Climate Action Update + Fighting Hunger

Hello neighbors,  

Diwali is the celebration of the triumph of light over darkness—though the rain washed out our original event, we didn’t let it dampen our spirits! The volunteers, vendors, performers, and organizers of Carmel Diwali worked tirelessly to move the entire event so that we could all still celebrate together! It was a wonderful evening, and I was so happy to see many of you there. 

Below is a recap of our most recent City Council meeting, where we discussed new fire department recruits, our climate plans, and important updates to our ambulance fleet.

As always, you can watch the entire City Council meeting here. 

CITY COUNCIL MEETING UPDATES

Recognition of City Employees and Outstanding Citizens 

• FD Chief Thacker swore in thirteen new firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics. 

  • In the next two years, nearly 30 firefighters will retire from the Carmel Fire Department so these new firefighters will be a critical addition to our first responder team. 

  • Congratulations to Brandon Bailey, Max Dickmann, Joseph Goad, Adam Grimes, Josiah Heath, Katelyn Heishman, Nick Ingram, Adam Leonard, Katherine Pallikan, Scott Plough, Andrew Roembke, John Scott, and Stuart Sharp! I am so excited to have you as part of our community, and proud to have such talented people protecting us. 

Recognition of Persons Who Wish to Address the Council

• Jill Meisenheimer requested that the City Council not rush the US 31 Subarea Plan, that there be a town hall-style meeting about the plan to explain it clearly to the public, that the language in the plan be changed from “landowners” to “neighborhoods,” and that IU North Hospital not be included. 

• Bradley Sneed, Janet Harper, and Chris Yaeger asked the council to reduce the Deerfield neighborhood speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph and provide more reminders in the neighborhood.

• Jack Feldman supported Ordinance D-2795-25 because it makes city meetings more accessible to the public. Read more about the ordinance below.

  
  

Mayoral Comments

• Deputy Mayor Riya Malik, a 4th grader at Creekside, gave us an update on Mayor Finkam’s activities. 

  • She thanked the City Council for our partnership in passing the budget and for participating in pop-up City Hall meetings. 

  • She also gave a special shout-out to Diwali!

  • Mayor Finkam wanted to congratulate the Carmel High School girls and boys varsity soccer teams for their hard work during the IHSAA championships.

    • Our girls saw incredible success this season, winning 19 games out of 23. 

    • Our boys took home state after a stunning season!

  • She invited the public to the Veterans’ Day ceremony at the Booth Tarkington Theater on November 7, at noon. 

    • Congressman Jim Baird, a Purple Heart awardee, will speak at the event. 

  • In honor of the Carmel vs Westfield football sectional, Mayor Finkam and Westfield Mayor Scott Willis have announced a friendly competition: Tackling Hunger. 

    • They are challenging fans to donate to the Hamilton County Harvest Foodbank until November 9. Plus, the losing city will have to donate an additional $5,000.  

    

Council Comments

• Councilor Aasen Green and I have created a new application for board and commission positions. The goal is to attract the best talent to Carmel, and submissions are already rolling in!

• City Council also wanted to congratulate some of our outstanding sports teams on recent successes:

  • Guerin Catholic won a record-setting IHSAA 2A boys soccer state title!

  • Carmel girls cross country won state for the second year in a row!

• Councilor Worrell invited the public to the next edition of his Project Civility program, a Thanksgiving-themed event named “Please Pass the Civility.”

Land Use Committee

• We are adding a special land use meeting for the November 12, to address concerns about the US 31 Subarea Plan.  

• The goal of our November 5 meeting was to make our walking trails path’s sidewalks safe for our pedestrians and riders without burdening the police, and to ensure the safety of minors.

  • We are build good definitions to ensure we conform to established regulations.

  • Carmel is leading on this issue, as we do so many.

Carmel Redevelopment Commission

• There has been significant progress on redevelopment projects, especially for Civic on Main and Monon Square North. For more in-depth information, check out this PDF, starting at page 47. 

• Carmel unveiled its most recent statue, Indian Heritage, last week during Diwali. 

• Enjoy all of Carmel’s public art with this handy-dandy online catalog! (Indian Heritage in number twenty-seven.)

Climate Action Advisory Committee

• We heard an exciting update from the Climate Action Advisory Committee.

• First, we heard from one of the two high schoolers serving on the Committee, Anjali!

  • Anjali helps with the committee’s newsletter, which shares information about sustainability.

  • She said that they write a sustainability quiz, with respondents randomly selected to win a prize!

• The committee has finished a study on a potential commuter line, including fleshing out a plan for micromobility and other issues. 

• They are looking to work with Republic Utilities to develop a compost program available to the public. 

• Also, the committee is in contact with Purdue University regarding drought-resistant grass. 

• They are partnering with the Sustainability Committee to offer annual volunteer opportunities for city employees.

• Councillor Worrell asked about how we can deal with leaves in a way that is both cosmetically acceptable and sustainable?

  • The committee is looking into this issue.

    
    

New Business

Resolution CC-11-03-25-01

• Approved

• This resolution authorizes the purchase of a small section of property from willing homeowners to complete a roundabout. 

• To be clear, no houses will be torn down in this process.

  
  

  

  
  

Resolution CC-11-03-25-02

• Approved

• This resolution transfers $204,362.00 within the Ambulance Capital Fund.

• It is less expensive to put a new chassis on an ambulance than to buy a new one. A brand-new ambulance can cost up to $500,000, while adding a new chassis costs less than half that amount. Plus, it can take more than a year for a new ambulance to arrive. 

• This amount would pay off the capital leases on the ambulance, allowing them to replace the chassis. 

  
  

City Council Appointments 

• The City Council will work on one nomination for the Christkindlmarkt Board, which is a two-year term.

  
  

Events Around Carmel

• The Veteran’s Day event will be on November 7, at noon on Carter Green. 

• Join us for the Carmel State of the City with Mayor Sue Finkam on November 10, at 4 pm at the Payne & Mencias Palladium! This event brings together businesses and community leaders to hear updates and insights on Carmel’s progress and future.

• The Ice at Carter Green is opening for the season on November 23! 

  
  

Thank you all for reading this recap, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions.

Caring for Carmel,

Dr. Anita Joshi

If you have a fifth grade Carmel student who would like to give the mayoral update at a council meeting next year please reach out to me and I will be happy to put your student's name forward.

As always if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please reach out to me. I’m always here to listen and advocate for you. If you wish to review the details of our city meeting, the recording is available here, and the meeting agenda is available here! If you’d like to attend a City Council meeting, committee hearing, or other council events, please visit our website for the calendar!