NEW DATE, NEW TIME, NEW PLACE!!
The July Fishers City Council Meeting will be held at 6:45pm on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at the Mudsock Room of the Hamilton Southeastern School Administration Building, 13485 Cumberland Rd.
Just before this City Council meeting, there will be a joint meeting of the HSE School Board and the City Council at 5:30pm at HSE Admin Building, 13485 Cumberland Rd. At this joint meeting, the school board trustees will finalize the referendum details for the Nov 7 ballot and the Fishers City Council will approve a resolution in support. There will be 30 min of public comment at this meeting.
HSE Schools Referendum Renewal Resolution of Fishers City Council
The regular July city council meeting will be held immediately after, in another room of the HSE Admin Building. That meeting will start at 6:45pm approximately. It is a very light city council meeting.
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 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 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.
4. Presentations. Police swearing in ceremony will be held. A presentation will be made by Delaware Township Trustee, Debbie Driskell.
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 annual budget review for 2024 budget begins in August. 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. Engineering Report. 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
Government/Miscellaneous
8. 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. SECOND READING. If not given a third reading and a final vote at this meeting, the final vote will be held in August meeting.
Planning & Zoning
9. Voluntary Annexation of Nix Property, 10405 Mollenkopf Rd. REMOVED FROM THIS MEETING, WILL HAVE FIRST READING AT AUGUST MEETING INSTEAD. First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken.
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.