In 1955, I was four years old and the Town of Fishers had a population of under 300 people.  That was the year Reynolds Farm Equipment first opened its doors.  You cannot discuss the history of Fishers without Reynolds Farm Equipment being at the center of the commercial development in the area.

According to my news-gathering partner, the Hamilton County Reporter, Reynolds has received an important national honor, the 2018 North American Dealer of the Year.  The award comes from Farm Equipment Magazine of Brookfield, Wisconsin.

The magazine says the honor is based upon a myriad of performance metrics and selection by an independent panel of industry experts.

“Equipment dealers serve a critical role in supporting customers,” said Mitch Frazier, chief executive officer of Reynolds Farm Equipment. “Our team at Reynolds understands this importance, whether that’s for a farmer, homeowner, landscaper, golf course operator or commercial contractor.

This is the 14th year of this award, with the goal of identifying the top performing dealer organization across all manufacturers’ dealers through analysis of key financial metrics and qualitative review of transformational initiatives, such as succession, leadership and performance management

“The independent panel of judges made a very good selection in Reynolds Farm Equipment for Dealership of the Year,” said Mike Lessiter, editor and publisher of Farm Equipment Magazine. “The group is industry-best in a number of criterion and demonstrating a very progressive approach to management, succession planning and bedrock values that guide their business.”

Reynolds has grown from its humble beginnings 63 years ago.  There are now seven store locations throughout the Midwest – five in Indiana, one in Ohio and one in Kentucky.

“Since mom and dad founded the business, we’ve always focused on serving our customers with the right products and the right people,” said Gary Reynolds, owner and chairman of Reynolds Farm Equipment. “We continue that focus today with the best team we’ve ever had and an energy that is delivering results for our customers, our team and our community.”

You can read the story about Reynolds receiving this award in Farm Equipment Magazine at this link.

The City of Fishers plans to apply to the Indiana Arts Commission and ask that the Nickel Plate District in Downtown Fishers be designated as a cultural district, and the city is working toward establishing The Fishers Arts and Cultural Commission.

Past and present officials of the local arts community packed into a City Hall conference room to support the arts proposals as members of the city council were briefed on the ideas by Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath and Mayor Scott Fadness.

Work has already started on applying for the Nickel Plate District’s designation by the state as a cultural district, described by McGrath as a “pretty rigorous process.”  The deadline to submit the application is September 5th.

The City Council Nonprofit Committee decides how to divide-up the city’s contributions to local organizations, and this proposal would ask the council committee to provide a specific sum of money to support local arts organizations, then have the Fishers Arts and Cultural Commission decide which organizations get the money, and how much each group will receive.

The new Fishers Arts and Cultural Commission would be established as part of the city’s Planning and Zoning Department.

“The point of the Arts Commission is to take the people that really do understand the soul and vibrancy of art, and meld that with the people that understand the land development and development process” Fadness told council members.  “Those two together should create a really unique environment where we have the synergistic vibe.”

City Council members appeared generally supportive of the plan to establish a Fishers Arts Commission and ask the state to designate the Nickel Plate District as a cultural district.

The City of Fishers was working with the same Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) since 2005, but the City Council approved an updated UDO at Monday night’s meeting.  The UDO provides basic rules for those wanting to plan developments in the city.

The new UDO is reformatted and reorganized, and takes into consideration some
additional or new standards based on the Fishers 2040 Comprehensive Plan.  After a public hearing at a recent Fishers Plan Commission meeting, changes were made, particularly for houses of worship as they plan construction of new facilities in Fishers.

Members of the city council lauded Fishers Director of Planning and Zoning Tony Bagato, along with his staff, for the hard work in putting this UDO plan together.

To review the detailed presentation Bagato made to the city council, use this link.

RealAmerica is a local Fishers business that develops low-income housing projects in many Indiana locales, but has never developed such a project in Fishers.  That may change if the firm is successful in getting state and federal approval for the credits needed to construct such an apartment complex in Fishers.

The Fishers City Council, acting on an agenda item added at the very last minute, passed a resolution Monday night establishing incentives in a project agreement with RealAmerica to construct a 70-unit apartment development on Lantern Road and Appel Drive, near I-69 and 116th Street.

RealAmerica would be investing $14 million in this plan.  The incentive package would have the city waive up to $100,000 in fees over a 30-month period.  Waivers would include impact fees, Improvement location fees, building permit fees, and other such fees.

This development, if approved by state and federal officials, would serve residents within 60% of the geographic area’s median income.  City officials argue residents in this development will help fill local work force needs in Fishers

After months of discussion and debate, the Fishers City Council passed a cycling ordinance, with the minimum amount of support.  The measure passed on a 5-3 vote (Councilman Eric Moeller was absent).  Council members Selina Stoller, Pete Peterson and John Weingardt voted no.  The yes votes were Brad DeReamer, Todd Zimmerman, David George, Rich Block and Cecilia Coble.

The main provision of the new ordinance will provide a 3-foot “halo” around a bicyclist in an effort to keep the cyclists safe when encountering vehicles on the road.

At the end of the meeting, the council allows anyone to give a 3-minute comment, and several proponents of the cycling ordinance expressed their thanks to the council members voting yes Monday night on the cycling measure.

To read the entire ordinance passed by the council Monday night, use this link.

A proposed hike in Fishers storm water fees is headed to the full City Council after the council’s Finance Committee passed the proposal with a positive recommendation Wednesday night.  The Board of Public Works and Safety also voted a positive recommendation for this fee increase July 9th.  If enacted, most residential customers would see a $1.71 increase in their monthly storm water charge.  Since residents are billed annually for this fee, homeowners would see an increase of $20.52 in their yearly billing.

Many commercial users would see much larger increases, with the Hamilton Southeastern Schools facing an annual increase of roughly $63,000 per year under this proposal.

Mayor Scott Fadness told the committee that the Board of Works has held sessions with Rick Farnham, Director of Water Quality for the city’s Department of Public Works, and his staff, about policy decisions related to how any fee recommendation must be planned.

For example, Fadness said one policy decision was whether the city should be responsible for all retention ponds, which would be an expensive proposition financially.  The decision was made to have city staff work with Homeowners Associations and educate them on how to conduct preventive maintenance, avoiding expensive work on their ponds.

“I’m fully supportive of Rick (Farnham) and his team’s recommendations moving forward,” Fadness told the Finance Committee.  This issue will be considered with the city’s 2019 budget proposal.

Farnham told the committee this fee increase will allow his department to begin work on a long list of capital projects, totaling $8.3 million, including work to prevent flooding along 106th Street when the city experiences heavy rain events.

The local storm water utility has been working on the same rate structure for ten years, going back to when the storm water district was first established, according to Farnham.  The mayor said the city cannot handle the storm water financial needs through growth in the city.

Without this rate increase, the operation will be in a structural financial deficit beginning next year.  The city would need to pick up the slack from its budget, and services would likely be cut.

Saturday morning was Biz Kidz Day at the Fishers Farmers Market in the city’s Nickel Plate District.  Over 40 booths staffed with younsters ages 5 through 17 were selling and people were on hand to buy.

Here are a few pictures I snapped while enjoying the event.

Continue reading Biz Kidz Day Is A Hit At Fishers Farmers Market →

Things are not too exciting at this time in the summer movie-going season, but  Adam & I review the latest film starring Christopher Plummer, Boundaries.  Out guest is James Moriarty, with the Carmel Film Forum.

Hamilton County Reporter

By JENNY DREASLER

WISH-TV

Thieves targeted a Hamilton County cemetery, stealing plaques honoring veterans of the five branches of the U.S. military.

Officials with Fall Creek Township said some time over the last week five plaques were stolen from an Eagle Scout veteran’s memorial inside Arnett Cemetery in Fishers, just off 113th Street and Florida Road.

Doug Allman, Fall Creek Township Trustee, said he doesn’t know who could have taken the medallions, or why.

“That’s what kind of amazes me. I don’t know what you do with these things,” said Allman. “We wanted to get the word out there, that if somebody shows up with these things at home, maybe a teen or a youth shows up with these, that the parents recognize that they came from this place.”

The plaques, along with the bench and rock wall, were built by former Hamilton Southeastern student Zach Hughel as part of an Eagle Scout project last year.

Allman said the medals were meant to honor the five branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

“This is a very old cemetery; we have people buried here that served in the Civil War, going back that far. It’s meant to honor those that have fallen,” Allman said.

Allman said he just wants the plaques in their rightful place, so that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice can be honored the way they should.

“Even if they magically appeared back here, that would be great,” explained Allman. “We just want to see them returned and put back up to memorialize these folks. We’d like it made right.”

If you know anything about this, contact police or the Fall Creek Township Office at 317-841-3180.

by

Richie Hall

Hamilton County Reporter

Megan Wiley’s journey to becoming the Hamilton County 4-H Fair Queen could be called “third time lucky,” but luck had nothing to do with it.

Learning, working, and above all confidence led Wiley to being crowned as the Queen at Friday night’s 4-H Fair Queen Pageant, which took place at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds. Wiley was one of 12 queen contestants at the pageant, beginning her reign in front of over 200 spectators.

“It feels amazing,” said Wiley. “I don’t think it’s real. I’m very blessed, though. Very blessed.”

This was the third year in a row that Wiley, a member of the Giddy Up Gang, had competed in the Queen Pageant. In 2016, she was the First Runner-up, but missed the court last year.

“Two years ago I was on court and last year I wasn’t, and it taught me a lot,” said Wiley. “Nothing is ever handed to you and confidence is really key, no matter what you do.”

Queen contestants do a five-minute interview with the judges prior to the Friday night pageant, then during the event compete in professional wear modeling, and in an evening gown competition where they were each asked a question by Master of Ceremonies Adam Good.

Wiley’s question was “What life skills have you learned from 4-H that you think will benefit you the most in the future?” Wiley responded that she learned about “time management, always being confident and never be afraid to fail.”

Wiley, 19, is the daughter of Douglas and Kristi Wiley. She will be a sophomore at Purdue University this coming school year, and is majoring in Agricultural Communications, with a double minor in Crop Science and Farm Management. After graduation, she plans to serve in the Peace Corps. She has completed 10 4-H projects.

“I’ve learned so many life lessons and so many friends have influenced me in my future plans, and it’s all been very beneficial,” said Wiley.

And now she gets to enjoy the 4-H Fair, which starts next Thursday, as the Queen.

“There’s so much to do, there’s so many people to see and so many smiles to be made,” said Wiley.

Ashlyn Robertson of Progressive Farmers is the First Runner-up, while Hailey Rivers of Noblesville H&H is the Second Runner-up. Rivers was also named as Miss Congeniality, which is voted on by the Queen contestants themselves, and she greatly appreciated the honor, saying that it’s nice to know the other contestants look up to her.

“It means a lot, because everybody was just so wonderful this year and I just loved everybody,” said Rivers. This was her first year in the pageant, and it was a great experience for her.

“It was extremely positive. I got a lot of confidence from this and I met a lot of new friends and made wonderful memories.”

Breanna Stewart of Jolly Rogers is the Third Runner-up, while Madeline Teal of Walnut Lassies and Laddies is the Fourth Runner-up.