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Callard: State doesn’t allow referendum on nursing home sale

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 October 2013 at 12:00 am

ALBION – Orleans County residents won’t be voting on whether or not the county should sell its 120-bed nursing home because such a vote would be illegal.

That was the response from David Callard, the County Legislature chairman, after public calls for a referendum on the issue.

County officials have consulted with legal counsel and opinions from the state comptroller and attorney general.

“It simply can not be authorized because it would be illegal to do so,” Callard said at today’s Legislature meeting.

State statutes don’t specify that a public vote for a nursing home sale is permitted by law. Without the specifics in the law, the county can’t put the matter to a vote, Callard said. The county also can’t expend public money for a referendum that is not permitted or required by state law, he said.

Callard’s statement did not sit well with Dee Smith, a member of Concerned Citizens of Orleans County, a grass roots group that opposes the sale.

“I feel I don’t matter to you,” she told Callard and the Legislature. “I don’t trust you. I don’t have faith in you.”

The county formed a local development corporation to work on the sale of The Villages of Orleans. Proposals are due Oct. 16. The LDC board, led by Russ Martino of Lyndonville, may schedule a meeting for Oct. 18 to discuss the offers for the nursing home.

“I am not looking forward to going into a private nursing home,” Smith told the Legislature. “I’m so disappointed in you people.”

Legislator George Bower was the lone legislator who opposed transferring the nursing home to the LDC in February, and pressing the three-member LDC with finding a buyer for the site.

Bower said the lack of a referendum and a say from residents in the process is “poor.”

Two lawsuits have challenged the legality of the LDC’s formation and other procedural issues. Both times the county has been upheld in State Supreme Court.

Here is the prepared statement by Callard in regards to the referendum:

“It is important to clarify a point that seems to be missing from the discussion on the nursing home. The county government as an administrative unit and political subdivision of the State of New York, does not have the power to supersede or override state laws. There is no authority granted to the county legislature by the laws of New York State to hold a referendum on issues that are not specifically authorized for referenda in state law. We do not have the power to grant such a request.

“It has been consistently held in this State that a municipality may not submit a question to referendum, either advisory or binding, in the absence of express statutory authority. The New York State Attorney General and the Office of the State Comptroller have weighed in on this issue numerous times over the years, rendering opinions which consistently state that referenda which are neither permitted nor required by statute are improper and without effect, and that municipal monies may not be expended for such purposes. Simply put, they are illegal.”

Carlton and Kendall will share assessor

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 October 2013 at 12:00 am

Gene Massey is picked to fill vacancy in Carlton

CARLTON – The Town Board hired a new assessor on Tuesday, and didn’t need to go to far to find a new official who will establish valuations for properties in town.

Gene Massey has worked for the town of Kendall as assessor for nearly six years. He will continue as Kendall’s full-time assessor. He actually started in Carlton on Oct. 1.

Carlton sought a replacement for Karen Adams, who wasn’t reappointed in June. Residents were in an uproar this spring when new assessments came out with big increases for some properties, and no increases or drops for others.

The Town Board ultimately voted to freeze the assessments at the 2012 levels. The board is seeking a firm to help with data collection for the properties in the town. Carlton needs an accurate database that shows the square footage of all buildings, as well as other property improvements, Town Supervisor Gayle Ashbery said.

Proposals are due to the town by Nov. 12 and Ashbery said the Town Board expects to pick a firm at its Dec. 10 meeting. The accurate data plus the experience of Massey should ensure accurate assessments in the future, Ashbery said this afternoon.

Carlton agreed to pay Massey a $30,000 salary, and will also contribute $3,000 to Kendall towards Massey’s health insurance costs.

“He is very familiar with residential, lakefront and agricultural properties,” Ashbery said about Massey.

The two towns are working on a 10-year contract for shared assessing services. Once the two towns are at 100 percent equalization rates, they should be eligible for state funding with a Coordinated Assessment Program. Kendall is at 100 percent, but Carlton isn’t because of the decision to use 2012 levels. The towns typically do new re-evaluations every three years. The soonest they are both at 100 percent may be 2016.

Dan Gaesser, the Kendall town supervisor, said Kendall benefits by having Carlton pay $3,000 towards the assessor’s health insurance. The deal also keeps Massey working for Kendall.

“We’re able to retain the services of an assessor who’s been here since 2008,” Gaesser said.

Kendall officials are reviewing the 10-year agreement between the two towns. Gaesser said he expects the Kendall Town Board will approve it either later this month or in November.

“It’s a real good agreement for the two towns,” he said.

Ashbery praised Dawn Allen, the director of the Real Property Tax Services for Orleans County, for her assistance to Carlton during the transition in recent months.

ORG borrows $100K for Bent’s repair

Posted 9 October 2013 at 12:00 am

Provided photo – This photo shows the deteriorated main structural beam on the southwest corner of Bent’s Opera House in Medina.

Press release
Orleans Renaissance Group

MEDINA – The Orleans Renaissance Group, owner of the former Bent’s Opera House, announced today that they have received $100,000 emergency loan from the Preservation League of New York State. The funds will be used immediately to address the main structural support timber on the building’s southeast corner.

Chris Busch, vice president of ORG, said the organization is “extremely grateful” for the support of the Preservation League.

“They recognize the regional importance and viability of this project, and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude for their advocacy,” he said.

The removal of the faux stone and facia last year revealed a critical concern: the condition of the main support timber on what was the former Armstrong’s Drug Store has rotted to the point where the structural integrity of the building could be compromised.

“This huge wooden timber is nearly 150 years old,” Busch said.“Prior to removing the faux stone, we were only guessing as to what caused the dramatic settling around the southeast corner of the building. Once the stone was removed, we saw that we needed to act quickly in professionally assessing the deterioration.”

The deterioration has been an issue for decades.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Bent’s Opera House opened in the Civil War. The building was built with Medina sandstone.

“It’s a miracle the masonry wall on that corner had not suffered a much greater and more calamitous compromise,” Busch said.

ORG engaged engineer Don Jensen of Jensen Engineering in Rochester who determined that the vast majority of the old beam was fine and in remarkable condition. The entire southeast section, however, requires immediate replacement with steel using a specialized process called “needling.”

“The most pressing concern right now is addressing the beam,” Busch said. “No further work on the façade can take place until that has been corrected.”

ORG has engaged Peter Matthews of Matthews House Movers in Rochester to replace the beam. Matthews will be in Medina today to begin installing rigging or “cribbing” to stabilize the building prior to repairs.

“We hope to have this phase of façade work completed soon and to possibly effect some additional façade restoration as well,” Busch said. “ORG wants folks to know that important progress is being made everyday in bringing Bent’s back to life.”

The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council last month included the Bent’s restoration as a recommended project for state funding. ORG is seeking state assistance for a major roof repair for the building. An announcement from the state is expected in December.

Splendor in the sky

Staff Reports Posted 9 October 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Michael Karcz

ALBION – Mother Nature was in her glory tonight when the sun set behind Albion Central School on Clarendon Road. Looks like a string of nice days continues with highs hovering around 70 degrees from Thursday until Sunday.

Geese, swans enjoy fall sunshine

Staff Reports Posted 9 October 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Cheryl Wertman

LYNDONVILLE – Several hundred geese joined a flock of swans on Johnson’s Creek on Tuesday afternoon. The geese were active on the water, and took a break sunning themselves on the grass.

They will soon be heading South with winter lurking on the calendar.

Seneca tugboat passes through Albion on educational journey

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 October 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – A tugboat named Seneca approaches the Main Street lift bridge in Albion this morning. The tugboat then passed underneath and headed east.

ALBION – Tugboat fans in Orleans County are getting a chance to see an unfamiliar vessel today. The Tugboat Seneca is passing through our waters, heading east.

The tugboat, built in 1932, is filling in for the Tugboat Urger, with has been dry-docked for repairs. The Urger is the Canal Corporation’s floating classroom, making stops along the system for public tours and visits from fourth-graders learning about state history.

With the Urger out of commission, the Seneca was called into duty as the canal’s educational ambassador. The tug is typically based out of the Syracuse area.

The Seneca just completed its educational mission in Tonawanda and is headed to Fairport.

The Canal Corp. has biography sketches of the tugboats on its web site (Visit www.tug44.org/canal.corp.boats/tug-seneca/ to see more photos and information about the Seneca.) The tugboat was built 81 years ago by Electric Boat Corp for the Navy. She was designated YTL-479 (Yard Tug, Light) and worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She was bought by state DOT in 1960 and is now owned by Canal Corp.

The canal is scheduled to stay open until Nov. 15, when the 363-mile-long canal will then be drained and the lift bridges closed.

Waterport Trestle carried trains above the Oak Orchard River

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2013 at 12:00 am

WATERPORT – Gary Fleckenstein was flying a plane in the late 1980s when he handed his camera to his passenger, Larry Grimes, who snapped the photo above of the Waterport Trestle and the power plant.

Fleckenstein sent the photo to Orleans Hub after today’s article about the stone pillars near the dam. (Click here to see that one.) I was at the dam yesterday and wondered about the row of stone supports. I figured it was for the trestle, but an old photo of the area showed a bridge nearby, so I wasn’t sure what the pillars held up.

Both the trestle and the bridge have been dismantled. Fleckenstein’s photo clearly shows a trestle stood near the Waterport Dam and power plant.

The trestle was removed about 20 years ago. He also sent along this photo he took of the trestle from the western end looking east/northeast. He notes the pylon foundations are clearly visible.

Fleckenstein says about a quarter-mile downstream are more bridge foundations that seem to predate the trestle. I’m going back down Friday with a guide to get more pictures of the remnants of these engineering works and important historical landmarks.

2 Medina teens appear in court for robbery, assault

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2013 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – Two Medina teen-agers appeared in Orleans County Court for the first time on Monday for arraignments for second-degree assault, first-degree robbery, fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Justin M. Tillinghast and Brian T. Stachewicz, both 18, were committed to the county jail on $5,000 bail. Tillinghast was arraigned on Monday while Stachewicz’s arraignment was pushed back to Thursday until an attorney from the public defender’s office could be assigned to his case. The public defender was assigned to represent Tillinghast.

The two face numerous charges after allegedly firing plastic pellets from an airsoft gun at a victim, injuring that person. The two then allegedly robbed the victim. The alleged incident occurred on Aug. 28.

Tillinghast lives at 167 North St., and Stachewicz resides at 259 Horan Rd. Tillinghast is scheduled to next appear in court on Oct. 21.

If they post bail, County Court Judge James Punch ordered the two to not have any contact with each other.

Are massive stone pillars remnants from Ho-Jack era?

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – Stone pillars next to the Oak Orchard River, in front of the Waterport Dam, were used to hold up something, either a bridge or the trestle for the railroad.

A beer can looks tiny compared to one of the stone pillars near the Waterport Dam.

CARLTON – My trip Sunday evening by the Waterport Dam was full of wonder, and not just because of the 30-pound Chinook salmon that were being caught.

The area by the dam includes a row of massive stone pillars. They held up something big back in the day. I’ve heard about the old Waterport trestle that was removed about 20 years ago. I assumed the trestle must have stood on these stone pillars.

But I saw an old postcard of Waterport online today and it appears the trestle wasn’t next to the dam. I think there was a bridge there and these pillars were used to support that span that crossed the Oak Orchard River. (I don’t have permission to use the image or I’d post it on Orleans Hub.)

If anyone has historic photos or more information about the trestle and the old bridge by the dam, please send them to me at tom@orleanshub.com or drop them off at the Pennysaver and we’ll scan them in. The address is 170 North Main Street.

The town of Carlton web site gives some background on the “Ho-Jack” Line, which opened in 1876 and carried freight until 1978. (Click here to see that write-up.)

The Waterport Dam was built between 1917 and 1919 and the hydroelectric power station opened in 1920. It continues to be in use today.

Attorney questions search warrant from June drug arrest

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2013 at 12:00 am

ALBION – The attorney for a woman arrested in June on several drug charges told a judge the search warrant used was based on “stale” evidence.

Shirley Gorman, the attorney for Patricia Nava-Chavez, said law enforcement shouldn’t have searched her bedroom back in June when she was arrested along with seven other people, including her husband, Felix Onofre-Rojas. (Click here for a previous article.)

They lived in Albion at 14691 Zig-Zag Rd. Gorman said investigators observed Onofre-Rojas making drug sales from the location in December 2012 and February 2013. Another person also was witnessed making a drug sale from the house in November 2012, Gorman said in court on Monday.

However, by June 2013, when Albion Town Justice Gary Moore approved a search warrant for the entire house, Gorman said there was no probable cause to search Nava-Chavez’s bedroom. Gorman called the warrant “ambiguous.”

District Attorney Joseph Cardone said law enforcement reported there were 13 drug sales from that location. Onofre-Rojas, 61, admitted in court in August to selling cocaine from the site. He is to be sentenced Oct. 28 for a driving while intoxicated charge from May 4. He could face up to four years in state prison for that charge, his second DWI.

Police believe his wife Nava-Chavez, 44, was an accomplice in the drug sales, but Gorman told Judge Punch she wasn’t involved in that activity.

Punch said he would review the grand jury testimony and could schedule a hearing about whether evidence seized during the search of the house will be admissible.

Cardone also said there is surveillance video of the house that shows Nava-Chavez was involved in the drug sales.

Punch set a court date for 3 p.m. Oct. 21 to again discuss whether evidence from the search warrant can be used in court.