The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), the local teachers’ union, has announced recommendations of school board candidates in each of the three townships.
In Fall Creek Township, Howard Stevenson is the HSEA choice. Frank Whelan is the teachers’ union choice in Delaware Township. In Wayne Township, Charron Wright gets the HSEA nod.
In the upcoming local school board election, all voters in the school district vote in all three township races, but the candidates must all live within their respective townships. Three Hamilton Southeastern School Board seats are up for election in November.
Mayor Scott Fadness explains the proposed 2017 city budget to the Mayors Night Out crowd
About 35 citizens of Fishers gathered for the Fishers Mayor’s Night Out at Fall Creek Junior High School Tuesday night. Scott Fadness reviewed the proposed city budget for 2017 and talked about various projects, both ongoing and in the pipeline.
The mayor provided updates on timelines for a couple of major road projects. The 106th Street interchange at Interstate 69 should be complete around the end of November or early December. The major upgrade to State Road 37 has all survey work done, design work is underway and construction should begin in fall of 2018.
The mayor assured the residents that traffic issues are on the front burner for himself and his staff. “We talk about traffic every single day,” Fadness said.
Fadness expects a property tax increase next year of 1.5-2 cents per $100 of property valuation. He expects most Fishers homeowners to pay $10-$25 more next year based on that increase. The exact amount of the hike won’t be known until assessed valuations on property are verified. City officials point to Fishers having the lowest property tax rate in Hamilton County and the lowest rate among the largest 15 cities in Indiana.
The mayor fielded questions from the audience about trails, the $25 per vehicle Wheel Tax set to start in 2018 and his mental health initiative.
(L-R) Mayor Fadness, City Engineering Director Jeff Hill and Police Chief Mitch Thompson
If you have driven by the construction site at the interchange at 106th Street and Interstate-69, you can see that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) contractors are making good progress. At the Monday meeting of the Fishers Board of Works and Safety, the city approved spending just over $98,000 on that area.
The money will be targeted on clearing brush and regrading ditches. The goal is to to establish drainage improvements and enhance the aestethics of the corridor, which the city sees as a key gateway into the community.
The work will be done by the INDOT contractor working on the interchange, Walsh Construction.
In other actions taken by the board:
–Approved a resolution dedicating right-of-way on Florida Road as part of the Whelchel Springs development.
–Approved a concurrence to relocate an underground drainage pipe system as part of the planned downtown North of North project.
— Approved a professional services agreement for 113th Street rehabilitation, which is scheduled for completion in 2017
–Gave the okay to spend $74,477.72 for the Fire Department’s purchase for 38 sets of turnout gear. This was a planned purchase for replacement gear as part of the department’s 5 year primary gear replacement plan, and it is included in the 2016 budget.
The Fishers City Council last month enacted a Wheel Tax, which will impose a $25 annual levy on vehicles, charged every year when you buy or renew your auto registration. Even though it is called a Wheel Tax, it doesn’t tax each wheel. The $25 annual tax is per vehicle for most residents, but can be as much as $40 a year for larger vehicles, like semis and RVs.
The Wheel Tax will not be imposed in Fishers until 2018 due to deadlines written into the law.
Mayor Scott Fadness first publicly proposed this tax during a city council retreat August 22nd at Conner Prairie. Fadness gave strong support to enacting the tax, saying there is no way to fund road construction and maintenance without it, under the current funding regimen provided by state lawmakers.
Council members were not anxious to enact a new tax, but also know that without the $2 million per year this tax will generate, keeping up with road infrastructure needs would be difficult, maybe impossible, without the Wheel Tax funds. The vote to approve the tax was unanimous.
Mayor Fadness, who was heavily involved with legislative lobbying on behalf of local Indiana governments through his work with the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT), believes many more localities will follow Fishers in enacting the Wheel Tax.
Lindsey Erdody of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) has an excellent story in the October 10-16 edition of the paper, on Page 3A. She provides some fascinating information about the Wheel Tax. Mayor Andy Cook of Westfield opposes the tax because it is only imposed on residents, while not paid by the many others using local streets and roads.
The IBJ story says 10 of 76 cities eligible to do so have enacted the Wheel Tax so far.
I asked Mayor Fadness at a recent media budget briefing what the General Assembly would need to do for him to recommend that the city council rescind the Wheel Tax. He said he can foresee no action state lawmakers are likely to take that would fund his local infrastructure sufficiently, allowing the city to remove the Wheel Tax.
So the bottom line is this. Members of the Indiana State Legislature know roads are falling apart around the state, but appear unwilling to take the heat of enacting a tax increase at the state level to deal with it. So the answer is – allowing local governments to raise taxes by choosing to pass the Wheel Tax if they want to fund local street and road work.
You can read Lindsey Erdody’s story at this link, but you may have trouble accessing it if you do not have an online subscription to the IBJ.
It’s another week and another road construction schedule in the City for the work work that starts Monday, October 10th,
Below is the schedule, provided by the City of Fishers:
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CYNTHEANNE ROAD
Road work continues on Cyntheanne Road between Southeastern Parkway and 136th Street, during construction periodic lane restrictions and flaggers will remain in place to help direct traffic.
EXIT FIVE PARKWAY
Exit Five Parkway closed on Tuesday, September 6 to reconstruct the road as part of the 116th Street widening project. The road remains closed to all traffic. Trucks needing to deliver to businesses will need to go up to Cumberland Road to Exit Five Parkway and come in from the north. The road will be closed for approximately two months, and a detour map is available online.
I-69 AND CAMPUS PARKWAY
Milestone Contractors has begun mobilizing cranes and other equipment and setting a temporary concrete barrier wall along I-69 at Campus Parkway Exit 210. Work will require alternating lane closures on northbound and southbound I-69 between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Lane closures may recur each night through the end of the week depending on weather and progress. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT at eastcentralin@indot.in.gov or 1-855-463-6848.
I-69 TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS
INDOT is overseeing an overnight closure on multiple traffic lanes on I-69 overnight this week. Weather permitting, lane closures, traffic changes and rolling slowdowns of traffic will begin after 9 p.m. and are expected to end before 6 a.m. the next day. Construction schedules and traffic restrictions are subject to change, and questions should be directed to INDOT at indot.carsprogram.org, 1-800-261-ROAD (7623) or 511 from a mobile phone. Please drive with caution as a new traffic pattern is in place.
OAK DRIVE
Oak Drive south of 116th Street will be closed on or after Wednesday, October 12th for 50 days while the new road is being constructed. Through traffic will need to use USA Parkway.
106th STREET & CUMBERLAND ROAD ROUNDABOUT
Traffic will be switched on Saturday, October 8th as the south portion of the intersection opens, and the north section of the intersection from 106th Street to Walnut Creek closes to all traffic. 106th Street will remain open through this phase. The detour route for northbound Cumberland Road is to use USA Parkway.
106th STREET INTERCHANGE
INDOT has begun work on the 106th Street interchange. A lane shift is currently in place on I-69 and 106th Street is closed as construction continues. Additional details about this project will be released through INDOT and shared on the weekly construction update. Please be advised the speed limit from 82nd Street to 116th Street has been reduced to 55 mph and there are lane shifts on I-69. Please travel with caution and pay close attention to signage in the area.
116th STREET
There may be short-term lane restrictions on eastbound 116th Street between USA Parkway and Exit Five Parkway while utility work is being completed.
Fishers Police say an 85-year-old woman was injured and transported to a local hospital after being struck by a car Thursday morning. Hague Road between 116th & 106th Streets was closed for a time due to the crash.
Below is the news release from the Fishers Police Department:
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Fishers police are investigating an early morning crash near the intersection of Hague Road and Hickory Woods Drive.
Shortly after 9am The Hamilton County Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a female had been struck by a white Volvo. Fishers police officers and Paramedics with Fishers Department of Fire and Emergency Services responded and found the victim laying in the roadway. The victim was treated at the scene and then transported, by ground ambulance, to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.
Immediately following the crash, the driver stopped and fully cooperated with the investigation. According to the driver, he was traveling southbound on Hague Road and did not see the pedestrian until after the collision.
Fishers Crash Team responded to collect evidence and interview witnesses. Based on evidence and witness statements the pedestrian was walking westbound, in the crosswalk, at the time of the crash. At this time it does not appear that drugs or alcohol contributed to this crash. This case remains under investigation.
