On the agenda: Indianapolis Minutes — Data Center (Aug 26)

Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization
Transportation Policy Committee Meeting
Minutes April 15, 2026
9:00 a.m.
MIBOR 1912 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Committee Members
= Present

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(blank) = Absent

Boone County
Hancock County
Morgan County
Hamilton County
Hendricks County
Johnson County
Shelby County
Town of Avon
Town of Bargersville
City of Beech Grove
Town of Brooklyn
Town of Brownsburg
City of Carmel
Town of Cicero
Town of Cumberland
Town of Danville
City of Fishers
City of Franklin
City of Greenfield
City of Greenwood
City of Indianapolis
Hamilton County
Morgan County

Nick Parr
Gary Pool
Justin Schneck
Mark Heirbrandt
Eric Wathen
Luke Mastin
Desiree Calderella
Ryan Cannon
Dax Norton
James Coffman
Karen Howard
Shawn Pabst
Mike Hollibaugh
Chad Amos
Ben Lipps
Mark Morgan
Hatem Mekky
Steve Barnett
Glen Marrow
Mark Myers
Nathan Sheets
Bradley Davis
Kyle Swalls

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City of Lawrence
Town of McCordsville
Town of Mooresville
Town of New Palestine
City of Noblesville
Town of Pittsboro
Town of Plainfield
City of Southport
Town of Speedway
City of Westfield
Town of Whiteland
Town of Whitestown
Town of Zionsville
IndyGo
CIRTA
INDOT
Indianapolis Airport Authority
Ports of Indiana
FHWA
FTA
IDEM
City of Beech Grove
INDOT

James Perron
Ryan Crum
Mark Mathis
Stephen Pool
Matt Light
Steve Maple
Andrew Klinger
Jim Cooney
Grant Kleinhenz
John Nail
Kevin McGinnis
Carmen Young
Lance Lantz
Ryan Wilhite
Jennifer Gebhard
Valerie Cockrum
Drew Genneken
Jody Peacock
Erica Tait
Cecilia Crenshaw
Shawn Seals
Tim Cochran
Amy Groff

Others Present
Anna Gremling – Indianapolis MPO
Sean Northup - Indianapolis MPO
Andrea Miller – Indianapolis MPO
Annie Dixon – Indianapolis MPO
Kristyn Sanchez – Indianapolis MPO
Jen Higginbotham – Indianapolis MPO
Jennifer Krull – Indianapolis MPO
Steve Cunningham – Indianapolis MPO
1.

Laura Drascic – Indianapolis MPO
Patrick Tamm – Ice Miller
Kate Zales - EMCS
Stacie Conner – VS Engineering
Jason Koch – WSP
Mark St. John – Indianapolis DPW
Abbi Raven – Ice Miller

WELCOME
Mayor Myers called the meeting to order at 9:00am and asked attendees to introduce themselves.

ITEMS FOR RECOMMENDATION
2.

MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 18, 2026, MEETING MINUTES
Mayor Meyers asked for corrections to the minutes and heard none.

Member
City of Beech Grove
Hamilton County
City of Greenwood
Town of Plainfield
City of Lawerence
City of Franklin

Result
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve

Member
Town of Danville
Town of Zionsville
Hendricks County
Town of McCordsville
Town of Avon
City of Indianapolis

Result
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve

Member
City of Noblesville
City of Westfield
Town of Whitestown
CIRTA
IndyGo

Result
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve

James Perron moved to approve the minutes from February18, 2026.
Ryan Wilhite second the motion. A voice vote was conducted.
The minutes were approved.
MOTION PASSES

3.

TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AMENDMENTS
Kristyn Sanchez presented the proposed 2nd Qtr. Amendments to the 2026-2029 Transportation Improvement
Program. The amendments will be offered for public review and comments from April 3rd until April 13th.
Comments welcomed in person during April 15, 2026, public hearing at the Transportation Policy Committee
meeting, or at two virtual pre-hearings planned for April 13th. There were no comments received. The IMPO
received 20 INDOT amendment requests and 23 local amendment requests. One local amendment affects the
IMPO’s annual allocation. The City of Indianapolis is proposing to reduce the scope of the County Line Rd
project from Depot to Woodcreek and delay the project from SFY 2027 to 2028. The project is programmed as
a widening project going from 2 to 5 lanes and now, they propose a reduced scope to make it a 3-lane section

Mayor Meyers opened a public hearing, heard no comments, and closed the public hearing.
Member
Result
Member
Result
Member
City of Beech Grove
Approve
Town of Danville
Approve
City of Noblesville
Hamilton County
Approve
Town of Zionsville
Approve
City of Westfield
City of Greenwood
Approve
Hendricks County
Approve
Town of Whitestown
Town of Plainfield
Approve
Town of McCordsville
Approve
CIRTA
City of Lawerence
Approve
Town of Avon
Approve
IndyGo
City of Franklin
Approve
City of Indianapolis
Approve
James Perron moved to approve Resolution 2026-IMPO-04.
Jennifer Gebhard second the motion. A voice vote was conducted.
Resolution 2026-IMPO-04 approved.
MOTION PASSES

Result
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve
Approve

4.

TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM – RECOMMENDED PROJECTS

Kristyn Sanchez presented the SFY 2029 Call for Projects recommendations. The recommended award list
includes 18 projects from 9 local public agencies totaling $76.2M in awarded funds for construction in SFY 2029.
No comments or questions were received from the committee or public. Wilhite asked if the MPO tracks cost
changes in projects for funds to capture any trends? Anna Gremling stated the projects have come in lower than the
contracted amount. Sanchez stated there is a report that is run at the end of the year which captures this information.
Mayor Meyers opened a public hearing, heard no comments, and closed the public hearing.

James Perron moved to approve Resolution 2026-IMPO-05.
Ryan Wilhite second the motion. A voice vote was conducted.
Resolution 2026-IMPO-05 approved.
MOTION PASSES

STATUS UPDATES
5.

TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM – SCORING REVISION UPDATE

6.

END OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION RECAP

Anna Gremling introduced Abbi Raban and Patrick Tamm with Ice Miller. They discussed the end of session recap
for the committee. HEA 1001 Housing Matters was a House Republican priority bill aimed at bringing more
housing to market in Indiana and help make it more affordable. As introduced, the bill would have created broad
new preemptions around local authority to plan and zone housing projects to compel higher-density development
strategies and lower costs for housing developers. It would have preempted density, setbacks, and parking
ordinances that would have had a wide-ranging impact. HEA 1001 also included in its earlier form new restrictions
on impact fees, which are used to defray the infrastructure costs associated with increased residential development in
a community without raising taxes on citizens. HEA 1200 BMV INDOT will NOT need to report to the state budget
committee on all change orders to existing contracts. Variable Speed Limits: prohibits INDOT from implementing
variable speed limits or using electronic speed limit signs. The legal driving age changes driver's license from 16
years and 90 days to 16 years of age. CDL requirements- requires that for an individual to operate a commercial
motor vehicle the individual to demonstrate sufficient proficiency of the English language. The final version of this
bill was significantly scaled back, it removed the sections preempting local zoning authority and scaled back the
restrictions on impact fees, replacing it with a requirement that each city, town, and county that exercises zoning
control hold a public hearing by the end of 2026 to review their development ordinances. HEA 1210 Department
of Local Government Finance is a large local government bill making changes to local units and their financial
operations. Short-term Rentals - Ordinance Prohibition: prohibits a local unit from adopting or enforcing an
ordinance, resolution, regulation, policy, or rule that prohibits a property owner from using the property as a rental
property. Short Term Rental Definition: amends the definition of "short term rental" to specify that certain private,

owner-occupied businesses are excluded from that definition. Data Centers - Requires certain qualified data center
users to enter into an agreement with local officials before the qualified data center user may use a specific
transaction award certificate and requires that a qualified data center submit up to 1% of exempted sales tax on
electricity bills. SEA 179 INDOT NEPA Assignment: allows INDOT to assume the responsibilities and duties of the
United States Department of Transportation with respect to certain federal environmental laws. INDOT expects this
will save time on environmental studies by not having to use the Federal Government for the approval
process. Wheel Tax: prohibits the stacking of the wheel tax for counties/municipalities. Single Trip Overweight
Truck Permits: provides that a single trip overweight truck permit is valid for only 5 days from the date it is issued.
Prior law did not state a specific time limit. SEA 285 Housing Matters prohibits “street camping.” The legislation
prohibits an individual from camping, sleeping, or using for long term shelter land owned by the state or a political
subdivision, unless the land has been authorized for that use by law. It requires law enforcement who discovers a
person unlawfully using the land for unlawful camping, sleeping, or long-term shelter, to determine if there are
reasonable grounds for an emergency detention of the person, and, if reasonable grounds exist, to proceed under the
emergency detention procedure and not the criminal law.

OTHER BUSINESS
7.

BASICS ACT

8.

IMPO CERTIFICATION UPDATE

9.

FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION

10. BIG CHECKS
11. ADJOURNMENT
James Perron moved to adjourn the February 18, 2026, Transportation Policy Committee meeting.
Ryan Wilhite seconded the motion. A voice call was conducted.
The February 18, 2026, Transportation Policy Committee meeting was adjourned.
MOTION PASSES.