There is something special about the aroma of a real Christmas tree in your home during the holiday season.  With the recent popularity of artificial trees, it is harder to find the real thing.

In Fishers, you can find an old fashioned tree, courtesy of Boy Scout Troop 109.  It all starts the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday.  The location will be the Marsh Grocery Store on 96th Street.  Scotch Pine and Frasier Fir trees will be available.

Scouts will be on duty Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and weeknights from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.  Scouts will be on hand to assist with tree selection and loading. The lot opens on Black Friday with special hours from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Look for the yellow Boy Scout bus in the lot on the north side of 96th Street.

Marsh is partnering with the local Boy Scout troop at the new 96th Street location this season.  If scouts are not on duty, customers may purchase a tree anytime during normal Marsh store hours.

Mayor Scott Fadness started the news conference on mental health by reviewing some events in Fishers during the last week.  One woman was found outside a building, having just ingested a large number of pills trying to end her life.  A 13-year-old girl was described as out of control, refusing to take her medication after a violent outbreak and police considered her to be a danger to herself and her family.  A juvenile took prescription medications  in an attempt to end his life.

Mayor Fadness wanted to remind Fishers residents our suburban city is not immune to these sorts of events.  They happen every week.

When Scott Fadness assumed the office of mayor on January 1, 2015, one of his first actions was to create the Mental Health Task Force.  It joined together a number of people from around the Fishers community, including local school officials and health professionals.

The city hall event November 17th was to unveil the task force report.

The mission statement is “to develop a community that embraces mental health treatment before crises occur, protect the welfare and safety of Fishers residents and take a systemic approach to mental health challenges in the community.”

There are six basic recommendations from the task force to improve mental health in Fishers.  Here’s a summary of each.

–An education program will be launched for members of the Fishers Police and Fire Departments.  Community Health will partner with the city to provide this training.

–There will be a quarterly review  of police and fire response to mental health runs in an effort to learn more about what is happening in the community.    Once again, Community Health will partner with the city in analyzing the data.

–The city will look to partner with behavioral health providers at Community’s Health Network, and will explore ways to get the full benefit of Aspire Indiana, an area non-profit community health center.

–A plan will be developed for the Hamilton Southeastern School System.  This plan will include training to help identify mental health issues and ensure students are given the opportunity to receive necessary help and treatment for mental health issues.  The plan calls for an annual checkup on how the schools are doing with the mental health initiative.

–There will be a youth training plan developed with Fishers Public Safety officials.

–A public relations program will be launched, which will include a pre-campaign survey among Fishers residents to determine a baseline measurement for community awareness.   That will be followed with another survey after campaign actions have been completed, to determine the program’s effectiveness and look for additional community needs.

There are two other important recommendations in this report.

There will be a remodeled paramedicine program for first responders in Fishers.  The Fire and Emergency Services department has successfully reduced hospital readmission of congestive heart failure patients by providing direct follow-up through a new community paramedicine program though a partnership with Community Health Network. The task force hopes to use this program as a model to get mental health patients the follow-up care and support they need.

Community Health will create an Intensive Care Coordination pilot program for youth discharged from mental health inpatient services. Young people will have an Intensive Care Coordinator when they leave the hospital to support follow-up care. Community Health Network says it is interested in working with the staff at Hamilton Southeastern Schools and Fishers public safety officials to promote a successful transition after a mental health patient is released from the hospital.

The task force intends to continue its work, citing a fact that cannot be ignored – suicide is the second leading cause of death among Hoosiers ages 15-34.  The report contains an annual checkup to review what is happening with the many moving parts in the task force’s work.

More details on the Mental Health Task Force report can be found at this link.

The Fishers City Council unanimously put its stamp of approval on the economic development plans for IKEA’s planned store in the city.  The package waives fees worth $1.6 million.  Mayor Scott Fadness once again emphasized that Tax Increment Financing (TIF) will not be utilized in this plan.  The mayor told council members there will be no tax abatement unless the city fails to meet its deadline in completing road projects.

Those commenting on IKEA’s economic development package worried most about traffic. Greg Purvis said the IKEA store is a “good first step” in developing that area of the city, but raised concerns about tax abatement costs if the road projects are unexpectedly delayed and raised the issue of additional traffic.  Steve Mathys was concerned about traffic, but also had questions on the speed of approving the project, asking for a delay.  Another speaker says 106th Street area will “get blasted” and added this doesn’t appear to be a well thought-out plan.

After the public hearing,  Mayor Fadness said nearly all the concerns raised at the public hearing are issues he and his staff have considered and will try their best to address.  He says the city will keep a “mindful eye” on how the area around IKEA develops.

In other city council news from the November 16th session….

–The city moved toward final approval of a sewer rate increase for Fishers city customers. Most of the city’s customers are in Delaware Township.  HSE Utilities serves most Fall Creek Township residents.  The increase would be $5 per month for most residential customers served by the city.  HSE Utilities will be charged the extra amount for having Fishers treat their sewage, but HSE must go to the state for any residential or commercial rate increase request. Fishers may increase rates by approval of the city council.  An attorney representing apartment complex owners argued at the public hearing that the city had not complied with state law in the rate increase process.  The city attorney did not agree, and Mayor Fadness told the council his staff would ensure due diligence is completed by the time the rate increase is up for final approval at the next city council session.

–Council members approved a $1 million bond to be used for road maintenance, which will be paid back in full next year.  This tactic allows the city to fund needed work while not impacting the city’s share of the tax rate.

–AT&T in Indiana was presented a community partner award for its support of Launch Fishers.

–A Messenger of Peace Award was presented to local boy scouts by the city.

–It was graduation night for members of the Fishers Citizens Government Academy.

–It was announced that the Grand Opening of Flat Fork Creek Park, which has been under construction for some time at 101st and Cyntheanne Road, will happen December 3rd. That will be of particular interest to snow sledding enthusiasts, because the new park will feature a 50-foot ADA compliant sledding hill.

As we have reported previously on LarryInFishers, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness has been spearheading a major initiative to address mental health issues in the city.  The plan has been finalized and is set to be unveiled Tuesday morning at Fishers City Hall.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff and Community Health Network Senior Vice President Suzanne Clifford will join Mayor Fadness for the announcement.

One of the mayor’s first initiatives once assuming office in 2015 was to bring together a wide cross section of people from the Fishers community to study the state of mental health in Fishers and to recommend a set of actions.

The 11:00am announcement will provide the findings of the task force along with recommendations on what will be done.

You can read my story on the August 27th meeting of the panel at this link.

Applying for a scholarship has just become easier with a new online platform designed for high school seniors preparing for college.  The new service was announced by the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Foundation, HSE High School and the Fishers Rotary Club.

Below is the full text of the news release from the HSE Schools Foundation.

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The Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation (HSSF)  in partnership with Fishers High School, HSE High School, and the Fishers Rotary Club, announced today a new online scholarship platform, SmarterSelect. 

The platform will allow students to apply for more than three dozen local scholarship opportunities via a single, uniform application.  The ease of access is expected to encourage more students to apply for critical scholarship dollars. 

Fishers High School Senior and HSSF Board Member, Mindy Pratt applauds the new program.  “Your senior year in high school is exciting, but can also be overwhelming.  This tool allows me to focus on putting together the best possible application, not on repetitive paperwork.” 

Scholarship opportunities are especially important to Hoosier students like Mindy.  The Center for American Progress recently ranked Indiana as having the sixth highest debt per college graduate in the nation with an average of $24,845 owed.  Many students, both local and nationally, are faced with delaying college entry or dropping out due to the burden of educational debt. 

 Yet, the benefits from obtaining a college degree are undeniable.  Unemployment rates for high school graduates are about 90% higher than people with bachelor’s degrees and those with a bachelor’s degree earn about $24,000 more annually than their high school counterparts. The perks continue beyond finances with increased reports of job satisfaction and stronger overall health indicators among college graduates.

Fishers Rotary Club President, Gregg Hiland comments on the partnership, “The Rotary Club has a rich history of supporting local students both through our scholarship as well as project based funding.  The SmarterSelect opportunity is a natural extension of our work since it serves students, faculty, and families throughout Fishers.  We believe it is a great investment in the future of this remarkable community.” 

All scholarship opportunities as well as additional information regarding student financial aid can be found online at www.hsefoundation.org  

It has been quite a week for the City of Fishers.  It’s hard to imagine how one Swedish furniture retailer can create such a stir, but that’s what has happened here.

All the Metro Indy media outlets looked at this story from every angle, including the Indianapolis Star and all the local TV news operations. Lindsey Erdody of the Indianapolis Business Journal covered the angle of what happens next.  Could it be one or more hotels? Perhaps more retailers with a national reputation but not now operating in Central Indiana could be headed to Fishers?  Only time will tell, but Lindsey does a nice job in her piece of exploring those angles.

I asked Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness what development he sees popping up around the new IKEA location, and he gave a cautious answer, saying the city will study the best next development steps around the new IKEA store.

The mayor was asked about that subject again in an appearance on Inside Indiana Business with Gerry Dick.

“We want to be really sensitive in this area that we have a really unique development,” Fadness told the TV interviewer.  “Yes, IKEA can attract additional retailers, we know that, we’ve seen that, but we want to be thoughtful about that as we grow Fishers in that particular area of our city.”

Fadness gave some insight into the competition for IKEA.  He told Inside Indiana Business this was not the usual competition where Fishers was vying for the retailer among other cities or states.

“We worked with them, we put our story forward,” Fadness told Gerry Dick.  “They went back to Sweden and literally had to make the argument why Central Indiana, Fishers Indiana, beats out Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, you name it. It was really an exciting process.”

In a commentary for Indiana Forefront, I make the point about traffic.  Mayor Fadness insists IKEA will not impact morning and evening rush hour traffic cycles due to the nature of their retail business.  Residents in the area are likely a bit nervous about IKEA and other developments likely to follow in that area.  Traffic is already tough during the rush hours. The city has a challenge in convincing residents they can handle the additional traffic without gridlock, then must deliver on that promise.

IKEA has received millions of dollars in local government incentives to locate in many areas of the nation.  However, in Fishers, the Swedish firm will only receive waivers of fees. That will cost the city more than a million dollars, but Fishers will not be shelling out millions in incentives, as we’ve seen in other American locations.  It would appear IKEA really wants the Fishers location.

Here’s something else to think about.  I am told by city officials that more big economic development announcements are in the pipeline for Fishers before the end of the year. Things could get even more interesting around here.

A Muncie reserve police officer is under arrest in the Hamilton County Jail following an arrest by the Fishers Police Department.  Lonny J. Hatland, 42, from Fishers, is facing charges of rape, human trafficking and battery.

Based on a Fishers Police news release, Indiana Department of Child Services workers notified local authorities that a juvenile had been physically and sexually assaulted inside a residence in Fishers.  Police say the victim reported that over the past few months the suspect had coerced her into having non-consensual sexual encounters with other men.

Saturday morning, detectives from the Fishers Police Department served a search warrant at a residence in the 8600 block of Shoe Overlook Drive, near 126th Street and Lantern Road.  Once the search warrant executed, officers discovered Hatland was an active reserve police officer with the Muncie Police Department.

According to Fishers Police, the investigation is ongoing and additional criminal charges may be filed in this case.

Giving Tuesday (also known as #GivingTuesday) will feature a special challenge for supporters of local public education.  The Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation has announced an $18,000 Challenge, with the support of local philanthropists who will match foundation contributions on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

Below is the news release from the foundation with the details…

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George Kehl has spent the past 38 years serving Fishers.  As he enters retirement in 2016, Police Chief Kehl plans to enter a new phase of public service.  He announced his candidacy for a seat on the Hamilton County Council November 12th on the Republican ticket.

“As a member of the County Council, I will work to strengthen relationships with the county’s various cities and towns, invest taxpayer money wisely to ensure our county continues to have world-class infrastructure, and continue to provide the highest level of public safety to the residents of Hamilton County,” Kehl said in a news release from his campaign.

Kehl is seeking an At-Large County Council seat in the 2016 election cycle.

If elected to the council, Kehl says he  “will work to strengthen relationships with the county’s various cities and towns, invest taxpayer money wisely to ensure our county continues to have world-class infrastructure, and continue to provide the highest level of public safety to the residents of Hamilton County.”

The primary election is scheduled for May 3rd, 2016

My Indiana Forefront commentary – IKEA Mania in Fishers

You can read it at this link