Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett gives his annual State of the City address during the Franklin Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet Thursday at the Garment Factory.
Gary Brockman | For the Daily Journal
In Franklin’s bicentennial year, the city is growing with no sign of stopping.
That growth, however, continues to be controlled and measured, said Mayor Steve Barnett in his 7th State of the City address.
In the 200 years since Franklin’s founding the city has grown from 250 people and 40 acres to over 25,000 and over 9,800 acres, Barnett said in a proclamation officially designating this the bicentennial year.
Barnett went over economic development and quality of life accomplishments from 2022 and talked about his administration’s plans for this year and beyond. Barnett has not been challenged in May’s Republican primary and, so far, no Democrats have filed to run against him in the November general election.
The Franklin State of the City was given at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting held on Thursday. A live stream of the event can be viewed on the city’s Facebook page.
2022 accomplishments
City employees are who really make things happen, from department heads down to part-time employees, Barnett said.
“I’m going to tell you there are no weak links in our departments,” Barnett said. “The city’s best asset is our employees.”
Barnett emphasized the city’s priority on public safety. Franklin’s $27 million budget includes an $18.8 million general fund spending budget that has $11 million earmarked for public safety.
“So, I think that’s proving that the city council and I believe that public safety is our number one priority, and we’re gonna work with that challenge,” he said.
Though only one new officer was hired in 2022, three will be added in 2023, Barnett said. Franklin police responded to 14,000 police incident reports and made 700 arrests, including 273 drug-related arrests, in the last year. The fire department responded to 5,000 fire dispatch calls, including 109 fire-related, 140 vehicle accidents and 435 medical emergencies.
One of Barnett’s proudest public safety accomplishments for the year was finally getting started on a renovation of Franklin Fire Station No. 21, a project that Barnett has been working toward for about six years now, he said. When funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, became available, the remodel to include private sleeping rooms and an additional restroom facility for the station was an obvious choice, he said.
Another ARPRA project underway is a $3.5 million wastewater screening building, which is being built to filter out unflushable items that are flushed down the toilet, such as flushable wipes and feminine products. These items are not able to be processed by the wastewater facility and have caused costly repairs.
Youngs Creek Park and the DriveHubler.com Amphitheater are the most obvious accomplishments for 2022, though the park was years in the making. Barnett said it has been a joy to see the success of the new park and thanked the six naming rights sponsors and 26 event sponsors and encourage people to give back by shopping small with those businesses. It is because of those sponsors, who gave over $200,000, that concerts have been free for residents and visitors to enjoy.
“It’s not just the amphitheater stage. I really get excited when I see the addition of the all-inclusive playground that I see that filled up every day here — that’s amazing,” Barnett said. “And the Mutual Savings Bank shelters, the American Water Foundation sprinklers, the Paris Trailhead bridge, the Rotary Club benches, the pickleball courts and the Branigin Foundation and Marty and Carolyn Williams Farmers Market area.”
Development marches on
There was no shortage of new developments announced last year and Barnett said the crew on city hall’s third floor — lead by Community Development Director Krista Linke, Community Development Specialist Dana Monson, Senior Planner Joanna Tennell and City Engineer Mark Richards — are the people who deserve the credit for it.
“These talented individuals have at hand in every single project within the city ..,” Barnett said. “On the third floor of city hall, they lead the way on my journey to excellence. They are the true leaders of getting us down the road.”
After Cooper Tire moved to Whiteland’s Mohr development for a larger building in 2021, their warehouse at State Road 44 and Interstate 65 in Franklin sat empty for over a year. The building is filled again with two tenants taking up the space, with one being Amazon, Barnett said. Dispelling a rumor, Barnett underscored that the building was current on taxes throughout the process and the owner took advantage of the building being vacant to invest in the space during the tenant search.
Ribbons were cut on 23 new businesses in 2022. Significant growth included a Target distribution center being announced as the tenant for a 950,000-square-foot building at State Road 44 and Forest Road, Astral at Franklin opening, and expansion projects for IBC Advanced Alloys and Aisin.
Hubler Ford Franklin is also expanding, and the dealership owners are building a commercial building. Panera Bread and Noodles and Company have pulled building permits for the space. Brad’s Car Wash is already open at the site at U.S. 31 and Simon Road.
Many speculative buildings and over 1,000 homes and hundreds of apartments are planned around the city, however, the growth is controlled, Barnett said. Four speculative buildings are under construction currently and 151 homes were built last year. A total of 893 have been built in the city since 2017.
Controlled growth is the trajectory Barnett plans to keep the city on, with help from the city council and city employees, he said.
“We were running out of lots and there were subdivisions that are starting to fall into place. And everybody thought they’d wake up one day that 1,900 new homes and what are we going to do with all the traffic? We’ve averaged about 150 homes since 2017. And I think we’ll probably stay close to that place,” Barnett said. “So, we’re not growing super fast. And that’s something I know the city council and myself, we want to grow responsibly.”
Assessed values in the city increased 19.48% in 2022, for an increase of 53.96% since 2017. The tax rate fell from 3.161 to 3.062.
2023 goals
About $17 million in city projects are planned in Franklin this year, with work already underway or to be later this spring and summer. Barnett released his annual list of projects last month to the city council and the public and spoke about them again during the address on Thursday.
About $17 million are expected to be completed around the city this year.
Projects range from the $4.01 million Yandes Street reconstruction to a $2,000 project to finish building a brick wall at Main Street and Jefferson Street. Big or small, the projects are planned to address infrastructure in areas all over the city.
Up to $2.5 million will be spent to repair streets across the city as part of the annual road maintenance program. This amount will depend on the city getting $1 million from the annual Community Crossings Matching Grant program, Barnett said.
A roundabout is planned to be built this summer at Commerce Drive and Simon Road to ease traffic flow and improve safety at Franklin Community High School. The plan is for the roundabout to be built entirely over the summer, with work to begin after the current semester ends and before the next school year begins, Barnett said. The $1.6 million roundabout will also have an art piece that was commissioned by the Franklin Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council.
A new sidewalk is also planned on East Jefferson Street for a construction and inspection cost of about $910,0000. The project will add sidewalks in an area where there are none and will connect the Jefferson Meadows neighborhood to the existing city trail system.
Several projects are planned because of expected development, including repaving on County Road 600 East, Earlywood Drive and Paul Hand Boulevard. For an expected cost of $2 million, Graham Road will also be extended using $500,000 from a developer and $650,000 from the state’s READI grant.
A new stoplight entirely funded by a developer is also being installed this spring on Jim Black Road and construction on the city’s westside sewer interceptor will begin.
The future
Major infrastructure projects are planned in the coming years both by the city and Indiana Department of Transportation. This includes the U.S. 31 project, which will change the shape of the city’s big box retail district by adding a series of reduced conflict intersections. The project is set to begin in 2024, with bids to be let this year.
The city is also planning to build new roundabouts at Earlywood Drive and Graham Road, and Paul Hand and Graham Road in 2024 to prepare for development in the area, Barnett said. Road work and a project to straighten out S-turns on Graham Road are also planned for these roads in the coming years. The development is to include at $258 million logistic park to be built by German company DHL and a $70 million speculative cold storage building to be built by Idaho-based Cold Summit.
City officials and tourism partners are also working on plans to celebrate at 3 p.m. on April 8, when Franklin will be in the path of a total eclipse. Barnett said this will be a huge boost to tourism, but will also call for a large public safety presence to move traffic safely around the city before and after the eclipse.
In coming years, Barnett looks forward to Hurricane Road improvements, the second phase of the west side interceptor, an Active Adult Center renovation, development of new outdoor sports fields, a future roundabout at State Road 44 and County Road 600 East, a sewer plant expansion and continued planning work to make the case to add an I-65 interchange to Earlywood Drive.
