The City of Fishers has started a process to annex property in the Geist and Fortville areas adjacent to Hancock and Madison counties. The areas proposed for annexation are, roughly, between Cyntheanne Road and the county line from E. 101st Street to E. 113th, with some land outside those roads.

During a phone interview June 25, Mayor Scott Fadness said there has been a longtime understanding that those areas eventually would be annexed by the city. The developers of the Vermillion and Flat Fork neighborhoods, for example, agreed during the development process that the properties would fall under a waiver so future owners couldn’t legally object to annexation.

“You’ve basically forfeited your ability to remonstrate, because we all agree we’re doing this. It’s just delayed,” Fadness said. “This one was delayed because it wasn’t contiguous. Finally, Fishers grew out to the point where we were surrounding these properties. It now makes sense for us to move forward with the annexation.”

Fadness said the proposed annexation area includes about 950 parcels and about 75 percent of those have waivers attached. The other 25 percent of property owners could still object.

As a first step in the process, a series of six public meetings is planned to provide details for residents. According to information from the city, an annexation ordinance will go to the Fishers City Council at a later time.

The public outreach meeting schedule is:

2 to 4 p.m. July 22 at Fishers Fire Department Station 96, 15263 E. 104th St.
4 to 6 p.m. July 23 at Fishers Fire Department Station 96
Noon to 2 p.m. July 24 at the Fishers Municipal Center Theater, 1 Municipal Drive
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. July 29 at the Fishers Municipal Center Theater
9 to 11 a.m. July 30 at the Fishers Municipal Center Theater
4 to 6 p.m. July 31 at the Fishers Municipal Center Theater

Fadness said annexing the area would bring residents into the city who already use city services.

“These are folks that go to our school system. These are folks that use our public roads. These are folks that enjoy our park system,” he said. “We believe that it makes a lot of sense for us all to be one community. It also allows them the opportunity to vote for their local elected officials and their municipalities. So, in general, we believe that bringing all these under one governmental entity that provides the majority of services makes a large degree of sense, both for current Fishers residents and hopefully these folks that will hopefully be future Fishers residents.”

Fadness estimated about 2,300 to 3,000 people live in the proposed annexation area. The population of Fishers currently is about 105,000.

For more, visit fishersin.gov/annexation