Hamilton County government is asking local residents to conduct business online. County Commissioner Christine Altman says every effort is being made to continue county services.
Here is the full statement issued Friday afternoon:
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The Hamilton County Commissioners are asking residents to do as much of their county business online as possible. Like any business, the county is trying to limit transmission of COVID-19 among staff and maintain business operations.
“The county provides services that are instrumental to our community,” County Commissioner Christine Altman says. “We need to do our best to keep the folks in dispatch, in law enforcement, and in our offices healthy so we don’t have any interruptions in government business.”
The county has created a webpage listing all the county business that can be conducted online – including how to file for an absentee ballot and how to pay your property taxes. You can find the list at this link.
In the meantime, many county employees are telecommuting or working flexible hours in an effort to distance themselves from one another.
“We are committed to staying open as long as we can,” Altman says. “But in order to do that, we need the community’s help. Not only is online business easier, but it’s also more convenient and you’ll be doing your part to keep our staff healthy.”
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness acted Thursday to suspend stormwater bills, for residential and commercial customers, for 60 days. The mayor also lifted rules on signage to help local restaurants let customers know they are open for carry-out and delivery orders.
The mayor told me in a Wednesday interview that he has been in contact with local restaurateurs and they had asked for that temporary change.
In the written announcement from the city, Mayor Fadness said these actions are “In recognition of the difficult times our community is facing.”
Here is the full text of the city’s announcement:
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“In recognition of the difficult times our community is facing, the City is taking the following actions to alleviate the financial burden on our residents and businesses,” stated Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness.
Suspension of all Fishers Stormwater Utility Bills:
Effective immediately, all residential Fishers Stormwater Utility bills will be suspended for 60 days. If residents received utility bills via email, you may disregard the bill at this time. A new bill will be sent when the City begins to bill again. All Fishers Sewer Utility bills should follow the stated due date on your statements.
Residents with questions or concerns about paying Fishers Sewer Utility bills should contact the Fishers Coronavirus Hotline at 317-595-3211.
Suspension of all Commercial Stormwater Utility Bills:
Effective immediately, all first quarter Fishers Stormwater bills for commercial properties is suspended for 60 days. If you received a notification via email, you may disregard the bill at this time. All Fishers Sewer Utility bills should follow the stated due date on your statements.
Businesses with questions or concerns about paying Fishers Sewer Utility bills should contact the Fishers Coronavirus Hotline at 317-595-3211.
Code Enforcement:
Effective 3/18, the City of Fishers lifted the following UDO codes for businesses. This allows businesses to advertise access to carryout food.
The following Articles are not being applied for the duration of the COVID-19 event:
Outdoor Display and Storage Standards (Article 6.10): exempts businesses from restrictions associated with outdoor display signs (feather flags, sandwich boards, etc.), allowing businesses to promote service available.
Temporary Signs (Sec. 6.17.8): exempts businesses from the permit requirements and standards. Permanent signage will still require permitting for installation.
County Commissioner Christine Altman speaks before the Facebook live camera (photo provided)
Hamilton County officials did their own live Facebook video Wednesday night and revealed that there has been another Hamilton County resident testing positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, raising the total to two. Also, members of the Fishers City Council will be voting Monday night on extending the emergency declaration issued by Mayor Scott Fadness.
Meanwhile, Indiana state officials revealed Thursday morning that there are 17 new COVID-19 positive tests in the state, bringing the total number of cases in Indiana to 56. Keep in mind, this is with a very limited number of test kits available.
I watched most of the Facebook live video session with county officials. You can watch the recording at this link. At the video session, it was announced that Hamilton County Commissioners have issued an emergency declaration. Commissioner Christine Altman told those watching the video stream that the courthouse will be closed to any individual that exhibits signs of illness.
According to my news gathering partner, the Hamilton County Reporter, Sheriff Dennis Quakenbush announced changes his office is making due to coronavirus.
Sheriff Quakenbush, in a social media video message said, “All services to the public will continue.”
“My number one goal for our community is to ensure confidence in the fact the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office will continue to operate and provide the duties and functions, while also making the necessary changes to allow us to carry out these functions in the safest possible way,” Quakenbush said. “The safety of our community, employees and inmates is at the top of our priorities. When you call dispatch or 911, patrol deputies will respond. Some investigations may be handled by telephone if the complaint is not in progress. We will continue to proactively patrol and enforce the law.”
The Sheriff said correction facilities will operate without interruption.
“We have medical housing, quarantine facilities and a 24-hour medical staff to maintain a safe correction environment,” Quakenbush said.
Jail visits will be restricted to remote video visits. To register for a remote video jail visit, go to gettingout.com.
If you are symptomatic, sick or have been in the last 72 hours, please do not come to the Sheriff Department campus unless you are court-ordered. Quakenbush explained that if you must report to the Sheriff’s Department campus as a result of a court order, the Sheriff asks that you call (317) 773-1872 during business hours or (317) 776-2595 after hours before you come.
Critical sex offender registration will continue to occur at the Sheriff’s office. Fingerprint requests will be processed inside the lobby. Necessary background checks, public record requests and many other inquiries should be requested by fax or email. Local background checks for gun permit applications will continue; however, the Sheriff asks that you call (317) 773-1872 in advance. Tax warrant payments in the form of money order or cashier’s check can be mailed to the Sheriff’s Department or paid online through Indianataxwarrants.com.
In his statement, Quakenbush encouraged county residents to shop local. The Sheriff also explained there is a blood shortage and reminded residents to donate if possible.
“Check on your neighbors. This is a communal effort,” Quakenbush said. “The men and women of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department are working hard to keep everyone safe.”
Back here in Fishers, the city council has scheduled a vote to extend the emergency declaration issued by Mayor Scott Fadness. State law only allows the mayor’s edict to remain in place for 7 days, but council members may extend it. Also, city officials are asking that residents view the council meeting virtually.
“While the meeting remains public, we recommend that residents follow the recently released guidelines to avoid gatherings and meeting due to the risk of COVID-19,” according to a posting on the city’s Web site.
“For those interested in providing public comment, the City of Fishers established a form to submit your comment(s), which will be read during the council meeting. The City Council meeting will be live-streamed for residents to tune in at home,” the city says.
Any questions can be directed to City Hall at 317- 595-3111.
I spoke to the mayor about the city’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic…read more about that conversation and listen to the entire podcast recording at this link.
For more than eight years, I have been visiting the building first named Fishers Town Hall, now our City Hall. It is normally a busy, bustling place – lots of people on the move, having meetings, doing the city’s business.
When I visited City Hall Wednesday afternoon, I walked into a City Hall I never experienced during a work day. It was almost totally quiet. There was a lady at the front desk. She told me where to meet Mayor Scott Fadness for our scheduled podcast interview.
I brought a scaled-back equipment setup to allow for the proper social distancing. During our discussion, the mayor said when the crisis over the coronavirus began to build, he ordered what he described as decentralizing his staff. In other words, meetings and other activities would be handled in a virtual world. The city is open for business, the mayor says, just not as an in-person experience at this point.
If you need a building permit or have business pending before the Planning and Zoning Department, you can handle that, just use technology rather than face-to-face. The mayor made it clear that through his policy with his own staff, and his executive orders, he is serious about social distancing in this time of COVID-19.
When I asked the mayor to consider all the expert information he has seen over the past few days, and to give me his best assessment of where this is all headed, he paused for a moment. He says there is an opportunity for this to get worse before it gets better. The areas with the worst outbreaks nationally will get the available testing kits first, so expect Indiana to wait its turn to get more people tested.
The mayor expects the infection numbers to increase once testing is more widely available. But he will be particularly watching the death rate in our state because that is an indicator of where we are headed locally.
“I don’t think anyone right now can give you a clear estimate as to what will happen in our community today and all the more reason…I would err on the side of preparation over being flippant about it,” the mayor said during the podcast interview.
Fadness says he is proud of the restaurant business community in Fishers, he has spoken to them and they are being good corporate citizens even with the challenges they are facing.
As to the travel advisory, police officers are trying to educate residents on the dangers in large gatherings. He gave an example of police talking to a large group forming at Brooks School Park, educating those residents why such a gathering at this time might not be a good idea.
When he receives criticism from local people the mayor says he does respond. He cited an e-mail from a local citizen telling him his actions are “ridiculous”and this is “no big deal.” According to the mayor, he responded that he sincerely hopes his critic is correct and nothing serious happens, but Fadness says he is not willing to take the risk on behalf of 90,000 residents of the city.
The mayor is clearly proud of the city employees and their response to the issues presented by the pandemic. He encourages anyone with questions to call the city coronavirus hotline 317-595-3211. The phones are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week You can also visit the city’s Web page devoted to coronavirus at this link
The mayor had a lot more to say in our podcast discussion. You can listen at the link below.
The City of Fishers continues to act on social interaction in the city, this time by issuing what the city describes as a “temporary stay” for business-related door-to-door solicitations. With more people remaining in their homes, the city is acting to lower the social contact between people with this order.
Below is the release from the City of Fishers:
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Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness issued a temporary stay on all permitted solicitations within city limits. This action includes business-related solicitors only and is intended to reduce the number of people interacting with each other to slow the spread of COVID-19, or Coronavirus.
“These simple, common-sense actions are critical during this time of uncertainty in our efforts to prevent the spread of Coronavirus,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness. “We will continue to look at all aspects of life in FIshers to identify ways we can keep our residents healthy.”
With Indiana’s primary election set for May 5th and Ohio postponing its primary balloting, there have been some developments on absentee ballots and the possibility of postponing Indiana’s election day due to the coronavirus.
Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Richardson urged all eligible for absentee voting to use that system. Indiana law allows absentee voting only in specified situations.
Clerk Williams listed the most common reasons as:
If they are confined to their residence, hospital or nursing home due to illness
If they are caring for someone who is confined
If they are 65 years of age or older
You must also be registered to vote in order to submit an absentee ballot
Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Weingarten submitted a Letter to the Editor to the Hamilton County Reporter proposing all Hoosiers be allowed to vote absentee.
“I requested that the Hamilton County Election Board request permission from the State Election Board to conduct the May Primary as a 100 percent vote by mail effort to protect the lives of all poll workers and voters in view of the coronavirus,” Weingarten wrote.
According to the Reporter, 5th District Republican Congressional candidate Carl Brizzi is proposing postponement of the May primary election.
“Not an easy decision, but the safety of poll workers and voters takes precedence,” said Brizzi. “Free and fair elections are the foundation of American democracy, we need to ensure that all Hoosiers are heard and are safe.”
IKEA announced today all stores will be closing “temporarily,” including the facility in Fishers. Home delivery will continue. Pickup service will continue, and the Fishers store will be handling pickup services.
The company gave no indication how long the shutdown of stores will last.
Two people are dead after Fishers Police responded to the report of a family disturbance overnight in the area of 126th Street and Cumberland Road. Officers responded to a home in the 12600 block of Ladson Street and located an adult female and an adult male, both having suffered injuries believed to be from a firearm.
The female was 73, the male 20. Police say they were related.
Authorities say there is no threat to the community and officers are not searching for any suspects.
This investigation remains active. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Cesar Rodriguez at 317-595-3346.
I was thinking this morning about the worst blizzard to hit Indiana in anyone’s memory. It was the late 1970s and I was working the afternoon news shift at a radio station. We got the word a blizzard warning was in place for the following morning. The staff members at the station just looked at each other with bewildered faces. It was the first time anyone had seen a blizzard warning in central Indiana.
My good friend at the station worked the morning shift, usually alone. He called me immediately and asked my help handling duties the following morning and I quickly said yes.
The wind and snow were so bad he used a CB radio to relay a phone message to me to meet up with him across a field….he could not get into my apartment complex parking lot.
We spent the morning describing everything we could learn from all our news sources. Indiana’s governor at the time was Otis Bowen and he needed the National Guard to get him from the governor’s residence to the Statehouse.
The local radio station owner was listening at the breakfast table, and told his family he was very concerned about what my partner & I were saying on the air, that we were making too much of the snow and were needlessly scaring people all over the county.
Then, the owner tried to get to work. He finally called on a neighbor with a snow plow and arrived at the station late in the morning. He changed his tune, realized my partner & I were not overstating the situation, we were describing it accurately.
Why did I think about that this morning? Because there are so many people today like my former employer, the radio station owner. The experts in communicable diseases and epidemiology have been telling anyone who will listen for weeks that our political leaders needed to take action in order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
At this point, we are faced with a shortfall of test kits, no vaccine and a dangerous run on our health care system more than a little likely. If I were someone in charge, I would want this virus to just slowly go away, but reality is much different. Now, we are faced with a virtual shutdown for much of the American economy.
When people ask me what to think about all this, I always respond with one phrase – listen to the experts. They know what they are talking about. When the experts recommend action, it is likely time to act.
We were likely late in acting in this case and that will, based on the experts, require us to hunker down even longer before life can even begin to transition to anything close to normalcy.
I have been heartened by the response of people in Fishers and the surrounding area. Government officials, nonprofit groups and just groups of regular citizens are doing everything possible to help with those in need during this unusual time.
Mayor Scott Fadness took action Monday night (March 16) and declared a local disaster emergency, limiting travel in the city. He also made clear local public safety officials will be enforcing the governor’s order to close restaurants and bars. limiting them to carry-out & delivery service.
The city has established a hotline dedicated to coronavirus questions…that number is 317-595-3211. Anyone in need of food or supplies should call that number for assistance.
The city also reminds everyone that you should call your physician’s office before going in person, or call the hotline for advice on where to go from here.
Many people in and around Fishers are offering help and are providing that help to many of our residents. That famous saying from Fred Rogers….whenever some bad happens look for the helpers.
We have many helpers and I salute you all, all the way from the mayor down to residents doing what they can to help.
I have no idea how long we will need to keep ourselves at home, but we are all in this together. Let’s do it together.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness issued an executive order Monday declaring a local disaster emergency in the city. The order is effective March 17.
“As more information comes available, it’s important that we continue to further reinforce the recommendations I’ve shared before,” Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said in a city news release. “By declaring a local disaster emergency, I’m able to implement a travel advisory watch for the city of Fishers for the next seven days, the maximum limit allowed by law. I’m asking that all residents eliminate any unnecessary travel.”
Fadness does not have the legal authority as mayor to order closures, but he urges entertainment venues, fitness facilities and places of worship in the city to close.
His executive order begins at 8am, Tuesday, March 17. As of that time, travel in the city of Fishers is only permitted for the following reasons:
Travel related to medical
Travel required to provide care to another for whom you’re the primary caregiver
Travel for mandatory work activities
Travel for food, groceries, medication, essential household goods, and hygiene products
Food delivery or the resupply of retail stores, pharmacies, and food pantries are allowed under the mayor’s edict.
The mayor is emphasizing that the Fishers Police Department and Fishers Fire and Emergency Services will be enforcing Governor Holcomb’s executive order for restaurants and bars to operate on a carry-out or delivery only basis. As an extension of this, all Fishers Parks and Recreation facilities and playgrounds will be closed.
The City of Fishers government remains open for residents with a priority on:
Public Safety: Fire and Police Departments are operating business as usual and continue to staff and provide enforcement
Food: Residents who are in need or food insecure, please visit fishers.in.us/Coronavirus for a list of those providers serving at this time
Medical attention: call your physician to plan for medications or other services you may need in the coming weeks. If you think you have COVID-19, please call your physician’s office BEFORE heading in. If you have a medical emergency, dial 9-1-1.
If you are in need, please call the Fishers Coronavirus Hotline at 317-595-3211. For more information, visit fishers.in.us/Coronavirus.
