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Schools get much-needed aid increase

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Five Orleans districts to receive $3.2 million more

Photo by Tom Rivers – Albion Central School officials say they will be able to preserve their programs at the middle school (pictured) and other schools in the 2013-14 budget.

District	2012-13	2013-14	Increase
Albion	$20,389,686	$21,203,440	$813,754 (4.0 %)
Holley	$10,879,581	$11,621,917	$742,336 (6.8 %)
Kendall	$8,273,703	$8,826,811	$553,108 (6.7 %)
Lyndonville	$6,066,589	$6,357,344	$290,755 (4.8 %)
Medina	$18,008,806	$18,812,657	$803,851 (4.5 %)
Orleans County	$63,618,365	$66,822,169	$3,203,804 (5.0 %)

Source: NYS Division of the Budget

State aid increases are making life a little easier for school leaders this budget go-round.

The five districts in Orleans County will receive between 4 and nearly 7 percent more in state funds next school year, according to the state budget approved last week. That follows two years of meager increases. The districts were all cut significantly when David Paterson was governor. The state sliced education spending by nearly $3 billion state-wide during Paterson’s tenure.

“With the latest aid increases we are now back to the funding levels of 2009,” said Clark Godshall, superintendent of the Orleans-Niagara BOCES.

The 13 districts in the Orleans-Niagara BOCES cut 700 positions during the school funding crisis over the past five years, Godshall said. Some of those reductions were made due to shrinking enrollments. But many teachers, administrators and staff lost their jobs because districts were contending with rising costs and tepid revenue growth. The state also imposed a tax cap of about 2 percent on local governments.

“With the tax cap you were forced to reduce,” Godshall said.

State-wide education funding is up nearly $1 billion for about 700 school districts. The five districts in Orleans County collectively will receive $3.2 million more in operating aid, or a 5.0 percent increase to $66.8 million.

“We will be able to preserve all of our programs,” said Shawn Liddle, Albion Central School assistant superintendent for business. “We’re always grateful for the aid we receive from New York State.”

State and federal governments pay for about 80 percent of the district’s $33 million annual budget. The state budget gives Albion about $800,000 more in operating aid for 2013-14.

Although programs will be maintained, Liddle said the Finance Committee is eyeing some staff cuts to mirror a drop in student enrollment. The committee will make its budget recommendation to the Board of Education during Monday’s 7 p.m. meeting.

The district went the past six years without raising taxes. Albion cut staff and tapped reserve funds to stave off a tax increase during that time. But Liddle said the committee is looking at a 1.5 percent tax increase for 2013-14, which will be under the 2 percent cap.

Lyndonville also expects to preserve all of its programming and stay under the tax cap, said Board of Education President Ed Urbanik.

Rather than dig deeper into its reserve funds, the district can preserve those funds due to the increase in state aid. That gives Lyndonville a cushion with the uncertainties with health care costs, Urbanik said.

Rural schools have been lobbying the state to boost funding the past several years. Rural districts say they were disproportionately hit hard with the state funding cuts under Paterson.

Educate NY Now, an advocacy group of school stakeholders throughout NY, praised the new state budget, particularly the sizable increases for some districts. But Billy Easton, executive director for the Alliance for Quality Education, said the state needs to do more to help school districts, especially those in rural areas.

“There remain urgent educational needs that must be addressed, such as closing the now widening gulf in educational opportunities between wealthy and poor schools,” he said in a statement. “Legislators are getting the message loud and clear that our schools are in crisis. This budget will slow the rate of classroom cuts, not stop it.”

Gaines and Watt will redo wind turbine permitting process

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 July 2013 at 12:00 am

GAINES – Two years ago Chris Watt erected a 150-foot-high wind turbine on his farm next to the Watt Farms Country Market on Route 98.

Next month he will go before town officials seeking approval for the project.

Watt believed the town took care of the permitting process properly before the windmill went up in August 2011. His next-door neighbor Mary Neilans and her brother Robert sued the town, claiming proper procedures weren’t followed. The board waived site plan review and didn’t offer residents a chance to comment on the turbine during a public hearing, according to their lawsuit in state Supreme Court.

The town and Watt said they followed the town and state laws for siting windmills for agricultural purposes. State Supreme Court Judge James Punch ultimately decided to put the issue back in the town’s hands. Punch issued a ruling in January 2012, not siding with either party.

Watt was a member of the Planning Board when the project was first approved. He abstained from voting.

The Town Board in January 2012 voted to abolish the Planning Board and shift its duties to the Zoning Board of Appeals. That board will hold a public hearing on Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. at Gaines Town Hall to take comments about the Watt project.

“We’ve done this before,” Watt told the ZBA during its meeting tonight after it set the hearing. “Why do you need to do the same thing again?”

Watt said he met the requirements for setbacks and an environmental impact statement with the project.

“I’m not sure the setbacks were followed,” responded ZBA member Marilynn Miller.

Watt said the project was approved by the town’s code enforcement officer two years ago.

“We’re just following through with the letter of the law,” said ZBA Chairman Michael Grabowski.

Our sandstone heritage

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 July 2013 at 12:00 am

Kent resident takes pride in cobblestone house, sandstone step

Photos by Tom Rivers – Pete Consler bought two hitching posts and a carriage step about three decades from a Hulberton man who didn’t want them. Consler keeps them in immaculate shape in front of his historic cobblestone home on Kent Road.

KENT – Pete Consler was driving through Hulberton about three decades ago when he saw buckled sandstone sidewalk panels. He thought they would be a nice complement to his home, a cobblestone house built in 1843.

Consler has just moved into his parents’ former cobblestone cottage home on Kent Road more than 30 years ago. Consler and his wife Joan would raise two sons in the historic house.

Consler’s father Art added sandstone steps a few years before Consler noticed the sidewalk panels. He stopped in Hulberton and the owner said he would sell them – if Consler took all the pieces.

Consler also noticed a carriage step and two hitching posts. He asked if they were for sale and the owner threw them in the deal. The owner was glad to be rid of them.

Consler had a friend help him move the heavy stone to his home, where Consler established two sandstone walkways and put the hitching posts and carriage step near the road, trying to recreate a setup from the horse-and-buggy days.

I was on Kent Road last evening to do a story on Chet Wheelock and his family’s hot air balloon ride. I drove past Wheelock’s farm and ended up at Consler’s. His property is a showcase of our cobblestone and sandstone heritage.

The house has been in his family since 1949, when his parents Art and Rose Consler bought it as a cottage. Consler remembers spending the summers in Kent, and working for a dairy farmer down the road – “Boy did I get an education.”

Consler worked as a union plumber and as a pipefitter for General Motors. He has used his skills and hard work ethic to keep up an immaculate property. He repointed all the mortar on the house and has kept many of the house’s interior pieces, including a cast-iron potbelly stove and pre-rotary phone. His wife has developed a garden that could be featured in a magazine. Pete’s mother secured the tops of two old Rochester street lights that her son fixed up and mounted in the front lawn with toned-down lights.

The hitching posts include Italian lettering. Consler would like to know the story behind the symbols.

Pete Consler is a proud owner of a cobblestone home, and a sandstone carriange step.

Consler has battled cancer five times in the past 22 years. He is thankful for each day, he said.

“I’ve been blessed to have the best doctors in the world,” he said.

Consler also traveled to Rome, and met the Pope. Consler even shook his hand. He thinks that experience has helped him survive cancer.

I told Consler about my hitching post obsession, how I’m trying to build a database of all these relics from the horse-and-buggy era. I think Orleans County may be home to more of these than anywhere else, and could be part of a draw for tourists, especially if the hitching posts and carriage steps are part of a bigger sandstone and cobblestone story.

Consler’s two posts have lettering in Italian. If anyone reads this and knows what it means, please send me a note. These are two of the most ornate posts that I’ve seen. I’d guess they were owned by a well-to-do resident of Hulberton.

Consler feels such pride in his home, he had his name etched in the carriage step, just like many families did more than a century ago.

I told him he has done a great job with the place.

(If you have a hitching post story to tell, send me an email at tom@orleanshub.com.)

Collins says he’ll back immigration and Farm Bill, but will fight ‘Obamacare’

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 June 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – U.S. Rep. Chris Collins discusses legislation and the impact of Obamacare with residents during a “Coffee with Chris” event Saturday at The Village Inn.

GAINES – After six months in Congress, Chris Collins sees the role of conservative Republicans as playing defense in the nation’s capitol, trying to minimize the impact of what he said is a liberal agenda “in the nanny state,” a push to grow government programs and “hand-outs” at the expense of hard-working Americans.

“We’re trying to prevent additional laws like Obamacare and Dodd-Frank,” Collins said Saturday during a “Coffee with Chris” meeting at The Village Inn. The public event was attended by about 30 people, including many local elected officials.

Collins expects Obama will push hard to enact laws that would cut fossil fuels before his term is over. Climate change legislation would cripple the country’s economy, Collins said.

However, he said conservatives shouldn’t be extremists or obstructionists with every proposal. He is trying to take a pragmatic approach so Congress can pass much-needed legislation, including a Farm Bill that would offer a five-year plan for agriculture. The Farm Bill has been stymied over food stamps, which account for about $80 billion of the $100 billion Farm Bill.

Collins also favors immigration reform, but not the plan approved by the U.S. Senate on Thursday. That would allow a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally. Collins said those people can have work permits if they are working in agriculture and other jobs that are difficult to fill with Americans.

But Collins wouldn’t give the people who are here illegally a pathway to citizenship, nor would they be eligible for any government benefits. However, he said he would support the possibility of citizenship for the children of people who came to the country illegally.

Collins said agriculture desperately needs access to foreign workers who can milk cows and harvest crops without the threat of deportation. Farmers can’t find enough Americans to do these jobs. Without legal workers from Mexico and other countries, the nation’s food supply and rural economy is very vulnerable, Collins said.

A group of many local elected officials turned out to hear Chris Collins discuss his first six months as congressman.

Orleans County Legislator Bill Eick, a former dairy farmer from Shelby, said local farmers have been traveling to Washington to lobby for immigration reform for 15 years. Farmers are starting to switch from labor-intensive crops to corn because of the lack of legal workers, Eick said.

“I hope you can get something done,” Eick told Collins about the immigration proposal.

Collins was harshly critical of Obama’s health care plan – “Obamacare is the worst law ever passed.” That legislation is starting to take effect and causing numerous problems, Collins said.

Healthy people are resisting the high-cost of health insurance, while businesses aren’t hiring or have cut hours to stay under thresholds for providing health insurance, he said. That has reduced job opportunities and take-home pay for residents.

“This law is beyond a wet blanket,” Collins said. “It’s destroying people’s lives.”

The congressman also blamed Albany politics for much of the New York state’s economic problems. The growing welfare state in New York has resulted in oppressive taxes, chasing away residents and businesses, he said.

“We are shrinking and shrinking every day, and dying,” he said about the state. “We should be a prosperous, growing area. We have great climate, a lot of water and an educated workforce. But Albany hurts us. Fix Alabany and you would see this state grow again.”

Ingersoll Fountain remains a showpiece at Mount Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 June 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Ingersoll Memorial Fountain is still going strong in Mount Albion 99 years after it was dedicated in the historic cemetery. The sandstone chapel is in the background.

ALBION – I’m glad they didn’t do it on the cheap nearly 100 years ago. The Ingersoll Memorial Fountain in Mount Albion is the Cadillac of fountains.

It has endured for nearly a century. It’s visible from Route 31 and is one of the three most iconic structures in the cemetery, with the front sandstone arch and the Civil War Memorial – Mount Albion Tower – also enduring landmarks.

I don’t know the full story behind the Ingersoll family. Nehemiah Ingersoll was an early prominent resident in Albion. There were only a few settlers in 1812, but when it was announced the canal would pass through here, entrepreneurs started to buy up land.

Photo by Tom Rivers

Ingersoll purchased much of the land near the planned intersection of the canal and Oak Orchard Road, the main north-south route through the area in 1822, according to a Wikipedia entry about Albion. Ingersoll’s land was soon subdivided, and the village, then known as Newport, began to grow.

I’d like to see Albion put up another fountain, and not just the cheapest one on the market. An Ingersoll-type fountain on the bank of the canal would be an attraction and would give our canal bank and downtown a big lift, while also drawing some customers for the downtown businesses.

I think the fountain should be built in honor of the 15 people who died in a Sept. 28, 1859 bridge collapse. I wrote about that part of our history about a week ago. You can read about it by clicking here.

Those 15 people died while watching a wire walker. I think Nik Wallenda could be talked into doing an event in Albion, to help the community dedicate a fountain in their memory.

4 generations take flight in Kent

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 June 2013 at 12:00 am

Chet Wheelock, 82, fulfills a life-long dream with balloon ride

Photos by Tom Rivers – Jeremy Mikels waves to his friends and family as the balloon takes off over his grandfather’s farm on Kent Road.

The balloon heads out over the countryside after a take off from Chet Wheelock’s farm on Kent Road.

The family smiles for a photo before takeoff. The group includes Mason Mikels, 5; his father Jeremy Mikels, Peggy Bropst, and Chet Wheelock, right. Balloon pilot Greg Livadas readies the balloon for take off.

KENT – Chet Wheelock got his wish tonight when he was lifted high over his farm and the rural countryside in a hot air balloon.

Wheelock, 82, was part of a four-generation ride that included his daughter Peggy Bropst of Kendall, grandson Jeremy Mikels of Webster and great-grandson Mason Mikels of Webster.

The balloon ride was intended to be a Father’s Day gift but bad weather grounded that flight. Tonight it was gorgeous with bright sunshine and little wind.

Greg Livadas, pilot of the “Yeowza” balloon, has been flying balloons for 35 years. He said a four-generation flight is highly unusual. But Wheelock is far from the oldest passenger. Livadas said he took up a 98-year-old recently.

Wheelock has watched balloons take off at the Pine Hill Airport in Barre, a balloon festival in Dansville and other spots in the Southern Tier.

“I always wanted to do it,” he said. “It seems like fun.”

Greg Livadas, center, and High Hopes Balloon Co. fill up the balloon with hot air.

The crew and passengers are almost ready to soar.

Mark Driesel, one of Chet Wheelock’s neighbors, records the events for what Driesel said was a historic day for the neighborhood.

Taking flight!

Trek will soon move to Lockport

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 June 2013 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – A Medina manufacturer expects to move to Lockport from July 11-14, and begin operating from Building 4 in the former Harrison Radiator plant on July 15, Trek Inc. states on its web site.

Trek’s Medina building at 1601 Maple Ridge Rd. won’t be empty for long. Takeform Architectural Graphics is moving from Mahar Street to Route 31A as part of an expansion for that company.

Trek, an electronic instrument manufacturer, shifted its engineering, and research and development groups to Lockport in 2011.

Adding color to a cemetery

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 June 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Larry Radzinski this checks on geraniums he planted earlier this month at the Sacred Heart Cemetery on Route 63 in Medina. Radzinski was back at the cemetery today, sprinkling fertilizer on the flowers.

Sacred Heart is next to Boxwood Cemetery in Medina, giving the community two well-maintained historic burial grounds.

County’s costs for maintaining state boat launch not as high as reported

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 June 2013 at 12:00 am

CARLTON – County officials say their costs for maintaining a state-owned boat launch and park are not as high as reported on The Orleans Hub on Friday.

The Hub put the costs at between $10,000 and $20,000 for bathroom cleaning, mowing and other upkeep at the Oak Orchard Marine State Park, a boat launch and bathrooms along Archibald Road on the west side of the Oak Orchard River.

I came up with that number because county officials said they pay $19,000 to have bathrooms and docks cleaned at the Orleans County Marine Park, a county-owned site on the east side of the river. The cleaning costs for the state site are part of that contract.

I figured it was a 50-50 split, but a county official said there is significantly more work at the county site, which includes 72 boat slips. He estimated the state boat launch and bathrooms cost the county about $3,000 a year.

I figured mowing and other expenses added to county costs as well, but I was told those expenses aren’t nearly as high as reported.

I stand by the crux of the article, that the state should assume financial responsibility for its own boat launch, especially because it’s a revenue generator for the state and the local economy because of the sales tax spent by the fishermen on gas and other supplies while they’re in the area.

Dignitaries help Ridgeway mark 200th

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 June 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, hands a proclamation to Town Supervisor Brian Napoli today in honor of the town’s bicentennial. Resident Hugh James, back left, was one of about 50 people to crowd into the town hall for the presentations.

Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli, left, congratulates Don Marchner, Ridgeway fire chief, for the Fire Company’s award in leading the county in EMS training hours with 994.

Orleans County Legislator Lynne Johnson, right, reads a proclamation in honor of Ridgeway’s 200^th anniversary. Johnson is joined by Mary Woodruff, a town councilwoman who last November became the first woman elected to the Ridgeway Town Board. Woodruff is joined by her grandchildren, Amanda and Brennan Woodruff.

Orleans Hub will have more on Ridgeway’s bicentennial later.