By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2014 at 12:00 am
File photo – Rachel Gregoire is shown competing at the Orleans County 4-H Fair in this photo from July with an Australian cattle dog.
HOLLEY – An Orleans County 4-H’er has placed eighth in the country in the National Junior Horticultural Association contest. Rachel Gregoire, 14, of Holley also was part of a team from New York that beat all the other state teams.
Gregoire can identify numerous plants from flowers to woody ornamentals to fruits and vegetables. The national test included 100 samples to identify. Participants were also quizzed in a written exam.
Rachel travelled to Lexington, Kentucky, for the competition, leaving last Thursday and returning home on Tuesday. She competed against more than 50 people in the individual competition.
“There’s not a lot of kids that do it,” Rachel said about the horticultural study. “It’s not like Facebook.”
She said she enjoys learning about plants, and is able to pinpoint them based on their characteristics.
“It’s really useful,” Rachel said about the ability to identify plants. “It’s like detective work. There are so many. It’s been a great learning experience.”
Rachel is primarily coached by her mother, Kellie. They connected with several horticultural enthusiasts from St. Lawrence County while in Lexington.
Rachel is also a member of the Rabbit Raisers 4-H Club. She is a sophomore at the Cornerstone Christian Academy in Brockport.
She can compete in the national events until she is 21. Next year’s event will be in Orlando, Fla. It shifts closer to home in 2016 when it will be at Erie, Pa.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A new memorial quietly was added to Main Street in Albion about a week ago. Bigger fanfare for the memorial could come on Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
Mary Anne Braunbach pushed for the Blue Star Memorial through the National Garden Clubs. The memorial is just south of the Main Street canal bridge on the west side of the road in front of PathStone. Braunbach owns the building at 140 North Main St., where PathStone is a tenant.
She has noticed traffic will often stop before the bridge when the lift bridge goes up or if vehicles are waiting for farm equipment to pass through.
“This is a perfect place to honor veterans,” Braunbach said. “When the bridge is up, people will stop and see it.”
She hopes the memorial will also encourage pedestrians to get out and explore the downtown.
A state grant paid for the marker, and Braunbach paid for the stone. Brigden Memorial in Albion attached the plaque on the stone. The village Department of Public Works set the concrete pad for the stone.
The Soil, Toil and Thyme Garden Club sponsored the memorial. Braunbach was part of that group for about 20 years. The garden club recently disbanded but laid the groundwork for getting the Blue Star Memorial.
Photos by Peggy Barringer
ALBION – Some of the trees by the Orleans County Courthouse have purple ribbons tied around them, symbolic of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The county also has the courthouse dome lighted up in purple at night to show its support for the cause. On Wednesday, many community members also wore purple to promote domestic violence awareness.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2014 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Village officials were scheduled to meet with the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby last week for continued shared service talks.
The meeting set for Oct. 6 was cancelled. Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli sent an email to reporters today trying to clear up misunderstanding about why the meeting was cancelled. Napoli said leaders from all three municipalities agreed to cancel the meeting “because Medina asked for additional time to prepare.”
But Medina Mayor Andrew Meier disagreed with Napoli’s assessment. Meier said the village isn’t dragging out the process.
The two towns were supposed to crunch numbers for the costs of taking over plowing and highway work within the village. The towns were to have numbers ready for a Sept. 2 meeting. Shelby Town Supervisor Skip Draper presented a proposal that would save villagers in Shelby $2.46 per $1,000 of assessed property in their tax rate, while other Shelby residents (outside the village) 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 on Sept. 2.
Meier didn’t think those numbers were completely accurate because they didn’t include costs for salt and gasoline.
Napoli didn’t have a proposal at that meeting, but sent one about two weeks later. Meier said both proposals have been lacking in detail. The towns have also asked for more information from the village.
Meier said he is hopeful there can be serious talks among the three municipalities.
“We do have things we can work on, but it seems like we’re stalling out again,” he said.
The three municipalities met regularly in 2012 but those meetings were shelved. The village supported a dissolution study and that plan has the village dissolving with its services passed to the town towns, a local development corporation and an authority.
The two towns have questioned the accuracy of the dissolution data, and doubt if there would be significant savings with dissolution.
The dissolution plan identifies $277,000 in savings spread over three budgets that total about $11 million. That’s less than 3 percent and town officials said they only occur if everything went according to the plan perfectly.
The plan also identifies $541,000 in additional state aid as an incentive for dissolution, bringing the total benefit to the community of $818,000. The town leaders said the state aid may not be long-lasting
Village residents have the only vote on the issue if it goes to a public vote. The Village Board hasn’t set a referendum but a group of residents have been circulating petitions to force a vote on the issue.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A house that has long been vacant and a target of vandals was demolished this morning.
The house at 139 East Bank St. was built in 1851, but nobody lived there in many years. Craig Ernewein of Albion acquired it in June 2013 at the county property tax auction. After having the site evaluated, he determined it was best to knock down the building, Village Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti said.
The site is at the corner of East Bank and Ingersoll streets and backs up to the Erie Canal.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KENDALL – A massive arcing rainbow broke out in the sky this evening around 6:30. The top photo was taken behind the Kendall Junior-Senior High School. I was there for the ground-breaking for the school district’s $25 million capitol project. (Check back soon for that story.)
It was a moody sky and I headed to Greenwood Cemetery on Route 18 in Kendall for some photos, including one of the Civil War cannon.
This is one of the many well-kept cemeteries in the county that serves as a final resting place for our local residents.
The county should develop a Civil War Trail and include Greenwood Cemetery as a stop.
These older cemeteries have a strong sense of sacrifice.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KENDALL – Members of the Kendall Board of Education are pictured with district superintendent Julie Christensen, third from left, this evening behind the existing cafeteria, where a new one will be built.
The board members include, from left: Martin Goodenbery, Vice President Chris Gerken, President Nadine Hanlon, Chaley Swift and Charles Patt.
This rendering from SWBR Architects shows how the new cafeteria will look. Contractors will get started on the cafeteria on Oct. 27. That project is scheduled to be ready in time for the 2015-16 school year.
District Superintendent Julie Christensen outlines the capital project before a ground-breaking celebration this evening.
Both the elementary school and junior-senior high school buildings will be “ripped apart” next summer for an array of improvements, Christensen said.
The project includes new roofs for both school buildings, as well as energy efficient improvements, heating and ventilation work, and updated security measures. Both sites will also see improvements to parking lots and sidewalks.
The junior-senior high school was built in 1971 in an “open classroom” model that didn’t include contained classrooms. The school includes partitions to try to reduce noise and hallway distractions. The capital project would give all the classrooms four walls and their own door.
This rendering from SWBR Architects shows how the junior-senior high school will look after renovations. The top left picture shows the existing school.
The Board of Education last month approved about $16 million in construction bids. Turner Construction of Buffalo will serve as construction manager for the project, overseeing seven different contracts.
The following are low bidders for the project:
General trades – Allied Builders, Inc. of Brockport for $4,987,000.
Roofing – Elmer W. Davis of Rochester for $5,782,177.
Drywall – Accurate Acoustical Corp. of Victor for $1,144,000.
Plumbing – Michael A. Ferrauilo Plumbing & Heating of Rochester for $468,000.
HVAC – Landry Mechanical Contractors of Le Roy for $2,253,500.
Electrical – Kaplan-Schmidt Electric of Rochester for $1,189,000.
Controls – Trane of Rochester for $592,756.
Christensen addresses community members inside the cafeteria during a ground-breaking celebration. Board of Education members are pictured next to her, including from left: Nadine Hanlon, Chris Gerken, Charles Patt, Chaley Swift and Martin Goodenbery.
Hanlon thanked the community for its support, including approving the $25 million capital project in May 2013. The project will result in a better learning environment for students and teachers, while also making the buildings much more secure, she said.
“It’s so exciting for our school district and for our community,” Hanlon said. “The school is the community hub for Kendall.”
Kendall school adminsitrators pose with the ceremonial ground-breaking shovels. They include, from left: Elementary Principal Sharon Smith, District Superintendent Julie Christensen and High School Principal Carol D’Agostino, who was in Kendall’s first class in the open classrooms when the school opened about four decades ago.
MARIETTA, OH – Adam Hoot of Medina, N.Y., has been selected to be a McDonough Scholar at Marietta College this fall. Hoot is a graduate of Medina High School.
The nationally recognized McDonough Leadership Program helps students gain a deeper understanding of leadership, practice their leadership skills, and in the process grow as engaged leaders on campus, in the local community, and beyond.
Students must be accepted into the program through a highly selective process. While a part of the program, Hoot will take leadership classes, participate in different community service projects including the award-winning Make a Difference Day in October. Hoot will have the chance to travel as part of the McDonough Leadership Study Abroad, pursue a variety of experiential activities, and attend prestigious leadership conferences.
“We have an outstanding group of students starting the leadership program this fall,” said Dr. Gama Perruci, Dean of McDonough. “They are driven and full of passion. It’s very exciting to work with them because they are at a stage in their lives when they are defining their goals and developing their leadership skills in order to pursue their dreams. The McDonough Leadership Program serves as the nurturer of those dreams.”
Hoot came to campus the week before classes began to participate in the EXCEL (Experience Civic Engagement and Leadership) Workshop, designed to introduce students to the McDonough Leadership Development Model. As a McDonough Scholar, Hoot will pursue one of four academic options: International Leadership Studies Major, Minor in Leadership Studies, Certificate in Leadership Studies, and the Teacher Leadership Certificate.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Editorial
Photos by Tom Rivers – Workers from Lyons Heavy Towing and Recovery in Medina are on the scene when a tractor trailer was pinned under a railroad bridge on Monday.
HOLLEY – Monday afternoon another trucker hauling a load of goods out of Holley got stuck under a railroad bridge.
The bridge was high enough for the truck and the front end of the trailer. However, as the trucker headed up an incline on Route 237 the trailer got stuck under the bridge.
Traffic on South Main Street was closed for about three hours. The trucker was from Florida with a load of French fries. He had his trailer hauled to Medina for repairs.
The stuck trucks is a frequent occurrence in Holley. About three weeks ago another truck was stuck under the bridge for about seven hours.
Firefighters and a police officer on the scene cast blame on the truck driver on Monday. He was ticketed for failure to observe a traffic control device.
“The problem is they don’t read,” a firefighter said about the truckers and their inability to follow the clearance signs.
I’m not so sure the truckers see the signs – in time to stop. There are two small clearance signs – 11′-11” CLEARANCE – posted just before both sides of the bridge. The bridge also has clearance signs on the steel sides. But by the time truckers see those signs, it’s too late.
The DOT has other clearance signs posted about a quarter mile in each direction. Those signs are yellow and also say “11′-11”.” The one on the south side of the bridge near Hillside Cemetery is clearly visible on the east side of the road, as a driver heads down a hill. But the one on South Main Street near Geddes Street is obstructed by a tree.
A clearance sign is positioned to the right of the road, in front of a tree, making it difficult to see.
Here is a closer view of the sign not too far from the tree.
I missed seeing the sign near Geddes Street on Tuesday when a drove down the street, looking for signs that might warn there was a bridge ahead. This sign should be placed away from a tree or the tree should be trimmed. I bet many of truckers don’t see this warning sign.
Truckers don’t have a straight shot view of the bridge in either direction. I think it catches many of them by surprise. They round a bend and the bridge is right there, too late to stop.
Holley Mayor John Kenney said the bridge has been hit on a regular basis since he moved to Holley in 1964. Many of the truckers report their GPS directs them to drive under the bridge.
This truck has room to pass underneath the bridge that was built in 1905.
Holley officials have tried to get that changed, to have the GPS systems not route truckers by the bridge.
Kenney has also asked nearby manufacturing plants, cold storages and food processors to tell truckers not to use the route by the bridge.
It seems clear the current strategy isn’t working, and the DOT and village need to try harder. I think more signs would help, and perhaps some with outlines of a tractor trailer with an X on it so it’s clear they should avoid the bridge.
The bridge was built in 1905. It gets looked over after every accident by Genesee Valley Transportation, which operates the railroad. That bridge is already over 100 years old and isn’t being helped with all the shots it takes from the tractor trailers.
The local officials shouldn’t just blame the truckers, especially because this is such a frequent problem. Better signage may prevent some of these mishaps.
