By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A total of 33 volunteer firefighters from six fire departments in Orleans County left Albion at about 4 p.m. for assignments in the Buffalo area.
Orleans Hub reported earlier this afternoon that 24 to 30 firefighters were expected to go. Dale Banker, the emergency management coordinator for the county, confirmed 33 firefighters answered the call.
Banker reached out to the local fire departments after getting a request from the Erie County Fire Coordinator’s office and the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
The firefighters will be in Erie County until 8 p.m. on Friday. Banker said another wave of firefighters are expected Friday night and over the weekend.
Firefighters left today from Albion, Barre, Clarendon, Holley, Lyndonville, Shelby and Ridgeway.
Barre, Holley and Shelby also sent fire engines, and Albion, Clarendon and Lyndonville took off-road vehicles with tracks to maneuver in the high snow.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
GAINES – Orleans Hub shot its first deer today at about 4:45 p.m. The deer season kicked off at the break of dawn on Saturday and continues until Dec. 7.
I’ve had my Nikon camera next to me in the passenger seat in case I encountered any deer in my travels. These two were close to the road on the west side of Route 279 in Gaines, just south of Route 104. They held still for a few seconds before scampering away in the field and heading into the woods.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Orleans County is assembling teams of firefighters to head to the Buffalo area to check on residents and respond to other fire and emergency calls.
Firefighters will gather at the Civil Defense Center at 3:30 p.m. today to get their instructions. Dale Banker, the county’s emergency management director, expects 24 to 30 firefighters to be sent to Erie County. They are expected to arrive around 5 p.m. and stay until 8 p.m. on Friday.
They will take three off-road vehicles and three fire engines. Firefighters are going from Albion, Barre, Clarendon, Holley, Shelby and Ridgeway.
Additional firefighters from the county may be sent Friday night and over the weekend, Banker said. The weekend duty could include pumping basements because temperatures are forecast to be well above freezing, leading to big snow melts.
Fourteen firefighters from the county have already been to Lackawanna. They checked on stranded motorists and transported them to a shelter. Three firefighters – Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari, Calrton Fire Chief Andrew Niederhofer and Albion firefighter Stan Farone – nearly delivered a baby in the Albion fire chief’s truck. They were able to get the mother to Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo just in time before the birth, Sidari said.
Some Erie County communities received 5 to 6 feet of snow on Tuesday, with another 2 feet falling today. Sidari said he was shocked to see the big walls of snow.
“The pictures don’t do it justice,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m just dumbfounded.”
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.
Firefighters from Orleans County have used all-terrain four-wheelers to check on stranded motorists in Lackawanna. Firefighters have been transporting some of the motorists, who were stranded in their cars for more than 16 hours.
They took the motorists to a fire hall in Lackawanna. One person, a diabetic, was transported by firefighters and would later have to be taken by ambulance for medical treatment, said Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari.
It took firefighters from Orleans County 1 ½ hours to drive 9 miles from Cheektowaga to Lackawanna last night. Erie County has been in a state of emergency due a monstrous storm that dropped about 5 feet of snow.
Firefighters aren’t sure how long they will be assisting in Erie County.
“Thankfully it has stopped snowing,” Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari said this morning at about 7.
But another storm is due to hit the Buffalo area tonight and Thursday.
Firefighters from four fire companies in Orleans County are assisting in the snow-battered Buffalo area. 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 brought off-road four-wheelers.
Carlton Fire Chief Andrew Niederhofer is among the local firefighters in Lackawanna, checking on stranded motorists. He is pictured inside a vehicle with a wall of snow outside.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 November 2014 at 12:00 am
KENDALL – The Town Board approved a $1,646,378 budget on Tuesday that calls for a tiny tax increase of 0.12 percent, well below the 2 percent tax cap.
The budget will increase the tax levy, what the town collects in taxes, from $672,660 to $673,364. The tax rate will increase from $4.430 to $4.435, which is another half penny per $1,000 of assessed property.
The budget includes $1,229,418 in town funds outside of special districts. The districts – water, lighting, fire protection and library – accounted for $416,960.
“We looked at where we can provide services and maintain services and still stay under the tax cap,” said Tony Cammarata, the town supervisor.
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.
