Hotels and residences in Merrillville that have issues with their alarms getting set off constantly or that end up calling the police a lot may want to rethink their strategy upon a new town ordinance meant to curb those habits.
The ordinance, approved by the Town Council’s Council Affairs committee April 2 and expected to pass the Town Council at its April 9 meeting, will allow all hotels in Merrillville three “false alarm” calls every three months, or per quarter, the ordinance reads. After three false alarms, the offending hotel will be fined $250 per false alarm.
Additionally, “any business or residence having more than three police calls for service during any quarter of a calendar year may pay a fine of $500” for each call over three, the ordinance reads. And any person who “violates, disobeys, omits, neglects, refuses to comply with or who resists enforcement of this provision” shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than $100 to not more than $1,000 for each offense.
Those entities who want to call the town’s bluff and not pay may want to rethink that choice, too, since anyone who accrues three or more delinquent fines under the ordinance will have a lien put against the offending property, the ordinance reads. The town’s code enforcement officer will file a verified statement to the Lake County Auditor’s office, which will then attach the fines to the property and collect them as they do the property taxes.
It’ll then cost the entity an additional $200 to get the lien removed, the ordinance reads.
The fines collected from these types of calls will be deposited into the Police Department’s Equipment fund, according to the ordinance, but if you ask Police Chief Kosta Nuses, it’s not about the money at all — it’s about some entities abusing the department when it needs to be working on bigger crimes.
“For our better hotels, we get maybe 30 calls a quarter. For others, we get 300,” Nuses said. “We can’t keep pulling officers off the street for false alarms.”
People who live in or visit residences known for unsafe or illegal activities will also be staring down enforcement, according to a second ordinance the council expects to pass. The questionable property will be labeled a “public nuisance,” and the owner will be expected to remove the problem and establish a plan for preventing further nonsense, the ordinance reads.
If illegal activity continues at the site, the town will order the property owner to appear before the Merrillville Town Court, it reads. If that doesn’t stop the activity, the case will be moved to the Lake Superior Circuit Court.
Property owners who start eviction proceedings against their scofflaw renters within 30 days of a criminal citation and who present a nuisance mitigation plan to the town will be compliant with the ordinance, it reads.
The Merrillville Town Council will meet at 6 p.m. April 9 in Town Hall, 7820 Broadway.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
