The November Fishers City Council Meeting will be held on Monday, November 15 at 7pm at City Hall.  I warmly encourage you to participate.

COVID Protocols for in-person attendance at City Hall

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. First of all, a welcome to our new City Council member representing the SW District, Councilor David Giffel!

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. Please get vaccinated!

7. Since David George was serving as Vice-President, the Council will elect a new Vice-President to serve until the January meeting. At that time, President and Vice-President will be elected for 2022.

8. 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

Economic Development

9. Project Agreement with List Biotherapeutics. List Biotherapeutics recently announced a $110 million investment in Fishers to establish facility at new Life Science & Innovation Park and intends to hire 200 positions by 2023. Average salary of these jobs is $70,000/year. Pending approval of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), List Biotherapeutics will receive up to $3.15 million in the form of incentive-based tax credits. The IEDC will also offer the company up to $75,000 in conditional training grants, and up to $1,685,000 to the City of Fishers from the Industrial Development Grant Fund to support infrastructure improvements. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired and trained and investments are made.
At this meeting, the Fishers City Council will review and vote upon additional incentives that include a fifteen-year personal property tax abatement and approximately 15 acres of real property for the Project. These incentives have a total value of $6,667,095.

10. Genezen Labs Amended SB-1. Earlier this year, Genezen agreed to invest in a new office and hire employees in Fishers because they grew out of their Launch Fishers space. The City Council voted to provide a 5 year 100% tax abatement of personal property located on the new site. Now, Genezen has advised the City that its employment and salaries will be greater than initially reported in the SB-1 (the company’s commitment form.) This action finalizes Genezen’s new and improved SB-1 commitment.

Budget/Financial

11. and 12. 2021 GO Bond (General Obligation Bond). These two actions take out a loan for $4.8 million for road improvements and trail/path connectivity and appropriate the funds (devote the money to a specific purpose.) At our last meeting, the City didn’t communicate what specifically the funds would be used for when I asked.
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.

13. Sewage Utility Rates. The City of Fishers is purchasing the Fishers assets of Hamilton Southeastern Utilities, the sewer utility. Now, the rates for the new sewer utility need to be determined. The City of Fishers promised not to increase customer rates to pay for the purchase of the utility. SECOND READING is the second time a matter is considered by City Council. The final approval will occur at next month’s meeting.

14. Fee Updates. Several city departments are changing their fee $ amount that citizens pay for services. FINAL READING is the final vote to approve or disapprove the matter.

15. Amending Re-funding. In December 2020, the City Council authorized spending the proceeds of two General Obligation bonds (loans) for planned road projects. Maximum amount is $4.6 million and $2.9 million. This action amends that action so that the Controller can re-finance (re-fund) this bond to get a better rate.

16. Short Term Loan Financing. Municipal equipment lease purchase authorization.

Government/Miscellaneous
17. Agreement with Noblesville. This agreement allows Fishers recent acquisition of HSE Utilities to provide sewer services to the small part of Noblesville that is included in the service area. This Noblesville area is bounded by Olio Road, Atlantic Rd, I-69, and 146th Street.

Planning & Zoning
18. Road & Bridges Impact Fees. This is presentation of the City’s recommended new fees that a developer would pay 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. FIRST READING is the first, but not final, consideration of a matter.

19. Kincaid PUD. Highline at Delaware Park. The proposed 26-acre development is six buildings including 280 apartments, 18,600 square feet of 1st floor restaurant/commercial/retail space and an additional 4800 square feet of restaurant space. The location is the south of 106th Street, between Lantern Road and Kincaid Blvd. https://goo.gl/maps/8RWrTXG6P6KEGbRb7
The city is going to take out a $10 million loan (bond) to help finance the project. The bond will be paid back over 25 years with the proceeds from the Tax Increment Finance arrangement. Envoy, the developer, expects to invest $52 million into this project. State Senator Scott Baldwin who represents Fishers is the CEO of Envoy. Envoy will create a sidewalk (pedestrian trail) around the perimeter of the development and a road that connects Lantern Rd to Kincaid Blvd (Pearl Street). I note that these infrastructure improvements are enhancements to this development area specifically.
This action is creating a new zoning district to accommodate the project. FINAL READING is the final vote to approve or disapprove the matter.

20. Nickel Plate Trail Overlay. As a result of resident meetings with property owners along the trail, the City of Fishers is proposing a Nickel Plate Trail Overlay to allow single-family properties the ability to make backyard improvements that will allow them to properly interact with the trail based on their needs and preferences. The overlay includes the following allowances for those along the trail: Additional accessory structure square footage, Additional impervious surface coverage, Additional fence height for fences with architecture features. Staff believes these additional allowances will ensure property owners along the trail can either properly screen the trail for privacy or interact with the trail as they see fit. FINAL READING is the final vote to approve or disapprove the matter.

21. Amendments to UDO (Unified Development Ordinance). This amendment would prohibit billboards within the I-69 corridor and create standards for projecting signs that would be permitted in lieu of a wall sign. FINAL READING is the final vote to approve or disapprove the matter.

22. Rezone Bel Canto. This action considers 24 acres of land that was originally zoned for commercial to be switched to residential. It would be 292 multi-family units located on the SE corner of 136th St and Cyntheanne Rd. FIRST READING is the first, but not final, consideration of a 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. 🙂