Photos by Tom Rivers – Al and Andrew Cheverie

ALBION – Some of Andrew Cheverie’s earliest memories are taking a soapy sponge and wiping off the big tires on Albion fire trucks. He often joined his father, Al, in the fire hall.

Andrew, 16, has grown up as a part of the Albion Fire Department. Now, he is a cadet member, a step above the youth explorer program, but not quite a basic firefighter. He can do many of the firefighter duties, but isn’t allowed to go into a house on fire.

“It’s always been a lot of fun, even cleaning the fire trucks,” Andrew said about the fire department. “It’s definitely been exciting having grown up here and to now become a part of it.”

Andrew and Al Cheverie are one of many firefighting families in the department. Some families, such as the Sidaris, have been active volunteers for four or five generations.

Al Cheverie, an AFD volunteer for 23 years, enjoys working alongside his son as firefighters.

“You’re definitely doing something constructive together,” Al said.

Firefighters say the volunteer jobs consume a lot of time with training, work around the fire hall and responding to emergencies. Having family members in the department makes the time away from home more bearable.

Michael and Spencer Misiak

“It’s a camaraderie,” said Michael Misiak, an AFD firefighter the past 12 years. “It brings a father and son closer together.”

His son Spencer, 16, is president of the explorer post, which currently includes four people 14 and older. It’s run through the Boy Scouts of America.

“It’s fun, but it’s a commitment,” Spencer said.

The department started the explorer post in 1974. Tim Irwin was in that initial group. He spent four years as an explorer before become a full member 35 years ago. He now helps run the explorer program. His daughter Allyson, 15, is one of the explorers.

“I put her in a fire truck when she was 2,” Irwin said.

Tim and Allyson Irwin

Allyson has been a frequent presence in the fire hall she was a baby. As an explorer, she has joined firefighters on tasks in the community, including basement pumping. She is eager to gain more skills to help the department.

Bill Francis joined the AFD 26 years ago, following 10 years with the Wallace Fire Department in the Southern Tier, where his father was an assistant chief. His two sons – Will, 22, and Matt, 21 – are active firefighters in Albion.

“I’ve always wanted to be a fireman,” Matt said. “You want to help the community you grew up in.”

Matt works in Rochester as a collision technician. His brother works at CRFS in Albion and wants to be a police officer. Will says firefighting “is a family tradition.”

“I still get excited sitting in the front seat with the lights on, going out on a call,” he said.

Bill Francis is pictured with his sons Will, center, and Matt.

The department has 75 active firefighters, but could use more, especially for the day-time calls when many members have work commitments. Harry Papponetti, a past chief, said there are many roles to help the department, and not just fighting fires and providing EMS. Volunteers are needed for scene support and as drivers.

Papponetti has volunteered with the department for 43 years. Four of his sons have served with the AFD, including John, 38; Jimmy, 35; Scott, 33; and Steven, 20.

John remembers when he was a kid riding his bike up and down Platt Street, pretending he was in a fire truck. When John moved from Albion about a decade ago, he joined the Penfield Fire Company, where he is now a vice president.

“It’s in your blood,” he said about the fire service. “You can’t get away from it.”

The Papponetti family, from left: John, Jimmy, Harry and Steven. Scott is also a member of the AFD but is currently stationed with the military in Montana.

His brother Steven juggles a college course load with volunteerism in the fire department. On weekends, he often hangs out at the fire hall, where he said he enjoys the fellowship.

When Harry Papponetti joined the fire department 43 years ago, he said there were 350 firefighters in Albion. There were a lot of fires back then. These days the AFD responds more to motor vehicle accidents, automatic alarms, gas leaks and smoke and odor investigations. However, the department still battled 24 fires last year.

The department welcomes new members, and they don’t need a pedigree in the AFD. Jodi Genno is an example of a newcomer who sought out the department. She was living in Florida when she moved to Albion in 2004.

“I always wanted to be in the fire service and be an EMT,” she said.

In Fort Lauderdale, where she lived, the department was run by career firefighters.

Genno said the AFD has been welcoming. She helps lead the explorer post, where her son Austin, 14, is one of the four members. Austin enjoys shooting pool with the firefighters and helping around the fire hall.

“I want to make the real firefighters’ jobs easier,” he said.

Jodi Genno and her son Austin

The department will have an open house this Saturday from 10 to 3 p.m. Firefighters will do blood pressure checks, offer fire safety tips, and lead demonstrations on the Hurst tool and a fire extinguisher. The fire hall is on North Platt Street next to the canal.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Clarendon Street bridge in the village of Albion is scheduled to be replaced next year with 95 percent of the costs paid by the state and federal governments.

ALBION – After more than a decade of looking at alternatives for the Clarendon Street bridge, construction of the project is now imminent: next year.

State Department of Transportation officials updated the Albion community on the replacement project on Wednesday. The DOT and engineers at Bergmann Associates in Buffalo are working on the final design for the project.

The state was considering a new bridge that would have been higher than the existing one, which would have required longer approaches, but the new bridge will be the same height, easing some neighborhood disruption with the project. The Falls Road Railroad backed off wanting a higher bridge.

Some residents, including former Mayor Ed Salvatore, told the Village Board and DOT to just dead-end the bridge and not bother with a replacement at an estimated price of $1.8 million.

“This is an enormous cost to the village for a few trains,” he said during a public meeting about the project on Wednesday.

The village has to pay 5 percent of the project, or about $90,000. The state pays 15 percent and the federal government 80 percent. The federal money is already approved.

If the village opted against going forward with the replacement, Albion could be on the hook for the $200,000 that has already been spent on engineering and preliminary costs, plus the village would then have to pay the full share of demolishing the bridge at an estimated $200,000.

“The bottom line to me is it will cost the village more to take it down than to have a new one,” Trustee Pete Sidari told the bridge detractors.

The current bridge has “heavily deteriorated” beams, spalling concrete and other problems, said Kevin Miller, an engineer with Bergmann.

The DOT wants to replace the bridge with a smaller precast concrete structure that will improve sight lines and offer wider travel lanes, shoulders and sidewalks. The DOT and Bergmann looked at fixing the problems at the bridge, instead of doing a replacement, but Miller said that would be a short-term fix.

Salvatore and resident Joe Martillotta were both critical of the cost of the project, and said the village wouldn’t move forward with it if the federals and state governments weren’t shouldering the costs.

Mayor Dean Theodorakos fired back at Salvatore, saying the village needs to go after projects supported by outside grants and funding.

“Are we going to sit here and let things fall down?” Theodorakos said. “Is that what you want? Eventually the village will shut down because the people won’t want to spend money here.”

Clarendon Street can be heavily trafficked, especially during in the morning when school starts and in the afternoon when it lets out. Trustee Eileen Banker said closing Clarendon Street permanently would divert traffic to McKinstry Street, where a lot of students walk to school.

The DOT is working to acquire pieces of five properties between Crimson Drive and Childs Street. The state plans to accept bids for the bridge construction in March 2014. Construction should start the following April and the new bridge should open in November 2014.

Tax rate climbs from $16.37 to $16.86 per $1,000

ALBION – The Village Board approved a $6.3 million budget on Wednesday that will raise taxes 2.6 percent and will allow the village to upgrade some infrastructure.

“We’re still able to do some very nice public works projects with streets and drainage,” Mayor Dean Theordorakos said after the budget was approved tonight.

The board approved taking $300,000 from its reserve fund and pursuing a $100,000 bond to tackle some drainage and road maintenance projects. Trustee Fred Miller cast the lone negative vote for the budget. He didn’t like to see the village borrow for road work.

“You’re pulling out your credit card,” he said.

But the mayor said it’s not uncommon for the village to borrow to get some infrastructure projects done. The biggest project will be milling and repaving West State Street.

“We’re improving our infrastructure to make it more livable,” Theodorakos said.

The village may pursue a bigger state grant for sanitary sewer work on Crimson Drive and East State Street, or it may seek a grant for a sanitary sewer, water main, storm drain and road rebuild on a portion of East State Street.

The village’s overall budget – general, water and sewer funds – totals $6,272,510, which is down from the $6,538,637 in 2012-13. The village will levy $2,419,975 in taxes, which is a 2.6 percent increase or $60,371 more from the $2,359,604 collected in 2012-13.

The budget includes $10,000 for economic development. That money isn’t allocated for a specific project.  The board opted against designating the money for the Albion Main Street Alliance, as it did the previous four years, but Theodorakos said the money could go to the group once a contract is worked out.

The village tax rate will go up 3.0 percent or 49 cents per $1,000 of assessed property. It will increase from $16.37 to $16.86.

The village saw its overall assessed value drop $608,407 to $143.5 million. That is pushing the tax rate higher. The previous year the assessed was down $420,688 to $144.1 million. The tax rate went up 45 cents to $16.37 in 2012-13.

The village of Medina also is struggling with shrinking assessments and a rising tax rate.

Photos by Tom Rivers – A driver smashed the sandstone sign outside Mount Albion Cemetery last December. 

Village officials are trying to find a replacement that matches the historic flavor of Mount Albion, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

ALBION – Jason Zicari sensed something was amiss at Mount Albion Cemetery on Dec. 21. He and the staff at the historic cemetery were working on a burial.

Zicari noticed the large sandstone sign in front of the cemetery had been broken off. A chunk of the wrought-iron fence was also knocked out.

A driver late the previous night smashed into the sign and fence. It has been months of haggling with an insurance company since then.

“Everything is waiting on the insurance,” said Zicari, the cemetery foreman.

Zicari is determined to have the sign be made of sandstone and match the historic character of the cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He is still trying to find a sandstone piece that is smooth on both sides and about 5 feet by 7 feet.

Zicari has been scouting old sandstone pieces, including former sidewalk panels. But those sidewalk pieces tend to be smooth on the top side and rough on the bottom. And they are a little too small for the cemetery sign.

“We got to get lucky,” Zicari said about finding the right sandstone for the project. “We’re trying to find a match and put it up like it was.”

He also wants the letters to be carved to match the former sign, which was installed in 1985. The cemetery crew painted the letters of the sign black about six weeks before it was destroyed. The paint made the sign stand out more, Zicari said.

With the new sign, the village may include that Mount Albion is owned by the village of Albion.

The sign also will need a new foundation. Zicari said the section of the gate that is missing will be replaced with a combination of old and new metal.

He is hopeful the entire project will be done by July.

“We’ve had to start from scratch with the whole thing,” Zicari said.