The December Fishers City Council Meeting will be held on Monday, December 20 at 7pm at City Hall. 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.
There is one agenda item for the Work Session: The Hamilton County Community Foundation will be providing information about serving as new lead of the City of Fishers Non-Profit grant program.
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 or in the Agenda Center. Click on the TV icon under the “Media” column.
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.
2. I am expecting an announcement made about the status of the Committee Task Force and the proposed ordinance that was reviewed and discussed by the City Council at the October meeting but has not progressed since. This ordinance articulated the procedure for city boards and commissions and the appointment of members.
5. Finance Committee Report. The Finance Committee is charged with advising the City Council on matters concerning the general financial operations of the City. Therefore, I look forward to the Finance Committee’s presentation at each month’s City Council meeting. Since City Council is responsible for fiscal oversight, this monthly report is very important – but usually is brief and informal.
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. Primary metrics of transmission has been increasing in Fishers. Please get vaccinated and boosted!
7. Consent Agenda.
There are two items on the Consent Agenda.
Item a. is approval of last month’s City Council meeting minutes. I would like to thank City Clerk Jennifer Kehl for preparing this document, which I find to be a thorough and accurate representation of the November meeting and its outcomes.
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. Short Term Loan Financing. Municipal equipment lease purchase authorization. Four bidders were considered for this short term loan financing and this action selects the one that the city will use.
9. Additional Appropriation of Stormwater Funds. This item that is related to the City purchase of HSE Utilities (sewer). This is an action of requesting that $250,000 be moved from the cash balance (unappropriated funding) into the spending category (appropriated funding). The appropriated amount of $250,000 will remain in the Sewer Fund. The Controller’s Office has identified potential shortfalls in the Sewer and Stormwater Funds due to the City needing to match additional funds for various projects that arose after the adoption of the 2021 Municipal Budget. These are for upfront costs related to the City’s acquisition of Hamilton Southeastern Utilities. For this purpose, the Controller’s Office is requesting that the City Council approve an appropriation of $250,000 from the cash balance of the sewer utility fund and authorize the City Controller to completely oversee this action. Such appropriation should ensure that this fund is properly balanced by year end. These costs will be reimbursed when the City closes on the Sewer Utility Acquisition bonds which is anticipated to be before the end of 2021. This additional appropriation is being done in case there is a delay with closing. If the additional funds are not needed to balance the sewer and stormwater funds, the money will be returned. 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
10. City Council May Participate Electronically. House Enrolled Bill 1437 was signed into law in April by Gov. Holcomb. The law allows a member of city council to participate in a city council meeting electronically, subject to the following:
(1) Requires the governing body to adopt a written policy establishing procedures for electronic participation.
(2) Requires the technology to permit simultaneous communication between members and the public to attend and observe the proceedings.
(3) Requires at least 50% of the members to be physically present at the meeting site.
(4) Allows a member participating electronically to be counted for quorum purposes.
(5) Provides that a member participating electronically may participate in a final action taken by the governing body only if the member can be seen and heard.
This action satisfies bullet point #1 – adoption of a written policy that establishes the electronic participation procedures. FIRST READING is the first, but not final, consideration of a matter.
11. Creating an Armed Forces Commission. I’m a strong supporter of this new commission because it formalizes the city’s dedication to recognizing, honoring and celebrating military service. It has been my privilege to be asked to provide input into the creation of the new Armed Forces Commission. I am a member of the Fishers Arts + Culture Commission, which was created four years ago for a similar reason: to serve residents and enhance our vibrant community meaningfully. FIRST READING is the first, but not final, consideration of a matter.
Planning & Zoning
12. Road & Bridges Impact Fees. The City’s recommended new fees would be paid by a developer to defray the cost of infrastructure that would need to be improved to accommodate new development. The new fees were based on an impact study that was conducted. FINAL READING is the final vote to approve or disapprove the matter.
13. Rezone for 50 new homes. “The Courtyards of Fishers PUD” and is located on the 23 +/- acres at the northwest corner of 113th Street and Southeastern Parkway. It is planned to serve empty nesters. The home sizes are between 1,500-4,000 square feet with average price point of $575,000, up to as much as $875,000. FIRST READING is the first, but not final, consideration of a matter.
Next, it is anticipated to be reviewed at the Feb 2, 2022 meeting of the Plan Commission, where the PUBLIC HEARING will be conducted. A PUBLIC HEARING means that any resident is invited to comment on this topic. This is the only opportunity to make a comment about this specific matter.
Regular Items
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.