Fixing Flooding

Hello Neighbors,  

I am looking forward to celebrating Pride with all of you! Don't forget that Carmel Pride has been a student-run event since its inception 6 years ago, so be proud of our amazing young people. Show that Carmel is a welcoming place by attending, volunteering, or by making a donation!

Friendly reminder that you can watch the entire City Council meeting here. 

CITY COUNCIL MEETING UPDATES

Recognition of College Wood Elementary Math Pentathlon Team

• I was so honored to recognize the College Wood Elementary Math Pentathlon team for winning the national championship!

• 9 of our students won the Hall of Fame award, 5 won Gold Medals; 8 earned silver medals; 13 won bronze medals; 11 won Honorable Mention and 12 won a Pentathlete Ribbon.

• Math Pentathlon strengthens math concepts and skills, aligns with national and state mathematics standards, and stimulates creative thinking while developing problem-solving skills. 

Our 2026 Math Pentathlon National Champions!

Persons Who Wish to Address the Council 

• Multiple neighbors from Concord Court implored the Council to do something about the flooding in their neighborhood, which has plagued them for decades. 

• Members of the Council are addressing this issue soon with a July 7 meeting at 6pm at Carmel Library in community room A in order to get the information they need from all residents who are affected by the flooding.  

  • I encourage members from the West Side to also attend this meeting. There are issues of drainage and stormwater retention in all parts of our city and a discussion in one area may be relevant to other areas as well. 

  • The hope is to glean as much information as we can and to share it with the Engineering Department. 

  • On July 14, there will be a larger meeting in the library with Engineering, the Mayor and all the necessary stakeholders where we expect some plans and solutions to be presented.

Mayoral Comments

Mathew Donaldson was our deputy mayor for the evening and did a terrific job!

• Ideas for Change is an independent platform for community members to identify the most promising ideas for improving Carmel. The most broadly supported ideas will be discussed by residents and delivered to the Mayor. You can make your voice heard here.

• Americana on Main is a four-week celebration happening every Thursday evening until July 2 in the heart of Carmel. Find more information here.

• Did you know that you can watch the World Cup on the Midtown Screen? 

• The next neighborhood pop-up is on Monday, June 22, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at Plum Creek Farms’ The Corn Crib. 

  • Meet Mayor Sue Finkam and your city councilors, various City of Carmel and Carmel Clay Schools team members, all while enjoying some free ice cream and activities.

Land Use Committee

• We met on June 3rd and sent back two ordinances that reflect fees and violations in the city of Carmel.

  • The first is the Right of Way fees for contractors needing access to and use of the public right of way and fines and fees for repair of damage to ROW

  • The second is the filing fees for work done by the Engineering Department on project reviews. There will be no land use meeting until July 8th as we have no new business to take up. 

Christkindlmarkt Update

Jason Adamowicz, Christkindlmarkt CEO, gave the financial report for the market. Highlights include:

• 297,100 people visited over 24 days 

  • Net revenue increased to $620,000 though attendance has stabilized 

  • This amount will be used to launch next year’s market 

• Attendance of the Glüwhen Gallop doubled to 2,600 people

• The market was highlighted by the Today Show and named #1 holiday market by USA Today

• 9,000 free crafts were completed during the 2025 season

• ADA accessible shuttles were used by 11,000 riders which eliminated 3,000 cars from parking garages

  
  

This year, they are focused on:

• Looking forward to making the Market sustainable into the future. 

• Finding ways to make it feel less crowded

Old Business

Resolution CC-05-18-26-05

• Approved

• This resolution transfers $1,074,842.00 from the General Fund (#101) into the City Assets Repairs and Maintenance Fund (#927).

Ordinance D-2826-26

• Approved

• This ordinance amends excavation and right-of-way disturbance permit, maintenance and restoration requirements, as well as amending penalties for violation.

• Application fee was reduced back to $50 so as not to adversely affect Carmel residents. 

• The idea behind this ordinance is to change behavior and encourage compliance with requirements that reduce damage and disturbance to our public right of ways. 

Ordinance D-2827-26

• Approved

• Came with a positive recommendation from the Finance Committee 

• This ordinance prohibits excessive vehicle noise by regulating the revving of engines, aggressive acceleration, and modified exhaust systems. 

• Call the nonemergency number to report violations–317-773-1282. 

Public Hearings

Ordinance D-2823-26

• Approved

• This ordinance appropriates $1,074,842.00 to cover repair and/or maintenance costs for city assets.

Ordinance Z-707-26

• Approved

• This ordinance amends the Filing Fees in Article 1, Section 1.29 of the Unified Development Ordinance.

• The intent of this ordinance is to ensure that projects and plans that are submitted are thorough and to ensure that Engineering can deliver high level service to developers and residents alike.  I appreciate the work done by the Engineering Department, especially Eleanor, to gather the data ensuring that fees charged are reasonable and appropriate.  

• Once again my concern is to ensure that the majority of homeowners in Carmel are protected from increased fees and so average size single family homes and small businesses are exempt.

Ordinance D-2825-26

• Approved

• This ordinance appropriates funds to cover grant eligible expenses in the Ambulance Capital Fund (#102).

Ordinance D-2828-26

• Approved

• This ordinance appropriates funds to cover grant eligible expenses in the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund (MVH) (#201).

Ordinance D-2831-26

• Sent to Finance Committee

• This ordinance appropriates $2,000,000.00 to support the Enterprise Resource Planning implementation costs.

• Enterprise Resource Planning is a software that integrates all the tools a city needs to be successful, from marketing to human resources to data analytics. 

• The Council chose to move forward with implementing an ERP to ensure Carmel’s financial and administrative systems receive accurate data automatically, enabling us to be more efficient overall. This is not to imply that we dont do a great job as a city. Carmel has consistently received the highest certificate of achievement in government accounting the hope is to make this job easier.

• The implementation contract for this is $1.9 million, and they will need an additional $.3 million to cover the license for their current systems. 

• I do have questions regarding the other comparative bids from other vendors, the inability for this software to deal with complex collective bargaining agreements for police and fire departments and if other vendors could have done this with one system, and potential changes to the fee structures moving forward as Workday company restructures its own corporate model

New Business

Resolution CC-06-15-26-01

• Approved

• This ordinance transfers $24,997.00 from the Grant Fund (#900) into the Ambulance Capital Fund (#102).

Resolution CC-06-15-26-02

• Approved

• This ordinance transfers $1,000,000.00 from the Grant Fund (#900) into the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund.

Ordinance D-2829-26

• Sent to Finance Committee

• This ordinance establishes a non-reverting ERP fund. 

Resolution CC-06-15-26-03

• Sent to Finance Committee

• This ordinance transfers $2,000,000.00 from the General Fund (#101) into the ERP Implementation Fund.

Ordinance D-2830-26

• Approved

• This ordinance adds Article 4, Section 2-156 of the Carmel City Code to establish the Non-Reverting Capital Projects Fund (Fund #931).

Resolution CC-06-15-26-04

• Approved.

• Comes with a disapproval from Plan Commission, though they were mostly pleased with it. 

• This resolution makes minor amendments to the prior Council Resolution amending and approving the US-31 Subarea Plan.

• Amendments have been made to ensure that PUDs near residential areas aren’t changed and when developments are proposed the PUD as written is respected and or strengthened.

• The intent is to protect neighborhoods while ensuring that priority areas are able to be developed. 

Events Around Carmel

• Celebrate Carmel Pride's 6th year with us on June 28, from 1pm to 8pm at Carter Green.

• The Cool Creek Park & Nature Center is hosting Disco-Licious as part of their live music series on June 19 at 7 pm. Admission is only $5 for adults and free for children. 

• Carmel Food Truck Nights brings together Indiana’s favorite food trucks every Friday from May 1st through October 16th, 5 pm to 9 pm. Come to 930 N. Rangeline Rd for great food and fun outside!

• On June 26, visit the American Legion Post 155 to attend “Beyond the Headlines: Veterans’ Stories.” Carmel's veteran organizations will present an oral history event to celebrate America's birthday. Families are invited to learn about our history through storytelling as presented by a panel of veterans. 

Thank you all for reading this recap. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with 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!