Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness sat down for a podcast interview with me on Dec. 23. We discussed a number of subjects. The mayor described expectations that 2020 will be “a year of building.” The many building projects include State Road 37, the 116th Street development downtown where the new headquarters for First Internet Bank and a new hotel will begin construction – and a complete reconstruction of 96th Street will be underway.
Here are some of the items the mayor talked about as the city enters 2020.
New downtown development along 116th Street
This massive undertaking will begin in earnest during 2020, but will take about 24 months to complete, so it will not be finished in 2020. Fadness says this will change the landscape of downtown and the City of Fishers. Once complete, all this will profoundly change the look and feel of downtown, including the Nickel Plate Trail, a new high-end hotel and the six-story First Internet Bank Headquarters.
“It will feel like an urban center in the sense of – you will feel like you’re in a downtown area,” Fadness said. “We’ll have world-class amenities that nobody else in Central Indiana really has. I think it will be really a crown jewel for the city of Fishers and this area. We’ll definitely demonstrate that we’re a dynamic and very vibrant city.”
Sense of community
The mayor is planning to spend the first six months of the new year building a sense of community and culture among the population of Fishers. He wants local residents to feel connected to the overall community. He looks at this as another critical piece of infrastructure, this one a human infrastructure.
Mayor Scott Fadness spoke with Larry Lannan just before Christmas about what 2020 will hold for the city of Fishers. (Photo provided)
As the mayor sees it, people seeking a suburban home look for housing, its affordability, as well as how close the home is to a job and good schools. The precise geographic location is not the point for these people. The mayor sees his job as, once here, how do you fall in love with the city where you happen to reside? People tend to retreat back to their cul-de-sacs. Fadness plans to explore ways to get people out of their neighborhoods and give them pride and ownership for the city they call home.
Geist: Waterfront Park and Conservancy District
The Geist Waterfront Park is still in the design stage. A number of permits will be needed in order to move forward. Do not look for construction to start in 2020, but Fadness wants to move forward as quickly as possible.
Legal moves have begun to establish a Geist Conservancy District, with the power to tax and be responsible for maintenance of the lake. The mayor says the Indiana General Assembly must act to keep this moving forward. Fadness says he supports “some sort of conservancy district.”
The mayor acknowledges the rub will be the issue of which homeowners must pay for the lake maintenance costs.
“This is an asset that so many different homes derive value from the fact that they’re in this area and that it is a wonderful natural amenity,” Fadness said. “I also recognize the fact that Citizens (water utility) doesn’t necessarily view their job as making sure you can water ski on the lake.”
Citizens owns the lake and is only focused on the water supply from the lake, according to the mayor.
“You have this scenario where you have this wonderful natural amenity that does require management, it does require maintenance,” the mayor told me during the podcast. “It just depends on which stakeholder you are talking about…what kind of maintenance needs to be done. There’s going to be a lot of conversations about this going forward. I do believe this is an asset that needs to be managed and I do believe there are costs that come with it and I do believe the people that benefit directly and indirectly from the lake should pay that.”
116th Street & Allisonville Road
When Kroger opted to remodel their current store in the area and not build a new grocery, that left a large commercial hole in the area. Fadness says he is “cautiously optimistic” that progress will be made in 2020.
He recently spoke with the developer and says the property owner is actively searching for a tenant to fill that area.
The mayor also pointed to a major step taken in partnership with the Hageman Company to buy the large old brown building on the southeast corner of 116th Street and Allisonville Road. “Our plan is to tear that building down and look to redevelop it,” said Fadness.
“For the folks that live along 116th and Allisonville, we are definitely trying to be as aggressive as we can to redevelop that area,” added the mayor.
New Democrats taking office on the city council
Fadness has held meetings with Jocelyn Vare and Sam DeLong, the two new Democrats taking office on the city council in 2020. “I hope everyone is well-intentioned,” Fadness said.
“We’re going to openly communicate with all nine council members. We’re going to treat everyone the same, unless, for some reason, we’re given a reason why we have to act otherwise,” the mayor said.
I reminded the mayor there are many cities throughout Indiana that do not operate that way. “I think our residents would demand that we operate professionally and transparently with all nine (council members),” the mayor responded.
You can listen to my entire podcast interview with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness at this link.