by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Funding for a major expansion of the Hamilton County Jail will be requested by County Commissioners at the Dec. 6 meeting of the County Council. Commissioners in their Monday meeting voted to request an appropriation of $16.7 million in order to increase jail capacity from the current 296 to about 550.

Overcrowding has been a problem at the 24-year-old jail for some time. In recent months, female inmates were moved to the Juvenile Detention Center, and juveniles were moved elsewhere on the corrections campus to give temporary relief at the jail.

But long-term with the county population soaring, commissioners say major expansion in anticipation of future needs is necessary. When the expansion was discussed earlier, council members felt building to a capacity of about 420 would be adequate.

But on Monday commissioners were given cost estimates that showed the greater expansion would only increase the cost from $12.2 million to $16.7 million. Believing it would be wise to plan ahead for anticipated needs, the board decided to seek the greater amount. Whatever figure is approved by council, the project is expected to be bid in January or February of next year. The current jail was completed in 1993, and since that time the juvenile center and a Community Corrections work release facility has been added on the Cumberland Road campus.

In other action at their regular meeting, commissioners approved an interlocal agreement with Carmel officials on the planned Lowes Way extension, a project that will allow direct highway access from 146^th Street to southbound Keystone Parkway. Construction is expected to begin early next year.

Also approved were plans to design a roundabout at 191st Street and Grassy Branch Road in Washington Township. Compensation agreements in lieu of statutory fees were signed for 2018 compensation for the county surveyor, Kenton Ward, at $104,000, and county clerk Tammy Baitz at $118,000.

And commissioners approved plans for leveling an abandoned house at 5263 E. 156th St., Noblesvillle. Neighbors said the house is an eyesore and harbors possible illegal activities. Actual demolition will follow a 30 day warning period to the owners.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Ten nonprofit organizations in Hamilton County will share nearly two million dollars in public funds next year. The County Council has approved the grants and County Commissioners will approve Monday, Oct. 23 when they meet in regular session.

Funds are disbursed annually to organizations that provide services to the public. The money is granted in the belief that most of these services would have to be directly provided by local government were it not for the organizations that take on the tasks. The money is included in the 2018 county budget.

The largest grants will go to Janus Developmental Services, $725,000, and the Janus
Hamilton County Express bus service, $431,601.  Next largest amount goes to Primelife Enrichment, $240,000.

Prevail will receive $180,000, the Hamilton County Economic Development Corporation,
$175,000, Hamilton County Humane Society, $111,337, The Cherish Center and Chaucie’s Place, $25,000 each, Trinity Free Clinic and Conner Prairie, $15,000 each.

Organization representatives expressed appreciation to county officials for the money which in most cases is seen as essential to continuing the current level of services.
County officials have said they are pleased that the county’s healthy financial condition
allows such disbursements.

In their meeting Monday, commissioners are also expected to consider hiring a county public relations officer. Creation of that position was announced earlier and will be done on a contractual basis. Commissioners will also likely approve two bridge projects on Strawtown Avenue.  The White River bridge west of Strawtown will be rehabbed and a smaller structure over Dyer Creek east of Strawtown will be replaced. Work will likely
be done next year.

Likely in a November meeting, commissioners will receive a recommendation from the County Emergency Management Board on hiring a new director for the agency. The commissioners’ Executive Director Dan Stevens said there are 13 applicants being considered for the position which is currently vacant. Carl Erickson is acting director.

The Fishers Board of Works awarded a bid to begin construction on a traffic signal at 126th Street and Hoosier Road.   Signal Construction Incorporated was the lowest and most responsive bidder, with a submission of just over $177,000,

The intersection has been a safety problem area since 126th Street was expanded to four lanes.  City officials say the traffic signal should be operational by the end of 2017.

The City Council previously approved funding for the project.

It is difficult to find someone locally not touched in some way by the Opioid Epidemic.  It could be a spouse, child, relative or good friend impacted by this scourge.

There is an event planned locally featuring a speaker with a compelling story to tell about Opioid abuse.

The parents-only session is set for the Fishers High School Auditorium, Monday, October 30th, at 7pm.  Booths will be setup with information starting as 6:30.  You are asked to enter through door FH7.

Ben Gonzales will be the featured speaker.  He is a young man in
recovery.  He is also a treatment professional and recovery advocate. Ben will
lead the discussion on recovery & substance abuse disorders. A
panel discussion with addiction experts will follow, including:

–Doug Carter, Superintendent of Indiana State Police; Governor’s
Commission for Drug-Free Indiana (DFI)

–Kim Manlove, EdD, Fairbanks Project Director for the Strategic Plan;
Co-Chair Parent Advisory Board (The Partnership at Drugfree.org)

— Brad Trolson, Recovery Coach with Hope Academy and Adolescent
Services at Fairbanks

–Jill Gonzales, Ben’s Mom shares the family perspective of addiction
and recovery.

The event is sponsored by the HSE Parents in Partnership

It was early morning Sunday when a resident along Sun River Drive, near 116th Street and Allisonville Road, saw two men walking their neighborhood who appeared suspicious.  The same resident found missing items in their vehicle.

The Fishers Police Department was notified and officers began searching the area.  About two hours later, an officer observed two men running across Allisonville Road. The officer approached the men and they fled. After a short pursuit police located the men hiding in a tree line.

Both suspects were taken into custody without incident. Fishers Police say their investigation alleges that the men were involved in approximately ten thefts from vehicles in the Fishers area. Officers recovered several stolen items and returned them to the victims.

The men arrested were identified as Jeremiah Gilliam, 28, from Indianapolis, and Joseph Scott II, 27, also from Indianapolis.  Gilliam faces charges of Resisting Law Enforcement, Unauthorized Entry into a Vehicle, Theft and Possession of Cocaine.   Scott is charged with Resisting Law Enforcement, Unauthorized Entry into a Vehicle and Theft.

Fishers Police Chief Mitch Thompson publicly commended the resident reporting the suspicious activity.  Fishers Police urge residents to always lock unattended vehicles and remove any items of value.

Federal Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson has dismissed a law suit filed by the Indiana Transportation Museum against the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority.  The museum alleged violations of constitutional rights in disputes with the Authority.

The two groups have been at loggerheads for a number of years over the Nickel Plate rail tracks, running from Tipton to downtown Indianapolis.

Now that the Transportation Museum has had this suit dismissed, it is not known what, if any, next steps there are for the museum as a result of the court’s ruling to dismiss.

Yet another high-tech business in Fishers is planning to expand, with tax incentive help from the state of Indiana.  Netfor, which describes itself as a provider of technical and customer-experience managed services, plans to create up to 97 new jobs by 2021.

The company says it plans to invest more than $4 million to lease and equip a renovated 17,500-square-foot office in the Fishers Tech Park, which is more than double the size of its current office at 11810 Technology Drive. Netfor expects to move into the new space by the end of 2017.

Netfor is heavily involved in the Internet of Things, providing technology support for software and cloud-based information technology product.

“We are experiencing significant growth with our cloud service desk, a team that helps support environments like AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft’s cloud products,” said Raquel Richardson, president for Netfor, in a news release from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). “Companies that care about creating the best experience for their products and services truly get Netfor and our expertise to layer in ITIL® practices and knowledge management to consistently and predictably provide answers to their clients so they can scale, perform within agreed upon service levels and get their product to market faster.”

The IEDC offered Netfor up to $340,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $25,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These incentives are performance-based, meaning until employees are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Fishers will consider additional incentives.

“Today’s announcement continues our strong momentum by delivering more investment and jobs to our city,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, per the news release. “Netfor provides a critical service for leading industries and I’m excited to see them continue to grow in Fishers.“

Netfor employs 119 associates in Indiana and is currently hiring for positions in sales, customer service, cloud support and field operations.  You may apply for jobs through the company’s Web site at this link.

With Fishers continuing to grow as a suburb of Indianapolis, affordable housing will be in short supply and city officials are beginning to talk about the housing needs for workers and senior citizens.  During a city council work session October 16th, City Planner Dale Davis laid out the issues facing the city on the housing front.

The median family income in Fishers is between $90,000 and $100,000 a year.  The median home price is around $250,000.

Davis gave an example of a married couple, a firefighter and a teacher, each at roughly the mid-point of their respective careers.  Their combined family income would be just over $90,000, barely within the local median income.

Using the 30% of income figure for housing provided in federal guidelines, that couple should be spending no more than $1,650 a month for a home.  The mortgage on that $250,000 house would be roughly $1,646 a month (there are many variables such as amount of the down payment).

“That family would be pretty close to what would be their maximum on that,” Davis told council members.

Many startups that are popular in Fishers have people working there making around $44,000 a year.  Davis asks where they would live in the Fishers area?

Davis then turned to the issue of senior citizen housing.  Population forecasts indicate the senior population in the area will continue increase as Fishers grows, to over 23,000 by the year 2040.

Both young people and seniors want walkability, shops and low maintenance, so Fishers is on the right track for both groups, according to Davis.

“As you think about IKEA, you think about Top Golf, you think of all these other places that we have around Fishers, there may be a reasonable discussion to think about – can affordable housing make sense in our city?,” Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told members of the City Council.  “I think the senior housing should not be discounted at all.  I think that is going to be a huge, huge need in our city.”

The mayor emphasized that to move forward on affordable housing, it will take leadership from himself and members of the city council to get such projects done.

The city council members then had a general discussion of the issue, and there appeared to be support in general for an affordable housing program, particularly for seniors.  Mayor Fadness said he wanted the council to receive information on the issue.

Now we will wait to see what next steps city officials choose to take.

I recorded a podcast with people from Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development (known as HAND) October 2nd.  HAND deals with affordable housing issues in Hamilton County.  You can listen to the podcast at this link.

If you are interested in seeing a film with scenes set around the Nickel Plate Grill and railroad on 116th Street in downtown Fishers, or watch other scenes around Handel’s Ice Cream or Greek’s Pizza, you need to see The Storyteller.  Local movie-makers Joe and Nancy Crump talk about their new film that has just been shown to sellout crowds at the Heartland Film Festival, and is now available on a new Hallmark video streaming service.

That’s all part of this week’s podcast, Hamilton County Goes To The Movies.  Also, Adam & I review the film Marshall, about the early legal career of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American justice to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

Persistence often pays off in any political battle, and the people with the Save the Train movement would get an “A” grade from me for their persistence.  However, in this case, it is my view their persistence will not pay off in the end.

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, a group of about ten Save the Train supporters sat in the council meeting holding “Save the Train” signs.  There was nothing on the council agenda that related to the rails vs trails issue, they just wanted the mayor and council members to see they were there.

If you are not familiar with the issue, Fishers is planning to convert the Nickel Plate rail line within the city to a trail, and Noblesville plans to convert the train tracks from downtown south to Fishers into a trail.

The Save the Train group has been pushing to keep the Nickel Plate Line a train track.  Most are familiar with the Nickel Plate as the rail line used in the State Fair train from Fishers to the Indiana State Fairgrounds for many years.  It was also used for other excursions, such as the Polar Express.

In order to convert the rail line to a trail, there is a process called Rail Banking that must be completed through a federal regulatory process.  One agency that is part of the Rail Banking process is the Surface Transportation Board.

Save the Train has been urging its supporters to send comments to the Surface Transportation Board asking that the rail line be preserved.  The group is also asking its supporters to send messages to their federal elected officials to preserve the rail line.

In a recent statement, Save the Train pointed an an extension of the Surface Transportation Board comment period and emphasized that 73 comments had been submitted supporting the rails.

It is fair to say there is a well-organized and very loud opposition to converting this rail line to a walking & biking trail.  You see their signs around Fishers and you couldn’t miss them at the Fishers City Council.

I continue to admire the work done by Save the Train.  It is democracy in action and it is good to see people with strong feelings about an issue organize for what they think is right.

However, having said all that, I do not believe Save the Train has much of a chance succeeding here.  Save the Train emphasizes that the rails to trails plan for the Nickel Plate is not a done deal.  That is technically correct, the regulatory process does continue.

Those supporting the conversion of the Nickel Plate Rail Line to a trail have been working hard as well, but have not been doing their work publicly.  I have it on good authority that local officials have been in touch with Indiana’s congressional delegation pushing for the trail project.

Here is one fact that must be emphasized in all this – the Nickel Plate Rail Line is owned by three government entities – Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County.  Elected officials made the decision to convert the rail line to a trail.  If you own the track and want to Rail Bank and convert the rail line to a trail, any federal body, including the Surface Transportation Board, will give the owners a great deal of weight in this debate.

That leads me to believe federal regulators will not stop the effort by local government officials to construct the Nickel Plate Trail.  The rail supporters are doing all they can, but it does not look good for their cause.

Save the Train is doing what it can to get its view known by the feds, but they are fighting an uphill battle.  I’m not saying Save the Train will lose.  I am saying they are not likely to win.