by

Craig Adkins 

Hamilton County Reporter

The weather conditions were back to normal as Hamilton Southeastern visited
Westfield on Friday night. As we recall, last week’s continuous rain didn’t help the Shamrocks, as the dropped a key road game at Noblesville.

This week’s weather would work in their favor and they were back on their home turf,
outlasting Hamilton Southeastern 34-27.

Westfield was able to drive clear down to the Royals’ three-yard line on the opening
drive before HSE’s defense held strong, resulting in a 20-yard Alex Bales field goal,
putting the Shamrocks up 3-0 early.

The host Shamrocks quickly added to their side of the scoreboard when left cornerback
Franklin Bohannon jumped the route of an HSE receiver, taking it back to the house for an interception return touchdown, bumping Westfield’s lead to 10-0.

On the fourth play of the next HSE series, Matt Harris made it look way too
easy, busting through an open hole in his offensive line sprinting 46-yards for a TD
to get the Royals on the board.

This was a game that looked like there could be a lot of scoring and that became
clearer in the middle of the second quarter.

After forcing a three-and-out, Southeastern took over at Westfield’s 47 and took
advantage of the situation of a shorter field.

With 2nd and four at the 29, senior tailback Lance Stephens found a huge hole for a
29-yard touchdown run, putting the Royals on top for their only lead of the night, 14-10.

Westfield wasted no time in getting the lead right back. On the first play of the
ensuing drive, Camden Simons connected with Patrick Beam on a post route for a
77-yard TD strike. That became the second lead change of the first half with the Shamrocks
back in front now, 17-14.

The Royals tied the game 17-17 with a 33-yard field goal from Mitch Hebenstreit,
but not before Harris carried the ball seven times for 82 yards in the second quarter
alone.

HSE was able to compete in this game simply because they were able to run the
football really well in the first half, but were only able to one touchdown on the ground
out of it

“I think that they were trying to take away the run, schematically, and we just felt
like we still wanted to run the football and set the tone. We felt like we did,” said
Hamilton Southeastern first-year head coach Adam Morris on the Royals rushing game.

Back and forth the game went once again.

Simons was showcasing his arm throughout the second quarter. This time,
junior wideout Dane Wheeler would be his go-to. Wheeler hauled in five of his nine
receptions in the second, totaling 66 yards, mainly on one particular drive down the
field.

“He struggled a little bit last week in the rain, but his entire life he’s completed, you
know close to 70 percent, so we’ve got all of the confidence in the world in him,”
Westfield head coach Jake Gilbert on his junior signal caller Camden Simons.

“Our receivers made plays in the passing game. I felt the protection was good and if
you let him sit there and get it done, then he’s gonna slice you up,” Gilbert continuing
to praise his standout quarterback.

The Shamrocks had a 2nd down and one at HSE’s 27. Simons went big, throwing a
corner route beautifully on-point, over the right shoulder to Wheeler for a 25-yard gain,
setting up a 1st and goal at the two. The next play, Eli Patchett dove into the end zone
from two yards away, giving the lead back to his ‘Rocks, 24-17.

Southeastern wasn’t done in the first half.

Junior QB Kody Sparks was able to complete three passes on the drive, the biggest
was a 39-yarder to 6-foot-6 sophomore receiver Landon Morris, tying the game at
half, 24-24.

The third quarter came down to who could take advantage of opportunities and that happened to be Westfield.

The Shamrocks were able to use their rushing game to eat up a lot of third period
clock and wear down the Royals defense, keeping them on the field as long as possible.

Bales added his second field goal of the night from 27 yards out to put Westfield
back on top for the rest of the night, 27-24 at that point.

“I thought they wore us down a little bit running the football in the third quarter,
that’s who Westfield is and they’re gonna be,” said Morris on how Westfield’s running
game ultimately wore down his defense in the third.

Westfield’s balance was really the story of the final two quarters. Both being able to
keep it going offensively and keeping Southeastern limited to just three second half
points was crucial in holding off the Royals.

“I thought our guys got stronger in the second half up front and our running backs,
gotta credit those guys for running hard. I thought we started to move dudes a little bit
better and I was pretty pleased with that for sure,” Gilbert continuing on the positives
from his offense as a whole against Hamilton Southeastern.

Eli Patchett would find the end zone for the final touchdown of the night of 21 yards,
for a 34-24 cushion. But, it was the previous play that set up Patchett’s TD that made a
difference. Simons found Wheeler for a 16-yard pick up down to the 21 that set up
the scoring play.

Southeastern was able to get a 22-yard field goal from Hebenstreit with 0:54 left to
cut it to 34-27, but it was too little too late.

The Royals’ Ben Boysen would catch the onside kick in mid air at the 50, but HSE
only got down to Westfield’s 37, ending the game on two incomplete Hail Mary
attempts, leaving Westfield with a 34-27 HCC victory.

Hamilton Southeastern (2-3, 1-2 HCC) hosts the Zionsville Eagles (3-2, (2-1 HCC)
next week. Zionsville blanked Noblesville on Friday, 24-0.

The Royals were highlighted offensively by tailback Matt Harris’ 24 carries for 257
yards and a touchdown, while Lance Stephens also had eight totes for 56 on the
ground for a TD and one catch for 18 yards.

Westfield (3-2, 2-1 HCC) will face their toughest test on the season yet when they hit
the road at 6A No. 2 Brownsburg (5-0, 3-0 HCC) next week. The Bulldogs won at
Fishers on Friday night, 27-20.

Camden Simons wound up passing 17-of-19 for 232 yards and a touchdown. He
connected with Dane Wheeler for nine of those for 113 yards and also a 77-yarder to
Patrick Beam. Eli Patchett finished with 14 rushes totaling 87 yards and two scores.

(Update posted 10pm 9/13)  Eric Moeller contacted me to say that state law does not allow someone to have “dual lucrative” positions.  After further review, Eric says he may not have been 100% accurate in his comments at the Finance Committee meeting about Jason Meyer’s situation.

Deputy Mayor Elliot Hultgren made what appeared to be a reasonable request to the City Council Finance Committee Thursday – provide a small amount of compensation to the two appointed members on the Fishers Board of Public Safety.  After all, Carmel, Westfield and Noblesville all pay their appointed members to their boards.

The city staff recommendation would be to pay each about $4,500 a year, less then Carmel’s pay scale and a bit higher that Noblesville.

Then, committee member Eric Moeller  pointed out that Board of Works member Jason Meyer also serves in an elected position as a Fall Creek Township Board member, which is also a paid position.  State law does not allow any one person to serve in two government jobs with compensation at the same time.

John Weingardt, another Finance Committee Member, said if compensation is provided to the appointed members of the Fishers Board of Works, Meyer would need to resign from either the city board or township board.

No recommendation was made on this proposal….Finance Committee members indicated they wanted to talk with other members of the council on this matter.

The Board of Public Works and Safety consists of three members, Mayor Scott Fadness and his two appointees, Jason Meyer and Jeff Lantz.

If you want to know more about the candidates in all four districts in this year’s Hamilton Southeastern School Board election, there are many ways to do that.

I have started recording podcast interviews with the candidates…I have one already online and more to come.

But there will also be two candidate forums coming up if you wish to see the candidates in person.

The first event is set for Wednesday, September 19th, 7-9pm, at the Little Theater located in HSE High School.  Use entrance #2, facing Olio Road.  HSEA President Janet Chandler will serve as the moderator.

On Tuesday, October 23rd, the Fiscal Conservatives of Hamilton County will sponsor a school board candidate forum.  It will be held at the Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy, near 126th Street and Cumberland Road, starting at 6pm.  Bill Smythe and John DeLucia are listed as the moderators of that event.

As a Riley Champion, there is an expectation that you serve as an advocate and ambassador for Riley through the school year by sharing your story and participating in a variety of events.  That should be no problem for Fishers High School student Abbie Jacks, becuse she has been a patient at Riley and understands what the children being treated there are going through.

Abbie was presented with the Riley Champion honor at Wednesday’s Hamilton Southeastern School Board meeting.

Riley Champions is a program that honors patients from Riley Hospital for Children who have inspired communities with their bravery and commitment to help others while overcoming personal medical challenges.

The Hamilton Southeastern School District is faced with redistricting all school boundaries for grades kindergarten through 8th grade, and the process is underway.  Dr. William Carnes, interim Assistant Superintendent for HSE Schools, told school board members Wednesday that Monday and Tuesday of this week, at 4 separate locations, 115 parents from all K-8 schools put together their own revised boundary map, 18 plans in total.

Carnes says none of the 18 will likely become the final product, but the parents used a software program that gave them immediate feedback on every plan and tweak, including what impact any change would have on the overall redistricting process.

The next step in the process, according to Dr. Carnes, is putting all the 18 ideas together with the board’s priorities for consideration in the redistricting process.  Those priorities, the extent possible, are listed below in no particular order:

–Assign students to attend school closest to their home

–Attempt to design a “feeder” pattern

–Maintain neighborhoods and subdivisions

–Consider a stability of programs for exceptional learners instructional learning spaces

–Provide capacity at schools with the greatest potential for growth

–Reduce the number of portable classrooms

–Examine the continuation of choice as an option at the high school level

HSE Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff will present a proposed redistricting plan to the board on November 28th.  The board is expected to vote on the redistricting plan in December.

The redistricting is needed because the new Southeastern Elementary, on Cyntheanne Road, will open in August of 2019.

The school district produced a video about the redistricting process, which you can view at this link.

Superintendent Bourff has a video message about redistricting at this link.

In other board news from Wednesday:

–Administrator Matt Kegley reviewed the Graduation Pathways program.  You can review his presentation to the board at this link.   To review the executive summary of the program use this ink.

–The board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fishers Police Department, dealing with officers working in the HSE Schools as School Resource Officers (SROs).  The document has been updated to reflect recent court decisions.

–Board members reviewed a draft agreement with Conner Prairie to conduct a program for HSE fourth grade students.  The Conner Prairie board is also reviewing the same document.  A final agreement should be ready for board consideration at the next meeting.

Mayor Scott Fadness briefed the media Wednesday afternoon on the the 2019 city budget and was quite proud of several numbers inside the spending plan.  Next year’s city budget proposal, to be presented to the Fishers City Council Monday night, will total $108.69 million.

Fadness will emphasize to the council that even with an increase in the city tax rate next year, among the ten largest cities in the State of Indiana, Fishers will continue to have the lowest property tax rate, projected to be 69 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The mayor told the City Council Finance Committee last month he projected a property tax rate increase of 5.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2019, but Fadness said Wednesday that his staff has lowered the projected rate increase down to 4.2 cents.  He estimates about 1.5 cents of that 4.2 cent rate increase will be used to pay-off a $12 million bond, $7-$9 million of that bond is projected to fund the Nickel Plate Trail.  The bond will also fund some road projects.

The mayor says that $12 million bond will fund the first phase of the trail from 126th Street to 106th Street.  A “separated grade crossing” at 116th Street will be funded in this first phase.  The mayor says this grade crossing will be built either above 116th Street or below, but that has not yet been determined.

The mayor will also tout a 5.3% increase in assessed valuations of property in the city.  He also said those increased valuations do not include property in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, such as the new construction in the downtown Fishers Nickel Plate District.

He said the city’s cash reserves of more than $17 million, $4 million more than the required amount, has helped the city maintain its AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor.

The city’s General Fund is mostly used for human capital costs, at 72% of the total.

Both the Fire Department headquarters building and one other fire station may need to be demolished and rebuilt, or renovated, based on a study being conducted now.  Also, City Hall may be in line for major upgrades, also based on an evaluation that should conclude later in September.  Money has been set aside in the budget for that work.

2019 will also bring more road construction projects.  They include completion of the four-lanes on Allisonville Road, 126th & Reynolds Drive and 96th Street will be improved to four lanes from Lantern Road to Cumberland Road.

Providing money for 911 service will cost Fishers $1.3 million in 2019, which Fadness said would fund all the new staff positions he is proposing to add in 2019.  He says there are disparities in Hamilton County as to how much each government unit pays into the 911 service fund, but that would need a county-wide solution.  The mayor has had informal conversations on this issue and does not believe it will be solved in this budget cycle.

Fadness once again bemoaned that fact that Carmel gets several million dollars more as its share of the county income tax money, even though Fishers and Carmel have very similar population numbers.

The Monday night City Council meeting will feature a public hearing on the 2019 budget proposal.

The group calling themselves “Save The Nickel Plate” is expected to announce legal action Thursday at a Statehouse rally.  According to my news-gathering partners at the Hamilton County Reporter, the group will also urge state lawmakers to investigate actions by Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County to convert part of the Nickel Plate Line into a trail.

The group will also announce details of planned legal action at the Statehouse event.

The Statehouse announcement and rally are set to begin at 10am Thursday.

Save The Nickel Plate is a group that has advocates for keeping the Nickel Plate a rail line.

by

Jeff Jellison

Hamilton County Reporter

Day one of the Hamilton County Council budget hearings began not much differently than most.

Department heads presented their budgets, not many deviated from instructions provided to them by Auditor Robin Mills, and council members asked relatively few questions.

“Pretty smooth,” is how Council President Steve Schwartz described the day; however, if you watched today’s hearing on Hamilton County Television you might have agreed with Schwartz, until the end.

Following presentations made by department heads, Councilman Fred Glynn addressed the other members stating, “We should discuss the camera situation, I do not think it is necessary to have that during deliberations tomorrow.”

Hamilton County Television was contracted by the county commissioners to live broadcast the budget hearings.

Councilman Brad Beaver said, “I’m fine with all the departments that are going to present their budgets, but at that point we’re done with the camera.”

Councilman Jeff Hern asked if budget deliberations were public meetings. Beaver interrupted Hern, saying, “If you want to walk into the room, it is not an executive session.”

Beaver continued: “We are talking about people, salaries. It is not executive session, but I don’t think it should be on the internet.”

“If somebody wants to see that stuff they are free to walk through the front door and sit here in the audience,” said Glynn.

That is when Councilwoman Amy Massillamany made a motion that once department heads have completed their presentations at 10 a.m., the live broadcast and television recording should not continue. Beaver seconded the motion.

Schwartz cautioned council members about the legality of removing cameras from a public meeting.

Massillamany withdrew her motion and Beaver withdrew his second after Councilmen Rick McKinney and Paul Ayers gave their opinions.

“I’m in this situation of not wanting to be accused of not being transparent. We’ve already said close the barn door, the cows are out. I think the issue is, who controls it, us or the commissioners. I honestly can’t vote to shut it off,” said McKinney.

Ayers said, “It would be a mistake. I don’t care if they are here or not. It would be a mistake at this point to shut them off.”

“I just don’t like it,” said Beaver. “I don’t like it at all.”

The council resumes budget hearings at 8 a.m. today. Hamilton County Television will be present. The live broadcast can be viewed at HamiltonCountyTV.com.

When the Hamilton Southeastern School Board considered a new Talent Development System the first time, board members suggested several changes.  School officials went back to the drawing board to  look at the board’s suggested changes.

Wednesday, the board voted 5-2, approving the revised document.  Board members Amanda Shera and Mike Bottorff voted no.  Both said the changes did not go far enough, in their view.

The plan is aimed at talent development for teachers and other school corporation staff members.

To review the Talent Development System document approved by the board, use this link.

To see changes made at the suggestion of board members, use this link.

The City of Fishers will be initiating a program to outfit all police officers with body cams, budgeting the body-cam program as part of the 2019 city budget.

Mayor Scott Fadness, during a Wednesday media briefing on the 2019 city budget proposal, told reporters the city had run a body-cam pilot program this year.

“These body-cams, in our opinion, will do nothing other than ensure that our police officers are adhering to the core values of the department,” said Fadness.

The pilot program allowed the police department to test several different systems and providers.  The video data will be stored on the cloud, not stored on a city system.

In other matters raised at the budget briefing:

–The Allisonville Road lane expansion project will not be completed this year, according to the mayor.  Two lanes will remain open throughout the winter months, with the four-lane construction projected to be completed in the spring of 2019.  Fadness says he expects the Allisonville Road project to be complete before the major work begins next year on State Road 37.  Weather and utility-related issues caused the delays in completing the work this year, according to the mayor.

–As the police department completes its move to the new headquarters building, some city departments will begin their move out of city hall to what has now been named the City Services Building (old police HQ).  The Clerk’s Office, the Controller staff, along with Permitting and Inspections, will eventually all be housed on the first floor of the City Services Building.  The second floor will house the Business Solutions Group (modernization) and the city’s Information Technology staff.  Additional space at City Hall will allow more conference rooms and loosen the tight quarters many city workers have endured.  The new City Services Building will allow citizens and contractors to handle financial transactions with the city on the first floor of the structure, according to Deputy Mayor Elliot Hultgren.