Photos by Tom Rivers: The District Office will be upgraded instead of being relocated to the middle school.

ALBION – The Board of Education accepted nearly $10 million in bids from contractors on Monday, with projects touching all three school buildings, the bus garage and athletic facilities.

The projects are part of a $14,370,548 capital project that is 91 percent covered by state funds. District residents approved the capital project on May 19, 2015 by a vote of 313-55.

Contractors last summer worked on roofs that were part of the first phase of the capital project. This year the majority of the overall project will take place.

The Board of Education on Monday approved $8,080,100 in base bids, with alternates pushing the total closer to $9.75 million.

The approved base bids include: DiFiore Construction of Rochester, $1,314,200 for site work; Willett Builders of Amherst, $272,500 for plumbing; Holdsworth Klimowski Construction of Victor, $3,713,000 for general construction; Marc Cerrone Inc. of Niagara Falls, $847,000 for environmental; Bell Mechanical Contractors in East Rochester, $514,400 for HVAC/mechanical; and Suburban Electric of Albion, $1,419,000 for electric.

Albion had some wiggle room for alternates, but not enough to tackle a full list of desired projects. The Board of Education on Monday debated which projects would go forward and which would be scrapped, for now.

The Board of Education opted against a snow melt system for the sidewalk under the front canopy of the elementary school.

The board decided to spend about $300,000 for a new dehumidifier for the swimming pool at the middle school. The dehumidifier should last 15-20 years and improve the air quality and comfort level in the room.

The Board weighed the dehumidifier versus spending $281,000 for a snow melt system under the canopy by the front entrance of the elementary school.

Contractors would have to rip out the sidewalks to install the system, and then put down new concrete, said Kirk Narburgh, managing partner and CEO of King + King Architects in Syracuse. (Narburgh also is an Albion graduate.)

The snow melt system would reduce some rock salt expense and could possibly prevent a workers’ compensation claim, said Shawn Liddle, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

“It would be something that would be nice to have,” he said.

But some board members see the pool as a more pressing priority.

“It seems like when it comes to the pool we just do whatever we can to get by,” said Marlene Seielstad, a board member.

She said the district has “scrimped by” with the pool while “putting hundreds of thousands and millions into other athletic facilities.”

The district also has the option to fix the existing pool dehumidifier for about $55,000, and possibly get another five years out of it. The new system will be larger than the current one, and have more controls for when the pool is being used and when it’s unoccupied. The board decided to go with the big dehumidifier for $300,000.

Margy Brown, the board president, said the pool is used year-round by community members, and many students take swim classes for gym, in addition to the school’s swim teams using the site.

The board also decided against relocating the district office to the middle school, which would have required a million-dollar renovation. The district office will stay at the back of the elementary school, and will get new windows and HVAC upgrades.

The board decided to hold off on replacing the lockers in the high school.

When the district presented the capital project to the community about two years ago, new lockers in the high school were listed among the improvements. There are currently 1,200 lockers that are 9 inches wide.

The district considered replacing them with fewer lockers that would be a foot wide. That would cost $187,000.

District officials said few students use the narrow lockers. But a poll of students showed the new lockers probably wouldn’t get much use, either.

High schoolers are on a block schedule with four classes a day. Most students carry their books in backpacks throughout the day. The board decided against an overhaul of the lockers.

The work approved on Monday as part of phase two of the capital project includes:

District-wide: fire alarm updates and exterior door exit lighting with a generator.

Elementary School: (1956 section) new branch piping with heat, (1956 section) asbestos removal in the crawl space, (1956 section) asbestos removal in ceilings, (1956 section) teaching walls update, relocation of flag pole, main entrance surfacing and radiant heat, pencil post covers, solar shading system on the new wing (south), and additional site lighting (north).

Middle School: upper loading zone sidewalk, site lighting, new windows with the addition done in 2000, chimney work, and HVAC replacement for the pool.

High School: Library renovation and central boiler replacement.

Bus Garage: site lighting, oil separator replacement and floor drains wash bay.

Grounds: football drainage, track surfacing, baseball drainage, dugout foundations, stadium lighting refresh, stadium emergency lights, and underground storage tank removal.

The phase two improvements are scheduled for this year with the bulk of the work over the summer. The district still has about $1 million remaining in the capital project for milling and paving. That is planned for 2018. The district didn’t want to do that while heavy equipment from construction companies was on campus this year.

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Photos by Tom Rivers: Jenny Johnston holds a portrait of her son, Jason, after it was presented to the family on July 27, 2015 by the Patriot Guard Riders.

ALBION – The Albion Board of Education approved a new scholarship on Monday that will honor the memory of Jason Johnston, the only soldier from Orleans County killed in combat in Afghanistan.

Johnston was 24 when he was killed on Dec. 26, 2009 in Arghandab, Afghanistan. He died from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Johnston was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Jason was active in the Explorer program through the Albion Fire Department. His father Brad was an active leader with the youth explorer program, and Jason’s mother Jenny also volunteered with the Fire Department.

The scholarship will be $1,000 annually. It is being funded by the Albion Elks Riders with Tim Keller and Mike Reigle leading the effort. (The Elks Riders have an annual ride in Johnston’s memory in August.)

The scholarship will be awarded to a graduating senior pursuing a career where they can help others, such as a nurse, doctor, firefighter, counselor or other social services.

“The recipient of the award should be of good character, show dedication, effort and potential while working to the best of their,” according to a description of the scholarship provided by the Elks.

“Specialist Johnston believed in the Golden Rule – ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’”

Albion High School students line East Avenue in front of the school during the funeral procession for Jason Johnston on Jan. 5, 2010.

Scholarship applicants need to write an essay about why they believe in the Golden Rule and how they have demonstrated this belief in his or her life.

The $1,000 scholarship will be presented at class night with funds awarded after successful completion of first semester in college.

The Board of Education on Monday also approved a change in an annual $1,500 scholarship in memory of Robert Van Deusen, a former primary school principal in Albion who passed away at age 91 on Sept. 26, 2016. The scholarship was started in 1983. It will now continue through the Albion Alumni Foundation rather than being managed by the school district. The scholarship is awarded to a student who worked with young children, perhaps through Scouting. The scholarship winner needs to be working towards a career in human services, such as teaching or nursing.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Hoag Library this morning unveiled a plaque naming the children’s library in honor of Helen Rice Blissett. Her son, Dale Blissett, is pictured after the plaque was unveiled this morning.

Mr. Blissett donated $75,000 to have the children’s library named in his mother’s honor and also to support children’s programs at Hoag.

“It will be enriching the little kids’ lives for years to come,” he said during a dedication program.

Blissett is a retired Oakfield-Alabama science teacher. He lives in Albion and stops by the Hoag Library two or three times most weeks. He sees how busy the library, a site that opened in July 2012, has become.

“It’s nice to see little kids who are 2 or 3 come down and say, ‘I’m going to read a book,’” Blissett said.

Aurora Fink, 2 ½ of Bergen, looks over a book in the children’s library today. Her grandmother, Barb Kyler, works as assistant to the library director.

Dale Blissett and Library Director Betty Sue Miller, right, welcome people to the dedication of the children’s library. It’s the last room to have the naming rights claimed in the library, which opened in July 2012.

The library handed out buttons today in honor of the Helen Rice Blissett Children’s Library.

Mrs. Blissett passed away in 1999. Her son said she had an “infectious smile” and loved children.

Helen Blissett and her husband John both worked at Delco in Rochester. They moved into the village after running a farm on Hindsburg Road in Clarendon.

Their son, Dale, spent a lot of time at Swan Library as a kid, and books about science and geography opened his mind, and led him to pursue a career as a science teacher at Oakfield-Alabama.

Some of the money from Blissett will go towards paying down the mortgage on the building, and some of the funds will be dedicated to children’s programming, said Kevin Doherty, president of the library board of trustees.

Hoag is working on refinancing the mortgage, which is currently $1.4 million with a variable rate through Farm Credit. Doherty said the library is looking for a fixed rate over 20 years.

Doherty thanked Blissett for the donation, saying it was particularly meaningful coming from “a regular patron who see’s what’s going on in the library.”

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File photo by Tom Rivers: The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, which became privately owned on Jan. 1, 2015, was added to the tax rolls for the first time in 2015 at a $6,618,900 assessment. An acting State Supreme Court justice reduced the assessment to $5 million after a challenge by the new owners.

(Editor’s Note: Orleans Hub is a little late reporting the assessment legal fight for the former county-owned nursing home in Albion, but we wanted to let the community know how the issue played out in court.)

ALBION – When the former county-owned nursing home went on the tax rolls for the first time in 2015, the site was assessed for a $6,618,900.

Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC paid $7.8 million on for the 120-bed Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center on Route 31 in Albion. The sale was effective on Jan. 1, 2015.

The new owners filed a challenge to the assessment, saying the site should be valued at $2.5 million.

The site is just outside the Village of Albion so Comprehensive is spared paying the village tax rate of $17.66 per $1,000 of assessed property.

However, it pays $31.44 per $1,000 cumulative for the other tax rates (Town of Albion, $4.04; Albion Central School, $15.43; Orleans County, $9.77; Hoag Library, $1.27; and for fire protection, 93 cents).

Every $1 million in assessment accounts for $31,440 in taxes. A $6,618,900 assessment would result in a $208,098 tax bill for the nursing home owners.

The owners and the Town of Albion, which determines the assessment, reached a settlement putting the value at $5 million. Judge James Punch, acting Supreme Court justice, approved the settlement with an order signed July 15, 2016.

The settlement sets the assessment at $5 million for six years, going back to 2015-16, and keeping the value at $5 million until 2020-21, unless Comprehensive does more than $500,000 in improvements to the property.

The settlement saves Comprehensive $50,898 in taxes annually, based on a combined rate of $31.44. The taxing jurisdictions will receive $157,200 each year. When the site was owned by the county, it didn’t generate any tax revenues for the local governments.

In Medina, Orchard Manor had been tax exempt until it was acquired by Global Health Care in 2012. Orchard Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Bates Road was owned by Medina Memorial Hospital.

The site sold for $4.1 million and assessors determined that was the assessed value for 160-bed facility.

The new owners filed a tax challenge, saying assessment should be $410,000. Global Health pays about $225,000 in property taxes with a combined tax rate of about $55 per $1,000 of assessed property, which includes a $17.66 rate for being in the Village of Medina.

Global, however, has withdrawn the assessment challenge and is paying taxes on a property assessed at $4.1 million.

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Benefit planned for Saturday at Elks to assist Carr family

Provided photo: The Albion Lions Club last Friday presented a $1,000 check to Fonda and Don Carr of Barre. Lions Club President Mary Janet Sahukar, right, and Lions member Dale Brooks presented the check.

ALBION – Fonda and Don Carr said they continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of the community following an early morning explosion at their home in Barre on Christmas.

The couple feels lucky to have escaped without serious injuries. Their house on Wilkins Road was engulfed in flames at about 4 in the morning.

The Carrs lost all of their possessions. The community has responded, giving more than $25,000 through a GoFundMe, and making other donations. The Albion Lions Club on Friday gave the Carrs a check for $1,000.

This Saturday, a chicken barbecue and basket raffle with four bands performing will be from 4 to 10 p.m. at the Elks Club, 428 West State St. The event will provide additional support for the Carr family, who did have homeowners’ insurance.

Mrs. Carr, a long-time substitute teacher for Albion and Medina, and Mr. Carr, a retired mechanic and operator from Iroquois Rock Products in Brockport, are staying in an apartment in Albion.

They are eager to rebuild at their property in Barre. The site needs to be cleared before a house can be built.

Provided photo: Fire broke out on Christmas, destroying the home of Fonda and Donald Carr at 4760 Wilkins Rd.

“People have been absolutely wonderful,” Mrs. Carr said. “Both of us are overwhelmed with the generosity, and the love and support that have been shown to us.”

The four bands performing on Saturday include The Who Dats, Eagle Creek, Chris Moore and Distant View.

Many people have also contributed to the baskets that will be up for raffle.

“I hope someday we can repay the favor,” Mrs. Carr said. “It’s a wonderful community we’re in. We’re very grateful for our family, friends and people we don’t even know who have helped us.”

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ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board supported a new 8,000-square-foot recycling center on Washington Street in the Village of Albion.

The board on Thursday recommended the village approve the site plan for the new building that will be a construction and demolition debris processing facility for ARG Services, which is owned by Anthony Gramuglia.

ARG moved its headquarters to 366 Washington St., the former New York State Electric and Gas building. The new building will be next door and will process building materials in an enclosed space.

Dan Strong, the Albion town code enforcement officer, asked the Planning Board to hold off on a vote because he said the town attorney wanted to review the issue. The village is the lead agency on the project, but the new building is also in the town.

Strong said the town code prohibits a recycling center for construction and demolition debris.

ARG plans to use the new building to process roof shingles, drywall, wood-framing debris and other building materials. Strong said the use may not be allowed within the town.

But other Planning Board members said the project is in the village, which is the lead agency and its zoning ordiance supercedes the town’s in this case.

“Town laws don’t typically affect village operations,” said Sarah Gatti, a planner with the County Planning Department.

The Planning Board’s decision is an advisory opinion. The village still has the final vote on the project. The town still has time to reach out to the village if town officials believe the project shouldn’t be allowed based on the town code.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Dale Blissett of Albion is pictured at the Hoag Library in Albion in front of the children’s library, which will be dedicated in his mother’s honor on Feb. 4.

ALBION – The children’s library at the Hoag Library on Feb. 4 will be dedicated to Helen Blissett, a hard-working Albion woman with a big heart for kids.

“She always loved little kids,” said her son, Dale Blissett, who is making a $75,000 donation in honor of his mother, who passed away in 1999. “Her big thing was, ‘How can I help you?’”

Helen Blissett and her husband John both worked at Delco in Rochester. They moved into the village after running a farm.

Their son, Dale, spent a lot of time at Swan Library as a kid, and books about science and geography opened his mind, and led him to pursue a career as a science teacher at Oakfield-Alabama.

Mr. Blissett, 79, visits the Hoag Library two or three times a week.

“I like to learn,” he said today.

He sees how popular the library is, drawing people of all backgrounds.

“My mother would enjoy seeing children have opportunities to learn,” Blissett said. “This is a good investment in the community. We’re very fortunate to have a library like this.”

The new Hoag Library opened in July 2012. The children’s library was the remaining room that hadn’t been claimed by a large donor.

There will be a program at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 4 when the children’s library is named for Helen Rice Blissett. A plaque will be unveiled in her honor.

That day includes many other children’s activities at the library including a storytime at 10:15, a program from the Seneca Park Zoo at 11:30, crafts at 12:45 and a movie with popcorn at 2 p.m.

The library also recently received a $50,000 contribution from the estate of the late Elio D’Andrea. The library is considering ways to recognize D’Andrea for that gift.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Billy Martin’s Cole All-Star Circus returned to Albion this evening and its cast performed many daring feats inside the high school gym. This photo shows Jingxia Xue with a glass balancing routine that awed the crowd.

The circus was in Holley on Tuesday and has two shows (5 and 7:15 p.m.) in Medina on Friday at the middle school, and will be at Kendall 7 p.m. on Jan. 27. Click here to see the full schedule.

This dog is dressed as Elsa from Frozen while the song, “Let It Go,” was played during the circus. Joanne Wilson & Her Little Stars featured several dogs in costume. Wilson trains dogs that are all rescues. She also makes the costumes.

Wilson and one of her dogs enjoy the applause from the crowd.

Roger Vaila is a long-time performer for Cole All-Star Circus. His comedic act this year includes a game of musical chairs with some audience participation. Alana Irvine, left, of Albion won the game.

Chinese contortionist Ting Li performs an impressive feat by balancing five candelabras.

At intermission, people could hold this large python. This group, from left, includes: Zoey Lathrop, Aleaah Vallejo, Gavin Smith, Aydin Vallejo and Lluliana Lopez, all of Albion.

Gina Sidari of Albion isn’t afraid of the snake.

Jingxia Xue Chinese did a foot juggling routine and balanced a table on one foot.

Roger Vaila rides a unicycle while his daughter Violet stands on his shoulders.

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ALBION – The Town of Albion has been approved for two state grants that will replace a small bridge on Clarendon Road and also pay $50,000 towards a new highway truck.

Highway Superintendent Michael Neidert said he was notified the state approved a $174,000 grant for the small bridge on Clarendon Road, just north of Holley Road. The bridge is about 14 feet long, Neidert said.

That funding is available through a $200 million bridge rehabilitation program announced last July by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Neidert said the town will work with engineer Paul Chatfield to prepare bid specifications for the project, which is 100 percent state funded. Neidert said it could go out to contractors for bid possibly as soon as February. He expects construction would start after the school year and be done in the summer.

“It’s one of the main roads leading to the backside of the school,” Neidert said.

The town also has been approved for a $50,000 grant from State Sen. Robert Ortt through the State & Municipal Facilities Capital Program (SAM). Those funds will go towards the $80,000 cost to replace a single-axle truck.

That truck won’t have plow equipment but will be useful for many projects, Neidert said.

“It upgrades our equipment by replacing a truck from 1993,” he said.

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Company opens office in downtown Albion

Photo by Tom Rivers: Apex Clean Energy has opened an office in Albion at 49 North Main St.

BARRE – Apex Clean Energy is inviting community members to open houses to learn more about a proposed 200-megawatt wind energy project in the Town of Barre.

Apex last year announced its plan for “Heritage Wind” in Barre. The project would include much of Barre, except a buffer area near Pine Hill Airport on the west side of town.

Heritage Wind has scheduled an open house for Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Barre Town Hall, 14317 West Barre Rd.

A second open house is planned for Saturday, Feb. 11, from 2 to 4  p.m. at the Heritage Wind Office, 49 North Main St. in Albion.

“Heritage Wind is still in the very early stages of project design and the pre-application stage of permitting. We just submitted our Public Involvement Program plan this past fall,” says Heritage Project Developer Ben Yazman. “We have enjoyed the dialogue now under way with stakeholders and are excited to open our new office in Albion.”

To see the Public Involvement Plan check the link on the NYS Department of Public Service by clicking here. That site also includes a map of the proposed project area.

Heritage Wind says the 200-megawatt project would provide about $1.6 million in payments to taxing jurisdictions in Barre each year over 30 years, “with additional indirect economic benefits greatly exceeding that number.”

The 200 megawatts is enough electricity for 53,000 homes, Apex said.

Heritage Wind invites the community to stop by the Albion office if there are questions about the project. Heritage Wind team members can be reached at 585-563-5137 or info@heritagewindpower.com. Office hours will be posted at www.heritagewindpower.com.

Apex Clean Energy also is working on Lighthouse Wind, a wind energy project in the towns of Yates and Somerset.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Scott Baker, owner of Park & Play in Cazenovia, installs new playground equipment at Bullard Park last June. A state grant from Sen. Rob Ortt for $50,000 paid for about half the cost of that equipment.

ALBION – The Village of Albion was awarded $649,629 in grants in 2016, which village officials said was a big turn on its investment in a grantwriter.

“Those are pretty good results,” Mayor Dean London said during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting.

The village in 2015 hired J O’Connell & Associates from Clarence at $34,000 annually to put together grant applications for the village.

The firm had five successful grant applications in 2016, highlighted by $499,605 from the state for improvements at Bullard Park, including a new splash pad, amphitheater and other upgrades.

Other successful grants included:

• $75,000 from the state “Local Initiatives Support Corporation” to address “zombie” properties – a remediation plan for vacant houses.

• $50,000 for Bullard Park from the State. Sen. Robert Ortt through the State and Municipal Facilities Program. Those funds covered about half the costs of the new playground at Bullard.

• $23,344 in a drinking water fluoridation grant through the State Department of Health.

• $1,500 from the Landmark Society of Western New York for study of the chapel at Mount Albion Cemetery.

J O’Connell & Associates submitted a report detailing the grant activity for 2016. The firm also noted a $500,000 grant from the state for Main Street improvements was denied. The village wants to pursue that funding again in 2017.

O’Connell also applied for a grant for a historic marker from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, but was denied in that request.

Other grant applications are pending, including a $267,110 request through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for pagers, and $2,000 from the Rochester Area Community Foundation towards a playground.

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ALBION – The Village Board approved two resolutions on Wednesday seeking more state AIM funding and also money for hosting two prisons in the community.

The board voted after seeing the resolutions and issues detailed in the Orleans Hub: “Editorial: Increasing AIM funding would be big boost to poverty-stricken villages” and “Editorial: NY should give ‘prison towns’ funds for being hosts to sprawling sites with a negative stigma.”

The AIM issue, where New York gives $277 in aid per capita to city residents and only $7 to village and town residents, has vexed the village for several years.

The Albion Village Board has gone on the record previously seeking an end in disparity for Aid and Incentives to Municipalities.

Trustee Peter Sidari said AIM funds for Albion on par with the City of Salamanca’s AIM dollars would have a dramatic impact in Albion.

Albion and its 6,056 residents receive $38,811 in AIM funding. Salamanca in Cattaraugus County is nearly the same size with 5,815 people. Salamanca gets $928,131 in AIM funding.

“First thing we could do is lower the taxes, that’s the biggest thing,” Sidari said if the AIM funding for Albion was at Salamanca’s level.

Albion’s village tax rate of $17.66 per $1,000 of assessed property is one of the highest in the region despite the village reducing staff in recent years.

“We could build up different areas,” Sidari said. “But first and foremost is too allay some of the taxes.”

While the AIM disparity has raised the ire of many villages for years, the idea of a host community benefits package for a “prison town” seems to be a new concept. Albion is believed to be the first municipality to pass a resolution asking the Governor and State Legislature to provide revenue for communities with prisons.

Orleans Hub, in an editorial on Wednesday, suggested the state provide $1 each day per inmate for the host community.

Albion has two prisons with about 2,000 inmates total. If the state provided $1 per day for each inmate, in Albion that would add up to $730,000. Orleans Hub suggested divvying up that money using a typical PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) plan used by the Economic Development Agency. The EDA takes the tax rates from each municipality and calculates a pro-rated share of the money based on the rates.

With that formula, in Albion the town would get 10 percent of prison money, the county 20 percent, and the village and school district would each receive 35 percent. That would be about $73,000 for town, $146,000 for county and $255,500 each for both village and school district. (That would lower the village taxes by about 11 percent.)

State-wide, $1 per inmate per day would add up to about $20 million annually to be shared among the “prison towns.”

Communities with landfills, industrial-sized wind turbines and video gaming centers all receive financial compensation for having those facilities. (The communities with video gaming centers received $29.3 million from the state in 2016.)

The Albion Village Board is sending the resolutions to Gov. Cuomo, local members of the State Legislature and also the New York Conference of Mayors, hoping that group would take up the issues in its legislative committee.

Village Trustee Eileen Banker, chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley, abstained from voting on the resolutions, although she said she supports both proposals.

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Provided photo

ALBION – Two Albion students competed at an American Legion Oratorical district level competition on Sunday in Buffalo. Melissa Barnosky, left, came in second and Emily Blanchard won first place. Emily also won the Albion and Orleans County competitions.

Blanchard is a senior at Albion and Barnosky is a sophomore. They will next compete at the zone level competition on Feb. 11 in Mount Morris.

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