State Rep. John Bell was presented this week with the 2022 NC League of Municipalities Community Champions award for his legislative work benefiting North Carolina cities and towns over the past year.

“I am honored to be recognized with this award for my efforts to support our local communities,” Bell said. “We are very proud of our recent budget, which provided significant investments for our cities and towns, including historic funding for flood resilience and water and sewer improvements. It is great to see our local leaders utilize these resources to better serve our citizens and communities.”

NCLM Immediate Past President Karen Alexander praised Bell’s efforts related to various infrastructure needs for cities and towns.

“Representative Bell was an instrumental person when it came to securing funding for cities and towns related to making our communities more resilient in the face of storms and other natural disasters, as well as addressing the water and sewer needs of so many of our towns across the state,” said Alexander, who serves as mayor of Salisbury.

She added that cities and towns had a tremendous legislative session last year, with legislators addressing pandemic response, public safety priorities and a range of infrastructure needs.

Bell was named a recipient of the award, along with state Sen. Michael Lazzara, during NCLM’s CItyVision 2022 annual conference held in Wilmington in late April. Representative Bell was unable to attend and receive the award at that time.