Ken Heye of Medina took this picture on Tuesday at about 4 p.m. in the Town of Alabama, looking south towards the massive snow storm.
Rick Baase of Point Breeze lives along the Lake Ontario shoreline. He took this photo Tuesday of a Canadian freighter close to the shoreline, trying to escape the biggest waves. Baase said it appeared the freighter was only about a half-mile from shore.
“It’s very windy here,” Baase said Tuesday. “It’s one of those days where it sounds like Niagara Falls outside from just the wind noise.”
Orleans County could get 1 to 2 inches of snow tonight with a chance for more snow on Thursday night and Friday.
The next lake effect snowstorm won’t entirely spare Orleans County. The National Weather Service says a new band of “thundersnow” will move across the Niagara River and into Niagara and Orleans counties between 9 and 10 tonight.
“This band will then quickly move into northern Erie County and Genesee County,” the Weather Service advised. “Conditions will rapidly deteriorate with this band. Snow rates are forecast to be around 1 to 2 inches per hour.”
The thundersnow isn’t expected to last long in Niagara and Orleans. The band will cross the northtowns before midnight and settle roughly over the same area that was hit hard with snow earlier this week, according to the Weather Service.
The band could drop 3 inches of snow per hour in the morning commute.
“Please heed all existing driving bans and if you must travel, carry a survival kit,” the Weather Service stated.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARRE – Barre firefighter Cordell Woodward uses a crowbar to try to get out the battery in a vehicle damaged in a collision at the Route 31A and Mix Road intersection at about 3:15 p.m.
There were no apparent injuries in the accident. Orleans County Sheriff’s deputies were on scene with the Barre Fire Company. No additional information is available.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 November 2014 at 12:00 am
School leader worries about declining enrollment
Photo by Tom Rivers – Kendall Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata says the town is working to extend public waterlines in Kendall.
KENDALL – Town officials were asked on Tuesday to push to extend public water in the town and also to target abandoned and distressed houses.
The lack of public water and the unkempt houses is a deterrent to growing the community, said Nadine Hanlon, president of the Kendall Board of Education. She offered to write letters to state officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, if it would improve the town’s chances for a public water project.
The school district keeps shrinking. It had 762 students last school year and is now down to 729, a 4.3 percent drop. In 2001, Kendall had a student enrollment of 1,132. It is down by 403 students or 35.6 percent over 13 years.
“To me that’s very concerning,” Hanlon told the Town Board.
She sees some of the distressed properties as potential housing for young families if the sites could be improved. Public water lines could also draw more families to Kendall, she said.
“Anything you can do to get more water in the community and clean up the houses,” she told the Town Board.
She noted the school district is about to upgrade its facilities and the district also has been recognized as a leader for student achievement.
“We strive to provide a great education, but we can’t do that without children in our schools,” Hanlon said.
The Town Board is working on a new Water District that would include Kendall Road, Norway Road and Creek Road in the northern part of town. Kendall’s chances for federal funding for the project increase if the majority of the households in the district are low to moderate income, with $56,000 considered the threshold, said Tony Cammarata, the town supervisor.
Kendall needs at least 80 percent of the property owners in the district to complete income surveys. By Monday, the town reached the 80 percent mark with 63 out of 78 turned in. Cammarata also said the majority are under the $56,000 threshold.
The town will take the next step in the process, which could be adding more homes to the district or forming the district with the three roads.
“I’m sitting here at a very high confidence level that we’re moving to the next level,” Cammarata said.
Two other residents said abandoned and unsightly properties are driving down property values and driving away potential residents. Carol D’Agostino, the high school principal and life-time Kendall resident, suggested the town and local service clubs could offer to haul away some junk and debris from properties. The items could be collected or dropped off at the town and then hauled away.
Cammarata said he would see if a committee could be formed to pursue the “Town Cleanup Day.”
Lynn Mael, a Kenmor Road resident, says a neighbor has moved out of a house and left it abandoned and in disarray. The site is owned by the Bank of America and attracts rodents, said Mael, a former code enforcement officer. He suggested the town look into condemning the property.
Paul Hennekey, the current codes officer, said he wants to avoid condemning sites because of the legal process involved. It’s also difficult to resell and rehabilitate condemned sites, he said.
Hennekey agreed there are many properties in distress in Kendall.
“The abandoned buildings are a problem,” he said. “My approach is to keep them sealed and mowed. But sometimes it is hard to find a contact for the owner.”
The Town Board on Tuesday welcomed Wayne Martin to his first meeting as town councilman. He won an election on Nov. 4. Rather than wait until Jan. 1 for Martin to take office, Cammarata and the Town Board appointed Martin to a vacant position on the board caused by the resignation of Patrick Snook.
Martin served 30 years in the Navy, including 20 years of active duty. He works part-time for a pool company in Spencerport and also part-time for the Public Safety Training Facility in Rochester, maintaining equipment. He’s also a CPR instructor.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Katlyn Moore
BARRE – Katlyn Moore was astonished this morning in Barre when a baby Red-tailed Hawk landed on her front porch only about 3 feet away. She snapped these photos at about 10:20 a.m.
“It only stuck around for a few seconds and left,” she said. “One of the most amazing things I have seen.”
A partnership between Orleans and Genesee counties, where they share a Public Health director and other staff, has been recognized with the “Outstanding Rural Health Program Award” by the NY State Association for Rural Health.
Paul Pettit of Albion serves as public health director for the two counties. He is pictured at left with Donald Rowe (center), director of the Office of Public Health Practice at the University of Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions; and Kenneth Oakley, CEO of the Lake Plains Community Care Network.
The NY State Association for Rural Health recognizes individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to rural health. Recognized state-wide for the high quality of service that they represent in rural health, the NYSARH annual awards are selected by NYSARH’s Board of Directors, who are composed of representatives of all facets of the rural health care industry.
The Orleans and Genesee departments have been sharing a director and other staff since Jan. 1, 2013. The initiative is a collaborative effort of the Lake Plains Community Care Network, Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments, and the University of Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions.
The agencies have been studying and assessing the merits of sharing public health services over a two-year period. Coinciding with this pilot project, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in partnership with the Kansas Health Institute, began a cross jurisdictional services study on shared public health services nation-wide. The Genesee and Orleans Counties Cross Jurisdictional Sharing Program is one of 16 sites selected by RWJF to be a part of this study.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2014 at 10:08 pm
Albion, Carlton, Clarendon and Lyndonville all send help
Firefighters from four fire companies in Orleans County have arrived in Cheektowaga to help residents and motorists that have been inundated with snow.
There are 14 firefighters from Orleans County that will spend the next 24 to 48 hours in the Buffalo area, said Rocky Sidari, Albion fire chief. They brought along a snowmobile and three off-road four-wheelers.
The Albion Fire Department is providing the snowmobile, an off-road vehicle and seven firefighters. Two Carlton firefighters have volunteered, as well as two from Clarendon and three from Lyndonville. Clarendon and Lyndonville also are bringing off-road four-wheelers.
The National Guard also has been activated to help with the storm response. The National Guard will send 150 soldiers and airmen, seven Bobcats, 10 dump trucks, and five Humvees, according to Channel 4 in Buffalo.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2014 at 5:57 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers – A snowmobile owned by the Albion Fire Department could be used to check on residents stranded in a storm in the Buffalo area.
Dusty DeCarlo moves a four-wheeler out of a trailer at the Albion Firehall. DeCarlo would check the vehicle for use in a major snowstorm in the Buffalo area.
Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari, left, Harry Papponetti and Greg Marston check a rescue trailer for possible deployment later tonight and tomorrow. Firefighters also readied the trailer with gas cans, generators and other equipment.
ALBION – The Albion Fire Department is preparing to be deployed to Buffalo, to assist crews in checking on residents and motorists who are stranded in a colossal snow storm. Firefighters could deliver food and medication. The exact assignment isn’t yet known.
Fire Chief Rocky Sidari expects official confirmation soon that a local team will be sent to the Buffalo area, where about 5 feet of snow has been dumped. The Albion Fire Department has an off-road four-wheeler with a track system. That vehicle can maneuver in the huge snowfall. The Fire Department also plans to take a snowmobile and a rescue trailer.
Sidari was sending text messages to firefighters, trying to round up a crew. Sidari received six confirmations by 5 p.m. The group is expected to leave at 8 p.m. If they are deployed as expected Sidari said firefighters would be committing to a 24-hour shift.
Past Fire Chief Harry Papponetti has seen it before in the Blizzard of ’77. He told firefighters at the fire hall they need to careful and never be alone in these harsh elements.
“It’s blizzard-like conditions,” he told them. “It’s not going to be an enjoyable thing.”
Papponetti’s son Steven is a student at Hilbert College in Hamburg. He told his father the storm was unbelievable with the rapid pace of accumulations.
“He can’t even find his vehicle,” Papponetti said. “It’s buried.”
Ron Armstrong, another past fire chief in Albion, talked with his granddaughter in Lancaster, where Armstrorng said 5 feet of snow has fallen.
“There is so much snow they can’t even get their doors open,” he said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Companies are due to submit proposals by Dec. 19
Government officials in Orleans County have talked for years about a lack of Internet access in parts of the county. It hurts students, farms and other businesses, putting them at a competitive disadvantage in an increasingly wired world.
Industry leaders would say 97 percent of the county was covered, but town and county officials sensed it was lower.
Now there is data that identifies 3,600 households without access to the Internet. Out of about 20,000 households in the county that represents 18 percent of homes without Internet.
The four villages – Albion, Holley Lyndonville and Medina – have 100 percent access. But out in the country it’s a different story.
“There are entire segments of roads with no access,” said Evhen Tupis from BPGreene.
His firm is working with Orleans and seven towns in Niagara County on a Broadband Internet initiative.
The communities completed a study to determine how many houses do not have access, and also compiled a vertical asset inventory, which includes water towers, barns, buildings and other structures that could serve as transmission points.
The counties put out a request for proposals to Internet providers to serve the unserved areas, and those proposals are due Dec. 19. Tupis said it will take time to analyze the proposals.
The project is being spearheaded through the Orleans Land Restoration Corporation, which operates under the Orleans Economic Development Agency umbrella.
The data and proposals could be used as part of grant or other funding application.
Tupis said some of the $2 billion approved for schools in a recent ballot proposition could be used. He has sent letters to the five districts in Orleans County, urging them to set aside some of the technology funds through the state program to boost “connectivity” at the school districts.
He is hopeful there will be lots of interest from Internet service providers to boost the service in underserved areas of the two counties.
“The RFPs should determine how much money is needed,” he said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The former New York State Asylum for the Insane, built in 1870, was abandoned and neglected. It will be receive $69 million in renovations and be turned into a hotel and conference center.
BUFFALO – A building in Buffalo that may be one of the finest Medina sandstone structures ever built is getting new life as the “Hotel Henry.”
The owners of the former New York State Asylum for the Insane announced on Monday the site will be known as the Hotel Henry, a tribute to famed architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, who designed the structure on Forest Avenue.
The not-for-profit Richardson Center Corporation has pursued a reuse plan for the complex since it was formed in 2006. For many years prior, committed preservationists, elected officials, and community members focused attention on the decades of neglect and deterioration.
The site will receive $69 million renovations and open at Hotel Henry with 88 rooms in the fall 2016. The site will also be a conference center and restaurant.
This project will keep Medina sandstone in the news for years to come. Members of the Medina Sandstone Society inducted the Richardson Olmsted Complex as an inaugural member in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame last December.
The Sandstone Society has asked that the center for architecture in the complex include a display about Medina sandstone and immigrant quarrymen who worked in the sandstone quarries in Orleans County.
The building is a National Historic Landmark. Richardson worked with prominent landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to develop the site, which includes 42 acres and collection of buildings known as the Richardson Olmsted Complex. It is nationally recognized as a great work of the two masters.
WATERPORT – With the recent opening of the Waterport bridge over Oak Orchard River (Lake Alice), it seems appropriate to look back at the first bridge in this location.
Our photo from 1900 shows that first bridge. It was dedicated July 7, 1900, with great ceremony. This steel arch bridge was 548 feet long and 68 feet above the water. It was built by the Horseheads Bridge Co. and cost $14,000. To prove its strength, two steam tractors pulling threshing machines were driven onto the bridge, one from each end, meeting in the middle for all to see.
In 1919 and 1920 when Lake Alice was created, this gorge was flooded for electric generation. Hence the steel arch bridge was replaced with a new bridge on concrete piers. Note in our photo the original Waterport dam and the Albion Power Co. building.
Provided photo – Medina students hold items that will go towards Christmas baskets. From left: Madison Holland, Hallie Seaman, Coby Albone, Kody Leno and Allison Bensley.
Press Release
Medina Central School
MEDINA – Students from Medina High School have turned helping out the needy into a competition at their school.
Every year the students collect canned and boxed food items for the Medina Area Association of Churches (MAAC). Many of the students raid their home pantries or go shopping for the charity to make someone’s holiday brighter, but having a stiff competition has helped to generate even more donations.
Julie Webber, a French teacher and a Student Association advisor, says students are playing to award their favorite teacher the Canley Cup, a cherished trophy made out of cans that goes to the teacher who inspires the students to bring in the most items.
“Each item is worth a point and some foods are considered bonus items and are worth two points,” she explains. “We ask the students to give their donation to a teacher and the teacher who collects the most by Dec. 5 gets possession of the Canley Cup and has bragging rights until the next year.”
The competition is in full swing and staff and students are hoping for a record-breaking donation so that MAAC can fill Christmas baskets for people in the community.
ALBION – Albion Central School is open today, the district told students and parents in message this morning. The district was listed as closed by The Daily News in Batavia. The Daily News said it is working to correct that error on its Website.
Genesee County was hit hard by snow overnight and eight school districts plus Notre Dame in Batavia are closed in Genesee County.
The big storm, which barely touched Orleans County, also prompted the state to close the following roads:
NYS Thruway (I-90) from Exit 46 in Rochester to Exit 59 in Dunkirk;
I-290 from Exit 6 (Sheridan Drive) to the Thruway (I-90);
I-190 Niagara Thruway from exit 1 (South Ogden Street, near Thruway mainline exit 53) to exit 16 (I-290, neat South Grand Island Bridge);
Route 5 (the Skyway) between I-190 Niagara Thruway and Tifft Street in the city of Buffalo;
Route 219 between the Thruway and Route 39 in the town of Concord;
Route 400 between the Thruway in West Seneca and Route 16 in the town of Aurora.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jeff Colonna, left, and his father Rich gave 25 turkeys to Community Action to share at Thanksgiving with local families. Anni Skowneski, case manager for Community Action, is pictured with the father and son.
ALBION – Community Action is trying to put together Thanksgiving dinners for 160 local families. The agency usually doesn’t have turkeys to give away, but one local business has given Community Action a good start on providing turkeys.
Rich Colonna and his son Jeff have donated 25 turkeys to Community Action. The agency typically has Thanksgiving meals without any meat.
“We give away food baskets based on the food donations,” said Anni Skowneski, case manager for Community Action. “We usually don’t get turkeys.”
With the Colonna gift and other turkey donations, Skowneski said the agency has enough turkeys for 40 families on Thanksgiving. She welcomed more donations from the community for Thanksgiving. She can be reached at 585-589-5605.
Rich Colonna said he has long been connected to Community Action through his electric and plumbing business. The agency also is a liaison for some of his tenants in an apartment rental business.
“If a client gets behind on their water and rent, we can negotiate to keep the tenants in their apartment,” Colonna said. “Community Action has been good to us. They help a lot of needy families.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2014 at 12:00 am
3 to 5 inches of snow could fall in season’s first storm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Orleans County is seeing its first significant snowfall of the season today. About 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected by late afternoon. The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a Winter Weather Advisory until 5 p.m.
In the top photo, a motorist heads north on Butts Road, preparing to cross the bridge over the Erie Canal. This photo was taken at about 9:30 a.m.
A leaf in an Albion backyard is coated in snow.
Some of the apples left on the trees in an orchard along Butts Road now have a layer of snow on top.
The railroad tracks have gone from leaf-covered to snow-covered since Sunday. This photo was taken in Albion over Butts Road, looking east.
The chapel at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Route 31 stands strong against the elements.
More snow is in the forecast for the rest of the week with temperatures in the 20s and low 30s.
