As-built Site Plan Application Approved for 139 Fifth Avenue and an Increase in AIM Funding Sought
By Joyce Farrell
At the Regular Meeting on February 13 of the Village of Pelham Board of Trustees, Mayor Chance Mullen mentioned that Deputy Mayor Mike Carpenter had joined him for the winter legislative meeting of NYCOM in Albany, which included a presentation by a firm that provided helpful insights into the grant writing process. He also informed the Board that there has been a lot of misinformation disseminated about the Village’s negotiations with the School Board regarding the granting of an easement by the School Board to the Village for part of the Village’s flood mitigation efforts. Unfortunately, the negotiations have not been very productive.
The main item at the meeting was the Board’s resolution approving as-built to an approved site plan application for 139 Fifth Avenue. The modifications include the addition of an electrical room, the creation of a tandem parking space with no change to the parking count, the addition of two ramps at the front of the building, the elimination of fifth-floor pergolas and planters, a modification to the guardrail, and the addition of solar panels.
Finally, the Board approved the closing of Fifth Avenue between Lincoln Avenue and Colonial, and Third Street from Fourth Avenue to Seventh Avenue on Saturday, April 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for the 2024 Pelham Little League Parade.
During the Regular Meeting of the Board on February 27, Trustee Theresa Mohan encouraged residents to follow the Fire Department’s Instagram account, @villageofpelhamnydept, as it’s an amazing resource to keep up on what the Fire Department is doing, and Mayor Mullen mentioned that the Fire Department has received rewards for its Instagram.
Mayor Mullen then congratulated the North Pelham Bar and Grill for their opening night on February 10. He also stated that he joined with the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) and some people from the Westchester Municipal Officials Association to call on New York State to increase Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) Funding, which hasn’t been increased in the past fifteen years, though expenses have. Mayor Mullen also spoke of the discussions with the School Board regarding the easement sought by the Village and is hopeful for an amicable resolution.
The Board approved a resolution authorizing the execution of a memorandum of agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association, a contract representing the Village’s public works employees. Mayor Mullen stated the Village’s DPW has been absolutely incredible during a significant time of change for that department, the taking on of sanitation for the first time in many years, and they have “knocked it out of the park” while carrying on with their other responsibilities really well. He thanked all in the DPW for the service and for reaching an agreement with the Village for the next five years.
At the end of the meeting, Trustee Russell Solomon mentioned that next year, 2025, the Village of Pelham will be turning 50 and said that the Village should be celebrated and suggested working on something with perhaps the town historian and the arts council, among others, as it is something happen to celebrate.