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Medina’s dissolution committee meets for first time Thursday

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 July 2013 at 12:00 am

MEDINA A committee that has been tasked to develop a plan for the village’s dissolution will meet for the first time at 1 p.m. Thursday. The session will be in the main meeting room at City Hall, 600 Main St.

Mayor Andrew Meier is a member of the committee. He is hopeful a plan can be developed and presented to the public by next spring. A dissolution of the village would need approval by village residents.

Medina received a $50,000 state grant to prepare the plan. The village on July 8 voted to hire a consultant and formed a committee to develop a plan for the orderly dissolution of the village. Don Colquhoun, former executive director of the Arc of Orleans, is leading the committee.

Other committee members include Cindy Robinson, a Main Street business owner and president of the Medina Business Association and the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce; Charlie Slack of Slack Insurance; Thurston Dale, a retired veterinarian; Meier; and Village Trustee Mark Irwin.

The group will work with the Center for Governmental Research to develop a plan to dissolve the village and fold those government services and assets into the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway.

CGR will be paid $55,555 for its work. The organization assisted Medina and towns of Ridgeway and Shelby with a consolidation study about two years ago. That project showed the costs of providing services could be reduced by $200,000 to $400,000 with consolidation of services, plus the state would likely give the communities $600,000 annually as incentive aid for reducing layers of government.

Meier would like to have a plan developed in the next six to nine months. The Village Board could then accept the plan and schedule a referendum for village residents. Town residents outside the village don’t have a say at the polls on the village’s fate.

Meier believes dissolving the village and its layer of government will significantly reduce Median’s tax rate, making the community more desirable for residents and businesses. Medina has the highest combined tax rate – village, town, school and county – in the Finger Lakes region. That rate is about $54 per $1,000 of assessed property, with the village accounting for about $16 of that tax rate.

Golf tourney raises $36K for hospital

Posted 31 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Provided photos – The mixed winning team includes Matt Bush, Dave Cook, Cindy Perry and Pete Jones.

Press release, Orleans Community Health Foundation

HOLLEY – A hundred golfers played 18 rounds on a hot July 19 and raised $36,000 for the Orleans Community Health Foundation’s 27^thannual golf tournament.

The tournament was postponed from its original date of June 14, due to extreme rain and flooding.

The $36,000 will go towards finishing up Phase 2 of the renovations in the Residential Long Term Care Facility, known as the “North Wing” at Medina Memorial Hospital. This is a 30-bed nursing care facility in the hospital located on the first floor.

The renovations to date have remodeled each of the 30 resident rooms from top to bottom. Residents are enjoying new cabinetry, windows, ceilings and flooring.

The hospital is working to finish a solarium and sun porch for the residents to use, along with new furniture in the dining area and a nurses’ station.

The winning men’s team includes Wayne Barry, Paul Burgess, Gary Hill and Dan Krisher.

Lamonts rescued a cast-iron hitching post

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Albion and Gaines area in particular has many historic sandstone hitching posts. The Lamonts on Densmore Road have a cast-iron one by their driveway on Densmore Road in Gaines.

Roger and Ingrid Lamont pose for a photo with two of their grandsons, Alex, left, and Aaron.

ALBION – Roger Lamont saw it in a barn, part of a collection of old relics that had been abandoned.

He knew it should be displayed, returned to the landscape.

A decade ago he put a cast-iron hitching post by his driveway at his old farmhouse on Densmore Road.

“I keep everything that is old,” he said.

I’ve developed a hitching post and carriage step obsession. I was at Lamont’s house last evening for a story about two new apple varieties. I noticed the hitching post. It’s unusual around here. Most of them are made of sandstone.

The cast-iron one dates back more than a century. Lamont said it was owned by a farmer down the road. The old hitching post was left with a farm acquired by the Lamont family.

When Roger and his wife Ingrid moved in his parents’ home in 2002, Roger decided the hitching post would be a nice touch by the house.

For several years the couple operated a bed and breakfast at the site. Ingrid hung a welcome flag from the hitching post. She planted flowers around it.

The house is 100 years old this year. It includes a sandstone foundation and sandstone base for the pillars on the porch.

If you have a hitching post or carriage step story to share, send me an email at tom@orleanshub.com.

Thrice-sold sheep raises money for Hospice, 4-H program

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Meat auction topped $20,000 for 4-H’ers

Photo by Tom Rivers – Mandy Armer raised this sheep, named Coal, and donated the proceeds to Hospice of Orleans County. The sheep was sold three times on Saturday, raising money for Hospice and the 4-H program.

KNOWLESVILLE – Mandy Armer, 18, of Barre spent more than two months feeding, cleaning and caring for a sheep.

Her payoff could have come at the end of the Orleans County 4-H Fair at the meat auction. But Armer chose instead to donate proceeds from the sale, $531.30, to Hospice of Orleans.

Mandy has lost relatives to cancer. The long-time 4-H’er wanted to support an organization in Orleans County that assists cancer patients and other terminally ill residents.

“I wanted to do something that would help and support something that is local,” she said.

Panek Farms in Albion paid $454.30 for the sheep. The farm then decided to donate the animal back so it could be resold again. Former 4-H’er Robert Bannister of Point Breeze, who served as auctioneer of the meat auction, then paid $1 a pound – another $77 donation to Hospice, making $531.30 altogether for the agency.

Bannister, who now lives in Castlewood, SD, then donated the animal back so it could again be resold. This time Ed Rogger, a meat processor in Basom, paid $1 per pound or $77 and donated the money to the 4-H program.

The fourth annual 4-H animal meat auction netted $20,760 in sales. The sale included three steers, seven hogs, seven meat goats, five lambs, seven chickens, four turkeys and four rabbits.

The 4-H kids raised the animals and many of them connected with buyers for the auction. The 4-H’ers typically use the funds from the sale to invest in next year’s animals and to save for college, said Kerri McKenna, a 4-H community educator and auction coordinator.

“This program allows 4-H’ers to apply real world skills no matter what industry they’re going into,” McKenna said.

She praised the generous buyers, who paid well above the market price for the animals.

“The buyers want to support the youth,” she said.

Armer just finished her freshman year at Alfred. She had four other animals in the auction, two meat goats and two more sheep. She wanted to thank the other buyers: Bentley Brothers, A.L. Bennett and Sons, Tractor Supply and Domoy Farms.

Boat trailer caught on guard rail ties up traffic at Point Breeze

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

Lyons Collision in Medina, Carlton firefighters and local police work to reopen Route 98 at the Bridges this morning after a boat trailer got snagged in a guard rail by one of the bridges.

CARLTON Since the bridge over the Oak Orchard River was closed in December 2011, Sharon Narburgh has worried traffic to Point Breeze could be cut off if anything happened to the other bridge on Route 98 leading to the Point.

Narburgh’s fear became a reality this morning. A truck pulling a boat on a trailer created a two-hour bottleneck near Narburgh’s store, Narby’s Superette and Tackle.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was making a right hand turn on 98. The driver didn’t make a wide enough turn and the boat trailer was snagged in a guard rail. An axle on the trailer broke. The truck and trailer were stuck on 98, cutting off traffic in both directions.

“This happens a lot,” Narburgh said about the bottleneck. “The state knows this is a bad situation.”

Narburgh and Orleans County officials want the smaller Oak Orchard River bridge to be reopened. But that will take money. The state hasn’t approved funding for the small span.

The County Legislature last week approved a contract to pay Ramsey Contractors of Lakeville $15,000 to remove the small bridge. Once it’s gone, the county and state Department of Transportation can better inspect the site to look at bridge options for the site.

The bridge over Oak Orchard River, one of the bridges at Point Breeze, has been closed since last year. The County Legislature last week approved a bid to remove the bridge.

Lining up the money to pay for the project is another issue.

Narburgh bemoaned the situation on Tuesday.

“We just won the ‘Ultimate Fishing Town’ and people can’t get down here,” she said. “It’s costing me money. It’s costing all of us money.”

Lyons Collision in Medina freed the truck and trailer. Carlton firefighters and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the scene.

Task Force makes 2 drug arrests

Posted 30 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Press release
OC Major Felony Crime Task Force

Joel Hackenburg

MEDINA – Following a six-month investigation into the sale and distribution of prescription narcotic pills in the village of Medina, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and Medina Police Department today executed a search warrant at 117 Worthy Ave. and arrested a resident on numerous counts of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance.

Joel D. Hackenburg, 50, was charged with one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and four counts of criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions in the fourth degree.

Hackenburg was arraigned by Town of Ridgeway Justice Lawrence Sanderson and was committed to county jail on $10,000 cash bail or bond. He is to return to town court at 9 a.m. on Aug. 5.

Angel Gonzalez

In a separate investigation at 61 Ricky Place, another resident was charged with three counts of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance.

Police charged Angel Gonzalez, 73, with one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree, a felony; two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree; and one count of criminal diversion of a prescription medication and prescription in the fourth degree.

Gonzalez was arraigned by Town of Ridgeway Justice Lawrence Sanderson and was committed to county jail on no bail. He is to return to Shelby town court at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1.

Lyndonville family feels enriched by hosting exchange student

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Heck family in Lyndonville hosted Swantje Lagediek, 17, of Germany since Thanksgiving eve. “Swan” returned home on Monday. Pictured with Swan, middle, include: T.J., Bonnie, Lindsay and Tom.

LYNDONVILLE – A Lyndonville family said an emotional good-bye on Monday to a foreign exchange student, who was accepted into the family as a sibling and daughter the past eight months.

The Heck family didn’t expect they would ever host a foreign exchange student. But in November, a day before Thanksgiving, they welcomed Swantje Lagediek into their home.

“Swan” is from a small city, Bremen, in Germany. She immediately connected with Lindsay Heck, 17, and received lots of friendly teasing from Lindsay’s brother T.J., 22.

“This was one of the best things we have ever done,” Bonnie Heck said at the family’s home on Platten Road. “She fit right in with us.”

When Swan envisioned spending time in the United States, she immediately thought of New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“But a small town is better,” she said. “A huge city is too busy.”

Swantje Lagediek, left, is pictured with her “sister,” Lindsay Heck.

She experienced famed tourism sites at Niagara Falls, Boston and Fort Worth, Texas. Locally she laughed about the Shoe Tree in Lyndonville, a row of four trees that have hundreds of shoes nailed to the bark or hanging from branches. Swan tossed her own pair of shoes into one of the trees.

She took a year of classes at Lyndonville, and enjoyed photography, digital literacy, art and a forensics class. She ran track and worked the spotlight in the school musical.

“I was open to new things,” she said.

Swan is used to public transportation in Germany, taking a bus or train to most destinations. Some days, she preferred to just walk to the Hecks’ home after school.

The annual Fourth of July parade passed by the Hecks’ and Swan joined then in their front lawn, watching the candy-throwing spectacle.

Lindsay and Swan were born two weeks apart, and they have connected like sisters. The two often joined in pranking Lindsay’s older brother. T.J. returned the banter. He also taught Swan the mechanical workings of cars and lawn mowers.

Swan’s parents visited Lyndonville about three weeks ago and the families felt a sense of camaraderie.

“We highly recommend it,” Mr. Heck, a state Department of Transportation employee, said about hosting an exchange student. “It has broadened our horizons. It made us realize there is a whole big dynamic world out there.”

Gillibrand seeks funds to eradicate Emerald Ash Borer

Posted 30 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Pest confirmed in 15 counties, including Orleans neighbors

Photo courtesy of Cornell University – The Ash Borer has been detected in nearby Monroe and Genesee counties.

Press release, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee, today urged additional funding to help research, control and eradicate the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive insect threatening the 900 million ash trees in New York and throughout the country. There are no known methods to control the Emerald Ash Borer.

“New York State is home to some of the world’s most beautiful forests that today are at a major risk,” Sen. Gillibrand said. “Unless we take action, this harmful insect will continue to spread and eat away at trees and forests. We need to make the right investment and bring this harmful insect to a halt before it’s too late.”

The infestation of the Emerald Ash Boer, native to China, was first reported in New York State in 2009 when it was found in Randolph, Cattaraugus County. It has since been found in 14 other counties, including Ulster, Greene, Livingston, Monroe, Steuben, Genesee, Erie, Orange, Albany, Niagara, Dutchess and Tioga, and has now spread to Delaware and Otsego counties.

New York’s forests are also a strong economic driver. The state’s forest industry employs more than 60,000 workers and generates approximately $4.6 billion to the state’s economy, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The insect is suspected of first entering the U.S. near Detroit, Michigan, in 2002, where it led to the killing of millions of ash trees in the Midwest, then making its way to 19 states. The beetle has the potential to destroy upwards of 7 percent of the state’s forests and 7.5 percent of trees across the United States.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Sen. Gillibrand advocated for the proper resources to control the invasive species and protect New York’s forests.

Kid power on display at the fair

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Brandon Christiaansen, 8, of Albion uses some pedal mite in today’s small fry tractor competition at the fair. Jason Quatro, 15, of Albion volunteers as a helper for the event. He attends the Old Paths Bible Baptist Church in Clarendon, which has been assisting with the tractor pull.

Luc Wagner, 6, of Lyndonville won tonight’s small fry tractor pull heat in the 66- to 85-pound group. He pulled a wagon with a 40-pound weight for a full pull – 45 feet in front of the fair office. He qualifies for the finals at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The small fry tractor pull is a 23-year tradition at the Orleans County 4-H Fair. The competition is every weekday at 6:30 p.m., and 1:30 on Saturday with the winners competing in the finals on Saturday.

Hawley will hold telephone town hall

Posted 29 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Press release, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) will hold a telephone town hall event on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The free forum allows constituents to dial into a conference call, ask the assemblyman questions and hear from their neighbors on the most important issues regarding state government in our community.

“In order to best serve our community, I am always working to find new ways to connect with local families and businesses so that I can make our voices heard at the Capitol,” said Hawley. “In addition to weekly town hall meetings and mobile office hours I hold across the district, this telephone town hall event will provide a great opportunity to discuss our local priorities. I look forward to hearing from many friends and neighbors during this productive discussion.”

Starting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, residents can call 877-228-2184 and enter the pin number 111837. Participants can dial *3 to ask a question, at which time you will be entered into a queue and be informed when it is time to pose your question.

State will test groundwater at OSL

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – The former McKenna and Orleans Sanitary landfills were built next to the Erie Canal in Albion, between Densmore and Transit roads.

ALBION – State and local environmental officials should soon have some answers about the contaminants – if there are any – in the Orleans Sanitary Landfill.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation will do a comprehensive test of groundwater at about 25 spots on the 35-acre OSL, which closed about 20 years ago. The DEC also will test water at the manholes were the landfill was being pumped.

A fund that paid to have leachate – garbage juice – pumped, hauled and treated at the Albion sewer plant was depleted in 2009. Since then, the landfill hasn’t been pumped.

Local and state officials want to know if the water at the site is dangerous, just in case the liner fails or the water spreads off site.

The DEC has hired a contractor to sample water for metals, volatile hydrocarbons, turbidity and other characteristics.

“When you test at a landfill there’s not any one thing you’re looking for,” said Dan Schuth, manager of the Soil and Water Conservation District in Orleans County.

The site was built to accept municipal waste so there shouldn’t be dangerous chemicals and pollution at OSL. However, a previous operator was fined for accepting garbage after hours.

“They will do a broad test of the water so we know what’s there in case it leaches out,” Schuth said.

He credited local state legislators for pressing the issue with the DEC to do the testing. A local citizens’ group, Stop Polluting Orleans County, also has been lobbying for the testing and for maintenance at the site.

A closed gate near Transit Road blocks access to the McKenna Landfill, which is a Superfund site. Neither McKenna or the Orleans Sanitary Landfill are currently being pumped of leachate.

Not only is OSL no longer being pumped, but the neighboring McKenna Landfill, an 18-acre site that is on the Superfund, also stopped being pumped about two months ago. The site will continue to have monitoring wells checked, Schuth said.

The state DEC wants to study the water quality at McKenna over a year to see if it’s necessary to continue pumping the leachate from the landfill and having it treated off site.

Albion town officials have been approached by Richard Penfold from Blasdell about a new landfill in the community, a project that was first proposed by Waste Management in the mid-1990s. The DEC approved a permit for Waste Management, but the Town Board later rejected the project, a decision that was upheld in court.

As part of its proposal for a new 78-acre landfill, Waste Management offered to take care of OSL and McKenna. Waste Management was leasing the property from John and Irene Smith, the former OSL owners, but that lease ended in 2011 and the site is back in the hands of the Smith’s bankrupt estate.

Ongoing care for the landfill should fall on the owners, DEC officials have said, but the Smiths declared bankruptcy.

Dr. G.C. Kesler’s horse barn and vet practice in Holley

Posted 29 July 2013 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

HOLLEY – Our photo was taken around 1920 on East Albion Street in Holley. To the left is Dr. G.C. Kesler’s horse barn. It was out of here that he practiced his veterinarian work. (Note the horses looking out of each window in the barn.)

The house behind this barn marked with an X that faced White Street was Dr. Kesler’s residence. This structure was built in 1834 by Holley Baptists as a meeting house.

When the present Baptist Church was erected on Geddes Street in 1890, the meeting house then became a residence. The house to the right in our picture was also owned by Dr. Kesler. In front of this is a telephone pole with many lines strung on it.

County planners approve Gaines labor camp, art co-op

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Holley’s proposal for Downtown District also approved

ALBION The Orleans County Planning Board is supporting two projects in the town of Gaines – a farm labor project and art co-op.

The board on Thursday also backed a new Downtown District in the village of Holley and recommended the village revise its zoning text for downtown parking requirements.

In Gaines, Ray Burke is working to convert a single-family house at the corner of routes 98 and 104 into a co-op for high-end crafters and artists. Burke plans to add a driveway to the south of the building that will be accessible to Route 98. He is planning a parking area for 14 vehicles at 14386 Ridge Rd.

Burke is seeking a permit to run the business in the town’s commercial and historic overlay district. The Gaines ZBA will meet 7 p.m. Aug. 5 to vote on the project.

Burke and a group of volunteers have been working on the 3,000-square-foot house, which was built around 1840, for several months. He would like to be open “Fair Haven Treasures” in the fall, but that may be too ambitious, Burke told Gaines officials on July 2.

County planners said the project is “well-suited” for the Commercial/Historical District and has potential to complement the Cobblestone Society Museum complex.

Planners also supported Oded Kalir’s plan to add farmworker housing in Gaines at 13105 Eagle Harbor-Knowlesville Rd. Kalir, a fruit grower from Brockport, wants to convert an existing single-family house into farmworker housing. The house currently isn’t in an agricultural district but Kalir has applied to have it added to County Agricultural District No. 3.

Because the project isn’t in a certified ag district, he needs a permit. The house sits in a neighborhood with productive farmland, barns and other residences, planners noted.

In Holley, the Village Board has proposed a Downtown District that would include the Public Square, Thomas Street for numbered addresses 1 through 12, and the numbered addresses on Geddes Street Extension.

The zoning restrictions in the district will be similar to a Commercial District, except the downtown has more limited signage options and residential uses are not allowed in the first floor. Residential uses in the Downtown District will not be required to provide a minimum number of parking spaces. Residents may be authorized to use a municipal parking lot, according to the proposal.

$100K bail for Medina man charged with assault, robbery

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Holley woman accepted into drug court

ALBION – A Medina man was put in jail today on $100,000 bail after he was arraigned by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch.

William Cruz, 41, of Medina has been charged with third-degree robbery, third-degree assault and petty larceny.

He has two prior felonies, nine misdemeanors and three times before failed to appear at scheduled court appearances, District Attorney Joe Cardone told Punch in court today.

Cruz allegedly beat up a customer outside the VFW in Medina on March 15 and then took the victim’s money.

Punch issued an order of protection for the victim. He also assigned the public defender to represent Cruz, who said he didn’t have any income to hire an attorney.

The judge also accepted Michele Skeps, 42, of Holley into the drug court program, which requires she stay drug-free or face sanctions.

Skeps admitted in court she was in a deep sleep all day on March 22, 2012 and was unable to care for her children. She pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child.

That charge will be dismissed if she successfully completes the drug court program, which will take at least a year. If she does not complete the program, Punch could sentence her to up to a year in jail for endangering the welfare of a child.

One more from the fair

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo courtesy of Michael Karcz

KNOWLESVILLE – Michael Karcz shared this photo with Orleans Hub taken of the fireworks Friday night at the Orleans County 4-H Fair.

Karcz, 18, just graduated from Albion in June. He has been experimenting with photography. This photo actually represents several different images.

“The firework shots were taken individually, and the shot of the fair was taken after the fireworks,” Karcz said in an email. “I needed a higher vantage point, and the only place I could think of was on top of my van, so I climbed up and shot away. That’s the fun of photography.”

Karcz said he wants to continue to practice and hone his craft.