To the editor,

We have lived in this amazing town for 22 years. Our home is on Highbrook Avenue, just north of Boulevard, at the low point of Pelham Heights. Many of you have probably seen me (Gib, definitely not Tricia—she is too smart) wading into the water on Highbrook to clear out our storm drains during big rains. Unfortunately, this has happened in each of the last three years (Sept. 1, 2021, June 2, 2022 and Sept. 29, 2023). Prior to 2020, we could count on one hand the number of small street floods we had over the prior nineteen years. Something clearly has changed—more rain, more active sump pumps in the neighborhood, fewer trees/green space to soak up excess water, etc.

We love Pelham and have always supported our community with our hard-earned dollars—for Pelham Middle School, Hutchinson Elementary School, the turf fields at Glover, Wolfs Lane Park and the historic Picture House. This feels like another time for us to come together for the betterment of our community. We desperately need to come up with a workable plan to expand the pipe and drains along Highbrook Avenue and to build a retention pond and install pumps near Hutchinson School to safely move water out of this part of our village.

From everything we have learned from our mayor, the engineering team and infrastructure investments made by neighboring towns, the sooner we come up with a credible plan, the more federal and state support we are likely to receive. Like it or not, our current administration has earmarked billions of dollars for projects just like ours.

Our hope for 2024 is that we rally together, figure out a workable plan and ask for our fair share of government support to dramatically improve our village’s flooding issues.

Gib and Tricia Smith

266 Highbrook Ave.