Editor:

Ginny Kropf’s article “Medina Man… waiting for Transplant” explains the lack of organ donations from one man’s perspective. An excellent portrayal of the human costs from the transplant bottleneck.

To put it in a blunter terms: Nationally, New York State is lowest in donor percentage (excluding Puerto Rico).

In New York State, County Donor percentage is lowest in Orleans County. Lowest of the low!

Why?

I don’t know but civic leaders and educators could certainly increase awareness of this life-saving process.

David Drake

Medina

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Editor:

As an everyday reader of Orleans Hub it was a welcome sight when I found a story earlier this week with Ginny Kropf’s name attached to it. She is a welcome addition to the staff of The Hub.

I have enjoyed her articles and columns for many years in The Daily News. She has such a way to tell a story or write about an organization that is not seen much anymore. Her many years of reporting on local news and writing columns on human-interest stories have always been a good read. She is just another reason to check out the Hub everyday.

Pete Toenniessen

Albion

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Editor:

It is said that culture enriches a community, by making it a more attractive and interesting place to live. Culture encompasses music, drama, literature, and art. All of these components add color and liveliness to the life of the community. They add depth and broaden horizons.

Our local communities host many musical events throughout the year, through the schools, churches and Miss Amy’s Studio B. Our local schools produce fabulous plays and musicals.  Literature is abundantly available in our outstanding local libraries and the programs they offer.

But what has been missing is a venue to display artwork, particularly the artwork of the many artists in our area. An art gallery is a place where local artists can show their work to the public, a place where people can come to discover and enjoy art, and where they might even be inspired to try making art themselves. Art can be uplifting, art can enrich, art can foster creativity and imagination, art can be fun, art can be contagious!

To add the “art part” of culture to the community, Kim Martillotta-Muscarella will be re-opening the Art Gallery at 227 N Main, Albion, with an exhibit of her recent paintings. The opening reception is Friday, May 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. There is a full program of exhibits scheduled for the summer and fall, opening to the community on the First Friday of every month.

Connie Mosher

Albion

Editor:

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the recent articles by Ginny Kropf. While I always enjoy Hub articles in general, Ginny’s articles add a special flavor! It was a pleasant surprise to see her name appear.

It was my privilege to meet her some years ago; the quality and attention to detail of her writing (and reporting) is second only to the quality of her kind personality!

Her work is of the highest quality, and I thank you for sharing it with us all.

Sincerely,

Elianna Quatro

Albion

Editor:

I attended school last week at Oak Orchard Elementary with my granddaughter who is in Mrs. Lonnen’s class. I didn’t know what to expect but I was amazed at how well the staff explained the situation to the kids and allowed the kids to react and ask questions.

But also I realized these adults’ hearts must have been breaking during this. They handled everything and everyone with skill and softness. No one can prepare for tragedy but when people do so well, it is a blessing well noted.

Thank you Medina school staff for meeting our children’s needs. My thoughts are with you during your time of mourning.

Cindy Troy

Albion

Editor:

This letter is in response to several letters written regarding the change in Town of Yates legal representation.

The Town of Somerset has spent 10 times the legal fees compared to the Town of Yates fighting the wind project. Both towns are in the same place legally in this battle against an unwanted wind project. Both towns are waiting on an application to the State Sighting Board. Which Town would you say spent their limited resources in the most economical way?

I would also ask Mr. Hoffman how successful Somerset was in their legal action against the Met Towers? As a resident of Somerset, I can understand why you would be critical of those who opposing the Town of Yates joining your legal team. Why not find a partner who is willing to reduce your costs while adding to theirs. A 50/50 split of legal cost seems to be a balanced solution to a  project which is less than 30 percent located in Yates.

Edward Urbanik

Lyndonville

Editor:

The Yates Town Board is to be congratulated for its recent decision to join forces with the Town of Somerset in retaining Dennis Vacco from the law firm Lippes, Mathias, Wexler, Friedman LLP as the town attorney representing them in matters associated with the proposed Lighthouse Wind project. It is a win/win situation for both towns in their effort to stop the industrialization of our rural community.

Mr. Vacco, a principled attorney, has vast legal experience and is unique in that he is one of the few Western New Yorkers that have held statewide office. His credentials are beyond question. Critics are totally misguided.

The alleged “excessive legal expenditures” incurred by the Town of Somerset reflect the costs necessary to defend against a lawsuit relating to the siting of two Met towers in the town. Somerset maintained that the siting of these towers was a class I SEQRA action as they were in fact part of the Lighthouse Wind project with far-reaching environmental consequences. Apex disagreed and sued to force an approval. This is an example of the extent to which Apex will go to impose their will on a community that has demonstrated again and again over the last 4 years, that industrialization of our community with large wind turbines is unacceptable. The Yates Met Tower approval involved no such lawsuit.

With regard to the Somerset Power Station effect on our community, it was in fact an economic engine for the entire area. It employed 120 or more individuals, had an annual payroll in excess of $11 million annually and was privately financed. The Barker School District benefited from the tax base. Be reminded that this district encompasses a section of Orleans County including a portion of the Town of Yates. No number of industrial wind turbine projects will ever replace the economic contribution of that plant. It is tragic that it is being driven out of business by Governor Cuomo’s misguided energy policies with no thought of conversion to natural gas, a plentiful and clean-burning fuel.

It time to stop running loose and fast with facts and figures and recognize that our elected officials are carrying out the will of the people, something they were elected to do. We must all unite behind them and send Apex home. This is what the people want.

James C. Hoffman

Town of Somerset

Editor:

A recent letter to the editor regarding the industrial wind factory project by Apex Clean Energy of Virginia states:

“Lastly, you have the 10% to 15% lake privileged, who always complain about unfair high taxes.”

As one of the “privileged” I would like to make it known that our family has never once complained about “unfair high taxes” nor have I heard any of my lake neighbors complain about “unfair” high taxes.

I am not sure what the 10-15% percent represents here … 10-15% of the citizens, of the taxpayers? Of the tax revenue? Of the voters? What does this have to do with the Right to Farm? I can tell you what lake dwellers who are part time residents don’t get: tax reduction of any sort regardless of age or economic status. We don’t complain about that either.

Most of us are subsidized only by our own hard work. We do not need to be denigrated for that.

The combining of legal forces by Somerset and Yates is intended to reduce the legal costs to both towns imposed on us by Apex Clean Energy’s industrial wind project called Lighthouse Wind, a project that has been rejected by a majority of the citizens in both towns. I applaud the Yates Town Board members who are looking out for that majority. I believe that is the way the founding fathers intended this country to operate.

Unfortunately, Article 10 has taken away Home Rule and this tenet of democracy in NY state.

Sincerely,

Susan Dudley

Lyndonville

Editor:

We (the family of Jo and RJ Gilman) would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to our friends and community for their outpouring of support during this incredibly difficult time. The loss that we feel is incredible. Jo and RJ were treasured members of our family and we are doing our best to cope with such a senseless loss.

Jo was a devoted mother, sister, aunt and friend. She welcomed all with coffee, a smile and a listening ear. RJ followed his mother’s lead and made the happiness and laughter of others a priority. You didn’t need to be blood to be family when it came to either of them. This loss is devastating for all who knew them.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 28, with calling hours from 2 to 4 p.m. and a service to follow immediately at First Baptist Church in Albion. Interment will be held privately.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help ease the financial burden left in the wake of this tragedy.

Sincerely,

The Gilman family

Editor:

In an April 19, 2018 letter to the editor, Mr. Howard Pierce chastises three of the relatively new elected Yates Town Board members for making what he considers an unwise fiscal decision. He is angry that the Town of Yates is going to join forces with the Town of Somerset in the last remaining legal battle against Apex Clean Energy and the Lighthouse Wind Project. I believe his anger should be targeted at Apex and not at our town representatives.

Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Virginia (Virginia still has no industrial wind turbines), snuck into our two towns almost 5 years ago and started signing up lease holders before the general public was even aware they were here. When the general populations of both towns did find out about the proposed project, surveys in both towns were conducted and roughly 67 percent of the populations of both towns were opposed to the Lighthouse Wind Project being built. Despite this fact, Apex still touts that they have “widespread community support.” This translates to mean they have enough leases and land to proceed with at least part of the project.

Apex could have done the honorable thing and cancelled the project after finding out the results of the two town surveys. However, because of Article 10, which takes away our home rule, and the chance of making mega millions of dollars if the project is built, Apex has stuck around. As a result, the two towns have had to pay wind attorney fees for several years, like the ones Mr. Pierce mentioned, to try and prevent Apex from building the Lighthouse Wind Project. No more Apex means no more wind attorney fees.

In closing, I am one of the 10% to 15% of the “lake privileged” but have never complained about unfair high taxes here. I did submit a letter to the Hub awhile back stating I was paying lower taxes in Yates than in my previous location. I also mentioned how the seasonal “lake privileged” keep year-round resident taxes lower.

If 67 percent of Yates has said NO to Apex, and only 10% to 15% are the “lake privileged”, there must be a whole lot of “non-lake privileged” people here who also oppose the project. It is Apex who could have, and still could, save the two towns many thousands of dollars by not proceeding with the Lighthouse Wind Project.

Jim Bansbach

Town of Yates

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Editor:

After reading the article in the Batavia newspaper and on Orleans Hub of the audit criticizing the Supervisor of the Town of Carlton, for inaccurate and incomplete accounting records, it became very disturbing to me. This is a big business and must be handled professionally and accurately in a timely fashion.

I have never heard of not depositing checks within seven business days to ensure sufficient funds are available to cover which is usually a minimum of three business days. The audit shows a check from Orleans County for $18,733 that was not cashed for five months and then when the Supervisor was asked why, it was stated that it was lost in the mail. In my opinion, that is an unacceptable excuse. There were also Town Justice checks that were never deposited and had to be reissued several months later. This tells me there is something seriously wrong with the procedure.

Findings also show the Town Board was not totally informed on certain issues and voting by the Board was not handled properly or even brought up for a vote.

When I attended the March 13, 2018 regular monthly Board Meeting, I questioned the audit under privilege of the floor. I asked what the audit revealed and what is being done to correct the situation. I was informed that deposits were made in the past years within 30 days with no issues and that a couple of checks were shredded, but the audit didn’t share that, only that it took months to correct the missing checks. I was truly hoping that we would have been informed of some troubling areas of the audit that have been addressed and will not happen in the future, but instead we received no true explanation and it would have been “swept under the rug” if I hadn’t brought the issue up.

One real disturbing piece of the audit was that we are a small municipality and the elected officials are just part-time. I have to differ since this is a big business and even though the elected officials are part-time, you know what is required of you when you run for office and the taxpayers expect that the job will be done correctly and to the best of your ability. As a Supervisor, you must be a team player with excellent communication skills so that everyone is lead to positive results to help our town move forward to a prosperous outlook.

Lastly, we have been informed that the books will be looked over by a CPA so that these mistakes are corrected, and the Town is not incurring additional costs from mistakes. If it takes time to correct mistakes twice, then for sure there was time to do it right once. As Town of Carlton taxpayers we need to show concern and interest of the direction of our town. There appeared to be no problem in the 2018 budget for 2% raises to reward a job well done. How about we reward our performance when it is done correctly and not just a given? Remember, your board meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

Regards,

Robin L. Roberts

Carlton

Editor:

This was the most fiscally irresponsible vote by the Yates Town Board on April 12, 2018: RESOLUTION NO.53-4/18 – Resolution to Authorize the Supervisor to Sign Agreement for Legal Services with Lippes Mathias Wexler Freedman LLP.

I am writing this letter to inform my Town of Yates fellow residents and the public what happened at the Yates Town Board meeting on April 12. By a vote of 3-2, Simon, Riggi and Suhr passed a “Resolution to Authorize the Supervisor to Sign Agreement for Legal Services with Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP.”

A. This resolution does three things, all of which concern me deeply:

1. This resolution terminates the Town of Yates association with our Wind Attorney, Mr. Dan Spitzer. Spitzer is the most knowledgeable and respected wind attorney in New York State having worked with numerous towns on wind laws for over 15 years now. For the record, Mr. Spitzer had sent a communication earlier in the day withdrawing his services as Town Wind Attorney.

2. This resolution makes an agreement with the law firm of Lippes Mathis Wexler Freedman LLP, Dennis Vacco’s firm that Somerset retained. Vacco and his firm’s experience regarding wind energy is minimal when compared to Spitzer.

3. The Town of Yates will enter into an agreement with the Town of Somerset to share attorney and engineering expenses at a 50-50 split. This is a bad deal for several reasons, mainly that Vacco charges an arm and a leg compared to Spitzer.

Both Towns have passed resolutions against the Lighthouse Wind Project and both have redone their wind laws twice. Here’s the difference: The Town of  Yates spent $37,136.47 with Mr. Spitzer, while the Town of Somerset spent $264,677.20 with Vacco’s firm.

You are entering into an agreement not knowing what it will cost or where the money will come from. Yates has $19,000 budgeted for attorney fees in 2018 while Somerset has $300,000 for attorney fees and $85,000 in engineering fees budgeted for 2018.

B. The manner in which it was put together and introduced is highly troubling:

1. This resolution was written in a non-transparent manner by Simon, Riggi and Suhr without including Councilmen Bradley and Whipple. Councilman Bradley suggested that a resolution of this magnitude should have been done by committee.

2. The actual content was not available beforehand – just the title. This means constituents can’t know what is in the resolution until the Supervisor read it aloud just prior to the vote.

Mr. Simon, I remind you, Yates is a “Right to Farm” town. We also have not had our pockets filled with a PILOT program from the power plant for the last thirty years. Your constituents are hard-working farm families, many who live below the national poverty level, many who live paycheck to paycheck, and many retired people who live on fixed incomes.

Lastly, you have the 10% to1 5% lake privileged, who always complain about unfair high taxes. The make-up of Yates doesn’t leave money for this unnecessary spending. In the last two years you haven’t brought in one penny of revenue to our town, but you continue to spend money like a drunken sailor.

This rushed and irresponsible vote (3-2) will surely be regretted by taxpayers: we simply can’t afford this decision! It will go down as the darkest day in the Town of Yates history.

Howard Pierce

Yates

Editor:

I understand a recent letter suggested flipping the party leadership in Orleans County would lead to reduced cost and spending.

The following states have the highest effective sales tax/income tax rates in the nation: New York, 12.7 %; Connecticut, 12.6%; New Jersey, 12.2%; Illinois, 11.0%, California and Wisconsin, 11.0%.

Which party controls a majority of those states? The party the writer is suggesting control the county?

Edward Urbanik

Lyndonville

Editor:

Will a new Orleans County administration building provide improved service to the taxpayers?  Would the plus, or minus, seven million dollars—regardless of how funded—be tax dollars well spent? Will anything the current 4-3 Republican majority decides to do serve the actual best interests of the residents of Orleans County?

In 2011, we supposedly could no longer afford to care for elderly residents in a county nursing home we had spent several millions renovating during my initial term, but we can spend millions on new “digs” for the current political crowd/“administration.” It is extremely doubtful that having improved graphics, new sidewalks, newer desks and the latest technology will help us make better—even courageous—decisions.

Any chance solar panels will cover the new facility’s roof? Who knows, emboldened by posh office space, maybe our sitting legislators will take a stand on some matters with serious implications for the future of Orleans County’s assets. Unfortunately, more comfortable chairs won’t help our representatives understand what an “asset” is. By the way, assets include not only Four Star federally-rated nursing homes but histories, hospitals, varied wildlife habitats, and visiting nurse certifications.

With the cover provided by a “Stormy” in Washington and a “Percocolation” in Albany, the burning-need-for-a-new-administration-complex-fiasco can be pulled off with only Lauricella, Lofthouse, Longer, yours truly, and a handful of others noticing. (What do those conservatives know anyway?) Most people here long ago threw up their hands in hopeless resignation that anything the 4-3 legislative majority does will actually be beneficial to the vast majority of us regular folks.

When The Villages County Nursing home just had to be sold, at least five relatives of then—and some even now—sitting legislators professed opposition and even revulsion. The 2019 county elections are a long way off, but wouldn’t payback for the current anticipated utter waste of taxpayer dollars—and another arguably bonehead play just announced—be awful? One former chairperson has to be getting restless.

One consequence of a certain flipped seat might be a change in county leadership. In fact, as things stand right now, flipping that one seat would guarantee it.

Yours so truly,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

So often I read the letters to the editor and they are negative with debate and political tension. I would like to write a quick note that is positive.

My job gives me the opportunity to interact on a near daily basis with the Hoag Library staff in Albion. I wanted to send a thank you out to them for all that they do for me and other patrons.

They are always so willing to help me out with whatever they can. They greet me each day with a smile and a “Hello.” Each one takes the time to have a conversation with me when the chance is available.

I have become to feel like I am part of their “work family.” Thanks again!!!

Tammie Golden

Kent