Fishers City Hall was the site of a public hearing conducted by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) Tuesday morning. David Marusarz, Deputy General Counsel for the DLGF, began the proceedings by making it clear that the only issue before his agency in this process is whether the City of Fishers complied with Indiana law in approving the issuance of bonds for the Nickel Plate Trail and road projects as part of the 2019 city budget.
There were a number of comments by opponents of converting the Nickel Plate Rail line to a trail, not all about the city’s compliance with state law. But there were impassioned arguments by six speakers clearly in favor of preserving the rail line, with many espousing both a rail line and trail on the Nickel Plate. Several asserted that the city has not been honest with the public in providing budget numbers for the trail.
Logan Day, a leader in the Save the Train movement, argued that the city did not comply with state laws on public hearings, particularly not adhering to the “spirit of the law.” Day also said the city does not yet have all the approvals needed from the federal Surface Transportation Board.
Logan Day spoke at the Department of Local Government Finance public hearing Tuesday. (Photo provided by Larry Lannan)
Fishers City Attorney Chris Greisl cited chapter and verse in describing how the city had followed state law in its 2019 budget process.
There were 40 to 50 people on hand for the hearing.
The DLGF expects to issue a decision on whether Fishers adhered to the law in its budget process public hearings within about two weeks, according to Marusarz.
Mayor Scott Fadness said after the hearing that he is confident the city conducted the budget process not only in compliance with the state law, but allowed more public input than required by the statute. He added that the city, along with Noblesville and Indianapolis, are waiting for one final approval from the Surface Transportation Board, but he firmly believes that will come soon.