By LARRY LANNAN
I have attended past town hall meetings hosted by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, but this one was a bit different. He was at home, put two of his three young sons to bed, but warned that one son was still on the loose and could show up at any time on the Zoom meeting. (It never happened.)
Such was the start of the mayor’s first foray into a virtual town meeting. One thing is for certain, he packed a lot into the time he had and answered a long list of submitted questions.
Fadness
During the first part of the meeting, Fadness shared the virtual stage with Public Health Director Monica Heltz. They reviewed some numbers. For example, the Fishers Health Department has conducted more than 60,000 COVID tests and completed over 20,000 COVD vaccinations. The city concentrated on vaccinating local teachers and 800 to 900 local educators took advantage of that program. It is possible the city may work with Hamilton Southeastern Schools to vaccinate students as the eligibility age of the vaccine is reduced.
The mayor responded to comments asking whether the city is providing another layer of government with the creation of a city health department. Fadness says the county health department had a tax rate of 1.3 cents per $100 of property valuation, but city residents no longer pay that tax to the county, but instead pay a tax rate of 1 cent to support the Fishers Health Department.
The mayor said a tunnel underneath 116th Street in downtown Fishers will begin construction once school is out and will require a rerouting of traffic during construction in that downtown location. Fadness says the work should be completed in 60 days.
The Fishers Parks Department, which has been headquartered in the building at 116th Street and Brooks School Road for many years, will be moving to the new Hub & Spoke building on 106th Street near the Nickel Plate Trail.
On rumors that Chick-fil-A may be coming to Fishers, the mayor said talks with the company are ongoing but no plans are done nor has a location been determined.
Fadness says to look for announcements on economic development projects that will add a number of jobs to the city in the next 60 to 90 days.
Finally, the mayor is looking forward for Fishers to “come back to life” after more than a year of COVID lockdowns and restrictions.
This is just a summary of the many issues covered by the mayor in his first Virtual Town Hall.