Press release, Orleans County Undersheriff Steve Smith
MEDINA – A follow-up investigation by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office has determined that money stolen from the Shelridge Country Club earlier this month was not part of a scholarship fund established in memory of a local Marine killed two years ago.
Jacqueline King, 63, of Medina worked at Shelridge. She was arrested on July 9 and charged with the theft of $800. Initially it was reported that the money was part of a scholarship fund in honor of U.S. Marine Sergeant Trevor Cook, who was a native of Lyndonville. The fund benefits a Memorial Golf Tournament in Cook’s name that was held at Shelridge CC on July 5.
Follow-up investigation has since determined that the stolen money was the property of Shelridge Country Club and was not part of the fund.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 July 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – The Albion Rotary Club held its annual golf tournament at Hickory Ridge in Holley today. The event is expected to raise about $4,000 with the money to be given to Orleans County Joint Veterans Council. The organization will use it to help pay for a van to transport veterans to medical appointments.
Teams played in a best-ball format. The winning men’s team (pictured above) shot a 60 for 18 holes. That group includes, from left: Dan Krisher, Gary Hill, Wayne Barry Jr. and Paul Burgess.
The winning women’s team shot a 70 and includes, from left: Barb Budde, Sherry Palmeri, Kelly Froman and Mary Guzik.
The winning mixed team hit a 62 and includes, from left: Richard Schechter, Cindy Perry, Bill Gajewski and Marc Shurtz (not pictured).
GAINES – Our color photo shows a small building in Gaines as it looked in 1987 when given by Rose Welles to the Cobblestone Museum.
This was moved in August 1987 from next to the Chatterbox Restaurant to Route 98 in Childs. It had been built in 1838 for a shoe shop by Starr Chester. Once at the museum grounds, the building was restored inside and out.
In the mid-1960s the children of John G. Peters from Lyndonville had given the Cobblestone Museum the contents of their father’s harness shop following his death at age 85 in 1963.
The black and white photo taken 25 years ago in July 1989 shows the dedication ceremony, when the small building opened as the John G. Peters Harness Shop.
Bill Lattin, director of the museum at the time, and the late William Nestle, president of the Cobblestone Society back then, appear on the front porch. Other participants at the dedication are seated on the porch of the museum print shop next door.
County Legislators Ronald Radzinski and William Vick are visible along with Rev. Hilda Spann and the Rev. Steve Devine.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 July 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Alice Mathes, a 4-H club leader, decorates the Trolley Building for next week’s 4-H Fair. She is joined by Robert Batt, the 4-H educator, who has a puppet of a chicken that will be part of a “Farmer for a day” exhibit.
KNOWLESVILLE – Organizers of next week’s Orleans County 4-H Fair want to make growing the 4-H program a focus of the week-long Fair.
There are about 300 4-H’ers in the county. Robert Batt, the 4-H educator, wants to grow the program by at least 35 more 4-H’ers. That is the 4-H program’s goal, to sign up at least that many new kids during the Fair.
If 4-H can add that many new members, Batt has offered an incentive: He will wear a green spandex suit on July 26 for the last day of the Fair.
Batt said the program has expanded from traditional clubs with animals and home economics. Those clubs are still the core of the program, but 4-H has added robotics and a Lego Club. (For more on the 4-H program, click here.)
The opportunities are available for only a $5 enrollment fee, a major bargain, Batt said. Many youth sports leagues can easily get into hundreds of dollars per child.
“We are keeping the fee at $5 so we can keep it open to as many people as we can,” said Batt.
Many of the 4-H Clubs will have displays in the Trolley Building to educate the public about opportunities in 4-H.
About 25,000 people typically attend the Fair, which runs from July 21-26. Batt said the Fair Board has lined up a full schedule of entertainment, while keeping many fair favorites, such as the pie-eating contest, grease pole competition and many livestock events.
“We’ve work hard to preserve the Fair traditions while bringing in new attractions,” Batt said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 July 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Medina Sandstone Society will be giving the Shelby Town Board and Medina Board of Education plaques, expressing the society’s appreciation for recent projects that utilized Medina sandstone. Sandstone Society board members hold the plaques. The group includes, from left: Peggy Schreck, Jacob Hebdon, Missy Schening and President Robert Waters.
MEDINA – Last year the Shelby Town Board wanted a new sign on the Town Hall. The board decided to utilize a big piece of sandstone for the sign, and have town’s name etched in the stone. The sign went up in August.
Medina Central School last year also rebuilt a sign on Maple Ridge Road near the high school. The district picked sandstone for part of the sign.
The new sign on the Shelby Town Hall is made of Medina sandstone.
The Medina Sandstone Society appreciates the efforts by the Town Board and school to use sandstone in two prominent locations and honor the community’s heritage.
The Sandstone Society is presenting plaques to the Shelby Town Board and Medina Board of Education, thanking them for the projects.
Robert Waters, the Sandstone Society president, hopes the plaques are displayed for the public to see.
“It’s one more way to get our message out,” he said.
The school district used Medina sandstone in this sign along Maple Ridge Road.
The society met on Wednesday and welcomed Missy Schening as a new honorary director on the board. Schening runs the Memories of Medina Facebook page that has nearly 4,000 friends. She said she enjoys local history and sharing it with the community.
The Sandstone Society also endorsed a program with the school district where a select group of honor students who do a local history project will then be able to have their names etched in a sandstone wall to be erected on school property. The students will engrave their names and then personally mortar their block on the wall.
Sandstone Society board member Jeff Evoy, the school district superintendent, will bring the project to Board of Education members for their feedback.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 July 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Former Orleans County Legislature Chairwoman Marcia Tuohey was among the well-wishers today who congratulated Paul Wagner on his retirement as the county’s emergency management director. Wagner retires on Friday after 14 years in the job. He was appointed to the position by Tuohey.
HOLLEY – Paul Wagner was unflappable in a high-pressure job, a person who welcomed suggestions – and criticism – with a goal of keeping residents safe and getting firefighters the resources they need for their jobs.
“Paul has always been around and available,” said Doug Jones Sr., the past fire chief at Kendall. “He can handle stressful situations.”
Wagner, a former Clarendon fire chief, will retire on Friday after 14 years as Orleans County’s emergency management director. He stayed on the job until a new $7.1 million digital radio system was installed. The new system continues to work out some “bugs” but county officials say the system is a vast improvement over the previous one that was implemented in 1992.
Jones was one of many leaders from fire departments throughout the county that attended a retirement party for Wagner at Hickory Ridge Country Club in Holley.
“One of the things I appreciated about Paul is we could have a disagreement and he said it was OK to disagree,” Jones said. “He didn’t hold a grudge.”
Dale Banker, a past Albion fire chief, will succeed Wagner. Banker starts at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. Banker has worked 36 years for the state Department of Transportation. He has been the DOT’s equipment coordinator and a supervisor out of the Albion office. He will go on leave from the DOT and officially retire from the state in November.
Banker said he will push to recruit more firefighters because fire departments need more active members.
“We’re at an all-time low for volunteers,” Banker said.
Banker would also like to see upgraded and expanded classroom facilities for firefighters at the Emergency Management Office on Countyhouse Road in Albion. He would also like to establish a shooting range for firearms training.
Wagner isn’t fully retiring. He will stay on as a part-time consultant until the end of the year.
KENDALL – The five-member Board of Education in Kendall unanimously backed Nadine Hanlon for another term as president.
Hanlon will be starting her third year as board president. With Hanlon as president the board approved a $1 million tax cut about a year ago. The school district is eager to begin work on a $25 million capital project that will tackle a number of improvements at two school buildings.
The district is waiting for the state Education Department to approve final designs for the project.
Hanlon was re-elected last week. A new board member also was sworn in. Chaley Swift replaces Lucille Welch, who didn’t seek re-election in May after 10 years on the board.
The board also re-elected Chris Gerken as vice president.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 July 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A decade ago Albion village officials pushed to create a local development corporation that would focus on economic development and housing renewal.
In 2005, a board of directors was named to the LDC and the group was ready to pursue grant funding and partnerships. Ed Salvatore was the mayor at the time. In March 2006 he lost his re-election bid by 2 votes. The Albion Housing and Economic Development LDC lost steam and never got going.
Dean London was police chief back then and favored the LDC and its push to turn around vacant properties. London is now Albion’s newly elected mayor and he wants to activate the LDC. He met on Wednesday with some of the LDC board’s original members: Salvatore, Richard DeCarlo Sr., John Gavenda and Ron Vendetti.
London said the group needs to pursue 501c3 status to become eligible for more grants. The LDC also needs more board members.
“We’re in the initial stages of organizing the board,” he said after Wednesday evening.
He sees many vacant houses or homes that are in disrepair. Many of the sites require more investment in repairs than the houses could be sold for. The LDC could find housing grants that could be used to help offset some of those renovations, to make repairing houses financially feasible for homeowners.
The village worked with PathStone (the former Rural Opportunities) about a decade ago with some of these projects, where PathStone received the grant and upgraded houses, sometimes spending $20,000 to $40,000 on overhauls. The houses were then sold at a loss for the costs to renovate them.
However those projects resulted in owner-occupied homes and less blight in neighborhoods.
“We want to seek loans and grants and invest in housing,” London said about the LDC. “We could also pursue loans for business start-ups. The possibilities are endless. We just need to get it finalized.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 July 2014 at 12:00 am
Many other counties see a drop in dollars
ALBION – Orleans County’s sales tax revenues jumped 5.3 percent or by nearly $400,000 the first six months of 2014, compared to the same time a year ago.
That increase defies a downward trend for many other counties in the state. In fact, 16 of the 62 counties have a drop in sales tax revenue and state-wide the county sales tax revenue has only increased 0.14 percent, according to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance.
Orleans County officials budgeted for a $25,000 increase in sales tax for the year. The county typically takes in about $15 million for the year.
It’s up by $386,597 for the first six months, $7,741,592 for the first half of 2014 compared to $7,354,995 during the same time frame in 2013.
Neighboring Genesee County saw a steep drop the first half of 2014, a decrease of 4.1 percent or $767,399 to $17,891,433. Wyoming County is down 0.8 percent and Livingston is behind the 2013 pace by 0.7 percent.
Orleans didn’t experience the growth in sales tax like the three other GLOW counties prior to this year. The county came in $363,831 below its budget for sales tax in 2013, said Chuck Nesbitt, the county’s chief administrative officer.
The county’s tracking shows a $183,099 increase for the first half of 2014, Nesbitt said.
“My hope at this time is that we will make the budgeted number,” he said.
With so many counties trailing last year’s numbers, the New York State Association of Counties is worried about “significant pockets of weakness across the state.” The sales tax revenue is a key indicator of economic health of a community, said Stephen J. Acquario, NYSAC executive director.
“Sales tax revenue is crucial to counties, as it is one of only a handful of revenue sources available,” he said. “The state must make an ongoing commitment to targeted Mandate Relief in health and human programs and relieve the burden on local taxpayers.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 July 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Cornell Cooperative extension in Orleans County is considering a 70-by-120-foot building in this green space south of the Trolley Building.
Courtesy of Cornell Cooperative Extension
KNOWLESVILLE – Next week’s Orleans County 4-H Fair will give fair-goers a chance to look into what the future could hold for the fairgrounds.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orleans County is in the early stages of investigating the feasibility of a 70-by-120 foot commercial kitchen/conference center for the fairgrounds. It would be south of the Trolley Building on what is now a grass field.
Extension wants to hear from the public if they would use the building, and if they see it as an asset for the fairgrounds. Some initial renderings of the building will be on display. The building would be bigger than the Trolley Building.
“We want to start the conversation,” said Jennifer Wagester, Extension executive director. “Is this something we want? Is this something we need?”
She sees the site as a draw for many events and conferences, and also as a business incubator for chefs, restaurants and food businesses that could rent the commercial kitchen.
The Trolley Building’s kitchen isn’t big enough to be used as a commercial kitchen, and the building doesn’t quite seat enough for many potential conferences and events, she said. That building also is often used for 4-H events, including rabbit shows.
“It’s a good space and the kids use it,” she said. “But we don’t want to mix it with food.”
The new building would also have room for several organizations to move out of cramped food booths. The Senior Council Stand, pie stand, French fry stand and milkshake booth all need upgrades. They also are short on storage space, requiring daily deliveries during the fair.
The new building would replace the need for this series of food booths that lack storage space and need upgrades.
The new building would have more space to store food, and the site could be used year-round, Wagester said.
She would like the site to be energy efficient. That could help secure grant funding from NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority).
The building would be low profile and modest, and would blend in with the neighboring Education Center, Wagester said.
The Extension doesn’t have bids or quotes for the 8,400-square-foot building. She and other Extension leaders will pursue those numbers soon.
The Extension board asked Wagester to look for projects that would bring more resources into the county, and also position the organization for the future. She sees many potential partnerships if the project goes forward. The commercial kitchen could be linked with GCC’s food processing program. Chefs and food businesses could partner with the local ag community, which would produce the food that would be prepared in the kitchen.
“This would reposition us in our place with nutrition and food science,” Wagester said. “In Orleans County we’re an agricultural economy. It would make sense to capitalize on what we have here because food is our biggest resource.”
