Catching Up on the Latest Fishers Details, Developments and Other Doings
Writer / Larry Lannan
Photography Provided
Fishers has a new parks and recreation department director with a familiar name. Marissa Deckert has been the assistant parks department director and will now assume the top post. Deckert has plenty of work ahead, including the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater summer concert series, the opening of the new Geist Waterfront Park, and the annual Spark!Fishers festival.
The Recovery Cafe has opened its doors in the Eller House building on 116th Street, just west of Allisonville Road. The nonprofit offers help for anyone recovering from most anything. The organization offers referrals for those needing more help.
With the new Fishers event center expected to be completed in December of 2024, the city has hired a firm with worldwide experience to book activities in the structure. ASM Global already handles venues such as L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Darling Harbour in Sydney, OVO Arena Wembley in London, AO Arena in Manchester, and the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona. The event center will also be the new home of the Indy Fuel minor league hockey team.
The Fishers City Council gave first reading passage to a new ordinance allowing new homeowners associations (HOAs) to change their covenants with a simple majority vote of property owners. Most HOAs in Fishers require a 75% vote of homeowners to enact a covenant change. This would apply to new HOAs, and Fishers only has about 6% of its land available for new development.
The Fishers Plan Commission held a public hearing on the HOA governance proposal. City Councilor Brad DeReamer spoke in favor of the change, but the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis testified against enacting the new rule. Developers also opposed the idea, warning of unintended consequences. The Plan Commission postponed a vote on the proposal until city staff can gather feedback from various stakeholders.
Lindsey Bennett has been named Fishers city attorney, replacing Chris Greisl. Greisl has joined the law form of Barnes & Thornburg. However, Greisl has been retained by the city to assist in legal matters for items related to the City Council and City Council meetings.
The Hamilton Southeastern school board voted to hire the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg to handle legal matters for the district. Church Church Hittle & Antrim had been the school corporation’s law firm for many years.
After much discussion, the Hamilton Southeastern school board announced acceptance of a $5.7 million grant to fund mental health programs. The statement says the board wants to “voice our strong support for acceptance of this five-year grant.”
A new roundabout at the intersection of 116th Street and Allisonville Road could begin construction as early as 2024. During a public meeting on the project, engineers revealed that during 2015 to 2017, there were a total of 82 crashes at that location, with four fatalities and six resulting in less-serious injuries. Engineers say roundabouts can reduce the number of severe accidents.
For the latest on Fishers news, check my website, larryinfishers.com.
