The April Fishers City Council Meeting will be held on Monday, April 18, 2022. I warmly encourage you to participate.
WORK SESSION
A Work Session will be held at 6:30pm, prior to the 7pm City Council Meeting. No action is taken at a Work Session. It is a gathering of the city council members to gather information about a specific topic. Work Sessions are always open to the public to observe. It will be held in City Hall.
This Work Session will focus on the proposal for the new City of Fishers Arts & Municipal Complex. Larry Lannan wrote a good summary about this proposed new City Hall/Arts Center at his Larry In Fishers blog.I expect the brief Work Session to focus on the design and features of this proposed building only. I do not expect the presentation to include the important full discussion of the funding proposal, unfortunately.
How to Observe and Participate in the City Council Meeting at City Hall
- The meeting will be held in-person and will be open to in-person attendees.
- A video of the meeting will be broadcast live at http://tinyurl.com/CityOfFishers starting at 7pm on Monday so you can watch from home. This is a way to observe the meeting only.
- In-person attendees are welcomed to address the City Council during any Public Hearings during the meeting – and during Community Comment, which is held at the end of every meeting.
- Fishers residents are also welcomed to submit public comments electronically prior to the meeting. In order to submit a comment, you need to designate the date of the meeting that you want to comment on. Look at the public meeting calendar. Then, complete the online Public Comment Form. Select “City Council” and that will open a comment box for you to type in. Submit your comments by NOON on Monday, the day of the meeting. All comments submitted before the meeting will be presented to City Council members. These comments are not read aloud but become part of the official meeting minutes.
- Community Comment at the end of each City Council meeting is always open for your comment on any Fishers topic. This is an “open mic” opportunity for 10 Fishers residents to address the City Council for up to three minutes each. The council members are not required to resolve or respond to your comments at that moment. Usually, pathways are identified for follow-up and additional dialogue.
- Meeting agendas and past meeting minutes can be found here, under City Council tab.
- Past meeting videos are supposed to be posted within 48 hours of the meeting. You can find the videos in the City of Fishers YouTube channel.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The City Council Meeting agendas are available here, under the City Council header. Each agenda has items on it that appear in blue. These are links to open the supporting documents.
Here’s a rundown of this meeting’s agenda items and my interpretation of them.
5. Finance Committee Report. The Finance Committee is charged with advising the City Council on matters concerning the general financial operations of the City. Since City Council is responsible for fiscal oversight, this monthly report is very important. Typically, the report is reflected in action items for the City Council that are reflected in the “Budget/Financial” part of the meeting agenda.
6. Health Department update. This agenda item will include a Fishers Health Department report about our city’s vaccine status, COVID community risk status, and other important public health info. The vaccination clinic at the old 116th/Brooks School Road Marsh building has closed permanently. The new clinic location is now open at 8937 Technology Drive (behind Target). The City of Fishers’ COVID community level continues to stay LOW! This is welcome news! Please get vaccinated and boosted to keep Fishers healthy.
7. Consent Agenda.
There are two items on the Consent Agenda.
Item a. is approval of last month’s City Council meeting minutes.
Item b. transfers funds. These actions transfer funds within the city budget, which is needed periodically. The transfers do not adjust the bottom line at all. This is a transfer of dollars from one budget category to another to avoid a negative balance in a category.
The Consent Agenda is a grouping of routine reports that should be approved in one swift action, instead of approving each one separately. I believe that all items included on the Consent Agenda should be approved as presented and approved unanimously. If not, the item that requires a revision, abstention, or other action needs to be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate voting item.
REGULAR AGENDA
Budget/Financial
8. Re-establish the Cumulative Capital Development Fund. This is not a new tax nor a tax increase. I explain more about the CCD Fund here in this article. In addition, the City of Fishers has an informational web page with FAQs.
This agenda item will be open for a Public Hearing.
A PUBLIC HEARING means that any resident is invited to comment on this topic. This is the only opportunity to make a comment and address the City Council on this specific matter. Fishers residents are welcomed to submit comments for the public hearing on this matter electronically prior to the meeting. All comments received by noon on Monday on the day of the meeting should be presented during this part of the meeting and will be part of the meeting’s official minutes. The Public Comment Form is live on the website right now.
If you do attend the City Council meeting in-person, you may comment on this matter during this part of the meeting. The City Council President will open the public hearing by asking if anyone would like to speak. If no one indicates that they want to speak, the public hearing can be closed quickly. So, please indicate immediately that you have something to say when the public hearing is opened. Otherwise, you may miss your chance.
Government/Miscellaneous
9. and 10. Ordinance for City to become a member in Central Indiana Regional Development Authority and Resolution adopting the preliminary strategic economic development plan. The Central Indiana Regional Development Authority will be the new entity to implement the White River Opportunity Initiative and the usage of the $20 million READI grant. Here is the plan submitted in Sept 2021 to improve and develop the White River. Not all of this plan was funded. I look forward to learning which elements of this collaborative, regional plan will be executed. The City of Noblesville passed this resolution a few days ago and here is Current in Noblesville’s good summary about that.
Planning & Zoning
11. & 12. & 13. Fiscal Plan, Voluntary Annexation and Consideration of a Rezone for Abbott Commons. This is a proposed new 98-acre housing development of 345 homes and townhomes, ranging from approximately $325,000-$475,000. This new subdivision is located on the eastside of Fishers, near Prairie Baptist and 136th St. The voluntary annexation and rezone are Final Readings. FINAL READING is the final vote and consideration of a matter.
14. Change of tenant from publishing company to private school. The building is the long-vacant long-ago Topics Newspaper facility on 131st St, just East of SR37. Mission Christian Academy is a private school. Larry Lannan wrote a good summary about this at his Larry In Fishers blog.
Items 15, 16, 17, 18 are each voluntary annexations for first reading. First Reading is the introduction of a matter, the first time it is presented and considered. Each item also will be open for a Public Hearing.
A PUBLIC HEARING means that any resident is invited to comment on this topic. This is the only opportunity to make a comment and address the City Council on this specific matter. Fishers residents are welcomed to submit comments for the public hearing on this matter electronically prior to the meeting. All comments received by noon on Monday on the day of the meeting should be presented during this part of the meeting and will be part of the meeting’s official minutes. The Public Comment Form is live on the website right now.
If you do attend the City Council meeting in-person, you may comment on this matter during this part of the meeting. The City Council President will open the public hearing by asking if anyone would like to speak. If no one indicates that they want to speak, the public hearing can be closed quickly. So, please indicate immediately that you have something to say when the public hearing is opened. Otherwise, you may miss your chance.
15. Burns Property, 15348 Southeastern Parkway
16. Whitcraft Estates Property, 12354 Hoosier Road
17. Hurst Property, 10450 Mollenkopf Road
18. McMullan Property, 12825 Lantern Road
19. Text Amendment to Unified Development Ordinance. This amendment seems to change the definition of a sign for places of worship/religious organizations. The proposed amendment is removing the sentence that is designated below as strikethrough text.
Sign. Any name, identification, description, display, or illustration which is affixed to, painted on, or is represented directly or indirectly upon a building, structure, or piece of land, and which directs attention to an object, product, place, activity, person, institution, organization, or business. Religious symbols on places of worship or structures owned and operated by religious organizations are not considered a sign unless accompanied with text.
Unfinished/New Business.
Community Comment. All comments submitted through the online are supposed to be provided to the city council members before the meeting and become a part of the meeting’s official record. The Public Comment Form is live on the website right now. Select “City Council Meeting” and that will open a comment box for you to type in. Submit your comments by noon on Monday, the day of the meeting, so they can be distributed before the meeting.
Meeting adjourned!
If you have any comments or questions, please send them my way. Email is a good way to get a hold of me.
Thank you for reading all of this.