Hello neighbors,
Below you’ll find my updates and thoughts on this month’s City Council meeting. Take a look to stay informed on what’s happening in our city!
Before we start, I just wanted to send a friendly reminder that parking is never permitted on sidewalks or multiuse paths, no matter how epic the party is!
CITY COUNCIL MEETING UPDATES
Land Use Committee Update 02/19/25
You will read about Resolution CC-02-17-25-01. This authorizes the purchase of certain properties valued at more than $25,000.00 that are necessary for various road and multiuse path improvement projects. There was a great deal of concern with the process by which this was presented to council as well as the need to ensure that the projects that council voted to put into our bond issuance are carried out according to the intentions of the council. There was an additional concern that such a resolution without a clear expiratory date could be used to acquire property beyond the scope of the original bond issuance. The director of Engineering Brad Paisley explained that coming to council for the approval of each individual project could slow down progress. While none of us is interested in creating more difficulty for the completion of projects the importance of our fiduciary responsibility in the use of taxpayer dollars can not be overstated. We have returned this resolution back to council with an unfavorable recommendation and an ask that it be rewritten all together and that the process of allocation funds and property be better presented and explained to us as a council and more importantly to our constituents.
The majority of the Land Use committee's time was spent discussing an update to Section 9 of the UDO in order to give developers and citizens alike a more streamlined, less redundant document. The UDO amendments will continue to be discussed at upcoming meetings.
City Council Update 02/17/25
Mayoral Comments
Prairie Trace 4th grader Lina Mang gave the Mayor’s report today, commenting on the upcoming She L.E.A.D.S women’s professional development conference, the opening of new shops Josephine’s and Bovaconti in the Arts & Design District, and the Mayor’s effort with the state legislature on tax bills that affect our city.
Council Comments
I am disappointed to report that the Nominating Committee promised at our first meeting this year will not be moving forward. The stated intent of such a committee was to create a more open process, to more purposefully solicit nominations for various boards and commissions, and to give recommendations to the full council on whom we thought would be best to fill those positions.Though this project will not come to fruition, I will continue my mission to make the nominating process more transparent and to ensure that we pull from Carmel’s robust talent pool.
As it stands now, Councilor Green is working with the city to improve the website so that more people see the applications. I will work to make sure that this is not just a cosmetic improvement, but will actually get the word out to Carmel’s best and brightest.
Library Board Annual Meeting
Xiao Ou Yuan, Library Board of Trustees City Council Appointee, and Bob Swanay, Library Director reported on the amazing work that library has done over the past year.
The library had over half a million visits in 2024!
Over the past few years, the library lowered the tax rate it received for its, taking only 3.14% of the city’s total tax rate in 2024.
The library can boast hundreds of programs for adults, children, teens, and homebound people.
The Exploration Lab is for children 7 and up, and features ‘exploration kits’ that teach STEAM concepts.
Teens can take advantage of an art studio, a chess tournament, online tutoring, and more.
Library guests of all ages can use other services like checking out technology such as camera kits, VHS digitization, and board games checkouts.
The library showed their commitment to sustainability by adding 552 solar panels in 2024 & I hope and support the addition of solar panels to the west branch in the village of west clay!
Hamilton Country remains the only county in the state without coverage from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The program sends every child, from birth to age 5, a book each month. The library is hard at work getting our residents full access to this program.
I have seen the value of such a program in my own practice and will be working to partner with the library to expand its adoption to Hamilton county!
Presentation from Ethics Board
Sergey Grechukhin gave a report from the Ethics Board, which reacts to complaints made against city employees.
I am happy to report that they received only one complaint in 2024!
The findings for this complaint are still being finalized and cannot not be shared publicly.
Resolutions & Ordinances
Resolution CC-02-03-25-08 & Resolution CC 02-17-25-03
Approved
These resolutions approve contracts between Carmel and the Carmel Fraternal Order of Police, and Carmel and Carmel Professional Firefighters Association that will be effective from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026.
The objectives of both contracts are to:
Provide competitive benefits and salary to improve retention.
Maintain parity between both contracts.
Make it more appealing to officers to apply for promotions.
Ensures an independent step and grade pay scale for sworn officers
Firefighters and Police Officers both spoke about how happy they are with these contracts and that there is already buzz around them.
There are several open positions on the police force; these changes will ensure Carmel’s Finest remains well-staffed.
Resolution CC-02-17-25-01
Sent to Land Use and Special Studies Committee
Authorizes the purchase of certain properties valued at more than $25,000.00 that are necessary for various road and multiuse path improvement projects
Bradley Pease, Director of Engineering, spoke to the Council about the resolution.
This resolution would allow the city to seek purchase approval from the Council for several properties at once instead of going to the Council separately for every property.
We as a council are concerned that the resolution would allow the City to purchase property without enough limitations. Please read the Land Use Meeting Summary for a larger discussion on this issue!
Resolution CC 02-17-25-02
Approved
This resolution will allow a permanent Carmel resident to use their dwelling as a short-term rental during these dates without obtaining a Special Exception permit.
The dates:
March 15-16
April 9-12 and 18-19
May 24-26
July 3-6 and 25-27
August 15-17 and 30-31
September 1 and 6-7
November 27-30 (these will likely be removed and replaced by October dates, per Mayor Finkham)
Exciting Things Are Happening In Carmel!
Library Foundations Library After Dark Event - Saturday, April 26th, 7-10pm
This is a great event to support the Carmel Library!
One of the best parts of this job is to hear from all the incredible people and institutions that make Carmel the best city in the country! If you’re unacquainted, I recommend heading to the library’s website to see all their excellent programs and resources.
Another of my favorite things is to mentor students and young adults as they find their passions and their voice! I am happy to have had the opportunity to do that last night at She L.E.A.D.S!
Though I’m disappointed that the Nomination Committee will not be going forward, I promise to use my position as City Councilor to push for transparency and attract the most qualified and best candidates to advise the City on its various boards and commissions.
Thank you for your continued faith in me,
Dr. Anita Joshi
If you have a fifth grade Carmel student who would like to give the mayoral update at a council meeting 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!
Sorry to hear about the Nominating Committee!