A Work Session will be held at Launch Fishers about the proposed New Public Safety Nuisance City Ordinance. The new ordinance would establish a procedure for commercial property that has 7 or more police calls for service. The work session takes place before the Council Meeting, at 6:30pm. A Work Session is open to the public. It is an informational meeting only, no votes will be taken. This ordinance also appears on the meeting agenda, item 16.
The May Fishers City Council Meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday, May 15, 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 Participate in a 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 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.
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.
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. The Engineering Report is an update on private roads and Barrett Law implementation. I have asked for more information about this, specifically the estimated cost to the SR37-area businesses and the road improvement completion timeline.
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. Appropriation of Sewer Availability Fees. This action would allow $850,000 to be sepnt on increased sewer capacity for the east side of Fishers. This agenda item will be opened 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.
9. City Investment Policy. This action would authorize the City Controller to invest city funds in any manner allowed by state statute. I do support suspending the rules so that this agenda item can be approved at the same meeting it is introduced, in order to expedite the city’s investment of its portfolio funds.
10. Financing for Fire Equipment. This action authorizes the purchase of new self-contained breathing apparatus equipment for our city firefighters. I do support suspending the rules so that this agenda item can be approved at the same meeting it is introduced, in order to expedite the fire equipment purchase.
11. Stevanato Bond Anticipation Notes (BAN). This action would allow the interest rate to be increased from 1.5% as stated in the 2021 agreement to 6% maximum, to accurately reflect today’s higher interest rates. Stevanato Group is building a manufacturing plant for pharma/biotech clients in Fishers’ Life Sciences Park on 126th/Cumberland Road area. Stevanato recently promised to increase its total investment in the facility to $512 million and its hiring plan to 515 employees by 2031.
Economic Development
12. OnPoint Innovation Park Project Agreement. 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.
13. and 14. Agreement and Appropriation of Funds from Hamilton County for Public Safety Technology Purchases. The agreement would allow City of Fishers to receive a one-time sum of money of $1.08 million to purchase public safety technology equipment. The appropriation makes those funds available to make the purchase. The purchase could include body cams and other technology items.
15. Parking Fees for Geist Waterfront Park. A $50/day parking fee is proposed for out-of-city guests. City residents don’t pay to park. City residents include those who live in unannexed areas of Fishers. I am stunned by this fee amount, it is ridiculously high. The city says that this fee will help address the fact that there is not enough parking to meet the predicted demand of the park visitors. There must be a better way to address parking capacity. If we are inviting out-of-town visitors to Fishers places like Conner Prairie, IKEA, Top Golf and a new Event Center, it doesn’t make sense to price these visitors out of a park. For city residents, the free parking requires a SmartPass on your mobile device that you will have to register for in advance of your visit. Learn more.
IndyStar article, May 9, 2023
16. New Public Safety Nuisance City Ordinance. Establishes a procedure for commercial property that has 7 or more police calls for service. First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken.
Items 17 and 19 are almost next door neighbors.
17. Magnolia Grove Salon. A residential property located at 13484 E 116th St that wants to be demolished and a hair salon built there. This action rezones the property from residential to commercial. FINAL READING. A final reading is the last consideration of a matter and the final vote is taken.
19. Drive Planning Office. A residential property located at 13562 E 116th St that wants to be demolished and a built there. This action rezones the property from residential to commercial. First Reading is the first presentation and consideration of an item, no action is taken.
18. Amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance. The UDO is the development standards of our city. This revision would allow an Home Owners Association to conduct HOA Operations without the burden of an unattainable threshold of neighbor participation. This revision would also encourage the quorum threshold to be conduct an HOA meeting. These new standards would only pertain to NEW HOAs, not existing ones.
FINAL READING. A final reading is the last consideration of a matter and the final 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.
Willow Crest Lots 3, 4 and 5
Fiscal Plans and Voluntary Annexations will be finalized for each of these three properties, located east of Allisonville Rd, south of 146th St.
20. and 21. Lot 3 = 14543 Allisonville Road
22. and 23. Lot 5 = 14521 Allisonville Road
24. and 25. Lot 4 = 14541 Allisonville Road
FINAL READING. A final reading is the last consideration of a matter and the final vote is taken.
26. and 27. Flat Fork PUD. This is a new proposed development that is 109 acres to become 220 single-family homes on the north side of 96th Street between Georgia and Cyntheanne and a commercial area at the NE corner of 96th and Georgia. There are two parcels for a total of 109 acres. 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.