Editor:

The staff of Community Action, the Board of Directors, and the hundreds of families, who received a holiday basket, wish to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to all the wonderful and caring individuals who assisted the efforts of our agency this holiday season.

The joy of helping less fortunate families receive a holiday basket filled with food and toys for their children, or giving a single individual food and personal items, is a feeling everyone should experience. The smiles, the tears, the hugs, the thanks, were all made possible because of the generosity of businesses, civic groups, churches, Girl and Boy scout troops, service organizations, schools, private individuals, individuals who donated through the angel trees , FFA Albion (who donated over 35,000 pounds of food), people who sent money donations, those who adopted families, businesses who participated in our Annual Adopt a Child that donated  toys, the Albion School system who helped pack baskets, Andrew Szatkowski for his Festival of Lights donation of 1,000 toys and money donation, Albion Baptist Church for use of their church for sorting toys, and the many volunteers who sorted toys and food to give less fortunate families the joy of the holiday season.

Thank you to all who donated money to our Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign, the businesses where we had kettles, the bell ringers, our wonderful coordinators, and the ladies who counted the money. These donations and volunteer efforts made it possible to raise over $25,000.

Through all of you, we were able to assist 815 families in Orleans County.

Community Action could not have done what we did without the wonderful caring people who stepped up and assisted us in making the holidays brighter.

We wish you all a wonderful and safe 2018

Annette Grillo Finch

Director of Community Services

Salvation Army Treasurer

Michelle Figueroa

Case Manager

Community Action of Orleans

Editor:

On December 29th as I was pulling out of the parking lot at 34 E. Park Street for the final time, I looked up at the holiday decorated Courthouse dome. I love that dome.

I drove home feeling a great sense of loss. I didn’t cry, but my eyes felt kind of misty. When I say I grew up on the Courthouse Square, I’m not joking. I really did.

Starting on Flag Day in 1977, I came to know the people, the place, the offices, the boardroom, the court room, the spiral staircase in the Courthouse, the swinging saloon door bathroom stalls, the Coke machine with glass bottles, the marble and brick. I knew them all. I once ventured up to the top of the dome on a rickety walk way and I remember looking out over the village I grew up in.

I remember Kathryn Monacelli (my boss in the Village Clerk’s office) telling me to do whatever Mrs. (Mary) Basinait says, because she might be hard to work for. My interview with Mary Basinait started a career I didn’t see coming. The only rules she gave me were “no wearing jeans” and “no chewing gum.” I followed the rules.

The days, months and years went by. I owe a debt of gratitude to Kathryn Monacelli (and Jim Hancock, of the Summer Youth program), who sent me off to the County to work that summer. A great debt to Mary Basinait and Lois Klatt for teaching me the job, being my mentors and dear friends for life. My co-workers and staff. The Republican Committee, starting with George Herring to Ed Morgan, for their overwhelming support these past 24 years.

My drive home was filled with so many flashbacks…so many people crossed my mind. I will have wonderful memories in my old age, and stories to tell.

I have had many people ask me, “Why on earth did you run for Town Clerk?” On my way home Friday night, I knew why. I have to stay busy, I want to keep helping people, I have budgets to fix, accounts to straighten out, taxpayers to greet and knowledge to share.

Thank you, Orleans County voters. Thank you for allowing me 40 years on the Square.

With gratitude and love,

Susan M. Heard

Gaines

Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the taxpayers of the town of Gaines, the Board members, elected officials, staff and all the many people I met and worked with. Our attorney, Andrew Meier, was my right-hand man and our accountant, Tim Hungerford, also did a great job.

The Town Board members – Richard DeCarlo Sr., Dave Kast, Jim Kirby, Dr. Mary Neilans, Susan Smith, Doug Syck, and I – accomplished a great deal in the six years we worked together.

• First independent audit in 7 years

• 60 million-gallon water loss discovered

• Discovered the over levying of Water Districts by $205,000 – changed the practice and applied the extra money to the loans on affected districts.

• Paid off water districts 4 and 5 with the surplus

• Lowered tax rate from $4.19 to current rate $3.27

The management of your tax dollars was our focus and making sure we researched for the best opportunity for the least cost. We maintained conservative spending and pared down the size of our government. As time passed, we realized it can be done and we were the proof.

Working with the other town supervisors as mentors, and the mayors and the legislators, we had resources for any and all problems or concerns.  The collective experience in each facet of government provided answers whenever we had a question.  A debt of gratitude to each and every one.

I feel upon leaving office, I learned a great deal about the day to day workings of government and the hard work it takes to accomplish all the Board and myself were able to complete.  I am humbled and honored by the experience.

Thanks so much,

Carol E. Culhane

Gaines

Editor:

On December 19, the Town of Murray held a second public hearing for a property maintenance law that was proposed in November of 2016. This proposal was reviewed by the Town Planning Board and the Town Board along with Murray residents. Careful consideration was assessed by all involved. Enacting this maintenance law at a town level is better for all town residents.

Over the year State laws were changing that did indeed affect all property owners in the state of NY. With the changes being made it did take time to finalize at the town level.

Murray is fortunate to have a code enforcement officer that understands the law and can interpret benefiting our local town.

The Orleans Hub covered the story and when I read it I felt the story only conveyed the negative and opposing views that were discussed. All questions were answered and explained at the meeting. The Hub failed to report all the positive aspects and the commendations that the code enforcement officer received along with the board.

There were a few that opposed the property maintenance law at a local level, but they were unable to pinpoint why they opposed. The law would still be there at a State level only with a stiffer penalty. It was ultimately unanimously voted on and accepted by the Town Board at a local level – the right thing to do. Bravo to the town and the CEO for looking out for us!

We should be more positive! Start reflecting on the good, do the right thing and applaud our public servants that are doing a wonderful job!

In addition, enforcement of the code protects all our property values. If ever you plan to sell your property and things are kept tidy you will be thanking the Town Board all the way to the bank.

Naysayers you wanted change and you are getting change that benefits all who own property in this town. I will never understand the naivety and negativity that reigns in this community. Happy Holidays and let’s BELIEVE!

And by the way the residents that live here do trust in our local government! We elected them!

Neil Valentine

Murray

Editor:

The storefront decorations in Medina are fantastic. They bring back a lot of great memories from my childhood and growing up in Medina.

I’ve been showing the pictures posted on the Orleans Hub to friends and relatives in Virginia and Pennsylvania and everyone is very impressed. Great job Medina. Merry Christmas.

Joe Grabowski

Medina

Editor:

I attended the Murray public hearing on Dec. 19 to support the people in opposition to the property maintenance law. Not being from Murray, I didn’t feel the pressure to speak so I was able to listen and observe.

Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti gave a question and answer session that I though was completely out of his character. He was calm, although a few times he almost lost his act when questions from unhappy residents struck a nerve. I don’t know Mr. Vendetti personally but have seen him in action at the board of elections and he struck me as an aggressive attack dog fitting his reputation as to how he performs his job.

Over and over again he told the people that he would be coming after them for any code violations that are on the books. He would be driving the roads looking for them. That’s what he was hired for. He was critical of other code officers that only respond to complaints. He had the mayor of Holley speak in his support, then it was pointed out by a citizen that Mr. Vendetti and the Holley mayor were both out of compliance with their own properties.

It was now the Town Board’s turn to receive comments from the public. The town supervisor and the town attorney both went into stories about how they had received a notice from Mr. Vendetti about violations on their property.

That was followed up by a member of the public stating that there are sitting board members and their families that are in gross violation of codes that are not being served any notices.

My opinion of this Town Board is a combination of those old Westerns you watch and characters from “South Park” where the town is controlled by a corrupt land baron and the towns people are waiting for a hero like Gary Cooper (Joe Sidonio) to ride in and clean things up. Only this time the outlaws won round one. Seventy absentee ballots in one town when I think there were only 45 in the whole county for the sheriff’s election. The story will not end here.

There will be a sequel. The outgoing supervisor and incoming supervisor’s final remarks in the Hub article were worth 1,000 words. The public did not want this law and the Town Board defied them. The people are engaged in their town simply for the fact that they do not trust and they fear their government.

Slipping this in just before Christmas and the unanimous passing of this law by the board solidifies that the new year will bring more attention and mistrust to a board that has issues from head to toe.

Paul Lauricella

Lyndonville

Editor:

The Arkwright-Summit wind project is currently under construction in Chautauqua County. It’s eye opening to see the destruction of wildlife habitat and farmland, and the dust and mud these citizens will have to endure for the coming years until construction is completed.

However, to the credit of the developers there, the Executive Summary submitted as part of their project documents makes an interesting point. One of the sections of that Executive Summary is titled “Alternatives” and deals with reasons for selecting particular wind turbines and that particular location. Quoting from that section, “The Applicant has investigated several alternative locations across Western New York and rejected many locations due to … migratory bird issues … and lack of likely community acceptance.”

It is unfortunate that Apex Clean Energy is not to showing the same concern for wildlife and respect for the will of the people in our area, and abandon their Lighthouse Wind project in Yates and Somerset.

Steve Royce

Appleton

Editor:

Must be there isn’t enough to get us “wound up” coming from Washington.

The tree stumps pictured on Orleans Hub recently are almost certainly black locust. Hey, if you have seen one tree, you have seen them all, right? Wrong! Earlier, there were black cherry logs pictured lying on the north bank of the Canal in Orleans County – the County that seems to count for so little in the minds of most politicians, state and local. One friend told me he figured the wood was going downstate to be sold as $250/face cord firewood. Another said the log load he saw may well have been headed to a saw mill to be cut into boards. Terry and Chad were probably just too suspicious.

I had a “hunch” things would be rockier once the cutting made it into Monroe County. “Clairvoyance” is something. Theories abound about what is really going on, but I had always understood that trees stabilize stream banks. Maybe canals are different. I am decidedly not a hydrogeological engineer.

I can tell you that the century-old black maple that, until a few years ago, stood four feet from our house had not penetrated the masonry and fieldstone cellar walls of our 186-year-old house. I can also tell you that some trees are very shallow rooted. And oh, by the way, poplars are not the same as black locust and Osage orange.

Just sayin’.

Mostly sincere,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

As the holiday season approaches, I would like to take this time to thank the entire staff of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office for their dedication and service to the department and our community. I am so fortunate to serve with such an outstanding group of people, and truly thankful for the opportunity. Please keep them in your hearts and prayers.

I am also blessed to have such a loving family and great friends who understand when the job calls me away. Their support means more than I can express in words.

Special thanks to the many volunteers. You make us that much better.

Most of all, thank you to the residents of Orleans County. It’s your continued support and willingness to work together that makes our county a great place to live. ​

Sincerely,

Sheriff Randy Bower

Editor:

Next week on Tuesday December 19th at 6 p.m. the Town of Murray has scheduled a public hearing prior to taking action on the new “Level of Property Maintenance Law” proposed by Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti.

Last year the same basic law was proposed and no action taken as the community was outraged. The issue is now curiously back at year end just before the Christmas holiday.

The two attached links show the Town of Murray’s proposed law (click here) and the Town of Greece’s law (click here).

They appear to be the same and not simply NYS Property Maintenance in a computer format as we are being told. Currently Murray has the New York State Property Maintenance Law on our books.

Why is our Republican Party Chairman Ron Vendetti comparing Murray to a Rochester City suburb and attempting to enact a more stringent zoning law than the State standard? Not very Republican.

This is your only opportunity to voice your opinion. It’s rather curious why it is even on the agenda just before Christmas and before the new “Team Murray” takes office.

It is an important issue and please attend if you are able.

Joe Sidonio

Murray

Editor:

In the fall of 1995, it was clear Mr. Clinton would be running for re-election. (That was before I realized what a creep he was.) I decided to change my registration to Republican in order to be able to vote for Kansas Republican Senator Bob Dole in the 1996 New York primary. I saw Dole as similar to John McCain, even though – per Mr. Trump – McCain was “only a hero because he was captured”.

As I recall, Dole had pressed Mr. Clinton to oppose the genocide being perpetrated against Muslims by Roman Catholic Croats and Eastern Orthodox Catholic Serbs in Bosnia. As I understood things, The Dayton Accords and subsequent War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague were as much a credit to Dole as they were to Clinton.

In the past month, people like Ratko Mladic, Slobodan Milosevic, and their crowd of vicious, racist, thugs and hypocrites, masquerading as Christians, have been facing the dirge “music”.  One of the more self-righteous poisoned himself in front of the War Crimes Tribunal.  Another insisted he shouldn’t face life in prison apparently because he had only given the orders and hadn’t actually pulled the triggers that killed prisoners (whose crime was being Muslim) with single shots in the backs of their heads.

Atrocities committed against Bosnian Muslims, and reported in The Christian Science Monitor in the mid-1990’s, would defy the imaginations of the most twisted minds among us. Without honest journalism and politicians such as Bob Dole, incredible inhumanity might have been ignored because so many victims were Muslims.

As an aside, had Alabama Senate candidate Doug Jones not successfully prosecuted the supposedly “Christian” extremist Klansmen who killed Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins and two other Black teens in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham years ago, another hate crime might have gone unpunished.

When the Republican primary took place in 1996, you bet I voted for Bob Dole, not simply because he was a great American leader and a war hero, but because the alternative was borderline whack job Pat Buchanan. Had he won the Republican nomination, he might have brought us something like today’s very scary reality twenty years ago. I was against rolling the dice.

And, yes, each of us has only one vote, in spite of what some would have you believe.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

This message is intended for Gary Kent. Oftentimes your letters ramble on and we readers can’t understand your point, other than you are against the Republican Party and their decisions.

I don’t support them all the time either. I vote for ideas, not party lines. I’ve voted and supported ideas, policies, and Presidents of both parties over the years. You need to get over who won in all levels of government. There are always winners and losers each election year.

We as residents of local towns, county and country need to pull together and find common ground. I like many Democrat and Republican ideals, and hope we will move together in the best interest of this country.

Get over it and find avenues for compromise, whether it is local, county, state or federal issues.

Steve Kast

Churchville

Editor:

I am a hunter, licensed by the State of New York. At a recent gun club meeting a subject was brought up that caused a bit of controversy: Depredation permits issued to a local airport.

Are they necessary? Allowing the taking and killing of wildlife at any time of year, day or night with or without discretion. Deer, turkey, geese, furbearers, they are all at risk from the issuance of a depredation permit.

Does this permit have its place? I am sure that it does. Would I want to see anyone hurt or a plane crash because a goose was sucked into a jet engine? Of course not! I get that it is a necessary evil for large airports with an extreme amount of traffic, but is it necessary for a little country airport that doesn’t?

I am not familiar with all of the details regarding the accidents that have been caused by wildlife at these country airports, obviously one accident is too many. Is there another option that is out there? A fence for deer and furbearers, a noise maker for geese and turkeys? Is the only answer to kill it?

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Atwell

President

Barre Sportsmens Club

Editor:

I have the wonderful responsibility of dropping my grandson off most mornings at this year’s newly designed elementary school drop-off.

Traffic flows quickly and there is always a smile and greeting by each staff member assigned to this task. Each child is welcomed and staff is ready to help each child with car doors, backpacks and more if needed. It is a perfect way for these young children who do not ride a bus to enter their school.

The pick-up routine is also very well run by smiling staff.  I know that we all appreciate the changes that have been made.

Karen Watt

Albion

Editor:

I have recently been privileged to finally witness snowy owls in our area (Yates, NY) for the first time. These majestic birds hunt for prey in the very same agricultural fields in which Lighthouse Wind is proposing to install up to 70 industrial bird shredders. These owls, as well as red-tailed hawks, coopers hawks and bald eagles, populate the proposed project area and migrate through the area during the spring and autumn.

The Ocitillo Wind Farm in California has decimated the red-tailed hawk and golden eagle populations in that area. Similar results can be expected in Yates and Somerset if Lighthouse Wind is allowed to proceed. In the Yates and Somerset area, there is a nesting pair of bald eagles, perhaps two nesting pairs. These year-round residents, in addition to the migratory bald eagles, hawks and owls will be victim to the blades of the proposed turbines as they fly searching for food.

Critics of these facts will argue that house cats and collisions with vehicles are responsible for more bird deaths than wind turbines could ever be. Perhaps so, but I doubt that house cats would ever attempt to kill a hawk, bald eagle or snowy owl. It is much more likely that the cat would be carried away as food for the bird.

Vehicle collisions in the rural agricultural areas of Somerset and Yates are also not likely. In any event, the argument that “many birds are already killed, so what’s a few more deaths at the hands of wind turbines” is a poor excuse as a statement of environmental responsibility.

Another argument often stated by the wind turbine apologists is that the reduction in carbon dioxide resulting from the increased use of wind turbines to replace fossil fuels will, in the long term, save more bird lives than the turbines will kill. I have not seen that claim subjected to any independent unbiased rational scientific scrutiny.

Those of us who truly appreciate the wildlife, environment and rural nature of the Yates and Somerset area recognize that Lighthouse Wind is the wrong project in the wrong place. It is time for Apex “Clean Energy” to suspend their efforts to industrialize these towns.

Maryellen Royce

Appleton