Editor:

The Orleans County Conservative Party has Endorsed Rocco L. Sidari for Coroner. That is the only candidate this year to receive that honor. We had others seek our endorsement but the committee decided to decline and here’s why.

The Orleans County Conservative Party Strongly believes in term limits. We pushed petitions for term limits along with the State Conservative Party. They went nowhere with the politicians in Albany.

The Founders never intended for a person to go into elected public service and make a life-time career out of it. Our committee strongly believes that the problems we have in this country are the direct result of career politicians that never know when to leave and will never vote to fix this problem.

Therefore, the Orleans County Conservative Committee will no longer endorse anyone who has held a current elected office for more than three terms. The people have demanded this for years and we as a committee are taking this step in hopes that other committees will follow and help to eliminate this problem of the self-important career politician.

Paul Lauricella Jr.
Vice Chairman Orleans County Conservative Party

Editor:

I have been involved in Orleans County as the Clarendon Historian for over 10 years. I always enjoy attending events in other towns and villages.

Yesterday I attended the rededication ceremony for the historical marker for the Elisha Wright home. The story goes like this: One day Al Capurso told me about a marker that had been out of circulation for several years. It had been struck and broke in half. I grabbed it and with help from Bruce Hovey and Gerry Bradt, it was welded back together. I then repainted the sign over the winter.

Adrienne Daniels, the town of Barre historian, put together the program yesterday and it was very well attended. She had a program to hand out with information about Elisha & Nancy Wright. Mark Chamberlain, the Barre town supervisor, spoke regarding Wright and his importance to Barre in farming and with its church. The current owners of the home and their children and grandchildren, as well as some members of the Mathes family, led the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

A reception took place afterwards at the West Barre United Methodist Church. I was especially impressed with the church as it retains much of its original contents. The stained glass windows and photographs of early members were very impressive.

Most of all, I enjoyed speaking to Judy Durrant, the church historian who has painstakingly over a number of years taken a collection of historical documents and photographs and cataloged them in chronological order and they are neatly organized in more than ten binders.

It was amazing to see the amount of information on hand and available. I only managed to look through one binder from the earliest history but the information Judy had in her head and shared with me as I was looking was the best! I urge anyone who has the time, to try and visit this beautiful church and speak to Judy. She is a wonderful asset.

Sincerely,

Melissa Ierlan
Clarendon

Editor:

When a divisive issue arises within our community, one should get curious. Over the last several weeks I’ve delved into the matter of wind turbines – and for the record I’m completely neutral on this issue.

I vetted my research to eliminate extremist viewpoints on either side. I also required non-affiliated corroborating information because one viewpoint does not make a case. I looked into most of the talking points and here’s what I discovered.

Flicker. Yes, it does occur. However, the nationwide average a dwelling or structure is subjected to flicker is just 22-to-100 minutes a year – or a maximum of about 30-seconds a day. A quick solution here might be to just close the window blinds and wait a minute.

Bird strikes. Yes. They do occur. Nationwide estimates are as high as 375,000 birds dying as a result of hitting or being hit by a wind turbine blade. On the other hand, it is established that housecats kill about 2.8-billion (yes, with a “b”) birds annually. Some put this figure at nearly double that. The second largest bird killer? Windows. Another 500-to-900 million birds are killed by flying into windows. The third biggest bird killer is agricultural pesticide. In this context, bird-lovers are grasping at straws to think wind turbines are of major concern.

Wildlife and sportsman have also entered the discussion so I looked into it. What I found were hundreds of photos of grouse hunters, deer hunters and varmint hunters participating in their chosen sport not just on the fringes of, but smack in the middle, of large wind farms. Photos don’t lie.

Noise levels? Yes again, wind turbines make noise. Large turbines require a minimum 1,000-foot setback from an established dwelling. At that distance the noise levels were rated at 40-decibals. Most homes located near large wind turbines had interior noise levels of 30db. How noisy is 40db? There’s an easy way to find out. Stand next to the refrigerator in your home. It puts out about 40db of noise.

Some folks have thrown the Niagara Air Station into the discussion. For years the Niagara air base has been on the Base Relocation And Closure (BRAC) list. So too nearly every base in the country. BRAC is a fiscal issue pure and simple. And quite candidly – if members of the most powerful air force on the planet say they will have trouble negotiating wind turbines this opens up a whole series of other questions, doesn’t it?

A big argument surrounds property values. Yes, some will go down. The stated average decline is 11-percent. What I never found in my research was any law that said property values must go up – or even remain constant. Practically speaking – any real decrease in property values comes about only when you sell. But what if you’re not selling? A reduced property assessment might lead to a reduction in property taxes.

Lastly – wind and solar power are the only two “native” sources of energy. What that means is the power they generate is created directly at the source. Compare that with mountain-top removal and strip mining for coal which forever lays waste to the landscape. And beyond that- Consider the trucks and trains burning millions of gallons of diesel fuel annually to deliver their energy cargo and doing so on our already quickly deteriorating infrastructure.

Which brings this down, I think, to a single question: “Do you want to see them?” Even this requires some perspective (and some tricky math.) It’s entirely possible that from as little as 4-miles distance, these large turbines will not be visible on our generally flat landscape.

I’m not taking sides here. Like I said earlier, I’m completely neutral. What I’m not neutral on are crazy claims and no empirical evidence.

Darren D. Wilson
Lyndonville

Editor:

This is an open Invitation to members of siting board regarding Lighthouse Wind Project. We are writing in reference to the proposed Apex Clean Energy wind turbine project in the Towns of Yates and Somerset. As you know, this project will bring 70 industrial wind turbines to the rural area not too far from Lake Ontario.

We are opposed to this project, for many reasons, as we are property owners of a lake cottage near Lyndonville (Town of Yates). Our cottage is rented by tourists from all of the country and from Europe during the months May through November. We have been doing this for nine years now, and our renters rave about the tranquil setting and local attractions.

Many visit the Falls but prefer to stay in the rural area along the lake. Our renters take advantage of local stores, restaurants, the Niagara Wine Trail, and area attractions, which help local businesses. We are proud of the reviews we receive and are happy that visitors enjoy the serenity and beautiful sunsets. We feel that the addition of wind turbines just south of our lake area will deter some, if not many, tourists from staying there, as well as lower property values.

Have you ever visited the Lake Ontario area that will be impacted by this project? If not, we cordially invite you to spend a night or two at our lake cottage at no cost. You will see how peaceful and serene the setting really is, enjoy a camp fire at night, look up to the heavens to see the beautiful sky.

You can watch the ducks and possibly swans in the lake, maybe catch sight of an eagle or osprey. Then pay a visit to the nearby Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse in Golden Hill State Park, climb to the top to view the flat and beautiful farmlands and scenery that surrounds you. Notice the many homes dispersed in the area, along with the homes and cottages along the lake shore.

Now, visualize how massively this will change with the addition of seventy industrial wind turbines 570 feet tall. Ask yourself, “Is this really the right location for such a project?” We feel strongly that it is NOT.

We are frustrated that NYS would pass Article 10 legislation to approve and issue certificates for major electric generation facilities such as the Lighthouse Wind project with no home rule from the affected towns. To put a decision that impacts a rural community in the hands of a siting board that will not have to LIVE and ENDURE the lasting effects of such a project is absolutely WRONG.

Sincerely,

Deb and Tom Arlington
Yates

Editor:

Voters in the Albion School District are blessed to able to choose from among several candidates for the school board on May 17.

While I do not know all of them, I do know Steve LaLonde.  Steve has the background, experience, training, and temperament to be an asset to the school board. Decision makers can often get bogged down, or even overwhelmed, by numbers and studies.  As an educator with a statistics background, Steve would be invaluable to the board.

Beyond these thingsand perhaps more importanthe is a listener with humility who understands that there are a great many intelligent people in the Albion School District. I believe he would be among those who truly respect the views of other members of the board rather than seek to impose his thinking on them.

Having attempted to recruit many fine Orleans County residents to public service with limited success, it is my opinion that we have an opportunity to add a fine man to the public service mix here in Albion.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent
Albion

Editor:

We are former members of the Medina Central School District Board of Education who continue to be concerned with the direction and health of our school district.

We can easily recall Medina CSD once being a highly ranked district within the county. The demographics of the district are not all that different from others in the area – poverty levels, graduation rates or student absenteeism. Leadership is key to addressing the challenging issues facing our schools and regaining our position of excellence.

Medina CSD is fortunate to now have in Mr. Jeffrey Evoy a superintendent who has a very diverse background in education and knows the importance of residing in the district he serves. As former board members, we experienced the difficulty of having open recruitment and properly vetting candidates.

We believed that the students, staff and community would be best served by having a transparent, accountable process and fought hard to assure everyone’s interests were heard and respected. In short, we were not willing to settle for ‘business as usual’ when it came to the oversight of our school district.

Also, we were fortunate to have had a business administrator, Mr. Alan Getter, who began to rebuild our depleted reserve funds. It is through his initial efforts to address numerous financial issues that (we newer) board members became acutely aware of the questionable oversight which had gone unchecked for some time.

When Mr. Getter was questioned, he respectfully answered or researched an issue so that accurate information was available. This was not only necessary but a refreshing change from ‘business as usual’. It is fair to say we spent far too much time cleaning up mismanaged issues and too many surprise situations which were not dealt with in a timely or professional manner.

Board members are entrusted with the responsibility of representing the entire community. Special interests, an agenda or a desire to promote ‘friends and family’ hiring practices have no place in board oversight. The best qualified personnel, thoroughly vetted, build a quality educational environment.

For so many reasons and from our past experience on the board, we support and endorse the candidacy of Wendi Pencille, Lori Draper and Brenda Lindsay.

Each brings varied experience to the board. Wendi and Lori are hard-working current board members, and Brenda, with a strong background in finance, has served as a community member of the board’s audit/finance committee for several years. Brenda has been an excellent asset when reviewing financial issues. The community will be well served by each of these candidates.

Wendi, Lori and Brenda are committed to independent, open-minded representation. They are not supported by any specific organization or union. Board members must represent the best interests of the entire community; students, staff and taxpayers.
Leadership must be honest, trustworthy and fair. Vote on Tuesday, May 17th.

Former Medina BOE members,

Susan Squires
Maureen Blackburn
Rosalind Lind

Editor:

One of the things I have learned in life is there are things I want and things that I need. Wants and needs are two completely different things. That is why I am prompted to write when I see a County Legislature that could not give us a tax cut looking to spend 30,000 dollars on a feasibility study to put an addition on the DMV building.

Need: Board of Elections needs to be relocated. I can not believe that there is nowhere in this county complex that the agency could be moved to. According to Chairman Callard there isn’t. I do not believe you sir.

Wants: A fancy conference room, and a fancy new legislative chambers. Somewhere, sometime one or more of our legislators must have been in another county with a much richer tax base than ours, saw better legislative chambers and I’m guessing now wants it for themselves. I say you don’t need it.

Much of our tax money has been put into the Clerks Building and the grounds. It is looking quite nice, actually beautiful. A resident put it right when he said that there is too much history in that chamber to abandon it. Many agree.

Lastly, none of you are that important that you need to spend the 30,000 to study it. This is why when budget time comes around and Mr. Nesbitt puts on his somber show and blames unfunded mandates for all the woes of the county, it is hard to swallow. The problem is you spend too much on unnecessary things.

You care only about doing things for government, to advance and grow government and for the good of government. The feasibility of a new county jail was also brought up from years ago. I remember because myself and a group of others opposed that and instead of spending 42 million on a new complex, the barely 40-year-old building built by a former Legislature Chairman’s relative was actually looked at and repaired for around a million dollars.

I believe Legislator Johnson did that looking. If not for protest from the public, more taxpayer money would have been wasted. So my two cents is make due with what you have. Stop wasting money unless it’s to cut our taxes. The 30,000 is a year’s salary for the average Joe in this county and you all toss it away for selfish reasons. My opinion.

Paul Lauricella Jr.
Lyndonville

Editor:

History was made on April 22, Earth Day, when 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to reduce carbon emissions. This was the largest number of countries to sign an agreement in one day. There were many children present for the signing, and UN Secretary General Ban said that the day represented a “day for our children and grandchildren and all generations to come.”

Everyone has a part to play in this global effort, and in some cases, we are being led by our young people. Congratulations to the University of Buffalo, recently recognized as “first among college campuses nationwide in the use of green power.” Young people are concerned about their future, and they should be.

Wind energy is one of the cleanest forms of energy and critical to tackling the 21st century’s greatest challenges of combating climate change and reducing carbon emissions.

This “home grown” power pays back any carbon used in startup within a few months. Adding wind power to America’s energy mix diversifies the nation’s energy portfolio, diminishing our reliance on fossil fuels.

I support Lighthouse Wind and Heritage Wind for our future, but especially for our children’s future, and our children’s children.

It is our way of doing our part of a national and a greater global effort to build the needed infrastructure for a better, cleaner future.

Sincerely,

Linda Fisk
Lyndonville

Editor:

Typically I tend to be more outspoken on county issues, not as much on local town issues. However, the recent revelations about the Albion Fire Department’s contract with the Town of Gaines and potential litigation against the town for slander have motivated me to speak up about the issues.

It is my understanding that Supervisor Culhane and the Town Board had been well aware that the contract was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2015. Instead of being proactive by appropriately budgeting and allocating resources, under Supervisor Culhane’s leadership, the Town Board has failed the taxpayers and residents of the town of Gaines.

The actions (or inactions) of Supervisor Culhane and the Town Board have greater implications than one might see on the surface – on the surface it is evident that the residents in the Town of Gaines will not have fire protection after Aug. 31.

However, if you look deeper – taxpayers will likely see their fire insurance costs increase, the AFD will see a dramatic reduction in its manpower, and what does this mean for the insurance costs of businesses in Gaines? All of these are issues that were not considered when our elected officials allowed the contract to end.

Also, taxpayer dollars have been wasted on legal fees by fighting the windmill on the property of Chris and Karen Watt. Now, with their intentions of suing the town and four town officials, more taxpayer money will likely be wasted fighting the litigation in the court system -all from careless leadership on the part of Supervisor Culhane.

Once again in the Town of Gaines, we have been failed. Poor strategic planning and failed leadership have been at the expense of taxpayers for too long. Something needs to change – it is my hope that these prime examples of failed leadership do not slip the minds of voters when the elected officials are up for re-election.

Sincerely,

James White
Gaines

Editor:

I recently read of Clarendon’s Local Law #1-2016 requiring permits for structures as small as 64 square feet. It’s disheartening to see small, rural town governments failing to serve their constituents by promulgating frivolous, expensive laws that don’t serve the public they were elected to represent.

The Clarendon Board is Republican. I always thought Republicans were opposed to more laws, more fees and more regulation. Apparently I was wrong.

It’s germane to this letter to mention that I am a NYS Code Official. I work with local and State laws every day. NY State’s position on the matter is that structures 144 square feet or less do not require a permit. That said, Clarendon has the legal right to make a more restrictive requirement but to what end?

Ostensibly, as reported, it’s so the assessor can keep track of sheds and get them on the tax roll.

Let’s do the math: An applicant pays $40 for a shed permit. The building inspector has to review the application and plans, issue the permit, then file the permit. The Town Clerk has to accept the fees and make record of the receipt.

Then, the inspector has to visit the site for framing and final inspections. Following the inspections, the inspector has to return to the office, produce a certificate of compliance and mail that certificate to the applicant. The inspector also has to file a copy of the original of the C of C in the property record with the permit. I’m positive $40 doesn’t begin to cover the expenses associated with generating and administering a shed permit.

When a Town creates a local law, there are publication expenses, code book update expenses, attorney’s fees and filing fees. While costs vary, it’s not at all unusual for these costs to range into the thousands of dollars. Let me remind you we’re talking about a law that requires a permit for a shed that’s not much bigger than your sectional sofa. It’s not something important that will save lives.

The Town lost money issuing the permit and creating the law. Now, the assessor finally gets to put the shed on the tax roll. Let’s say it’s an awesome 8×8 shed and it gets a $200 assessment. Clarendon’s tax rate is about $4 a thousand. That $200 assessment generates roughly 80 cents a year in revenue for Clarendon and around $8 a year in total tax revenue for the county, town and school combined. It will probably cost more to inventory the shed and track the shed than the shed will ever generate through taxation.

But wait. The Real Property Tax Law§1573 requires a physical inventory of real property at least once every 6 years. That means the assessor or an agent of the Town drives around and looks at every property and then inventories every property. Assume the miscreant shed builder maximized his nefarious plans by building his non-permitted shed the day after the inventory, the Town would be out less than 5 bucks in lost tax revenue. What I’m saying is, no shed goes untaxed for more than five years.

In the past, I’ve worked for municipalities who created knee-jerk laws like Clarendon’s in reaction to a suggestion or a complaint. Politicians giddy with their perceived power, completely out of touch with what’s good for their communities reacting to an imagined problem. Like Clarendon, they created solutions to problems that didn’t exist and laid the impossible task of enforcing the useless law on the already too busy code official.

The NY State residential code is very clear in its purpose and scope – on the first page it states: “This code is intended to provide minimum requirements to safeguard public safety, health and general welfare” The code was designed to promote safety, not as a tool to generate revenue.

Playhouses too fall under Clarendon’s draconian new law but they are specifically excluded from the NY Residential Code. What standard will Clarendon enforce when an applicant comes in with a permit request for a playhouse? The only defensible standard would be the same as residential construction – that’s ludicrous, right? Go ahead Clarendon, make up your own standard for playhouses. Pass a law called the Clarendon Playhouse Standard. Let me know how you fare in the personal injury lawsuits when kids get hurt on a Clarendon Playhouse. What? You’ll let your code official decide the standard? That provides more pockets to sue.

Clarendon is a rural community. People choose to live in Clarendon because it is a rural community. Every yard in Clarendon has room for a 12×12 shed and nobody should have to beg permission to own one. No parent should have to ask permission or buy a permit to build a playhouse for his/her children.

I’ll stop soon, but Clarendon, I’ll be happy to forward a copy of your new law to NY Ag and Markets. They’ll have blast with the part that says you may require a site plan from farmers for their Ag buildings.

Chad Fabry
Murray

Editor:

I find it interesting that I haven’t heard the Town of Gaines officials complain about Orleans County sharing sales tax revenue based upon an assessed property value formula instead of need. Yet, when it comes to expenses such as fire protection, where that formula isn’t as advantageous to them, then they complain.

If the Village of Albion didn’t exist guess what – everyone in the Town of Gaines would have to pay the same tax rate for the same service. If the Town of Gaines has to create its own fire department then the cost is likely to be mostly determined by the fixed building and equipment costs instead of costs that vary based upon the number of calls.

I don’t mind paying an extra village tax if it goes to some modest extra services that people do not receive in the countryside. But no one wants to pay extra for services that are roughly the same. Village tax rates should be the lowest instead of the highest.

Unless the governments of Orleans County can learn to work together in fairness you will see a continued lack of investment in and a decline of the villages. That outcome wouldn’t be beneficial to anyone in Orleans County.

Jason Dragon
Village of Albion

Editor:

When you’re driving and your phone makes that familiar “ding” sound, what do you do? Sadly, that’s a life or death question. Every day, nine Americans die from distracted driving such as texting and checking their phones. In New York State alone, there’s an 840 percent increase in tickets issued for texting while driving since 2011. How come? Because some drivers don’t believe It Can Wait.

It Can Wait is the name of AT&T’s campaign to educate motorists on the dangers of texting while driving. As New Yorkers mark another Distracted Driving Awareness Month, it’s a shame this dangerous behavior continues. Despite the number of crashes, life-altering injuries and preventable fatalities, drivers continue to put themselves and others at risk.

That’s why AT&T and AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) have educated drivers about the dangers of distracted driving for years and have partnered with Governor Andrew Cuomo to enact common sense laws aimed at preventing this dangerous behavior. Fortunately, these laws appear to be working. According to a newly-released study by AT&T, states with laws aimed at curbing these dangerous behaviors have lower rates of texting while driving.

Still, some drivers ignore the risks. This same study found that 1 in 10 motorists has video chatted behind the wheel. Similar studies by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reported that more than 80 percent of drivers view distracted driving as a bigger problem than three years ago, yet 42 percent of drivers admit to reading a text message or email while driving.

For those drivers who can’t resist their phones, AT&T developed the DriveMode smartphone app that deactivates texting and other alerts when the car is moving and sends a friendly away message to people texting. AT&T also stages nationwide road shows with virtual reality driving simulators that challenge drivers to text while navigating busy streets (nearly every virtual driver crashes). AAA WCNY is also working to make our area roads safer with public service announcements, school programs, community events and driver training, and has been a leading traffic safety advocate since 1902.

As our world becomes increasingly mobile, keeping drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists safe is an urgent community effort that demands driver awareness, law enforcement and common sense. The temptation to stay connected with friends, family, colleagues and social media is not worth risking a life. Making that decision to take your eyes off the road, even for just seconds, puts your own life in danger and threatens those around you.

Hopefully one day we won’t need a Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and we can give the month of April back to showers needed for those May flowers. But for now, as the grim traffic statistics grow, so does the campaign to fight distracted driving by AT&T and AAA Western and Central New York.

Marissa Shorenstein , New York President of AT&T

Anthony Spada, President-CEO, AAA Western and Central New York

Editor:

Over the past fifty years, or so, commercial interests have, to a considerable extent, hijacked Santa Claus in the interest of selling “things.” Prior to the ’40’s and ’50’s Santa Claus, a.k.a. “St. Nicholas,” remained more spiritually significant.

One of the more memorable and instructive images of legendary Albion native Charles W. Howard (June 15, 1896 – May 1, 1966) shows himas Santakneeling beside a cross. Though Mr. Howard tried his hand at toy-making, the image suggests that Charles Howard may have viewed Santa Claus much differently than he is often thought of now. Before he was used to promote Coca Cola and Mercedes Benz, Santa Claus was more often viewed as representative of a much more altruistic message and a force for good.

It was clear during last year’s Santa Convention in Albion that it was not primarily an interest in selling tin soldiers, Lincoln Logs, and video games that captured the imagination of Mr. Howard and the hundreds of Santas who revere him.

Rather, it is that Santa Claus embodies, in terms understandable to a three year-old, principles with religious significance. Santa Claus and Christmas are inseparable.

In one of the best known Christmas songs, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the assertion is that, “He sees you when you’re sleeping; He knows when you’re awake; He knows if you’ve been bad, or good, so be good for goodness’ sake!” The “He” seems to refer to Santa Claus.

But isn’t the concept of Santa Claus as ever-present, all-knowing and just, curiously familiar to those for whom God represents the same qualities? St. Nicholas was a Christian Saint. For those being introduced to Christianity as children, hasn’t it always been useful to introduce the idea that virtuous conduct is rewarded? As children, one of the first messages we received was that an omniscient One knows what we are doing whether any mortal sees us or not.

One of the things that are likely developed through our early experiences with Christmasand Santais a conscience. As children, we learn that it may be useful to behave in order to avoid displeasing Santa. Hopefully, the concept evolves as we mature. Note that the lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” cited above, end with “. . . for goodness’ sake,” rather than, “. . . so you get some toys.”

The song title is, of course, misleading in one important way. It states, “Santa Claus is coming to town,” when in truth it implies he is always “in town” making note of how deserving we are.

On May 1st, the fiftieth anniversary of his passing, it might be well to reflect that Charles Howardand Santa Clauswere traditionally less about selling “things” and more about selling virtue.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent
Albion Betterment Committee