It was a packed crowd at Fishers City Hall Tuesday night for the listening session about the proposal to transform the Nickel Plate Line into a biking and hiking trail.  There were people in favor of the trail proposal, there was a large contingent on hand advocating continued train use of the line, and there were attendees just wanting to listen before taking a position.

‘I’ve got mixed feelings on this one,” local resident Christina Minear told me.  “That’s why I came tonight to find out and hear from both sides what’s going on.”

Fishers Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath opened the event, introducing people from the mayor’s office, police department, engineering and parks, all staffing tables to take comments and ask questions.

“We have a lot of public hearings in our community,” McGrath told the crowd.  “Sometimes, what that means, is the first ten people at the (microphone) are the ones to steal the show. Tonight, what we want to do is give each of you an opportunity to talk with all of us (with the city).”

Former Fishers Town council member Mike Colby was not happy with the format of the listening session.

“The way these things are setup now, you’re going up and asking questions about the trail,” Colby told me. “My question is, can we keep the rail and eliminate the trail, or in some cases they want to do both.  But it’s not setup that way.  The basic question of how many people support the trail and how many people support the rail hasn’t even been addressed.  There wasn’t an opportunity to even get up and ask that question.”

Colby also asked why Mayor Fadness was not in attendance for the listening session.

Fishers City Spokesperson Ashley Elrod says the mayor had a conflict.  He attended the Advancing Indiana Municipalities dinner Tuesday night.  Mayor Fadness leads the legislative committee for that group.

Joe Eaton, a Fishers resident since 1990, liked the way the session was organized.

“It’s a great turnout tonight, I think it’s a great format that people are getting the opportunity to ask individual questions,” said Eaton.  “Being a resident of Fishers since 1990, I think the trail is a phenomenal opportunity, great amenity to enhance the community in a way that we really haven’t had.”

The City of Noblesville will host a listening session Thursday night, March 23rd, 6-8pm, at their city hall.

Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County announced February 28th a proposal to convert the 9.2 mile Nickel Plate Rail Line to a biking and hiking trail, much like the Monon.  The project would cost about $9 million.  The idea has drawn praise from those wanting to expand such trails, but there has been vehement opposition from those wanting the line to remain a train rail line.

Fishers Police Chief Mitch Thompson had two big jobs at the March 20th Fishers City Council Session – he swore-in two new officers and honored another for his length of service.  But there was a family connection to those two events.

Andy Deitz was given a 25-year service award by Chief Thompson.  The family connection is that one of the newly-sworn officers is Andy’s nephew, Adam Dietz.

Also sworn-in as a new officer at the City Council ceremony was Corey Miller.

Wendy Hunter, representing Portillo’s before the Fishers City Council, was asked when residents can expect the Chicago-based eatery to open.  If you approve this rezoning, Hunter said, she will announce the opening date in a week and a half (from March 20th).

After hearing that, council members quickly acted to approve the rezoning of the property the restaurant plans to use in constructing their new building, to be located on the southeast corner of Interstate-69 and 116th Street.

Council members all said their constituents have been more excited about the possibility of Portillo’s coming to Fishers than most any other city project.  Based on the council’s Monday night action, those constituents will soon know when Portillo’s will be open in Fishers.

The Hamilton County Humane Society took a major step toward moving their operation from Noblesville to Fishers Monday night when the Fishers City Council unanimously approved a rezoning of the property at 106th Street and Hague Road.  That is the location the society is eyeing as its new animal shelter.

City Hall was packed, mostly with supporters of the Humane Society.  There were people living in the area of the proposed location both for and against the shelter.  The neighbors voicing concern were mostly pushing not to totally oppose the idea, but wanted better sound barriers between the Humane Society complex and their homes.

Area resident Paul Melillo presented a petition with 42 signatures, all but four calling for the enhanced sound barrier wall.  The remaining four opposed the project altogether.

But, the room was packed mostly with supporters of the Humane Society move to Fishers. They got their way with the action by city council members to approve the zoning change, which paves the way for the Humane Society to begin the planning and approval process for their renovation of what is now a church building.

Some new names and some familiar ones are part of the 2017 Fishers Summer Concert Series announced Monday.

The group Smash Mouth will appear at the downtown Amphitheater at 9pm Friday, June 9th.  John Waite comes to town Friday, June 16th, also at 9pm.  Another big name, Loverboy comes to the stage Friday, July 7th for another 9pm gig.

Other familiar names such as Jennie DeVoe, The Woomblies and Dave and Rae are on this year’s schedule.   The Blues Fest will once again be a two-day affair, September 1st & 2nd.

Below is the full list of summer conerts:

The debate has just begun on the future of the Nickel Plate Line.

Here’s my commentary posted on Indiana Forefront, at this link. 

It doesn’t seem that long ago when my wife Jane and I went to Deer Creek Music Center (before the days of big money naming deals…it’s called Klipsch now).  Chuck Berry wowed the crowd playing all his greatest music.  Chuck Berry never had his own band.  He would just tell the venue to find a group of musicians that knew his music.  It always worked.  Many big names would work for little money just to play with Chuck  Berry.

Elvis Presley is often called the King of Rock & Roll, and Elvis was one of the greatest, no doubt.  But if you ask people in the know about the history of music, they will tell you the real King of Rock & Roll was, and always will be, Chuck Berry.

Why is Chuck Berry not commonly known as the King of Rock & Roll?  To understand the answer to that question, you need to remember the time in American history when Berry became popular.

It was the 1950s and race relations in America were not good.  Rock and Roll was, at that time, considered a controversial form of music, a challenge to the establishment.  For an African-American man doing Rock & Roll, and gaining a young fan base, Chuck Berry never got credit for what he accomplished in changing the landscape of American music.

Elvis always got the credit for being the King, but Berry is the man who earned the title.  American racism at the time prevented him for getting the credit he deserved.

Chuck Berry himself always called Elvis the greatest ever.

Chuck Berry died on March 18th at the age of 90.  He will be remembered for giving us his music, and that music will entertain people for a long time to come.  That will be his legacy.  His songs will live on for people like me, and for those not even born yet.

You will be missed, Chuck Berry.

Larry sits down with Fishers City Attorney Chris Greisl and talks about a number of subjects, including how the city uses outside counsel, legal issues on the Nickel Plate Rail Line and Indiana’s Public Access Laws.

More work on I-69, new traffic signal near 116th Street & Olio Road and Maple Street closing near Four Day Ray’s downtown for St. Patrick’s Day….those are just some of the items on the latest list of road work in and around Fishers.

Below is the listing, provided by the City of Fishers:

The annual storm water fee will be in the mail to Fishers residents in the next 30 days. That’s the word from City Controller Oscar Gutierrez as he spoke before the Fishers City Council Finance Committee.

This fee comes from either the City of Fishers or HSE Utilities, depending on which provides sewer service to your home.  However, this bill is not funding your sewers.  The Fishers city Web site says the annual storm water fee covers the following:

• Storm sewer maintenance and upgrades
• Drainage and flood control projects
• Street sweeping
• Water quality improvement projects
• Waterway clean-up efforts
• Community recycling days
• National Flood Insurance Program management

Bottom line, this fee is charged once a year to residential homeowners.  Commercial customers also pay the fee, but on a different schedule