It appears that Fishers did not get the legislative language local officials were seeking in what the mayor has called “abnormalities” in the distribution of County Option Income Tax (COIT) distributions in Hamilton County.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the City Council Finance Committee April 15th that Carmel receives $21 million more in COIT distributions compared to Fishers annually, despite the two cities being similar in population.

State Representative Todd Huston tells LarryInFishers that a bill in the General Assembly aimed at equalizing that disparity over several years did not survive the 2019 legislative House-Senate conference committee, due to the impact the measure would have on other parts of Indiana.

“I am extremely disappointed we couldn’t come to consensus on legislation to fix the tremendous discrepancy of the County Option Income Tax distribution in Hamilton County during this session of the General Assembly,” said Huston in a statement to LarrInFishers.  “I will continue to work diligently to fix this inequity when we meet again next year.”

Huston backed a bill that passed the House aimed at dealing with the widening gap between Fishers and Carmel in distributing COIT funds, but the Senate came up with much different language.  Fadness described the Senate bill as “not an ideal scenario for us (the City of Fishers).”

Fadness has said that if state lawmakers do not change this distribution formula, the disparity will widen over time.  The current $21 million difference would fund the entire Fishers Fire Department and a good part of the police force, according to Fadness.

“We’re extremely disappointed that the legislature did not move toward a more equitable and fair distribution for local income tax this legislative session,” Mayor Fadness said in an e-mailed statement. “We are committed to ensuring Fishers receives its appropriate distribution of income tax, and we will advocate for it again next year.”

“The school corporation  does not discriminate in its educational or employment activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression), disability, age, religion, military status, ancestry or genetic information, nor on any basis prohibited by applicable federal or state laws.”

That language was the subject of a long and heated debate among members of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night.  After an argument that seemed to never end, the board finally voted down the language above proposed by Board Member Julie Chambers.  Board members Chambers, Janet Pritchett and Michelle Fullhart supported the amendment language , but board member Sylvia Shelpler and Brad Boyer argued that the proposed amendment’s language was unnecessary.

When it came to a board vote, Amanda Shera, Mike Bottorff, Sylvia Shepler and Brad Boyer voted to reject the Chambers amendment.  Julie Chambers, Janet Pritchett and Michelle Fullhart voted for it.  As a result, the amendment was voted down 4-3.

The board then voted 4-3 to accept the following language instead:

“The school corporation will not discriminate in its educational and employment activities on any basis prohibited by applicable federal or state laws.”

Shera, Bottorff, Shepler, and Boyer voted yes on that measure.  Chambers, Pritchett and Fullhart cast no votes.

The vote followed some of the sharpest verbal exchanges this reporter has witnessed in the over 7 years I have covered the HSE School Board.  10 members of the public spoke passionately before the board in the public comment period, all but one arguing in support of Board Member Chambers’ amended language, which they felt was a strong statement of protection for all students in the HSE School District.

A majority of board members did not see it that way, and once Chambers’ amendment was voted down by 1 vote, there were outbursts from the audience, some in anger, some breaking down in tears over the board’s decision.  Many left the meeting room after warnings from Board President Bottorff about public outbursts during the session.

And there is one more thing.  This was just the first reading of this nondiscrimination policy.  It is not officially approved until voted on once again by the board in second reading, likely at the next regular board meeting.

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  This story was corrected at 9:20pm pm on 4.25.2019.  The previous version cited the original proposed language for the policy.  Brad Boyer moved to change the wording of the nondiscrimination policy passed on first reading Wednesday night.)

The Fishers Arts Council will be handing out awards to local high school artists May 3rd at Fishers City Hall.  Mayor Scott Fadness and Arts Council President Shari Knox  will be presenting the honors to 16 students during the 10th Annual Fishers Arts Council Senior Showcase.  The students in the running are all from the Hamilton Southeastern School District.

The categories are:

Best of Show $500.00

First Place, Photography, Drawing, Painting $250.00 each

Second Place, Photography, Drawing, Painting $150.00 each

Third Place, Photography, Drawing, Painting $100.00 each

Honorable Mention (6 total) FAC Certificates

$200,000 in total awards will be given May 3rd, a Fishers Arts Council record.

A free public reception is set from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the Art Gallery at Fishers City Hall. The awards ceremony will begin at 8:00 pm.

The judge for the exhibit was Deborah Stapleton, Executive Director of the Anderson Museum of Art (AMA), Anderson, IN. Ms. Stapleton recently was a judge for the 2019 Indiana Artisans Show at the State Fairgrounds. She has been with AMA for the past 39 years.

When Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools held the first Evening of Innovation around this time last year, a huge crowd was on hand at HSE High School.  This year, the event is back and is set for May 1st, 6-8pm, at Fishers High School.

There will be over 100 interactive experiences representing every school in the district.  It’s a chance for the entire Fishers area community to see how learning in our district is shifting towards developing future ready skills in our students.

The Evening of Innovation is free to all, with no admission charge

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

An outline of what is called The White River Plan was presented to County Commissioners at their Monday meeting by Tourism Director Brenda Myers.

The plan calls for steps to make the river and its banks cleaner and more attractive to those visiting the county’s major waterway. Beyond that, the plan is to encourage knowledge of the numerous parks and historic sites along the river.

The river improvement plan was conceived several years ago with the intent of making the river a recreational asset for Hamilton and Marion counties. Currently the project’s supporters are in the process of preparing recommendations for what can be included in the development stage.

Myers said “an action-oriented plan” will be created by May 16 taking recommendations into consideration. She stressed that there will be no consideration of purchasing or making use of privately owned land that borders the river. Earlier, there were apparently unfounded rumors of plans to condemn or purchase river frontage.

Existing recreational and historic sites on White River include Strawtown Koteewi Park, Potters Bridge Park and trail, the Noblesville Riverwalk, Conner Prairie, Carmel’s River Heritage Park, Fishers Heritage Park and Hazel Landing Park.

Monday’s presentation was informational only. No vote by commissioners was requested.

The county parks department is expected to coordinate with the plans as they move forward. Eventually, some type of Hamilton-Marion County board for White River development is envisioned to carry out and maintain river improvements including possibly retrofitting dams to maintain a favorable river elevation

When all candidates had filed their paperwork for the May 7th primary election, I knew the challenge I had in front of me.  There were no contests for the Democrats, but I saw a number of contested races for Fishers city elected offices.

The contested races total 12 candidates.  My first thought was…will all 12 agree to record a podcast interview with me?  More importantly, would I be able to handle 12 podcast recording sessions before the May 7th primary election?

The answer to both questions ended up being yes.  Yes, all 12 Republican primary candidates running for city offices in Fishers agreed to record podcasts.  And, somehow, I was able to produce 12 podcasts with all the candidates.

Why did I decide to take on this big task?  It has to do with the low voter turnout we tend to have in primary elections locally.  There are many excuses people give for not voting, but the one excuse that won’t work this time around is that you know nothing about he candidates.

I produced all these podcasts as a way for voters to experience listening to the voices of the candidates themselves.  You can find out what they are all about by listening to these podcasts.  They are all about 30 minutes long with no commercial breaks.

Below are links to all 12 podcasts.  I took the time, as a volunteer, to produce them.  The least you can do is take the time to listen, as you can, before entering the voting booth.

MAYOR

Scott Fadness

Logan Day

CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE

Gurinder Singh

Todd Zimmerman

 Rich Block

Cecilia Coble

CITY COUNCIL SOUTHEAST DISTRICT

Pete Peterson

Paula Hughel

CITY COUNCIL NORTHEAST DISTRICT

Brad DeReamer

Tom Grinslade

CITY CLERK

Jennifer Kehl

Jackie Bowen

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness is once again on the ballot for another 4-year term in office.  I spoke with the mayor about his re-election campaign.

The pre-primary campaign finance reports have been posted, and incumbent Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness continues to raise campaign cash, but has also spent a lot of money as election day draws near.

Through April 12th, Fadness has $356,801.35 cash on hand.  He began the calendar year with $456,767.90 in the bank, and has spent $187,066.55 so far this year.  You can review the entire report at this link.

Meanwhile, Fadness’ Republican primary election opponent, Logan Day, didn’t become an official candidate until 2019, so he started the year of 2019 with no funds in the bank.  The report shows he raised $9,694.98 through April 12th.  His report also shows expenditures of $9,674.07 during that same period.  That leaves candidate Day with only $20.91 cash on hand as of April 12th.  Logan Day’s full campaign financial report can be seen at this link.

Primary election day is Tuesday, May 7th, with early voting already underway.  Below is the schedule of early voting hours at Fishers City Hall:

Wednesday and Thursday, April 24 & 25 from 2 pm to 7 pm 

Friday and Saturday, April 26 & 27 from 10 am to 3 pm 

Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 & 2 from 2 pm to 7 pm 

Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4 from 10 am to 3 pm  

Cities have been dealing with cell towers for years, particularly the issue of where they are placed and under what circumstances.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the Board of Works and Public Safety Monday that more and more requests are rolling into the city for placement of small cell tower equipment inside local neighborhoods.

These small cell towers have a range of only 500 to 700 feet.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of these tower requests within neighborhoods are expected to be coming soon, according to the mayor.  As they become more popular, this could overwhelm the current city approval system.  As Fishers city ordinances now stand, the Board of Works must conduct a public hearing and vote on each request.

The mayor wants the Board of Works, City Attorney Chris Greisl and staff from the planning and zoning department, to work on what the mayor describes as “policies and thresholds that make sense.”

The mayor indicated this could all be discussed at a Board of Works public work session in the future.

Fishers has had the same Fire Department HQ building for 28 years, but the old structure is undergoing demolition to allow for a new building next to City Hall.  The new headquarters building carries a  $9.4 million price tag, and will take 18 months to build.

The new station will provide additional space for firefighter living quarters, as well as functional work space.  The administration offices will still be a part of this station with additional space for management needs.

Firefighters stations at the headquarters have been relocated to the Indy Fuel apartments off 126th Street, which keeps the firefighters and equipment in the same response district.  This location keeps the response times unchanged for continuity of service.

Lt. Rich Nyberg takes the sledgehammer swing to the building