The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools are dealing with the same issues individuals and commercial operations are facing – increased costs of doing business.

HSE Facilities Director Matt Rapp updated the school board Tuesday morning on the ten-year plan to keep the school district buildings in good working order.  He cited the nearly $4 million HSE price tag annually on natural gas and electricity use, despite steps taken to reduce consumption, due to dramatic increases in the rates utilities charge.

Rapp cites the Mortenson Construction Cost Index showing a 2.94% hike in construction pricing the past year.  The index also says labor costs have increased 3.2% and cites a labor shortage for skilled contractors.

A project or repair in 2020 that would cost $5,000 has a price tag of $6,500 today.  Bottom line, Rapp says it will cost more to do the same work, year over year.

The project timeline listing shows the Transportation Facility will be completed next year, with Lantern Road and Fishers Elementary Schools set for completion in 2025.  See the chart below for more details.

As the 4th-largest school system in Indiana, Rapp provided the board an idea just how big the facilities are here.  HSE facilities are over 4 million square feet under roof.  By comparison, The Indiana Convention Center, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Lucas oil Stadium and the Salesforce Tower combined have just over 3.9 million square feet total.

To view Matt Rapp’s entire presentation to the board, use this link.

It has been a long time coming.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness referred to the “controversy and turmoil” he and his council members withstood when the former tracks of the Nickel Plate Railroad became the Nickel Plate Trail

Fadness and many of his council members were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 106th Street near Hub & Spoke.  The completion of the south end of this trail takes the Nickel Plate to 96th Street and the border with Indianapolis.

“Ultimately, there will be a bridge on the south end connecting us to Indianapolis,” Fadness said at the ceremony.  “That design is currently underway.  Indianapolis now has funding to bring the trail from 96^th Street all the way down to the (State) Fairgrounds.”

On the northern end of the trail, Fadness said the only obstacle to extending the trail north to downtown Noblesville is a bridge at 146th Street that is currently being designed.

The mayor says the trail also extends to the new Andretti Global Headquarters in Fishers.  The governing body for Formula One racing, FIA, announced Monday that Andretti meets all required criteria to expand into the world’s top motorsports series, clearing a major hurdle.  Andretti is expected to field 2 cars in Formula One.

Mayor Fadness has proposed a node at the trail near 106th Street, including public rest rooms, as part of his 2024 budget proposal now before the City Council.

“This has a huge regional impact for the northeast side of Central Indiana and we are very, very excited about it,” said Fadness.

Ribbon is cut on the south end of the Nickel Plate Trail

You may recall a post on this blog on August 19 all about a small weekly newspaper in Marion, Kansas.  There have been some new developments in that case.

To review, there was a police raid August 11th on the Marion County, Kansas, newspaper office.  Police seized computers, cellphones and other data from the premises of the newspaper. Local authorities also raided the home of the paper’s co-owners — Eric Meyer and his 98-year-old mother, Joan. Joan Meyer died a day after the raid and Eric has said he believes the stress of the raid led to her death.

The Poynter Project, a highly respected nonprofit that reports on journalism, posted a story at the time summarizing the situation that can be found at this link.

One week after the raid, the county attorney said there was “insufficient evidence” to conduct that raid.  All newspaper property taken by police in that raid has been returned.  The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has been looking into the matter.

Now, the mayor of Marion has suspended the local police chief.  You can read more about that from the Marion Record news Web site at this link.

Journalists and those in the news business have a responsibility to follow the law just like anyone else.  However, a heavy-handed raid for no apparent legal reason is an attack on the First Amendment and is bad for all of us.

It’s hard to believe my involvement in media began around 1970.  I worked at a small town radio station where you did a little of everything…play music, program, music, do some sports, do some news….well, you get the idea.

We experienced a regular stream of politicians and political candidates making their way to the station looking for some free media exposure.  So, I often ended up greeting and sometimes interviewing these people from the political world of that era.

One thing that struck me was the lack of women in the political world of that time.  Their were some women in elective office, but there were just a handful them.

Fast forward to 2023, and you see a number of women on the political battleground.  The current Hamilton Southeastern School board consists of 6 women and 1 man.  Out of the 9 members of the Fishers City Council, 4 are women.

Republicans have controlled local government for some time in Fishers, so in the past, since I moved to Fishers in 1991, the women in local office tended to be Republican.  In the 2019 city election, 2 Democrats, both women, were elected to the City Council.

We are in the midst of another city election season and we see Democratic women preparing for their election campaigns through a program called Hoosier Women Forward.  Incumbent at-large City Council Member Jocelyn Vare is running for re-election and has touted her joining the program in a recent news release.

“I’m honored to be in the company of such diverse, impressive and committed women who share a vision to improve our local communities,” said Vare. “The results of this year’s primary election prove that political change is well underway in Fishers. We need more Democratic women to step forward to lead. Hoosier Women Forward is a training ground for those future leaders.”

Vare lists several women with Fishers connections that are or have been in this Hoosier Women Forward program:  Julie Chambers, former member and president of Hamilton Southeastern Schools Board of Trustees (Class of 2019-2020), Dayna Colbert, Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair (Class of 2020-2021), Freedom Kolb, executive director of The Milk Bank (Class of 2021-2022), Crystal Neumann, Fishers City Councilor for the North Central District (Class of 2022-2023), Meredith Fox, Hamilton County Democratic Party Communications Team Chair (Class of 2023-2024) and Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn, Fishers Indiana State Representative (Class of 2021-2022).

We have a number of women, from both political parties, involved in our local politics.  In my view, that is a good thing.

FHS Band Boosters are not waiting until December to host a fund-raising event with a Christmas theme.  The place is Fishers High School and the date is October 7, 9:00am-2:00pm.  See the flyer below.

Writing a local news blog for about 12 years brings on a number of other opportunities.  One of those happened to me Friday.  It was an e-learning day for students but teachers reported to work as usual.

The Fishers High School PTO sponsored a contest among the many departments at the school all about cooking the best chili.  I was honored to be on a judging panel that included Master Chef Kelsey Murphy and WTHR Meteorologist Angela Buchman.  To say I felt a bit inadequate sitting next to these wonderful ladies is an understatement, but they are both very nice people.

Judging was not easy because there was so much very good chili.  I had to leave before the winner was announced, but FHS Principal Jason Urban proclaimed the winner of the chili cookoff – the Exceptional Learners department.

It was so special to see a local PTO once again reminding our teachers how much the local community appreciates the work they do, day in and day out.

Another busy week is upcoming for local road crews.  Below is the listing of road construction in and around Fishers for the work week starting Monday, October 2:

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Continue reading Road construction update for the work week starting Monday, October 2 →

Samantha Chapman will admit she is new at running for office as a candidate, but she talks about her campaign for the Northeast District Fishers City Council seat in this podcast.  Mike Fassold Joins Larry Lannan, talking with the candidate.

The City of Fishers has several appointments made to various boards and commissions made by the mayor and city council.  Hamilton County has a number of appointments made to boards and commissions as well.

Hamilton County now has an online portal allowing county residents to apply for appointments.

“We have seats on several boards expiring in the coming months,” says Ken Alexander, President of the County Council. “The deadline to apply for next year is November 15. The council will meet to discuss the applications and vote on a slate of appointees at our December meeting.”

Applications can be submitted at this link.

The county is accepting applications for appointments to the following boards & commissions:

• Alcoholic Beverage Board
• Board of Zoning Appeals
• Economic Development Boards
• Hamilton County Parks Board
• Hamilton County Plan Commission
• Hamilton County Redevelopment Commission
• Hamilton County Visitor and Convention Commission
• Hoosier Heritage Port Authority
• Library Boards
• Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals
• TriCo Regional Sewer Utility Board of Trustees

To provide an idea of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools budget, let’s compare the city’s proposed 2024 spending plan with that of the local school corporation.

The City of Fishers, the 5th largest in the state by population, is proposing a total budget of roughly $164 million in 2024.  The HSE Schools are looking at a 2024 spending plan totaling $296 million.

The HSE School Board did a deep dive Tuesday night into the various components that make-up the revenue and spending for the 4th-largest school district in the state.

One issue that was first raised at the recent Budget & Finance Committee meeting is the reduction in the student count.  The state requires school districts to report the first student count of the school year on October 2nd.  HSE Schools are projecting a student count of 20,931 students, down 221 from the count one year ago.

The state funds school districts on a per-student basis, but HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling tells LarryInFishers there should be no reason to cut the budget, at least during this school year.  She added that assumes the referendum on the November 7 ballot passes.

The enrollment numbers also reveal fewer students in the lower grades and more students in higher grades.  Dowling says this is consistent with the enrollment projections provided by demographer Dr. Jerry McKibben in his most recent report.