To the editor:

The last day of this month marks the 50th anniversary of the referenda that combined the old Village of North Pelham and the old Village of Pelham (the area that is the Heights). It was the most popular vote in the history of local government, with 75% of the people of North Pelham approving and 80% of the people of the Heights. It resulted in the first consolidated village ever in the State of New York.

But the vote was not a foregone conclusion. The preceding 24 hours were a time of stress for village officers. There was a vocal and determined group in the Heights opposed. They were concerned that the larger village (North Pelham) would adversely change the zoning law in the Heights. As a trustee on our three-man (only men in the village government in those days) board in the Heights, I somehow got the job of putting this issue to rest. Going back and forth between this group and Mayor Johnson of North Pelham, we struck a deal at the last minute. The zoning laws in each village would remain the same as Zone A in one village and Zone B in the other, and the planning board and zoning board of the new village would have three members from one village and two from the other on one board and the reverse on the other.

We finished our board meeting upstairs in the Sparks Avenue village hall and went down to the first-floor meeting room at nine to see the vote counted. Paper ballots were deposited in a large box. As the village clerk started recovering the ballots, I turned to Mayor Marshlow and asked him when the actual counting would start. He said, “It has.” The clerk seemed to be putting all the first several ballots in one pile. We adjourned to the Fisherman’s Net to celebrate with our friends from the North Pelham board.

Michael Treanor

622 Pelhamdale Ave.