Basic Info about City Council meetings can be reviewed here.
The December Fishers City Council Meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday, November 20, 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 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 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. 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 Finance Committee did not meet this month. There is no committee report this time.
6. Department Reports.
Item a. The monthly Fishers Health Department Report is usually made available to residents every month about restaurant food inspections, 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 again for some reason. The last Engineering Report submitted to City Council was July 12, 2023. This is disappointing to me because there are many substantial Engineering projects that are impacting local residents and businesses.
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. Mayor Fadness committed to completing the 141st roundabout as originally promised at the August 2023 city council meeting.
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 three items on the Consent Agenda.
Item a. is approval of last month’s City Council meeting minutes. (For some reason, the document says Agenda at the top, instead of 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.
Item c. voids old checks the city cut but were never cashed by the recipient. The City Controller has confirms that all of the check recipients on this list have been paid. Either they have been paid in a different way or the check was re-issued after getting lost in the mail. This year-end action voids out all of these old uncashed checks.
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. Appropriate Funds. Dedicating $11.8 million of bond proceeds specifically for road, sewer & water, and trail improvements and the purchase of public safety equipment. This was bond was approved by city council last month.
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.
Economic Development
Three Project Agreement amendments
9. Amendment to the Project Agreement for OnPoint Innovation. OnPoint Innovation Park is 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 in May 2023 that authorizes the tax abatement. In June 2023, the Declaratory Resolution was approved to establish the revitalization structure. This amendment extends the closing date from Dec 31, 2023 to June 1, 2024.
10. Amendment to the Project Agreement for District South. At Nov 2023 meeting, city council approved $12 million of TIF revenue to be used to fund the District South project. The approval of the resolution for TIF to be used to pay debt service (loan repayments) and finalized the structure of the funding occurred at the Oct 2023 city council meeting. The approval of the allocation area to capture TIF revenues for this project occurred at the Sept 2023 City Council meeting.
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. This amendment extends the closing date from Dec 31, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
11. Amendment to the Project Agreement for CityWalk. This is a new housing development on Lantern Road, between 116th-126th Street, across the street from Sunblest Apartments. It will include condos, townhomes and apartments. 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 and forty-one (41), four-story townhomes. This project agreement includes the city taking out a loan (bond) for $16.1 million and the developer will invest $75 million. TIF revenue will pay for the debt service (interest) on the loan that the developer, not the city, will guarantee. This is a special project that will transform this area, adjacent to the Nickel Plate Trail and will include public access to the trail. Indianapolis Star article, April 17, 2023.
This amendment extends the closing date. I asked for clarification, I cannot discern the new closing date from the documentation. I have asked for clarification.
12. & 13. Thermo Fishers Project Agreement and Statement of Benefits. Thermo Fisher, a life sciences company, will create a new diagnostic lab in Fishers if the City will authorize a 15-year personal property tax abatement on qualifying tangible personal property purchased in 2024-2025 by Thermo Fishers. The project agreement approval would finalize the tax abatement. The Statement of Benefits is a separate matter that approves Thermo Fisher’s SB-1 Report that states $6.5 million is estimated value of the company property.
Planning & Zoning
14. Rezone 25 acres for new Recreation Center. Several residents & HOA leaders who live next to the future Rec Center expressed significant concerns about the trees, sidewalks/trail connections, traffic 121st/Hoosier Rd and future use for the farmland and residential impact that remains adjacent. Start video at 11:00 for the public hearing to hear residents’ concerns.
FINAL READING. A final reading is the final vote to approve or disapprove a matter.
15. Rezone 5.7 acres for Traders Point Fishers Church expansion at 12648th E 116th St. FIRST READING is the first consideration of a matter. No vote is taken.
16. Removes the grocery store requirement. In 2017, the Fishers City Council passed an ordinance that required shuttered grocery stores (Marsh) to remain grocery stores when the sites are redeveloped unless the city gives special permission for another retail use. Background: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2017/12/20/kroger-claims-zoning-change-fishers-hurt-business/966192001/
FIRST READING is the first consideration of a matter. 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 or prepared for development. Annexation Procedures can be found here.
17. Carrington Office property, located at 10418 Hague Rd. 1.4 acres.
18. Jai Hanuman Temple property, located at 12323 Cyntheanne Road. 1 acre.
FIRST READING is the first consideration of a matter. No vote is taken.
These agenda items will be open for a Public Hearing.
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!
Thank you for reading all of this.