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Pelham sustainability board outlines five priorities, seeks Climate Smart recertification
Summary
At a June 23 work session, the Village of Pelham Sustainability Advisory Board presented five strategic priorities aimed at resilience, municipal efficiency, parks and tree canopy, targeted street improvements and resident education; the board said it will document actions to recertify under New York State’s Climate Smart Communities program and pursue grant opportunities.
Trustee Anderson introduced a Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) update at the June 23 Village of Pelham Board of Trustees work session and the SAB described five strategic priorities focused on climate adaptation and resilience planning; sustainable municipal operations; parks, trees and community well‑being; practical street and public‑space improvements; and community sustainability education.
"We are a volunteer advisory board, sworn in just at the end of March," Trustee Anderson said, summarizing the SAB’s role in research, outreach and recommendations to strengthen the village’s environmental stewardship and resilience. The board said it is organizing work to leverage existing municipal investments and partnerships rather than duplicating efforts.
Carol Upsher, a Sustainability Advisory Board member, described the Climate Smart Communities (CSC) framework administered by New York State and said the SAB plans to compile documentation to recertify Pelham under that framework. "Our goal is to put together the documentation to recertify, see if we can add points so that we might get to silver status," Upsher said, adding that recertification documentation is due in December 2027.
Divya Ben Ray, a SAB member, outlined resident engagement work on household-level actions such as composting, healthy yards, waste management and energy management, and described outreach done at the local market and via social media to centralize resources for residents.
Trustee Anderson highlighted results from Pelham’s food-scrap recycling program: "Since launching in 2021, residents across the Pelhams have diverted nearly 330 tons — that's more than 650,000 pounds — of food scraps," Anderson said. He noted Pelham collected 72.6 tons in 2025 compared with the average participating municipality’s collection of about 43 tons in 2025.
The SAB emphasized partnerships with local groups — Pelham Together, EcoPel, the Junior League, the Pelham Preservation and Garden Society — and with programmatic supporters such as Sustainable Westchester and NYSERDA. The board also described a proposed Liberty Tree initiative to mark America’s 250th anniversary by planting native, climate‑resilient trees with schools and villages participating and with potential Con Edison support for an Earth‑Month/Arbor Day seedling giveaway in April 2027.
Members and trustees discussed next steps: the SAB will catalog existing municipal projects and documentation for the recertification submission, and continue outreach work to increase resident participation in conservation practices. The board said pursuing CSC points could improve competitiveness for state grant funding tied to resilience and sustainability projects.
The trustees thanked SAB members for the presentation and asked staff and volunteers to follow up on locating prior climate action documents, scheduling community events and bringing details about potential grant and tree‑procurement options to future meetings.
