The Fishers City Council on Dec. 16 approved R121624B, a resolution authorizing an interfund loan from the general fund to the Barrett Law fund so the city can complete two Barrett Law road improvement projects.

City Controller Lisa Bradford told the council the two projects — Barrett East and Barrett West, which cover business parks and adjacent commercial parcels on both sides of State Road 37 — have total improvements of about $1,600,000. Market interest in selling bonds for the small, privately secured assessments was low, Bradford said, so staff recommended the city temporarily loan the funds from the general fund and then be repaid by the property owners assessed under the Barrett Law process.

Bradford said the structure is intended to lower the financing cost for property owners and offer more flexible repayment options. She told the council the city has already received nearly $700,000 in prepayments from property owners. Under the loan plan, property owners would repay the city semiannually and the general fund would receive principal plus interest.

Councilors debated the loan term after Bradford’s presentation. Staff and councilors discussed 10-, 20- and 30-year options and amended the item to set the repayment schedule at 20 years with semiannual payments. The council opened a required public hearing; no members of the public spoke. The motion to approve the resolution as amended passed on a voice vote.

The resolution directs the city controller to appropriate the funds to the Barrett Law fund and to administer the installment-payment option for property owners. Bradford said the arrangement should produce a net-zero effect for the city over time (city lending the money, then being repaid by assessed property owners), while earning modest interest on temporarily loaned funds.

No roll-call vote or individual tallies were recorded in the meeting minutes.