to incredible misinformation and cost them thousands of dollars.”

Fadness’s opponent in the primary election, Logan Day, issued a statement about the judge’s decision.

“It’s unfortunate to hear that the Hamilton County courts have ruled against Save the Nickel Plate [‘STNKP’]” said Day.  “However, I’m confident that the citizens of Hamilton County are keen enough to see beyond a court’s ruling to understand the lack of integrity and public involvement in the Cities’ process of casting a new vision for the corridor.”

Day also responded to the statement from the Fadness campaign.

“Fadness has no room to talk about costing taxpayers money when he gives away unnecessary tax incentives like the 10-year tax abatement and waiver of impact fees totaling nearly $1.5M recently offered to Crew Car Wash,” Day said.  “An email circulated by the company in early February stated, ‘Crew is not asking for any tax incentives or money from the city.'”

At Monday’s Fishers City Council meeting, Day raised the Crew Car Wash issue during the public comment session, and Fadness responded that no incentives were offered for the  car wash itself, only for the headquarters building. The e-mail sent earlier by Crew only addressed the car wash itself, not the headquarters, according to Fadness.

The President of Save The Nickel Plate, Tyler Mendenhall, said after reading the judge’s ruling that his group “stands behind its claims against Fishers.”  The organization is “exploring options” on whether to appeal Judge Najjar’s ruling.  

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Last February, the Fishers City Council held a joint meeting with the Hamilton Southeastern School Boar.  In the story I posted February 22nd Mayor Fadness said the proposed indoor sports facility in the Saxony area of Fishers had fallen through and would not happen.  The mayor told those in attendance that the city does need more indoor sports facility, particularly after the Saxony facility did not happen.

Wednesday, Samm Quinn of the Indianapolis Business Journal reports that Barry Kiesel, partner at GK Sports Development, confirmed that the deal was dead, but refused any other comment.

You can read Samm Quinn’s story at this link.

A good crowd of about 70 people watched, listened and asked questions about the status of the plans to upgrade State Road 37 in Fishers.  Officials from RQAW, American StructurePoint, IMAVEX and the City of Fishers all shared the latest information, but there were some questions still left unanswered.

First, there will be construction along SR 37 this spring and summer to relocate utility lines.  This may look like the construction on the interchanges has begun, but be aware this will only be utility work.

There are some projects close to SR 37 that will be finishing-up this year.  The intersection improvement at 126th Street and Allisonville Road should be completed by July of this year.  The construction of a roundabout at Parkside Drive and 126th Street is set for completion in September this year.  Intersection improvements at 131st Street and Allisonville Road should be done by July of this year.  Intersection improvements at 146th Street & Allisonville Road are not expected to begin construction until 2022 or 2023.

The roundabout at 126th Street and SR 37 is expected to begin construction in September of this year, with 126th Street open to traffic east and west for the remainder of this calendar year.  In 2020, expect a full year closure of 126th Street.  SR 37 will have two lanes open each way during the construction period.  Access to 126th Street from SR 37 will vary at different phases of the construction. This project, from beginning to end, is expected to take 18 months.

The SR 37 roundabout interchange at 146th Street will take longer to construct, because plans call for both SR 37 and 146th Street to remain open to traffic during construction.  Work on that project should get underway in November of 2019, and see completion in late 2021.

Two interchanges are to start at about the same time, August of 2020, at 131st & 141st streets.  The 131st Street interchange is expected to be done by the end of 2021 and 141st Street in late 2022, due to a staggered construction schedule.  The 141st Street roundabout interchange will be one-lane in the latest plans, consistent with previous plans.

IMAVEX is handling the marketing campaign for businesses located in the construction area.  $500,000 was approved as part of the bond funding the SR 37 improvements to pay for the marketing push.  Paid ads for these businesses will begin during June of this year, according to IMAVEX.

The first question from the audience was about Mundy Drive, a commercial area just east of SR 37, with the questioner asking why both 141st and 146th Streets appear to be sealed-off from Mundy Drive.  This is a question planners know must be handled, but how access to Mundy Drive will be designed is not yet part of the plan, but is under consideration.  In other words, no answer yet, but those planning construction are aware of the problem.

The next question was about 141st Street, since it is likely to see an increase in traffic once the 126th Street work begins later this year, with apartment complexes and the Country Fields of Fishers Condo neighborhood possibly locked-in by traffic.  Officials said if such traffic issues arise, placing temporary traffic signals or stop signs are options to deal with that.

The next questioner asked about how school bus schedules might be impacted by all this work, and the response was that HSE Schools are working closely with the construction planners and the schools will communicate any time changes for buses.

Everyone living in or near the State Road 37 area of Fishers has known about the coming construction along that heavily-traveled roadway for some time.  Some facts we know, others will be coming later.

The City of Fishers had a very good night last Saturday at the Mira Awards, the top honor in Indiana tied to high-tech.  The City of Fishers was named as Rising Tech City, the first time event sponsor TechPoint has ever handed out such a Mira Award.

John Wechsler, founder of Launch Fishers and the Indiana IoT Lab in Fishers, was singled out by Mayor Scott Fadness as one reason Fishers won this honor, along with many others.

“From the leadership of the City Council and Launch Fishers and Indiana IoT Lab co-founder John Wechsler to entrepreneurs like Emplify’s Santiago Jaramillo and Clear Object’s John McDonald, this accomplishment is the culmination of the hard work and dreams of the entire Fishers business community,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness. “We are fortunate to have a close-knit community in Fishers that is willing to share lessons learned and celebrate the successes of our peers. It’s an honor to have been recognized as Rising Tech City.”

The Rising Tech City award was created this year to recognize cities, towns, regions or communities in Indiana, by celebrating the projects and people behind them who have championed the location’s advancement with particular emphasis on tech friendliness.

Several Fishers-based tech companies were finalists for Mira Awards in several categories including:

• Mobile reCell – Tech Service of the Year
• Scott Fadness, Mayor of Fishers – Community Champion of the Year
• John McDonald, CEO, ClearObject – Community Champion of the Year
• Six Feet Up – Community Champion of the Year
• BLASTmedia – Exceptional Employer Award
• Jobvite – Scale-up of the Year

When the announcement was made that The Yard would be coming to Fishers, it was an effort by the city to up the ante on the quality and quantity of the local restaurant scene.  Part of what was promised at the time of that announcement was a place where chefs could experiment with short-term, affordable leases.

With The Yard now under construction along 116th Street near IKEA, the City of Fishers is putting out the call – if you are a chef and want to be part of the new Fishers Test Kitchen Restaurant Accelerator, now is the time to apply.

The chefs will be trying different culinary creations.  The accelerator will feature three completely built-out kitchens in a food hall setting adjacent to the Sun King Brewing tap room, according to a city news release. Customers will be able to order from the food stands then have their meal within Sun King’s 350-seat dining area.

“Fishers has seen success with tech companies in the area, and we’re now taking the tech accelerator model and applying it to the restaurant industry,” says John Wechsler, entrepreneur and CEO of the IoT Lab and Launch Fishers. “We hope this not only surfaces local talent but also brings in chefs from across the country and introduces them to what Fishers has to offer.”

These new chefs will be selected by a board of directors, consisting of Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, food writer and industry veteran Jolene Ketzenberger, John Wechsler, and Clay Robinson of Sun King.  The first list of chefs for the accelerator is expected to be announced in late spring.

The City is accepting applications for the first group of chefs through May at FishersTestKitchen.com – where chefs can upload a menu, resume, and video explaining their restaurant concept.

“There is so much culinary talent in Central Indiana, and the performance kitchen will provide a space for chefs to cook right in front of guests,” says Jolene Ketzenberger,  “It will be a way for diners to meet the chefs, talk with them, watch them cook and really enjoy a unique culinary experience.”

With the May 7th primary election fast approaching, the Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Richardson says over 30,000 voters will have a new place to cast their ballots on election day.  Hamilton Southeastern School Superintendent Allen Bourff says school districts in Hamilton County are choosing to move away from being sites to house polling places on election day due to security concerns.

Hamilton County Commissioners officially approved the new sites at their March 25th session.  The school locations have mostly been replaced with churches and club houses.

“If you have previously voted in an HSE school, you can assume you have a new voting location this year,” says Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams in a news release. “Bright yellow postcards were mailed last week notifying 31,000 voters of their new voting locations.”

If you do not receive a yellow card in the mail, you can find your new voting location at www.indianavoters.com, www.hamiltoncounty.in.gov/226/Polling-Locations or by calling the Election Office at (317) 776-8476.

You can also view a map of the Delaware-FallCreek Township precincts.

The Fishers City Council had a lively discussion Monday night about a rezoning request for a house on 126th Street, near Olio Road, which ended in a 4-4 tie vote.  Jeffrey Cummings of REMAX asked the council to zone a house at 13589 E 126th Street from residential to commercial.

The council decided to continue the matter for 30 days to allow absent Councilman John Weingardt a chance to weigh-in on the issue and break the tie vote.

Rich Block, Eric Moeller, Dvid George and Brad DeReamer voted yes on the rezoning.  Pete Peterson, Cecilia Coble, Selina Stoller and Todd Zimmerman voted no on the measure.

Those voting no emphasized they were not opposed to the plans proposed by Mr. Cummings to use the house as a real estate office.  The home has been on the market for some time and has not sold as a residential property.

Peterson argued that this rezoning is not in line with the city’s 2040 comprehensive plan and could start a trend of commercial development along 126th street when the comprehensive plan shows that corridor as residential.

After initially deadlocking on the 4-4 vote, the council went through some procedural gymnastics to rescind that vote and continue the matter for 30 days, allowing Councilman Weingardt to vote and break the deadlock.

As a result, the rezoning is expected to be considered at the next council session in May.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness has been keeping a close eye on House Bill 1427 in the General Assembly, supported by local State Representative Todd Huston, that would deal with “abnormalities” in the state distribution formula for distributing County Option Income Tax (COIT)  among cities within a county.  Fishers has maintained that Carmel receives far more than its share of COIT funds under the state’s current formula.

HR 1427, backed by Representative Huston, has language dealing with discrepancies among cities within a county with more than a 5% discrepancy, and would phase-in changes to equalize the distribution based on the population of cities.

“So if I represent 30% of the population, but I’m receiving 50% of the income tax revenue, that’s obviously more than a 5% spread – If that would occur, that would freeze that (city) at current levels and let everyone else catch up over time as new revenue came in,” according to Fadness.

HR 1427 passed the House, but underwent  major changes when the senate passed the legislation, according to Fadness.  Senator Victoria Spartz of Noblesville was behind the changes.  Fadness described the Senate changes to the bill as “not an ideal scenario for us (the City of Fishers).”

The bill will now have the final version written in a House-Senate conference committee.

Fadness told council members that if this is not rectified by state lawmakers, Carmel is $21 million ahead of Fishers this year and it will only get worse in future budget cycles.

Fadness argues that the $21 million difference is enough to fund the entire Fishers Fire Department and a good portion of the city’s police force.

The Indiana General Assembly will wrap up its work within the next two weeks.

It was late in 2015.  I had been observing how podcasts were multiplying in number.  I asked myself a question – I’m a former radio guy, could I get into podcasting?

I must admit my radio broadcasting experience was helpful, but even with that, I had a lot to learn.  So, after Christmas, 2015, through the end of January, 2016, I studied the technical aspect of producing podcasts and tried to research what other podcasters experienced in the start-up phase.  The Internet is a tremendous source for research and I learned a great deal.

That research told me what equipment to buy and how to get started.

I have had a few people in and around Fishers ask me for advice on starting a podcast.  Yes, you must learn the technical aspects, but there is one centerpiece to the start of podcasting – you must have something to say and a concept of how you want to say it.

I started in February of 2016 with two types of podcasts.  The first was a daily tax podcast.  The second was a roughly weekly conversation with people in and around Fishers, talking about what they do.

The tax podcast lasted about 6 weeks, but at some point, you must make a decision when virtually no one is listening.  I had a loyal but very small audience for that podcast series, but needed to end it quickly.

However, the local interviews and discussion have continued and people are listening.  There are very few venues allowing local people to sit down and talk about what they are doing locally for about 30 minutes.

The interviews with political candidates are particularly popular with listeners.  My podcasts with candidates fro Hamilton Southeastern School Board drew a large audience.  Every single candidate agreed to record a podcast in that case.

Now, with the local city Republican primary election campaign underway, every candidate in a contested race agreed to sit down with me and record a podcast.  The only episode yet to be recorded is with incumbent Mayor Scott Fadness, and the delay in the recording session was at the request of his campaign.

I also have a series of podcasts that consist of arts reviews, including films, stage productions, music and television.  I haven’t had the time to record one of my Arts&Fishers podcasts for a few weeks, with the local election campaign in full swing, but watch for that series to gear-up again soon.

Then, for about 13 months, Adam Aasen & I produced a weekly podcast, Hamilton County Goes To The Movies.  It featured one or more film reviews and a local guest each week.  That podcast went into hiatus last September when Adam was preparing to become a father and also was planning a campaign for Carmel City Council.  Adam’s beautiful daughter Madeline was born in December and he is now in the thick of his election campaign.  Once the election is over, Adam and I will decide the future of the film podcast.

I checked my analytics, and since launching my various podcast series in February of 2016, there have been more than 37,000 instances when someone has listened to most or all of one of the podcasts I produce.  For a small local series of podcasts, that’s a very big number.

Allow me to thank all those taking the time to listen to my podcasts.  I appreciate each and every one of you.

You can find my podcasts on a number of platforms.  Here is a list of the most common places to find my “Podcasts by Larry Lannan”  in addition to LarryInFishers.com –

Soundcloud

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Blubrry

Listen Notes