GUO Board News

On December 31, 2008 Superior Court Judge Nation ruled in favor of the Town of Fishers and ordered that the annexation of the Geist area take place.

Obviously, no one in the annexation territories is happy about this ruling.

Basically, the judge ruled that we did not prove our case under section IC 36-4-3-13(e) of the annexation law other than we do receive adequate police protection from the Sheriff’s Department and Hamilton County maintains our roads. Evidently, in the judge’s view, we did not prove the other elements of 13(e)—we won’t publicly comment on the particulars at this point due to our pending appeal.

What’s Next? Obviously, we want to appeal the ruling. But, what we do specifically is up to each of you. By appealing, at a minimum, we move the case into next year; as you recall, Fishers cannot annex us in 2009 as it is the year before the decennial census. This would delay annexation—if we lose the appeal—into 2010. If we win, then they can’t try again for four years after the appeal ruling.

Why is it up to you? It will likely cost about $15,000 to go through the appeal process. Thus, we need to collect $15,000 to undertake the process. We will start the filing procedure, but to move forward we simply need the money.

By now you know: www.SayNoToFishers.com, click “Donate Now”; Geist United Opposition, P.O. Box 56023, Indianapolis, IN 46256.

Happy New Year from the GUO

Despite not prevailing at the Superior Court level:

We want to wish each and everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

One the whole, we all have much to be thankful for and we all look forward to a brighter 2009, hoping that it brings us peace, economic recovery, and the joys of family and friends.

Happy New Year!

It was November 17, 2005 when the Fishers Town Council announced their intention to annex the Geist area into the Town of Fishers. As we recall, Scott Faultless, Town Council President, said Geist would welcome Fishers with open arms. Well, their extreme arrogance continues, but so does our battle.

A week from today, November 24th, our day in court begins. We’ve held off this unjust and unwanted forced annexation for three years almost to the date of our court date. Win or lose, we’ve shown the Town Council that we simply will not bow to their dictates. We are ready, willing, and able to take them on.

Win or lose, with appeals, etc. we will probably hold them off for another year or two (if not longer). So, thanks to the efforts of a lot of people–block captains, neighborhood coordinators, people willing to go door-to-door to collect money and get remonstrance petitions signed, people attending (and contributing generously at) fund-raising events, and everyone who donated money to the cause–we have all saved thousands of dollars in additional (and unnecessary) property taxes and, more importantly, we’ve shown seven rather self-important people that we are a forced to be reckoned with.

And don’t forget, they’ve outspent us more than 10 to 1. Their citizens must be very proud, don’t you think?

Happy Anniversary to all of us and congratulations to all of us! See you in court next week.

In case you missed it, there was an article in the Thursday, October 23rd, Fishers Star on the zoning issue between Fall Creek Township and the Fishers Town Council.  The link is:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081023/LOCAL0102/810230306/1175/LOCAL0102

As you will note from the article, there will be a referendum on the ballot November 4th that is worded in a rather confusing manner:  “Shall the township withdraw from joinder with the City of Noblesville for planning and zoning purposes?”

While we’re not suggesting how you might vote, here’s a little background.

Back when the Beatles were a new group (1964), Fall Creek Township entered into an agreement with the City of Noblesville giving the city control over zoning in the unincorporated areas of the Township (including the Geist area).  This is the joinder agreement.

In 2004 (McCartney still on tour), Noblesville agreed to let the Town of Fishers take over zoning for the area—ostensibly because Fishers was closer (and who knows what else may have gone on behind the scenes).  Nonetheless, Fishers was supposed to follow Noblesville’s zoning rules for unincorporated Fall Creek Township, but instead they enforced their own, stricter zoning rules.  And, it appears that the joinder agreement was never formally executed.

This year, a number of township residents challenged the issue and were successful in getting a public referendum on the issue so the residents can decide.

A YES vote cancels the joinder agreement with Noblesville, which, in turn, cancels Noblesville’s agreement with Fishers—the result is zoning control will go to the county.  A No vote allows Fishers to retain zoning control over Fall Creek Township (unincorporated).

As reported in the article, part of the process included the formation of two study committees:  one by the Township and one by the Town; both had residents from the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the township.  The Town’s committee concluded that the zoning should remain with the Town (surprise!); the Township’s committee—which actually held a public forum on the topic—concluded the zoning should go back to the county.

The decision now lies in the hands of the voters.

We are still scheduled for trial Monday through Wednesday, November 24th – 26th, Hamilton County Superior Court #1 (Judge Nation), Hamilton County Courthouse, Noblesville.  Our attorney, Steve Buschmann, thinks that Monday and Tuesday will be long days in order to have a shorter day on Wednesday (so that the court staff won’t have to stay late the day before Thanksgiving).  Initially, there was some chance that the trial might start the preceding Saturday, but it’s not likely that will happen.

So far, due to the outstanding efforts of our block captains and neighborhood coordinators, we have raised about $20,000 toward our goal of $50,000.

Keep those checks coming or contribute online at www.SayNoToFishers.com, “Donate Now”.  Checks should be payable to Geist United Opposition and mailed to P.O. Box 56023, Indianapolis, IN 46256.

If you signed the remonstrance but have not contributed financially, you are asking us to fight your fight for you but you won’t give us any bullets for battle—even though we’ve already saved you the cost of those bullets many times over.

The Geist area remonstrators fighting the forced annexation of our property by the Fishers Town Council are headed to court.

We are scheduled for trial in Hamilton County Superior Court #1 (Judge Nation) on November 24 – 26 (Thanksgiving week).  The trial may start on Saturday, November 22nd unless the lawyers for both parties can stipulate that they can complete the trail in 3 days.  We can agree to that, but we’re not sure about all of the lawyers and different law firms the Town Council is using.

Nonetheless, as you probably know by now, we are being out spent 10:1 by the Town Council.  They’ve chalked up $1.2 million so far (since only 2007) of their taxpayers’ money; evidently, this is an unlimited resource thanks to the heretofore unacknowledged (and perhaps unknown) generosity of their taxpayers.

We certainly don’t need $1.2 million; we do need $50,000 for attorney and expert witness fees.

If you signed the remonstrance petition against the forced annexation of your property, you told us to go to court to fight this.  If you signed the remonstration petition against the forced annexation of your property and have not contributed to the legal fund, then you are hamstringing your own efforts!  We can’t continue the fight without money!

If nothing else, we’ve all saved thousands of dollars in additional property taxes since this all started in 2005.  If nothing else, trial holds them off even longer.

Don’t think your neighbors can pay for this all by themselves.  There is no investor angel in the wings.  Contribute NOW!

Click “Donate Now” above to donate online.  Or, send a check to GUO, PO Box 56023, Indianapolis, IN 46256.

Thank you very much!

Please plan to attend one of the two homeowners’ meetings next week hosted by the GUO at the Indianapolis Yacht Club, 7:00p – 8:00p.  Come either Tuesday, October 7th or Wednesday, October 8th.

Two important topics for discussion:

• Annexation trial November 24 – 26, Hamilton County Superior Court:  Geist annexation remonstrators vs. almost all of the larger law firms in Indiana.
• Fundraising:  ‘cause we’re up against almost all of the larger law firms Indiana—the best legal talent that $1.2 million taxpayer dollars can buy.

We will do our best to answer questions regarding recent events.

We will discuss our exact financial status—and we’ve not done too badly given we’ve been outspent 10:1—and what we need to continue on to trial.

We need your help with fundraising:  we want your ideas, we want your help!

See you next week!

Today, August 21st, Judge Nation, Hamilton County Superior Court, ordered the Town of Fishers and the Geist remonstrators (against the forced annexation) into mediation to settle the lawsuit prior to trial.

Settlement negotiations are to take place before a court-appointed mediator on September 11, 2008.  The court expects the GUO to serve as the agent representing the remonstrators; the Fishers Town Council will, of course, represent the Town. We have learned that the meeting, at least in part, will be a meeting the public can attend, but probably not a public meeting at which the public may speak (details are still being worked out).

So here’s the deal:  We have no choice but to enter into mediation as the COURT has ORDERED that we do so.

But, in order for the GUO to serve as the agent representing the remonstrators and to comply with the court order, we will need a large number of those who signed to remonstration (anti-annexation) petition to sign another document giving the GUO the authority to do so.  This is because the GUO is simply a volunteer group that has helped to organize our remonstration efforts, we are not elected or otherwise empowered to represent the remonstrators in matters like this.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be holding a series of meetings at which we will do our best to explain the situation and ask for your signatures once again, if you want us to represent you.  Sorry for the short notice, but this just happened.

Our lawyers tell us that court ordered mediation often occurs in lawsuits and the judge fully expects that a settlement will be reached.  However, if a settlement is not reached, although the parties have negotiated in good faith, then the trial will proceed (scheduled for October 1 – 3, 2008).

Let us be clear:  the judge expects that good faith negotiations will take place; we cannot undermine the mediation process simply to force the matter into trial (that could be viewed as contempt of court).

You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much communication from the GUO lately; this is because of the lawsuit (against the annexation)—our lawyers pretty much put a gag order on us in order to avoid any possible complications.  Behind the scenes a lot of legal stuff has been happening (e.g., depositions are underway), but nothing until this point worthy of announcement.

Stay tuned for announcements on meeting dates, places, and times.

Thank you to everyone who attended the SOS fundraiser and helped to make it such a success! The d.j. was great and got people out on the dance floor after the live auction was over…with the help of some of those SOS drink specials! Also, thank you to Jeff and George who helped create a lively auction for those Colts tickets!!! As always, Ron and Connie Cruthers and the Indianapolis Yacht Club created a wonderful setting for the night. Thank you to everyone who donated the wonderful auction items too!

If you would like to see the pictures from the event, please go to our website at www.saynotofishers.com. If you have any questions about the auction items, please contact Rachel Quade at rachelquade@talktotucker.com.

Thank you again to everyone for making the night a success!!!

~The GUO Board~

The GUO is hosting a legal fund raising event on Friday, June 20th, from 7:00p until 11:00p, at the Indianapolis Yacht Club.

Tickets are $100 per person and $150 per couple.  The price includes 2 drink tickets (4 per couple), appetizers, entertainment, silent auction, and fun with neighbors and friends.

There is limited capacity, so don’t wait to get your reservation in.

Click on the “Donate Now” link to make your contribution of $100 (for one person) or $150 (for a couple) or more because you know how important this cause is.  Then, send us an e-mail at geist.united@yahoo.com letting us know who will be attending (please include your name, e-mail, and phone number; we’ll reconcile the list and send you a confirmation.

This is an important event and most necessary to help build up our legal fund.

If you would be willing to donate an item for the silent auction, please contact Rachel Quade at rachelquade@talktotucker.com. Thank you!

See you there!  SOS–Save-Our-Status!

The Geist United Opposition has updated their FAQ section of their website SayNOtoFishers.com to reflect the current issues facing unincorporated property owners around Geist Reservoir. Questions being answered include:

• Won’t tax reform make all this moot?
• Is annexation inevitable?
• What about SPORTS and parks?
• What about the Towns of Geist?
• Fishers promised me sewer connections if I don’t remonstrate?

Check out the answers to these and other pressing questions, click here.

On Monday, January 7th, Indiana State Senator Drozda introduced Senate Bill 114, co-authored by Senator Beverly Gard, that would significantly change Indiana’s annexation law for the better if the bill is passed into law by the General Assembly.

In particular, the bill eliminates forced annexation.  The only way a city or town could annex territory under this bill is if the majority of landowners agreed to be annexed.  And, if passed into law, the bill is retroactive and could help us in our current anti-annexation efforts against the Fishers Town Council-we will still to undertake remonstration, however.

This bill needs your support to get passed into law this legislative session.

The bill has been assigned to the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee for hearings.  If passed by the Committee, it would go before the full Senate for a vote and then onto the House.

As a first step, the Committee needs to pass the bill.

The Committee will be holding a public hearing next Wednesday, January 16th, at 1:00p in room 130 (track this link for possible changes to the meeting date, time, or location:   http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/calendars.html.

If possible, please attend this meeting and speak out in favor of passage of this bill.

You can also call and/or e-mail the senators on the Committee.  To e-mail, go to www.in.gov, click on the General Assembly link, click on the Legislators link, click on the How to Contact link, and click on each senator to e-mail.  The Committee members are:

Connie Lawson (R), Chair, Sue Landske (R), Phil Boots (R), Mike Delph (R), Dr. Gary Dillon (R), Thomas Wyss (R), Bob Deig (D), John Broden (D), Timothy Lanane (D), and Samuel Smith (D).

We will keep you up-to-date on the progress.

Fishers Town Council Meeting 1/22/08-Annexation Vote

We fully expect the Fishers Town Council to pass the Geist annexation ordinances at their next meeting on Tuesday, January 22nd, at 7:00p, at the Fishers Town Hall.

Nonetheless, plan to attend to voice your displeasure to the public and the media.  We need to make a significant noise to let the Council know that this action is wrong and we are ready for the battle.

The GUO will also be prepared with remonstration (anti-annexation) petitions for homeowners to sign immediately after the Council passes the ordinances.

To all Geist United Opposition volunteers: We need your participation in a door-to-door fund-raising canvas this Sunday, January 6th. Please plan to meet at Mama Bears, at the intersection of Fall Creek Road and Brooks School Road, at 11 AM on Sunday. We’ll form pairs and assign neighborhoods before we head out. You’ve heard it before from us and it’s still true: the game is on and the time to get involved is now. We need to get Geist residents to support our fight against forced annexation NOW! Please RSVP to this email to let us know you can help on Sunday.

Just a reminder that Saturday, December 1st is fundraising day.  Block Captains will be making the rounds in each neighborhood asking for contributions to our fight to defeat this latest attempt by the Fishers Town Council to forcibly annex us.

If annexed, each homeowner on average will pay over $1000 more each and every year in property taxes to Fishers.  So far, we’ve saved everyone an average of $2,000 because we’ve successfully held off annexation for just over two years.

10% of that savings—or $200 per household—is not much to ask and if everyone gives we should have adequate funding for our legal defense.

If you’ve given already—thank you!  If not, please do so; don’t let your neighbors carry this burden for you.

Block Captains also will be asking homeowners to sign petitions in favor of incorporation.  Forming the Towns of East & West Geist is a sound strategy to permanently defeat annexation by Fishers.

See you Saturday.

December 4th Public Hearing Delayed

As you probably saw in the e-mail blast on Monday or in the newspaper, the public hearing before the Hamilton County Commissioners on December 4th regarding the incorporation of the Towns of East & West Geist has been delayed (new date not yet determined).

The Fishers Town Council sued the County Commissioners in an effort to stop our incorporation.  On Monday, a short hearing was held at which Judge Nation stayed the public hearing until the question of jurisdiction is settled—that is, whether or not the filing for incorporation takes precedence over the Town’s attempt at annexation.  The petitioners for the incorporation agreed with the stay.  The court hearing on the issue will, hopefully, take place the week of December 10th.  After that, we’ll know.

Lake & Luxury Realty Contributes $500 to GUO

At the November 7th property owners meeting, Chad Roots and Eric Knipe of Lake & Luxury Realty Group pledged to support our fight against annexation with contributions from their proceeds (now through June 2008).

He said that based on their experience the higher property tax rates from forced annexation only hurts property values, and they want to do what they can to help keep that from happening.

We are very happy to report that we just received a check for $500 from Lake & Luxury.

Thanks very much to Chad and his business partner for their generous contribution. We encourage all area businesses to support the annexation fight and incorporation battle with a $500 or more contribution. We will add your company name and link to a new area of SayNOtoFishers.com which will be launched after January 1st.

FAQ Area Now on SayNOtoFishers.com

The GUO just launched a frequently asked questions area on the SayNOtoFishers.com website this week. It answers over 30 commonly asked questions by residents covering topics like estimated tax rates, Governor Mitch Daniel’s tax proposal impact, sewers, HSE schools, and the Hamilton County Planning Commission hearings.

If you have questions about the annexation or incorporation, visit our new frequently asked questions area on SayNOtoFishers.com!

In a special session of the Fishers Town Council this evening, board members voted to withdraw the four ordinances that would have forcibly annexed over 2,000 properties on Geist Reservoir.

That’s right, they called a ‘cease fire’ on Geist.

Fishers Town Council President Scott Faultless said “the Town wants to work with our neighbors in the Geist area to reach an amicable and fair resolution, voluntarily.”

“We have been fighting against involuntary annexations from the very beginning,” said Pete Peterson, President of the Geist United Opposition. “We strongly support the Fishers Town Council’s decision to withdraw their forced annexation bid for Geist.”

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/chuUGFKukFU" width="300" height="250" wmode="transparent" /]

While the decision to withdraw may be reason to cheer now, the residents of Geist have another battle looming on the horizon: voluntary annexation negotiations. Fishers intends on pursuing voluntary annexations amongst the neighborhoods via homeowners association and neighborhood meetings. These are the same types of meetings that the City of Carmel held with Southwest Clay residents that signed the NOAX referendum, negating their ability to remonstrate.

Put simply, if Fishers can get 36% of all the residents that were previously under the forced annexation crosshairs to sign a referendum or tax abatement deal, they can eliminate the Geist residents’ ability to remonstrate against a forced annexation. Why? Because in order to have your case heard by a judge in Hamilton County, residents must have 65% of the property owners sign a petition against the forced annexation. If Fishers gets 36% or more to sign in favor of a referendum, Geist can not reach that 65%.

As for the cease-fire called tonight, both sides can declare victory. Fishers residents avoid a long and costly legal battle which will inevitably end up in another Indiana Supreme Courtroom. The City of Carmel spent over $1 million on their Southwest Clay case alone. Geist residents have the cloud of forced annexation, four separate lawsuits, legal bills, and petition drives lifted at least temporarily. With the recent property tax hike that all Geist area residents were hit with, forcing another 20% increase on residents would have stirred an already angry hornet’s nest.

As for the Geist United Opposition the group plans to remain intact and continue to serve the residents of Geist.

“Until forced annexation is no longer a threat to our residents, we will continue to fight the fight,” said Peterson.

Geist United Opposition has worked diligently over the last 12 months trying to change the Indiana State statutes regarding forced annexation. Until the state laws are changed to disallow forced annexations or until Geist is incorporated into its own municipality, forced annexation will always be a viable threat.

Look for Fishers to promote the fact that they have three subdivisions (or 10% of the residents) in Geist that have already agreed to be voluntarily annexed. In each of these cases; however, sewers were the driving factor. Country Lane Estates, Forest Knoll, and Carefree were all built on septic systems that are starting to fail. Having a smelly swamp in your backyard will force you to do things you normally wouldn’t entertain. I’ll be anxious to see what they offer other neighborhoods in the area.

What will happen from here is anyone’s guess. I foresee stepped up incorporation activity by the unincorporated residents of Geist. They clearly see that one way or the other, Geist will be incorporated whether it is through voluntary annexation, forced annexation, or incorporation. Hopefully, the residents of Geist will come up with an alternative proposal to Fisher’s voluntary annexation proposal in the near future.

While Fishers may have temporarily denounced involuntary annexation, look for a new annexation tactic to be introduced: Coerced annexation.

Listen to the special podcast show on Geist Radio!

On Tuesday, November 14^th the GUO board unanimously voted to add Joe Weingarten to the board, replacing Tom Worthington.

Tom, an original member of the board and strong contributor to the anti-annexation effort, representing Area 1, asked to leave the board due to significantly increased business travel. He felt that he could not continue to contribute at the level he had given his new travel schedule, and thought GUO and the Geist Area would be better served if someone was able to take his place. He strongly endorsed Joe as his replacement.

Tom will be missed on the board, but will continue to support the cause behind-the-scenes.

Joe is a recent transplant to Indiana, coming from Ohio, and has been working as an adjunct to the board helping with strategy and communications. Joe, along with Ken Stank, represents Area 1. Welcome Joe!

If you’ve seen Geist United Opposition President Pete Peterson on the local news, speaking on behalf of the Geist residents caught in the Fishers annexation, you probably picked up on his East Coast accent. He’s not originally from Geist, not even Indiana. But Geist residents sure are glad he’s called this his home.

Pete’s path to Geist started in 1979 when he left his hometown of Cheshire, Connecticut, to attend Ball State University. “I wanted to be a landscape architect and be the next Robert Trent Jones designing golf courses,” Pete said. “A couple semesters later, I transferred into the School of Business. I didn’t like all the art.”

After graduating from Ball State, Pete moved – and moved a lot. Working for an automotive OEM firm, he migrated south to Nashville, Tennessee, up north to Chicago, back to Nashville, then to South Carolina with stints in Charlotte and Greenville, and finally to Santa Anna, California. It was in sunny southern California that Pete met his wife Robin, a native of Newport Beach.

“We lived in Newport for over 10 years, and I knew it wasn’t the place to raise our kids,” Pete explained. “Personal income tax was 11% in California, we couldn’t leave our kids out in the yard and there was no sense of community whatsoever. We only knew one neighbor and we lived there for 10 years! Everybody just stayed to themselves. We had our mind made up to move.”

A long weekend trip back to Indiana made the decision on where to move a little easier.

“Robin and I came back to Indy for a 40th birthday party in Grey Eagle,” Pete recalls. “We flew in on Thursday, looked at some houses on Friday and then went to the party with all my old friends from Ball State on Saturday. Come Sunday, Robin did not want to go back.”

Fraternity friend, custom homebuilder and host of the 40th birthday party Tom Grinslade built their home in Canal Place, and the Petersons made the big move in the fall of 2002. For Pete, it was the return to his old college stomping grounds. For Robin, it was her first bout with Indiana winters.

Life was going along well for the Petersons at Geist. That is. until they received a tax assessment last fall from Hamilton County.

“They were assessing my home for $300,000 more than what I paid for it! That really got under my skin.”

A few weeks later, Pete was talking to Cambridge resident Lisa Verona at the Fishers YMCA, where the discussion centered on the Fishers annexation of Geist. “She was telling me about an email she got from Mike Fisher (Cambridge resident), who was on the Geist United Opposition board. His email led me to Rachel Quade (also in Cambridge), and she invited me to come to one of their weekly meetings right after New Years.”

Pete was elected to the GUO board that evening, and within a few weeks he was elected as President of the organization. If you spend five minutes with Pete, you will understand why.

“I’ve got an English bulldog named Linus,” Pete said. “You know how bulldogs get when they have their sites set on something; they don’t let up on it. I’m a lot like Linus.”

His bulldog tenacity is contagious. Pete has been a visible and vocal opponent of the forced annexation of Geist by the Town of Fishers. In addition to leading the bi-weekly GUO meetings, he’s also helped orchestrate a fundraising campaign that has generated over $90,000 for the anti-annexation legal fund. Ironically, the Peterson’s home is only a couple hundred yards down the street from the President of the Fishers Town Council, Scott Faultless.

“It has been great getting to know all the other GUO board members and all the people I’ve met through this process,” Pete said. “This has really brought our community together and given us all an opportunity to meet our neighbors across the lake. I wanted to live somewhere where I would know my neighbors; I just never imagined it would come about this way.”

As the leader of the anti-annexation efforts, Pete also had some advice for Geist residents:

“Don’t fall asleep. Just because it appears as though nothing is going on, Fishers isn’t going to let this go away.”

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