Photos by Tom Rivers – Village of Albion officials filed a court order on Wednesday for Dan Dunn, owner of sandstone building at 125 Liberty St., to take the structure down within 30 days.

The sandstone building from 1840 was once a base for constructing carriages.

The 5,000-square-foot building has a collapsed roof and floors.

ALBION – A sandstone building that has been a dominant presence along the Erie Canal since 1840 needs to come down in 30 days, Village Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti told the owner on Wednesday.

Vendetti said the building, once used to manufacture carriages more than a century ago, is a “dangerous building.” The 5,000-square-foot building was last used as a furniture warehouse about a half century ago. The roof and floors have collapsed in the building, which is missing several windows.

Dan Dunn, owner of a salvaging company in Medina, owns the building. He said he is working to bring down the dilapidated structure. He will try to preserve and resell as much of the stone as possible.

“I’ll try to get it done and make everybody happy,” Dunn said.

The Albion Historic Preservation Commission approved a hardship case for Dunn in January and voted in support of the building’s demolition.

Dunn said he has been delayed because of the costs of asbestos removal. Certified asbestos removal contractors say removing that from the roof and floors will cost $16,000 to $20,000. When he purchased the building last year, he thought he could remove the asbestos himself.

Dunn has made a career out of reclaiming materials that would otherwise be trashed. He didn’t want to see that fate for the old building, which borders the Erie Canal at 125 Liberty St.

“These days they’re so quick to demolish things and send them to a landfill,” he said. “I like that stone and that building has an awful lot of history.”

Dunn said he will try to recoup as much of the demolition and asbestos removal costs as possible with the resale of the sandstone. He doubts he’ll be able to recover his costs. Village officials say the land at 125 Liberty St. is coveted by the state Canal Corporation, which has a complex next door.

Mayor Dean Theodorakos said he would like to see the land be redeveloped.

“It’s great location along the Erie Canal,” Theodorakos said.

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.

Board also urged to prohibit smoking on all town property

ALBION Citing “confusion” in a resolution from a month ago about the state’s new gun control laws, the Albion Town Board weighed in on the issue again on Monday.

This time the board mustered three votes to formally go on the record against the SAFE Act, which has been opposed by most counties in upstate New York.

At last month’s meeting, Town Board members Dan Poprawski and Jake Olles voted against the SAFE Act while Tim Neilans and Matt Passarell abstained from a vote. Town Supervisor Dennis Stirk voted against opposing the SAFE Act.

After the meeting, Stirk realized by casting a negative vote, which he thought was opposing the act, he actually voted in support of the gun control measure.

“I accidently opposed it,” he said, acknowledging the mistake.

He put the issue on the agenda again on Monday, and this time the board secured three votes opposing the SAFE Act with Neilans and Passarell again abstaining.

Passarell said the resolution is symbolic. He noted the Orleans County Legislature already voiced its opposition to the state legislation.

“It really should be done at the county level,” he said about the resolution. Nearly all upstate New York counties, including Orleans, have gone on the record opposing provisions of the SAFE Act and the lack of public input in the legislation.

The legislation has been criticized for being open to interpretation, for requiring seven-magazine rounds when few currently exist in New York, and for requiring documentation of all ammunition sales in the state – “a significant unfunded mandate on business,” according to the resolution.

Another topic from last month’s meeting – the town’s smoking policy – was also debated again on Monday.

Kevin Keenan, program coordinator of Smoke Free NOW, asked the Town Board to reinstate a smoking policy that banned smoking inside town vehicles, and on town property, including the outside grounds and parking lot.

Stirk believes that policy would be impossible to enforce, especially when people come to the Town Hall for court. Many of them often take smoke breaks inside their vehicles.

Keenan said the policy could be tailored to allow for smoking inside private vehicles. Town Highway Superintendent Jed Standish last month said he should be allowed to smoke inside his town-issued highway truck.

But Keenan urged the board to not allow smoking in a publicly owned vehicle. Standish could have passengers or another town employee may someday drive that truck, Kennan said.

Neilans, Passarell and Town Councilman Dan Poprawski voted to support reinstating the full smoking ban last month, but Stirk then tabled the vote for more study of the issue.

He postponed a vote on the matter again on Monday, wanting one more month to consider Keenan’s information.

Keenan noted there is a baseball field behind the town building and an elementary school playground across the street. If town employees were allowed to smoke outside on town property, they may be visible to children, Keenan said.

“It’s a social modeling issue,” Keenan said. “There’s an image you’re trying to project.”

He praised the Village Board for banning smoking about two years ago at all village-owned parks. He urged the Town Board to take a similar no-tolerance policy.

“You’re taking a step backwards,” he said about the current policy, which allows smoking outside on town property. “You’re going in the wrong direction.”