Sherman gets praise and some criticism for tenure as mayor at final regular board meeting

Election inspectors count votes and verify voters’ signatures on March 18 when about 900 people voted in the village election. Mary Ann Ander is in front. In back, from left include Linda Deyle, Judy Szulis and Cynthia Kiebala.

MEDINA –  The hard-fought recent village election featured many social media posts that residents say were often nasty and unfair personal attacks.

Those posts, campaign mailers and comments at public meetings often set an unpleasant tone.

“This was the ugliest election in the history of the village,” resident Mary Hare said during Monday’s Village Board meeting.

She faulted the union for Medina firefighters for dividing the village with their social media posts. That union endorsed Mayor Marguerite Sherman and Courtney Henderson as a trustee.

When the votes were counted last Wednesday night, Debbie Padoleski won as mayor, 489-405 over Marguerite Sherman, while Jeff Wagner, 491 votes, and Mark Prawel, 487 votes, were both elected trustees. Dean Bellack received 319 votes and Henderson, 212 as a write-in.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman is ending 12 years on the Village Board including the past two years as Medina mayor. She urged the board to work together for the betterment of the community.

The firefighters’ union worries about a move to declare a new ladder truck surplus, and possible reductions in staff. Padoleski has cited the example of volunteer departments nearby. Medina has 17 paid firefighters who provide an ambulance service to western Orleans County in addition to responding to fire and other emergency calls.

Hare chided the union for being so vocal in the election.

“Most people want to see them gone,” she said during Monday’s meeting.

Kayla Rosenbeck, the mayor’s daughter, also spoke during the meeting, and said she received an “extremely vile letter” during the election. She said many of the public comments crossed a line of decency.

“It was an absolutely horrendous election,” she said.

Rosenbeck is an English teacher at Medina and she said many high school students have attended village meetings and witnessed character attacks and also seen the aggressive online comments.

“We all need to do better,” Rosenbeck said. “How we communicate matters. Students watch how adults handle disagreements, stress and patience.”

Rosenbeck said she also needs to do better.

“We need to choose words that lift up and don’t tear down,” she said.

Rosenbeck thanked her mother for an “unwavering commitment” during her time as a village trustee and mayor.

Another speaker during Monday’s meeting, Ellen Goheen, said she received a message urging her to vote in the election. Goheen said she moved out of the village eight years ago and wasn’t an eligible village voter. The message came from Village Trustee Jess Marciano and wasn’t from Medina’s mass notification system, which started five years ago.

Marciano said she had a list of numbers and sent them texts from her personal phone number, urging them to vote. She apologized to Goheen for bothering her. Marciano said the message didn’t favor any particular candidates and simply said to get out and vote.

“It was nothing improper from the village,” Marciano said during Monday’s meeting. “It was 100 percent me trying to get more people out to vote in our village.”

Medina had 894 people vote out of 3,655 eligible for a turnout of 24.5 percent.

Monday was the final regular board meeting for Mayor Marguerite Sherman. She has been mayor the past two years and was a trustee for 10 years before that.

Trustee Prawel thanked her for the numerous hours she put in for the community.

“I want to thank Mayor Sherman for all of her service,” Prawel said. “It was a lot of hard work for the Village of Medina.”

Trustee Marciano and Village Clerk/Treasurer Jada Burgess also commended Sherman for her tenure on the board.

“You’ve done a lot for this village,” Burgess said.

Sherman’s husband Jon Sherman also spoke during the meeting, saying his wife listened to residents and scheduled vacations so she wouldn’t miss village meetings. Even on vacation, she answered emails and messages.

“It’s 24-7,” he said. “The Village of Medina has come a long way in the past 12 years as a destination.”

He urged the new board that takes over April 1 to keep moving the community forward.

The mayor said the village has had many successes in recent years, and other communities routinely reach out to Medina to try to model the community’s success. Sherman said the struggles with a new ladder truck and an addition that would be big enough to house it have “tarnished” the village.

That truck has been declared surplus and the village is looking to sell it, although nothing is definitive now. The truck is currently in Tonawanda for some “punch list” work by a mechanic. Once it’s back in Medina it will likely be housed in the DPW building while the board determines if and when it will be sold.

“I remain proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the past 12 years,” Sherman said at Monday’s board meeting.

The state is investing millions in Medina through the Canal Corp. and the NY Forward program. Private entities also are putting their money in the village, she said.

Sherman said she wishes the new board the best, and said differences of opinion should be viewed as an asset.

Brian Hellner, a Newfane resident operating a tour boat business from the Medina Canal Basin, addressed the board and said his experience in recent years with Sherman and the board have often been “frustrating and discouraging.”

He said correspondence has been unprofessional and “unnecessary threatening.”

“We should be treated as partners, not adversaries,” he said.

Hellner said he looks forward to a different approach by the Mayor-elect Padoleski and the new board.

John Parada, a resident, responded that the board has been accommodating to Hellner in getting him a permit and lease to operate the tour boat business. Parada said Hellner often didn’t follow the rules, which required a response from the village. When Parada spoke, Hellner and his son Rollin, owner of The Walsh, got up and walked out of the meeting room at the Shelby Town Hall.

The new mayor and the two elected trustees will be sworn in at 6 p.m. on April 6. There are two budget meetings on March 25 and March 27 before the start of the Padoleski tenure as mayor.

Photos courtesy of Medina Railroad Museum: Two dozen players showed up for bingo at the Medina Railroad Museum on Saturday, the first of several bingo afternoons scheduled at the museum each month through August.

MEDINA – Visitors to the Medina Railroad Museum shouldn’t be surprised to see some unusual activities taking place.

Renee Hemby, event coordinator, and museum staff have come up with a schedule of new things to do while visiting the museum.

“We want to get more people interested in visiting the museum to see what we have to offer,” Hemby said.

James Ruiz gives a thumbs up for the fans who came to play bingo at the Medina Railroad Museum on Saturday. With him are Autumn Bower and Renee Hemby, event coordinator.

The theory is that although someone might not be a fan of railroading, when they get there, they are sure to find something of interest.

The first of the new events is bingo on select Saturdays from April to October. Games are scheduled April 18, May 23, June 20, July 18, Aug, 8 and Oct. 17. The first game last Saturday brought several dozen fans to play bingo, enjoy beignets from Nola’s Gaming, hot chocolate and a free mug.

“We will partner with the community for our events,” Hemby said. “This includes Becker Farms Brewery and Greenlief food truck,” she said. “Those who came last week had a great time and said they would come back again.”

March 28 will feature the Easter Depot Dash for children through age 12, featuring relay races, games, food truck and other children’s activities.

Other events planned are History in Motion at 6 p.m. June 3, July 1, Aug. 5 and Sept. 2. These are dates of the new Historic Speaker series.

The museum will participate with Medina’s Community Yard Sale on June 6 and 7 with their Trackside Treasures Yard Sale. The community is invited to donate Christmas or railroading treasures.

On July 19, Boxcar Buddies will welcome Girl Scouts of Western New York. The museum will cooperate with them to earn a patch.

Aug, 15 is Platform Play Day and basket raffle from noon to 4 p.m.

Train rides are scheduled during a Golden Age Rail Tour at 11 a.m. on Sept. 19 and 20, which will include a guided tour along the rails and history of railroading. At 2 p.m., a second train ride will be a murder mystery ride titled “Murder at the Museum,”  enacted by Western New York Improv. A food truck will also be on site.

On Oct. 4, the museum will feature Boy Scouts and Boxcars.

The famed Polar Express Train Ride will return for excursions to the North Pole weekends Nov. 21 through Dec. 20. Excursions in 2025 brought 28,000 riders to Medina.

The Medina Railroad Museum is available for private events and tours. Information is available at www.medinarailroadmuseum.org or by e-mailing events@medinarailroad.org.

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Park Avenue in Medina has been infested with large potholes. The Medina Department of Public Works used cold patch recently but that didn’t stick.

DPW superintendent Jason Watts said the street needs to be repaved. He asked for the public’s patience in the meantime.

He will soon be meeting with Keeler Construction, which does the paving in the village, to work out a schedule for the work.

Watts acknowledged the street is very bumpy in spots.

“Anything we do now is just a waste of money,” he said about the cold patch and other attempts at short-term fixes. “I do have a plan. Just go slow and be patient with me.”

The street’s condition was brought up during Monday’s Village Board meeting.

He said the DPW could put millings in some of the deeper potholes. He also will see about putting up signs that note Park Avenue is a “rough road” and drivers should go slow.

Watts said the punishing winter was hard on the pavement in Western New York.

“We’re not the only community with rough roads,” he said.

There are many potholes and deteriorating pavement on Park Avenue in Medina.

Photo by Tom Rivers: A pedestrian bridge will be built across the Oak Orchard Creek along Maple Ridge Road (Route 31A) in Medina. This area also will get about 2,000 feet of new sidewalks.

MEDINA – New sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge will be coming soon on Maple Ridge Road.

The Medina Village Board on Monday approved a $837,448 bid by RJT Construction Services in Rochester to install the bridge and sidewalks. RJT was the lowest of four bidders when the bids were opened on Feb. 18.

The section of Maple Ridge Road by the creek has become busier with a housing development, several new businesses and also the GCC campus center. There are also about 200 available acres in the area being promoted for development by the EDA.

But a bid approval has been delayed because RJT wasn’t on the state’s registry for contractors. The company has since joined the registry which verifies that contractors and subcontractors are in compliance with labor laws, including prevailing wage requirements.

RJT incorporated two years ago and has done culvert and wastewater projects. The company’s owner, however, has a long career in construction, said Barton & Loguidice, a firm that worked on the design of the bridge, and secured easements from utility companies and property owners.

The Village Board on Monday also approved a contract with Barton & Loguidice where the firm will be paid $166,300 for construction services and inspections.

The project is within budget, Mayor Marguerite Sherman said. The RJT bid was more than $100,000 less than the next lowest bid of $943,088 by Keeler Construction in Barre. The highest bid was $1,058,485 by C.P. Ward in Scottsville.

The new bridge and sidewalks have been several years in the waiting. The village in 2021 was awarded a $1,094,196 grant to construct the bridge and sidewalks as part of a multi-use path for pedestrians and bicycles. The funding was awarded by the state through a federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.

That is covering 80 percent of the project. The remaining 20 percent will be paid locally from the village ($55,000), Town of Shelby ($130,000) and Orleans County ($97,500).

The local money comes from a revolving loan fund that was administered by the Orleans Economic Development Agency. The state in 2019 required funds be ended with the money staying in the community for projects if they are for handicapped accessible initiatives or if they assist a neighborhood that is predominantly low-income.

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society has approved $11,540 in grants to local organizations.

The grants generally are about $1,000.

Here are the grants that were approved:

• Hands 4 Hope Street Ministry – to purchase laundry detergent for clients.
• Genesee Orleans Ministry of Concern – to assist with the purchase of beds and mattresses for clients in Medina.
• Home for the Holidays 5K – for their annual Veterans Christmas Drive to provide holiday gifts and essential items to veterans and their families.
• Friends of Boxwood Cemetery – to hire an engineering firm to use GPR to locate unmarked graves in Potter’s Field and other cemetery sites.
• The Medina Historical Society – to cover the cost of historical speakers and publicity costs for future programming and to purchase archival quality boxes to store photograph negatives.
• Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council – to purchase equipment and upgrades to their traveling stage.
• Orleans Renaissance Group – to purchase a stepladder, table and chairs for the Canal Village Farmers’ Market.
• Arc GLOW – to purchase a 10-piece bundle of wireless silent disco LED headphones for use at Camp Rainbow.
• Orleans Koinonia Kitchen – to help provide food and weekly meals for those in need.
• Calvary Cupboard – for emergency food assistance to those in need.

2025 Special Project – In addition to the annual grant awards, a donation was given to the Orleans County Historical Association to provide funding for the new wooden floor for the chapel at Mt. Albion Cemetery. That building from 1875 is undergoing restoration with a new roof, repointing and other repairs.

MEDINA – Scouts in Medina’s Pack 28 will be at the Tops store on Saturday for their annual “Scouting for Food” event.

Instead of going to homes in the community, the scouts will accept the food at the Tops store from 9 a.m. to noon. The food will be given to the food pantry at The Vine church on Maple Ridge Road.

The scouts will be handing out flyers in the store lobby with lists of heavily requested items.  Shoppers can purchase those items and then donate them on their way out, said Jeff Baron, Cub Scout leader of Pack 28.

There also will be a location out front marked for people to pull up and drop off items.

Some of the most requested items include: pasta, cereal, peanut butter, canned soups & stews, tuna fish and infant formula.

Albion scouts will be doing a “Scouting for Food” collection in April.