It may feel like winter at the moment, but the list of Fishers road construction projects is a bit longer.  Look for same lane closures around town, plus resurfacing in the Winding Creek neighborhood.

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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STATE ROAD 37 AND 141ST STREET
A pre-construction phase at SR 37 & 141st Street is currently in place. During this phase, 141st Street will be a Right-In-Right-Out (RIRO) traffic configuration. 
This is not the permanent configuration. This will allow for traffic to flow more freely along SR 37 until the next phases of construction can be activated. This will eliminate backups along SR 37 that have caused dangerous stops to the free flow traffic and backups on the 146th Street interchange. Again, this is not the permanent configuration for 141st Street. The full timeline for the 141st Street interchange will be provided after project bids are accepted in the Summer of 2023. View detour routes here.

Beginning on Monday, March 13, ADA ramp and curb reconstruction will take place in Winding Creek as part of the 2023 Resurfacing Project. Homeowners will be notified via door hangers prior to any curb restoration near their home. After ADA ramp and curb reconstruction is completed, those areas will be restored with topsoil and seed. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to water the seed for the seed to germinate. Prior to road resurfacing, residents will be notified via street signage for street parking restrictions. For additional project information, view the Capital Project Dashboard here.

The decision by the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board to discontinue the Panorama survey has ignited controversy, and the attention of Indianapolis media.

Rachel Fradette, education reporter for the Indianapolis Star, did a deep dive about the vote and its aftermath in a story posted to the IndyStar Web site Thursday.  She went over the comments made during the meeting and how board members cast their votes.

The HSE Schools released a statement Thursday addressed to “HSE Families and Staff.”  The statement says the HSE district has “previously used the survey to gauge student growth, which informs building staff about what services and supports are needed to increase academic success. The survey also fulfilled requirements set by the Indiana Department of Education as part of yearly school improvement plans.”

The statement goes on to say HSE Schools “will begin the process of evaluating other ways to gather this important data and will share any updates with you as we learn more.”

The board voted 4-3 Wednesday night to discontinue the Panorama Survey, despite the fact that the district has paid $152,000 in advance for surveys for the next 2-and-a-half years that will not be conducted by Panorama.  The district has conducted only one of the surveys from that contract.

Fishers One, a local political group that supported the four school board candidates that won seats on the board in last year’s election, issued a statement Thursday applauding the board vote.

Here is the full text of the HSE Schools statement issued Thursday:

Dear HSE Families and Staff:

 As previously communicated to you, the Panorama survey was scheduled to be given later this month to better understand students’ experiences in our schools. We have conducted this bi-annual survey since 2019.

 During last night’s regularly scheduled Board of School Trustees meeting, the board voted to cease the use of Panorama in our schools, effectively immediately.

 HSE teachers, administrators and school counselors have previously used the survey to gauge student growth, which informs building staff about what services and supports are needed to increase academic success. The survey also fulfilled requirements set by the Indiana Department of Education as part of yearly school improvement plans.

 We will begin the process of evaluating other ways to gather this important data and will share any updates with you as we learn more.

 Thank you in advance for your understanding as we all work together to provide the best educational opportunities and supports for all students.  

 Sincerely,

 HSE Schools

When Harry Delks decided to retire as the person in charge of facilities and maintenance at HSE Schools after 22 years, everyone wondered, who would replace him?  The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board officially approved Matt Rapp to replace Mr. Delks Wednesday night.

Matt Rapp has a varied background, having overseen facilities at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis and worked for Indianapolis Public Schools, overseeing the large campus that is Arsenal Technical (Tech) High School.  He is a Navy veteran.

The Panorama Survey will be discontinued by a vote of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night, but the school district may be on the hook for $152,000 already paid to the firm for the remainder of the contract. The vote was 4-3, with Ben Orr, Tiffany Pascoe, Juanita Albright and Suzanne Thomas casting votes to discontinue use of the survey.  Board President Dawn Lang, Sarah Donsbach and Sarah Parks-Reese voted against the measure.

The motion offered by Suzanne Thomas calls for discontinuing the use of the Panorama Survey, asking for legal review of the payment situation as part of the termination process and requiring the HSE Schools staff to come up with a survey internally.

“You’re making a motion to discontinue use (of the Panorama Survey) and we paid over $150,000 for a two-and-a-half year agreement, where the termination clause in the agreement says the only way we can terminate it is through a breach, which Panorama has not done, so we are going to pay $152,000 for something that should only cost us $61,000 a year,” said Sarah Donsbach.   Then, the district staff will need to spend more money and supply a new survey internally that will not be vetted, peer reviewed, researched and reliable, according to Donsbach.

Assistant Superintendent Matt Kegley said the board approved the Panorama contract in February of 2022 for two-and-a-half years.  Kegley said he had contacted legal counsel and there is nothing in the contract allowing the school district to recoup funds, unless Panorama chose to do that, because HSE Schools would be breaking the contract and Panorama has their money from the district up-front.

The Panorama Survey is a national survey given in the past to HSE students measuring a number of issues, in line with Indiana state requirements.  Any internally-created survey put together by HSE Schools staff would be required to conduct any survey meeting state guidelines.  Parents were allowed to opt-out of the last survey cycle and less than 5% of HSE families chose the survey opt-out.

John Weingardt is back once again as President of the Fishers City Council.  I sat down with John and we talked about a number of issues in this podcast.

March is a busy month in Fishers because the Advisory Committee on Disabilities is having a number of events for Disability Awareness Month.  Cecilia Coble and Kelly Hartman are co-chairing the celebration and join me in this podcast.

As many parts of Fishers have seen development, the area north and west of 96th Street on the city’s southwest side has had several proposals that have fallen flat in the past.  Tuesday morning, CRG Residential and the City of Fishers celebrated a ground breaking ceremony for the $135 million River Place project at 96th Street and Allisonville Road.

The plans call for 381 luxury apartments, 81 for-sale townhomes proposed to be built by Pulte Group, and 35,000-square-feet of mixed-use space. Construction begins this month with plans for move-in ready units in 2024. In addition to construction, CRG Residential will be supporting the city’s effort to re-configure the intersection from a Michigan Left to a roundabout, which will commence this spring with an anticipated completion date of the end of 2023.

The city plans a park along the White River, which Mayor Scott Fadness says will be financed through a READI grant provided by the State of Indiana.

In February, the Fishers City Council passed, on first reading, a measure that would allow new Homeowners Associations (HOAs) a lower threshold in order to change their governing documents.  This proposal would only impact newly-formed HOAs, not ones already in place.  The ordinance was proposed by City Council Member Brad DeReamer.

The next step in the process is to have a public hearing at the Fishers Plan Commission, then the Commission would vote on a recommendation to the City Council.  That didn’t happen at the March Plan Commission session.

DeReamer spoke at the March Plan Commission public hearing in favor of allowing HOAs to change their covenants with the consent of a majority of homeowners, over 50%,  Most HOAs in Fishers require a 75% vote to approve such changes , with a few around 67%.  In addition, DeReamer pushed for a lower quorum to conduct business at an HOA meeting.  Most HOAs require 50% attendance to conduct business – DeReamer wants to lower that to 20-25%.

However, there was pushback from the private sector on DeReamer’s proposal.  A representative for the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI) argued that the 75% vote threshold for HOAs is there for a reason and provides an amount of certainty for financial institutions supporting developments and the housing developers themselves.  There were others, some former city planners now in the private sector working for developers, that said lowering the HOA voting threshold from 75% to over 50% would likely result in unintended consequences that most people would not like.

As a result, the Plan Commission unanimously voted to delay any vote on the proposal until city staff can organize meetings with the various stakeholders to provide input and ideas on the issue.

So, will there be a new ordinance on HOA governance for future housing developments in Fishers?  Time will tell.

We are slowly moving into the spring season, even if the weather does not appear that way every day.  With that, be prepared for a number of lane restrictions around Fishers during the work week starting March 6.

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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Developer Thompson Thrift announced Thursday it has acquired 62 acres of land for the new Fishers Events Center, part of the expanded Fishers District, to be located east of I-69 between 106^th and 116^th Streets.  The City of Fishers recently approved financing for the center.

The expansion of Fishers District is a $550 million project, a public-private partnership with the city of Fishers and Thompson Thrift.

“The master plan for Fisher’s District reflects the ingenuity of Thompson Thrift’s three business units to work proactively with the city of Fishers to create a true ‘live, work, play’ environment that will be a generational asset for the Fishers community,” said Ashlee Boyd, managing partner, Thompson Thrift Commercial, in a company news release. “A project of this magnitude requires patience, persistence and vision and we have brought development, design, and building experts together, as well as local leaders, to craft Fishers District into a premiere destination that integrates urban vitality with neighborhood connectivity.”

Thompson Thrift concurrently sold a portion of the newly acquired land to the city that will be used for the development of the 7,500-seat arena and event center. The city of Fishers has added AECOM Hunt to the project as general contractor for the site and event center construction which is scheduled to break ground in late March.