By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 January 2014 at 12:00 am
Paul Lauricella in a photo from his Facebook page
LYNDONVILLE – Friends will gather on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in the Lyndonville school parking lot to remember Paul Lauricella, a 2007 Lyndonville graduate who died in a car accident on Wednesday morning.
Lauricella, 24, had many friends in the community.
“He always lifted everyone’s spirits,” said his friend Shelby Blousenhauer of Medina. “He was such a nurturing person who would give you the shirt off of his back in a snowstorm.”
Blousenhauer and her husband Chris are helping to plan Sunday’s candlelight vigil. Sam Stillinger and her boyfriend Bryan Babcock also are working on the vigil.
Shirts and stickers in memory of Lauricella will be for sale to help his family pay for funeral costs. The shirts for $12 will say “In Memory of Paul V. Lauricella. Sacred moments will never be lost in time.” Car window decals will be $3.
Lauricella worked as a machinist with Brunner International in Medina and also worked with his father in the family business. He enjoyed fixing cars.
His father, Paul Lauricella, is vice chairman of the Orleans County Conservative Party. He is active in local politics and attends many government meetings, often expressing his disproval about budgets with tax increases.
Participants in the vigil on Sunday are encouraged to bring their own candles.
Calling hours for Lauricella are on Monday at the Oak Orchard Assembly of God Church, 12111 Ridge Rd., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a celebration of life service at 2 p.m. The Rev. Daniel Thurber will officiate.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) is defending the views of his constituents by condemning Gov. Cuomo’s recent comments about people who he perceives as “extreme conservatives.” Hawley believes that a governor who says that a significant percentage of New York’s population has no place in the state should not be the governor.
“The governor’s comments about my constituents are offensive and are a Freudian slip which reveals what he truly thinks of upstate New Yorkers. He has no right to come to upstate New York and call himself governor when he has such obvious disdain for its people,” Hawley said. “The majority of Upstate New Yorkers are pro-Second Amendment and believe in traditional family values. If the governor does not think the good people of upstate New York have a place in New York, he seems to be doing a good job of driving our families out of the state with his highest-in-the-nation taxes and infringements on our rights.”
In an interview with a statehouse news reporter, Cuomo said of the conservatives, “Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”
Hawley is also using this incident to push the importance of his Two New Yorks legislation, which would place an initiative on the ballot to allow New Yorkers to vote on whether or not they want to split New York into two states. In the last year, the governor has trampled on the Second Amendment rights of the people and openly stated that those who disagree with have no place in New York, Hawley said.
These actions by the governor should motivate upstate New Yorkers to defend their rights and their dignity against these attacks, Hawley said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 January 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – John and Sarah Sokolofski of Spun Out Fire Productions in Rochester performed in Albion during the Fire and Ice Festival at Bullard Park on Friday evening.
The married couple entertained after a pile of Christmas trees burned in a bonfire.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 January 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Orleans Economic Development Agency approved nearly $600,000 in property tax breaks for the new owner of the former JP Morgan Chase site in Albion, a 130,000-square-foot building that will soon be home to about 700 employees for Claims Recovery Financial Services.
A firm led by Roger Hungerford of Medina bought the building from Chase for $2.6 million and has invested at least $300,000 in upgrading the site for CRFS, EDA officials said this morning.
The EDA based the incentives on a $2.9 million value for the property. At that assessment, the annual tax bill would be $109,752 with the money going to the village of Albion, town of Albion, Albion Central School and Orleans County. The four municipalities have a combined tax rate of $45.73 per $1,000 of assessed property.
The owner, 231 East Avenue LLC, won’t pay any taxes the first year to the four municipalities, and will pay 10 percent of the $109,752 the second year, with another 10 percent added the following years until it’s at 100 percent after a decade. The deal will save 231 East Avenue LLC $592,661 in property taxes and also commits the entity to paying $504,859 to the four governments over the 10 years.
The library tax rate of $1.30 per $1,000 is not part of the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement. The library will get its full $3,700 per year.
The EDA did a cost-benefit analysis and determined the building will generate $47,467,359 in benefit to the county over the 10 years, mostly through the salaries of the new employees as part of the company expansion.
Jim Whipple, EDA executive director, said the site will give back $80 for every $1 given up in the tax abatement. The EDA calculated the benefits based on 315 new jobs over three years as part of a CRFS expansion. Whipple said the EDA numbers are conservative because the company employs nearly 700 people in the county.
The company considered other sites for its expansion, including Atlanta, Ga.; Dallas, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Jacksonville, Fla., the EDA said.
The site at 213 East Ave. was owned by Chase, but that company shut down in Albion in September, eliminating about 400 jobs.
CRFS is experiencing exponential growth. It has outgrown 31,000 square feet next door at 227 East Ave. Hungerford and his firm, Talis Equity, spent about $1 million renovating about 15,000 square feet of the Olde Pickle Factory in Medina to accommodate about 200 CRFS employees last year.
The CRFS workers from Medina and Albion will all be moved into the former Chase site, which has room for the company to expand and keep the workforce under one roof.
Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the EDA, said Hungerford has worked hard to accommodate CRFS so the company had space to grow in Orleans County.
“He did a huge renovation in Medina and he took on this building,” Barone said. “He wants to keep this company here.”
The EDA sees another benefit with CRFS moving into the former Chase site. The other CRFS locations – the Olde Pickle Factor and next door in Albion at 227 East Ave. – are good sites that can be aggressively marketed for new tenants.
CRFS will have a presence at 227 East Ave. until at least late February. It moved out of the Pickle Factory about two weeks ago. The EDA will work with the Greater Rochester Enterprise and the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise – big regional economic development agencies – to help market the Medina location.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 January 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Billy Martin’s Cole All-Star Circus returned to Albion this evening and its cast performed many daring feats inside the elementary school gym.
The Amazing Jonathan, “the champion of balance,” is standing on top of eight cylinders in one routine (in top photo).
The Electrifying Francy was featured in several routines, including this one with Hula hoops. She balanced 35 of them at once a little after this photo was taken. The Cole Circus is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
The Lovely Angela performs some aerial artistry. The circus will be in Medina on Friday with shows at 5 and 7:15 p.m. at Wise Middle School.
ALBION – Peggy Barringer was out hunting the moon last night with her camera and took this striking photo of the moon looming over the Orleans County Courthouse and the County Clerks Building.
The weather forecast shows a chance for snow with temperatures mostly in the 20s the next few days.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 January 2014 at 12:00 am
Local assemblyman named assistant minority leader
Steve Hawley has been promoted to assistant minority leader in the State Assembly, a spot that puts him in the top five of leadership among the Assembly Republicans.
Leader Brian Kolb appointed Hawley to the position. He has been serving as deputy whip. In his new role, Hawley will help create conference policy initiatives, urge his fellow legislators to support pro-job creation proposals and better advocate for his constituent’s concerns.
“It’s all about getting things done for the people back here,” Hawley said this afternoon.
The Batavia resident has been serving in the Assembly for nearly eight years. He represents all of Orleans County, except the town of Shelby. The district also includes all of Genesee and part of western Monroe County.
In his new role in the Assembly, Hawley said he will have more input shaping legislation and he’ll have more clout when he talks with Democrats who are in the majority.
“I plan to use this new position to give voice to my constituents and promote policies that create jobs, lower the tax burden on Western New York families and protect our country’s veterans,” Hawley said in a statement. “I thank Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb and my colleagues for trusting me with this task. With their support and the support of my constituents, I look forward to serving in this role.”
Hawley is a former hog farmer who owns an insurance agency in Batavia. Kolb said Hawley has been “a staunch supporter of small businesses and farmers, and he understands the importance of creating jobs and improving the economy.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 January 2014 at 12:00 am
County is one of 14 in NY with negative numbers for 2013
State-wide sales tax revenue grew 5.24 percent in 2013, or by about $1.3 billion. But in 14 counties, including Orleans, sales tax dollars actually dropped last year, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
Sales tax is one indicator of the economic health of a community. It also provides money to pay for government services.
In Orleans, the sales tax dipped by 0.56 percent or $82,873, falling from $14,902,778 to $14,819,904. Most of the Orleans sales tax goes to fund county government operations. The county shares about $1.3 million with the towns and villages.
County Treasurer Susan Heard said the county still has two sales tax checks coming in. She thinks the county will top the 2012 numbers by about $70,000 or $80,000.
The county needs more stores and more people to shop locally to boost the Orleans sales tax numbers, she said.
“We need more retail because the shopping pulls in the dollars,” she said. “If you’re trying to boost the numbers that’s the way to go.”
Orleans County’s neighbors all gained in sales tax last year. Genesee saw the biggest increase, jumping 4.49 percent or about $1.6 million. Niagara was up 3.21 percent, while Erie increased 2.66 percent. Monroe also saw an increase by 1.81 percent.
Downstate counties, including New York City, saw the biggest increases. The New York State Association of Counties credits that increase partly to rebuilding from the Sandy storm in 2012.
Most of the counties with sales tax decreases were in the Southern Tier or in northern New York. The following showed decreases, with the percentage decline: Broome, 4.58 percent; Chautauqua, 0.06; Chemung, 4.24; Clinton, 1.11; Jefferson, 1.62; Orleans, 0.56; Oswego, 0.82; Schenectady, 0.57; Schoharie, 5.00; Schuyler, 0.55; Steuben, 3.61; Sullivan, 0.69; Tioga, 4.96; and Wyoming, 0.98.
There were 27 counties (out of 62) that saw their fourth quarter numbers fall from the previous year.
“The fourth quarter sales tax collection, which includes holiday shopping, is a key indicator of our state and local economy,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario. “These numbers concern us. The uneven collections demonstrate the need for continued focus on economic development statewide.”
Orleans Hub shared some sales tax generating ideas in a Jan. 2 article. Click here to see that article.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 January 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The village of Albion will have its first Fire and Ice Festival on Friday when residents are welcome to bring Christmas trees for a big bonfire.
The event starts at 4:30 p.m. at Bullard Park on Route 31. The bonfire will be behind the back parking lot, between the hill, children’s playground area and the east athletic fields. People can park in the back lot and volunteers will be there move trees to the bonfire area.
“We will encourage people to drop their trees off at the back lot and then park in the main lot, to preserve space,” said Sid Beaty, village program coordinator.
The bonfire begins at 5 p.m. There will be a fire performance at 7 p.m. with trained dancers spinning fire on chains.
The event will feature Crooked Door pulled pork sandwiches for $5 and hot cocoa. There are other activities for kids organized by Fidelis Care and 4-wheel rides from Jeff Holler.
The Fire and Ice Festival will end at about 8 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 January 2014 at 12:00 am
Main Street Store will leave downtown for Legion site
Photo by Tom Rivers – The American Legion has been trying to sell its building at 131 South Main St.
ALBION – A downtown store will be moving south on Main Street to the American Legion building.
Community Action of Orleans & Genesee’s offer has been accepted and agency director Ed Fancher expects to formally close on the property in March.
Community Action will move the Main Street Store, a thrift shop that provides job training skills, to the bigger location. It could open in the Legion building in May or June, depending on the pace of the closing on the property.
The Main Street Store uses two storefronts in downtown Albion in a building owned by Nathan Lyman at 49 North Main St.
The move to the Legion site will give the store more room for merchandise and for employees, Fancher said.
“Right now we’re cramped,” he said. “Part of the impetus is there isn’t enough floor space.”
The agency will do some minor renovations to the Legion building to turn it into a store. Fancher said the site will be comparable to a Salvation Army store or a Volunteers of America.
“We train people for employment,” he said.
As a term for the sale, the Legion will be able to stay another 18 months to use the bar in the back of the building.
BUFFALO – Linda Rakonczay, 58, of Middleport, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and filing false tax returns on Wednesday. She appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant worked as a payroll coordinator for Orleans Community Health in Medina.
Beginning in 2001 and continuing through 2012, Rakonczay prepared and submitted reports to the organization’s bank instructing the bank to electronically transfer money from the corporate bank account to her personal bank account.
The amount transferred from the organization’s bank account to the defendant’s account totaled $499,563.00. For tax years 2007 through 2012, Rakonczay failed to report such income and failed to pay federal taxes to the Internal Revenue Service totaling nearly $94,000.00.
The conviction is the result of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Brian P. Boetig and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Toni M. Weirauch, Special Agent in Charge.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 5 before Chief Judge Skretny.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 January 2014 at 12:00 am
Julie Christensen, superintendent of Kendall Central School, said a tax savings plan for The Cottages at Troutburg is too generous for a community with a high poverty and unemployment rates.
KENDALL – A big crowd of Kendall residents turned out for a public hearing this morning for a tax abatement proposal for The Cottages at Troutburg.
The Orleans Economic Development Agency is proposing a 10-year tax plan that would save The Wegman Group $227,777 in taxes. The bulk of the savings are in the beginning of the arrangement and will help the developers with their cash flow during the capital-intensive early stages of the project, said Jim Whipple, executive director of the EDA.
The tax abatement deal only applies to the land and the existing structures. The new seasonal homes will boost the Kendall tax base and are not subject to the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes).
Whipple said the projected 400 cottages could boost the community’s tax base by $30 million when the project is done.
“This is a property tax creating opportunity for the county and town that you don’t normally have,” Whipple said during a two-hour public hearing attended by about 75 people.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Jim Whipple, chief executive officer for the County of Orleans Economic Development Agency, discusses a tax-saving proposal for The Wegman Group, which is working to develop a 400-cottage community in Kendall.
The agreement calls on The Wegman Group to pay $186,363 in taxes over 10 years on the land, a 126-acre former Salvation Army camp along Lake Ontario.
The property did not generate any taxes for about a half century. The Wegman Group bought the site for $1.5 million and has been paying taxes on about a $1.7 million assessment the past two years.
Residents balked at a tax discount for the site, which is targeted to wealthy people who want a second home.
Julie Christensen, Kendall Central School superintendent, was among the chorus of residents who didn’t want to see such generous tax breaks for the Wegman Group in an impoverished community.
The school district would give up $123,544 in taxes as part of the 10-year deal. The county would give up $72,432 while town abatement totals $31,801.
Those lost taxes would have to be redistributed to other residents, Christensen said. The community struggles with a 25 percent poverty rate and the fifth highest unemployment rate in the state.
She asked the benefits proposed to the Wegman Group be cut in half to reduce the sting to the community. Christensen said she supports the overall project and believes the 400-unit site could lead to other improvements in the community, including upgrades to the Lake Ontario State Parkway, expanded Broadband Internet access and more customers for Kendall businesses.
The EDA board was going to vote on the tax incentive plan on Friday, but Whipple said that vote has been pushed back until Feb. 14. The EDA also will have another public hearing about the abatements for more Kendall residents to comment about the proposal.
Dan Gaesser, a former Kendall town supervisor, speaks against a 10-year tax-savings plan for The Cottages at Troutburg. A big crowd turned out today for a public hearing at Town Hall.
Tony Cammarata, the town supervisor, said tax breaks generally aren’t offered to residential projects. Typically they are targeted to manufacturing, tourism and other commercial projects. Cammarata wants to see the Troutburg developers pay more in taxes.
The plan would give them 100 percent off of the taxes on a $1.3 million assessment the first year. Each following year another 10 percent of the tax bill will be added until the full amount is billed after 10 years.
Dan Gaesser, the town supervisor until Dec. 31, said the Wegman Group never indicated it wanted a 10-year abatement with the 0 to 100 percent sliding scale, until a letter arrived in Kendall Town Hall on Jan. 2. He said he would support an incentive that was about half as generous as the current proposal.
Whipple said the developers are turning a site that has been largely underutilized into a significant asset for the community. He said the Wegman Group will be a big taxpayer for the community as the project is developed.
“This is someone putting their butt on the line,” he said about the investment in the site.
The project won’t be a major job creater, Whipple acknowledged. The developer says it will create 13 jobs with the project. The big advantage to the community will be the growing tax base as the cottages are constructed, Whipple said.
“This is a tax base project not a job development project,” he said.
ALBION, NY – Director of Public Health, Paul A. Pettit and local tobacco-control advocates Reality Check and Smoke Free NOW are drawing attention today to the tremendous health and financial burden caused by tobacco use in our local communities. The United States Surgeon General says tobacco marketing is a cause of tobacco use. The 32nd Report on Smoking and Health will highlight the 50th anniversary of the first Smoking and Health report released in January 1964. The report was the first to hit the American public that identified smoking as a cause of lung cancer in men.
The Surgeon General’s 32nd Report on Smoking and Health, released later this month, provides new findings on the health effects of smoking along with a call to end the continuing tobacco use epidemic. In New York, tobacco use remains the leading cause of premature death and disease, with the highest smoking rates among the poorest New Yorkers who disproportionally suffer the deadly consequences of tobacco use.
New York State is a leader in tobacco control with strong clean indoor air laws, the highest tobacco taxes in the nation; smoke-free outdoor laws, youth prevention initiatives, and cessation programs that together have led to substantial reductions in smoking rates among adults and youth. However, more than 25,000 New Yorkers still die every year due to tobacco use.
“New Yorkers earning less than $25,000 per year and those who report poor mental health are still smoking at significantly higher rates that the rest of the population and helping them quit remains an uphill battle,” said Mr. Pettit. “We need to ensure effective resources continue to be available to protect youth from ever starting, and to help those most vulnerable to smoking (people with lower income and reporting poor mental health) successfully quit.”
In New York State, the smoking rate for middle school students has declined to 3.1 percent and the smoking rate for high school students has declined to 11.9 percent. The adult smoking rate has been reduced to 16.2%, but is much higher in some parts of the state. In Orleans and Genesee County, the smoking rate remains at 29.9% and 18.7% respectively; higher than the state average.
“Research has shown the poorest New Yorkers have the highest smoking rates and as a result suffer more deadly illnesses due to tobacco use”, said Kevin Keenan, project director for Smoke Free NOW; a program of Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Furthermore, some counties in upstate New York have higher than average lung cancer rates largely driven by higher than average smoking rates. The American Lung Association has estimated that if no one in the United States smoked, one-third of all cancer deaths could be avoided.
The New York State Tobacco Control Program effectively reduces tobacco use, saves lives and saves money. The Department of Health estimates that approximately 35 percent of the total decline in adult smoking is attributable to youth prevention strategies. The significant reduction in smoking among young adults will reduce future health care costs by approximately $5 billion.
“It is hard to believe that we are still fighting this deadly product fifty years later,” said Kyla McCormick, Program Coordinator for Reality Check in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties. “We’ve made tremendous progress, but we must continue to tackle the enormous financial and health burden that tobacco use causes our community.”
For more information contact Smoke Free NOW at 585-815-1875 or Reality Check at 585-344-3960.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 January 2014 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – Dan and Monica Seeler are working on transforming the former Tagg’s Tavern in Holley into a steak and seafood restaurant.
The couple expects to open the Holley Falls Bar and Grill in October or November. Besides extensive renovations to the building, they are trying to ensure enough parking for their customers.
They want to make it as easy as possible for people to park close to the restaurant in the Public Square. The Seelers think a chunk of land next to Hair Affair could be used for 12 vehicles. The lot would need to be cleared. The village owns the land and is open to selling it, Mayor John Kenney told the Seelers during Tuesday’s Village Board meeting.
The Seelers and village attorney John Sansone will negotiate a price for the property.
In other action, The Village Board hired Sharon Ebbs as a temporary part-time imaging clerk. She will be paid with a state grant that is paying for Holley to convert 96,000 paper records into digital records through Laserfiche.
Ebbs, a Holley resident, will be paid $6,468 in the part-time role until June 1, Holley’s deadline for completing the project. The village was awarded a $29,304 Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund Grant.
Holley will convert payroll records since 1959 and Village Board meeting minutes from 1900 into digital files.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 January 2014 at 12:00 am
LYNDONVILLE – A 24-year-old Lyndonville man was killed this morning when he hit black ice, lost control of his vehicle and then hit a tree.
Paul Lauricella was travelling westbound at about 6:30 a.m. on East Yates Center Road when he hit a patch of black ice, crossed into the eastbound lane and then collided with a tree.
He was transported by Mercy Flight helicopter to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where he was pronounced dead, State Trooper Victor Morales said.
