Editor:

(This letter has been sent to Gaines Town Supervisor Grube, Councilperson Kirby, Councilperson Neilans, and Councilperson Allport.)

I am writing in regards to the removal of the safety window in front of the Town Clerk’s desk, which was discussed at our February Town Board meeting. I would like to present some considerations:

The installation of a safety partition in front of the clerk’s window was in direct response to NYS Department of Labor’s inspection of the Town Hall for workplace safety. The evaluation cited the clerk’s window as a potential workplace hazard due to the exchange of money with the public. To remedy the hazard, the Town Board contracted to have the bulletproof glass partition installed, at a cost to taxpayers of $8,000 to $10,000. Since NYS Department of Labor conducts periodic inspections, removal of the partition will necessitate a replacement safety feature, at additional cost to the taxpayer. The cost to remove the window was said to be $1,500. The cost to replace the window with another safety feature isn’t yet known.

There were several other suggestions offered by Department of Labor including: widening the counter between the clerk’s desk and the public (that alone won’t stop a bullet), posting a security guard (at what cost to the taxpayer?), exchanging money with the public in a different area (would the clerk have to leave her desk area to traverse with each resident to a different room?)

Members, I hope you are considering fiscal responsibility to the Town as well as preventing violence to staff. Removal of this partition has the potential to open the Town to a very costly lawsuit, should, God forbid, an armed robbery occur. Since this Town Board is only three or so months into learning about the Town and its specific needs, and learning about the State and its requirements for Towns, doesn’t it make fiscal sense to take the time to look at all the repercussions for the Town that removing this window could bring about?

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Marilynn Miller

Gaines

Editor:

Several military veterans recently ate breakfast at a Medina restaurant. When they went to pay, the bill had been paid by a local businessman, Tim Elliott. Thank you, Tim! Medina strong! Semper Fi!

Dave Wells

Medina

Editor:

Walmart and Dick’s now will not sell any gun to anyone under the age of 21. In New York State a 16-year-old can legally purchase a big game hunting license, and now because of the New York SAFE Act it is against the law for a father to purchase a shotgun for his son.

James Recco

Albion

Editor:

In response to Tom Graham’s letter regarding arming teachers, Mr. Graham outlined six different things that a gunman thinks or wants. He also ends with do we want armed umpires at little league games, clowns at the circus, grocery clerks, etc.

Arming teachers may not be the perfect answer, on that we can agree. I will tell you that there is potentially a concealed carry holder standing in line at the grocery store behind you, setting next to you at the circus and probably at the baseball game as well.

What and who protects our kids at school? Is it a sign on the doors or at the entrance to the property saying no guns allowed? Seriously? That is a joke! Chances are actions speak louder than words. It may not be the best solution out there, but making more laws for those that do not follow the law in the first place is not the best solution either.

Enforcing the laws that are on the books is a start! Mandatory sentencing for using a firearm in the commission of a crime is a start! There are thousands of people out there that think by changing the law it will protect us from this from happening again. I wish that to be true. Not all gun owners are criminals. Yet!

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Atwell

President, Barre Sportsmens Club

Editor:

I don’t even live in Somerset or Yates, but I’ve been following the Apex Wind encroachment with some interest. It appears they now have petitioned Albany, the cesspool of corruption that is the Cuomo Administration: He who is pining to be the next president of the US but is also so dirty that everyone close to him seems to be on trial for something illegal. But I digress.

These wind turbines which the Apex representatives want so desperately on our shorelines are not only a menace, but dangerous to not only wildlife (James Dellingpole called them “bat-chomping, bird-slicing eco-crucifixes”), but to humans as well. They haven’t been around long enough to study the long-term effects of harm on the local populations’ health.

But of course, our liberal (and bought and paid for) politicians in Albany are pushing them on us, the rural population who didn’t even vote for them to be in power to control our own land, into erecting these disgusting, property value-harming, and inefficient power “saving” monstrosities anyway; Because they have the money and resources to do so, whilst we, the local population, do not.

Let me be frank:  “Wind and Solar” is a farce. It’s a phony enterprise which exists on government subsidies to stay alive all because some voters and the politicians they voted for want to “feel good” about doing something about “climate change” (formerly called Global Warning which has lost its credibility entirely after real scientists finally admitted that it was a complete hoax).

My advice is this: Get enough public rebuke and lawyers on board to fight this thing, period. I personally will donate to any organization who will help out our neck of the woods and fight these liberal, globalist tree-hugger politicians who are hell bent on disrupting our way of life out here just so they can get elected again. Don’t stop fighting the good fight, we out here in the “woods” support you, no matter what the corporations or legislatures want you to believe.

Kim Kennedy

Medina

Editor:

Gary Kent. I respect you and can somewhat agree with your feelings on feral cats. This subject boils my blood though. Here’s the problem. I have gone to county meetings and publicly mentioned to the Legislature about not having any programs in Orleans County. Then Chairman Callard said they would look into it. They have done nothing so far.

I am a true cat lady. I have had cats all my life. I saved many lives of many cats. I have fixed all my cats, keep up on shots, give them flea medicine, antibiotics, worm medicine, whatever they need.

It’s hard to keep up when you have irresponsible, heartless humans literally pulling up at your house throwing them out of the car windows in your driveway. I’m constantly in a battle with Mr. Lauricella over money spent on cats. So what do we do. I can’t fix them or adopt them out as fast as they come and travel down the road. We need a program in Orleans County. They waste all kinds of money on everything else, why not have something for cats? Just my opinion.

I am against licensing cats for this reason. They come and go, a lot of them. I spend enough money on trying to save and feed them. I don’t need a license fee on top of that. I love all animals but nature is nature and they are going to go after some of the birds and other small animals in the food chain.

Licensing is not the answer. The Legislature has to get serious and do something positive. The next thing you know we will have to license our children because a lot of them are feral. Just joking.

Cat lover forever.

Sandy Lauricella

Lyndonville

Editor:

We would like to take this time to thank the Albion Police Department for their dedication and service to the community.

Sincerely,

Louis, Megan, Dennis, Sheila and AnnMarie Monacelli

Albion

Editor:

I thought the Rural Broad Band expansion was going to be done by cable? Hughes Net is a satellite delivered Internet. Hughes Net has been available here in Orleans County for over 10 years. How do I know that? I have been a subscriber for that long. I had to pay out of my pocket to have the hardware installed at my house. It was really not cheap back then but we went without other things to be able to afford it. I’m not rich yet we bought our own.

So why should anyone be getting their installation for free at the tax payers expense when it’s already available to buy? This is also not providing it for everyone like promised. So don’t anyone dare take credit for it.

If you’re going to waste tax payer money at least let everyone who is being robbed partake in it if they choose. Another reason why Cuomo’s got to go. Another reason why the Empire State is the Welfare State. I want to know who is getting this, how they are being chosen and they better be dirt poor.

Paul Lauricella

Lyndonville

Editor:

Doug Domedion’s recent Pennysaver column on feral cats should have been an eye-opener. Now-neutered, drop-off cats account for seven of our eight felines (the eighth is from P.A.W.S.).  My Mom’s numbers are similar.

Those who have no concept of what havoc unwanted cats are doing to beneficial birds in Orleans County might consider what might be done about it. Addressing the issue positively is another way Orleans County could put itself on the map and improve matters for all of its living creatures.

Someone with Doug’s credibility might even suggest an imperfect “solution”. My admittedly cynical guess is that, “Oh! That is such a shame” will be the extent of our response.

As a starting point, I would suggest licensing them as we do dogs. Fees for spayed and neutered cats might be considerably lower than those charged for felines which haven’t been “taken care of”.

Or, we could just surrender as we so often do.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

After reading the letter about the environmental impacts of wind turbines, I found the writer’s information was very misleading. As the writer suggested, I did my own research. The truth is that wind energy has some of the lowest impacts of any form of electricity production. The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/life-cycle-assessment.html) points out that wind energy’s impact is 98-99 percent lower than fossil fuel sources of electricity.

Once turbines are constructed no fuels extracted from mining are needed to generate electricity, nor is any water needed as a coolant, which both fossil fuel and nuclear plants use in abundance.

It is true that wind turbines are built using mostly concrete, steel and copper – the same materials used at every type of power plants. Turbines don’t need any special materials that aren’t used by other sources to generate electricity.

The writer is also incorrect in her statement that wind turbines require rare earth materials and create radioactive waste from the mining of those materials. Truth be told, many products from across our economy use rare earths, from iPhones to computers to flat screen TVs. In the U.S., only about 2 percent of the more than 50,000 operating wind turbines use rare earth materials, which are needed for direct drive turbines. The other 98 percent of the U.S. wind fleet uses electro-magnet turbines, which don’t use any rare earth materials.

Fossil and nuclear power plants also use massive amounts of water in their cooling systems – 22 to 62 trillion gallons of water annually and consuming over 1 trillion gallons (http://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/how-much-water-do-power-plants-use-316). In fact, the power sector currently uses more water than any other sector in the United States – much more than farming and ranching.

Wind energy uses no water for cooling when generating electricity, so by displacing water – intensive sources of electricity, wind energy in the U.S. saved 73 billion gallons of water in 2015.  So the environmental impacts the writer is concerned about are either overblown or simply incorrect. The truth is you can’t only be concerned about concrete and steel use in turbines when those same materials make up the majority of the build world around us. And if you’re worried about rare earth impacts, the computer you’re reading this on is an exponentially  larger problem than a wind turbine.

For the reasons stated above, I would give the writer three Pinocchios!

Howard Pierce

Lyndonville

Editor:

Tonight I watched in astonishment as my President advocated arming teachers to protect students from the kinds of massacres becoming more and more frequent. Incredulously, some people agree with him.

Have they considered:

1. A gunman knows he must have and plans for the element of surprise.

2. A gunman knows that no teacher can be watching their students and … watching out for him everywhere and all of the time.

3. A gunman knows most teachers will not be armed, even fewer as expert a gunman as he.

4. A gunman knows his odds of success are highest at the onset and diminishes from there.

5. A gunman knows he only needs seconds to kill as many as possible to achieve his end.

6. A gunman (if so inclined) knows he’s on and plans for, a suicide mission – armed security guards, teachers or anyone else will not deter him. He will just develop a better plan which will simply add to his warped “glory” of going down in a firefight.

What’s next? Armed nurses in the maternity ward? Armed umpires at little league games? Armed clowns at the circus? Armed clarinetists at the orchestra? Armed grocery clerks at the bar scanner? Armed waiters and bartenders? Is this really the society we want?

How free is a society held captive by fear?

I don’t know.  But I know crazy when I see it.

Tom Graham

Rochester

Editor:

This is in response to another letter from a frequent contributor to your forum.  The Village of Albion has a budget that exceeds 6.5 million dollars.  “Shake things up” doesn’t seem to be something voters should be doing when the thing shaken up is their hard earned money, government is serious business.

The writer has a long record of supporting anyone who is not a Republican.  Full disclosure I am a Republican Town Chairman and an employee of the Village.  I know that my Town Committee and our County Committee spend the time to learn about our candidates, their positions, and objectives prior to endorsing them.  I’m not sure that is always the case with others.

I personally know that my party has not sought to beat any particular candidate because of their party affiliation, but has always been focused on putting forth the best candidates.

I don’t know any of the challengers for Village Board well. I do know that every year we seek out people for the Planning, Zoning, and Historic Boards and I have not seen their names among the applicants. I do know that I attend most Village Board meetings and review the minutes from all of them and that before announcing their candidacies I only ever saw one of them in attendance once.

There are two Democrats on the Board I don’t think they should be replaced to “shake things up”. I’ve never seen a Village Board decision that was based on party politics. It takes nearly two years for someone to get to the point where they can really be a competent Board member.

Maybe instead of partisan bickering we at the local level could select our candidates based on their qualifications, ability, and competence rather than to “shake things up”. I’m suggesting that thoughtful consideration of the candidates and a civil discourse is what’s needed.

Ron Vendetti

Holley

(Editor’s Note: Mr. Vendetti is the code enforcement officer for the Village of Albion.)

Editor:

Yes, we need changes in Orleans County. In articles comparing counties in Western NY which have appeared in the news media, Orleans County has reigned as the highest taxed, highest unemployment rate, lowest per capita disposable income, you name it and Orleans County remains at the bottom tier.

You can become annoyed at the politicians in office for their tax and spend ideology, but the people that you should be looking at are the town and county political committee members who line these candidates up in front of you, the voter. The town committee members are where this originates.

2018 is an even year by number, in which the Orleans County Conservative Party has to re-organize. We will be looking for registered Conservatives willing to put forth the effort with a fighting spirit to serve on our committee, and try to make a positive change for the people wanting to stay in Orleans County. The time is now, don’t sit and complain get moving to make that difference.

The current county controlled political party will be re-organizing this year also. If you are of that political affiliation and don’t feel you have been represented properly, now is the time to get started think seriously about running for a committee position in your town.

Have questions or need information, call (585) 659-8382.

Allen Lofthouse

Chairman, Orleans County Conservative Party

Editor:

There is still time to register to vote in the March 23rd Village of Albion election. March 9th is the last day for new registrations.

And the residents of the Village have a real choice this year. It is up to each of them individually to consider whether the Village is moving in a positive direction as inexorably as could be expected. One party has run the “show” for a long time.

Certainly, the republican field is solid and offers experience.

The democratic candidates—Joyce Riley, Sandra Walter and Jason Dragon—are newcomers who deserve serious consideration. I know Village Trustee candidates Sandra and Jason pretty well. I do not know Joyce as well, but Bob Golden, who has a lifetime commitment to improving the local community, assures me that she is very capable. She and her family have been actively involved in helping where they can for a very long time. Together, Joyce, Sandra and Jason would bring intelligence and a fresh perspective to the many issues facing Village government.

Though I am mindful that the republican field has been trying hard for quite a while, I encourage Village voters to shake things up and vote for a new approach on March 23rd. Vote democrat for a change!

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

Our State Senate last month approved a measure to permit 12- and 13-year-old children to hunt with long guns.

What could motivate the Senate to approve such legislation? 12-year-old lobbyists? No.

To hear Sen. Patrick Gallivan tell it, the real reason behind the vote was the failing culture of guns and hunting, particularly among our youth. “We’re seeing the numbers, the interest declining. This is something that might attract younger people…it would allow them to start earlier and hopefully preserve the tradition.”

Of course, he’s right. The numbers are falling. But why is it necessary for the state to prop up a declining activity with 12- and 13-year-olds who are too much at risk of gun violence in their homes, schools, places of worship and at play. Maybe they should also permit teen access to cigarettes to prop up the tobacco industry!

The fact that they are to be supervised is of little comfort when considering that in Chautauqua County a hunter recently shot and killed a woman as she walked her dogs; another shot a truck he had mistaken for a deer. A Wayne County hunter fired several shots, missing his target and hitting a home. A hunter in the town of Holland fired several shots that penetrated an occupied home.

These are the supervisors? Who’s supervising them?

Rick Fuller

West Seneca