ALBION – The nine-member Albion Board of Education was unanimous on Monday in stating its support for a school resource officer to work in the district. The BOE said the details need to be worked out with Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni and the Albion Village Board.

“We’re all in agreement that this is a positive thing for the district,” Brown said after polling board members during Monday’s meeting.

The Village Board last week said it would support having an Albion police officer work in the schools. Chief Nenni said it would cost about $81,250 in salary and benefits to add the officer. In addition to helping make the schools more secure and build relationships with students and staff, Nenni said adding the resource officer would also help the department with its staffing during the summer.

The BOE wants to pin down the costs to the district – how much of $81,250 would the school district be expected to pay? The school year is 180 days and the officer’s full-time workload wouldn’t be fully devoted to the district during a calendar year.

The BOE also wants to know the hiring procedure for the officer, and if a backup resource officer would be available if the person assigned to the school isn’t on duty.

Nenni and school officials met last month to discuss the position. The Police Department used to have an officer assigned to the district until about a decade ago.

The police chief said an officer could be trained and ready to start with the district by Jan. 1.

Medina Central School pays the Village of Medina $60,000 to have an officer work at the district during the school year, while Lyndonville and Kendall this year are each paying the county $100,000 to have a deputy from the Sheriff’s Office work as school resource officer.

Since the Orleans Hub reported last Wednesday that the district and village were discussing the school resource officer, Brown said she has heard mostly positive comments from the community, but she told board members not everyone wants a police presence at the school district.

“The feedback is not all positive and I’ll just leave it at that,” she said.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The community has turned out for a benefit today for Lucas O’Connor, 15, who recently had a brain tumor removed and will need brain scans every three months to make sure the tumor hasn’t returned.

Lucas is pictured with his parents, Jodi and Kevin, at the Elks Club this afternoon, where there is a benefit from 2 to 6 p.m. There are nearly 100 items up for raffle. The beef on wick dinner is a sellout.

“It’s amazing, the generosity of everybody,” said Lucas’s father, Kevin. “So much of the media is negative but this is really about people caring about people.”

Lucas was wrestling last October when he sustained a mild concussion. A CT scan and MRI showed that some of the bone near Lucas’s left ear had changed. He was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor (chondromyxiod fibroma).

That concussion proved to be a blessing, Mr. O’Connor said. Lucas didn’t have any symptoms that the tumor was growing in his skull.

“It’s amazing how God works,” Mr. O’Connor said.

Lucas endured two procedures before he had full craniotomy on July 26 by a team of specialists in New York City. The tumor was benign. Doctors want to check him every three months because the tumor often comes back and is fast-growing.

“He is a fighter,” O’Connor said about his son. “You can’t keep him down.”

Members of the football and wrestling teams are serving the beef on weck dinners. Bryce Pritchard, center, and Jessy Cruz check the potatoes.

Lucas is ready to take the tickets for the dinners. He is joined by his friends Sam Williams, left, and Presley Smith. Presley’s parents, Julie and Ken Smith, were key organizers for the benefit. Sam’s mother, Karen Williams, also was instrumental in the effort.

Tom Smith (left), his brother Gary Smith and Gary’s wife Ronda perform during the benefit.

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Splash pad will be constructed next year

Photo by Tom Rivers: The basketball hoop at Bullard Park is pictured in this file photo from Aug. 4, 2015.

ALBION – Members of the Rebuild Bullard Committee told the Village Board on Wednesday they are frustrated by a lack of progress in some of the high-profile improvements planned for Bullard Park, including an amphitheater and splash pad.

Ron Albertson, president of the Albion Lions Club and one of the Rebuild Bullard leaders, say residents tell him they are excited for the upgrades but wonder why it’s taking so long.

The village in December 2016 was awarded a $499,605 state grant for Bullard improvements with the village providing $166,370 with in kind-services or funding.

The overall $665,975 project includes a spray park, amphitheater/performance stage, a walking/hiking trail with signage, infrastructure (water and sewer) for the spray park, a utility building, and parking lot and lighting improvements.

“Are you committed to it?” Albertson asked the board members.

The board members say they are committed to the project. This year there have been unexpected pressing assignments that pulled the Department of Public Works from working on the amphitheater. Albertson had hoped that performance stage would be in place for the Rock the Park concert in August.

The amphitheater was supposed to be a pre-fab building that would be easy to construct. But it is instead a stick build that will require a big effort, more than the DPW can do and still get paving projects done before winter, Jay Pahura, the DPW superintendent, said at Wednesday’s meeting.

“It’s an Erector set,” Pahura said. “My guys are not comfortable with it.”

The village may have the structure built by a contractor. Any in-kind hours from the DPW or dollars spent by a contractor would count towards the village’s local share for the project.

The DPW needed to work this summer on Route 31 as part of the state’s repaving. The DPW reset 25 manholes, and put in new water and sewer infrastructure from 31 to the edge of the park. Lines can be run from that spot once the final layout is determined for the spray park and possibly new bathrooms. (The DPW also had to run a 700-foot water line on West Academy Street so the new RTS Orleans transportation facility would have adequate water pressure for its sprinkler system, another unexpected project for the DPW.)

The spray park was planned to be behind the playground equipment in the middle of the park. Mayor Eileen Banker worries about vandalism with the splash pad, especially in light of frequent damage to the bathrooms at Bullard this year.

“I’m committed but I’m very nervous about the splash pad,” Banker said. “We’ve seen so much damage with our bathrooms at Bullard.”

Police Chief Roland Nenni urged the board to have the splash park closer to road with lighting. He thinks a more visible location would deter vandals.

“Let’s design it so we’re dealing with these problems,” the police chief said.

The spray park is on schedule to be built in 2019, Trustee Gary Katsanis said.

The board said the village will follow through with the park improvements. Not doing so would jeopardize future grants for Albion. The board also wants to see the park better utilized as a draw for the community.

“It has to get done or we as a village will be in trouble,” Katsanis said.

The grant application called for 6,000 hours of work from the DPW, the equivalent of three full-time workers spending a year on the project. Katsanis said that wasn’t a realistic commitment, given the many other projects for the DPW.

“This was a planning failure, a failure of foresight,” he said.

Katsanis and Banker both said the village will push forward with the project and strive to communicate any updates with the Rebuild Bullard Committee.

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ALBION – The school district and village are both pushing to have an Albion police officer assigned full-time as a school resource officer, hopefully by the end of this calendar year.

Police Chief Roland Nenni met with school officials during the Board of Education meeting on Sept. 10 to discuss having an officer assigned to Albion Central School.

Both the Village Board and Board of Education want to make a resource officer a reality.

“We’re very much in favor,” said Margy Brown, the Board of Education president. “We’re definitely moving in that direction. The board wants it and I believe it will happen.”

The district and village used to have a partnership for a school resource officer but that stopped about a decade ago. Officers with the Albion Police Department have stepped up their presence at the district in recent years, but no officer is assigned to the schools.

Nenni said officers who stop by often are called away for other incidents in the village. A school resource officer would devoted to the district full-time, except for July and August when the officer would be on regular road patrols.

The district and village are trying to determine the cost. Nenni this evening told the Village Board he believes the cost of the officer, salary and benefits, is $81,250.

Kendall and Lyndonville have both added school resource officers this school year and are paying the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office $100,000 to have a deputy assigned to each district. Medina Central School pays the Village of Medina $60,000 to have an officer assigned to the district during the school year.

Nenni said members of the school district will help determine which officer would work at the district. He said a new position would be created in the department and the position would be posted through Civil Service.

“The officer works for us but he is a resource for the district,” Nenni told the Village Board this evening. “I think it would be an amazing thing.”

The police chief said the officer would provide security for the district, and he sees the role of “relationship building” as another big benefit of having an officer devoted to the schools.

Nenni said he is pleased with the reception from the district. He is hopeful the school resource officer can be a long-term position.

“Things are great right now with the partnership between us and them,” he said.

Brown, the Board of Education president, said the board will likely discuss the position during its next meeting on Monday.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Angie Wolfe is pictured with her 6-year-old son, Caleb, during a spaghetti dinner benefit and basket raffle today at the Albion Elks Club. Her friends, family and co-workers at Albion Central School organized the event to help her while she battles breast cancer.

Wolfe, a kindergarten teacher at Albion, was diagnosed with cancer in March. She had surgery in April and went through chemotherapy from May until her last treatment on Sept. 4.

She is hopeful she can return to the classroom in October or November. She also will be undergoing immunotherapy which she said shouldn’t be as taxing as chemo.

“I am absolutely amazed by the love and support from the community,” Wolfe said at a packed Elks Club. “I had a lot of happy tears today.”

Angie Wolfe, 42, gets a hug from third grader Julia Graham. Wolfe grew up in Albion and has taught at the Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School for 18 years, the first five as a first grade teacher and the last 13 in kindergarten.

Many of her former students and their families attended today’s benefit.

“I love my job,” Wolfe said. “I love the kids and they are giving back today.”

The community donated about 200 baskets that were raffled off.

Lisa Wilson, Myleigh Miller and Damian Wilson (Lisa’s son) volunteered at the front table. Lisa has known Angie Wolfe since they were in second grade. Lisa considers Angie an aunt to her children. Lisa helped organize today’s benefit and she said people were eager to donate to the effort.

“So many kids love her,” Wilson said. “She makes learning fun for them. She makes all of the kids feel special.”

Cindy Newlands, left, and Joyce Allport were among the many volunteers in the kitchen. They served 400 spaghetti dinners by 5 p.m., with an hour still to go.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A pep band of current students and alumni added to the fun atmosphere on Friday evening when Albion beat Depew, 35-0, during a game at homecoming. Albion is now 4-0 on the season.

Hannah Olles, 7, joins her mother, Marissa Olles, in the alumni stand, where purple beads, popcorn and Albion Purple Eagle merchandise were in demand.

The varsity team takes the field and heads through a balloon arch held up by the cheerleaders.

For more coverage of the game, click here to go to Local Sports.

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Photo courtesy of Sue Starkweather Miller

ALBION – Albion celebrated a festive homecoming week this week with a pep rally and the crowning of the homecoming court. Pictured from left include: McKenna Boyer (Queen), Harrison Brown (King), Ryan Krenning (Prince), Alaina Fleming (Princess), Bailey Blanchard (Duke), Faith Woody (Duchess), Leah Pritchard (Lady) and Tyler Gibson (Lord).

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Provided photos

ALBION – Albion seventh-graders Finn McCue, left, and Jett Conn are pictured on the Erie Canal towpath by the Gaines Basin Road bridge. A new path from the towpath to the road was recently created by the State Canal Corporation.

Students in the seventh grade service learning class urged the canal to create the path. Panek Farms allowed the Canal Corp. to clear the path so people could more easily get on the towpath.

The area nearby has some tourism potential. A historic marker noting the northernmost point on the canal is on the towpath, just west of the bridge. A historic cobblestone schoolhouse also is near the canal on Gaines Basin Road.

Finn McCue, left, and Jett Conn repainted the letters on the sign for Tanner Cemetery, a burial site for many pioneer and early residents. The cemetery is on Route 31, across from Mount Albion. The Town of Albion maintains the cemetery and donated supplies for the students to work on the sign.

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Former mayoral candidate worries exemption will shift more burden to other taxpayers

ALBION – The Albion Village Board approved a tax exemption for veterans last week that will save eligible veterans about $100 a year in their village taxes.

Mayor Eileen Banker said veterans are deserving of the tax break. It won’t take effect for about two years, she said.

“This is something we feel we should do,” she said during a public hearing last Wednesday.

The board approved the exemption despite concerns from two residents that the exemptions would cause taxes to increase for other residents.

Joyce Riley and Jason Dragon, who both ran for the Village Board in March, said Albion village taxpayers are already burdened with one of the highest tax rates in the area. The board shouldn’t have approved the veterans’ exemptions without a plan to reduce the taxes for all residents, said Riley, who ran for mayor in March.

“It shouldn’t be an add-on for those of us paying the full tax burden,” she said. “Our taxes are substantially high. Until our tax burden comes down then we could look at those things (exemptions).”

Banker said the exemptions’ impact on taxes are about equal to each person in the village buying a large pizza. The village’s tax assessments went up in the current budget and she is optimistic more home repairs will keep the tax base growing, which should keep the tax rate in check.

The village tax rate for 2018-19 is $17.73 per $1,000 of assessed property, which compares with $14.12 in Lyndonville, and $15.65 in Holley. In Medina, property owners in Ridgeway pay a $18.71-rate while in Shelby the village rate is $17.18.

Dragon, a village trustee candidate in March, said Albion needs to make significant reductions in the tax rate to be attractive for residents and businesses.

Similar-size villages in other counties that offer similar services as Albion have lower tax rates. In Brockport, the rate is $11.98. In Le Roy the rate is $10.71.

Earl Schmidt, director of the Veterans Service Agency in Orleans County, has been pushing the Albion Village Board for two tax exemptions for veterans.

Schmidt said there are 179 veterans in the village that would be eligible for an Alternative Veterans Maximum Exemption.

Albion approved that exemption at three categories: Wartime – 15 percent off or $6,000 maximum; Combat – 10 percent or $10,000 maximum; Disability 50 percent off or $20,000 maximum.

The Village Board also approved an exemption for Cold War Veterans at 10 percent off or a maximum $6,000 reduction off their assessment. There are 13 veterans in the village that would be eligible for that benefit.

If a veteran was approved for the $6,000 exemption, it would lower the taxable assessment by $6,000. With the tax rate at $17.73, the exemption would save the veteran $106.38 on the village tax bill.

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