Photos by Tom Rivers

A Wednesday afternoon fire in Albion left 10 people homeless. The fire at 112 Beaver St. started in an upstairs bedroom, Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni said. An investigation is continuing. There are no injuries. The Red Cross is assisting people in finding temporary shelter. The house is owned by Loretta Lewandowski. Albion, Carlton and Holley firefighters responded to the call.

ALBION – Registered sex offenders will be allowed to attend school events, but they will not serve as official school volunteers or chaperones.

The Board of Education made that decision on Monday following two months of review of district policy.

The district will not ban parents and students’ family members who are registered sex offenders from attending school events that are open to the public.

However, if they are registered as a Level 1, 2, or 3 sex offender, they will not be supervising students or providing care for them.

Volunteers and chaperones also will need to complete applications that will be reviewed by district staff. The applicants need to state whether they are a registered sex offender. Those answers will be verified by the district, which has access to a state sex offender database.

School officials have been debating the issue the past two months. A parent to an Albion elementary student showed up at a field trip in October, meeting the class for a tour of a local farm. The parent was a Level 2 sexual offender.

In January, other parents realized that a sex offender was at the school trip in October. The issue became fodder for a Rochester radio station, and the district was questioned about its policy.

The district can’t outright ban sex offenders from the school grounds when those people are trying to attend a school function involving their own children, said Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent.

“We’ve done everything we can within the law and addressed the parents’ concerns,” said Margy Brown, president of the Board of Education.

District also plans to cut 5 positions

ALBION – The school district is planning to raise taxes by 1.5 percent in a proposed $33.3 million budget that also would cut five jobs.

The Board of Education on Monday approved the spending plan that will go before district voters on May 21. Voting is from noon to 8 p.m. at the elementary school’s conference room A.

Albion hasn’t raised taxes since the 2006-07 budget. The proposed tax levy, at $8,446,946, is up $124,484. It remains down compared to the $9,094,194 levy in 2006-07.

The district is budgeting for a $226,080 increase in state aid.  The board intends to continue “right-sizing” the staff, making cuts as the student enrollment drops. The student enrollment has shrunk from 2,750 in 2000 to a projected 1,971 next year. Albion forecasts 1,864 students in five years.

The district, with the five cuts planned for next school year, will have eliminated 21.5 jobs since the 2011-12 school year. Three of the cuts next school year will come from attrition with two layoffs planned.

The budget preserves all school programs, without exceeding a property tax cap of about 2 percent. The state Legislature established that cap on local governments about two years ago.

“We recognize the constant obligationto balance the programmatic needs of our students with the ability of our taxpayers to pay for the programs that we offer,” said Michael Bonnewell, the district superintendent.

The budget increases overall spending by 0.6 percent or $202,799 to $33,349,049.

When residents vote May 21, they will also be asked to approve a school bus reserve proposition that would create a reserve for buses not to exceed $4,821,000. The district would like to take $440,000 from the reserve to go towards new buses. The state pays 94 percent of the bus costs.

Residents will also vote on whether $654,000 can be collected to support operations at Hoag Library.

There also will be a Board of Education election. Residents have until April 22 to submit petitions to the district office to run for the volunteer position.

ALBION – Two years as the leader of the town government in Albion is enough for Dennis Stirk. The former town justice isn’t planning to run for another two-year term as town supervisor.

“I’m 62 and I want to enjoy life,” Stirk said Monday after the Town Board meeting.

He wants to free up his schedule so he can go camping more often and spend his winters in Florida.

Stirk was elected in November 2011. He beat the incumbent, Judith Koehler, who at that point stopped campaigning. Koehler had moved to cut the pay for Highway Superintendent Jed Standish and Town Clerk Sarah Basinait. When the two won Republican primaries and were then cross-endorsed by Democrats, Koehler asked voters not to support her in the election.

Stirk and two Town Board members, Dan Poprawski and Jake Olles, have backed Standish and Basinait, giving them raises. Two holdovers from the previous board, Tim Neilans and Matt Passarell, are often at odds with the Stirk-led board.

Passarell is seeking the Republican endorsement for town supervisor. The Republican Committee is interviewing candidates today. Olles also is interested in the job.

Passarell said the town needs a strong leader. An Iraq War veteran and VFW commander, Passarell works as quality supervisor for Baxter in Medina. Olles works as a correctional officer.

Dawn Allen, the Albion GOP committee chairwoman, said the group expects to endorse candidates on April 16.

Stirk said the town has moved along several projects since he took office. He noted the construction of Water District No. 9 as a significant accomplishment.

Stirk retired in August 2010 after 22 years as an Albion judge. He also worked 31 years as a gas fitter with New York State Electric and Gas.

Olson will stay on as volunteer interim director

ALBION – The executive director of the Albion Main Street Alliance resigned from the paid position because the organization faces too much funding uncertainty.

Katelin Olson submitted her letter of resignation on April 1. She agreed to stay on in an unpaid role and complete administration of a $477,000 Main Street grant approved by the state in December 2011. That grant gave AMSA and the town of Albion two years to implement building improvements and $50,000 worth of street-scape enhancements.

Olson wrote the grant that was awarded state funding, and provided leadership to teams of volunteers with several community projects. Maarit Vaga, the AMSA board president, said the organization welcomes volunteers to keep working towards a mission of a more vibrant community.

She said Olson deserves “profound thanks for her hard work, perseverance, dedication and outstanding achievements.”

Albion Mayor Dean Theodorakos commended Olson for making an impact on the village and the historic downtown.

“They did a lot of good things,” Theodorakos said on Sunday. “The Main Street grant is a huge and tangible accomplishment and they can point to it as a success.”

Theodorakos served on AMSA’s board in the first two years after the group started in 2009. He supports National Trust’s “four-point” approach for revitalizing Main Street – organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring.

“I’m all for that model,” Theodorakos said. “But how can we make it work?”

He wants to see AMSA continue, and draw in more merchants, building owners and other community volunteers.

AMSA has several initiatives in the works for 2013, including the completion of the building and street-scape projects. The organization will be highlighted at two national conferences – in San Francsico and New Orleans – this month for its partnership with Albion Central School.

Olson is in a doctoral program Cornell University. Many of her fellow students, learning about historic preservation and community development, will be in Albion April 18-21 working on local projects.

The organization started four years ago and received $30,000 in municipal funding each of the first three years with $10,000 each coming from the village, town and the local development corporation of the Orleans Economic Development Agency. The EDA pledged $10,000 for the first three years as part of Albion’s application to become a Main Street community that would adopt principles by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The EDA stated from the start it planned to make a three-year commitment to the program. The Town Board last year in a 3-2 vote eliminated its funding to AMSA, with some town officials saying the organization was too focused on the downtown and not the overall community.

The Village Board continued its $10,000 commitment for a fourth year, but hasn’t included money for AMSA in the 2013-14 budget. The board is looking at all expenses in a tight budget, Theodorakos said. The board also wasn’t sure about AMSA’s direction for the coming year.

Vaga said AMSA is at a “crossroads,” but she sees momentum with several downtown projects. She urged more community members to join AMSA to help advance projects, including waterfront development, more downtown work and other community events that bring visitors to Albion.

“The possibility of a vibrant and thriving Albion still lies before us but that promise can only be achieved through cooperation, committed support and shared vision,” Vaga said.

Editor’s note: Tom Rivers is the Design chairman for AMSA.

Photo by Tom Rivers – William Grimble plays the Beast in the musical that includes pyrotechnics and some flying performers, including a Beast who is transformed back into a prince.

ALBION – Nine years ago Albion High School was one of the first schools to perform Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Albion put the show on again March 22-23, but this time it deployed an array of pyrotechnics and “flying people,” performers who sailed above stage on strings. The cast of 34 also had 24 performers with individual microphones, far more than the show in 2004.

“The technology has really advanced,” said Gary Simboli, the musical director. “There are flying sequences and pyrotechnics.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Nathanial Trembley, left, plays the role of Gaston, who is preparing to go fight the Beast. Elijah Martin, right, plays Monsieur D’Arque.

Simboli tries to pick shows that are suited to the strengths of his cast. This year’s spring musical has several soloists.

“We were looking for an ensemble show,” he said. “It has many wonderful featured characters.”

Mary Martin plays Belle, a bookworm who is constantly fending off the affections of the conceited Gaston, played by Nathaniel Trembley. When Belle’s father Maurice (Michael Karcz) gets lost in the woods, he seeks shelter at the Beast’s castle.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Mary Martin stars as Belle in “Beauty in the Beast,” performed by Albion students on March 22-23.

The Beast refuses to let him go until Belle agrees to stay in his place. She, at first, is repulsed by the Beast with his hideous appearance and foul temper.

But a gentler Beast emerges, winning Belle over with a library and acts of kindness.

“The main moral of the story is to look at the beauty within a person,” Martin said. “Belle saw with her heart and not her eyes.”

Martin, a senior, sees other powerful story lines in the show as well. She likes how Belle is an independent spirit, relishing reading despite scorn from Gaston and other townspeople. Her father also is an eccentric inventor who follows that passion.

Belle commits the ultimate sacrifice, offering her life in exchange for her father’s freedom, Martin noted.

Grimble wears a long wig, horns, a prosthetic on his face, lots of makeup and claw feet to look the part of the Beast. The greatest challenge: the strain on his voice.

“You go from speaking in a gruff voice to switching for singing,” he said. “You’re constantly assaulting your voice.”

Grimble, a senior, was able to preserve his voice by drinking green tea, taking herbal throat drops and gargling a mix of water, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, which he called “an incredibly revolting concoction.”

About 80 students were part of the show in either the cast, stage crew, set design or orchestra.

“Everyone works so hard to make the show the best it can be,” Grimble said.