The search for workers has been daunting for most area employers, and Hamilton County government is no exception.  The county is sponsoring a job fair, Thursday, September 22, 10am-2pm.

The Job Fair will at the Juvenile Services Center, located at 18106 Cumberland Road in Noblesville.  While the Career Fair will predominately be for positions at the Sheriff’s Complex, the county’s Human Resources Department will be on hand to assist interested applicants for all available positions. Computers will be available for candidates to apply.

Hamilton County employs 950 full-time and 350 part-time workers and needs workers for law enforcement, clerical, labor/trades/crafts, and professional/executive positions. Full-time positions offer a benefits package.

The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), the organization representing teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern School District, has a tradition of inviting school board candidates to an election forum.  HSEA announced a Town Hall for the 2022 school board election and invited all candidates to attend.

The Town Hall is set form Tuesday,  October 4, 7pm, at the Launch Fishers Huston Theater.

Just as a reminder, below is a list of all the candidates.  Voters only choose the candidate running in the district in which the voter resides.

District 1

Brad Boyer
Jackie Howell
Tiffany Pascoe
Edward A. Gedeon

District 2

Juanita Y. Albright
Janet Pritchett

District 3

Dawn Lang
Carla V. Cork

District 4

Julie A. Chambers
Harry Delks
Ben Orr

(NOTE:  There was an error on the original post, showing the date as October 6…that was incorrect, the Date is October 4)

The State Road 37 project in Fishers reached a major milestone this past week, opening the east-west interchanges at 131st & 146th Streets.  The right-in right-out on 135th Street southbound on the west end remains closed.  There is still plenty of construction going on along State Road 37 in that area, so drive carefully and observe the speed limit.

Also, be on the lookout for lane restrictions on 96th Street in the coming week.

For additional details on that and much more, here is the weekly road construction update, as provided by the City of Fishers:

========

STATE ROAD 37 AND 146TH STREET
The SR 37 & 146th Street Interchange is now open! 

STATE ROAD 37 AND 131ST STREET
The SR 37 & 131st Street Interchange is now open! 

STATE ROAD 37 AND 135TH STREET
135th Street, west of SR 37, is currently closed as work progresses on the project. During this phase, southbound traffic no longer has access to 135th Street, west of SR 37 and does allow right in/right out access for Northbound traffic at 135th Street.  


Please drive with caution through this area. To learn more about the State Road 37 Improvement Project and sign up to receive text updates, visit 37Thrives.com.

96TH STREET
Daily lane restrictions are currently in place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on 96th Street between Allisonville Road and Masters Road for the installation of small cell structures.

ADA ramp and curb reconstruction is currently taking place in Brookston Place, Geist Overlook and Hamilton Proper as part of the 2022 Resurfacing Project. Homeowners will be notified via door hangers prior to any curb reconstruction near their home. After ADA ramp and curb reconstruction is completed, those areas will be restored with topsoil and seed. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to water the seed for the seed to germinate. Prior to road resurfacing, residents will be notified via street signage for street parking restrictions.

The Fishers Police Department plans its National Night Out Thursday, September 29, at the Police Department Headquarters on Municipal Drive.  This year’s event is being dedicated to the life and service of fallen Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. The annual event is aimed at enhancing the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement.

Citizens, law enforcement agencies, community groups, businesses, youth organizations and local, state, and federal officials from 16,377 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide will join forces to celebrate the 38th Annual National Night Out – a community crime and safety event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch.

The Fishers Police Department encourage all local citizens to join the department for an evening of fun and fellowship. A number of activities are planned for all ages – including vehicle, drone and equipment displays, crime scene collection display, crime prevention information and more. Free hotdogs, chips and cookies will also be provided.

Teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District will receive a pay raise retroactive to July 1 of this year, and the entry-level salary for starting teachers will increase, under a new agreement overwhelmingly ratified by a vote of the teaching staff.  Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) President Abby Taylor says most teachers in the district will receive a 5.8% pay increase, but about 350 of the 1,305 teachers in the HSE system will receive a 2.9% raise, depending on their level of education and where they appear on the pay scale.

Under the new contract, the starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree will be $44,074, up from the previous starting pay of $42,832.  Details on how the retroactive payment starting July 1 of this year will be paid are still being worked out.

The school board held a public hearing, as required by state law, but no one chose to speak.  The board is expected to provide final approval of the contract at the September 29  meeting.

In other news from the Thursday night school board session:

–The Lantern Road Elementary planned renovation will be scaled back to keep the project at the $14 million budget.  Furniture replacement, a new playground and other items in the renovation will need to wait in order to keep the cost at the approved budget.  The HVAC renovation will remain in the plans.

–Board President Julie Chambers explained that, per the statute, she, as board president, will be appointing the new Hamilton East Library Board member, not the entire board.  Chambers says 52 applications were received as of the deadline to replace Brian Myers, who, according to Chambers, resigned from the library board for personal reasons.  Reviewing all the applicants will take some time but Chambers says she will narrow the field down to 3-5 candidates and provide fellow board members those names before announcing a decision.  She has no specific timeline to make this appointment.  It may be announced at the September 29 meeting, but could be later.

–Superintendent Yvonne Stokes let everyone know there are plenty of job openings with HSE Schools.  She also reminded parents that September 30 will be an e-learning day.

–Brooke Lawson, Hamilton Southeastern Schools’ Mental Health and School Counseling Coordinator, was recently recognized by the Indiana School Counselor Association,  awarding her the 2023 Indiana Exemplary School Administrator of the Year.  She was honored by the board Thursday night for this recognition.  Watch a video produced by the school district about Brooke Lawson at this link.

Mayor Scott Fadness held a lengthy briefing Wednesday evening on his mammoth $1.1billion economic development package before the Fishers City Council Finance Committee and laid-out plans to finance a part of that plan, the 8,500 seat events center.  Included in that financing plan is a food and beverage tax.  That would add 1% to food and beverage charges to restaurant meals, from an 8% sales tax to to 9%.

Most communities surrounding Fishers already charge the food and beverage tax.  The Fishers Town Council was given a one-year window to pass the food and beverage tax, but in December of 2013, the town council tabled the proposal and never brought it back for a vote.

Fadness is putting together a financing plan that would not increase the city’s share of the tax rate, but that package depends on the City Council’s approval of the food and beverage tax.  There will be a public hearing before any council vote.  Fadness says state law is providing a two-year window for the Fishers Council to enact that tax, beginning July 1 of 2022.

The new event center will seat 6,500 fans for hockey or basketball games, 8,500 for a musical act with the stage in the middle (in the round) or 8,000 with the stage placed on one end of the venue.

Fadness told council members Hamilton County Tourism believes there will be a major demand to use this building for conventions.  The Indy Fuel minor league hockey team will have 30-35 dates at the center each year, and Fadness expects roughly 125 events in total per year.

The City Council will be asked to pass a resolution at Monday night’s meeting indicating the city’s intention to move forward with the expanded Fishers District and events center.

It was my first time to visit the mayor’s office suite in the First Internet Bank building, the temporary quarters for the mayor and a few of his staff members while the new Arts & City Hall project is under construction.  There is plenty of natural light and open spaces…so open the offices do not yet have doors on them.  I understand that is coming.

I was visiting the mayor to discuss a major announcement from his administration September 14th, a $1.1 billion package of investments in the city.  The Andretti Motorsports complex had already been revealed, but the remainder was rolled out in the announcement.

It includes an 8,500 seat venue, to be the new home of the Indy Fuel minor league hockey team and will likely host a number of other events.  Thompson Thrift, the firm that developed Fishers District, is planning more of the same with an additional Fishers District development that will look much like the original.

Italian life sciences company Stevanato plans to double its employment plans in Fishers, with 512 workers expected here by 2031.

Fadness says the economic incentive packages will be totally revealed in the coming weeks, but said the incentives will be much like other developments, featuring TIF Districts and tax abatement provisions.

Listen to my mini-podcast with Mayor Fadness about the economic development plans at the link below.

Mayor Scott Fadness has been hinting that more than $1 billion of investment was coming to Fishers.  Wednesday morning, the full listing was announced.

It started with Andretti Motorsports plans to locate its headquarters in Fishers.  Now, we have a number of other developments, including:

• Thompson Thrift plans next expansion of Fishers District with event center and entertainment district
• Hallett Sports & Entertainment announces Indy Fuel as anchor tenant at new event center
• Stevanato Group doubles down on Fishers investment following BARDA contract
• Andretti Autosport to establish global HQ, museum at Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport property

Below is the news release from the city detailing these plans:

=====

FISHERS, IND. – Fishers City officials announced Wednesday more than $1.1 billion in economic and entertainment investments. This is the largest single-day announcement in Fishers’ history. The projects will be presented to the Fishers City Council on Monday, September 19.

Thompson Thrift’s Next Phase of Fishers District

The Fishers City Council will vote on economic development agreements for Stevanato and Andretti Global at its next council meeting on September 19. The Council will also initiate the
introductory financing for the event center and begin the rezoning process for Thompson Thrift at the same meeting.

For many years, going back to the days of Fishers as a town, there has been an effort to bring commercial roads, such as many on or near strip malls & grocery stores, up to city standards.  After all, the public depends on those roadways to handle their everyday business.

City officials are setting up a system that will force commercial interests to at least bring their streets up to a minimum engineering standard before the city agrees to bring those roads into the city inventory.  The legal method the city plans to use is the Barrett Law.

The Barrett Law has its complexities, but put as simply as possible, invoking this law allows commercial interests to make the needed road upgrades through a loan, often repaid over 20-30 years, with a lower interest rate than the market rate.

The city plans to utilize this law, allowing business entities financing to bring their private roads to a minimum condition before the city agrees to bring those roads into its own inventory.

At a Tuesday meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety, Director of Engineering Jason Taylor recommended some private roads, both commercial and residential, be potentially entered into the city’s inventory.  A Barrett Law, or similar arrangement, could be used for some residential roads in disrepair, but Mayor Scott Fadness wants certain conditions to be applied, admitting there are gray areas.

“We may say that a gated community can’t bring their roads into (the city’s) inventory unless they do away with the gate,” according to Mayor Fadness.

Fadness expects to bring this issue before the City Council for a work session to get councilors ideas on where to go from here.

“If we do it for one apartment complex or town (homes), then we really are setting a precedent for every other town home or private development that’s out there,” Fadness said.  ”Some council members, I can tell you, definitely do not want to subsidize, using other people’s tax dollars, to bring those into alignment.”

The mayor appears to want a system where residential neighborhoods would have guidance on which areas may apply to have their roads taken into the city inventory, as long as it is clear that meeting that standard does not automatically mean that those roads will be accepted by the city.  Fadness appeared to favor a case-by-case evaluation of such requests.

“A lot of these folks may look at the financial implications and say, we’re not going to mess with this,” the mayor added.

The board approved some potential candidates for roadways to be brought up to standard.  The map is difficult to read, but is available below.

The Fishers City Hall we have known for so long will have the wrecking ball swaying and demolishing the structure, beginning in the second week of October, making way for the new Arts & City Hall Complex, scheduled to open in April of 2024.

The Fishers Board of Works and Public Safety voted Tuesday to approve the second (and final) phase of the public-private partnership agreement with local contractor Meyer Majem, allowing for the demolition of the old and construction of the new facility. The board has previously approved resolutions allowing for the purchase of steel and other items, as well as the moving of the City Hall transformer.  This final resolution clears the way for all remaining construction.

The action Tuesday provides $20.5 million for this final phase.  Total cost for the project is set at $23.2 million.  The Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement with the contractor guarantees the costs listed, with the city and Meyer Najem sharing in any cost savings.