Fishers City hears public comment on up to $15 million bond package for Thompson Thrift apartments

At a meeting of the Fishers City redevelopment commission, members conducted a public hearing and reviewed a resolution that would authorize the city to issue up to $15 million in bonds to help finance a Thompson Thrift multifamily development that is part of a roughly $70 million project.

Dustin Meeks of the law firm Barnes & Thornberg told commissioners, “what you have before you this afternoon is a resolution which approves the issuance of up to $15 million of bonds of the city as part of the overall investment by Thompson Thrift of $70 million in a multifamily project.” He said the package includes three documents: a bond ordinance to authorize issuance, a trust indenture governing debt service payments, and a financing agreement among the city, the redevelopment commission and the developer. Under the financing agreement, Meeks said, proceeds of the bonds would be loaned to Thompson Thrift, which would be responsible for repaying the loan; debt service also would be supported by tax increment revenues.

Commissioners were asked to conduct the public hearing and to decide whether to approve the resolution and the related documents. A staff member confirmed that the public hearing had been published in the newspaper, though the hearing line item did not appear on the meeting agenda. The chair asked Maggie, identified in the meeting as president, to open the public hearing and invite comments from attendees; the transcript records the opening of the hearing but contains no public comments.

Officials clarified procedural questions about voting: the resolution under consideration would cover approval of the report, the bond ordinance, the trust indenture and the loan/financing agreements as a single action. The transcript records procedural discussion about moving and seconding the resolution but does not include a recorded motion or roll-call vote on the resolution itself.

Next steps identified in the discussion: the financing documents reviewed by the commission will be considered by the common council, and the developer anticipates closing on the project bonds in August to begin construction thereafter. The transcript does not record a final decision by the commission at this meeting.

The meeting concluded after brief administrative items and confirmation of any needed signatures; no further substantive actions were recorded in the transcript.