Town of Merrillville – Ward 5
Happy New Year! 2021 was a little better than the crazy 2020, but not by much. Like all of you, I am looking forward to a new year! The 2021 & 2020 calendar years will certainly be inserting reading for our history books. We will hopefully have a much better 2022 and Merrillville is planning an aggressive year with many projects scheduled. Review below all that will be happening in our town this year.
Coming off of the terrible ‘COVID’ year of 2020, I was concerned that Merrillville would not get its momentum back, but I am pleased to report that the exact opposite occurred. We opened the new 84,000 square foot Dean and Barbara White Community Center to rave reviews, repaired and paved $5M worth of neighborhood streets fixing curbs and adding new handicapped ramps, completed the new 93rd Avenue project, completed 57th Avenue, welcomed major businesses to town like Midwest Truck and Auto Parts, an Amazon distribution center, Dominos supply chain warehouse (now under construction), Lamar Outdoor Advertising, all while celebrating Merrillville’s 50 year birthday! See below for other accomplishments I am pleased to share.
The Town Council hosted a Municipal Day for Merrillville Intermediate School fifth and sixth graders at the regular Town Council meeting on May 10, 2022.
Like the June 1970 released song by Stevie Wonder; “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)”, the Town Council this week at the regular meeting approved the
Senator Michael Griffin Deserves Your Vote There is one candidate that I am supporting in the upcoming Democratic Primary Election on May 3rd. Michael Griffin
Love them, or hate them, our Region will see more Roundabouts! Most of us that have not experienced driving on roundabouts may be skeptical about
If you are like us… last Fall fell fast on us and we didn’t even get all of our tree leaves raked and picked up
Merrillville Police Annual Report shows crime is DOWN in Merrillville! We recently received our annual Police Department Report, and it is good news for the
As the snow melts around town, it reveals the ugly grass, trees with no leaves, empty bushes, and everything brown before things start to bloom
Service Assistance Program – If you are a Veteran or Active-Duty military person (thank you for your service) that is struggling to pay past due
The election has been over for two years now. Thank you all for the overwhelming support and for casting your vote for me to represent you on the Town Council. Thank you also for enduring all of the campaign signs, the mailings, the knocking on your doors and phone calls. It is all necessary to get the word out and I hope that we were not too intrusive.
We can use this website to communicate with each other. You may click on the ‘contact’ tab at the top and send me a message at any time. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible, always!
Be sure to sign up to receive blog postings via your email. That way you will get a notification each time I make a new post so you can stay up to date on town news. Let’s work together so we can keep Merrillville a great place to live and even make things better for our community. You may also call 219-736-5217 so we may chat. Email is also a great way for us to communicate so we have a record and history of our conversations. Email me at RickBellaWard5@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing your suggestions, ideas and comments, as well as answering your questions about our great town. If you have an interest in serving on one of the various town boards or commissions, like the Plan Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Police Commission, and others, please let me know by sending me your request and a bio about yourself. I will create a blog post about what openings will be available as soon as I receive that information each year.
Once again, thank you for your support. I look forward to a new and exciting year. I’ll be in touch. -Rick Bella