Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Village of Pelham.

I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. As a reminder, our new garbage pickup schedule goes into effect next week, on June 1st. The most significant changes are that household garbage will be picked up once per week and bulk will be picked up once per month (you can still call Oak Ridge at any time if you have a specific item that needs to be removed, like an appliance, etc.). There are no changes being made for commercial and multi-family pickup. The full daily schedule is available on the Village website and through the MyVoP mobile app. These changes have also been mailed out with our property tax bills.

I strongly recommend watching the video I released on May 1st when these changes were announced. It’s only about 20 minutes long and it will give you a much better understanding of the challenges we’re facing as a community this year and how this crisis is impacting the Village Budget. You can watch the video above.

I know that these changes may be frustrating for some. If we are unable to adapt, please remember that we intend to revisit this decision during next year’s budget process. In the meantime, these modifications to the schedule bring with them a very real silver lining—two silver linings actually.

First, we all get to save about a quarter of a million dollars this year.  We began the budget process facing a million dollar budget gap and a potential levy increase of 7.85% due entirely to circumstances beyond our control. Our community was facing unavoidable expenses related to retirement system payments and spikes in the cost of our garbage contract, while also navigating revenue shortfalls related to COVID-19. The situation required action. The changes we are making in our pickup schedule combined with freezes to salaries and non-discretionary spending–which will be in effect until at least September 1st–helped us close that budget gap, and will make a big difference for our neighbors who are facing financial difficulties this year. Personally, I wish we had been able to enjoy the kind of public discussion I led three years ago, when I was a Trustee on the Village Board and sent a survey to all residents about the relative importance of different services. We discussed our options for months, and the result of that conversation was an increase in the frequency of our recycling pickup (which at that time, was only once every two weeks). Those are the conversations I cherish as Mayor, and I look forward to enjoying that kind of dialogue again soon. I hope you do not take these budgetary decisions as a sign that we are not interested in your perspectives, as nothing could be further from the truth.  In a year like this, we will need to make decisions that protect everyone’s interests, even when those decisions are unpopular. I encourage you to sign up for Village email alerts, follow the Village on Facebook or tune in to our virtual Board of Trustees meetings, as we navigate this year together.

The second silver lining is one I honestly didn’t expect. Many of you have been embracing this moment as an opportunity to adjust personal habits that better align with our values. I wholeheartedly endorse this approach!  EcoPel, in particular, has been amazing on this front. They are counting down to the schedule change and sponsoring a #zerowasteinitiative to encourage residents to reduce waste disposal habits that hurt the environment and contribute to climate change. Their “zero waste hacks” have included things like asking local restaurants for paper containers when possible, requesting no single use utensils or disposable condiments, and composting food scraps. Please visit their website at www.ecopel.org to learn more.  We will have many difficult choices to make in the next few years, but if we all end up making changes that protect our environment while simultaneously saving ourselves a lot of money, I think we’ll be just fine. Thank you for leadership on this, EcoPel.

And since we’re on the topic of thanking folks who are making a difference in Pelham right now, I’d like to end this note with gratitude to the volunteers at Pelham Preservation and Garden Society (PPGS). You may have noticed hanging flower baskets along Fifth Avenue. Each year, these are donated by PPGS and I must say, they look particularly beautiful this year. Shopping downtown can feel a bit dreary these days, and I think we all appreciate the boost. Thank you, PPGS.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.
Chance