:Lane Skeeters was a Democratic candidate for Fishers City Council 4 years ago, and is now on the ballot once again in the South Central District.  He joins Larry for this podcast.

After many months of behind-the-scenes meetings and negotiations, two residential developments, described as the Flat Fork Planned Unit Development (PUD), north of 96th Street on Georgia and Cyntheane Roads, finally have a positive recommendation from the Fishers Plan Commission.  The rezone request next goes before the Fishers City Council.

Attorney Murray Clark, representing the developer, told commission members the homes in the 96th Street and Georgia Road development will consist of ranch homes with a projected sales price of $450,000 to $550,000.  A proposed commercial component of that development has been taken off the table.

The 96th Street and Cyntheanne Road part of the project will contain 130 2-story residences with prices starting at $600,000 and go up from that price point.

Concerns about the amount of setbacks for homes in each development has been worked out after much discussion.

During the public hearing, some people currently living in that area voiced concerns about the additional traffic coming to the neighborhood.  City staff responded that they have been in contact with McCordsville in Hancock County, on the other side of 96th Street, working together on developments planned adjacent to this residential area.  There were promises of traffic monitoring to respond if any concerns arise.

With only 6 of the 11 members of the Fishers Plan Commission present at the Wednesday evening meeting, a unanimous vote was required for a positive recommendation, and the vote on the Flat Fork PUD was unanimous.

John DeLucia has been involved in the local community many ways, including involvement with a number of nonprofit groups and  years service on the Hamilton Southeastern School Board.  John is now a candidate for the Fishers City Council, North Central District seat.

John joins Larry Lannan and Mike Fassold in this podcast to talk about his candidacy.

David Giffel was elected by a Republican Party caucus to fill the remaining term of David George when he resigned his council seat in the fall of 2021.  Mr. Giffel has now served nearly 2 years on the Fishers City Council and will face voters in the November general election.

David Giffel sat down with Larry Lannan and Mike Fassold to record this podcast, at the link below.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools are dealing with the same issues individuals and commercial operations are facing – increased costs of doing business.

HSE Facilities Director Matt Rapp updated the school board Tuesday morning on the ten-year plan to keep the school district buildings in good working order.  He cited the nearly $4 million HSE price tag annually on natural gas and electricity use, despite steps taken to reduce consumption, due to dramatic increases in the rates utilities charge.

Rapp cites the Mortenson Construction Cost Index showing a 2.94% hike in construction pricing the past year.  The index also says labor costs have increased 3.2% and cites a labor shortage for skilled contractors.

A project or repair in 2020 that would cost $5,000 has a price tag of $6,500 today.  Bottom line, Rapp says it will cost more to do the same work, year over year.

The project timeline listing shows the Transportation Facility will be completed next year, with Lantern Road and Fishers Elementary Schools set for completion in 2025.  See the chart below for more details.

As the 4th-largest school system in Indiana, Rapp provided the board an idea just how big the facilities are here.  HSE facilities are over 4 million square feet under roof.  By comparison, The Indiana Convention Center, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Lucas oil Stadium and the Salesforce Tower combined have just over 3.9 million square feet total.

To view Matt Rapp’s entire presentation to the board, use this link.

It has been a long time coming.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness referred to the “controversy and turmoil” he and his council members withstood when the former tracks of the Nickel Plate Railroad became the Nickel Plate Trail

Fadness and many of his council members were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 106th Street near Hub & Spoke.  The completion of the south end of this trail takes the Nickel Plate to 96th Street and the border with Indianapolis.

“Ultimately, there will be a bridge on the south end connecting us to Indianapolis,” Fadness said at the ceremony.  “That design is currently underway.  Indianapolis now has funding to bring the trail from 96^th Street all the way down to the (State) Fairgrounds.”

On the northern end of the trail, Fadness said the only obstacle to extending the trail north to downtown Noblesville is a bridge at 146th Street that is currently being designed.

The mayor says the trail also extends to the new Andretti Global Headquarters in Fishers.  The governing body for Formula One racing, FIA, announced Monday that Andretti meets all required criteria to expand into the world’s top motorsports series, clearing a major hurdle.  Andretti is expected to field 2 cars in Formula One.

Mayor Fadness has proposed a node at the trail near 106th Street, including public rest rooms, as part of his 2024 budget proposal now before the City Council.

“This has a huge regional impact for the northeast side of Central Indiana and we are very, very excited about it,” said Fadness.

Ribbon is cut on the south end of the Nickel Plate Trail

You may recall a post on this blog on August 19 all about a small weekly newspaper in Marion, Kansas.  There have been some new developments in that case.

To review, there was a police raid August 11th on the Marion County, Kansas, newspaper office.  Police seized computers, cellphones and other data from the premises of the newspaper. Local authorities also raided the home of the paper’s co-owners — Eric Meyer and his 98-year-old mother, Joan. Joan Meyer died a day after the raid and Eric has said he believes the stress of the raid led to her death.

The Poynter Project, a highly respected nonprofit that reports on journalism, posted a story at the time summarizing the situation that can be found at this link.

One week after the raid, the county attorney said there was “insufficient evidence” to conduct that raid.  All newspaper property taken by police in that raid has been returned.  The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has been looking into the matter.

Now, the mayor of Marion has suspended the local police chief.  You can read more about that from the Marion Record news Web site at this link.

Journalists and those in the news business have a responsibility to follow the law just like anyone else.  However, a heavy-handed raid for no apparent legal reason is an attack on the First Amendment and is bad for all of us.

It’s hard to believe my involvement in media began around 1970.  I worked at a small town radio station where you did a little of everything…play music, program, music, do some sports, do some news….well, you get the idea.

We experienced a regular stream of politicians and political candidates making their way to the station looking for some free media exposure.  So, I often ended up greeting and sometimes interviewing these people from the political world of that era.

One thing that struck me was the lack of women in the political world of that time.  Their were some women in elective office, but there were just a handful them.

Fast forward to 2023, and you see a number of women on the political battleground.  The current Hamilton Southeastern School board consists of 6 women and 1 man.  Out of the 9 members of the Fishers City Council, 4 are women.

Republicans have controlled local government for some time in Fishers, so in the past, since I moved to Fishers in 1991, the women in local office tended to be Republican.  In the 2019 city election, 2 Democrats, both women, were elected to the City Council.

We are in the midst of another city election season and we see Democratic women preparing for their election campaigns through a program called Hoosier Women Forward.  Incumbent at-large City Council Member Jocelyn Vare is running for re-election and has touted her joining the program in a recent news release.

“I’m honored to be in the company of such diverse, impressive and committed women who share a vision to improve our local communities,” said Vare. “The results of this year’s primary election prove that political change is well underway in Fishers. We need more Democratic women to step forward to lead. Hoosier Women Forward is a training ground for those future leaders.”

Vare lists several women with Fishers connections that are or have been in this Hoosier Women Forward program:  Julie Chambers, former member and president of Hamilton Southeastern Schools Board of Trustees (Class of 2019-2020), Dayna Colbert, Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair (Class of 2020-2021), Freedom Kolb, executive director of The Milk Bank (Class of 2021-2022), Crystal Neumann, Fishers City Councilor for the North Central District (Class of 2022-2023), Meredith Fox, Hamilton County Democratic Party Communications Team Chair (Class of 2023-2024) and Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn, Fishers Indiana State Representative (Class of 2021-2022).

We have a number of women, from both political parties, involved in our local politics.  In my view, that is a good thing.

FHS Band Boosters are not waiting until December to host a fund-raising event with a Christmas theme.  The place is Fishers High School and the date is October 7, 9:00am-2:00pm.  See the flyer below.