Albion doesn’t intend to fill Town Board vacancy this year

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 April 2016 at 12:00 am

ALBION – Town Supervisor Matt Passarell said he isn’t in a rush to fill a vacancy on the Town Board, created in February when Town Councilman Todd Sargent resigned after being appointed superintendent of the Department of Public Works in the Village of Albion.

Sargent served just over two years of a four-year term as councilman. The position pays $3,704 annually. The spot on the five-member board will likely stay unfilled for the rest of 2016, with the remaining year of the term up for election this November with the election winner to start on Jan. 1.

“The team we have right now is appropriate,” Passarell said after Monday’s board meeting. Passarell serves on the board with Jake Olles, Richard Remley and Darlene Benton.

In other action on Monday:

The board approved paying $3,000 towards the Albion Strawberry Festival. Festival organizers attended last month’s meeting and requested town assistance in paying for the annual two-day festival. The 30th annual Strawberry Festival will be June 10-11 and includes an Erie Canal theme this year. The event costs about $20,000 to put on with all of the entertainment, including marching bands.

The Albion Town Board gave $3,000 toward the festival for the first time last year. The board said it would ask to be recognized as one of the sponsors, and to have its donation specifically tied to some of the marching bands.

The board extended an agreement with the Town of Gaines that was started last year. Gaines is paying 25 percent of the Albion code enforcement officer’s salary and benefits in exchange for Dan Strong working 10 hours a week as code officer for Gaines. The Town of Albion pays about $76,000 in salary and benefits for Strong. Gaines will pay $19,000 of the cost in the shared services deal.