When Hamilton Southeastern Education Association President Janet Chandler

spoke before the assembled school system employees at Fishers High School Monday morning (8.10), she made some news by announcing that the association has reached a tentative agreement with the school administration on a new contract.

The details of the contract have not been announced.  “We do have a couple of details that we still need to iron out,” Chandler said.   She hopes to have the details of the tentative pact available for teachers within a few days.

For a contract to be ratified, it most be put up for a vote and passed by the teachers, then approved by the school board.

Chandler was speaking at the start of school session, which this year included not just teachers, but all school corporation employees.

When I posted a story on this blog a week ago about how the reported Indiana teacher shortage is being felt in Fishers, I received plenty of feedback.  A few days later another of my commentaries appeared in Current in Fishers, this one about how the local school corporation got to the point of likely asking taxpayers for more money in a referendum next year.

I want to address some of the comments I received from both of those pieces.  I want to thank all those making comment.  Most were well thought out and appreciated.

The first comment I received came from Bill Brown, a former city council candidate and a long-time school bus driver for HSE Schools.  Bill pointed out that low pay raises and a hit on the health care benefit wasn’t just felt by teachers, but all HSE School employees.  I agree, Bill.  My piece here on the blog a week ago was centered on teachers so I only addressed that part.  But Bill is right that bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and other school system employees felt the same pain as the teaching staff.  The Hamilton Southeastern School System is the second largest employer in Fishers (roughly 800 employees), with only Navient claiming a larger work force (1,700 workers).

Anna Stumpf posted a lengthy comment (says she cut it down from the original 3 pages). She contends that we shouldn’t focus so much on pay and instead talk to the teachers about what they want and need to improve the educational experience.  I cannot disagree with much of what Ms. Stumpf wrote.  I tried to point out in my piece that pay isn’t everything but it is an important component in keeping and retaining a top notch teaching staff.  I thank her for her thoughtful views on the subject.

In response to my Current commentary, Dee Brown asks why Fishers couldn’t take money from the downtown projects on the municipal complex and use it for the schools.  I have written extensively about the downtown projects, which are getting out to a good start but it will be a long term evaluation on their success.  The problem here is state law.  The City of Fishers cannot legally give money to the school system.  The city is building those downtown projects.  The city and Fall Creek Township did buy some land from the school system to ease HSE’s budget problems but that was a sale at fair market value.  Bottom line, the city couldn’t redirect funds (legally) from the downtown projects to the school system directly.  There were also some other comments but I am not able to decipher the points being made or I would have a response.

When I post a story on this blog, I never know how it will be received.  My post a week ago about Fishers and the teacher shortage created lots of interest and I thank the many people who took the time to read it.

I realize this blog centers on Fishers, Indiana, but as the blog publisher, allow me a point of personal privilege to extol the virtues of my former News Director.  When I arrived at WCSI Radio in the late 1970s as the morning news anchor and reporter, it was Sam Simmermaker that took me under his wing and helped me find my way in a new city.

Sam started at Columbus Indiana’s WCSI in the early 1960s and became news and sports director of the station.  We shared the same newsroom for four years.

When you work with someone every day for a number of years, you begin to appreciate their strengths.  It didn’t take me long to see that Sam is someone special.

Sam still works for WCSI, but only contributes sports news and does live play-by-play of local athletic events.  Sam is a treasure for WCSI and Columbus, Indiana.

Several former employees of WCSI have been gathering the last couple of summers at a downtown Columbus restaurant to get together and share our many stories of working at the radio station.

This year, another top-notch radio professional, Larry Henry, was at the reunion.  Larry and I were the morning team on WCSI for several years.

Mr. Henry was able to see Governor Mike Pence recently.  The governor is from Columbus and is very familiar with Sam’s work.  Larry Henry had a big surprise for Sam Simmermaker at this year’s reunion.

Sam was awarded one of the top honors any Governor can bestow on a resident of Indiana.  Sam is now a Sagamore of the Wabash.  My thanks to Governor Pence for his recognition of Columbus Indiana’s most revered broadcaster.

Congratulations to Sam Simmermaker for being deservedly honored for his long service to the state and the people of Columbus.  And kudos to my former colleague Larry Henry for helping to make this happen.

We may be seeing temperatures a bit cooler than normal for August, but the summer road construction schedule in Fishers is still in full motion.

Below is the schedule for local road work for the work week beginning Monday, August 10th

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Lantern and Commercial intersection

Beginning on/after Tuesday, August 11th, the current entrance will be closed and the new road will be opened to traffic.  This new road will continue to have a stop sign until the new traffic signal is installed and powered.

Resurfacing Work

Resurfacing work is taking place at multiple locations throughout the week of August 10. Work will be conducted in Apple Tree Circle and Drive within the Sunblest neighborhood, and in Bridgewater subdivision.

The Pines

Sidewalk work will begin the week of August 10th in The Pines.

Windermere

Continuing through the week of August 10th, temporary lane restrictions should be expected along Windward Pass and Stillwater Court.

131st Street

A lane shift will still be in place along 131st Street between Parkside and Cumberland Road, with possible stop and go traffic as they pave the new south lane. Flaggers will be onsite to help direct traffic. Surfacing will continue onto 131st Street, and traffic will be interrupted during that time. For updates on this project be sure to follow @DriveFishers on Twitter.

Cell phone towers are seen all across America, but there is new technology coming online to enhance cell phone coverage without adding a large number of old-fashioned towers. This involves placing micro cell antennas on existing utility poles.

A task force has been at work hashing out the language of a new text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) in the form of a new city ordinance allowing and restricting such micro cell towers located in the City of Fishers.

The Fishers Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed text amendment to the UDO, a zoning issue, at the August 11th meeting, at City Hall, starting as 6:30pm.

The proposed text amendment would allow the micro cell towers, but require that they be placed 1,000 feet apart, meet specific standards as to how they appear and would not be allowed in residential neighborhoods.

Below you will find the actual proposed ordinance that will be the subject of the public hearing.  Note that such as ordinance would need the approval of the Fishers City Council in order to become law.

Continue reading Proposed Micro Cell Tower Ordinance to Have Public Hearing August 11th →

Claude & Annie’s restaurant in Fishers is gearing up for its fourth fund-raising golf tournament to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.  Bill Smythe, owner of Claude & Annie’s in Fishers, has set a goal this time of $10,000 in donations.  Last year’s event brought in $8,600.

This year’s event is set of River Glen Country Club on Wednesday, September 23rd.

For more information, use this link.

Fall Creek Township Trustee Jeff Hern has announced his intention to be a candidate for the Hamilton County Council in the 2016 May primary election.  Hern plans to vie for an at-large seat on the council.

“My experience has prepared me to take this next step to county council,” said Hern. “I firmly believe in fiscally conservative government and would like to continue my efforts on a county-wide level to better serve our residents.”

Hern currently serves as the Fall Creek Township Trustee.  Fishers is contained within two Hamilton County Townships, Fall Creek and Delaware.

Keeping the township government debt-free and the lowering of Fall Creek Township’s share of local property taxes are two of the accomplishments Hern touts in the news release announcing his candidacy.

The primary election is nearly 9 months away, so Jeff Hern is getting out to an early start in his bid for a council seat.

Fishers area voters will likely be considering a school funding referendum in May of 2016.  In my latest Current in Fishers commentary, I take a look at how we got to this point.

You can access my commentary at this link.

Mayor Scott Fadness outlined a proposal for producing a Fishers Comprehensive Plan, something the municipality has never done.  City council members heard the mayor’s proposal at an August 3rd City Hall work session.

Fadness and city staffers outlined four main areas of the plan, including:

–Transportation

–Residential

–Land Use

–Parks & Open Space

The mayor said once the council members and others break down into committees to work on their section of the plan, another committee concentrating on specific small areas of the city will also be formed.  A steering committee, with the mayor and City Council President Pete Peterson among the membership, will oversee the smaller panels.

If all goes according to schedule, the Fishers City Comprehensive Plan will be ready for council approval by March of 2016.

“I think this is going to be a journey for all of us,” said Mayor Fadness.  “I think we’re going to learn a lot about our community and the direction we are going to take it.  I think it’s going to be an exciting project, but it’s not an overnight project.  It’s going to take some time.”

The mayor said there are plans to take City Council members on a bus ride to personally view several part of the city as part of the preparation to work on the Comprehensive Plan. That’s scheduled for August 31st.

After studying the costs and benefits of a special census, it appears Fishers city officials are moving toward paying for an updated local population count.  City Hall has still not provided the exact numbers, but it appears the figures provided by the Census Bureau on the cost of a census are low enough that Fishers would come out ahead financially under a cost/benefit analysis.

Many allocations of state money are related to the city’s population numbers.  The higher the census population, the more money comes into the city.

A federal census happens every ten years.  The 2010 census showed a Fishers population of 76,794.  Mayor Scott Fadness told the City Council Finance Committee on May 31st that he believes the city’s population is currently closer to 87,500.

The mayor’s office is expected to announce the numbers and more details related to the special census soon.