When Fishers established the Nickel Plate District building code standards, I recall that meeting.  The idea was to have a downtown with a different feel and atmosphere.

The Nickel Plate Review Committee is charged with looking at plans for the downtown area encompassing the Nickel Plate District.  On September 28th, the committee reviewed plans from Four Day Ray, a local micro-brewery and restaurant, set to open in about two weeks in the Nickel Plate District.

Normally, the committee reviews architectural designs and renderings.  At the September 28th session, the panel was asked to consider a mural already constructed on the building.

The mural shows a picture that is placed on the beer cans of Laplander Blonde.  Some comments received by the public were positive, but some questioned whether the Laplander Blonde picture is better suited for a beer can than a mural on the south end of the Four Day Ray Building, facing the parking lot.

The attorney for Four Day Ray told the committee members his client will remove the Nickel Plate District logo on the picture, but plans to keep the mural on the building.  In the end, the Nickel Plate Review Committee voted unanimously to keep the mural as long the the Nickel Plate District logo is removed.

In other actions, the committee reviewed design plans for the North  of North project parking garage and approved plans for insurance agent Scott Rhodes to place signage at an existing home located at 11393 Lantern Road to relocate his office.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board gave the go-ahead to issue $5.5 million in short term general obligation bonds, allowing the corporation to spend money saved by refinancing other school bonds earlier this year.  The bond issue approved by the board Wednesday night will be paid back in less than one year, but is the method provided by law allowing the local schools to spend the savings.  The legal paperwork has language for a 9 cent tax rate increase, but HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Mike Reuter says the bond issue will be structured in a manner that no tax rate increase will actually occur as a result of Wednesday night’s board action.

Reuter told the board the $5.5 million will be used for capital projects.  Some of the money has already been earmarked to pay for some new badly-needed buses.  Other projects this money will finance include:

–retrofitting buildings to allow space for the newly-hired assistant principals

–mechanical upgrades at  Cumberland Road Elementary’s heating and cooling system

In other school board meeting news:

–Superintendent Allen Bourff introduced Brooke Lawson as the school system’s new coordinator of mental health.  She is scheduled to begin her new position October 10th. Also, Assistant Superintendent Mike Beresford told the board Requests for Proposals will be issued to contract with mental health providers.  If all goes on schedule, Dr. Beresford hopes to have much of the mental health support infrastructure in place during the second semester of the current school year.  Dr. Bourrf emphasized that this is all happening as a result of the school funding referendum that passed in May of this year.

–Dr. Bourff summarized a proposal to have students arrive a few minutes later on 31 Tuesdays the next school year (2017-2018).  That time would be used by teachers for professional development.  The HSE Superintendent emphasized he is only proposing the idea at this time, but the recently approved 2017-2018 school calendar does allow for this.

–Board Member Howard Stevenson said Geist Elementary School has been designated as a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School by the United State Department of Education.  His son was part of the first kindergarten class that went K-4 there, and his wife has been a teacher at Geist Elementary since it first opened.

–The 2016 Pasta Bowl collected over 15,000 pounds of pasta, breaking last year’s record of over 13,000 pounds.

The Pasta Bowl is an annual event to collect pasta and educate local people about hunger. In 2016, a massive effort brought-in more than 15,000 pounds of pasta product.

Three schools in the Hamilton Southeastern School District will garner trophies for their pasta collection….

Below is a news release from the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation on this year’s Pasta Bowl.

Local students gathered on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 to purchase a few hundred additional pounds of pasta and to announce the grand total of the community wide pasta drive known as PastaBowl.  This year’s total, 15,228, represents the most collected in the history of the drive. 

The campaign not only generates pasta, but also awareness for the one in seven local children that struggle with food insecurities.   And when students are hungry, it’s hard to learn.  That is why all 21 local schools in collaboration with Meijer, Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation, Harvest Food Bank, Citizens State Bank, ProShred, and the Fall Creek Township Trustees Office collaborate to alleviate the pressure on more than 40 area food pantries, as well as Second Helpings, by providing thousands of pounds of pasta. 

The tremendous success of the PastaBowl drive is attributed to the leadership and involvement of students at every school.  This year, the traveling trophies will be awarded to Fishers High School, Riverside Intermediate, and Hoosier Road Elementary.  It is an amazing opportunity for students to show how they can make a difference in their communities! 

Fishers IKEA store is set to open in about a year from now.  The company issued a news release on the progress.  The release is reproduced in full below:

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IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced contractors now are hired for building its future Indianapolis-area store in Fishers, IN. Pending remaining permits, this milestone allows the project to continue on track for site work to commence, with groundbreaking next month and a store opening in Fall 2017, increasing the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Midwestern United States. Until the store opens, customers can shop at the Cincinnati-area store in West Chester, OH; Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg; or online at IKEA-USA.com.

IKEA has chosen Pepper Construction to serve as Construction Manager for the IKEA Fishers site work and store development project. Having a strong Midwestern presence, Pepper is a full-service construction management, design/build and general contracting firm that has constructed several IKEA stores throughout the years, including one underway in Columbus, OH. Other firms assisting with this project are: real estate brokerage CBRE for site selection support; Faegre Baker Daniels for local land use counsel; Kimley-Horn for civil engineering; KJWW Engineering Consultants for structural; ACIES Engineering for mechanical, electrical and plumbing design; Earth Source for environmental services; and GreenbergFarrow as project architect.

“With contractors onboard, plans can proceed towards opening the future IKEA Fishers,” said Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S. president. “This store will provide a more convenient IKEA shopping experience for current and potential customers throughout Indiana, complementing our growing Midwestern U.S. presence.”

IKEA Fishers will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 325-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. In addition to the more than 500 jobs that are expected to be created during the construction phase, approximately 250 coworkers will join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA Fishers also will provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for state and local governments and schools.

Located approximately 15 miles northeast of downtown Indianapolis, the 289,000-square-foot future IKEA store and its 1,000 parking spaces will be built on 35 acres along the eastern side of Interstate 69, just south of the E. 116th Street exit. Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA also is evaluating potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations.

Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 380 IKEA stores in 48 countries, including 42 in the U.S. IKEA has been included in rankings of “Best Companies to Work For” and, as further investment in its coworkers, has raised its own minimum wage twice in two years. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. 

The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association is sponsoring a school board candidate forum Tuesday, October 4th, 7pm, at HSE High School. The forum will be held in the “Little Theater.”  It is best to enter the school building using Entrance 2 facing Olio Road.

There are three school board seats up for grabs in the November 8th balloting.  This is called an At Large election, with candidates living in their respective townships, but voters throughout the district vote on each township race.

Delaware Township is the only one with no incumbent because current Board President Karen Harmer is not seeking another term.  There are four hopefuls seeking this seat: Bradley Jones, Adam Harness, Amanda Shera and Franklin Whelan.

In Fall Creek Township, Howard Stevenson is the incumbent.  He was appointed by the board the fill the remainder of Daren Sink’s term when Mr. Sink left Fishers for another position.  The other two candidates in this township are Mike Bottorff and J Kent Everett.

In Wayne Township, Sylvia Shepler will be seeking another term on the school board.  She has one opponent, Charron Wright.

All candidates have been invited to the forum.

The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association represents teachers in the HSE School District.  The association’s president, Janet Chandler, will moderate the forum.

Improvements for the intersection of Southeastern Parkway and 136th Street will start construction in late summer, 2017, according to Fishers City Engineering Department Director Jeff Hill.   The Board of Works and Safety approved the professional services contract to begin preparations for next year’s construction.  City engineers say this project will improve the capacity and safety of the intersection at 136th Street and Southeastern Parkway. It will also serve as an entry point and gateway into the Medtech Corridor area.

In other actions by the board during the September 26th session:

–Approved professional services contracts for right-of-way corridor services on the State Road 37 improvement project.  The board gave the okay for the mayor to insert conflict of interest language into these contracts.

–The Board approved the agreement with state highway officials to fund repaving of 116th Street from Allisonville Road to I-69.

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The leadership change at the top of the Fishers Police Department will become official on Thursday, September 29th, when Mitch Thompson takes the oath of office.

There will be a formal swearing-in ceremony at 4:00pm outside in front of police headquarters.  The public is invited, with a reception to follow.

Thompson has been the Assistant Chief of Police under long-time Chief Geore Kehl, who is retiring at the end of this month.

Mitch Thompson and I share one thing in common…we both moved to Fishers in 1991.

The incoming chief holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana University (Bloomington) and Master’s Degree in Administration of Justice from The University of Phoenix.  He is a Graduate of the 202^nd Class of the FBI National Academy.  He attended the FBI LEEDS (Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar) Course in 2005, and in 2014, served as the FBI National Academy Associates President for the Indiana Chapter.  Thompson is also a graduate of the Police Executive Leadership Academy.

Some may wonder why I have not written about the recent Money Magazine article rating Fishers as one of the best places to live in America.  The national publication ranked my town 30th best place to live in the nation.  Since most local news outlets ran the story, why didn’t I?

Well, I have run such stories in the past.  I honestly am proud that my city has been honored on a national level.

But that got me to thinking….how did Money Magazine make this judgment?  What measurements were used?

That’s why I am rethinking giving all this attention to national publications listing the best places to live, the safest places to live, etc.

Money Magazine did utilize some objective measures to rank these locations.  But some magazines choose different objective criteria for their rankings.  In other words, the journalists may be using objective data, but you cannot use everything, so it is a subjective choice on how to evaluate the areas and which data to use in listing them.

I know most American universities look with disdain upon the U.S, News & World Report rankings of American centers for higher education.  But even though they loathe the methods used, those same universities do everything they can to be at or near the top of that list.

Fishers is a great community in which to live.  I should know.  My family has lived here for 25 years.  We have seen the small town of Fishers with a population of about 11,000 when I moved here grow into a city of nearly 90,000 residents.  I know it’s a wonderful city.  My twin daughters were raised here and attended local schools grades K-12.

You do not need to show me a list to let me know Fishers is a place people would want to live.  I know it already.

I know it is an honor to be ranked 30th best place in the nation to live.  I don’t blame the city for pointing this out to everyone.

Just be sure you know this…I think Fishers is a great place to live even if it’s not ranked as one of Money Magazine’s best places to live next time this list is published.

Chief Orusa took some time out from his regular duties to talk to Larry about a number of subjects

After much controversy, petitions and strident comments on local sports talk radio, Fishers High School Football Coach Rick Wimmer will return to his job Monday.

Here is the statement issued by the Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation:

“Coach Rick Wimmer will return to his teaching and coaching duties on Monday, September 26, 2016. The school district has concluded a thorough evaluation and has addressed the incident. The district appreciates the cooperation of all involved throughout this process and will have no further comment in order to protect confidentiality.”

On September 19th, the Fishers Police Department issued a statement about an incident at Fishers High on September 13th where a teacher touched the shoulder and upper chest of a student.  Police say the situation only lasted about 5 seconds and involved the student arriving late for class.  Coach Wimmer’s name was not mentioned in the police news release, but the incident described appeared to involve the football coach.  No charges were filed.

Wimmer was placed on paid leave as administrators investigated the incident.   That investigation has now concluded, based on the school corporation statement, resulting on Rick Wimmer returning to his job at Fishers High School September 26th.