Merrillville redevelopment commission approves $33 million lease-and-bond plan to fund fire station and road work

The Merrillville Redevelopment Commission approved a form of lease and preliminary bond issuance totaling approximately $33,000,000 on May 27, 2025, a step that would let the authority acquire certain town roads and provide financing for the Southside Fire Station, Wickham Street improvements and other road paving projects.

Adam Sturwell, bond counsel with Barnes & Thornburg, said the authority met just before the council and approved the lease and the issuance of bonds, and that the council's consideration at the May 27 meeting was a preliminary approval. "This is sort of a preliminary approval before you tonight, and if it moves forward, a notice will be published in the paper," Sturwell said. He described the plan as one where the redevelopment authority would acquire roads from the town using bond proceeds and then lease certain roads back to the town.

Sturwell told the council the amount under consideration is about $33,000,000. The council's vote on the redevelopment commission's form of lease passed 5-0 after a motion by Councilwoman Uzelak and a second by Councilwoman Haines Edwards. Councilwoman Chandler Felton, Councilwoman Haynes Edwards, Councilwoman Musilak, Councilwoman Hardaway and Councilman Pettit recorded aye votes.

Sturwell said the council will hold a public hearing in June on the lease and that the council itself will also have to approve the lease later. The town's redevelopment authority membership was described in the meeting as a three-member body; participants named the authority's membership as Margie, Rhonda and the presiding official at the meeting.

The council did not adopt the lease as a final contractual action at the May 27 session; instead, the meeting recorded preliminary approvals and set the public-notice and public-hearing steps required before the council can take final action.