By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 June 2013 at 12:00 am
PILOT lasted until 2021, adding 10% more in taxes each year
ALBION – Tax incentives for keeping JP Morgan Chase in Albion were far from expiring.
The County of Orleans Economic Development Agency worked with local municipalities to offer a 10-year tax incentive deal to Chase that started in 2011.
That first year Chase didn’t have to pay any taxes to the local governments. With each following year, the company would pay 10 percent more of a $4,046,000 assessment until the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) expired in 2021. At that point, the company would be paying the full 100 percent of its taxes.
The PILOT was approved as an incentive for Chase to stay in Albion at 231 East Ave. Now that the company has announced it will be closing the Albion site, the PILOT agreement may be voided, and Chase could be billed for the full assessed value, said Jim Whipple, chief executive officer of the Orleans EDA.
The EDA board will discuss the issue. Whipple said he favors canceling the PILOT and having the property fully taxed.
That would be a significant tax boost for the village of Albion, town of Albion, Orleans County and Albion Central School. With a combined tax rate of about $45 per $1,000 of assessed property, Chase’s local property tax bill would be about $180,000. The company paid a tenth of that in 2012 and 20 percent in 2013. The PILOT schedule calls for Chase to pay 30 percent in 2014, with 10 percent more added each successive year.
Chase also hasn’t paid towards the large parking lot by the site. The village created that lot in the mid-1990s when Dime Bank expanded at the site. Dime was later acquired by Washington Mutual, which was bought by Chase in 2008. The village has plowed and maintained the parking lot ever since the Dime days.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 June 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION -Ryan Klatt of Holley performs on East Bank Street today as part of the 27th annual Strawberry Festival. The festival continues tomorrow with a packed lineup of live music.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2013 at 12:00 am
Passarell backed for Albion town supervisor
ALBION – The Orleans County Conservative Party has endorsed a slate of candidates who the party says are committed to reining in local taxes.
The group endorsed Matt Passarell for Albion town supervisor. Passarell, a current town councilman, was passed over by the Albion Republican Committee, which also interviewed Jake Olles, a town councilman. The GOP opted against endorsing either one.
The Conservative endorsement assures Passarell a line on the November ballot.
Conservatives also endorsed Emil Smith of Medina to run for County Legislature against incumbent Bill Eick, who represents a district that includes the towns of Shelby, Barre and Clarendon.
“We’re hoping for a change,” said Al Lofthouse, the party chairman from Kendall. “We’re under duress with taxes. We’re hoping if nothing else it wake all of these people up, the people in office and the voters.”
The party is critical for Republicans in several municipalities for overriding the 2 percent tax cap imposed by the state. The Conservatives made their endorsements in two meetings last month and on Monday. Lofthouse said he doesn’t expect the party to endorse more candidates.
One Republican incumbent, Don Allport, was backed the Conservatives for another two-year term on the county.
The Conservative Party also endorsed Gaines Town Supervisor Carol Culhane, Gaines Town Councilwoman Susan Smith and Gaines Town Justice Bruce Schmidt.
The Conservatives endorsed other candidates to run against sitting Republicans, including Paul Snook for Carlton highway superintendent, Raymond Wendling for Ridgeway highway superintendent, Bilal Huzair for Carlton town councilman and Paul Lauricella for Yates town councilman. Lauricella is treasurer of the Orleans County Conservative Party.
“We’re tired of the way Republicans are running things,” Lauricella said. “They’ve lost their principles.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – JP Morgan Chase announced today it will close its Albion facility in September, cutting 400 local jobs.
ALBION – Four hundred people in Albion were told today their jobs will be gone in September.
JP Morgan Chase, which runs a mortgage center on East Avenue, announced it will close the site in about 90 days. The company acquired Washington Mutual about five years ago and the center peaked with nearly 1,000 employees.
Chase has been shrinking the site since then. The company said an improving economy means fewer people are behind on their mortgages, making the site in Albion less needed.
“Fewer homeowners are falling behind on their mortgages, so we need fewer employees to assist those who were struggling,” Chase said in a statement to WGRZ in Buffalo. “This shift is good for homeowners and the economy overall. We will work with affected employees to find openings at Chase or other local companies.”
The announcement is bad news for Albion, which was already stung in February when Claims Recovery Financial Services said it would move the bulk of its operations to Medina, where there is more room for the growing company at the Olde Pickle Factory. CRFS plans to keep about 200 workers in Albion while it grows to about 700 workers in Medina in the next year.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley said he tried several times to reach Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in recent weeks, to urge the company to stay in Albion. Dimon never returned Hawley’s calls. Hawley was part of a contingent of local, state and federal officials who swayed Chase to stay in Albion after it acquired WaMu.
“I was hopeful they wouldn’t close the Albion site,” Hawley said.
He believes the Chase site and their employees will be attractive for a new employer in Albion.
“It’s a good facility,” Hawley said. “It’s been updated and the employees have marketable skills. They’re hard-working.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2013 at 12:00 am
KENDALL – Two of the coaches took over programs that were chronic underachievers. Another coach started the girls athletic program at Kendall. It didn’t exist until Title IX.
All three amassed numerous league and Sectional titles. On Wednesday, Carol Brakenbury, Ben Gerbig and Dick Reynolds were inducted into the Kendall Athletic Hall of Fame. They make up the second class in the HOF. Basketball star Roosevelt Bouie was the first inductee a year ago.
The coaches were praised for teaching the fundamentals and insisting on hard work. The trio did more than that. They instilled confidence in the players and community. Kendall beat many bigger schools in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, with the three coaches on the sidelines.
Gary Kent played on the baseball team in 1962 that won the league title, knocking off perennial powerhouse Lyndonville. Kent introduced Reynolds at the HOF banquet, calling him a “players’ coach” who didn’t dwell on mistakes. Reynolds urged the players to take chances.
“He had the ability to make us believe in ourselves,” Gary Kent said about Reynolds. “He treated us like young men, without fear of failure.”
Photo by Tom Rivers – Dick Reynolds, a former Kendall baseball and basketball coach, addresses 200 people after being inducted in Kendall’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Reynolds was a part of the Kendall athletic program for nearly four decades. In his 20 seasons as the KCS varsity baseball coach, the team won 10 Genesee Region championships, made five Sectional finals appearances, and racked up 152 wins.
He achieved his greatest success leading the basketball team. Reynolds coached the team from 1963 to 1977 and amassed 186 wins and only 72 losses. During his tenure, Kendall won five Section V championships and set the Section V record for consecutive wins with 57.
Reynolds was a baseball star at Brockport High School, and signed a Minor League contract and played for the Batavia Clippers in 1951. He was a drill sergeant in the Marine Corps before he was hired as a physical teacher in Kendall.
He recalled the first year Kendall won Sectionals in basketball. That was 1973. The Kendall Fire Department escorted the team into town.
“That first year the community went crazy,” Reynolds said.
He was thrilled to be inducted with Gerbig and Brakenbury. The coaches all worked together and shared many of the same players.
Gerbig worked at Kendall from 1962 to 1989 as a math teacher before joining Albion as vice principal for eight years. Gerbig is still working as an adjunct math professor at Morrisville State College, where he has taught the past 12 years.
His Kendall boys soccer team won 18 Genesee Region League Championships, appeared in Sectional finals eight times, and won two sectional championships. He is Kendall’s all-time leader in boys soccer wins with 297.
He also coached JV basketball. Gerbig praised the Kendall players and their families for so much dedication to the sports program. Early in his coaching career, he led a JV team that was blown out most games, including one 62-6 loss. The team was 0-15 at one point. Gerbig told the crowd about the team’s 50-47 win over Pembroke. It remains perhaps his most memorable victory.
“That team kept its composure,” he said. “They worked hard. That group of boys is a special bunch.”
Ben Gerbig led the Kendall boys soccer program to 18 league titles.
Current Kendall coach John King introduced Gerbig and praised him for setting a high level of excellence as a coach and teacher.
Gerbig said many families sent brothers, sisters and cousins to play for Kendall.
“There were many sets of brothers and sisters,” he said. “In Kendall, it was a family thing.”
Wednesday’s Hall of Fame banquet was a reunion for the three coaches, and many of their players. Kendall senior athletes also were honored at Hickory Ridge Country Club.
“The three of us coached hundreds and thousands of games,” Gerbig said. “We won lots and lots of championships. It’s a credit to the kids.”
Title IX was passed to start girls sports in 1972. Kendall fielded its first girls soccer team in the fall of 1975. Brakenbury led that group that won Sectionals. That success sparked a wave of interest from Kendall girls in sports.
Brakenbury would coach tennis, softball, volleyball and cheerleading. She was the Section V softball coach of the year in 1982.
She achieved her greatest success leading the soccer program. The team won three Sectional championships, appeared in 13 Sectional finals, and won 13 Genesee Region League Championships.
Carol Brakenbury helped start the girls athletic program at Kendall.
Gary Pollock, a former Kendall boys soccer coach, introduced Brakenbury at the HOF banquet and praised her for her passion for life and her coaching principles. She taught her players to put the team before themselves. Her players followed her example of a high level of commitment.
Brakenbury said those early days were difficult getting the girls on par with the boys. The girls wore the same uniform tops for soccer and softball.
“The more we won, we got real uniforms,” she said.
Brakenbury joined Kendall as a physical education teacher in 1964. Before the girls could compete in varsity sports, Brakenbury organized intramural sports for the girls.
“They wanted to get out there and be competitive,” she said.
The girls soon won over the school administration and community.
“They were putting in as much time and were just as competitive as the boys,” Brakenbury said.
One Kendall player gave her a senior photo in the 1970s. On the back, the player wrote a message.
“Dear coach, thank you for making the girls sports just as respected as the boys.”
ALFRED, NY, June 2013 – Dr. Stephen J. Havlovic, provost & vice president for academic affairs at Alfred State, has announced the Dean’s List of students for the spring 2013 semester. Students from both the Alfred campus and the School of Applied Technology campus in Wellsville are selected for the Dean’s List if they maintain a 3.50 grade-point average (GPA) out of a possible 4.0. The 4.0 GPA or straight “A” students are indicated with an asterisk (*).
The following Orleans County students were among those recognized:
Kenneth Boyer*, Albion
Bram Davies, Albion
Jason Javier, Albion
Michael Levandowski, Kent
Noah O’Kussick, Kent
Derek Howes, Lyndonville
Andrew Hydock, Lyndonville
Ryan Schepis*, Medina
Alfred State offers associate degrees in 50 programs in the fields of agriculture, health, business, vocational, and engineering technology, as well as liberal arts and sciences. There are also 19 baccalaureate degree offerings.
Congressman picks up seat on Science, Space & Technology
Press release, Office of Congressman Chris Collins
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) has been named to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, his third committee assignment.Three committee assignments is a rarity among members of Congress, especially newly elected members of the House of Representatives.
“I am both excited and honored to be asked to join the membership ranks of a third committee,” Collins said. “As an engineer with a business background in both biotechnology and pharmaceutical science, I believe strongly in the power of science and scientific research to grow our economy and better our nation.I look forward to using my assignment on Science, Space and Technology to champion the growing research sector developing in and around my Congressional District, including the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester.”
Collins will be the only majority member from New York on the committee.
Collins is currently a member of the House Agriculture and Small Business committees, and serves as chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Gina Sidari, an Albion first grader, is all smiles at the Seneca Park Zoo today despite the constant rain.
Albion students watch the polar bear at the zoo in Rochester today.
ROCHESTER – Some schools cancelled. Too much rain.
Not the first grade class at Albion. Students, teachers and many of kids’ parents boarded school buses today and spent about two hours at the Seneca Park Zoo. It never stopped raining. Even some of the animals cowered behind their shelters, and didn’t venture into the open.
But first-graders did get to see two elephants, a polar bear, a rhino, seals, wolves and lots of other creatures.
I was able to join the group for the expedition. My daughter is in Mrs. Azzolino’s class.
We all left with soaked feet. I’m glad it wasn’t cancelled.
First-graders in Mrs. Azzolino’s class watch an elephant.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 June 2013 at 12:00 am
Reynolds, Gerbig and Brakenbury all honored
Photo by Tom Rivers – Kendall coaches with legendary accomplishments and reputations – Dick Reynolds, Ben Gerbig and Carol Brakenbury – pose for a photograph after being inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
KENDALL – Three Kendall coaches with long careers and numerous league and sectional titles were inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame during a banquet tonight attended by about 200 people.
The coaches – Ben Gerbig, Dick Reynolds and Carol Brakenbury – are part of the HOF’s second class. Basketball great Roosevelt Bouie went into the HOF as the inaugural inductee last year.
Gerbig was a math teacher whose career spanned four decades, including eight years at Albion. He oversaw a boys soccer program that earned 18 Genesee Region League Championships, appeared in Sectional finals eight times, and won two sectional championships. He is Kendall’s all-time wins leader in boys soccer (297), and was recognized as Section V Class B Coach of the year four times. Gerbig was inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame in 2000.
Dick Reynolds coached basketball and baseball for about four decades. In his 20 seasons as the KCS varsity baseball coach, the team won 10 Genesee Region championships, made five Sectional finals appearances, and racked up 152 wins.
Reynolds was basketball coach during Kendall’s most glorious run, highlighted by undefeated seasons with Bouie. Reynolds coached the team from 1963 to 1977 and amassed 186 wins and only 72 losses. During his tenure, Kendall won five Section V championships and held the Section V record for consecutive wins with 57. Reynolds also oversaw the KCS athletic program from 1967 to 1992, serving as the longest tenured athletic director in KCS history.
Brakenbury was a pioneer coach at Kendall. Her career began in 1964, and she worked as a physical education teacher at KCS until her retirement in 1998.
Brakenbury guided her soccer teams to three sectional championships, 13 Sectional finals, and 13 Genesee Region League Championships. She earned Section V Class B Girls Soccer coach of the year in 1982. Her team also won 42 straight games in the Genesee Region League. Brakenbury was influential in the development of Kendall’s sports program for girls.
There will be more coverage of the HOF ceremony on Orleans Hub tomorrow, including comments from the coaches.
Press release
Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force
MEDINA – The manager of the Monroe Muffler and Brake in Medina has allegedly been selling narcotics from the location at 11334 Maple Ridge Rd., the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported.
Police on Tuesday arrested the site’s manager, James D. Swader. The 52-year-old from Akron was charged with five counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, five counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and five counts of criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions in the fourth degree.
Swader was arraigned by Shelby Town Justice Dawn Keppler and committed to Orleans County Jail on $50,000 cash bail or a $100,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Shelby Town Court at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The Task Force and the Medina Police Department executed a search warrant on Tuesday at Monro Muffler following a three-month investigation into the sale and distribution of prescription narcotic pills in Medina.
As a result of the investigation, a search was executed after numerous narcotic buys were conducted inside the business. Police seized prescription narcotic medications, including morphine and oxycodone, which was located inside the manager’s tool box in the garage area of the business, the Task Force reported.
The investigation is ongoing and further arrests and charges are pending.
