West Side Update - March 20, 2025

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! 

As part of my work as your City Councilor I toured the city’s Wastewater facility with Director Duffy and his team and learned amazing things about how Carmel Utilities is providing all of us with our most important resource, safe drinking water.

I am also excited to be serving on the planning committee for the first Carmel City Cherry Blossom Festival on May 4th from 1-4pm at the Kawachinagano Japanese Garden, adjacent to City Hall.  I hope you will all attend!

CITY COUNCIL MEETING UPDATES 03/17/25

Swearing-In Ceremony

Three new police officers, with excellent experience were sworn in tonight and we welcomed them to Carmel. 

Comments from Persons Who Wish to Address the Council

West side constituent Kay Gaither expressed her frustration and disappointment over the cancellation of the Nominating Committee. She said that even though this new Council has made it a point to enhance transparency, President Aasen announced that the Nominating Committee was dissolved with no prior conversation. She worries that this Council would become as opaque as previous Councils. As I’ve stated before, I regret that we were never able to form the Nominating Committee which I do believe will broaden and deepen the pool of those who would be appointed to serve. I hope to work towards making this process more open in the future. 

Mayoral Comments

Fifth grader Selina Rodda gave the Mayor’s report informing us about Mayor Finkham’s meetings with Indiana Representatives and Senators in DC to discuss opportunities to work together to keep Carmel safe. She also met with leaders from nearby communities about growing the local economy. Finally, Selina told us about Mayor Finkham’s conversation with the National League of Cities addressing housing challenges. 

Finance, Utilities, and Rules Committee Report

Councilor Taylor told us that the Finance Committee met with Fire Chief Joel Thacker and EMS Chief Andrew Young to discuss rates for ambulance fees and services. Thacker and Young will bring more information and data to the next meeting. As a city Councilor and physician I want to ensure that we are being reimbursed appropriately for the services we provide by insurances, including medicare and medicaid. Establishing appropriate rates to allow the fire department to recover some of the cost of services will allow them to deliver the best care possible to the people of Carmel.  My desire is to ensure that all people regardless of income or insurance coverage receive top notch care.

Land Use and Special Studies Committee Report

Council Snyder reported that the Land Use Committee is only a few weeks away from presenting a complete omnibus for the Unified Development Ordinance. The next item on their list is to work through the group home ordinance to make sure it is legal and as strong as possible; they hope to bring this to the Common Council Meeting soon. For more information about this ordinance, read the Land Use Meeting update on my blog!

Climate Action Advisory Committee

• Tony Reck, Climate Action Advisory Committee Chair, gave us a fascinating update on what Carmel is doing to become more sustainable, including:

  • Carmel-Clay libraries installing solar panels and implementing an energy efficiency program for library buildings

  • Carmel-Clay Parks & Recreations completing an energy savings evaluation as well as upgrading its HVAC, lighting, water flow, and bathroom systems 

  • Carmel Wastewater treatment plants installing solar panels, executing an air energy recovery system, and making lighting updates

• The Committee is also working on its public education programs

  • The Carmel Fall Climate Fellow put together a climate webpage to compile everything the city is doing to enhance sustainability. Please take a few minutes to look around this website; it has everything you need to know about how Carmel will get down to net zero emissions by 2050!

• Reaching out to the community for help

  • Mr. Reck informed us that some HOAs require their residents to water three, sometimes four times a week! The Committee will try to share data on best practices and how good results can be achieved with less water.

• Monitoring progress

  • Carmel Utilities will start monitoring irrigation on city sites & make adjustments that reduce water while still growing beautiful vegetation

  • Municipal buildings will report on energy usage via their monthly bills. The Committee will use that information to reduce the building’s carbon footprint. 

    • The head of Indianapolis' Office of Sustainability told the committee that Indy requires all buildings over 50k sq ft to report their carbon footprint

    • This is part of why Indy is now officially a sustainable city, a distinction that few cities have achieved. Mr. Reck believes this honor is well within Carmel’s reach.

• Remember, a lower carbon footprint isn’t just going to keep Carmel operational, beautiful, and safe in the years to come, but it will also save us money!

Resolutions & Ordinances

Ordinance D-2766-25  APPROVED

• This ordinance appropriates $17,600 from the General Fund to the 2025 Marketing and Community Relations Budget to pay for a part-time employee to cover a current employee on FMLA leave. 

• This will pay someone $20/hr for 20 hours a week from now to the end of the year to ensure continuity during this busy events season

• The city is still working on making changes to FMLA, parental leave, and PTO to make sure Carmel can attract and retain the best talent  

Resolution CC-03-17-25-01 APPROVED

• This will transfer $5,000 from the Grant Fund into the Ambulance Capital Fund to help reimburse the purchase of a LUCAS device. 

• These incredible devices provide mechanical chest compressions to a patient in cardiac arrest. The Fire Department would like one for each ambulance. 

• Fire Chief Thacker said the LUCAS device is like “adding another person on an emergency scene.” 

  •  He also said that they improve Carmel FD’s Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSK) rate, reestablishing a patient’s heartbeat after cardiac arrest. 

  • Manual CPR in Carmel had a 28% ROSK rate, which is approximately  the national average. LUCAS enabled them to get up to a 59% ROSK rate!

Resolution CC-03-17-25-02  APPROVED

• This will transfer $6,360.80 from the Grant Fund to the General Fund. 

• The Fire Department applied to and earned grant funds from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security for a mobile-integrated health program 

  • Carmel FD submitted Steady Step: The Journey to Fall-Free Living to lower the amount of seniors experiencing falls

  • Out of 6,000 emergency calls they get yearly, 1,100 are fall-related 

•  Chief Thacker also mentioned that the Department is working on getting grant funds to pay for retrofitting fire stations to protect our firefighters from carcinogens

If you watched the video of the meeting, you noticed that my fellow Councilor Shannon Minnar was having technical difficulties. She was away on a birthday vacation and attended virtually, but we could not hear her audio, which meant her votes couldn’t be recorded. I was happy to help Councilor Minnar by calling on the phone. This is bipartisanship at its best—helping each other to do our jobs for the betterment of Carmel!

I want to wish everyone a happy Spring, Holi, Easter, Purim, Nowruz, and joyous Eid! Whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, we all are looking forward to warmer weather, colorful flowers and of course our fabulous festivals and events. Don’t forget to attend the first ever Carmel City Cherry Blossom Festival on May 4, 2025 from 1-4pm at the Kawachinagano Japanese Garden.

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, 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!