The September Fishers City Council Meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday, September 18, 2023. I warmly encourage you to participate.
All City Council meetings are 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 on Monday 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 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.
4. Presentations: Fishers Police Department’s swearing in ceremony for new officers
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.
The Sept Finance Committee Report includes the annual departmental review for 2024 budget. This review and budget approval is important because it articulates the city’s budget priorities.
Finance Committee Report form Sept 13, 2023 Meeting
Finance Committee Report form Sept 11, 2023 Meeting
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 available.
Item b. There is no Engineering Report for some reason.
Here are some important Engineering Dept reports from earlier this year:
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 date to rebid the 141st Roundabout has been set for Spring 2024 and the actual completion date is late 2024/spring 2025. Completing this interchange means converting the 141st St/SR 37 Right-In/Right-Out intersection that was constructed in January 2023 to a Roundabout.
Most recent State Road 37 article from The Indianapolis Star.
Most recent update to residents from the City of Fishers.
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
9. 2024 Budget. Mayor Fadness will present the 2024 Budget and the City Council will welcome Public Comment on the proposed budget.
2024 Budget Presentation Overview
2024 Department Budget, Property Tax Revenue Collections 2019-2024, City Debt and Fleet Loan
Why is the municipal budget important to residents?
Take a look at this blog post from Larry In Fishers. He does a great job explaining “What Budget Time Means To You.”
How can you learn about what is in the proposed budget?
https://fishers.in.us/776/Municipal-Budgets This page on the City website includes topline information and past year’s budgets.
If you review nothing else, I recommend these two powerpoint decks:
2024 Budget Presentation Overview
2024 Department Budget, Property Tax Revenue Collections 2019-2024, City Debt and Fleet Loan
My take:
Overall, I am pleased with the level of detail and transparency the Mayor and Administration have provided now. I requested several additions to the information that the city originally provided. All these requests have been fulfilled now. I am confident that the 2024 budget information available to citizens now provides a complete picture of the city’s finances and Mayor’s proposal for 2024. You can access that information at https://fishers.in.us/776/Municipal-Budgets
The proposed property tax rate has ticked down a little, but the city still anticipates generating more tax revenue than last year. (Tax payers who don’t reach the tax cap will be paying more in property tax, it is anticipated.)
The budget priorities are not big flashy projects as they have typically been. They are nuts & bolts city necessity that I have heard citizens requesting. I fully support this approach.
I do have concerns about the debt that Fishers has committed to and how much that has increased so quickly.
City of Fishers total debt outstanding
2022: $411,672,261
2024: $788,295,560
https://www.fishers.in.us/DocumentCenter/View/27451/2022-Finance-Committee-Meeting—September-15-2021
The amount of cash reserves remains extraordinary, $38 Million. Over double the amount that is recommended. However, I won’t critique this until SR 37 is bid, estimated and a funding plan is proposed.
The budget will receive vote for final approval in October. This is First Reading. First Reading is the first consideration of the matter and no vote is taken.
After the 2024 budget presentation at the Sept 18 City Council meeting, the City Council president will open the 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.
9. 2024 Salary Ordinance. Every year, the salaries for all of the city employees and elected officials have to be approved by the City Council. The proposed salaries for next year include a 5% pay increase for all positions. This document shows the proposed position and bi-weekly salary. Elected positions are on the last page. The City Attorney, Deputy Mayor, Economic & Community Development Director, City Controller, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Public Health Director, Engineering Director, and Recreation & Wellness Director are the highest paid positions.
If you want to look at the 2023 salary ordinance to compare, please note that in the 2023 document the elected positions are found on page 1. First Reading. First Reading is the first consideration of the matter and no vote is taken.
10. Approving Allocation Area (District South). This resolution approves the allocation area for this project to capture TIF revenues. The District South project itself was approved in June 2023. It is located on the just south of 116th St, 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.
Economic Development
11. Riverfront Development. This action designates and establish the boundaries of municipal riverfront development projects in order to encourage private investment, specifically to encourage investment by new restaurant proprietors by the new Arena that is being built.
Planning & Zoning
12. Sandstone/Gray Eagle approval for installation of a tall golf driving range net at Gray Eagle Golf Course with lighting to accompany a new restaurant and building. The new building will feature 1st and 2nd story hitting bays and restaurant/bar. The net maximum height would be 160 feet tall. The maximum light level of 0.2 foot candles at the property line of the adjacent residential properties (the code allows for 0.5 foot candles currently). FINAL APPROVAL
13. Cove at Thorpe Creek. Changes the PUD to allow for maximum height of 40’ in Grand Estates District. First Reading is the first consideration of the matter and no vote is taken.
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.
14. and 15. Nix Annexation. Property is located at 10405 Mollenkopf Rd. FINAL READING.
16. and 17. Kaley Annexation. Property is located at 8460 E 126th St. FINAL READING.
FINAL READING. A final reading is the final vote to approve or disapprove a matter.
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.
18. Magnolia Grove Salon. Property is located at 13484 E 116th St. First Reading is the first consideration of the matter and no vote is taken.
Unfinished/New Business.
Community Comment. At the end of each City Council meeting is an opportunity for your comment on any Fishers topic. This is an “open mic” opportunity for 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. The topic you comment on does not have to be on the agenda, it can be anything that is on your mind!
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.