Photos courtesy of Chris Busch: (Left) Tiny shovels for young students are ready and waiting for the village of Medina’s annual Arbor Day ceremony at 10 a.m. April 24 at the corner of Gwinn and William streets. (Right) The village of Medina will plant 51 trees this year. Here, they are shown lined up at the DPW waiting for planting.

MEDINA – The village of Medina will observe Arbor Day this year with the traditional tree planting ceremony on April 24.

As in past years, the second and third grades from Oak Orchard Primary School and Wise Intermediate School will take part in the ceremonial planting of trees, beginning at 10 a.m. at Gwinn and William streets. Gwinn Street between James Street and Frank Street will be briefly closed for the occasion.

“Fifty-one trees in all will be planted this year,” said Chris Busch, Medina’s forestry coordinator. “Trees will be planted on West Oak Orchard Street, West Avenue and Eagle, Gwinn and West Center streets.”

This flag indicates Medina has been designated a Tree City USA for 2026.

The ceremony, presented by the village of Medina Municipal Tree Board, will also feature the Oak Orchard Glee Club, directed by Andrea Busch.

Special guests welcomed to the ceremony include mayor Deb Padoleski and village trustees.

“We’d like to give an enormous thank you to School Superintendent Mark Kruzynski for Medina CSD’s continued participation in our annual Arbor Day celebrating, and for providing Mrs. Andrea Busch as a school-based resource,” said Mary Lewis, chair of the Tree Board. “The schools have been an important part of Medina’s Arbor Day tradition for more than 17 years. These young students are the stewards of tomorrow’s urban forest.”

The Tree Board’s focus continues to take a three-pronged approach – main arteries and central business district area/parks and high-need residential areas, according to Chris Busch.

“Though we’ve been planting trees for more than 17 years, the need for plantings in all of these areas continues,” Lewis said. “As old trees come down, new trees are planted. The new trees we’ve been planting in our parks are having a beautiful impact, and we’re beginning to make headway on our neighborhoods. There’s still much to be done. We wish we could do more.”

Science shows that trees in neighborhoods have a real and measurable impact in so many ways, Lewis continued.

“We have tons of feedback constantly from citizens about how much they appreciate the beauty of our tree-lined streets,” she said. “We get similar feedback from out-of-town visitors,  too. It’s very gratifying.”

Medina’s urban forestry program is once again a Tree City USA, recognized by the National Arbor Day Foundation, Busch said. The annual Tree City award honors Medina’s commitment to community forestry, he said.

The Tree City USA Program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters, and the USDA Forest Service. Tree City USA is awarded annually to those communities who qualify and is a national designation.

Numerous peer-reviewed studies on the impact of neighborhoods with street trees show multiple positive benefits, including increased property values, slower/safer traffic patterns, lower air temperatures and absorption of harmful pollution. The studies also show tree-lined streets in neighborhoods lower blood pressure and improve overall emotional and psychological health, according to Lewis.

“Gifts and contributions from individuals and businesses are essential to our work,” Lewis said. “We’re deeply grateful for this support. It’s crucial to sustaining our future. Medina’s tree-lined streets are a big reason people choose to live or open businesses here, and those donations are what make it possible for us to continue our efforts.”

Tax-deductible donations can be made any time for general tree planting, memorial trees or for “trees on your street,” according to Lewis.

Additional information can be obtained at the village clerk’s office or by downloading the ReLeaf brochure online at www.villagemedina.gov or by contacting Lewis at mLewis.villagemedina@gmail.com.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina Village Board members meet in a conference room at the Shelby Town Hall for a workshop meeting followed by budget discussions on Monday evening. Pictured from left and going clockwise: Trustee Scott Bieliski, Trustee Mark Prawel, Mayor Debbie Padoleski, Clerk-Treasurer Jada Burgess, Trustee Jeff Wagner and Trustee Jess Marciano.

MEDINA – The Village Board faces a tall task of trying to pare down expenses and find more revenues before a final village budget is adopted on April 27.

The board held a public hearing on Monday evening on the tentative budget which shows a 22.5 percent tax increase.

Mayor Debbie Padoleski, who campaigned on a more affordable Medina, said the board has more meetings with department heads to try to bring down the tax increase. Padoleski was elected on March 18.

A year ago, the board was in similar predicament with a big tax increase in the tentative budget. Padoleski was a village trustee then and the board would eliminate four full-time firefighter positions, while not filling a vacancy in the DPW and cutting the K9 program.

Padoleski said there aren’t similar cost-savings to cut this time because those cuts were already made.’

The tentative $8,189,601 budget represents a $466,305 more in spending or a 6.0 percent increase from the $7,723,296 in the 2025-26 budget.

The tax levy, what property owners pay in taxes, would increase by $880,423 or 22.5 percent from $3,910,344 to $4,790,767. The tax rate would increase by $3.19 from $13.995 to $17.189.

“This is just the tentative budget,” Padoleski said Monday evening during a public hearing on the budget. “There is still quite a bit more of cutting to do.”

Part of the increase is an additional $139,225 for the first bond payment for a new ladder truck. The board is working to sell that truck, and it’s possible the sale could exceed what the village owes at $1.8 million. There could be some unanticipated revenue from that truck, Padoleski said.

The budget shows a $340,020 increase in salaries (from $3,210,661 to $3,550,681); $5,000 increase in equipment reserve (from $50,000 to $55,000); $17,700 more for capital projects (from $1,756,548 to $1,837,899).

Total revenues are down by $414,118 from $3,812,952 to $3,398,834.

Padoelski said she met last week with the leaders from the towns of Shelby, Ridgeway and yates to request more money from them than the current $35,000 each annually towards the ambulance services in Western Orleans County. She said she sensed resistance to a higher amount from Yates and Ridgeway, while Padoleski said Jim Heminway, Shelby town supervisor, is open “to a new way of doing things.”

Padoleski said the fire department with 17 career firefighters is operating at a deficit of about $1.6 million.

“We’re obligated to come up with a tax rate in the next two weeks,” Padoleski said about a final village budget for 2026-27. “Honestly, right now I don’t know what that looks like.”

Here are the village tax levies and tax rates in the past seven budgets:

• 2025-26 tax levy, $3,910,344; tax rate, $13.995
• 2024-25 tax levy, $3,903,200; tax rate, $13.97
• 2023-24 tax levy, $3,786,964; tax rate, $21.16
• 2022-23 tax levy, $3,296,140; tax rate, $18.95
• 2021-22 tax levy, $3,259,119; tax rate, $18.77
• 2020-21 tax levy, $3,197,059; tax rate, $18.46
• 2019-20 tax levy, $3,138,059; tax rate, $18.32

The mayor also said the village faces costly upgrades in the near future at the sewer plant and replacing very old waterlines. Those undertakings will likely result in higher sewer and water bills for village customers, although she said Medina would be pursuing grants to hep offset the costs.

Provided photo: This photo from December shows Medina’s new ladder truck. The quint truck has a 100-foot ladder and many other capabilities. Medina Fire Department officials visited the truck manufacturing site in Appleton, Wisconsin.

MEDINA – Village officials will soon be putting together a package for prospective buyers of Medina’s new ladder truck.

A new administration on the Village Board, led by new mayor Debbie Padoleski, wants the ladder truck sold soon.

The truck is currently in Tonawanda where is waiting for a part, the cover for a metal box for tools. The truck hasn’t been put into service and the letters haven’t been put on that says it is a Village of Medina Fire Department truck.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Mayor Debbie Padoleski said she wants the village to push to sell the new ladder truck. Trustee Mark Prawel is at right.

“I’m hoping we can move forward with a sale,” Padoleski told other Village Board members during Monday’s board workshop meeting. “I want to keep this ball moving.”

Before she was mayor, Padoleski was on the board as a village trustee. She led a majority that included Mark Prawel and Scott Bieliski to vote on Feb. 9 and declare the truck surplus and begin the process for selling it.

Padoleski campaigned that the truck is unaffordable for the village. Besides buying the truck at $1.7 million, Medina would likely need to put an addition on its fire hall to house the truck. The current fire hall only has 10-foot, 6-inch clearance. The new truck can’t fit in the fire hall.

The truck with the addition could put the village on the hook for up to $4 million, Padoleski has said.

She wants to sell the truck at a minimum bid to pay off the loan, which is close to $1.8 million. The first of 20 payments at $139,225 is due in the village’s 2026-27 budget. That budget needs to be approved by the end of the month.

The Village Board needs to determine a minimum bid for the truck because there could be other costs, including a broker’s fee. The board could settle at a $1.9 minimum, Padoleski said.

The truck is expected to be back in Medina today. The village will take photographs of the truck, and prepare precise specifications for interested buyers. The potential bidders will likely want to come see the truck in person.

The mayor, who took office last week, said the truck could be sold through a sealed bid or an RFP (Request for Proposals).

Trustee Scott Bieliski said many fire departments have shown interest in the truck, including nearby Brockport and departments in other states. The village could sell the truck for more than $2 million, making a profit on the sale. Similar new ladder trucks are now $2.4 million at the time of the order with a wait from the manufacturer that could be three to four years.

Bieliski said Medina could work out a deal with Brockport and avoid needing a broker. A broker would charge a 1 percent fee and likely make about $20,000.

Village attorney Matt brooks said the Village Board is obligated to try to maximize the sale price. That could mean utilizing the services of a broker.

Bieliski said he would work to put together a bid package and reach out to brokers to help with the potential sale. In the meantime, the truck is expected to be stored in the DPW facility when it’s back in Medina.