Fishers City officials approved multiple items at a city meeting, including a $297,192 pergola adjacent to the Arts Municipal building, a contract to Blue Peak for a large winter event tent, a variance from the city sewer standards for a Rivian site and the declaration of a firearm as surplus for a retired officer now serving in a civilian role.

The approvals are intended to expand outdoor programming at the Arts Municipal complex, allow a single large tent for winter events and address a developer’s site constraint for an on-site sewer tie-in. The surplus declaration covers a firearm to be transferred to Officer Robert James after 23 years of service, the meeting record shows.

A staff member describing the pergola said the structure will sit on the north side of City Hall outside the arts center doors, measure about 30 feet wide and 60 feet long, and include overhead louvers that close to allow outdoor arts activities during rain events. The staff member said the structure will be black to match existing metal features, include overhead cam lighting and a heated guttering system to move water away from the structure. The staff member gave the total cost as $297,192. A motion to approve the pergola carried; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Eric Steiner, chief of staff for public works, described the winter event tent the city solicited quotes to install between the Arts Municipal building and the pavilion. Steiner said the tent will measure about 120 feet by 90 feet, will provide seating for approximately 450 people with a dance floor, stage and a catering area, and will include climate control, underground piping for floor vents, propane tanks and generators. Steiner said Blue Peak submitted the lowest responsive quote, another vendor from Detroit quoted roughly $220,000–$230,000, and a bidder called A Classic withdrew its submission. Steiner said the city plans to install the tent around Dec. 2–3 and that the tent will allow the city to stage consolidated winter programming rather than multiple small tents. The council approved awarding the contract to Blue Peak; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Jeremy Schmidt of the Department of Engineering presented a request for a variance from the city’s sewer standards for a Rivian site at 9700 Master’s Row (address as spoken in the record). Schmidt said the developer could not meet the standard because of site constraints and that the building as proposed would finish roughly one foot above an existing cast structure; he said he was “reluctantly supportive of the variance.” A motion approving the variance carried; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

On a separate item, the chief of police (name not recorded in the transcript) asked the city to declare a firearm with serial number 58J471507 surplus so it could be transferred to Officer Robert James after his retirement from sworn duty and his move into a civilian community safety officer position. The record states James served 23 years in public safety and that he will not be armed in the CSO role. A motion to declare the item surplus carried; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Votes at a glance: the pergola construction ($297,192) was approved; the contract award to Blue Peak for the winter event tent was approved; the sewer-standards variance for the Rivian site was approved; the firearm (serial number 58J471507) was declared surplus to be transferred to Officer Robert James. The transcript does not record individual yes/no vote tallies for these motions.

The meeting record did not specify funding sources for the pergola or the tent contract, and no public comment or formal conditions on the approved items were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. The meeting adjourned after the listed items.