Mayor Scott Fadness told the City Council Finance Committee Thursday morning he is aware of the “noise” around town about his proposal to charge a $2 per month administrative fee as part of a proposed city-wide trash collection contract with Republic, but does not plan to make any changes.

“I’m a little bit unapologetic, I guess, about the $2 admin fee, because I want to make sure when a resident calls (City Hall), there is a staff person that picks up the phone and is able to deal with that issue.”

The mayor wants the city to “own” the customer service piece of the trash collection  contract, which will start in January of next year, if City Council puts its stamp of approval on the new pact with Republic.  A public hearing on the final version of the contract is set for Monday, September 9, 7pm.

Fadness recounted the complexities of acquiring HSE Utilities and what many residents were sorting out as a result.  The mayor envisions a number of complications to occur when roughly half of the 32,000 trash customers in Fishers will be switching to another provider.  Also, Homeowners Associations (HOAs) will no longer be handling the billing for their members, each individual customer will be billed beginning in 2025.

Although the city has been encouraging residents to pay their sewer and stormwater bills online, only about 30% pay online, the rest insist on being billed on paper.  Radford says it costs 70 cents to one dollar for each paper bill mailed.  Fadness says that makes up half the $2 monthly trash collection fee.

If any of the bidders for trash service were handling billing and customer service, it would not be free.  The bids would have reflected a higher monthly charge to cover that cost, according to Fadness.

“The last thing I want to do is save people money on trash, and then they’re still frustrated because we are providing poor customer service,” the mayor told the Council Committee.

Indoor football is a game that certainly is American football, but with a different twist.  Fishers will have its own Indoor Football League (IFL) team that will begin its inaugural season in March of 2025 at the now under-construction Fishers Events Center.

The team is named the Fishers Freight, and the club announced its first head coach and general manager Thursday morning, Dixie Wooten.

Coach Wooten has extensive experience at the high school and junior college level before entering the coaching ranks of indoor football.  From 2017-2019, Wooten was the Head Coach of the Iowa Barnstormers, winning back-to-back Coach of the Year Awards in 2017 and 2018. He also led the Barnstormers to a championship win in 2018, their first in league history.

“I’m thrilled to be the first head coach and general manager of this great, young organization,” said Wooten in a Freight news release. “Thanks to Jim Hallett, our owner, and Larry McQueary, our president and CEO, for believing in my plan to build a strong foundation for the Freight. With our front office experience and my winning background in the Indoor Football League, we’ll create something special that the Fishers community will be proud of, both on and off the field. Fishers is the best place to live voted by America, why not make Fishers the best place to be when it comes to professional Indoor Football?”

“Dixie made an immediate impression on us,” Larry McQueary, President of the Fishers Freight said. “He’s a man of impeccable character and his coaching record speaks for itself. He’ll represent the city well and we’re elated to have him as our franchise’s first Head Coach.”

You can reserve a season ticket for the Fishers Freight with just a $50 deposit.  Find more ticket information at this link.

I was born in 1951, which means I was born into the first generation of television.  My grandparents lived across the street from us in my preschool years and they were the first family on the block to buy a television set.  Let’s just say they were popular with the neighbors, with lots of visitors wanting to experience this new technology of TV.

We had a television set in our living room as far back as I can remember.  That meant I have been watching TV about as long as I have been able to talk.

The early days of the video era was a time of experimentation for those in the business, trying to figure out what the audience wanted using the technology available at that time.

Talk shows in some form have been a part of television and radio for as long as the technologies have existed.  I cannot speak much to television, but I got my feet wet doing talk shows as early as 1970 on radio.

My radio station manager was willing to give me a shot at hosting talk programs, which was a risk since I was fresh out of high school and a broadcasting trade school at the time.  Let’s just say I am thankful no recordings are around from those talk show days.  I made plenty of mistakes, but I learned from those mistakes.

After later entering college, I worked part-time in radio later in the decade.  In 1975, I was working at a radio station with an overnight talk show.  The manager met with me and offered me the job of hosting the “Night Action” 11pm-4am program.

It was a big challenge.  I could invite guests, but most of the show was taking phone calls and talking to the callers on the air.  I would say that was one of the must interesting jobs I ever had in radio and the gig lasted about 2 years.

Television, on the other hand, had talk shows but were very careful about taking questions and comments from the public.  It took many years for the audience to directly participate in a television talk show.

The man that invented getting the audience involved, both in the studio and on the telephone, was Phil Donahue.  Going back and watching those old Donahue shows, he made it look easy.  Let me tell you, it took experience and savvy to do that job and do it well.

The Donahue TV talk show lasted for many years.  He clearly had a liberal political bent, but featured conservatives on his program and allowed them to make their arguments, even when Donahue may have challenged some of those views.

Lots of talk shows were spawned by the Donahue format, the most successful being Oprah Winfrey.  Even Jerry Springer used that format, with a very different focus.

Phil Donahue died recently at the age of 88.  Anyone in the talk show business, radio or TV, owes a lot to Donahue.  He found a new format, made it work, and was successful for a very long time in a business where success can be fleeting and often lasts months,  not years.

My hats off to the memory of Phil Donahue.  He deserves to be remembered and respected for his work.

The Humane Society for Hamilton County (HSHC) will participate in the 10th annual Clear the Shelters adoption event on Saturday, Aug. 24, from noon to 5 p.m. The event comes at a crucial time for the shelter, which is currently caring for over 600 animals in need of homes.

“There is a lot at stake on August 24th. In addition to our shelter operating over capacity for nearly two years, our length of stay has skyrocketed, and every day these animals wait is a day too long,” said Lily Darling, Community Engagement Manager for HSHC. “Just because we don’t give up on these animals, doesn’t mean they don’t give up on themselves. We urgently need the community to step up and give these deserving pets loving homes. Time is running out and they can’t afford to wait any longer.”

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Clear the Shelters, adoptions will be available for $10, with some exclusions. Each adoption includes a range of services, including a free one-month supply of preventatives, spay/neuter services, a microchip, age-appropriate vaccinations and deworming, a wellness exam at a participating veterinarian, and a starter bag of food. The first 50 attendees will also receive a free goodie bag.

Prospective adopters are encouraged to prepare in advance by filling out an application at  this link. Those adopting or fostering a dog are advised to bring their current dogs to meet the adoptable pet, and all household members must be present. Renters should bring a copy of their pet policy, and a government-issued ID is required.

The HSHC hopes the community will step up to provide loving homes for these animals, many of whom have been waiting far too long.

Ever since the August 13th public hearing on the City of Fishers’ proposed trash collection contract, there have been comments, then and since, about the $2 per month, per resident, administrative fee.  When this was raised at the August 13th hearing, Mayor Scott Fadness said this fee is needed to provide support and customer service required for the city to do its work in establishing and running the city’s side of the proposed pact with Republic.

“The City of Fishers will manage and administer the billing of residential units, as a part of the city-wide trash contract.” Fishers says in its Web posting..  “In effectively providing billing services and related customer support, a $2 administration fee is included in the proposed monthly trash rates. The $2 administration fee is NOT an additional fee to the proposed rates, but is already included in the proposed rates.”

There have been a number of comments online and in public hearings about where the $2 per month fee would go.  The city provided a listing of how the revenue from this administrative fee would be utilized by the city.  The breakdown, provided by the city, is available above.  Below are the proposed monthly rates for each year in the 10-year contract proposal with Republic.

In a growing city, with more residential areas & commercial activity  in close proximity  to each other, Fishers is taking a look at the noise ordinance.  The City Council held first reading on changes to the city’s noise ordinance Monday.

Mayor Scott Fadness told the Council the city will be engaging “stakeholders,” mostly the impacted residents and businesses, for reaction and input to the proposed ordinance.  Noise is measured by decibels, which can be monitored with the proper equipment.  In other cases, the ordinance simply defines too much noise in other ways.

In most cases, the acceptable decibel level is 70 or below, in in some instances, particularly defined times during the year, the threshold is increased to 80 decibels.

You can review the proposed new noise ordinance at this link and this link.

In other news from the Monday Council session:

–Council members suspended the rules and gave final approval to a new fee schedule for other law enforcement agencies using the FPD rapid DNA testing system.

–The rules were suspended to give a final vote approving a new ordinance on enforcing parallel parking.

—A non-reverting fund was approved by Council members for the under-construction Events Center.  Mayor Fadness says this will provide more transparency with the finances of the Center, apart from other city finances and funds.

Two items that had been expected to be on the agenda for the Monday night Fishers City Council meeting will not be considered after all.

First, the city-wide proposed trash collection contract was to be on the agenda to set the rates, as listed on several timelines released by city officials.  Monday, Fishers spokesperson Ashley Elron tells LarryInFishers the timelines earlier released were incorrect.  Ms. Elrod says both the final version of the proposed trash collection contract with Republic and the rates will be voted-on at the September Council session.

Also, the Fishers Plan Commission unanimously voted a favorable recommendation for a new Meijer grocery store and pharmacy at Southeastern Parkway and Cyntheanne Road earlier this month, with the expectation of a final vote by the council Monday.  According to Ashley Elrod, the item was removed from Monday’s Council agenda at the request of Meijer to continue work on a traffic study.  It is anticipated that Meijer will ask the City Council for final approval on the proposed location in September.

The Geist Half Marathon is coming up Saturday, September 14th.  It takes a number of volunteers to run an event like this.

If you have any interest in volunteering for the Geist Half Marathon, use the links and information below.

• Water Station Helpers: Reserved for groups of individuals from companies, clubs, or organizations to help at our water stations along the race route. It’s a great way to be a part of the action without having to run!
• Start Line/Runner Services: Volunteers will assist runners with finding their corrals and answer questions before the race, and then distribute medals, water, and snacks when the participants return to the finish line. Great for families and organizations.

Those of you that are long-time readers of the blog, or know me well, are aware of my history with radio broadcasting.  I started out in 1968 as a teenage kid changing records and tapes, as well as keeping an eye on the transmitter, for a local radio station.

It was 1969 when I had the chance to work on the air at a small-10-watt public radio station (you could pick it up on your radio with a stiff wind that day).  My commercial radio career began in 1970 and stretched all the way to 1983, when I left the business to pursue a civil service career.

I did about everything one could do at a radio station at some point in my radio time, but focused on hosting talk shows and being a news reporter during most of my 15 years in radio.  Radio news was very important then, because it was often the first time you would learn of a news story, before the evening television news or the newspaper was printed.

One development in radio that began in the 1960s was the emergence of the “news-radio” concept, a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week constant supply of news.  One such station once promoted this – “Give us 20 minutes, we will give you the world.”

One of the first, and also one of the most respected all-news radio stations has been WCBS in New York City, 880 on the AM dial.  WCBS started the all-news format in 1967.  That concept is ending in 2024.

A changing radio business, with news at your fingertips on the Internet and your cell phone, has led to the demise of WCBS.  it was a sad day when the all-news format ended and long-time anchors and reporters signed-off for the last time.

WCBS will change its call letters and become an all-sports station.

This will once again put some very good journalists out on the street looking for work.  I wish them all well in their next pursuits.

It is not easy to adjust as technology and the business of broadcasting changes rapidly.  I am pleased that WBBM Radio, 780 AM, remains an all-news station in the City of Chicago.  But one wonders how long that will last.

The Andretti Racing Team has its involvement in plenty of auto racing series, perhaps even Formula One in the not-too-distant future.  But, what does this new Andretti Racing headquarters, currently under construction, mean for Fishers?

Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) reporter Daniel Bradley put together a piece with a deep dive into Andretti coming to Fishers, and has quotes from Mayor Scott Fadness and others on what this means for Fishers, the airport on the south side of Fishers and how a number of decisions by local officials brought us to this point in developing the airport.

You can read Daniel Bradley’s story at this link, but be aware you will likely need to be an IBJ subscriber to access this story online.  As I have written many times before, if you do not subscribe to your local media, your local media will eventually go away.