The Fishers Plan Commission voted unanimously Wednesday night to pass along a favorable recommendation to the Fishers City Council for the Hamilton County Humane Society’s move from its current Noblesville location to a building near 106th Street and Haugue Road in Fishers.

Supporters of the move filled the City Hall auditorium.  Several people spoke in favor of the move.  Two people, residents in the area of 106th & Hague Road, spoke in opposition to the proposal.  One cited noise, the other property values.

But in the end, members of the Plan Commission voted a favorable recommendation.  The rezoning request now goes back to the Fishers City Council for next steps in the final approval process.

In other Plan Commission actions:

–Approved a favorable recommendation fo a rezoning request from Portillo’s to locate a new restaurant in Fishers near 116th Street & I-69.  You can review the packet provided by Portillo’s, including some artist renderings of the planned building, at this link.

–Citimark plans to transform the old Charles Schwab building at Northeast Commerce Park into a technology center, and the Plan Commission members voted a favorable recommendation to amend their plans for the site.

The 2017 Fishers State of the City was unlike the previous two speeches.  Mayor Scott Fadness had no big announcements to make, so he reflected on the past year and looked forward.  He gave brief opening remarks, then had a conversation with Indianapolis Star Opinion Editor Tim Swarens.

The mayor expressed his views on many issues those of us covering him as mayor from the start have heard many times.   He opined on mass transit, regionalism and economic development.  He described Launch Fishers as the most transformational project in Fishers, impacting the entrepreneurial culture of the city.

The mayor spent a lot of time talking about how the Indianapolis metropolitan area has an important story to tell, and his point is that, as a region, we are not doing a good job telling that story.  The metro area can gain much more collectively than individually, Fadness says.

The mayor likes to talk about the 2016 numbers, and Fishers has a lot of positive statistics – over 1,500 new jobs and $200 million in private investment.  The Police Department responded to over 53,000 calls, the Fire Department more than 5,000.  Fishers maintains the lowest tax rate of any city in the state.  Fadness says the city has a AAA bond rating, the only city in Indiana to have that and one of only 1.5% communities in the nation with such a solid bond rating.

The biggest challenge Fishers faces, according to the mayor, is maintaining sustainability once the city is no longer the new and shiny place it has become lately.  The key is continuing to invest in every area of the city and prevent urban decay from setting-in to any part of the city.

It was no surprise to anyone that traffic came up, and Fadness says widening of 116th Street near I-69 and the 106th Street interchange have been key projects.  $200 million is in the pipeline for road infrastructure in the next five years, including the Sate Road 37 project.

As technology transforms our national and state economy, Mayor Fadness sees the Internet of Things as being a key to keeping Fishers on the cutting edge of job creation and the latest technology, citing the new Internet of Things Laboratory recently announced, to be located near Launch Fishers.

He once again expressed his view that the Nickel Plate Line is not viable in the foreseeable future for mass transit and he continues to support the proposed biking and walking trail along that rail line.

When asked about possible obstacles for Fishers’ future, the mayor cited the importance of not fearing failure, saying complacency is the biggest obstacle to progress.

The mayor cited a number of people at the beginning of his address, including members of the city council, his staff, county commissioners, his wife Aunna and students from HSE Schools on hand for his address.

Scott Fadness is mayor of an affluent suburban city, but he told a large crowd at Fishers High School Tuesday night that 11 people committed suicide in the City of Fishers during 2016 and 47 others seriously attempted to take their own lives.  Fadness created a Mental Health Task Force once assuming the office of mayor in 2015 in an effort to battle mental health issues.

The event was “A Night of Hope,” sponsored by HSE Parents in Partnership and the Peyton Riekhof Foundation for Youth Hope.  The foundation was founded by Peyton Riekhof’s father, Mike Riekhof.  Peyton Riekhof committed suicide while being treated for depression.

Nationally known advocate for mental health, Jordan Burnham, told the audience about struggles with depression during his teenage years.  As he was entering his senior year of high school, Jordan was a promising golfer.  Yet his depression led to a suicide attempt that nearly claimed his life.  He now travels the nation telling his story.  He has been featured by news organizations such as the Washington Post, USA Today and CNN.  Sports media has also told his story, such as Sports Illustrated and ESPN.

A panel discussion ensued, with plenty of tough, but anonymous, questions posed from those in attendance.

You can contact the Peyton Riekhof Foundation for Youth Hope at this link.      If you need immediate help, you are encouraged to call 800-284-8439.

Parking will be prohibited along the west side of Maple Street, between North Street and 116th Street, following action Monday by the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety. The unanimous vote changes the city’s parking schedule.  A public hearing drew no comments.

“We have seen an uptick in parking on the west side of (Maple Street), which is undesirable and leads to a fairly narrow driving width available,” Fishers City Engineering Department Director Jeff Hill told the board.

Parking will continue to be available on the east side of Maple Street in that downtown area.

In other Board of Works actions Monday:

–Board members approved 4 lots in the Springdale Estates area as public rights-of-way to allow street improvements to be constructed along 116th Street and IKEA Way.

–A water line is to be installed allowing businesses in the east end of Fishers Station at 116th & Allisonville Road to continue water service as construction begins in the new Kroger store.  There will be lane restrictions, mostly overnight, for roughly 3 days in June to allow this work to be completed.  The board approved the road cut required to install this water line.

–The board approved the purchase of seven 2017 Police Interceptors SUV’s and three 2017 Police Interceptor Sedans for the Fishers Police Department.

With a new set of bonds set to be issued, members of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board received an overview of the process used to issue bonds.  At a Tuesday morning work session, attorney David Day went step-by-step as to what must happen in school corporation bond issuance.

The board must act on bond debt later this month in order to finance renovation projects at Cumberland Road Elementary School and the HSE Schools Administration building, at the next regular board session March 22nd.

At that same work session, board members reviewed changes to the student handbooks proposed by administrators.  The board is scheduled to act on those wording changes at the March 22nd meeting.

Hamilton County Legislators gathered at Conner Prairie Friday morning to answer questions from the moderator, Kevin Rader of WTHR, and the crowd at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast.  Many issues were discussed, including funding of pre-kindergarten education programs and the chemical substance abuse epidemic in the state.

But a lot of the discussion centered on work toward a long-term infrastructure funding measure.  The House has passed a bill that is now under consideration in the Senate.

“We have to get this right,” said Senator Jim Merritt of the infrastructure legislation.  “Anybody that’s traveled our highways and our roads understands that we need a severe focus on it.”

Senator Luke Kenley, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, says the state needs between $800 million and $1.2 billion more per year to finish Indiana’s current projects underway, and to maintain the highway system in place.

“We have had no tax increases in this area since 2003,” Kenley said.  “In essence, the flat tax on gas, which you pay 18 cents a gallon, (has) actually been a tax cut every single year, because the buying power of 18 cents has gone down every year since 2003.”

The House bill calls for a gas tax increase and the possibility of establishing toll roads. In order to construct six lanes on Interstates 65 & 70 (three lanes in each direction).  Kenley says those improvements will be “contingent, probably, primarily, on developing some kind of a moderate, and it can be a moderate in price, tolling exercise in order to pay for this.  That’s a user’s fee.”

On January 24th, I recorded a podcast with Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board President Matt Burke and asked about the 5-day suspension handed to Fishers Football Coach Rick Wimmer.  WTHR Investigative Reporter Bob Segall had aired a story about the school board approving the suspension using an employee number, not a name.

Burke told me the policy of using employee numbers for such actions follows a policy HSE Superintendent Allen Bourff had used in his previous stint at the Richmond, Indiana schools.  This was the first time a staff member had been suspended since the policy was adopted when Bourff was hired to run the HSE Schools about two years ago, according to Burke.

The school corporation pointed to a general policy in the employee handbook to describe why Wimmer was disciplined, G02.06, which you can read at this link .  A statement by the school system provided to WTHR said Wimmer’s suspension was “due to not implementing instructions for classroom management strategies.”

In my podcast interview, Burke said, “It’s a personnel matter, those are private issues. Recognize the public will never know all the details and they don’t need to know all the details, as to the things that happened.”  Burke added that the school corporation followed its written policies in that process.

Although all the details may never be known, The State of Indiana’s Public Access Counselor Luke Britt says HSE Schools must reveal actual facts about what caused the Wimmer suspension to be handed down.  In an Advisory Opinion (which can be read in its entirety at this link), Britt wrestles with the push and pull of balancing employee privacy with the public’s right to know under Indiana law.

Britt’s opinion appears to argue that HSE Schools must present at least one fact related to the board’s decision to suspend Rick Wimmer.  A general reference to a policy statement is not sufficient, in Britt’s view.

It should be noted that the Public Counselor’s Office is not issuing a legal order here.  It is advisory only.  As of this writing, HSE has not responded to the opinion as requested by WTHR.

It is clear that the investigative reporting team at WTHR is pursuing this issue aggressively. I will be watching this situation as it moves forward.

You can read the latest Bob Segall story on this from the WTHR Web site at this link.

It is difficult to hear stories of parents with disabled children trying to tell those kids they cannot use playground equipment.  The Fishers Parks and Recreation Department is trying to do something about that.

During this Disability Awareness Month,  Fishers Park and Recreation Director Tony Elliot, along with City Council Member Cecilia Coble, welcomed a new piece of playground equipment at Holland Park.  The glider allows children with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs, to better enjoy Holland Park.

Elliot told the crowd at the opening ceremony that there was no money in the city budget to buy this equipment.  That was when IU Health and The Fishers Station Kiwanis Club stepped forward to help fund the glider.

This is the final project for the Fishers Station Kiwanis.  The club has since disbanded.  All the group’s remaining funds were donated to the glider project.

Here is my podcast discussion with Fishers City Council Vice President Todd Zimmerman

Five years ago, Eta Pi ( Fishers ) chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha joined forces with Claude & Annie’s restaurant in Fishers to stage an annual golf outing to benefit St. Jude’s Hospital.  With the closing of Claude & Annie’s, there was speculation as to what would become of the golf tourney.

The Lowell Beaver American Legion Post 470 (Fishers) has stepped forward to replace Claude & Annie’s.  Former owner of the eatery, Bill Smythe, and WTHR Meteorologist Kelly Greene will serve as honorary chairpersons of this year’s event.  Wendy Hahn will be the chairperson for this year’s outing.

The inaugural Lowell Beaver American Legion Post 470 and Eti Pi charity golf outing is scheduled for Thursday, September 21st at River Glen Golf Club at 11 am. Registration and sponsorship information will be released in the near future.