The City of Fishers is looking for artists with experience to adorn a parking garage that will greet visitors coming from the interstate to the downtown Nickel Plate District.  The Edge is a building nearing completion on the east side of downtown that will mostly house space for Community Hospital, but is also expected to contain some restaurant and retail space.

The building will have a parking garage visible as you leave Interstate 69 and head west toward downtown Fishers and the Nickel Plate District.  The plan is to commission experienced artists to provide a showcase on the garage wall as visitors make their way downtown.

“The recent growth in the Nickel Plate District makes it an ideal location for public art,” Mayor Scott Fadness in a city news release. “The artwork will be showcased in a highly visible area and help further define the space for residents, travelers and businesses experiencing our community.”

Here’s how the plans are detailed in the same news release:

The artwork will be displayed as a series of 7 panels which will each be approximately 23 feet tall and 7 feet wide. Artists are invited to submit up to three sets of design concepts for the project. A maximum of $30,000 has been allocated for the art, intended to cover costs associated with the development of the creative work and the cost of travel so the artist can attend the unveiling. The reproduction of the artwork to the banners and the actual installation will be managed by the City of Fishers and Yeager Properties via a separate budget process.

The winners be selected by a special committee.

“The selection community, as outlined in the Community Art Master Plan, will select the finalist,” according to Fishers Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath.  “That committee is comprised of members from the city council, Fishers Arts Council, Nickel Plate Arts, local artists and other city staff.”

The finalists should be known by August, with completion of the artwork expected this fall.

For more details, use this link.   

The City of Fishers is prepared to move forward with a comprehensive plan, called Fishers 2040.  The plan has been months in the making.

Citizens will have an opportunity to review the plan’s provisions and make comments.  The first opportunity will be at the Fishers Plan Commission meeting April 12th.  The Plan Commission will hold another meeting on the plan May 10th.

The public will have the opportunity to learn more and comment on Fishers 2040 at two public events – at Conner Prairie April 21st and Brook School Road Elementary School May 5th.  The Fishers City Council is expected to consider the plan at the June 20th session for a second reading.  The measure needs third reading for final approval.

Several committees were formed to look at sections of the plan, including Land Use, Parks & Open Spaces, Residential Property and Transportation.  For more details on the first draft of the comprehensive plan. use this link.

With the expectation of a large crowd, The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting set  for 7pm, Wednesday, March 23rd, has been moved from the usual board meeting room at the administration building, to next door at Fishers Junior High School. The meeting will be held in what’s called the large group instruction room.

A large crowd is expected for the board decision on the iPad rollout for grades kindergarten through 4th grade.  That rollout is scheduled to be done in August of 2016. However some parents have voiced concern.

School administrators revealed a first draft recommendation at a board work session March 15th.  A final rollout recommendation is expected for board action at this Wednesday’s school board session.

At that same meeting, the board is scheduled to recognize the Fishers High School state championship speech team and announce 17 grants to teachers from the HSE Schools Foundation.

Tuesday, March 22nd is now designated as the date for Fire & Emergency Services state-wide tornado warning drills.   The first activation of the warning system is expected at about 10:30am and the second later in the day, about 7:40pm.

The exercise is a reminder to take shelter immediately when sever weather threatens. Take shelter in your basement or an interior room on your lowest floor. Stay away from windows and doors and cover yourself to protect from debris.

I’ve been covering the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board regularly for a few years now. I’ve seen many big issues come before the board for a decision.  The board will be faced with a very major decision March 23rd.

For the past few years, The HSE21 program has been rolling out.  The ultimate goal is to have a 1:1 student-to-iPad ratio in all schools.  That has happened at all grades except kindergarten through 4th grade.

Students in those lower grades are scheduled to have their 1:1 iPad-to-student ratio in the school year commencing in August of this year. The program has been piloted in these lower grades.  The school corporation has issued bonds to pay for the iPads.

In recent weeks, a group of parents has come together to oppose the grades K-4 1:1 rollout scheduled for August.  They have a number of concerns, many of which were voiced by 6 parents that spoke before the board at the last regular meeting.

The school administration listened to the concerns and promised to have a recommendation for a school board decision.  At a scheduled board work session (work sessions are set aside once a month for discussions, not actions) on March 15th, administrators unveiled their first draft of a proposal.  Read my story about the work session at this link.

Now there is another group of parents advocating the other side, arguing that the iPad rollout should move forward as originally scheduled.

Watching the arguments go back and forth has been fascinating for me.  I set a new record on my news blog for the number of comments submitted for one story in the one linked above, written after the recent board work session.

Some of you have your mind made up, and if that is so, I understand.  But I am sensing a lot of parents are not so certain what to think.  For those parents, I have the following suggestions.

There are lots of academic studies being cited by both sides.  Keep in mind that all academic studies are not created equally.  One that is peer reviewed (meaning many peers have reviewed and commented on the study, often leading to changes and clarifications) is much more valuable than one that is not peer reviewed.  Also, be careful that the study cited really says what an advocate for either side claims it does…..it’s easy to just pick out the part that makes your case and ignore data that veers to the other side.

I am urging all parents to carefully consider what you think, then let your school board members know.  You can e-mail your school board members at this link.  School board members are elected officials, and my experience in covering local government is this – they pay attention to their constituents’ views.

I have always taken the position that a good, healthy debate results in better policy from any public body.  I will be watching with interest as the HSE School Board makes its decision March 23rd.

Larry posts his podcast review of the local Projekt: Opera production of La Boheme

Fishers is luring technology-based businesses to the city, and it’s not happenstance, but part of a strategy hatched years ago.  Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) reporter Lindsey Erdody wrote a front page story appearing in the March 21, 2016 edition about that very strategy .

I still recall when Scott Fadness, then Fishers Town Manager, convinced the Town Council to put-up over $300,000 to begin a new venture called Launch Fishers.  The business start-up incubator, which thrives on collaboration, started in the basement of the Fishers Library.

At the time, no one knew what would result from that initial investment by the Town of Fishers (now a city).  Years later, Fadness and Launch founder John Wechsler have seen the endeavor grow so fast, Launch Fishers now has a new home a few blocks away from its old space at the library.

Lindsey Erdody tells the story of how Fishers has been able to create an atmosphere (Fadness likes to call it vibrancy) that nurtured and attracted firms like Bluebridge Digital, Cloud One and Memory Ventures.  The piece provides quotes and perspectives from the business officials about why Fishers provided the infrastructure to bring them into the fold.

One important pending issue is the state designation of development areas as a “certified technology park.”  Fadness told Erdody its his view Fishers already meets, even surpasses, the requirements to gain that designation, but the state has been slow to act on the requested designation.

The certified technology park designation is key to paying for projects like the expanded home for Launch Fishers, since state tax dollars collected from the designated area can be used to finance further economic development and pay for existing projects.

If you have any interest in the economic development strategy of Fishers, Lindsey Erdody’s article will be of interest to you.

You can access the piece at this link. (NOTE: If you are not an IBJ subscriber, your access to this article online could be limited by paywall rules).

Since 1964, Donald Davidson has been the go-to guy for the history of the Indianapolis 500.

With the 100th running of the race set for May 29th this year, I spent some time talking with Donald about racing history.

Larry talks to Sneha Shah about the upcoming school funding referendum

Fishers will be receiving $9.5 million in Local Option Income Tax money the state has been holding.  City Controller Oscar Gutierrez told the City Council Finance Committee the money will be coming into city coffers soon.

Mayor Scott Fadness told committee members his “gut instinct right now is to not go ‘shiny object’ on this, run out and spend the money.  I would probably tell you we should ‘park’ the money, think and really be strategic about where we get our best return on investment.”

The mayor added the cash could come in handy if infrastructure is needed for future economic development projects.

The state had been holding the money.  Legislation that passed this session of the General Assembly releases the funds to local governments.  This is in addition to the regular Local Option Income Tax revenue.

The schedule shared with the Finance Committee shows no additional payouts in 2017 to Fishers, but $1.3 million is to be paid in 2018, $2.1 million in 2019 and $2.2 million in 2020.

75% of these funds are to used for road projects, but localities can use the money for a wide range of road expenses, including maintenance.

In other Finance Committee matters…

With the Chairman of the Finance Committee, John Weingardt, taking over as City Council President , the Finance Committee voted to name Councilman Eric Moeller as committee chair.

In one last item of note, Moeller told his fellow committee members to be prepared for a discussion of elected officials’ salaries at the next session.  The plan is to have a recommendation to the full council on changes, in time for the upcoming budget cycle for 2017.