If you do not believe housing is at a crisis level in southern Hamilton County, consider the following facts:

–In order to afford a market rate apartment in Fishers, you will need to make $20-$30 an hour (that translates to $41,600 to $62,400 income per year).

–The unemployment rate in Hamilton County is 2.8%.

–The retail and hospitality industries account for nearly 14% of the private sector work force in this area.

–Over 1,000 new jobs are coming to the area of Fishers around 116th Street and Interstate 69.

–Fishers job growth is projected to be 11.6% by 2021.

–There are no mass transit systems operating between Hamilton County and Indianapolis.

Put all these facts together and you find that a large number of the people needed to fill jobs coming to Fishers cannot afford to live in Fishers.

That was a major theme of the Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development (HAND) organization during its annual conference, held Friday at Conner Prairie.   Low income housing is not always for those in poverty without work…low income housing is needed for those with steady work, but have incomes too low to live in market rate housing available in places like Fishers and a large part of Hamilton County.

RealAmerica LLC is a Fishers-based firm aimed at developing and constructing apartment housing through the use of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.  Ronda Shrewsbury Weybright, President and Owner of RealAmerica, told the crowd on hand for the conference about the many successful low-income housing projects her company has constructed in places like Daleville, suburban Fort Wayne and Nashville (Indiana).

Building low-income housing in suburban areas was the center of the discussion for much of the event.  There was talk about how to convince neighbors that facts show low-income housing does not normally reduce property values in the area and does not draw crime to the vicinity of the complex.

Other speakers at the HAND conference included Peter Nelson from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, and Lisa Sturtevant with the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing.

For those of you using 116th street during the middle of the work day, starting Monday, there will be lane closures on parts of the roadway off-and-on from the City Hall area east to Brooks School Road.  Also beware of some work along some stretches of 126th Street.

Below is the full list of road work for the work week beginning Monday, September 25th.

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116TH STREET   

Beginning on Monday, September 25 (weather permitting), one lane of westbound 116th Street will be closed between Municipal Drive and Fishers Pointe Boulevard for utility work.

Lane restrictions will be in place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in each direction of 116th Street west of Brooks School Road as crews complete median work in front of Simply Dental. Work is expected to be complete by the end of the week. Signage and flaggers will be present during the restrictions.
Periodic lane restrictions will occur on 116th Street east of Allisonville Road as the contractor repairs concrete curbs and ramps and begins resurfacing work on the roadway. Restrictions will be in place between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Please note that overnight work will occur while traffic volumes are reduced. The City greatly appreciates residents’ patience with construction noise.

126TH STREET   

Possible lane restrictions may occur on 126th Street near Parkside Drive while utility work is completed.

Periodic lane restrictions will occur between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on 126th Street between Allisonville Road and Lantern Road as crews complete a passing blister. Flaggers will be present during the restrictions.

I-69   

Improvements are currently underway to rehabilitate existing bridges, pavement and drainage structures along the 15-mile stretch of interstate. Two lanes of traffic in each direction of I-69 are currently shifted to accommodate construction of the additional travel lanes. Signs direct large trucks to use the left lane while traffic is shifted toward the right shoulder through the work zone. The speed limit is reduced to 60 mph and further reduced to 50 mph when workers are present.

I-69 is expected to open to three lanes in each direction between State Road 37 and State Road 38 before the end of this year. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT at eastcentralin@indot.in.gov or 1-855-463-6848.

STATE ROAD 37   

Geotechnical drilling began along the State Road 37 corridor in May as part of the final design phase of State Road 37 Improvement Project. Lane and shoulder restrictions will be active through September 30. The geotechnical drilling will cause lane restrictions on SR 37 at the 126th Street intersection on or after August 7 and are anticipated to last until September 30. Southbound restrictions begin after 9 a.m. daily and northbound restrictions will be completed daily before 4 p.m. to allow for maximum traffic flow during peak rush hours. Crews will maintain a minimum of one through-lane at all times.

The SR37 improvement project is a $124 million joint project between Fishers, Hamilton County, Noblesville and INDOT. Questions or concerns may be directed todrivefishers@fishers.in.us.

OUTSIDE OF FISHERS   

On or after Monday, August 21, Hamilton County Highway Department will close Cyntheanne Road between 146th Street and 156th Street until December 1, 2017 to replace the bridge over Keiser Drain. Please contact Hamilton County Highway Department at 317-773-7770 with any questions.

Fortunately, shootings are rare in Fishers, but there is a man, 21, in critical condition following a shooting behind the Which-Wich sandwich shop Thursday evening.  Police are looking for a suspect in the case.

The 911 call was placed after 7pm.  One witness told police a blue car was seen leaving the area after the shooting.

Officials are working to find out why Fishers received $600,000 less in County Option Income Tax (COIT) money than had originally been projected.  Mike Reuter has done the income projections for Fishers local government over a number of years.  His projections are usually very accurate.

But during this budget cycle, Reuter’s estimate was off by about $600,000, meaning the city’s distribution of COIT money from the state will be less than projected.  That resulted in a city council committee recommending a reduction in the support nonprofit organizations will receive from the City of Fishers during 2018, in order to bring next year’s spending plan into balance with a small surplus.

During the budget process, the Fishers City Council Finance Committee learned that even though Fishers and Carmel have similar population numbers, Carmel is expected to receive millions more in their COIT distribution from the state compared to Fishers.

Now Fishers is trying to determine how this happened.

“Mike Reuter…because he doesn’t do Carmel’s (budget) work, he has to reconstruct all of Carmel’s financial models to figure out what it is they did to be able to get so much income tax revenue,” Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told a City Council work session Monday.

In a work session meeting with State Representative Todd Huston in October of 2016, the mayor and city councilors raised the issue of how Carmel collects so much more money from COIT distributions than Fishers.  Huston promised to look into it.  In a podcast with LarryInFishers in December of 2016, Huston told me changing the COIT formula is “candidly, not an easy lift” in the General Assembly.

A bomb threat was received by phone late Wednesday morning, resulting in the evacuation of both Fishers and HSE High Schools.  Authorities searched both buildings and nothing was found.  Classes resumed this afternoon.

Surrounding schools were put on secured perimeter with no students allowed outside during this period of time as a precaution. Those procedures have been lifted as well.

Local commentator Fred Swift talked with Larry about some of his recent writing, and some issues facing Hamilton County

Teachers and students at Hoosier Road Elementary School continue to collect hurricane relief supplies to a grade school in Houston Texas.  A group went before the Fishers
City Council Monday night to make their case.

For more information on the project, use this link.

The Fishers City Council gave preliminary approval to a $103.8 million proposed spending plan for 2018, but left uncertain a proposal to increase the city council salaries for next year.  The budget received first reading at the Monday night council session.  Final approval is expected at next month’s council session.

A spirited debate ensued during the council work session, held before the regular meeting. Brad DeReamer asked why there was no pay raise for the city council members and the city judge, when all other city employees, including the elected city clerk and the mayor, were included in the 5% pay increase.

Council Finance Committee Chairman Eric Moeller said he surveyed fellow council members and determined there were not 5 votes (a council majority) to pass a pay increase for city councilors.  DeReamer and Councilman Pete Peterson argued forcefully in the work session that the council should not get so far behind in the pay scale that a large percentage increase will be needed in the future, as happened in 2017.

When the salary ordinance was up for council consideration, DeReamer made a motion to provide a 5% 2018 pay increase for the city council members and the city judge.  That measure passed 5-2, with Eric Moeller and Cecilia Coble casting no votes.  Council members John Weingardt and Selina Stoller did not attend the council meeting.

This allows the amendment to pass and become a part of the 1st reading version.  However, the salary ordinance can be amended once again when a final vote is taken in October.

Just because the salary ordinance amendment allowing the council pay raise passed, it may not be enacted next month.  For example, Councilman Todd Zimmerman told LarryInFishers he voted for DeReamer’s amendment only to allow Weingardt and Stoller to weigh-in and vote on the amendment next month.  Zimmerman indicated he is not in favor of the 2018 council pay hike, but voted yes only to allow a final vote including all council members next month.

Fadness told council members his 2018 budget proposal includes a $37.9 million cash reserve.  He expects the budget will trigger a 1.5 cent property tax rate increase per $100 of assessed valuation.  The mayor estimates homes valued at between $100,000 and$250,000 will see property taxes rise between $10 and $25 next year.

The mayor provided data showing Fishers with the lowest property tax rate among the state’s 15 largest cities, and one of the lowest tax rates in Hamilton County.

Money Magazine has declared Fishers as the best place to live in America.  I had an inkling something was up last week.  Allow me to explain.

I received a message to call someone with a New York City area code.  That alone sent up red flags, so I checked out the person making the contact.  It was Clare Trapasso, a writer for the Web site Realtor.com.  Trapasso’s organization had partnered with Money Magazine on the listing of the 10 best places to live in the United States.

I had received a hint from Ms. Trapasso that Fishers would end up number 1 on the list. She had asked for some comments by me, as a long time resident of Fishers and the writer of a local news blog.

As I have written before, I am not a big fan of these “best of” listings which are by their nature very subjective.  But this number 1 listing is a very big deal.

You can read the Realtor.com story with my comments at this link.

For the full Money Magazine story, use this link.

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I am a customer of AT&T, which has the U-Verse TV service and also owns DriecTV satellite TV.  Both services were forced to remove local channel 13 from U-Verse and DirecTV when WTHR could not reach agreement with the communications giant.

Why is this happening?  It is virtually impossible to find out because both companies are keeping their bargaining positions private.  It’s called a “trade secret.”

But what we do know is that consumers are feeling the brunt of this and we have no idea whom is at fault in the fracas.  We consumers are not paying any less for U-Verse service yet a key part of their service is now denied to its customers.

AT&T will argue it is fighting for its customers by preventing future hikes in what we pay for the service.  WTHR is arguing they need a fair amount of compensation from AT&T to continue its viability in a fast-changing media world.

So, there is no way of assigning blame to one party or the other.  So here is my message. We need to blame both AT&T as well as WTHR, but let’s not leave out a major player in all this – the federal government.

The feds set the rules for how these companies are allowed to play with each other.  And, frankly, despite their pleas that they are looking out for the public interest, both are actually looking at only the bottom line.  Both companies are extremely profitable now – they just want to become even more profitable.

In this struggle for the corporate bottom line, its the consumers that get the raw end of the deal.  In my view, this needs to stop.

I have no problem with AT&T and WTHR’s owner making plenty of money…and they are.  I just don’t think the consumer should be victimized.

I realize that this will not go down well with with many of my libertarian-leaning friends in Fishers, but these types of disputes will continue unless federal regulators step-in.  It would not be difficult to come up with a process to settle these money brawls without the consumers losing their service.

Frankly, technology will eventually create different platforms for watching what we now call television, but in the meantime, these cable TV issues will only harm consumers when they happen.  The corporations will eventually settle all this and settle for their compromise profit levels.

I am not hopeful that the Trump administration cares at all about any of this, but I would encourage Fishers area AT&T or DirecTV customers to e-mail Congresswoman Susan Brooks and our two senators, Donnelly and Young, and let them know consumers are losing patience with a system that only victimizes the viewer.

E-mail Congresswoman Susan Brooks at this link.

E-mail Senator Donnelly at this link.

E-mail Senator Todd Young at this link.