When the Future Black Leaders Club from Fishers High School made a presentation to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board, those young people were so impressive I knew I wanted to know more. Thanks to Emily Abbotts and Renee Isom for facilitating this podcast, featuring club members Katrell Readus, Bailey Liner and Myla Cantrell. Listen to the podcast at the link below.
The Fishers Events Center, planned as part of the new phase of Fishers District, is not close to being constructed yet, but the city has entered into a 5-year contract with ASM Global to manage events there.
ASM Global already manages 350 facilities on 5 continents around the world. Deputy Mayer Elliott Hultgren told the Board of Works and Public Safety that the city interviewed a number of candidates for this contract before selecting ASM Global.
The firm’s fee will be based on a percentage of revenues from the Events Center.
In other matters before the board Tuesday morning:
–Approval was given for an $81,400 contract to clear trees along Cumberland Road, allowing relocation of utility lines along the stretch that will be reconstructed. During the tree clearing operation, Cumberland Road will be open to traffic with the use of flaggers. Bids will be let for the reconstruction of Cumberland Road later this year.
–Browning Day has been contracted to conduct landscaping work on Geist Waterfront Park. The $66,800 for the project comes from funds remaining from the bond financing the park.
–Look for diamond grinding on the westbound lanes of 116th Street between Olio road and Cumberland Road after school is out this year. The board approved a $154,017 contract with Diamond Coring Company.
When Fishers City Attorney Chris Greisl decided to leave the city for the private sector, Mayor Scott Fadness tapped former Noblesville City Attorney Lindsey Bennett to fill that role. Bennett has worked in the past as an attorney for the City of Fishers.
“Lindsey Bennett has been appointed as Fishers City Attorney,” said Mayor Fadness in a statement to LarryInFishers. “In Bennett’s role, she will provide the day-to-day legal support for our City agencies. Chris Greisl has been retained to assist in the legal matters for items related to the City Council and City Council meetings.”
Greisl is now with the law form of Barnes and Thornburg.
“Stranger At The Gate” is a short documentary film that has been nominated for an Academy Award this year. It is set in Indiana, about refugees in Afghanistan and a Marine veteran of that war suffering from PTSD.
The Fishers Multi-Faith Community for Compassion is sponsoring a screening of “Stranger At The Gate” Tuesday, February 28, 6pm, at the Delaware Township Community Center. Tickets are $5 and are available at this link.
HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling was careful not to alarm staff members and the local community, but a budget task force will be convened after the March 8 regular school board meeting. This allows the district to prepare “just in case” voters choose not to approve a school referendum tax rate.
School board members had plenty of questions for administrators during a Tuesday morning work session. Administration staff had some answers, others will require more research.
Board members did not provide any specific views on how to move forward on the referendum question. The current referendum property tax rate is 0.2275 and expires at the end of 2023. Dowling provided operating referendum rates for neighboring school districts:
Noblesville 0.3700
Carmel 0.2400
Zionsville 0.2400
Westfield 0.1700
Dowling also reviewed some expenses that cannot be reduced, such as utilities and insurance, while going over other expenses that could be evaluated.
The last time the school district had a budget task force in place was in 2020 when there was a loss of 800 students (largely related to the COVID pandemic) that reduced state support and led to a $5 million reduction in spending.
One unknown in the budget mix is how the Indiana General Assembly will handle school funding in the 2-year budget that will likely not be known until late April, according to Dowling.
School officials say in terms of per-student funding from the state, HSE Schools is third lowest. The only districts lower are Zionsville and Carmel.
The preliminary draft agenda for the March 8 board meeting includes an action item on the planning for the referendum that, if approved, would most likely appear on the November general election ballot.
We have had a lot of local school news in recent days involving Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools, the district that encompasses all of Fishers and other areas outside the city limits.
First, after a lively meeting where no board action was taken on the $5.7 million mental health grant from the federal government, the school board announced an agreement to allow the grant to go into effect. The board did not need to approve the grant, but apparently could have refused the federal money of it chose to do so.
So, the mental health grant will be implemented in the HSE Schools. However, there is another issue looming that the school board must address, and is expected to discuss at a 7:30am work session Tuesday.
The current operating referendum is expiring at the end of 2023. The board must decide a number of issues. First, should the district request the same tax rate as currently in place, ask for a lower rate or a higher rate of the taxpaying public? The current property tax referendum rate generates approximately $26 million per year.
It would also appear that it is too late to place this referendum before the voters in the May primary, so any referendum request would be before the voters in the November general election this year.
The work session may provide an idea what the majority of the board members are thinking about the referendum, but work sessions are not for taking action. The next regular board meeting where a decision could be made is March 8.
I moved to Fishers in 1991 and recall at least one instance when a town council election was cancelled. Why? Because no Democrats were on the ballot. There had been contests in the Republican primary election, but all those emerging from the GOP primary went on to be elected with no opposition in November.
About 6 years ago, I recorded a podcast with Greg Purvis and Joe Weingarten, two men that had run as Democrats in Fishers, about the future of their party locally. They were optimistic. Others at the time were skepitical.
Although Republicans are still in clear control of local government, there have been more Democratic candidates in recent years and there are two Democrats currently with seats on the Fishers City Council.
Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Dayna Colbert issued a news release Friday touting the number of Democrats on the ballot this year in Fishers. They are: Incumbent Councilors Jocelyn Vare (At-Large) and Crystal Neumann (North Central), joined by candidates Howard Stevenson ( At-Large); Bill McLellan (North West); Lane Skeeters (South Central); Bill Stuart (South West); and Samantha Chapman (North East). In addition, Janet Pritchett is running for Fishers City Clerk.
“We are incredibly excited to offer citizens better representation in November with this strong, qualified group of candidates,” said Colbert in a party news release. “These talented candidates reflect the desires of today’s Fishers community: accelerating positive changes to make Fishers the best place in Indiana for all to live, work and raise a family.”
Even with the most candidates ever on the general election ballot for 2023, Democrats still have no candidate for the top spot. So far, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness has no opposition in the primary or general election.
A statement posted on the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Web site Friday morning says the board is supporting the $5.7 million mental health grant from the federal government. “We want to voice our strong support for acceptance of this five-year grant,” according to the statement.
At Wednesday night’s school board meeting, after a long discussion and much public comment, board member Tiffany Pascoe offered a motion to reject the grant, a point of order was asserted about whether a vote could be taken on an information agenda item, and the board did not take a second to the motion or a vote on the issue.
Here is the full statement issued on behalf of the HSE Board:
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On behalf of the HSE Board of School Trustees, I want first to express my gratitude to members of our school community who took the time in recent days to give feedback and information about the mental health grant that our school administration secured on behalf of district students.
We all agree that supporting the mental health needs of our 21,000 students is critical to providing an exceptional educational experience that prepares them for future success. We all are proud of the work already produced by the City of Fishers and key community partners through the Stigma Free Fishers mental health initiative.
To that end, we want to voice our strong support for acceptance of this five-year grant. We look forward to working with Brooke Lawson and her mental health and school counseling team members to successfully implement the program. Moreover, our board wellness committee will support Dr. Stokes and her administration by ensuring alignment on any issues that arise and identifying potential gaps to be addressed throughout the life of the grant.
Budget oversight is a key responsibility of the board. Our fiduciary responsibility to the HSE Schools community is to ensure that financial commitments made now in acceptance of this grant are affordable five years from now. After meeting with the administration following Wednesday’s board meeting, we accept their commitment in working with the board to ensure that HSE’s budget is sound, and will adjust when necessary at the conclusion of this grant.
Wednesday night’s public work session and board meeting gave all board members an opportunity to seek greater understanding by asking questions about the proposed grant program. It also allowed us to provide open engagement and transparency, which is our goal with any topic that comes before the board. We were thoroughly impressed by the professionalism of HSE administrative staff during their presentation and public comments from interested parties.
This is a dynamic time for HSE Schools. Our partnership with the City of Fishers is strengthened by the opportunities we seek to provide our students. In fact, we look forward to announcing another project in the coming weeks that we believe will give our students a life-changing, new path to pursue their own success.
Thank you again for your support of HSE Schools!
The intersection of 116th Street and Allisonville Road was constructed in 1998, and the area has since grown substantially. With that growth, the traffic count has also increased, causing backups, particularly during rush hours. As a result, the City of Fishers has determined the best solution is a roundabout.
Joe Rengel of A&F Engineering and City Engineering Department Director Jason Taylor explained the plans for the project before 25-30 residents Thursday night at Riverside Intermediate School. Bids are expected to be opened in spring of 2024, with construction starting as early as late 2024.
However, Taylor says it will take an entire construction season to complete the project, normally April through November, meaning the work could slip into 2025.
The city owns land in the southeast part of the current intersection that could be used as part of the roundabout. Rengel said the commercial enterprises on the other three corners will remain, although a small part of the current Shell gas station may be used.
$2.6 million in federal money will be utilized to fund this project.
Rengel pointed to traffic accident data at the intersection during the period of 2015-2017. There were a total of 82 crashes during that timeline, with 4 fatalities and 6 resulting in less serious injuries. He says roundabouts reduce severe accidents.
A roundabout at the intersection is projected to reduce fatal crashes by 65% and total accidents by 12%.
Rengel described the location as a “major utility corridor,” meaning dealing with the many utilities may be complex and take some time.
Church, Church, Hittle and Antrim (CCHA) has been the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District’s law firm for as long as I have covered the board, and that goes back 11 years. Some say the relationship goes back as much as 16 years.
That all came to an end Wednesday night when the HSE School Board awarded the law contract to Indianapolis firm Barnes & Thornburg. The vote was 5-2, with Sarah Donsbach and Sarah Parks-Reese voting no.
Before the vote was taken, former school board member Michelle Fullhart urged the board to postpone the vote, arguing that there was a lack of feedback from school administrators and one of the three bids was not provided to the public online. That did not deter the board from moving on to the vote..
Sarah Parks-Reese cited an increase in legal costs as one reason for voting no. Sarah Donsbach says there was no reason “for drastic change” in law firms.