ALBION – The union representing workers at the former Orleans County nursing home announced the employees have approved a contract with the site’s new owner, Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services.
Comprehensive purchased the 120-bed Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, effective Jan. 1. The company paid $7.8 million for the facility on Route 31.
Chautauqua County also sold its nursing home in Dunkirk to a private company, VestraCare.
CSEA employees at both the Albion and Dunkirk sites approved five-year labor deals with the new owners of the nursing homes.
“These companies have shown a commitment to the residents and to the workers,” said CSEA Western Region President Flo Tripi. “They came into negotiations sharing our goals, and they honored the workers’ experience and dedication to quality care.”
Both contracts provide wages comparable to former agreements. They also retain the former county employees’ seniority, offer health insurance and provide other terms and conditions geared toward maintaining an experienced and dedicated staff for the residents.
“VestraCare and Comprehensive Healthcare know that quality care will suffer if you lose good, long-term workers and replace them with low-paid, inexperienced staff,” said CSEA Private Sector Director Bob Compani. “These companies are not willing to punish good workers for profit. They are looking to make changes the right way, to continue to provide quality care and to protect middle class jobs.”
ALBION – State Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) has been reappointed as Assistant Minority Leader as well as Minority Ranker of the Assembly’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Hawley also announced that he was reappointed to the Agriculture, Insurance and Ways and Means Committees.
“I am honored to serve in our conference’s leadership once again,” Hawley said. “Our members and leadership are tremendously devoted to crafting the best public policy possible and I am motivated to get back to work. Furthermore, as a veteran, I am proud to serve as Ranking Member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. I have always sought to protect the rights of veterans and advocate for them in Albany. My years in the military have given me the knowledge and experience to meaningfully contribute to the policy process. I look forward to heading back to Albany to continue working for veterans during this year’s session.”
Hawley, a veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves, has served in the State Legislature since 2006 and as Assistant Minority Leader since 2013. The 2015 Legislative Session opened on Jan. 7, when members took their oaths of office in the Assembly Chamber. Assembly members Sheldon Silver and Brian Kolb were elected to the positions of Speaker and Minority Leader, respectively.
ALBION – In this picture from the early 1950s, an unidentified woman at left talks about a work of art with Albion art teachers. They are, left to right: Mary Poland, Doreen Sundell and Geraldine Larwood.
MEDINA – The Board of Education will take comments from the community on Tuesday about whether the district should adopt a tax exemption for veterans.
School districts can offer up to a 15 percent reduction in assessed value on property owned by veterans who served during a time of war. They may receive another 10 percent if they served in combat zones.
If a veteran was approved for a 15 percent exemption that would save them $349 for a house assessed at $100,000. (The school district’s tax rate is $23.31 per $1,000 of assessed property.)
Districts also have the option of giving veterans a reduction based on service-related disabilities. For example, a veteran with 100 percent disability could get a 50 percent property tax reduction.
The Board of Education will have a public hearing on the issue at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Board Room located at the District Office, One Mustang Drive.
The district has estimated the impacts of the Alternative Veterans’ Tax Exemption for other property owners.
On a $100,000 home, with the minimum or lowest option, the estimated increase for a non-veteran would be a $32.00 or 1.37 percent tax shift. If the maximum exemption was offered, nonveterans would see a $51.00 or 2.19 percent increase in their taxes, according to school officials.
Approving the exemption would also reduce the STAR payments for district residents. The STAR is applied after other exemptions are factored.
The district is expected to discuss those impacts at Tuesday’s meeting.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 January 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An 18-year-old from Medina who sent threatening text messages last May, saying he would kill other students, was sentenced to six months in county jail today.
Mackenzie Barrett on Oct. 20 pleaded guilty today to making a terrorist threat, which carried a maximum of 2 1/3 to 7 years in state prison. As part of a plea deal, Barrett faced a maximum of one year in jail.
Orleans County Court Judge James Punch gave Barrett half of the maximum sentence as part of the plea. Punch said Barrett showed no signs of following through with the threat, which was sent in text messages to a friend.
Punch said Barrett has an “extremely limited criminal history.”
Barrett was suffering from depression, anxiety and was being bullied at school, his attorney Dominic Saraceno said during sentencing today.
“He did something incredibly stupid (by sending those threatening text messages),” Saraceno said.
Barrett has been in jail the past eight months. He was free to go today, but first had to report to Probation. He will be on Probation the next five years. Punch told Barrett he is not to send any offensive electronic communications and won’t be permitted to possess weapons or ammunition.
The judge denied youthful offender status for Barrett, which would have sealed his record.
“I’m expecting you to deal with your problems,” the judge told Barrett. “If anything like this happens again, state prison is the only option.”
Barrett apologized for the threatening messages in May, and the panic that resulted in the community.
“I didn’t think of the consequences when I did it,” he said. “It was just spur of the moment.”
Barrett may have taken no steps to follow through with the threat, but Punch said the issue was serious, and was emotionally and financially costly to the community.
“We have to take threats seriously,” the judge said. “You can’t just sweep them under the rug.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 January 2015 at 12:18 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARRE – A new resident to the Town of Barre suffered minor injuries in an accident at about 11 a.m. today in Barre, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Judith Sumption recently moved from Illinois to East Barre Road, deputies said. She was traveling eastbound on East Barre Road when she lost control of her vehicle near Cushing Road. The vehicle slid off the road and came to a rest near a row of small trees.
She was transported to Strong West in Brockport by the Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance in Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Garrett Rustay, in red hat, gets off a shot in today’s Street Brawlers Hockey Game at Bullard Park in Albion.
Nearly every Sunday for the past two years, whether it’s freezing or stifling heat, a group of Albion hockey enthusiasts gather at Bullard to play street hockey.
The group was out today in about 25 degrees temperatures. They meet at 10 a.m. and play to 1 p.m. They said more players are welcome to stop by and join the action.
Jonas Trapiss, right, tries to get in position to fire off a shot.
Dakota Johnson is ready to attack.
Andy Ashworth plays goalie. The group only had one goalie today, leaving one empty net.
By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian
MEDINA – Can our readers recognize this fine red brick residence in a photo from the 1930s? The house remains today, although without the awnings and screened-in porch.
Our clue is in the lower right corner. Note the old-fashioned cast-iron road signs, and notice what they state: “Niagara Falls †’ 41, Lockport †’ 18, Gasport †’ 11, Middleport †’ 5, 45 † Rochester, 20 † Holley, 11 † Albion.”
The road signs could only have been in one place. Our answer is: East Center Street at the head of State Street diagonally across from State Street Park in Medina. You know, where all the Christmas decorations are displayed.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Former Village of Medina Trustee Owen Toale, left, and current Trustee Mike Sidari share their views on why they oppose dissolution of the village government, which goes to a vote on Jan. 20.
MEDINA – Two sides, one for dissolving the Village of Medina government and the other in favor of keeping it, shared their views during a debate on Orleans Radio this afternoon.
Dissolution opponents say Medina Mayor Andrew Meier has pushed too hard and too fast for dissolution before exhausting possibilities of shared services and cooperation with the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby.
Village Trustee Mike Sidari and former Village Trustee Owen Toale say dissolution would result in less services for villages residents, and they are doubtful they would see much tax savings.
“I’m disappointed we basically had this dissolution vote shoved down our throats,” Toale said in the debate. (Click here to be directed to Orleans Radio, and then click on the podcast to hear the debate.)
Meier and OneMedina leader Dean Bellack spoke for dissolution, which goes before village voters on Jan. 20 from noon to 9 a.m. at the Senior Center.
The village has suffered from falling tax assessments, a shrinking population and rising tax rates, the two said.
Meier said the village government is an unsustainable model. A dissolution plan would preserve existing services while reducing the tax rate in the village by $6 per $1,000 of assessed property.
(The vote on Jan. 20 will be whether or not the village should dissolve, and won’t be about a specific plan.)
OneMedina leader Dean Bellack, left, and Medina Mayor Andrew Meier both spoke in favor of the village dissolution, saying it would reduce taxes, making the community more attractive for residents and businesses.
The village has been forced to pare back some services and cut back on employees in recent years, Meier said. He only sees more reductions without a major change in how the services are provided.
“We will see declining services and staff until we fix this problem,” he said.
The $54 overall tax rate in the village is the highest in the Finger Lakes region. It is a major disincentive for investment and retaining and attracting residents and businesses, Bellack said. Meier said the high tax rate in the village has trapped the community “in a downward spiral.”
Bellack said dissolution would be a first step in reducing government costs and drawing more state aid for the community. If the village dissolves, OneMedina will then push to have the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway consolidate into one. That would provide a more efficient government, and also give the community more clout, Bellack said.
Without dissolution and its promise of reduced taxes, Bellack only sees more decline in the village. He also worries for the current village workforce with the existing village model.
“If I were a village employee I am working for a municipality that is running out of money,” Bellack said.
Sidari believes there can be savings with more shared services, perhaps through code enforcement and clerk functions, as well as highway duties.
Meier said there won’t be significant savings by “tinkering” with shared services. The village will still be stuck in a model that oppresses village residents, he said.
Sidari said the village should press for more state funding through Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. Villages only get $7 per capita in AIM while cities get an average of $277 per capita. Sidari would like to see all of the local municipalities pass resolutions, and see if a movement can spread around the state for fair treatment in AIM for the villages.
“We’re not going to get anything if we don’t ask for it,” Sidari said. “It’s time to fight for what is ours.”
Meier said dissolution would provide $541,000 annually in new state aid. That is a state law to encourage dissolution, he said.
Toale and Sidari both said they have misgivings if the state would come through each year with that money.
Dissolution also would provide $277,000 in efficiency savings, which is less than 3 percent of the village and two towns’ budgets. That is a narrow margin, dissolution opponents said.
Bellack and Meier both see more savings through attrition as employees retire and village debt is paid down.
If the dissolution vote fails on Jan. 20, it can’t be brought up again for at least four years. If it passes, the village and towns would have at least two years to implement a transition plan.
Bellack said the community needs a change, otherwise it could see more population loss and higher taxes.
“People are choosing not to live in the village,” Bellack said. “That is our story. Nothing our opposition says will change that.”
Toale said he hopes the dissolution vote fails, and the community gets more time to pursue shared services. He believes significant savings and partnerships can be reached while keeping the village government structure.
“There is more than one solution, but we haven’t worked hard enough to find it,” he said.
It will take strong leaders at the village and town levels, working for the good of the community, Toale said.
