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DEC will have hearing Sept. 16 for Albion landfill

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Developer wants WM permit transferred to new company

File photo by Tom Rivers – This photo from last July shows the former McKenna and Orleans Sanitary landfills next to the Erie Canal in Albion, between Densmore and Transit roads.

HOLLEY – Richard Penfold is not giving up on his push to open a new landfill in Albion. In April he was rejected by the Department of Environmental Conservation to renew a landfill permit from 11 years ago.

Penfold is challenging that decision and there will be a legislative hearing at 6 p.m. on Sept. 16 at Hickory Ridge Golf and Country Club with an issues conference to follow the next day beginning 10 a.m. Hickory Ridge is located at 15816 Lynch Rd.

DEC Administrative Law Judge D. Scott Bassinson will conduct the hearing on whether Penfold and his new company, Albion Recycling & Recovery LLC, can renew the permit. Penfold has worked in recent years to try to take ownership of the site and have a state permit approved for Waste Management of New York transferred to Albion Recycling & Recovery.

The DEC, however, decided Penfold didn’t have “the legal capacity” to renew the permit originally approved for Waste Management, according to a letter on April 9 to town officials from Scott Sheeley, the regional permit administrator for the DEC.

Waste Management received a permit from the DEC in 2003 for a new 78-acre landfill in Albion along the Erie Canal. The landfill would be between Densmore and Transit roads on the east side of town. Waste Management was unable to get a permit from the Albion Town Board for the project despite offering a host community benefits package that would have cut town taxes and offered other perks for residents.

Even if Penfold secures the DEC permit, he still would need approval from the Town Board, which has been adamant in stating its opposition to additional landfills.

Penfold has said he would offer the town a host community benefits package that would cut taxes, offer residents free garbage pickup, create jobs and also care for two existing landfills.

Stop Polluting Orleans County has opposed any new landfills in Albion. The group’s attorney, Gary Abraham, will speak at the hearing. SPOC has stated the site by the two existing landfills would be bad for the community, drawing garbage truck traffic by the schools, hurting tourism efforts, and putting a 200-foot-high mound of trash in an environmentally sensitive area. If the landfill ever leaked, SPOC worries the contamination would be difficult to track given the presence of two other landfills.

To see the full DEC notice on the hearing, click here. That notice has information on where residents can submit written comments about the issue.

Kendall boys soccer raises money to fight breast cancer

Contributed Story Posted 2 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Provided photo

KENDALL – The Kendall Boys Varsity Soccer Team raised $100 to fight breast cancer by selling bracelets highlighting the disease. Team members presented a check to Orleans Community Health.

Pictured, from left, include Richie Swift; Cindy Perry, director of Health Education, Wellness and Outreach Department; Will Condo; Alex Sutphen, Kendall Boys Varsity Soccer Team Captain; and Lori Condo, President, Kendall Sports Boosters.

Orleans Community Health’s Community Partners offers programs for breast cancer patients and survivors. The soccer team plans to raise money again in October at Senior Night.

Rotary Club adds members in Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Albion Rotary Club added two new members last week. In the top photo, Bill Gajewski receives his Rotary pin from Cindy Perry, a past president.

Gajewski works as administrator for the Orleans Community Health’s Urgent Care Center in Albion. Perry was Gajewski’s Rotary sponsor. She works with Gajewski as the director of Health Education, Wellness and Outreach for Orleans Community Health.

Carol Murphy also was welcomed into Rotary. She works in sales at the Don Davis Chevrolet Buick GMC dealership. She is welcomed by her sponsor, Brad Shelp at left, who also works in sales at Don Davis. District Governor Jack Amico of West Seneca led the induction ceremony for the Rotary Club.

Shelby sees tax savings for village if town takes over Medina highway work

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 September 2014 at 12:00 am

SHELBY – Town Supervisor Skip Draper sees tax savings for village residents if the Town of Shelby assumes plowing and street maintenance duties from the village.

Draper presented his numbers this evening during a joint session between elected boards for Shelby, Ridgeway and the Village of Medina.

Draper believes villagers could see their tax rate drop by $2.46 per $1,000 of assessed property for those in Shelby, while other Shelby residents would see a tax increase of 45 cents per $1,000.

“If there is a message here it’s that this is very doable,” Draper said after the meeting.

The village currently has five personnel dedicated to street maintenance and plowing. The village has about 50 miles of streets and 30 percent are in the town of Shelby and 70 percent in Ridgeway.

Draper, after talking with Shelby Town Highway Superintendent Mike Fuller, said the Shelby portion of village streets could be handled with an additional full-time worker throughout the year and a part-time seasonal employee for the winter.

Those two workers would cost about $90,000 for salary and benefits. The town would also have to add a 6-wheel dump truck with a plow and add a plow to an existing 1-ton pickup. Draper said that estimated $172,689 cost could be bonded over 10 years at a cost of about $18,000 annually.

The town would see $108,676 in added expense, but that would be reduced to $94,636 due to $14,040 in state highway revenue for plowing and sanding inside the village. Every $15,000 represents about 7 cents on the tax rate in Shelby. The $94,636 would raise Shelby’s overall tax rate by 45 cents.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier thought Draper budgeted too low by not accounting for road salt and other expenses. Draper said he didn’t include Christmas lights, banners, trees and watering.

“Those numbers don’t seem very believable,” Meier said following the meeting. “We’re talking about taking over major services in the village.”

Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli didn’t have a comparable proposal prepared but he said it stands to reason Ridgeway would have to add two full-time workers and seasonal staff given the workload would be about twice as much for Ridgeway compared to Shelby.

If Ridgeway adds two and Shelby one that would be a net reduction of two full-time workers from the current village personnel assigned to the work.

A highway consultant, Tom Lowe, looked at the needed manpower for the two towns in a recent study. If Shelby and Ridgeway assume village highway work, Lowe suggested five workers for the two towns to do village roads, Meier said.

The three boards set Oct. 6 for the next meeting to discuss the issue. Meier said it will likely take hundreds of hours of work to fully analyze the issue and prepare a takeover for the towns to handle village highway work. But first the towns need to be specific about what they’re proposing to take over, Meier said.

Draper would like to see the towns work at taking over all non-emergency services from the village. That would bring down the taxes in the village and eliminate duplication of services between the village and the two towns.

He would like to see an agreement in place before the village budget is approved by May 1, 2015. He thinks the towns could be plowing village streets in the following winter.

Meier favors a dissolution plan that he said spells out in great detail how some village services, including plowing and street maintenance, should be taken over by the towns. Some village residents are circulating petitions to bring dissolution to a public referendum.

Former county jail was fine Medina sandstone structure

Posted 1 September 2014 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

ALBION – In this post card from around 1905 we see the Orleans County Jail and Sheriff’s residence.

Taken from Platt Street, the County Courthouse appears in the righthand background.

Built in 1903, it was a fine example of Medina sandstone construction.

In 1971 it was demolished to make way for the present county jail.

Resurrected carriage step was a labor of love

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Step bears name of Danolds, who were friends with George Pullman and influential Universalists

Photos by Tom Rivers – David Heminway is pictured with his grandson Nathaniel Metzler, 8, on a carriage step that Heminway dug up and reset last year. He also repositioned the hitching posts and sandstone sidewalk panels.

A close-up view of the Danolds carriage step

EAGLE HARBOR – Most of the carriage step had disappeared into the soil. David Heminway saw the tops of letters on the step but wasn’t sure what it said because the majority of the stone was buried.

Last year Heminway set about unearthing the step. It was in his front yard in Eagle Harbor. Heminway and his wife Joanne bought a house in 2006 at 3209 Eagle Harbor-Waterport Rd. It took about two years of work before they could move in. The house wasn’t original at the site. The first house burned down more than a century ago. That original house was owned by the Danolds family.

When Heminway dug down to see what was on the carriage step, he recognized the Danolds name. Heminway, a machinist for the state Canal Corp., also has been an active volunteer the past 20 years for the Cobblestone Society and Museum. In the Cobblestone Church there is a Danolds Room, dedicated to Charles and Mary Jane Danolds.

Mrs. Danolds suggested the Cobblestone Universalist Church name its building “The Church of the Good Shepherd.”

Her husband was friends with George Pullman. In the 1850s, when the canal was enlarged, Danolds had a contract to expand the canal and he hired Pullman to move some of the houses that were in the way of the expansion.

Pullman was also a local furniture maker. He would move to Chicago and become a titan of industry with railroad sleeping cars.

Danolds kept up a friendship with Pullman and while the two were vacationing in the Thousand Islands in 1890, Danolds made a pitch for Pullman to help build a new Universalist Church in Albion. Pullman agreed as long as the locals would commit some of their own funds to the project.

The new church opened in 1895 as a memorial to Pullman’s parents, James Lewis Pullman and Emily Caroline Pullman.

Pullman was one of the great industrialists of the 19th Century, but Danolds was no slouch. He ran a mill in Eagle Harbor, where he ground wheat into flour, said Bill Lattin, Orleans County historian.

These portraits of Mary Jane and Charles Danolds hang in the Cobblestone Church in Childs.

Danolds also owned the Cobblestone Inn, sold horses to the Union during the Civil War, worked to enlarge the canal and was a key leader of the local Universalist Church.

“He was a real entrepreneur in his own time,” Lattin said.

The Danolds carriage step, once prominent in front of the Danolds homestead, gradually sank to the point only the top was visible.

Heminway decided to reset a sandstone sidewalk and two hitching posts last year. He also brought up the carriage step and hired Mike Jessmer to fix the sandstone steps by the house.

Heminway worked on the project for about six months. It was a lot of work. The carriage step weighs about 1,500 pounds. The sidewalk panels are also very heavy. He used a tractor with a fork lift to move them. He set the carriage step on about 2 feet of crusher run stone. That should prevent the step from sinking in the future.

David Heminway and his grandson Nathaniel Metzler pose the carriage step in front of Heminway’s house on Eagle Harbor-Waterport Road.

He considered moving the hitching posts, carriage step and sidewalk panels closer to the house. He didn’t want to have to mow around a bunch of obstacles, but decided they wouldn’t look right back by the house.

“I think they belong out front where they are,” he said.

Heminway made the sure the hitching posts and carriage step were set far back enough out of the right of way by the the road. He didn’t want to be told he would have to move them again someday.

He is happy to have the step fully visible, and is pleased to have an artifact from a prominent community member from generations ago.

The step shows the talent of the stone carvers from that era with the inscription of “DANOLDS” and detailing on the front. The stone also has two steps where many of the carriage blocks were one-step stones.

Heminway is pleased to have the artifacts from the horse-and-buggy era in his front lawn.

“They’re not making any more carriage steps,” he said.

Lattin praised the Heminways for bringing a historical asset back to the local landscape.

“I thought it was great that they resurrected it,” Lattin said.

Farmworker killed in accident at Kirby Farms

Posted 1 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

ALBION – A migrant worker is dead following a farm accident late Friday afternoon in the Town of Albion, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess said today.

The incident occurred at Kirby Farms in the 3400 block of Densmore Road. It was reported to 9-1-1 shortly before 6 p.m. A work crew employed by Root Brothers Farms of Albion was “on loan” to Kirby’s and was irrigating a field of tomato plants.

The victim, tentatively identified as Luis D. Larios-Hernandez (age unknown), was standing next to a parked farm truck when a second truck (also parked and un-occupied) rolled down a slight incline and struck the victim, pinning him between the two vehicles.

Larios-Hernandez was transported by Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance to Strong West Emergency in Brockport, where he was pronounced dead at 7:24 p.m.

He was a seasonal worker residing at Root Brothers Farms in the Town of Barre.

The incident investigation was conducted by Deputy T.C. Marano and Lieutenant C.M. Bourke. The follow-up investigation includes the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, the United States Border Patrol, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Holley man, 38, rescued in Lake Ontario

Posted 1 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

CARLTON – A Holley man had to be rescued this afternoon while swimming in Lake Ontario.

Sean M. Bemont, 38, was boating with his wife Elena, 35, about 1 mile north of Wilson Road in the Town of Carlton. Bemont decided to take a swim and at some point he and the boat began drifting apart.

He was attempting to swim back to the boat when he experienced a medical problem. Elena Bemont, who is not savvy to the operation of the vessel, called 9-1-1 as the boat was drifting farther away from her husband.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Marine Unit responded to the area. Deputies Erin Fuller and Jim Burke rescued Bemont from the water. He was not wearing a PFD.

Deputy Fuller transported Bemont to the State Boat Launch on Oak Orchard River, where he was treated by personnel from Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance and released. Deputy Burke drove Bemont’s boat back to its dock at Wiley’s Marina, also on Oak Orchard River.

Italian culture embraced at St. Rocco’s Festival

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

HULBERTON – Jeff Gifaldi of Holley throws the bocce ball during today’s tournament in Hulberton. Gifaldi, 35, formed a team for the tournament for the first time and they won their first three games.

“It’s a blast,” Gifaldi said. “It’s a good bunch of people here.”

The Holley community embraced its Italian heritage with the annual St. Rocco’s Festival today. The festival features lots of Italian food, a bocce tournament, produce sales and other events to raise money for the St. Mary’s and St. Mark’s Parish for Holley and Kendall.

Rosemary Bower gets some Italian sausage ready for a customer. Popular Italian foods such as eggplant parmesan, meatball sandwiches, pasta fagioli, pizza and shells were served.

Dan Mawn works on some fried waffles that would then be covered in confectionary sugar.

Emilio Monti of Rochester reacts after rolling the bocce ball during a game today. Monti’s team won its first four matches. The team won the tournament last year. They practice twice a week at the Italian American Community Center in Rochester.

The festival included several games for children. Joey Camacho, 5, of Brockport tosses a ping pong ball towards a table of jars. His mother, Dana Swanger, cheers him on. If the ball made it in a jar, the child would win a goldfish.

Outrageous feats, costumes at Steampunk Fest

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Outrageous feats, costumes at Steampunk Fest

Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Pyromancy Fire Performance Troupe members Fuego Vicki and Potter Dee blow fire in one of the group’s daring pyrotechnic displays on Saturday at the Steampunk Festival at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

Pyromancy of Buffalo performed before a big crowd. Nearly 1,000 people attended the fourth annual festival.

“It continues to gain steam,” said Jerod Thurber, event coordinator for Leonard Oakes. “It’s a nice laid-back funky festival.”

Jacob Verghese plays the banjo and sings for the band, Pine Fever from Buffalo, at the pavilion at Leonard Oakes.

The five-member band plays American rag-time music. Besides Jacob Verghese, other members include Patrick “Thor” Johnson on upright bass, Andrew Pother on drums, Levi Van Cleve on guitar and Alex Cleve on trumpet.

Many of the festival-goers wore costumes that combined the Victorian era with the future. This group includes, from left: brothers Adam and Mike Florczyk of Hamburg, Chase from Buffalo, and Dave Lelito of Orchard Park.

The vendors sold items related to the Steampunk culture, included Victorian hats, dresses and other clothing.

George Lama of Medina takes a picture of a group of belly dancers from Batavia, the Troupe Nissa. They performed during the Steampunk Festival on Saturday at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.

Several food trucks attended the festival, and the Steampunk logo was projected onto the cold storage building at Leonard Oakes.

Jonathan Oakes, the wine maker at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, serves up some Steampunk Cider from the tasting room. Oakes dressed up for the festival.

Asha from Pyromancy performs with fire for the crowd.

Summer going out with blaze of glory

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

It was another gorgeous sunset this evening as summer winds down with school only a few days from opening for a new year. The top photo shows the sun setting over Lake Ontario near the Golden Hill State Park in Barker.

The 30 Mile Point Lighthouse, built in 1875, is a focal point of the state park just across the Orleans County line in Niagara County.

This photo shows Atwater Farms, a dairy farm in Barker near the Golden Hill State Park.

The weather looks good for most of Labor Day. The National Weather Service in Buffalo is forecasting a chance of thunderstorms with a high of 82 degrees.

Dog days of summer return

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Kyle Townley of Rochester shows his dog “Pembroke” during Saturday’s dog show in Albion. About 600 dogs entered the Tonawanda Valley Kennel Club show at Bullard Park. Another TVKC show will be today at the park from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m.

Kyle Townley competes in the novice showmanship competition.

Lorinda Vasuta preps her Pomeranian, “Animation’s Marina,” for the dog show Saturday in Albion at Bullard Park. Her dog is currently in the top 20 of all Pomeranians in the country.

Vasuta is from Medina, Ohio, and has been showing dogs for 40 years.

“It’s very rewarding,” she said. “Producing something that aspires to her level does the heart good,” she said. “This is a sport. There aren’t many sports where old people can compete with the youngsters. Old people actually have an advantage because of our experience.”

Tim Terella of Edinboro, Pa. leads a Siberian Husky named “Gus” during the dog show on Saturday. Gus won best in breed.

Two handlers show these Siberian Huskies during the dog show on Saturday.

Trophies for the top dogs at the Tonawanda Valley Kennel Club dog show are lined up. The club has had its annual dog shows over Labor Day weekend in Albion for the past two decades.

Bullard Park has been taking over by the dogs this weekend with large tents and several show areas set up at the along the site on Route 31.

2 dozen Model Ts converge in Orleans for weekend

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers
A caravan of Model T Fords head down South Main Street in Medina this morning in route from Albion to Orleans Ford in Medina. These two cars are driven by Tom Eagles (1914 Model T Ford four-door convertible), front, of Hamilton, Ontario, and Brad Glover (red 1911 Model T) from Scarborough, Ontario.

About two dozen of the Model T cars are in Orleans County for the weekend, touring local sites. The owners are members of the Model T Ford Club, Ontario Region. Many of the drivers are Canadians.

Glover, the Ontario resident, said he welcomes the get-a-ways with his car.

“It’s for the camaraderie,” he said. “That’s the whole the point of doing it. I don’t see the point of just looking at it.”

Most of the Model T cars are painted black. That’s how they were made from 1914 to 1925. Glover’s car was made in 1911 and was painted red.

“The early cars had colors,” he said. “They also had more brass.”

George Bidleman (left), owner of Orleans Fords in Medina, poses with Doug Lockwood of Albion and Lockwood’s 1926 Ford Model T. Lockwood has owned the car since the 1960s and driven it in many states.

“It’s been a good car,” Lockwood said.

Bidleman served the Model T drivers and riders breakfast at the dealership.

“It’s awesome,” Bidleman said, looking at the lineup of old cars.

The “Easy Ride Tour” heads to Lockport and Olcott today. On Sunday the cars head to Pine Hill Airport in Barre for breakfast, then they go to Brockport and swing back to Schwenk’s Winery in Kent.

Monday they are going to Mount Albion Cemetery before heading out to see the Shoe Tree in Lyndonville, and nearby Amish and Mennonite businesses.

Remediating 2 sites in downtown Medina would cost $177K

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – The former Starlite Dry Cleaners has been vacant on Main Street in Medina since a fire damaged the building a decade ago. Environmental concerns have a holdup in the site’s redevelopment.

MEDINA – An environmental audit of two vacant side-by-side sites on Main Street puts the costs of a cleanup at $177,000.

The former Starlite Dry Cleaners at 331 North Main St. has been empty since a fire in the building a decade ago. Its neighbor at 333 North Main also is vacant.

Great Lakes Environmental in Buffalo said remediating the sites, with a partial takedown, would cost $177,000.

Addressing the environmental issues is critical for the two sites to be contributing locations to Medina’s Main Street and community, said Mayor Andrew Meier.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation pledged $50,000 to $60,000 to the cleanup in 2008. The village is trying to make sure that funding is still committed for the cleanup. Medina could also pursue state funding through the Consolidated Funding Application. Meier expects the state would welcome the project because the two buildings are in a historic business district by the Erie Canal.

“It’s a very important project in that neighborhood,” he said. “It’s precluding other projects from happening.”

A previous study showed some dry-cleaning solvents were in the soil at Starlite. The site has been in limbo for years. A previous owner stopped paying taxes on the site. Normally the property would then be owned by Orleans County, but the county hasn’t accepted the property due to the potential environmental liabilities.

Power and peace at Robin Hill

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Lyndonville site is full of natural splendor

Photos by Tom Rivers – A tree is pictured next to Smith’s Pond near Platten Road in Lyndonville, part of the Robin Hill Nature Preserve.

Robin Hill has about 400 varieties of trees. They create a natural sanctuary.

LYNDONVILLE – If you’re looking for serenity and a sense of awe, Robin Hill Nature Preserve should provide your needs.

The site off Platten Road is a nature paradise with about 400 types of trees. Many tower high in the sky. Others are short and the branches shoot outward, creating a canopy of leaves you have to stoop to miss.

It’s a great place. I was fortunate to stop by this evening with my family to see Doug Pratt. His late grandfather, William Smith, developed the 45-acre site, and also built the accompanying house of Medina sandstone.

The site is popular with photographers and nature lovers. Pratt enjoys sharing the space. He created the Robin Hill Foundation with an educational mission for the property. Click here for more information.

Smith owned a canning factory in Lyndonville and built a nature preserve. In 1948, he and his wife Mary began work on the sandstone home, doing much of the work themselves with some help from family and employees at the canning factory. It took several years to build the house.

Smith and his wife Mary kept swans, and many Lyndonville youths from two generations ago grew up feeding the majestic creatures.

William and Mary Smith created the site after their daughter Lucille died from Scarlet Fever at age 19. They named it Robin Hill. Many of the trees and plants are rare and exotic, and they attract numerous varieties of birds.