There has been much speculation about the future of Gray Eagle Golf Course in Fishers. Those living in the Gray Eagle neighborhood were informed this week that the golf course will cease operations at the end of calendar year 2019.

Mark Thompson, of RN Thompson Golf, tells LarryInFishers his company has been working with the city on the future of the golf facility, located near 126th Street and Brooks School Road.  However, Mr. Thompson says ceasing operations is in the “best interest of all parties at this time.”

The owner of the golf course will continue to work with the Gray Eagle Homeowners Association and Fishers city officials on the future of the golf course, but Mr. Thompson provided no more specifics.

iTown Church originally wanted to build their new building near the golf course, but nearby neighbors voiced concerns about how that might impact the future of the golf course.  iTown chose another location at 136th Street and Brooks School Road.

In a letter to Gray Eagle residents from Homeowners Association President Chris De Monclin, details are provided of a meeting involving golf course ownership, city officials and representatives of Gray Eagle HOA.  Suggestions of having the HOA take over the golf course were rejected because of the large dues increase, $300 per year at the outset for each homeowner, with city officials saying that would only be a temporary solution anyway.

Mr. De Monclin’s letter says the ownership would ask for $5 million in any sale of the golf facility, but cites a Ball State estimate putting the value of the golf course at about $1 million.

The HOA president praised efforts by Mayor Scott Fadness and City Councilors Brad DeReamer and Rich Block for their efforts to find a solution to the future of the Gray Eagle Golf Course property.  Based on the letter to residents, the city has no interest in buying or developing the property.  The likely outcomes, based on De Monclin’s letter, are closing the golf course at the end of 2019 with no buyer, or finding another use for the golf course property

“Councilmen DeReamer and Block, City staff, and I have been (and will continue to be) supportive of Gray Eagle HOA and its residents as they chart a path forward after being notified of the closure of Gray Eagle Golf Course,” Mayor Scott Fadness said in an e-mailed statement to LarryInFishers. “Fortunately, we have time on our side to make the right decision to allow for coordination between the City and the HOA on any potential future use to ensure residents are well represented in the process.”

Hamilton County Reporter

State Representative Cindy Kirchhofer and State Senator Michael Crider recently sent letters urging the Indianapolis City-County Council to investigate potential ownership issues with the conversion of the Nickel Plate Railroad to a walking/biking trail.

In his letter, Crider requests the Council’s support in protecting the City of Indianapolis’ interests in relation to the Nickel Plate Railroad, calling it a “time-sensitive issue.”

Elected government officials from Hamilton County and Indianapolis, such as Noblesville Common Council Member Mary Sue Rowland, are getting involved and saying they didn’t have a vote in the process. Rowland says that almost none of the elected officials from Noblesville were involved in pushing plans for the trail forward.

Local citizen action group Save the Nickel Plate, with more than 11,000 supporters, will be making a major announcement next week. Supporters plan to rally at the Statehouse at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

County officials are hoping to adopt a 2019 budget of just under $100 million without any increase in the county tax rate. The budget proposes to spend $99,048,426 to fund county government operations, up about $2.8 million from this year’s budget.

Anticipated revenue increases from property taxes on new construction and added County Option Income Tax (COIT) collections should nearly cover the increase without having to dip into the county’s reserve funds.

Probably the largest single increase in the budget will be salaries and benefits for 16 new employees at the county jail. The need for new employees comes about due to the expansion on the facility now underway.

Nine other new employee positions are being proposed in various departments of county government, but some of these may not survive a county council review of the budget scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13. Current county employees are expected to get raises next year ranging from 1 to 3 percent under terms of the county salary matrix. Elected officials will likely receive up to 3 percent increases.

New building projects now on the drawing boards for expansion of the Judicial Center, a new White River bridge at Pleasant Street and county obligations toward the reconstruction of Ind. 37 are not included in the budget. They are all to be funded with already accumulated cash or partially with a bond issue.

County Auditor Robin Mills said Monday that the county remains in a strong financial position and next year’s needs should not jeopardize that. She said the county council will hold a public hearing on the budget on Oct. 2, and vote on final adoption Oct. 15.

The Hamilton Southeastern School District is preparing to add another elementary building in August of 2019, which means there will be kindergarten through 8th grade redistricting  on the way.

The school board voted Wednesday night to move forward on a recommendation by Dr. William Carnes on the timeline for developing new school district maps, with the board final vote on redrawn maps set for December 12th, according to information posted to the school district We site..

The timeline and general principles on moving forward with the process are in line with a board discussion held earlier this month in a board work session.

To review the timeline and overall strategy in the redistricting process approved by the board, use this link.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff’s contract has been extended through June 30, 2021, following action by the school board Wednesday night.  According to a posting on the school district’s Web site, Dr. Bourff will forgo a base pay increase and instead will have roughly $4,000 added to his salary for the superintendent to utilize for health costs as he chooses.  According to school board President Matt Burke, this amounts to about a 2% increase in Dr. Bourff’s compensation and is less than he would be eligible to receive under his contract with the school corporation

The board action approved Dr. Bourff’s incentive pay for the period July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018 at $11,530.89, in line with his contract.

According to the Web post, the vote to approve the action was unanimous.  Two board members, Terry Tolle and Michelle Fullhart, did not attend the session.

We are now assured that there will be contested races for three of the four districts in the November election for seats on the Hamilton Southeastern.  Two candidates filed for the District 1 school board election Tuesday – Joshua D. Richardson & Bradley M. Boyer.   I will provide more information on their candidacies once I receive information from the candidates themselves.

As of Tuesday, incumbent  Michelle Fullhart is the only unopposed board candidate.

Here is the rundown of candidates for HSE School Board, as of the close of business Tuesday:

District 1

Benjamin Elsbury

Joshua D. Richardson

Bradley M. Boyer

District 2

Janet Pritchett

Frank Whelan

District 3

Michelle Fullhart

District 4

Bradley L Banks

Julie Chambers

The filing deadline for school board is noon, Friday, August 24th.

Samm Quinn has a story on the IBJ Web site about the old Archers location in downtown at this link

Elliott Hultgren has taken on the responsibilities of being a Deputy Mayor for the City of Fishers.  I talked with Elliott about that, as well as his experiences serving in the United States Navy.

Last Thursday, newspapers around the nation editorialized about the importance of a free news media in a democratic republic like the United States America.  The first amendment to our constitution enshrines the freedom of the press.

I didn’t participate in Thursday’s concerted effort by newspapers because, let’s face it, I’m not a newspaper.  LarryInFishers.com is just a very small news blog trying to concentrate mostly on news events in Fishers and news stories impacting Fishers.  As a mostly retired guy, I do this as a volunteer activity because there is a lack of regular daily news coverage of what’s happening in Fishers.  We do have some outlets that pay attention to Fishers – Current in Fishers is a weekly, The Indianapolis Star covers some Fishers news, The Indianapolis Business Journal does cover Fishers when it can and I have a news gathering partnership with The Hamilton County Reporter, a weekly print newspaper that publishes five days a week with an online PDF newspaper delivered by e-mail.

I go over all this in order to ask an important question – Am I an enemy of the people?  I ask this question because there are high-level elected officials, as well as many in the political realm, arguing that journalists such as myself are, in fact, an enemy of the people.

I practice my journalism very much like the news generated by main stream news organizations.  I write about what I learn, what I see and what I hear.  I cover events that busy people living within a growing suburban community such as Fishers cannot always attend themselves.  I produce podcasts with local people so that you can hear long-form discussions about what local people are doing throughout the community.

So, what have I done that labels me an enemy of the people?  Ask yourself that question when you hear or read another argument that the news media are the enemy of the people.

Journalists are members of the local community.  They participate in their neighborhoods, they send their children to local schools, you see them coaching local sports and generally participating in community life as many other citizens.  To put it bluntly, journalists are people just like you.

Does that make us enemies of the people?

Journalists also risk their lives to report on important stories.  Journalists die covering war zones.  We are threatened by those unhappy with our reporting.  When working as a journalist for a living in the 1970s and early 1980s, I had my life threatened several times.  The threats required me to take reasonable precautions, but threats never changed the way I did my job or reported on any story,

Let us not forget the vicious attack on the newsroom of a relatively small newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, killing five excellent reporters and editors just at work doing their jobs.  Were they all enemies of the people?

As I meet some of you while covering stories about Fishers, please feel free to explain why you think I am an enemy of the people, because if you take the position that the news media are the enemy of the people, then I am an enemy of the people.  Look me in the eye and tell me why I, along with all the other journalists working to get news to you, are the enemies of the people.

I am no longer paid to be a journalist, but, trust me, the news media doesn’t make journalists rich.  There may be a few celebrity journalists with high-paying jobs at the national level, but most working in the news business are not paid well.  If you make a good living as a reporter, that’s the best you can expect.  The Indianapolis Star reporters are fighting their management just to keep the health care coverage they have now, and Gannett, the owner of the Star, has withheld scheduled pay raises while this dispute over health coverage continues.

Here’s my bottom line. All journalists are accountable about what appears on our platforms, whether it be a news blog like mine, a newspaper, radio station or TV news operation.  We all work hard to report accurately, but when there is an error, we correct them as soon as we verify the error has been made.  We all work hard to get the story to you as quickly and accurately as humanly possible.  We don’t expect a lot of thanks or accolades – just don’t call us the enemy of the people.  We are not enemies of the people.

Adam & I discuss a powerful new film that will be screened at the Circle City Film Festival September 27-29.  The film is a 17-minute short documentary, “Grateful.”  Adam & I talked with the filmmakers at the Carmel Film Forum, and you can hear the recording of that exchange in this podcast.