Village Averts Flood Damage, Suffers Tree Damage
By Stephen E. Lipken
Pelham Manor Mayor Jennifer Monachino Lapey opened the July 20th Board of Trustees meeting, noting, “two rather large summer storms, the most recent one resulted in flooding in a lot of municipalities outside of Pelham Manor, so we are incredibly thankful to our team here and our infrastructure water mitigation efforts.
“We did experience in the more recent storm a very disheartening event, succumbing to tree damage. When the tree canopy is in full bloom, they can become waterlogged and heavy.”
Village Manager Lindsey Luft mentioned that a healthy tree did come down. “ConEd has identified a tree next to the tree that came down as a hazardous tree; they have requested it to come down as well,” Luft stated.
“This involves ConEd’s Tree and Wire Teams and they make the determination,” Lapey added. “The utilities are responsible for alerting their customers, but we try to make sure that our residents have the information as we receive it,” Lapey stressed.
Trustee Maurice Owen-Michaane remarked that as DPW Commissioner, “Pelham Manor continues to invest in the professional development of our staff. Our Village Manager and DPW Foreman Michael DiBenedetto recently participated in the New York ReLeaf Conference which strengthens our in-house knowledge of tree care, preservation and responsible forestry practices.
The ongoing training helps us protect and manage one of our Village’s most prized assets.”
Fire Chief Michael Greco mentioned that they had a brush fire, plus 27 motor vehicle accidents.
In addition, the Fire Department is acquiring a Tower Ladder truck.
Next, Luft presented the DPW Highlight of Monthly Activities for June 2026 including:
• Annual deep cleaning of the stormwater catch basins began
• Street Sweeper came
• Repaired 6 streetlights and 20 sidewalks
• Pothole repairs utilizing 2 tons of black top
Additionally, Annual Village paving efforts have begun.