Kendall resident pushed for countywide garbage

KENDALL – One of the best deals we get in Orleans County is the low cost for garbage pickups. We pay $190 annually per household, about half of what you’d pay outside the county.

It was 25 years ago when Lyndon Billings was chairman of the County Legislature and pushed for the county-wide solid waste contract. The service used to be sporadic and costly for residents, especially in the outlying areas.

The push for county takeover of the contract was controversial, but Billings convinced the towns and villages to support a county-wide contract for the service. The county would handle negotiations for the contract and assume all the headaches when residents called with complaints.

“One of his major projects was bringing in county-wide garbage,” said Marcia Tuohey, a former Legislature chairwoman who served on the board with Billings.

“He was the one who instigated and brought it to the county.”

Billings died at his Kendall home after a brief illness on Jan. 3 at age 88. He taught science at Lyndonville and Kendall, and was the former owner of Nationwide Insurance Company in Holley. He and his sons ran Billings Farms in Kendall for many years.

Billings was part of the first County Legislature in 1980 and stayed on the board for 20 years, serving as its leader for eight years.

The Orleans County Legislature paused for a moment of silence during the group’s meeting on Wednesday to remember Billings.

Tuohey said he was also instrumental in the upgrade of the county’s emergency radio system in the early 1990s. That system is now being upgraded again after more than 20 years.

I remember Lyn from my early days as a reporter out here. He was a master of parliamentary procedure. He was low-key, but engaged in the communities he served.

I saw him a couple years ago when I had a flat tire and ended up in his driveway on Center Road. Lyn helped me with the tire and got me back on the road.

His funeral service was this past Monday at Kendall United Methodist Church.

For a previous article about the county’s garbage collection, click here.

To see a Vintage Orleans feature about the first County Legislature, click here.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Tony Cammarata, Kendall’s new town supervisor, takes the oath of office while his wife Sharon holds the Bible during Tuesday night’s swearing in which was administered by Town Justice Debbie Drennan. Cammarata is retired from a 34-year career in sales with Georgia Pacific, a paper products and plywood company.

Tony Cammarata, center, presides over his first meeting as town supervisor. Other town officials include, from left: Councilman Patrick Snook, Councilwoman Lynn Szozda, Town Attorney Andrew Meier, Cammarata, Town Clerk Amy Richardson, Town Councilman Bart Joseph and Town Councilman Bruce Newell.

KENDALL – New town officials were sworn into their public offices on Tuesday, a new administration that includes Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata.

Cammarata is retired from a 34-year career in sales with Georgia Pacific, a paper products and plywood company. He succeeds Dan Gaesser, who didn’t seek re-election in November.

Cammarata began Tuesday’s organizational by thanking Gaesser for his service. The new town supervisor also thanked former Town Board members Dave Schuth and Donn Pritchard for their service. Their spots are now filled by Patrick Snook and Bruce Newell.

Bruce Newell, one of three new Town Board members, is sworn in. A Kodak retiree, he works as a business consultant.

Patrick Snook takes the oath. Snook works as an auto technician at Brockport State College.

Cammarata and the Town Board appointed one new town official on Tuesday. Andrew Meier is the town’s new attorney, replacing John Sansone of Lockport. Sansone was paid a minimum $750 monthly retainer. Meier of Medina will be paid a $600 monthly minimum.

Cammarata said Meier, who also works as municipal attorney for the towns of Gaines and Yates, is “extremely responsive.”

The board also approved a shared services contract with the Town of Carlton for Kendall’s assessor Gene Massey. Massey is scheduled to be paid $52,000 in 2014 with Carlton paying $30,000 of that salary plus a portion of the benefits. Massey will work for both towns, with more of his time in Carlton.

Some of the other appointments include:

Gay Smith as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals (annual salary of $1,040); Raymond Wenzel as chairman of the Planning Board ($1,450); Barb Flow as director of youth and adult recreation ($13,525); Joseph Canale to the Youth Recreation Commission; Shirley Cataladi as Adult Recreation representative; and Kim Corcoran as town historian ($500).

The board also reappointed Paul Hennekey as code enforcement officer ($11,000) and Dan Strong as deputy codes officer ($7,700); Charles Patt as Custodian for Beechwood Cemetery ($500 a year); Walter Steffen Jr. as custodian for Greenwood Cemetery ($500 a year); Cheryl Cole as court clerk ($5,500 a year); and Nick Schicker as building maintenance worker at $11 an hour.

Wenzel will serve as Kendall’s representative on the Orleans County Planning Board, replacing Paul Gray who served in the role for nearly three decades. Gray didn’t want to continue in the position that pays $110 for the year.

The board also named First Niagara Bank as official depository for the town and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald as official town newspaper for public notices.

The salary for town supervisor is $8,400 a year with the four board members each paid $3,120. The two justices are each paid $7,500, while the town clerk has a $26,600 salary. The highway superintendent is paid $49,250.

Town Justice Debbie Drennan takes the oath from fellow Town Justice Stephen Cliff.

Town Justice Stephen Cliff takes the oath from Debbie Drennan.

KENDALL – A proposed tax abatement plan would save a company more than $200,000 in property taxes over the next decade as it works to develop The Cottages at Troutburg.

The Orleans Economic Development has crafted a 10-year tax savings plan for the 126-acre former Salvation Army site in the northeast corner of Kendall along Lake Ontario. The plan only applies to the land. Any new seasonal cottages will be taxed at 80 percent of their value.

The land is currently assessed at $1,305,200. The EDA will have a public hearing 9 a.m. Jan. 15 at the Kendall Town Hall for a tax abatement plan or PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes).

The EDA is proposing the Wegman Group not pay any taxes on the land for the first year and then pay incremental 10 percent increases in taxes until it is at 100 percent after 10 years.

The plan would save the company $41,414 the first year, according to Orleans Hub calculations. (I multiplied the $1,305,200 assessed value by a $31.73 tax rate. The rates in Kendall include $17.21 for the school district, $10.09 for the county and $4.43 for the town.)

That loss in revenue would be absorbed by other residents. The company would pay about $4,145 in the PILOT the second year with $4,145 increases added the following years until it is as the full $41,414. Orleans Hub calculated the plan would save the Wegman Group $227,791 over 10 years.

The EDA typically works out PILOTs to reduce the tax burden for companies when they are in the early stages of projects. The deals typically help companies with their cash flow so they can get their projects off the ground in the early capital-intensive stages.

The Wegman Group has about 10 cottages under construction. The company believes 400 cottages could be built at the site over the next decade, increasing the site’s assessed value by about $25 million.

To offset the loss in the taxes for the land through the PILOT, the Wegman Group would need about 25 of the new cottages to be built. That assumes they are assessed for $60,000 with the town then discounting them by 20 percent due to their seasonal status.

The site historically didn’t generate any tax income for the community because it was tax exempt under the Salvation Army.

The PILOT plan isn’t final. Residents and local officials will have a chance to weigh in on the plan during the public hearing on Jan. 15.