Photo by Tom Rivers – A deputy patrol car for the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office is parked outside the county jail.

ALBION – A study will soon get started looking at law enforcement services in Orleans County, an investigation that will include police chiefs and elected officials from the four villages and Orleans County.

County officials, representatives from the business community and other yet-to-be-named members of a committee will explore the efficiency of current local law enforcement operations and compare them with alternative policing models, including the potential consolidation of all local departments into one.

The state is providing a $36,000 matching “Local Government Efficiency Grant” for the study. The county is paying the other $36,000. The county is seeking proposals from consultants to help with the study. Those proposals are due May 18.

County officials have set May 2017 for completion of the report with recommendations and alternatives for the community.

The study will look at the operations at the Sheriff’s Office, and the Albion, Medina and Holley police departments. Lyndonville also has a part-time officer.

There may be opportunities for shared administration, joint purchasing and other initiatives that would keep the existing village police departments. Or the committee may suggest the village departments be dissolved with a county-wide force taking the lead.

If the villages dissolved their police departments, it would provide significant tax relief for villages. However, county taxes would likely then go up.

Holley has talked before of dissolving its police department and Medina, as part of a failed dissolution proposal last year, said a town-wide force in Shelby and Ridgeway could be created.

County Legislature Chairman David Callard has said he wants to be proactive in looking at policing services and not be caught off guard by a village that dissolves its force, expecting the Sheriff’s Office to assume village road patrols and calls.

The study will look at alignment of current compensation and benefits agreements, determining the costs of a combined police force. The committee will look at potential obstacles to consolidation and provide guidance to overcome those obstacles, according to the county’s RFP.

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Board will consider Yates moratorium, updated law on wind turbines

CARLTON – The Orleans County Planning Board is expecting a big crowd Thursday for its meeting when it will consider two proposals from the Town of Yates on wind energy conversion systems.

The town is proposing a six-month moratorium on wind energy projects, and the town also wants to update its local law for turbines. Yates and the neighboring Town of Somerset are eyed for 70 wind turbines that would peak at 620 feet. Somerset also has pushed to update its local law for wind energy facilities.

The Town of Yates on Thursday held a public hearing that lasted three hours on the proposed moratorium and changes in the local law.

The County Planning Board usually meets at the County Administration Building on Route 31 in Albion. But this Thursday’s meeting will be at the Carlton Fire Company Recreation Hall, 1853 Oak Orchard Rd. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

The County Planning Board makes referrals to the towns and villages, decisions that can be overridden with a one-plus-majority vote.

Other issues on the Planning Board agenda on Thursday include:

A request in Clarendon for a special use permit to operate home occupation (firearm sales) at 4257 Hindsburg Rd. in Residential/Agricultural District.

A request for an area variance and site plan review in the Village of Albion for installation of Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) and freestanding sign at 151 S. Main St. in General Commercial District.

A request from the Village of Albion, Village of Holley and Town of Murray for an amendment to their zoning ordinances to allow a six-month moratorium on mobile home construction outside of mobile home parks.

Photos by Tom Rivers – John Huber, president of the board of directors for The Arc of Orleans County, congratulates Mary Lou Tuohey for 21 years of service on the board. Huber also announced on Friday that NYSARC, the state agency overseeing The Arc, approved a merger between the agencies in Orleans and Genesee counties.

HOLLEY – The state organization that oversees 48 chapters that provide services to people with disabilities has approved a merger between The Arc of Orleans County and the Genesee ARC.

NYSARC’s board of directors voted to approve the merger on April 15, John Huber, president of the board for The Arc, announced on Friday during the Best Friend awards banquet.

Staff and board members from the two chapters have worked more than a year to develop a plan for merging the two agencies. Huber said that plan will now be implemented over the next year. The goal is to preserve services for people served by the agency and to “safeguard people’s salaries and benefits as much as possible.”

The new merged agency will be known as The Arc of Genesee & Orleans. It combines the Genesee agency that has about 350 employees and an annual budget of about $13 million with the Orleans agency that has about 300 workers and a budget of nearly $11 million.

Huber said the “managed care model” has cut into reimbursements for Arc services. Leaders in both Orleans and Genesee see a stronger agency and economy of scale working together, he said.

Both Orleans and Genesee feared the shrinking reimbursements could create a financial crisis for the agencies. They chose to merge in a “forward-thinking” vision of the future.

“We didn’t want to be in a position where we were taken over by another chapter,” he said.

The two agencies need to merge boards of directors with four representatives from each county. They also need to merge billing, bank accounts and other programs.

“As of now we are one agency,” Huber told about 300 people at The Arc’s awards banquet. “Now the devil is in the details.”

The two agencies have been meeting for about 2 1/2 years to discuss ways to share some staff and services. Those talks led to a push for a merger.

Combined, the two agencies serve over 1,200 individuals with disabilities.

The Genesee chapter celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and the agency started 46 years ago in Orleans.

“Next year will be year one of a brand new agency,” Huber said.

Matthew Degnan shared the blessing for the food during Friday’s banquet. He thanked The Arc for its support while he was growing up. “The Arc has given me independence, respect, dignity and freedom,” Degnan said. “I just got my hand controls in my car and I can drive now.” Degnan said the new merger with Genesee ARC will allow the bigger agency “to help all who are differently abled.”

Community Action of Orleans and Genesee will receive $625,000 for its weatherization program as part of $57 million in Weatherization Assistance Program funds across New York State. The money will help cut utility costs for approximately 8,600 low-income families and seniors across the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

The $57 million will be released to a statewide network of non-profit organizations to conduct energy-efficiency work including but not limited to air sealing, insulation, upgrading heating systems, and diagnostic testing to identify hazards such as carbon monoxide and mold to ensure air quality.

“The Weatherization Assistance Program has helped thousands of low-income households across the state make their homes safer and their utility bills more affordable,” Governor Cuomo said. “This funding will build on this success by helping more New Yorkers save money on energy costs while creating cleaner and more sustainable communities in every corner of the state.”

The Weatherization Assistance Program is administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal with funds from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Health and Human Services. Services are available in every county of the state through a statewide network of local providers.

Priority is given to households with children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and those receiving Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds. The program assists all types of housing including single-family homes, multi-family buildings, and manufactured homes. Since the start of the program in 1977, more than 688,000 dwellings have been assisted.

A recent national evaluation of the WAP found that the program is extremely effective in cold climates like New York’s. Work in multi-family buildings is especially cost-effective with WAP investments saving in excess of 20 percent compared to pre-weatherization energy use.

“Low-income households spend more than 10 percent of household income, on average, for heating and other energy expenditures,” said James S. Rubin, commissioner of NYS Homes and Community Renewal. “Adding insulation, sealing air leaks, and tuning heating systems are measures that pay for themselves in energy savings. A relatively modest investment in weatherization funds can mean a world of difference to a family struggling with energy costs or a senior on a fixed income.”