By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Revenue falls 7% in first two months
ALBION – Orleans County’s sales tax revenues are down 6.9 percent for the first two months of the year, resulting in $141,356 in less tax revenue compared to January and February numbers in 2013.
The county uses the sales tax to help fund local services and to reduce pressure on property taxes.
While Orleans is down, state-wide the numbers are up slightly from $3.958 billion to $3.981 billion for the two months, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
Orleans County took in $14.82 million in sales tax in 2013. The county was one of 14 in the state that saw a decrease in sales tax revenue in 2013. In Orleans, the sales tax dipped by 0.56 percent or $82,873, falling from $14,902,778 in 2012 to $14,819,904 last year.
County officials this year budgeted for a tiny increase, $25,000. But so far the county is off that pace, receiving $2,051,872 in January and February, compared to $2,193,228 during those months in 2013.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 March 2014 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – An airplane comes in for a landing at Pine Hill Airport on Sept. 8 in Barre. The airport is the only one in Orleans County with a hard-surface runway.
BARRE – The Orleans County Legislature is giving its support to a grant application to pave a ramp area and connector west of a hangar at the Pine Hill Airport in Barre.
The Vintage Aircraft Group, owner of the airport, is seeking a state grant through the Department of Transportation for the funding. It would require a 10 percent local match and VAG would pay that share, about $6,000, said Gene Haines, VAG president.
He wrote a letter to the Legislature on Wednesday, seeking the county’s show of support for the project as part of the 2013 Aviation Capital Grant Program through the DOT.
Pine Hill Airport is the only one in Orleans County with a hard-surface runway. About 20 volunteers keep the airport functioning.
Haines was scheduled to address the Legislature on Wednesday, but that meeting was canceled due to the blizzard. He is expected to be on the agenda March 26. The Legislature today voted to support the application.
“We’d like to assist him in moving forward,” said David Callard, Legislature chairman.
This photo shows the first Orleans County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, which was created in 1918.
Bottom row, from left: Francis Hanlon, Chas. Porter, president; and Thomas Mack.
Top row: Ora Lee, Journal Salisbury, Frank Broadwell, G.E. Snyder, and L.J. Steel, first Orleans County Farm Bureau agent.
Offices were located in the Waterman Building on Main Street in Albion, then in a house on Platt Street and later in a house next to the Albion Post Office. Both the Waterman Building and the Platt Street house have been destroyed.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Orleans County has many iconic old red barns, including this one at the corner of Route 31 and Eagle Harbor Road in Albion. This picture was taken a little after 6 p.m. today when it was about 50 degrees out.
The weather will turn colder tomorrow, with a high of 37 and a low of 13 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Then it’s back to the deep freeze on Sunday with a high of 19 and a low of 9 degrees. It stays cold on Monday with a high of 21 and a low of 13 degrees.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 March 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature today joined a growing number of county governments around the state that are formally opposing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to expand college programs for inmates.
The governor said the programs will reduce recidivism rates and at $5,000 per inmate are far cheaper than $60,000 taxpayer burden to keep an inmate in prison each year.
The governor announced the plan to boost college programs for inmates last month. Local state legislators – Sen. George Maziarz and Assemblyman Steve Hawley – have denounced the idea. Congressman Chris Collins is pushing legislation that would prohibit the use of federal taxpayer dollars to provide a college education to convicted criminals.
The Orleans Legislature said any state dollars that go to college programs for inmates should instead go to school districts.
“The purpose of prison is to punish those who have engaged in behavior that is morally and legally wrong, dangerous, threatening, or severely antisocial, including murder, rape, theft and distribution of narcotics, among other serious crimes,” according to the resolution approved the County Legislature today.
The Erie County Legislature on Thursday also formally rejected the governor’s proposal. Several other county government bodies have gone on the record against the proposal, which Collins has lampooned as “college for criminals.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Courtesy of Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority – This is a rendering of the proposed new bus facility on West Academy Street, next to the Orleans County Highway Department. Construction is expected in 2015.
ALBION – Orleans Transit Service is planning big things in 2013, including a new bus shelter by Rite Aid in Albion, one by the County Administration Building on Route 31 and another in Medina.
The agency, part of the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, also is working towards a new bus facility that would house the OTS operations, including space for 10 busses and a two-bay maintenance wing. That facility would cost about $2 million.
RGRTA has secured federal transportation money for the design phases of the project and is applying for the construction money, Bill Carpenter, RGRTA chief executive officer, told county legislators on March 13.
The new bus garage would be built next to the Orleans County Highway Department’s garage on West Academy Street, where OTS currently rents space. Moving OTS out of the highway facility will free up room for county personnel and equipment. The buildings and grounds department about three years ago merged with the highway crew.
OTS, meanwhile, is working to boost ridership 6 percent from the 35,500 during its 2012-13 fiscal year, said Mike Patterson, OTS manager.
The agency has nine employees and operates on a $570,684 budget. Fares and contracts cover $86,825 of the budget. A local mortgage tax generates $118,894 for OTS, while government aid makes up the difference.
County Legislator George Bower said he doesn’t think the mortgage tax should be used to support OTS. But Carpenter said the state has allowed that tax to help support public transportation. He said RGRTA has secured $371,997 in other funding – three times the mortgage tax – to provide the service.
OTS runs a fixed route schedule in Albion and Medina. It goes off those routes with a Dial-A-Ride service, as long as reservations are made 24 hours in advance. Patterson said OTS is looking at changing the fixed route in Albion to run by the new health care center on Butts Road. Several riders each day go to the center owned by Orleans Community Health.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 March 2014 at 6:50 am
A travel advisory from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, saying there should be no unnecessary travel, remains in effect as of about 6:30 this morning.
The advisory is expected to be lifted soon.
The National Weather Service warns about bitter wind chills this morning with temperatures in the single digits. Today is forecast for a high temperature of 18 degrees. The Weather Service says it will reach 46 degrees on Friday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Some of the Self Advocate All Stars at the Arc of Orleans County met on Tuesday at the Hoag Library for their monthly meeting. The front three include, from left: Amber Smith, Vice President Leslie Swanson, and President Robert Greer.
ALBION – Four years ago the Self Advocate All Stars were successful in swaying the Orleans County Legislature to officially oppose the “R-word.”
Legislators in May 2010 took a stand, telling local, state and federal governments to no longer use the word “retarded” in describing people with developmental disabilities. The R-word is a “vicious slang” that is insulting and hurtful to people with developmental disabilities and their families, legislators said in their resolution four years ago.
The issue was pushed then by the Self Advocate All Stars, who say they continue to be bullied by some in the community who use the R-word in name-calling.
“We don’t like being called the R-word,” said Gladys Hopper of Albion, one of the All Stars. “There is a community-wide problem with bullying,”
The All Stars are raising their profile this year with plans to be part of the parades at the Albion Strawberry Festival and Holley’s June Fest.
The group will have several fund-raisers, including car washes. They also want to reach out to others in the community with disabilities, welcoming them to become an All Star.
“We want more members,” said Jonathan Doherty, the group’s fund-raising chairman. He was one of the founding members in 2006.
The group has a pressing goal: restore funding for a recreation program in the Arc. That funding, for a few thousand dollars, was cut.
The program helped pay for outings for disabled residents to go to the bowling alley and the mall, and also to attend concerts and sporting events.
“It means a lot for me to get out and meet other people in the community,” Hopper said Tuesday during the All Stars’ monthly meeting at the Hoag Library.
All Stars include residents who live at home with their families, in apartments with supportive services or in Arc residential homes.
“We want to show the community we’re just like everybody else,” said Vickie Randall, the group’s advisor.
KENDALL – The information on the back of this picture notes: “Kendall School H.N. Stevens 2nd in right row, Early 1920s.”
The pupils posed with their hands all folded in the middle of the desk tops. Notice the cast iron sides of these desks.
The teacher stands in the back while one student is given the privilege to pose by the blackboard. George Washington’s picture was ever present in classrooms years ago as we see over the bulletin board.
These kids didn’t have computers but at least they could write in cursive in third or fourth grade.
File photo by Tom Rivers – A bee visits a sunflower in Albion last summer.
Press release, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bolster its efforts to revive New York’s bee population.
Beekeepers lost an average 30 percent of their hives to Colony Collapse Disorder, hurting New York farms’ ability to pollinate crops. Last month USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack directed $3 million to study bee losses in the Midwest. Gillibrand is urging the USDA to expand their investigation to New York and the Northeast.
“New York’s farms rely on a strong and healthy bee population to pollinate our fruit and vegetable crops,” Gillibrand said. “The alarming decline of the bee population comes at a steep price for our environment, our farms, and our economy. It is critical for the USDA make this investment here in New York to respond to Colony Collapse Disorder, and help revive New York’s farms.”
New York State has an estimated 52,000 beehives, each of which produce approximately 51 pounds of honey, ranking the state 10th in honey production. Bee pollination supports blueberries, cherries, squash and other fruit and vegetables. Apple trees require two to three hives per acre to pollinate.
Bee pollination adds an estimated $300 million value to a $4.4 billion agriculture industry in New York. Throughout the U.S., a staggering 45 percent of beehives were lost just last year.
The pollination initiative would be implemented by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, a branch of USDA, from their field offices in New York State. NRCS conservation experts would provide New York farmers with the technical and financial resources to provide honey bees with nutritious pollen and nectar while providing benefits to the environment.
For example, planting certain cover crops provides a benefit to producers by reducing erosion, increasing the health of their soil, inhibiting invasive species, providing quality forage and habitat for honey bees and other pollinators, as well as habitat for other wildlife.
