By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul was given a tour of CRFS this afternoon by Sean Snook, the company’s chief operating officer.
CRFS moved into the former Chase site over a year ago and now has about 600 employees workers out of the site on East Avenue. The company also has about 50 employees that work out of San Antonio, Texas.
“For a county this size to have all of these employees is just awesome,” Hochul said on the tour. “This is a great success story for this county.”
CRFS was started by company founder Jodi Gaines with two employees in 2002. Gaines had been working in the claims department for Dime Bank, which was acquired by Washington Mutual. WaMu phased out the claims department.
Gaines wanted to stay in claims and started her own company. She and her staff learned the regulations in all 50 states and rapidly took on more clients. CRFS employees work with attorneys, county clerks, utility companies and investors from all over the country. CRFS works to recover past-due interest, unpaid principal, unpaid taxes and unpaid insurance on houses.
Kathy Hochul, the lieutenant governor, listens to CRFS human resources director Dan Zatkos, center, and Sean Snook, the company’s chief operating officer.
The company’s latest expansion came when Chase closed its Albion site, eliminating 413 jobs from the community in June 2013, leaving a 60,000-square-foot building empty.
Gaines and CRFS in September 2013 committed to moving into the site, putting its Orleans County sites under one roof and giving the company room to grow. (Gaines was driving back from Buffalo to meet with Hochul today but was delayed due to traffic and the bad weather.)
“I remember when Chase was leaving,” said Hochul, a former congresswoman. “It was a scary time.”
Zatkos said 80 percent of the workforce at the site is within a 15-minute drive of Albion.
The company continues to look for opportunities to grow the business, Zatkos told Hochul.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Steve Hyde, chief executive officer for the Genesee County Economic Development Center, addresses the Albion Rotary Club today at The Village Inn.
ALBION – Securing the first tenant is always a big hurdle in developing a business park, especially one that’s 1,250 acres. But the waiting game may soon be over with a firm commitment from a company to set up in the STAMP site in the Town of Alabama.
Steve Hyde, chief executive officer for the Genesee County Economic Development Center, addressed the Albion Rotary Club today and said the area could soon see the fruits of more than a decade of effort in laying the groundwork for the Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park, just south of Orleans County.
“This is a project we’ve been dealing with for months now,” Hyde told the Rotary Club about the prospective first tenant. “We’re in the 11th hour. It will be a significant project.”
The state has committed $33 million to develop infrastructure at STAMP. If the company commits to the site, Hyde said he expects to see the infrastructure go in while the company is building a factory, a process that could take about 18 months, he said.
“It’s a high stakes game at the moment until you get the first one in,” Hyde said.
The STAMP site is ideally located between metro areas in Rochester and Buffalo. That gives companies access to skilled employees, supply companies and colleges, Hyde said.
The STAMP site is also near the Pembroke Thruway interchange, Medina sewer plant, major electric and natural gas lines, and also falls within the 30-mile hydropower zone for low-cost electricity.
Hyde said the STAMP site has the potential for 10,000 employees on site and a spinoff impact of about 50,000 jobs in the region. With Orleans County so close to the project, the community can expect more demand for housing and services. Local governments should also see a rise in tax revenues as the site matures and more businesses set up at STAMP.
Hyde said a full build-out could take 15 years or more. But the benefits will be long-lasting into the future.
“Economic development is a marathon, not a sprint,” Hyde said.
He saw the development of a similar site in Saratoga County about a decade ago. The site at the Luther Forest Technology Campus (click here) has attracted several companies in the semiconductor, nanotechnology and emerging technology industries.
Hyde sees STAMP as an attractive choice for companies that make flat panel displays, semiconductor 450mm chip fab, solar manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing.
“There will be a huge infusion of money and wealth,” he said about the jobs that will likely pay on average about $90,000.
He praised the leaders at Genesee Community College and Erie Community College for partnering on a proposed nanotechnology degree that is awaiting state approval. That degree will prepare local students for the new career options locally at STAMP.
Hyde also praised Charlie Nesbitt, a member of the Rotary Club and the state assemblyman when Hyde first started working on STAMP a decade ago. Nesbitt supported the project back then and so did former State Sen. Mary Lou Rath. They secured some seed money in the project’s beginning stages.
The GCEDC, 10 years later, has acquired 872 of the acres for STAMP and has completed the environmental studies, while lining up local support and state resources.
While working on STAMP, the GCEDC also has developed the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park in Batavia that is home to two yogurt plants, and advanced about 400 other projects in the community, leveraging about a $1 billion in economic development, Hyde said.
But the STAMP site has the most promise for a regional impact.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Editorial
In about 500 words, how would you best tout Orleans County as a place to visit?
That was my challenge. My co-workers at The Lake Country Pennysaver are putting together the 2015 Orleans County Visitor’s Guide. This publication begins with a welcome message that is about 500 words.
This is what I came up with: In Orleans County, you’re welcome to slow down and relax
File photos by Tom Rivers
The leaves are changing colors by Fruit Avenue in the Town of Ridgeway in this photo from October.
Orleans County moves at a slower pace than the bigger cities and larger metro areas nearby. We don’t apologize for it.
You’ll find some of us parked along country roads with binoculars in hand, gazing at a Snowy Owl or a bald eagle. In the fall, we enjoy a walk in the woods, or along the historic Erie Canal. You’ll see us out jogging, riding a bike or enjoying the local waterways by boat or kayak.
Some of us prefer fishing. Our Oak Orchard River is world-famous for its Chinook salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout. You can catch these fish in a lot of our smaller streams, too.
We have our favorite fishing spots – maybe an old quarry or a spot off the beaten path. (I know where I like to go, and I’m not telling.)
Jeff Baron, the father of a Tiger Cub, joins about 50 Scouters and their family members while fishing in an old Albion quarry in September 2013.
This is a beautiful county with lush landscapes. We still have plenty of unpaved roads out among the farms. I can’t help but smile when I drive along Woodchuck Alley or Johnny Cake Lane. “Progress” can wait. I’m happy out here.
We’re a big apple-growing county. The best time for a country drive may be in the spring when the blossoms on our fruit trees are in full bloom. Roll down your window because it smells as pretty as it looks.
If you want to feel inspired by the American Dream, Orleans County showcases the grit and determination of immigrants and pioneer settlers from the 1800s. They dug the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825 and cuts through Orleans County. Prosperity followed, with ornate residences, soaring churches, and spare-no-expense government buildings and downtown commercial sites.
Other communities knocked down their mansions to make way for chain stores. They demolished historic downtown buildings for malls and parking lots. Our Orleans ancestors cleverly kept the bulldozers at bay.
The downtown business districts in Albion and Medina are on the National Register for Historic Places. So is Courthouse Square and the seven churches within that block. Many of our grand old houses and cemeteries also are on the National Register, a nod to their significance to the American experience and their remarkable preservation for nearly two centuries.
The industrious pioneers in the early- to mid-1800s built houses featuring cobblestones on the exterior walls. Orleans and surrounding areas are a treasure trove of these unique structures, including the oldest cobblestone church in North America (1834), which is part of the Cobblestone Museum – one of only a few sites in Western New York deemed a National Historic Landmark.
That museum includes lots of surprises. One of my favorites is the outhouse that belonged to Rufus Bullock. Rufus grew up in Albion and went on to become governor of Georgia just after the Civil War. He is buried in the historic Mount Albion Cemetery.
You can learn and experience a lot around here. Best do it by foot, or by boat. Take your sweet time.
The Cobblestone Museum has six outhouses, including this one next to the Farmer’s Hall.
Orleans Hub readers are welcome to submit their own sales pitches about the county in 500 words or so. We could run them as letters to the editor. Send your “Welcome to Orleans County” messages to news@orleanshub.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Editorial
Photo by Tom Rivers – Amish men work on building a new milking parlor on Friday at Marcus Miller’s farm on Fruit Avenue in Ridgeway.
Properties were abandoned, fields were unplowed, and barns looked to be on the verge of collapse.
It was late 1990s and early 2000s when the Amish and Mennonites started to move into Yates and Ridgeway, buying land that had been fallow and forlorn for years.
They started farms and many other businesses that would need the support of the community, including the outside “English,” to survive. I remember when the businesses started opening. I was doubtful general merchandise stores could draw enough customers, especially on Waterbury Road, Millers Road and some of these off-the-beaten-path locations.
But many of these stores have been a big success, expanding (but not too big) and in some cases relocating where there is more space. There are now about two dozen Amish and two dozen Mennonite families in the county, mostly in Ridgeway and Yates.
The Amish community has been in the news in recent days after a fire on Tuesday at a milking parlor on Fruit Avenue in Ridgeway. Marcus Miller had just built the milking parlor two years ago for his herd of 45 cows. The cows survived, but parlor was a total loss.
Marcus Miller watches firefighters while they work to put out a fire at his milking parlor on Tuesday morning.
The former building has been removed and new framing and metal siding installed for a new structure. This photo was taken on Friday afternoon.
The crumbled parlor was pushed off site on Tuesday and the framework started for a new milking parlor. Miller’s cows needed to be milked and a neighboring dairy offered to fill in until Miller was back up and running.
The men in the Amish community have stepped away from their own businesses for a little while to help get Miller’s parlor rebuilt. Amish have come from Holmes County in Ohio, including about a dozen who arrived on Friday and will keep working at the site today.
The new building, a replica at 42 by 70 feet, is expected to be enclosed today. Miller said he will then work to get the plumbing and milking equipment installed. He could be milking cows at the site again in two weeks.
“It’s been a blessing for everybody to see the help,” he said at the farm on Friday.
The Amish work ethic and their generous spirit has inspired many this past week, as it should.
They have another trait that serves them well: optimism.
Houghton Mifflin provides this definition of optimism: “A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation.”
The first Amish family moved to Yates in 1998. The first Mennonites arrived in 2000. An estimated 200 now live in the county.
In 2000, the county had a total population of 44,164 people, according to the U.S. Census. That dropped to 42,883 in 2010 and the most recent estimate in 2013 put it at 42,335, a 4.14 percent drop or 1,829 fewer people since 2000.
State-wide, New York grew 3.56 percent or by 674,670 people in those 13 years (from 18,976,457 in 2000 to 19,651,127 in 2013).
In Orleans we have been shedding residents because many people don’t see enough opportunity in the community. They see neighborhoods in decline. They want out.
But talk to the Amish and Mennonite, and they see opportunity. They were drawn by the rural community and the low-priced real estate. They like the landscapes and the distance from the cities. They saw their neighbors are nice and their customers are loyal.
They looked around and liked what they saw, even the houses, barns and farmland that needed lots of attention.
They were up for the tasks of improving the land, the properties and starting fresh. We have been a stronger and better community because of their energy and work.
You hear a lot of gloom and doom around here, from residents, business owners and our school and government officials. There are many vacant and run-down houses, shuttered schools, and abandoned factories and commercial sites. Several bridges are closed, and many parks and cemeteries look neglected.
As the to-do list gets longer, you sense despair among the residents and local leaders.
I stood near Miller while the smoke poured out of his parlor on Tuesday morning. It had to be a devastating feeling. Miller is 34 with a wife and two children. He moved from Ohio to Ridgeway in 2012.
Miller has had plenty of help getting the site cleared and rebuilt. But he deserves credit for not walking away, for recommitting during a hardship, for seeing potential amidst the ruin.
That is one of the great lessons we should learn from the Amish: to not be so focused on the bad and the challenges, and to instead look at the potential, and to commit ourselves to the task of making it better.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 January 2015 at 1:43 pm
Fair funding from state could turn around villages
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Holley community, like Medina and Albion, suffers from one of the highest tax rates in the Finger Lakes region, mainly because it receives so little in state funding for the village.
It’s a new year and elected officials in Orleans County can begin on a unified front, giving a strong voice to one of the main causes for the decline in the local villages, which are shedding tax base and residents while gaining run-down and vacant houses and aging infrastructure.
The villages are starved from state aid, and that lack of money has driven tax rates through the roof and forced villages to scale back on services, projects and their workforces. It’s a grim situation as a shrinking tax base and population tries to keep pace with failing infrastructure and provide many critical services to an aging and poor population.
If these villages had decided generations ago to be cities they would likely be in far better shape, with lots of state aid and greater share of the local sales tax. (Some say they should just become cities now, but the state hasn’t allowed a new city since the 1950s.)
It’s a perfect storm for these villages that are on the bottom of the food chain with few dollars trickling down from the top layers of government. The bill lands in the lap of senior citizens and many low-income families who stay within the village boundaries. People with more money tend to move outside the villages, where there is more land and a smaller tax bill – and village services nearby.
The state has propped up many of the cities – large and small – giving them anywhere from $100 to $600 a person in AIM (Aid and Incentives to Municipalities). The city mayors, who are paid enough as mayors for it to be a full-time job, press state officials and will show up in Albany demanding more in AIM. And the state will often gives them the money.
But if you live in a village you won’t even get $10 per person in aid.
Orleans Hub has written extensively about this funding disparity, and still no municipality has sounded the alarm, passed a resolution demanding fairness or got on the phone with the governor. Click here to see a previous article that lays out the funding disparity.
Consider that Albion (population 6,056) and Medina (population 6,065) receive $38,811 in AIM funding and $45,523, respectively. Sherrill, the state’s smallest city with 3,071 people in Oneida County, gets $372,689. Salamanca in Cattaraugus County is nearly the same size at Albion and Medina. Salamanca gets $928,131 for a city of 5,815 people.
If Albion and Medina received what Salamanca did in state aid, the two villages could cut their taxes by about 40 percent. No longer would these villages be near the top of the list for most oppressive tax burdens in the Finger Lakes and Western New York.
With a fair share of state aid, our village residents would have a few hundred dollars more to spend each year in the local economy. They could better maintain their houses. Their homes would be worth more.
As the village assessments fall, that shifts more of the town, county and school tax burden to properties outside the village, where the assessments are growing. Stabilizing the village tax bases or seeing them grow is in the best interests of the town, county and schools because it would ease the tax shift to residents outside the village.
That’s why the towns, county and schools should join with the village leaders and push for a fair formula for AIM funding from the state. The situation is particularly dire in Orleans because we don’t have a city. We don’t have one densely populated place where the tax rates are reasonable.
Our village leaders have tried to keep down the tax rates, but you can only do so much without any state assistance. That has left lots of work undone with our parks, streets, sidewalks and infrastructure. It has created an inferior environment compared to cities (look at Batavia with its spray park, streetscape and other improvements).
The villages have had to make do with less for a half century. It shows. And our village residents still pay a huge tax bill.
The local officials have showed unity for a cause before. In 2013, all of the towns and villages joined the County Legislature in passing a resolution calling on the repeal of the SAFE Act. Last year they were all united in seeking more state funding for roads and bridges.
In 2015 they should all demand fair state funding for villages with the AIM program.
Here is sample resolution that the local boards are welcome to use or tweak. (But please get on the record with this soon because the governor and state legislators have an April 1 deadline to pass a budget.)
RESOLUTION No. 1, January 2015
WHEREAS, New York State provides $714 million in Aid and Incentives to Municipalities each year, and 90 percent of that goes to upstate cities;
WHEREAS, the AIM funding per capita is $277 per city resident and only $7 for residents in towns and villages;
WHEREAS, there are 549 villages with a combined population of 1,918,032 in New York State, including four (Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina) in Orleans County with a population of 14,770;
WHEREAS, many villages wrestle with the same problems as cities, with aging infrastructure, blighted housing, abandoned commercial sites, brownfields and increased crime rates;
WHEREAS, villages are similar to cities with a high concentration of senior citizens and low-income families;
WHEREAS, villages mirror cities as centers for culture, civic and religious life, especially in rural counties;
WHEREAS, villages are like cities with many important community structures – churches, courthouses, schools and other public buildings – that do not pay taxes, shifting the tax burden for those sites to other residents in the village or city;
WHEREAS, the state’s tiny share of AIM funding for villages has put villages at a competitive disadvantage in attracting and retaining businesses and residents;
WHEREAS, the huge disparity in AIM funding between the cities and villages is a form of state-sponsored economic discrimination, resulting in much higher tax bills for village residents and a diminished quality of life;
WHEREAS, the erosion of the village tax base has shifted a greater burden of town, county and school district tax burden outside the village, punishing the outside-village residents as well;
WHEREAS, the high tax rates in the village encourage suburban sprawl and development of green space and farm land for housing tracts, industrial parks and “Big Box” stores;
WHEREAS, village residents are no less a New Yorker than a city resident;
WHEREAS, the Legislature/Town Board/Village Board/Board of Education, call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State Legislature to adopt a fair formula for sharing AIM funding so village residents can enjoy municipal services and their homes without being taxed to death.
RESOLVED, that the clerk of the Legislature/Village Board/Town Board/Board of Education shall forward copies of this resolution to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Senator Robert Ortt, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, and all others deemed necessary and proper.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 December 2014 at 12:00 am
Village officials push forward several projects
File photo by Tom Rivers – The former Starlite Dry Cleaners has been vacant on Main Street in Medina since a fire damaged the building a decade ago. Environmental concerns have been a holdup in the site’s redevelopment.
Editorial
MEDINA – One of the things I feared with the dissolution talk and impending vote in Medina is the Village Board would use it as an excuse to stand down and not push forward any projects.
Thankfully, the Village Board isn’t sitting around twiddling its thumbs, waiting for the results of the Jan. 20 vote. Whether the village government is dissolved or not on Jan. 20, important projects need to tackled and the current board is engaged in many issues.
It is in talks with the Genesee County Economic Development Center about providing sewer services to the STAMP site in the Town of Alabama. The village’s sewer plant is vastly underutilized and the STAMP users could be a major revenue windfall for the sewer plant, whether it’s owned by the village in the future or another government entity.
(If dissolution is approved, the village government would continue anyway for two years while some or all of its services could transition to the towns of Shelby or Ridgeway, or non-for-profit local development corporations.)
The talks with the Genesee County economic development officials are important. The STAMP site is about 1 mile south of the Orleans County border.
The 1,250-acre site will accommodate nanotechnology companies including semiconductor 450mm chip fab, flat panel display, solar manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing. The site, in full build-out, is expected to employ 10,000 people with many making $100,000 or more. Another 50,000 jobs will be created in the region to support the companies at STAMP.
The companies at the site will need sewer, and Medina has several millions gallons of excess capacity. Besides working on a deal with GCEDC, the village plans to spend $1.2 million upgrading equipment and adding more capacity for the sewer plant.
Boxwood Cemetery has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.
Medina’s downtown has enjoyed a rebirth in the past decade with many new businesses joining Main Street mainstays. The downtown is drawing notice as a destination for visitors. But there are some empty storefronts, including two problem spots at 331-333 North Main St.
Environmental concerns have prevented redevelopment at the sites, Mayor Andrew Meier said. The village has paid for environmental audits of the sites and is trying secure state funding to help with remediating the properties, which would include a partial takedown of the former Starlite Cleaners, a building that was damaged in a fire a decade ago.
These sites are in the Town of Ridgeway, Orleans County and Medina Central School District, as well as the village. The Village Board deserves credit for committing money and effort on these sites. They’ve largely been acting alone, trying to address two spots that are blemishes on the downtown.
Village Historian Todd Bensleyalso deserves praise for working with the State Parks Department to have Boxwood Cemetery nominated for the state and national registers of historic places. The designation would give the cemetery long overdue lofty status and could bring in resources for projects in the historic burial grounds on Route 63, north of the village.
The 20-acre cemetery is considered a distinctive example of several cemetery movements. It was originally established in the Rural Cemetery manner in 1850. The cemetery grew in size, and later sections were added in the Lawn Park and Memorial Park styles.
Village officials see the cemetery as a great resource in the community, and one worthy of state and national recognition.
Some of the village efforts in recent months should pay dividends for years to come, whether dissolution passes or fails.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 December 2014 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – This home at 204 West Center St., Medina, was one of the houses in the village to receive matching funds for improvements through a grant administered by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber will soon accept applications for a third round of $200,000 grants.
MEDINA – A third round of grants for new coats of paint and other beautification improvements will soon be available to Medina home and business owners.
The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce is administering the program. The funds are provided by an anonymous donor.
This will be the third year for the program, which has provided $200,000 annually for building improvements. About 50 homes and 15 businesses have received money through the project, said Kathy Blackburn, the Chamber executive director.
“It’s having an impact,” she said. “Some of the homes just look fantastic.”
The matching grants provide up to $10,000 per project within the Village of Medina. The applications are expected to soon be available on the Chamber website. Blackburn said there will be an informational meeting in mid January with applications due in February.
The projects are all reviewed by the Chamber’s Façade Grant Review Committee, which is expected to approve the grants in March.
Eligible projects include exterior painting; woodwork and architectural metal repair, cleaning, restoration, painting or replacement; masonry repairs and tuck pointing; window and door repairs or replacement; cornice or parapet projects; awning work; and exterior lighting fixtures.
File photos by Tom Rivers – A train on the Falls Road Railroad passes through Albion near Platt Street.
State officials announced grants for aviation and rail safety projects today, including two to be funded in Orleans County.
Pine Hill Airport in Barre was approved for $42,000 to purchase snow removal and air field maintenance equipment.
The state also approved $466,000 for the Falls Road Railroad Company in Batavia. The company plans to repair culverts and bridges in the railroad that runs from Lockport to Brockport with most of the line in Orleans County.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $26.8 million in state funding for 38 rail and aviation safety, security and economic development projects across the state. This funding will generate approximately $36 million in new investments for transportation projects statewide, the governor said.
“New York remains a vital transportation hub, as well as a tourism destination, and this funding will help ensure travel to and in this state is safer, more convenient and more reliable,” Cuomo said. “By investing in our transportation infrastructure, we are making long-term improvements to our rail and aviation systems in order to better serve the people who use them, while also expanding economic opportunities throughout New York.”
An airplane comes in for a landing at Pine Hill Airport in Barre in this photo taken in September 2013. The airport is the only one in Orleans County with a hard-surface runway.
New York approved $17.8 million in funding from the State’s Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program to 12 rail projects that will repair and replace 65 miles of track and ties, rehabilitate rail grade crossings and bridges, and construct new connections to improve safety and operations.
The state also approved $9 million to 26 aviation projects through the Governor’s Aviation Capital Grants Program. These investments will enhance airport safety and security, including taxi-lane striping and markings, runway and airfield maintenance, and installation of automatic weather observation stations. Other airport related improvements that will benefit from this funding include the construction and rehabilitation of new and existing airport terminals and aircraft hangars.
The funding allocated today was included in the State’s 2014-15 budget. The projects that received the funding were selected through a competitive solicitation process and rated on established criteria, including project eligibility, consistency with state rail and aviation plans, regional economic benefits, and the ability to leverage additional investments.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2014 at 12:00 am
Group has grown to 29 vendors and expanded to second site
Photos by Tom Rivers – Some of the long-time vendors at the Downtown Browsery include, from left: Karen Appleman, Lucy and Scott Sackett, Linda Hollenbeck and Kim Remley.
ALBION – Ten years ago a group of 13 vendors joined to open the Downtown Browsery at 14 East Bank St. The group wanted an outlet to sell antiques, collectibles and other merchandise, but none of the vendors wanted to go solo with their own shop.
The Browsery has proven a successful model, allowing vendors to share costs and time in running the store. They also believe a bigger number of vendors serves as a draw for customers.
“The primary impetus was to get downtown revitalized,” said Kim Remley, one of the original vendors. “We saw it as a start to get things rolling in the downtown.”
The Browsery has many holiday-themed items for sale.
The Browsery has grown to 29 vendors and two sites. A second location, The Uptown Browsery, opened last February.
“It’s fantastic,” Remley said. “We’re thrilled.”
The Downtown Browsery has also seen other antique and collectible shops open near Albion, including several on Ridge Road. With about a dozen shops fairly close by, Scott Sackett said the Albion area has become a destination for antique and collectible shoppers.
That’s why he and his wife Lucy have been vendors with the Browsery for nearly a decade. The couple lives in Batavia and they saw more potential for their merchandise in Albion.
Scott Sackett made this birdfeeder resembling a cardinal.
“There is no antique market in Batavia,” he said. “This area has become an antique and collectibles destination.”
Sackett makes birdfeeders from scrap lumber and they have proven his top selling item, with about 400 sold in Albion over the decade. He and his wife are vendors at both the Downtown and Uptown sites.
Karen Appleman has been at the Downtown Browsery since the first day, selling vintage collectibles. Customers like to buy rotary phones, toys from generations ago and other nostalgic items, she said.
“People like to come in and reminisce,” she said. “They see a lot of things from their childhood and the prices are reasonable.”
A rotary phone, books and other items are for sale.
The group has a board of directors, which is currently led by Maureen Bennett. Appleman said the vendors all pitch in for rent and other expenses. She said Ron Vendetti, owner of the East Bank Street site, has kept the rent affordable, allowing the site to succeed for 10 years.
Linda Hollenbeck also has been a vendor for 10 years. She and many of the other vendors have full-time jobs. The Browsery has proven to be a way for them to be in business without the full-time burden of managing a storefront.
The site continues to find new customers, even long-time Albionites.
“We still get a lot of first-timers, even people from Albion,” Hollenbeck said. “They always have positive comments about the shop.”
For more information on the Downtown Browsery, click here.
Maureen Bennett is the current chairwoman of the Browsery’s board of directors.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Editorial
File photo – A dredging barge is near the breakwall at the end of the Oak Orchard channel when the harbor was dredged in August for the first time in 10 years. Orleans and other southshore counties may pool their money and buy dredging equipment to ensure the harbors stay open.
Local government leaders are devising proactive solutions to help solve some long-festering problems. They deserve a pat on the back and I’m happy to give it to them.
Consider the following:
County will tackle bridge projects
New York State and the federal government used to be counted on to help pay the lion’s share for bridge replacement projects in Orleans County. Those bridge projects could top $1 million or more. The federal government would pay 80 percent with the state covering 15 percent. But those dollars have been in short supply in our county.
There are less federal and state dollars for bridge projects and the money tends to go to bridges with higher traffic counts in more populous counties.
We have aging infrastructure in our county. Many of the 70 county-owned bridges are at least a half-century old. Without a bridge replacement plan we could face a lot of blocked off roads in the future, delaying residents, emergency vehicles and commercial trucks. That would threaten public safety and the economy in the county.
Rather than waiting on the state or federal government, Orleans County leaders came up with their own plan for replacing six bridges in the next three years. The county will bond the project using low-interest financing to get the work done.
The following bridges have been identified for replacement, starting with two in 2015: a bridge from 1934 over Beardsley Creek on Waterport-Carlton Road in Carlton, and a bridge from 1968 in Barre over Manning Muckland Creek on Oak Orchard Road.
Other bridges to follow include one from 1959 in Kendall on Carton Road over Sandy Creek, a bridge from 1936 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on East Scott Road, one from 1928 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on Culvert Road, and a bridge from 1956 in Kendall over Sandy Creek on Norway Road.
The bridge work will cost $5 million and is part of an $8 million bond that will also include culvert work, new roofs on county buildings and other infrastructure work.
Southshore counties may dredge harbors
The Oak Orchard Harbor should be dredged every six years to make sure sediment in the harbor doesn’t build up, making the channel impassable for boats. The harbor was dredged in August, the first time in 10 years using federal recovery funds from the Sandy Superstorm.
The federal government is directing dredging funds to commercial harbors and not to recreational harbors like Oak Orchard. However, that harbor is critical to the county’s recreational and sportsfishing industries.
The harbor generates $7,087,101 in economic activity for Orleans, resulting in 117 direct and indirect jobs. It also yields $283,484 in sales tax revenue for both the county and the state, according to a consultant, Frank Sciremammano of FES Environmental and Marine Consultants.
Rather than wait on the federal government and Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the harbors, the southshore counties may pool their funds and buy dredging equipment to keep 19 harbors open. Buying the equipment would result in annual $23,655 share from Orleans County. That seems like a small price to pay for the economic and recreational activity at the harbor, as well as the peace of mind in knowing it will stay open.
Holley finds partners to help revive old school
It’s a dominant landmark on the east end of our county, but it’s been left to wither and rot for the past two decades. The old Holley High School remains a solid structure despite the neglect, and officials from the Landmark Society of Western New York believe the building is worth saving and renovating.
The Landmark Society and Preservation League of NYS are working with the village to get the school on the state and national registers of historic places. That would make a rehabilitation project at the school eligible for 40 percent in tax credits. That could be enough to make a project, perhaps senior apartments, financially feasible for a developer.
Holley Mayor John Kenney deserves credit for connecting with the preservation groups and for seeing potential in the site. (The Preservation League is providing a $5,000 grant to help Holley with its application to get the school and Public Square on the state and national registers.)
Albion and Holley pursue LDCs for distressed properties
Eight homes in Holley were abandoned after a leak at the former Diaz Chemical plant more than 12 years ago. The Environmental Protection Agency has deemed those eight houses safe. But they remain empty and under EPA control.
The village is working to form a local development corporation that would take ownership of the sites and work to sell them. That is a proactive move by Holley. The funds from the housing sales could be used to advance other community projects. The LDC could also have a role in the redevelopment of the old school.
The Village of Albion is also working on an LDC to target distressed housing. The LDC would have a specific focus of either taking down or rehabilitating run-down homes. The LDC could also seek and accept grants and partner with other agencies.
In both cases, Holley and Albion are developing a framework to address difficult problems.
It’s good to see the government leaders being proactive and not reactive to some of our challenges.
