By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Joey Schoeberlein, an Albion third-grader, aims the hose at targets with some help from Albion firefighter Beau Piskorowski during a program today outside the elementary school as part of Fire Prevention Week.
Piskorowski and a third-grade student spray water at targets. The house with the fake flames was built by Andrew Cheverie for his Eagle Scout project last year. This was the first time it was used for Fire Prevention Week at the school.
Andrew Cheverie, right, also built this stop that allows students to practice “Stay Low and Go” in case of a fire. Students first checked to see if the door was hot. When it wasn’t hot, they opened it and crawled under the pretend flames.
Levi Coughlin, a kindergartner, stays low under the flames.
Albion firefighters James Fisher, left, and Rob Conner gave students tours of the fire trucks.
Ryan Woolston, a Carlton firefighter, showed students the rescue boat used by the Carlton Fire Department.
YATES – A group of concerned Yates citizens has decided to finance and conduct a formal survey of the Town of Yates regarding the proposed Apex Lighthouse Wind project in Yates, Save Ontario Shores announced.
SOS, a citizens group that opposes the turbine project in Yates and Somerset, announced today that residents will receive a survey in the next few days from Lumsden & McCormick, LLP, which SOS said is an impartial accounting firm in Buffalo.
The citizens group said the survey is needed to detail the will of the citizens in Yates. The Town Board has discussed doing a survey, but SOS said that survey hasn’t materialized.
Lumsden & McCormick will be collecting all surveys, collating results and providing those results to the residents of Yates, the Yates Town Board, the Orleans County Legislature, the Somerset Town Board, the Niagara County Legislature, and the NYS Public Service Commission.
The surveys are being sent to the property owners on the official tax rolls of the Town of Yates. Each survey is confidentially tabulated and impartially controlled to ensure accuracy and validity, SOS said in an email today.
The questions were developed by several Yates residents. Surveys are due back by Oct. 16 and will be opened and tabulated by Lumsden & McCormick at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19.
The results will be made public at the conclusion of the tabulating process during the Oct. 19 meeting at White Birch Golf Club.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2015 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Projects that have been months and years in the making both became public this week when Pride Pak presented its site plan for a new vegetable processing and distribution plant in Medina and the first tenant committed to a new high-tech factory in the Town of Alabama.
Both sites will be big users of Medina’s sewer plant, a great economic development resource that has operated under capacity for years.
“It’s a banner week for economic development in western Orleans,” Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said. “Medina’s water and wastewater is a big winner.”
The two plants will generate big revenue for Medina’s water and sewer funds. Deputy Mayor Mike Sidari said that should help to at least stave off water and sewer increases for village residents. The revenue should also allow the village to maintain and improve its infrastructure, Meier said.
Other communities trying to lure big companies often don’t have sewer capacity ready for big companies. Medina’s sewer and water resources were among the assets that brought Pride Pak to the community. It will build a new 62,000-square-foot facility on Maple Ridge Ridge, with room to expand in the future.
Pride Pak will have 85 to 100 employees as part of the first phase. Construction should start next month, pending final approvals on the site plan from the Village Planning Board, and other local and state permits.
The company expects to start construction next month on the new vegetable processing facility, a site that will likely be expanded in phases and could see 200 employees at full build-out.
A Massachusetts company, 1366 Technologies, will build a 130,000-square-foot manufacturing site just south of the Town of Shelby in Genesee County. The facility will go in a farm field off Lewiston Road on Crosby Road.
The company will make silicon carbon wafers, a key component in solar panels. It will make a $100 million investment in the first phase of the project, and expects to expand quickly. It will have 600 full-time employees in phase 1 and could employ 1,000 at full build-out.
The state is committing $33 million for infrastructure for the STAMP site in the Town of Alabama. A sewer main will run to the site, connecting to Medina’s system. Meier said the route for the sewer main hasn’t yet been determined.
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 8 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Kristina Gabalski
KNOWLESVLLE – Orleans County 4-H’ers and 4-H Educator Robert Batt (at the hood) work to put the finishing touches on a car being washed as part of a 4-H Open House held Wednesday.
October 4-10 marks National 4-H Week and locally Orleans County 4-H held an open house outside the Education Building on the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds to celebrate.
Free car washes were provided by 4-Hers for volunteers; non-volunteers could also participate for a goodwill donation. Popcorn was provided as part of the event and there were free T-shirts and other surprises for those who stopped in.
Orleans County 4-H Rabbit Raiser Joan-Marie Gabalski sprays a car being washed during open house on Wednesday at the fairgrounds.
One family traveled from Kendall during the festivities to sign up for 4-H. As of Wednesday, six new families joined during 4-H Week. A newly formed goat club with seven members held its first meeting this week, Batt said.
Current enrollment in Orleans County 4-H now stands at 442.
Members of the Orleans County 4-H Rabbit Raisers club participate in a car wash Wednesday morning as part of National 4-H Week.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – I’ve heard about how the canal used to go near the Public Square in Holley and how remnants of the original canal remain. On Tuesday, after seeing the Tugboat Urger in Holley, I went for a walk on Holley’s trail system to see if I could find any signs of the original canal.
I didn’t find any stone walls or old artifacts from the original canal. But I did see a blue heron perched in a tree.
This branch hangs out over the canal in Holley, just west of the Bennetts Corners Road canal bridge. Holley has a trail system that goes from its canal park into the woods by the waterfalls and to the Public Square.
Get too close to the heron, and it will take off in flight.
The canal allows many close encounters with wildlife, from deer, ducks, birds, fish, turtles and more.
Looking down from the path on the south side of the canal there is what I think is a waste weir, where water is drained from the canal.
I think this water feeds Sandy Creek which cuts through the woods. I was looking for old canal remnants, but came up empty.
This is a good size culvert you don’t normally see in a wooded area.
Here is another look at the culvert with the zoom lens.
Follow the trail by Sandy Creek and you discover the top of the Holley Waterfalls.
You have options on the Holley walking trail – left or right?
I headed back to the path by the canal and met my friend, the heron. It had moved down a little closer to the canal bridge.
Once again, you get too close and it takes off flying.
If anyone wants to show me where the canal walls are from the original canal, send me an email and we can work out a time to go see it. (tom@orleanshub.com)
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 8 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Kristina Gabalski
KNOWLESVILLE – A new fitness trail has opened at the 4-H Fairgrounds on Route 31 in Knowlesville. There will be an opening ceremony today at 6 p.m. with the Albion Running Club, where runners and walkers will then try the course.
“We see people come and walk the grounds all the time and thought this would be a nice addition,” Orleans County 4-H Educator Robert Batt said.
The half-mile trail includes six stations with various exercises/activities. The project is sponsored by the Running Club.
The public is invited to attend the grand opening and also to come out and make use of the trail at any time.
“4-Hers will also be able to use the trail before meetings,” Batt said.
The project includes a number of recycled items. Batt said the poles used for the signs are made from recycled tires and have been repurposed from a former exhibit on the fairgrounds. Additionally, old agricultural tires are used as part of the stations. At Station #1, for example, the tires are used for a triceps dip.
“The project is green and environmentally friendly,” Batt observed. “It’s super exciting.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – John Steier and his son Evan haul tires on the new fitness trail at the 4-H Fairgrounds, which opened today to the public.
The Steiers and other particpants in the Albion Running Club jogged the course and tried the six stations, doing push ups, dips and other maneuvers while completing the half-mile fitness trail.
Pam Coville and her husband Mark bend down and flip tires, one of the challenges on the fitness trail.
The Running Club kicked in $450 towards the trail, which is open to the public and includes signs showing how to attempt the activities along the course.
Brian Krieger does push-ups at one of the stops.
The project includes many recycled items, including the poles used for the signs. Many old farm tires are utilized as part of the stations.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 October 2015 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – A sign on Route 63, just south of the Ham Road intersection, advertises the STAMP project, which includes 1,250 acres in the Town of Alabama. The Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park is near the southern border of Shelby in Orleans County.
BATAVIA – A Massachusetts company that revolutionized manufacturing silicon carbon wafers – considered “the heart” of solar panels – looked at 300 sites for what could be a $700 million factory.
1366 Technologies picked a farm field near a swamp for the project.
The site off Lewiston Road on Crosby Road is “perfect” for the producing high efficiency multi-crystalline wafers, company leaders said today during an announcement about the project with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and leaders from the Western New York and Finger Lakes region.
1366 Technologies needs a lot of room, and access to major utilities with water, electric, natural gas, as well as access to a highly skilled workforce.
“There is a tremendous talent pool in the region,” said Frank van Mierlo, chief executive officer of 1366 Technologies, which is based in Bedford, Mass. “If you want to change the world, you need talented people.”
The site in the Town of Alabama is close to major gas lines, is only a few miles from the State Thruway, and can tap the labor markets in Rochester and Buffalo. It will also use sewer from the Village of Medina as the company occupies 105 acres of the STAMP site, a 1,250-acre park for high-tech manufacturing.
1366 Technologies also is within the 30-mile radius of the Niagara Falls Power Project, where companies are eligible for low-cost renewable power. 1366 Technologies was approved for up to 8.5 megawatts of hydropower.
The cheaper electricity, with no CO2 emissions, appealed to 1366 Technologies, van Mierlo said.
The company has a new way of manufacturing silicon wafers at 50 percent of the cost of its closest competitor, van Mierlo said. The company forecasts it will produce 600 million high-performance silicon wafers a year, enough to power 360,000 American homes.
At full capacity, the company says it will create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs for the region.
The company runs a site in Bedford, Mass., but the new plant in Genesee County will allow it to go commercial scale. Van Mierlo said his goal is to produce solar at less cost than coal. The company’s manufacturing breakthroughs, as well as other improvements in the solar industry, could drive solar costs down to 5 cents per kilowatt hour, cheaper than coal.
The state put together a package of incentives for $56.3 million. With local incentives, the company could receive $97 million over 10 years if it has a full build-out on the $700 million manufacturing facility. Phase 1 will be $100 million from the company.
Some of those incentives are discounts on property taxes. The land has been low-production farmland.
In the next 10 to 15 years, the STAMP site could attract a dozen companies and become one of the “semi-conductor and nanotechnology centers in the world,” said Joseph Morelle, a Rochester state assemblyman who spoke during today’s announcement. He is also one of the leaders of the State Assembly.
“I think innovation and entrepreneurship is what rebuilding the state is all about,” he said.
Contributed Story Posted 7 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photo
ALBION – Rick Heise of Albion, center, won a Buffalo Bills package through the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern. Heise is pictured with Laverne Bates, GOMOC executive director, and Mary Grace Demarse, treasurer for the agency.
Heise won two tickets to last Sunday’s Bills game versus the New York Giants. The seats were 12 rows up at the center line of Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Ministry of Concern raised $2,000 through the raffle that included the two seats at the 50-yard-line, plus a Bills jacket, hat, shirt, golf balls, signed pictures and a year’s subscription to Sports Illustrated.
“Thanks to all who throughout the summer bought chances to win the Bills Basket in support of the Ministry of Concern program that provides emergency services to assist families living in poverty, used furniture as needed and a creative children’s E3Team program, that provides events focused on Energy, Encouragement and Empowerment and the positive influence of a great team of coaches,” Bates said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Cuomo, officials say new company at STAMP will elevate region, Upstate
Photos by Tom Rivers – Gov. Andrew Cuomo takes questions from reporters after today’s annoucement about solar manufacturing company committing to STAMP site in Genesee County.
BATAVIA – The announcement today by 1366 Technologies that it will build a new high-tech manufacturing plant in the Town of Alabama, employing 600 people in phase one of what could be a $700 million build-out, is more evidence Upstate New York is poised for the future, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
“Today is a game-changer,” he told more than 300 people at Genesee Community College in Batavia, when he made the announcement the first tenant committed to the STAMP site.
Upstate communities for years – decades – were too focused on the past and legacy manufacturing companies that employed locals for generations. Many of those companies left town.
“Too much discussion used to be about what we did, what we used to be,” Cuomo told a crowd in a packed Stuart Steiner Theatre. “There was very little talk about the future.”
Cuomo said transformational projects are under way across Upstate. Today’s STAMP announcement follows SolarCity’s efforts to build a solar manufacturing plant in Buffalo with 3,000 workers; an announcement in July that Rochester won a nationwide competition for a photonics hub; and General Electric’s decision to return to Utica to package silicon carbide power blocks.
Cuomo said he has been prioritizing Upstate for 4 ½ years.
“You can feel the energy change,” he said.
Gov. Cuomo holds a commemorative silicon wafer given to him by Frank van Mierlo (left), CEO of 1366 Technologies. Other officials include, from left in center: State Assemblyman Joe Morelle of Rochester (Assembly majority leader); State Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer; and Howard Zemsky, president and CEO of Empire State Development.
Cuomo praised the Genesee County Economic Development Center, in particular CEO Steve Hyde, for pushing STAMP over the past 10 years, for acquiring land and building support locally, in the region and state for the project, and then bringing 1366 Technologies to the area.
“Steve Hyde has been working on this for 10 years and it came home to roost,” Cuomo said today.
Communities will need leaders with vision and tenacity as the chart the futures of cities, counties and regions. Cuomo said the state wants to be a partner in a stronger Upstate for years to come.
“The future isn’t just going to happen,” the governor said. “The future is what you make of it.”
He said many communities around the state, and outside New York are working hard to bring in businesses.
“It’s a competitive world out there,” he told more than 300 people at GCC.
The STAMP project falls between Rochester and Buffalo, and the political and economic development leaders from both communities pushed for state resources to bring infrastructure to the 1,250-acre STAMP site, just south of the Orleans County line.
The leader of the state economic development agency said Upstate has “a history of neglect” that has changed under the Cuomo administration.
“This is an opportunity for next-generation jobs for communities, for regions and for families that have been long forgotten,” said Howard Zemsky, president and CEO of Empire State Development. “The governor has put us and Upstate New York first.”
1366 Technologies expects to start construction on the 130,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the spring with the goal to be operational in 2017.
GCC hosted today’s annoucement at the Stuart Steiner Theatre.
The company plans to grow in stages from its initial $100 million investment to $700 million at full build-out. The company will serve as “an anchor tenant” for the park and its presence will raise the profile of the site, helping economic development leaders in negotiations to bring more companies to STAMP.
1366 Technologies would use 105 acres of the 1,250-acre site, leaving plenty of room for other high-tech companies.
“We could put 10-12 more in like this,” said Mark Peterson, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise, the economic development arm for the Rochester region.
He praised the partnership between Buffalo and Rochester in advancing the STAMP site.
“This begins to change the dynamic between the two cities to create a major metropolitan hub,” he said.
The site could potentially have 10,000 workers at STAMP, with a spinoff of another 50,000 jobs through supply contractors, transportation and other support businesses.
Steve Hyde, leader of the Genesee County EDC, sees businesses setting up in Medina and Orleans County that would work with STAMP companies.
It will be a big lift for the area, providing lots of good opportunities.
“This is really about our kids,” Hyde said. “This will create thousands of high-paying jobs for our kids.”
