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OONA to host concerts and continue community betterment

Posted 21 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Fire photo by Tom Rivers – The band Blind Leading the Blind performs at the Orleans County Marine Park last July to kick off the “Summer Concert Series in the Park.” The series will be back beginning July 8.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

POINT BREEZE – The Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association in Point Breeze is working hard to promote the Oak Orchard area through a concert series and other community projects.

OONA will once again present the Summer Concert Series in the Park on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. from July 8 through August 19. Those concerts will be at the Oak Orchard Marine Park on Rt. 98.

The lineup for the concert series is as follows:

July 8: The Who Dats (classic rock, pop)
July 15: Acoustically Sound (acoustic rock)
July 22: Julie Dunlap & High Maintenance (contemporary country)
July 29: The Dave Viterna Group (blues)
August 5: The Blind Leading the Blind (contemporary rock)
August 12: Jive Street Five (classic golden age, rat pack)
August 19: The Sophisticats (swing, jazz, blues)

On average, each band draws between 200 and 325 people depending on the band’s fan base and the weather. OONA has between 20 and 24 of its members serve as volunteers to help run the event.

OONA receives their funding through business sponsors, admission charges, their 50/50 raffle and membership fees. They also receive a subsidy from the county tourism board to help pay for advertising for the event. This year they have 30 business sponsors. Their membership includes about 100 families totaling to approximately 150 total members. They also have a coupon book that businesses can purchase a space in.

The bands are chosen through a committee of OONA members. About half of the bands this year are new to the series and the other half were so popular they are returning for another concert.
The admission is $2 per person or $5 per family. The Clarendon Lions Club will return this year as vendors to raise money for their organization by selling food and drinks.

“The Lions are a community support. It’s a big fundraiser for them,” said Frank Panczyszyn, the Environmental and Conservation Committee chairwoman.

“We’re happy to have them back,” said Jeanne Lauta, Communications Director.

Photo by Sue Cook – OONA takes interest in the community. They are working to make it a great place to live and visit.

Besides the concert events, OONA works toward improving the community and helping to bring a sense of pride about the Oak Orchard area to the county.

OONA is a member of the Adopt-A-Highway program along Route 98. They are also part of a Neighborhood Watch program. They have helped to recover lost dogs and protect property. During the recent storm, they checked on neighbors and made sure people were safe.

They are also working with Albion to make two walking trails through Volkssport, an international walking organization. One trail would go through Albion, the other would involve the lighthouse in Point Breeze and would focus on points of interest and exercise.

OONA also uses some of its funding toward charity. They have made donations to the Carlton Fire Department, the county nursing home and COVA.

“There’s some circumstances where we donated directly to people in need and their families,” said Panczyszyn.

OONA makes an effort to educate the community and work with officials about issues such as lake levels, dredging, and advocating for better conditions for bridges, roads and the Parkway. The group sends a representative from their organization to town meetings with the interest of property owners and businesses in mind.

“We wanted to make it a social organization as well as community support,” said Communications Director Tracy Panczyszyn. “We’re always looking for more volunteers and ideas of things we can do to get more people involved.”

“We want people to help this grow more. It’s their community,” said Lauta.

Members also have special benefits that are not available to the public. This weekend, OONA members are having an invite-only party at a private residence along the lakeshore. To welcome summer, they will be releasing Chinese lanterns tonight over the lake.

OONA wants for more people from the area who love the lakeshore and Point Breeze to become members and support the community. Even visitors who live outside the area may join. For more information about OONA, visit their website http://www.oakorchard.org/.

2 new roofs for historic buildings at Cobblestone Museum

Staff Reports Posted 21 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Provided photo – JBF Construction recently put a new roof on the Cobblestone Universalist Church and then put one on the neighboring brick house.

Provided photo – JBF Construction recently put a new roof on the Cobblestone Universalist Church and then put one on the neighboring brick house.

GAINES – Two buildings constructed in the 1830s both have new roofs. JBF Construction in Albion worked on the projects last month and in early June.

The Cobblestone Society Museum raised the money for the new roof for the Cobblestone Universalist Church, a building from 1834 on Route 104, just east of Route 98. The project was paid for with donations, including a corporate gift from Christopher-Mitchell Funeral Homes and grants from the Daughters of the American Revolution, The Elizabeth Dye Curtis Foundation & The Orleans County Foundation, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Sacred Sites program.

While contractors were working on the church, two museum board members, Gary and Grace Kent, decided to pay for the new roof on the next-door brick house, which was built in circa 1836.

Man arrested for DWI after Clarendon crash

Posted 20 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Press release, NY State Police

CLARENDON – William O. Kuyal, 54, was arrested Wednesday for driving while intoxicated, failure to yield and failure to stop at a stop sign after a car accident on Route 237 and Powerline Road. Additional charges are pending.

Kuyal, with passenger Dudley C. Kuyal, was westbound on Powerline Road when he failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection of Route 237 in the Town of Clarendon. A vehicle driven by Julie M. Smith, with passenger Sofia M. Smith, was northbound on Route 237 when it was struck by Kuyal.

Julie M. Smith suffered a broken left wrist and Sofia M. Smith suffered a possible broken left ankle. Both were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

Dudley C. Kuyal suffered multiple fractures and extensive injuries to his abdomen and is currently in guarded condition at Strong.

William O. Kuyal, who refused to submit to a chemical test, was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital and treated for broken ribs.

The Orleans County District Attorney’s office requested a court order chemical test (blood drawn) that was granted by the Clarendon Town Court. Kuyal is scheduled to appear in court on July 14.

Medina dissolution plan goes to Village Board

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 June 2014 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – A committee studying the dissolution of the village of Medina is handing off its plan to the Village Board.

The Medina Dissolution Committee approved a plan last week that would cut taxes for village residents. Property owners outside the village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway would see an increase in their town taxes as the two towns pick up some of the services currently provided in the village, according to the plan.

The Village Board will discuss the plan during its 7 p.m. meeting on Monday at the Shelby Town Hall on Salt Works Road.

Village residents would see a drop in taxes ranging from 27 percent in Ridgeway to 34 percent in Shelby. The rate in Ridgeway would drop from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to a projected $14.30, according to the plan. That $5.20 reduction would save a homeowner with a $70,000 house $363 a year in taxes.

Village residents in Shelby currently pay a combined $19.80 rate ($16.45 to the village and $3.35 to the town). That would drop 34 percent to $13.10 and would cut the tax bills from $1,386 for a $70,000 house to $917.

Dissolution Committee members say the ultimate goal is to dissolve the village and then merge the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway. That would bring additional state incentives and provide more efficiencies, committee members said.

If the two towns don’t merge, their residents outside the village would see their taxes go up if the dissolution plan is followed by the towns. Town officials from both Shelby and Ridgeway have said the towns don’t have to follow the plan. The two towns haven’t said how the towns would handle services if the village dissolves.

Ridgeway residents outside the village currently pay a $6.71 rate for town, lighting and fire protection. That would rise 46 percent to $9.83 if the village dissolves and services are picked up according to the plan.

Shelby residents would see a 10 percent increase with dissolution with the current rate for outside-village residents going from $8.36 per $1,000 of assessed property to $9.17. That would raise taxes for a $70,000 home from $585 to $642.

The plan sees $277,000 in cost savings and $541,000 in additional state aid for $818,000 in overall benefit.

Village residents will have the final say in dissolution in a public referendum if the Village Board decides to put it on the ballot or if residents force a public vote through a petition.

Sheriff will send 12 kids to camp

Posted 20 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff’s Department

ALBION – Sheriff Scott Hess is pleased to announce that 12 children from Orleans County will attend the NYS Sheriffs’ Association’s Summer Camp this year.

Located on Keuka Lake in Yates County, the Sheriffs’ Summer Camp is designed to provide a solid recreational program combined with the development of a sense of good citizenship.

The camp has been in operation since the mid-1970s and is supported by the NYSSA’s honorary members through their contributions and annual dues. The camp will accommodate hundreds of deserving kids from across the state from June 29 through July 5.

Throughout their week-long stay, these children observe special exhibits and demonstrations presented by Sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement personnel from across the state. Included are D.A.R.E. presentations, boat and bicycle safety programs, law enforcement equipment and technical demonstrations, pistol and archery competitions, and a talent show.

Upon completion of their stay, all “campers” will be awarded a certificate for their participation in a program of “Good Citizenship & Law Enforcement Studies.”

The following children, ages 9 to 12, are the 2014 Orleans County attendees: John Greek, Amber Lowery, McKenzie Olmstead, Vanessa Perez, Caitlyn Ramirez, Antonio Samsel and Jayden Tetrault – all from Albion.

Nathan Silversmith of Holley, Marina Woodward and Marah Woodward from Kendall, and Robert Cooper and Dominic Winters from Medina.

Law partners built one of first cottages at Oak Orchard-On-The-Lake

Posted 20 June 2014 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

CARLTON – This stick style cottage, built in 1883, was one of the first at Oak Orchard-On-The-Lake.

The Isaac Signor Family and the Edwin Wage Family built the double cottage together. The Wages occupied the east half, the Signors the west half. Wage and Signor were law partners.

The photo of a gathering was taken in 1886. When the lake eroded to within inches of this cottage it was torn down in 1952.

Barge canal on path to historic designation

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Horan Avenue Bridge in Medina is one of many that were built when the canal was enlarged between 1905 and 1908.

The Erie Canal could soon receive added recognition as a historical and cultural resource after it was nominated for both the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The New York State Board of Historic Preservation nominated the canal as “The Barge Canal Historic District” for the state and national registers. The nomination notes many of the historical artifacts from the widening and deepening of the canal from 1905 to 1918.

Orleans County has many of those features: lift bridges, single-truss bridges, guard gates, terminals and waste weirs.

The Barge Canal and 27 other sites in the state were nominated last week for the state and national designations. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is rich in historic assets and can use them to draw more tourists.

“By nominating these sites as historic places, we are working to preserve that legacy for future generations, while also encouraging travelers from every corner of the world to visit and explore the sites that made New York the Empire State,” Cuomo said.

The Barge Canal Historic District includes the four historic branches of the state’s 20th century canal system; the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals – all much enlarged versions of waterways that were initially constructed during the 1820s.

Orleans County has seven lift bridges, including this one on Main Street in Albion.

The district sprawls 450 miles over 18 counties and encompasses 23,000 acres.

“Adding these to the Registers places them in distinctive company and is a momentous step in their long-term preservation and celebration,” said Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The state Canal Corporation director also commended the Board of Historic Preservation for supporting the Barge Canal’s nomination.

“All along New York’s Canals are communities, both large and small, that share a sense of identity and common heritage that stems directly from the Canal system,” said Brian U. Stratton, Canal Corporation director. “These nominations give this marvel of American engineering its rightful place in history and further it as a mechanism for spurring tourism, economic growth and environmental restoration.”

The New York State Barge Canal is a nationally significant work of early 20th century engineering and construction that affected commerce across much of the continent for nearly half a century, state officials said.

The Erie Canal first opened in 1825. It was the country’s most successful and influential manmade waterway, facilitating and shaping the course of settlement in the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains.

It connected the Atlantic seaboard with territories west of the Appalachian Mountains, and established New York City as the nation’s premiere seaport and commercial center.

New York’s canals were enormously successful and had to be enlarged repeatedly during the 19th century to accommodate larger boats and increased traffic. The Barge Canal, constructed 1905-18, is the last and most ambitious enlargement.

The canal remains in use today. This boat passed by Albion last week. The Canal Corporation’s maintenance shop, pictured, was built in 1917 and is a contributing structure for the Barge Canal Historic District.

Congress recognized the canal as a national treasure in 2000 when it created the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. The National park Service since then has been working with canal communities to implement preservation and revitalization strategies, said Mike Caldwell, regional director of the NPS in the Northeast Region.

“This historic district listing will further enhance the Erie Canalway’s stature as one of our nation’s greatest and most recognizable heritage assets,” he said.

State and National Register listing can assist property owners in revitalizing buildings, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.

The Barge Canal’s application identifies 566 contributing structures along the canal that add to the historic significance of the barge system.

In Orleans County, the contributing structures include:

The Ingersoll Street Lift Bridge in Albion, pictured in back, was buit in 1911.

Murray – Bennetts Corners Road bridge from 1911; Holley Waste Weir built in 1914; Holley Embankment (the tallest on the system, rising 76 feet above the valley of the East Branch of Sandy Creek); East Avenue Lift Bridge constructed in 1911; Holley Terminal, constructed in 1915 as a 16-foot by 30-foot wood frame freight house;

Guard Gate that is west of North Main Street and constructed 1914; Telegraph Road Bridge built in 1911; Groth Road Bridge built in 1911; Hulberton Road Lift Bridge constructed 1913; Brockville Waste Weir east of Fancher Road Bridge, constructed 1911; Hindsburg Road Bridge constructed 1911; and Transit Road Bridge constructed 1911.

ALBION – Densmore Road Bridge constructed in 1911; Keitel Road Bridge built in 1912; Butts Road Bridge constructed 1912; Brown Street Bridge from 1912 (includes a sidewalk); Albion Waste Weir off State Street behind Community Action, constructed in 1910; Ingersoll Street Lift Bridge from 1911; Main Street Lift Bridge from 1914;

Albion terminal and shops for Canal Corporation, built in 1917; Lattins Farm Road bridge from 1911; Guard Gates from 1913; Gaines Basin Road bridge from 1912; Eagle Harbor Waste Weir that includes three drain gates, built in 1912; Eagle Harbor Lift Bridge, built in 1910 with a wood frame tower; Allen’s Bridge Road Bridge built in 1909; and Presbyterian Road Bridge from 1909.

RIDGEWAY – Knowlesville Lift Bridge from 1910 (During a 1975 rehabilitation, the tower was replaced by one-story brick control building on east side at south end of bridge.); Knowlesville Terminal, west of Knowlesville lift bridge, and built in 1910; Culvert Road (This is the only place where a road passes under a branch of the New York State Canal System. There has been a road culvert under the canal here 1823. Stone portals at either end of the enlarged Erie Canal culvert were dismantled and re-erected when it was extended to its current 200-foot length as part of Barge Canal construction, according to the Barge Canal application to the state.);

Beals Road Bridge from 1909; Bates Road Bridge constructed in 1914; Guard Gate, west of Bates Road bridge, and constructed in 1914; Pleasant Street/Horan Avenue Bridge built in 1914; Oak Orchard Creek Aqueduct, constructed in 1914. (The Oak Orchard Creek span is the only true aqueduct on the Barge Canal system. The structure consists of a concrete arch over Oak Orchard Creek at the head of Medina Falls with concrete walls on either side of the channel.)

Medina Terminal, a 24- by 70-foot frame freight house constructed in 1916; Eagle Street/Glenwood Avenue Bridge, constructed 1914; Prospect Avenue/ Route 63 Lift Bridge, built in 1914; Marshall Road Bridge from 1909; and a Guard Gate near Middleport, from 1913.

GTC supports bridge removal, blocked off Albion street

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 June 2014 at 12:00 am

ROCHESTER – The regional transportation council that doles out state and federal funding for infrastructure projects would support tearing out the Clarendon Street bridge in Albion and then blocking off that section of the street.

The Genesee Transportation Council met on Thursday and the board said it would support directing federal and state dollars to the village bridge removal. The GTC previously wanted the funds to be used for taking out the 40-year-old bridge over the railroad tracks and putting in a new one.

The costs for that project jumped by about $600,000 with most of that increase falling on the village’s shoulders. The Village Board expected the state and federal governments to pay 95 percent of the total bridge project costs of about $2 million.

The federal and state share did not go up with the latest cost estimates for the project because there isn’t more money to direct to the project, said Rich Perrin, executive director of the GTC.

The village will now see its share go up from about $100,000 to $700,000. Village Board members say that is too much for village taxpayers. The board prefers removing the bridge and blocking off that section of the street. That would keep the village’s share at 5 percent of the project.

“The board members are sympathetic to the village’s situation because they have all been there,” Perrin said about the GTC board.

Other municipalities have started bridge replacement projects only to see the final costs spike after years of working on design, legal issues and property acquisitions.

The decision to either replace the bridge or remove it will rest with the Village Board, not the regional transportation council, Perrin said. The village needs to make a decision by the end of June or it risks losing the federal and state dollars for the project, he said.

The Village Board had a public meeting on June 11. Some residents expressed concern that a blocked off street would hurt local businesses on the east side of the village, while adding drive time and congestion in that part of the community.

Much of the traffic from Clarendon Street would likely be shifted to McKinistry Street. Bergmann Associates, the village’s consultant on the project, said the blocked off bridge would add 5 seconds to leaving the intersection at McKinistry and Route 31, up from an average of 11 seconds in peak congestion to 16 seconds.

If the village chooses to remove the bridge and block off that section of the street, there will be federal and state money left over. The GTC board agreed on Thursday to direct those funds to the preliminary design of replacing the River Street bridge in the city of Batavia that goes over Tonawanda Creek.

Only a few power restorations left in Carlton

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2014 at 2:49 pm

Some students will be dropped at Rec Hall this afternoon

CARLTON – National Grid has returned electricity to nearly everyone after a severe thunderstorm knocked out power to thousands of Orleans County residents on Tuesday night.

There are about 20 customers still waiting to have their power restored, and National Grid said it expects to have nearly everyone back on line by 4 p.m. today.

There are nine customers without electricity on Route 98 in Carlton near the intersection with Waterport-Carlton Road, and fewer than five without electricity in Kenyonville near Platten Road, according to National Grid’s latest update at 2:32 p.m.

There are also two outages on East Avenue and West Park Street in the village of Albion and fewer than five customers without power in East Shelby.

Albion Central School this morning used the Carlton Fire Company Recreation Hall as a bus pickup because some roads were closed. The Rec Hall will continue to be used this afternoon for bus drop offs for students who live on Route 98 from Waterport-Carlton Road to Route 18. The school expects normal bus schedules to return tomorrow.

Albion closed school on Wednesday due to the aftermath of the storm. Students were supposed to take finals for Grade 8 Latin and Spanish. Those tests have been rescheduled for Friday at 11:30 a.m.

Schumer seeks more federal funds for bridge repairs

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2014 at 12:00 am

File photo by Tom Rivers – The Brown Street Bridge in Albion has been closed to traffic for two years. It is one of several canal bridges in Orleans County that are either closed or have had the weight restrictions lowered.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is co-sponsor of legislation that would direct $48 million more in federal funds to New York to fix bridges.

Schumer’s office says 2,200 bridges in the state are rated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, including 18 in Orleans County.

The federal government currently directs $71 million for local bridge repair projects in state, and that funding hasn’t been increased since 2009. The transportation bill going through Congress would continue to lock in the same federal funding level until 2020.

“Keeping our bridges in good health is a top priority for communities across the state, but towns and counties have had to make upgrades and repairs with a limited amount of federal funding to cover the costs,” Schumer said in a statement.

The Orleans County Legislature and local village and town governments have been pressing the state and federal governments for more help in maintaining the bridges. The closed or reduced-weight canal bridges, in particular, have increased travel times for farm equipment, school buses, fire trucks and residents.

“More and more of our local bridges are in need of repairs each year, but local budgets have gotten tighter and federal funding to maintain these smaller bridges has not kept up with demand,” Schumer said. “Now that we are considering a new transportation bill in Congress, it is the perfect opportunity to finally provide towns and counties with the funding for local bridges they deserve, and this bipartisan legislation does just that.”

Schumer’s office identifies the following bridges in Orleans as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete:

Route 279 over Beardsley Creek; Route 279 over Oak Orchard Creek; Waterport Carlton Road over Beardsley Creek; Hulberton Road over West Branch Sandy Creek; Oak Orchard Road over Manning Muckland Creek; Monroe-Orleans County Line Road over E Br Sandy Creek; Knowlesville Road over the Erie Canal; Marshall Road over Johnson Creek; Culvert Road over Fish Creek; Portage Road over Fish Creek; East Scott Road over Fish Creek; Bills Road over Marsh Creek; Kent Road over Marsh Creek; Carlton Road over Sandy Creek; Dunlap Road over Oak Orchard Creek; Hindsburg Road over the Erie Canal; Allen’s Bridge Road over the Erie Canal; Marshall Road over the Erie Canal; Lattin’s Farm Drive over County Road 2 and the Erie Canal.

Schumer said more federal funds are needed to prevent more bridge closures in the state.

“Counties in New York maintain over 9,000 local bridges, many of which are structurally deficient and in need of replacement or repair,” said Stephen J. Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. “We need to renew our federal focus on local bridges, and Senator Schumer’s support of this legislation comes at the ideal time.”

Counties and towns across New York State rely on a specific allocation of federal funding to maintain and repair many of their local bridges, specifically the 7,464 local bridges. The dollar amount allotted for these “off-system” bridges has not increased in five years.

In the case of New York, that means the state receives approximately $71 million per year to spend on off-system bridges. On the other hand, funding for the 9,992 other New York State bridges that are considered part of the federal highway system has increased over time at the rate of inflation.

Schumer said that it is unacceptable that funding has not increased for local, off-system bridges, particular when so many of them – 2,268 in total in Upstate New York – have been found to be “functionally obsolete” or “structurally deficient.” These designations mean that either elements of the bridge have been found to have significant deterioration, the bridge no longer conforms to current design standards, or a waterway below frequently rises above the bridge during floods. It also means they are at risk of closure.

Schumer is co-sponsoring legislation to be included in the Transportation Bill that would increase total funding for these local bridges by almost $50 million per year. This legislation would increase the funding amount for off-system bridges from 15 percent of the 2009 total to 25 percent of the 2009 total, which would bring New York State’s total from $71 million to $119 million.

Schumer is co-sponsoring this bipartisan legislation with Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).