Dispute Erupts Over Road Funding Between Hamilton County and Town of Sheridan

Tensions have escalated between the town of Sheridan and Hamilton County officials over road funding responsibilities. Sheridan leaders feel they are being unfairly treated compared to other neighboring communities.

Silas Devaney, President of the Sheridan Town Council, expressed frustrations regarding the county's lack of investment in local infrastructure.

"It’s been very clear ever since the November election that there won’t be a dime spent in this community by the commissioners," he said.

The debate centers on the state of 236th Street in Adams Township, a road that the city of Sheridan argues is in dire need of repairs. However, County Commissioner President Steven Dillenger made it clear that funding would not be available to address the road's issues.

"We're not going to be giving you money to fix your roads when we don’t do that with the other municipalities," Dillenger stated.

The underlying issue stems from Sheridan's recent decision to reorganize and annex Adams Township away from the county, an agreement made last fall that effectively doubled the town's population.

"We're the second largest community landmass in Hamilton County now next to Carmel," Devaney noted. Commissioner Dillinger emphasized that the town must comply with the same financial rules as other municipalities, adding that he warned Sheridan and Adams township residents of the drawbacks of reorganization.

"I was very vocal telling them, if you go along with this, then you have to fall in like the big boys of Carmel and Fishers and Noblesville and Westfield, and we'll treat you exactly like that," he explained.

Sheridan leaders disagree, claiming that the county has helped neighboring communities with their road projects. "They told us multiple times they wouldn't enter into interlocal agreements, but I think the road project at Oleo Road is not in their jurisdiction. I think part of 146th Street is," Devaney explained.

"There's interlocals all over the place and now they've just come back and asked us to enter into an interlocal on Dunbar Road for the mere fact of a development that they could use."

The impasse leaves both sides at a standstill, with no clear resolution in sight.

"I can't do things for them that I don't do for the other cities," explained Dillinger

Devaney lamented the situation, emphasizing that the taxpayers in Sheridan are not being treated fairly compared to their counterparts in other parts of Hamilton County.

"We're in the northwest corner of the county, but we're still part of the county," he said.