The town of Merrillville has a chance to be a model for communities looking to address environmental sustainability. The town was one of six pilot participants in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Clean Communities program. It's an updated version of the Clean Community Challenge launched by IDEM in the early 2000s.
Merrillville Department of Stormwater Management Executive Director Matthew Lake leads the town's Clean Team. He told the town council Tuesday that IDEM worked closely with the six pilot communities for the past couple years, before unveiling the updated program statewide this week.
"I want to thank IDEM for working with them and all the things we've done to drive this whole thing forward," Lake said. "That was a lot of work."
The new version of the Clean Communities program includes three tiers of membership, letting communities advance at their own pace.
Merrillville earned bronze-level status, the lowest tier. IDEM says the town has completed a greenhouse gas inventory in partnership with the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute. It also has "extensive local ordinances improving stormwater management, serving as a model for going above and beyond in best practices."
The other five pilot participants — Beech Grove, Brown County, Fishers, Richmond and Zionsville — all earned silver status.
Merrillville Town Council President Rick Bella welcomed the statewide recognition. "It's important, and I think that Merrillville is back on the map. It's kind of nice to see that," Bella said during Tuesday's meeting.
IDEM recognized the six pilot communities during the Clean Community Program annual meeting and program kickoff on Tuesday.