I like to tell the story of how the Town of Fishers had its Town Hall on 116th Street in what is now an art gallery when I first moved to Fishers in 1991.  It wasn’t long before the new, shiny town hall opened for business.

That town hall (currently city hall), now nearly 30 years old, appears to be ready for the demolition crew in the not-too-distant-future.  What will replace it, and how Fishers goes about constructing a community center, will be just another set of public projects that will likely have a major impact on all of us living in the City of Fishers.

The city has released a request for proposals (RFP) recently and Indianapolis Star reporter John Tuohy filed two stories about what those documents contain.  It provides more details about what the city wants in the proposals from the private sector.

One idea I have reported before is to construct a new City Hall with a performance center in the new building.  The RFP proposes a first-floor 400-seat facility with city offices on the upper two floors.

There is also a proposal for a new community center, or recreation center, at another unnamed location in Fishers.  This will require a fairly large swath of land.

There are some preliminary projected budget numbers attached to these proposals, $20 million for the new City Hall with a performance center and $40 million for the community center.

It should be noted that the city is in the early stages of these projects.  Any cost figures are estimates until RFPs are evaluated and bids are submitted later in the process.

It should also be noted that Mayor Scott Fadness never considered a new City Hall to be a priority for his administration, but City Hall is sinking and the cost of maintaining the current building has been increasing, with every indication that the bills to keep the current City Hall functional will continue to increase in the future if the structure is not replaced.

In a May City Council retreat, Fadness said the current City Hall has “flimsy construction” and is a wood structure, when most public buildings of its size are built with steel.

“When you walk in (City Hall), it does not feel like an institutional building,” the mayor said back in May.

Mayor Fadness, in a Sunday evening interview with LarryInFishers, says the RFP incorporates the vision expressed by the City Councilman Todd Zimmerman’s committee, and begins some of the hard lifting to take the ideas to the next phase.

“What’s occurred over the last 2-3 months is less of the exciting, upfront stuff and more, frankly, the how are you going to pay for it, how are you going to procure it?” the mayor said Sunday night.

According to the mayor, the RFP calls for an agreement to put together a team consisting of a design group, construction team and financing team, working together.

“We’ve made some good progress, it will be really interesting to see,” said Fadness.  “Do we get a wide variety of people to submit? Do we get them from out of state?  It will be really interesting to see who decides to put their hat in the ring.”

Once the teams are established, the vision from Councilman Zimmerman’s committee and the mayor’s staff will take the ideas for these facilities and bring them down to the cost and logistics of making the vision a reality.

I asked the mayor if he continues to be confident this can all be accomplished without an increase in the city’s tax rate.  His answer was yes.  “We’ve been heads-down and we are continuing to look through everything.  I believe we’re going to be able to do that,” Fadness said.

“This is not a Holland Park community building or Billericay Park community building, this is a significant facility that should have some pretty world class amenities with the budget that we are looking at,” the mayor added. “It is quite an undertaking.  We still do not have the location identified yet as to where we are going to put it.  Some of that will be part of the discussion with the design team – What is the footprint?  What’s the ideal setting for it?”

It appears we will know more when the RFPs are all submitted in October.

Fishers has had a lot of development since I called it my home in 1991, mostly private sector projects.

Many Fishers citizens have expressed an interest in an indoor performing arts center, and a community center (or recreation center).  Councilman Zimmerman has a group continuing work on this project.  We will be watching what comes next.

Saturday night was a lovely August evening, with a light breeze to cool off the crowd at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater.  Normally, this is a venue for entertainment, such as music concerts and Shakespeare plays.

But this Saturday night was different.  A large contingent of Fishers residents gathered to show support for two families in grief.

Elle Gaddis, and Belle Gaddis, twin sisters, and Brianna Foster, all died in a tragic vehicle crash early Monday morning.  All three were on a trip to the beach and driving on the highway in South Carolina.

There were some references to the woman facing charges in the crash, but not many.  The focus was on the three girls and how they had impacted so many lives.  The Gaddis twins were students at HSE High School and Brianna Foster was a recent HSE High School graduate.

It was difficult for family members to talk before the large crowd, still grieving over their loss.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness cited a Go Fund Me site established locally that has raised at least $150,000 for the families of the three girls.

“Let’s focus on who these wonderful girls were, what they meant to each and every one of you, the laughter, the good times, the memories,” said Fadness as he opened the ceremony.

The size of the crowd is a message from the local community to the families of the three crash victims – we care and we want to support you.

24 students at Hamilton Southeastern High School and 29 students at Fishers High School have earned the AP Capstone Diploma.  In addition, 12 HHS students and two FHS students have earned the AP Seminar and Research Certificate during the 2020-21 school year. The AP Capstone Diploma program helps students to develop critical thinking, research, collaboration, and presentation skills that are critical to academic success.

“We proudly recognize the achievements of students who participated in the AP Capstone Diploma program,” said Superintendent Dr. Yvonne Stokes in a College Board news release. “Our AP Capstone students and teachers showed extraordinary commitment while facing historic challenges. This is a meaningful college readiness program that will serve our students well after high school.”

Here are listings of the students, as provided by the College Board:

Continue reading Local students awarded Capstone Diplomas →

Many Fishers residents know that three local teenagers died this week in a tragic car crash early Monday morning in South Carolina.

The families of Brianna Foster, Elle Gaddis, and Belle Gaddis have partnered with the City of Fishers to host a Celebration of Life in remembrance of the teens on Saturday, August 21 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater (6 Municipal Drive, Fishers).

The celebration is open to the public.  Those coming are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and wear bright colors in honor of the teens’ “radiant and vibrant spirits.”

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness will give remarks at 7:30 p.m. followed by reflections from the teens’ families and friends. The event will be livestreamed on the Fishers Magazine Facebook page beginning at 7:30 p.m.

In addition, Hamilton Southeastern High School’s student-led Blue Crew plans to honor the victims at Friday night’s football game at Hamilton Southeastern High School (HSE), where Elle and Belle were enrolled in their senior year. Foster is a 2020 HSE graduate.

A candlelight vigil is planned for 6:15 p.m. at Tailgate Town, and the teens’ parents will serve as honorary coin flip guests. A moment of silence is also planned before kickoff.

Every year, the Youth Mentoring Initiative (YMI) has a fund raising event, the Mayor’s Breakfast.  When the crowd gathers for this year’s early morning event, new YMI Executive Director Brittany Rayburn will be there.  She has been on the job for a few weeks at YMI.’

Larry talks with Brittany about the YMI organization and the upcoming fund-raiser in this podcast.

The city has is Citizens Academy, the county has a leadership academy, as well as police & fire, all providing programs for local citizens to learn more your local government.  HSE Schools will start a program much like that, naming it HSEngaged.

Emily Abbotts of HSE Schools talks with Larry about that program, and more, in this podcast.

An affordable housing project near 141st Street and Cumberland Road has received state funding to move forward.

The Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority’s Board of Directors voted Wednesday to award HAND Inc. a $1.5 million grant from its HOME Investment Partnerships program and a $500,000 loan from its Development Fund to support construction of 11 rental cottages in Fishers.

HAND, a nonprofit community housing development organization based in Noblesville, plans to invest $3 million to construct the cottages.  HAND will continue to seek additional funding for the project, which will also utilize a loan from Citizens State Bank.

Cumberland Cottages is planned for almost 2 acres of mostly vacant land near Cumberland Road and 141st Street in Fishers. Earlier this year, the Fishers City Council narrowly enacted a rezoning of the property, allowing for the development.

Plans call for building four two-bedroom units and seven three-bedroom units in what’s known as a cottage court layout, clustered around shared green space. Six of the 11 cottages will be reserved for residents who earn no more than 60 percent of area median income.

This will be HAND’s first rental property in Fishers. It owns eight rental communities in Hamilton and Boone counties—in Carmel, Cicero, Noblesville, Sheridan, and Lebanon—leasing almost 140 affordable apartments to low-income residents. Construction of a ninth, in Tipton, is expected to start this fall.

“We know that residents throughout Hamilton County need a wide range of housing options—including some affordable ones—and HAND is thrilled to be able to help,” said Executive Director Andrea Davis in a HAND news release.

As part of its application for HOME funding, HAND signed service agreements with more than a dozen local nonprofits that may be able to assist residents of Cumberland Cottages. Tenants will receive information about community partners’ services at move-in.

Construction is expected to begin early next year, following the completion of a federal environmental review and the city of Fishers’ approval of the final development plan.

HAND has enlisted the help of several local firms to develop Cumberland Cottages. Project partners include David Rausch Studio, Jung Design, Context Design, Weihe Engineers, and Meyer Najem Construction.

The Nickel Plate Trail currently ends to the north at 131st Street, but that is about to change.  The City of Fishers announced Wednesday that paving will begin north of 131st Street on the trail all the way to 146th Street.  The paving is scheduled to start August 31st.

The paving project is projected to take about six weeks, with weather being a factor on that timeline.  Last fall, paving was completed on the portions of the trail extending from 106th Street to South Street, and from North Street to 131st Street.

A pedestrian roadway crossing with a warning signal for motorists will be installed at 141st Street during this construction. Construction will include a temporary closure of 141st Street at the Nickel Plate Trail.  This is scheduled to happen over HSE Schools’ fall break, the week of October 18, to minimize disruption to traffic flows.

According to city officials, this northern portion of the railbed remains closed and no trespassing is permitted. The northern portion is anticipated to be open for pedestrian use by the end of October.

The Tuesday update from the Fishers Health Department does not contain much good news.  For the 6th straight week, Fishers has seen an increase in the number of positive COVID cases.

For several weeks, Fishers overall community risk level was a Level 1, Green, the lowest level.  Last week, Fishers had a community risk level of 2, one step higher.  The latest numbers put the metric at a Level 3, another increase in city’s risk level, on a scale of 1-5.

The Hamilton County positivity rate is at 12.6%.  The Fishers case incidence rate, a 14-day average of cases per 100,000 population, stands at 26.22.  Both of those measures stand at Level 5, Red, the highest risk level.

The 7-day positivity rate at the Fishers testing site, which has been very busy lately, is at 6, or a yellow risk level.

“We are seeing hospital capacity decreasing a bit this week compared to last week, in terms of ICU (Intensive Care Unit) bed availability in our area and hospitalizations continue to increase,” says Josh Robinson, epidemiologist for the Fishers Health Department.

There is good news on a couple of fronts.  Testing continues to be available in Fishers with a turnaround time of a day-and-a-half for receiving test results.

But overall, numbers  are looking like what we saw earlier this year.

“Those case numbers that we are seeing are starting to look a lot closer to the early winter of 2021 and there is no slowing or sign of slowing in sight,” Robinson said.  “The rate of increase continues to go upward and this is having an impact across our community and all across the state of Indiana and the U.S.”

The Delta variant of COVID is much more transmissible, where one positive individual can infect 8-9 others.

According to Robinson, the best protection against serious consequences from COVID is to get a vaccination.  If you have questions or want to setup a vaccine appointment, call 317-595-3211,

Below is the link to Josh Robinson’s video, posted during the late afternoon of August 17:

Academics were front and center for members of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board during a Tuesday morning work session.

Leading the discussion was Matt Kegley, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning, joined by Executive Director of Secondary Education Michelle Brittain-Watts and Stephanie Loane,  Executive Director of Elementary Education.  Superintendent Yvonne Stokes also contributed to the presentation.

Much time was spent sifting through reams of numbers, but Dr. Kegley cautioned about the limits of this approach.

“Data just tells once piece of the story,” Kegley told board members.  “To simply reduce the work that goes on in our classrooms, teaching every day in our schools, just to data points, is not really giving justice to the experiences that our students receive.”

Comparing I-LEARN data becomes complicated due to the changes in the test implemented by the state.  Also, there was no testing last school year due to COVID.  ISTEP became I-LEARN in 2019.

Kegley reminded the board that ISTEP had a time limit but I-LEARN has no time limit, which may complicate comparing scores in both systems.

One point of discussion centered on the SAT test.  In the past, this was generally only taken by students intending to enroll in college.  The state is now having all students take the SAT, even those not expecting to enter a university after graduation.  It is expected that SAT scores will go down state-wide as a result, according to Kegley.  In recent years, HSE District students scored higher on the SAT score average, compared to both national and state data.

The board viewed data for specific groups and their test scores.  According to Kegley, building principals are charged with coming up with plans for groups performing lower on testing.  For example, African-American and Hispanic students may score lower on certain subjects on a given test.  The school district has data down to the school building level.

When specific subgroups of students appear to be under-performing, Kegley told the board Nataki Pettigrew, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, is involved with the building principal.

“That’s certainly something that we see as an important piece of (Nataki Pettigrew’s) role and why you might think…her presence fits-in with teaching and learning,” Kegley said.

Dr. Stokes told the board she has received many favorable comments about the addition of information about school curriculum on the district’s Web site (hseschools.org), but Kegley added that that information is mainly about materials used and publisher information, and might not include everything teachers may by using in the classroom.

Dr, Loane talked about how spelling is taught at the elementary level.  Phonics and sight learning are utilized, but students must use the word in a writing assignment to show a student’s understanding of the word in every context.

Dr. Stokes summed it up this way.  “Teaching and learning are complex.”