The June Fishers City Council Meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday, June 19, 2023. I warmly encourage you to participate.
IMPORTANT LOCATION CHANGE: All City Council meetings (and Work Sessions) will now be held at Launch Fishers, 12175 Visionary Way. Launch Fishers is located in the tech park, just north of Super Target.
How to Observe and Participate in the City Council Meeting
- 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 onMonday so you can watch from home. This is the way to observe the meeting remotely.
- 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.
2. Announcements. Pride Month and Juneteenth will be recognized.
3. Service Awards. George Kehl (45 Years), Scott Kehl (30 years), Barb Hathaway (25 years) will be recognized.
5. Council Committee Reports.
Finance Committee Report. The Finance Committee is charged with advising the City Council on matters concerning the general financial operations of the City. The City Council is responsible for fiscal oversight and final approval of the municipal budget. Typically, the Finance Committee report is reflected in action items for the City Council that are reflected in the “Budget/Financial” part of the meeting agenda.
This month’s Finance Committee Report includes the preliminary timeline for the annual budget review for 2024 budget. This review and budget approval is important because it sets the municipal tax rate for residents and determine the city’s budget priorities.
6. Department Reports.
Item a. The monthly Fishers Health Department Report is usually made available to residents every month about our city’s vaccine status, COVID community risk status, and other important public health info. The FHD 2022 Annual Report is now available.
Item b. There are two important Engineering Reports.
Commercial Private Roadways Report is an update on private roads near SR37 and Barrett Law implementation.
The State Road 37 Progress Report alerts residents about the status of the 141st St Roundabout plans. The “approximate date (to rebid the 141st Roundabout) has been set for Spring of next year” and the “actual (completion) date is TBD” to change the 141st St/SR 37 Right-In/Right-Out intersection to a Roundabout.
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. Community (Recreation) Center. This action is a resolution to allow the Mayor to build a new $60 Million Community Center. The resolution simply states this:
The Council hereby approves development and construction of the City of Fishers Community Center, a concept plan for which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. The Council hereby approves up to $60,000,000.00 for (a) design, (b) construction and (c) land acquisition for the Community Center. This Mayor is hereby authorized to take such further action and execute such necessary documents to design and construct the Community Center.
This new community amenity was announced to the public last week and anticipates a 2025 opening. Unfortunately, I have not yet received the financial implications of the project that I requested from the City since the announcement was made. It is a huge $60 Million project and I must be sure the financial aspects are responsible and transparent. The plans for the community center look fantastic. These plans were informed by residents and consideration was given to the diverse needs of the community.
It does not look like this matter will be open for public comment at the city council meeting.
Economic Development
9. Annual Abatements. (Tax Abatement Compliance)
Some of the City of Fishers’ Economic Development Agreements with companies provide tax abatements for the company. This allows the company to receive a deduction from the company’s owed tax payment. In return for lower (or no) tax payments, the company guarantees specific investment/employment commitments that benefit the City. Each Economic Development Agreement includes a “clawback” which require a payback of the tax abatements if the investment/employment commitments are not met by the company. The CF-1 form is used by the company to annually report the company’s compliance with their commitments.
Each year, companies like Braden, Flexware and Four Day Ray in the downtown Nickel Plate District and every company that have been provided tax abatements (deductions) by the City must submit a Compliance with Statement of Benefits Forms (CF-1) related to each of their respective abatements. The City is required to annually review each company’s CF-1 to determine whether each has substantially complied with its respective Statement of Benefits and, if it has not, whether the failure to substantially comply was caused by factors beyond the control of the company.
There are 23 companies who received tax abatements that have been reviewed by the City Economic Development Director. (In 2022, there were 21 forms.) See page 3 of this Resolution. Each of these CF-1 forms for each company is public record.
Twenty-one companies are in compliance, or still have time to be compliant based upon their commitment deadlines. Two companies did not submit: Sitel and Republic Services. These two will need to ensure compliance and are sure to receive follow-up and discussions with City Economic Development Dept.
10. OnPoint Innovation Park. An 100,000 sq ft office building on 8 acres in Fishers’ Life Sciences Park on 126th/Cumberland Road area. OnPoint is planning to invest $15 million and hiring 81 employees. In return, the City is giving the land, waive city fees and offering a property tax abatement. Year One- developer will pay 0 taxes. Year Two-developer will pay 20% taxes owed. Year Three-40%. Year Four-60% and Year Five-80%. Year Six is 100%.payment of taxes owed. OnPoint is affiliated with Meyer Najem, a Fishers construction company that does a lot of business with the City.
The Economic Development Agreement was approved last month that authorizes the tax abatement. This month is the Declaratory Resolution to establish the revitalization structure. Next month, the final step is the Confirmatory Resolution, which includes a public hearing for public feedback.
11. and 12. Pure Pharmacy. This is a women-owned business currently based in Carmel. Pure Pharmacy is a specialized compounding pharmaceutical company. The owner is a Fishers resident who has built this business recently and it is growing very quickly. They plan on building up a new team here to expand their compounding operations by leasing 21,000 SF in 6950 E 96th St at the Indy Metro Airport development owned by Patch Development. They plan to hire 50 new employees by December 2027 and invest $2,500,000 in new personal property. They will retain their space in Carmel, too. A 5-year, sliding personal property abatement is being proposed.
Year One- the company will pay 0 taxes. Year Two-developer will pay 20% taxes owed. Year Three-40%. Year Four-60% and Year Five-80%. Year Six is 100%.payment of taxes owed. The estimated value of the abatement (total over 5 years) is $71,000.
Item 11 is the Economic Development Agreement that authorizes the tax abatement. Item 12 is the Declaratory Resolution to establish the revitalization structure.
Next month, the final step is the Confirmatory Resolution, which includes a public hearing for public feedback.
13. CityView. This is a proposed mixed-use building located along 116th Street at Lantern Rd. It would demolish the small Rotary Park and the one-story strips and stand-alone structures that house small businesses, like Flowers By Suze, currently. The proposed new six-story building will include 184 luxury apartments that are Age Restricted for 55+ active adults. It will also include 16,000 sq. ft. of commercial space on the first floor, potential for outdoor restaurant seating and a 280-space parking structure for the public to use. CityView is slated for completion spring 2026. The developer is High Ground, a subsidiary of Hageman in Carmel.
City will issue $25.7 million in developer-backed and City-backed bonds and contribute certain real property to the Project. TIF financing would be used to finance this project.
14. District South. This proposal is located on the south side of South Street between Lantern Road and the Nickel Plate Trail, transforming six vacant, blighted properties into a village comprised of a four-story mixed-use building, seven small business retail units, 38 exclusive loft residences, 44 multi-family units a fitness center, café lounge, shared conference room, and civic plaza and courtyard. Additionally, the village will include with modern finishes. District South is slated for completion in early 2025.
There are plans to extend the Cheeney Creek Trail along the west side of the development, and possibly an elevated crosswalk to the north side of South Street, providing pedestrians immediate and safe access to the Nickel Plate Trail. Financing is a city-backed $9.4 million bond.
Government/Miscellaneous
15. New Public Safety Nuisance City Ordinance. Establishes a procedure for commercial property that has 7 or more police calls for service that includes fines. Learn more about the proposed ordinance here. I have requested that this agenda item be a 2nd reading of this ordinance only – not a final vote for approval. I would like the City to clarify data that they’ve presented as the current situation, which informed this ordinance. By third reading in July, the public safety team will have met with those businesses who would be most affected by this new ordinance and then we will be fully prepared to have a final vote to approve at that time.
16.Sewer Use. This is an amendment to the City’s sewer ordinance to allow the city to charge late fees if a sewer bill is not paid by the due date. When the city acquired HSE Utilities, all late fees were zeroed out. According to state law, the late fees can not exceed 10%. There will be a grace period. Currently, 95% customers pay on time. No late fees were charged since COVID. This would re-establish the late fee charges.
Planning & Zoning
17. Addition of Technology Center Zoning District to the Nickel Plate Code. This is the technology park behind Target that is the home to Launch Fishers, DeVeaux’s and many other businesses. Purple on this map is the new Technology Center area. FINAL READING. A final reading is the last consideration of a matter and the final vote is taken.
18. Amend Sign Standards. First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken.
19. Sandstone/Grey Eagle approval for installation of golf driving range net at Grey Eagle Golf Course. First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken.
20. and 21. Approval vacation of sewer easements.
Voluntary Annexations
A voluntary annexation is when a property owner wants to incorporate into the City of Fishers and receive city benefits, i.e., access to city utilities and city services like road maintenance and snow plowing. The annexed property will start paying city property tax to cover these benefits. Sometimes, annexations are a first step for a property being sold for development.
Annexation Procedures can be found here.
22. Geist Forest. First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken. 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.
23. and 24. City Walk. A new housing development on Lantern Road, between 116th-126th Street, across the street from Sunblest Apartments. It will include condos, townhomes and apartments. This project was approved by City Council in April 2023.
- A four-story, multifamily building comprised of eighty-seven (87) for-lease multifamily units
- A six-story, residential building comprised of forty (40) for-sale condominiums
- A six-story, residential building comprised of sixty-one (61) for-sale condominiums
- forty-one (41), four-story townhomes
First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken. PUBLIC HEARING.
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.