By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 August 2022 at 4:14 pm
ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board is supporting the site plan for 12,659-square-foot building at 3594 Butts Rd., a site that will be a 25-bed women and children community residence.
The Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse plans to develop 3.5 acres for the project. GCASA acquired 9 acres of land from the Orleans Economic Development Agency.
“The EDA was very happy to secure services for residents,” said Paul Hendel, the EDA board chairman and also a member of the Orleans County Planning Board.
The project includes a 25-foot-wide driveway and a parking lot with 27 spaces. The residence will be staffed 24-7 by GCASA.
Five of the units will be for women with space for up to two preschool-age children in each of those units. Residents can stay for up to six months. The women in the residence will have on-site addiction programs and learn other life skills. Staying with their children increases their chances for recovery and success, said Kathy Hodgins, GCASA’s chief clinical officer.
The Planning Board last Thursday recommended the Town of Albion approve the project. One issue that needs to be settled is the property having access to the Village of Albion sewer as an out-of-district user.
Dan Strong, the code enforcement officer for the town, said an agreement is expected soon between the village and town for sewer services. A draft proposal calls for the town to be charged an extra $500 a year for the GCASA connection and then a 2 percent annual increase. GCASA will be charged 125 percent of the sewer rate to village users.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 July 2022 at 7:42 am
ALBION – The Village Board on Wednesday approved running an electric line at Bullard Park that will serve a new scoreboard for youth football.
The village will pay for the $5,500 cost as part of its share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The electric service will be extended from near the new bathrooms and pavilion to the youth football playing field. The 100 amp line will be big enough to serve other possible uses in the future, said Village Trustee Tim McMurray.
The youth football and cheerleading program raised money for the scoreboard through many fundraisers.
Bullard Park has long hosted Albion youth football teams, but the park hasn’t had a working scoreboard for years. Mark Cammilleri, owner of the local Burger King, also donated $4,300 scoreboard which has been delivered and is ready to be installed.
A group of volunteers and the Albion Department of Public Works will work on the scoreboard installation. Aric Albright, the sewer plant chief operator and electrician, and Jay Pahura, the DPW superintendent, will take the lead with the electric service.
Albion has been the only team in the youth football league without a scoreboard and the team often gets fined by the league about $50 every home game it doesn’t have one.
Not having the scoreboard also is challenging for spectators, players and coaches who often aren’t sure of the score and how much time is left on the clock.
In other action on Wednesday, the Village Board accepted the resignation of Jessica Saraceno from the Albion Police Department.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 July 2022 at 5:53 pm
Agreement would give Albion 2 SROs if contract renewed with Albion PD
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature approved a two-year contract today where a deputy sheriff will be assigned to Albion Central School as a school resource officer.
The deputy is expected to be the second school resource officer at the district. Chris Glogowski, an Albion police officer, has served in the role since February 2019. The contract between the school district and Albion Police Department expired June 30.
Sheriff Chris Bourke said it is expected the Albion PD will continue to have an officer at the school and would work in tandem with the deputy. Bourke said the school campus is a big place for one officer.
The agreement approved today by the Legislature would reimburse the county about $94,000 annually. That includes $502.10 per day in the 2022-2023 school year and $510.26 per day the following school year.
Overtime will be $61.05 per hour the first year and $62.53 per hour the second year.
The contract runs from Sept. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. The deputy will be off as school resource officer in the summer and will work with the Sheriff’s Office in other duties in July and August.
The Sheriff’s Office will also provide a fully equipped patrol vehicle for the school resource officer.
Kendall and Lyndonville also contract with the Sheriff’s Office for a school resource officer.
Bourke said position will be posted with the deputy to start at the school on Sept. 1.
The new position was created by the Legislature today and won’t take away from the existing deputy positions in the Sheriff’s Office.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 July 2022 at 9:46 pm
Provided photo
ALBION – Santa Claus read a story and met with children during a Christmas in July celebration at Hoag Library today. Santa is wearing his summer “Santa casual” outfit. He read to the students.
Santa wasn’t able to meet with kids in-person during Christmas time visit to the library in late 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions and concerns.
Photos by Tom Rivers
In addition to meeting with Santa, the kids had an indoor snowball fight. The children also played reindeer ring toss and made ornaments as part of a summer reading program.
ALBION – Albion Central School is holding a job fair on Tuesday, August 16, from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. in the District Office, Conference Room A.
Interested applicants can call ahead for an appointment, walk-in or attend for further information. Please enter through the elementary school community entrance and bring a photo ID.
The district is looking to fill numerous positions including: substitute teachers, substitute teacher aides, cafeteria monitors, substitute cafeteria monitors, cleaners, substitute cleaners, bus drivers, substitute bus drivers, custodial workers, bus monitors, substitute bus monitors and any open teaching positions.
For questions, more information or to schedule an interview, please call the district office at 585-589-2056.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 July 2022 at 9:55 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Vickie Elsenheimer, left, and Laurie Banker serve fried chicken dinners on Saturday next to Arnold’s Auto Parts on North Liberty Street in Albion. They are members of the Royal Body Shop Outreach Ministries. In back are the church’s pastor Albert Wilson, left, and Jeff Elsenheimer.
The Royal Body Shop served 220 dinners on Saturday. Proceeds from the dinner will go towards the ministries’ fund to offer free community events. Some of the Royal Bod Shop community programs included gifts and activities as part of Christmas celebration, an egg hunt near Easter and a Juneteenth celebration at Bullard Park.
This 1987 Ford Mustang was one of about 40 classic cars at a cruise-in as part of the event.
John Hollenbeck, 12, tries to rally support for a 50/50 drawing. His family is active in the Albion Masonic Lodge which helped with the event on Saturday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 July 2022 at 8:17 am
ALBION – The Albion Village Board removed “provisional” from Albion Police Chief David Mogle’s title on Wednesday.
David Mogle
Mogle recently passed the Civil Service test for police chief. He has been leading the Albion Police Department since Roland Nenni retired on March 31, 2021.
Mogle has worked with the Albion PD for 14 years. His appointment was made permanent by the Village Board on Wednesday. His base salary is $95,000, which doesn’t include any longevity pay.
Mogle leads a department with 12 other officers. He said he prefers the small-town atmosphere in Albion.
“The people here treat us like human beings,” he said about the Albion community. “The people wave to us and say hi. It’s just different.”
Mogle said smaller departments like Albion face retention challenges because they don’t pay as much as city and larger suburban departments. Some of those departments can offer lifetime health insurance, which is too costly for Albion.
But Albion is more attractive for officers in other ways, mainly with a community atmosphere that is respectful of officers.
Mogle and his family are committed to Albion. Mogle’s wife Amber Mogle owns the Roots hair salon on East Bank Street. Mogle father, David Mogle, owns DK Autobody on Childs Street. Mogle and Albion police officer Chris Glogowski also teamed up to open The Coffee Joint in downtown Albion in October.
The Village Board on Wednesday also voted to make Lt. Brandon Annable’s salary at $90,000 a year, plus longevity pay.
In other action on Wednesday, the Board:
• Approved Owen Frederiay and Vincent Tarricone as new members of the Albion Fire Department.
• Voted to create a Civil Service position with a full-time water plant operator trainee position. Chief operator Adam Rush said a senior operator who is also the lab director will soon be retiring and trainee can work alongside that employee. Rush said the village reduced the full-time positions at the water plant by two in 2012.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 July 2022 at 10:54 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: A basketball hoop at Bullard Park manages to stand out in the snow in this photo from Feb. 6, 2021.
ALBION – The village has been approved for a $40,000 grant from the James and Juli Boeheim Foundation towards two new basketball courts at Bullard Park.
The Village Board announced on Wednesday the funding was approved and the board thanked resident Susan Oschmann and the Orleans County United Way for their efforts to secure the funding.
Oschmann has been coordinating 3-on-3 basketball tournaments to raise money for the new courts, and also recruited Roosevelt Bouie, a former Kendall basketball star who then had a Hall of Fame career at Syracuse playing for Coach Boeheim.
Bouie credited intense basketball games at Bullard when he was a kid for helping to develop him as a player. Bouie also worked during the summer at Bullard as a park supervisor. It was his first job.
“I owe quite a bit to Bullard park,” Bouie said in a previous interview. “It used to be the mecca of basketball.”
The United Way wrote the grant on behalf of Albion for the funding.
Village officials are eyeing the current skate park area for the new courts. The current basketball court hasn’t been upgraded in at least 30 years. The hoops and poles have been removed due to the poor condition of the court. A temporary hoop has been set up for the summer parks program in part of the parking lot.
There will be another 3-on-3 “Bounce for Bullard” tournament on Aug. 6. The cost is $20 per team. For more information contact Oschmann at susanoschmann@gmail.com for the registration form and rules.
Photos by Tom Rivers: The band Eagle Creek kicked off Albion’s Canal Concert series last week on July 14. The bands play under a tent with many of the concert-goers bringing lawn chairs and sitting in the parking lot.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 July 2022 at 9:23 am
ALBION – The village should move its summer concert series from a parking lot by the Erie Canal to Bullard Park, where there is a new amphitheater that would make for a much better venue for the bands and also the spectators, the Village Board was told on Wednesday.
John Grillo, the Albion recreation director, said the concerts would get a bigger turnout up at Bullard, where there is more shade, playground equipment for children, and more parking.
The Albion Fire Department could also use a grill at the park for hot dogs and hamburgers. The department would likely sell more food and beverages at Bullard than the current spot by the firehall, Grillo said.
“The bands and the people know we have a beautiful amphitheater,” Grillo said during Wednesday’s board meeting. “I wonder why we are doing them in a spot where people are uncomfortable.”
Ron Albertson sings “One Way Out” by the Allman Brothers during an open mic night on June 19, 2021. It was the debut event at the new amphitheater. That outdoor stage will host several bands on Aug. 6 for the Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park.
The village kicked off its canal concert series a week ago with the band Eagle Creek. The six-week series runs on Thursday evenings through Aug. 18. (The village approved a change in the lineup with the band Breakout to replace Jonesie & The Cruisers on Aug. 4.)
The concerts last year and last week have been attended by about 100 people. The events are funded with a grant administered through the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council. There is no stipulation the concerts be next to the canal, Grillo said.
“I’m in favor of Bullard Park,” he said. “We’d draw tons more people.”
The board didn’t respond to Grillo’s comments on Wednesday.
Photos by Tom Rivers: The board room in the Albion Village Hall was full for Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. In front from left are Village Trustee Chris Barry, Mayor Angel Javier Jr., and trustees Zack Burgess and Tim McMurray.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 July 2022 at 7:29 am
ALBION – The village board room was packed on Wednesday with many residents concerned about whether the village had been overpaying its police officers, and whether those funds – $236,000 over five years – should be recouped.
A CPA firm last week presented the results of a forensic audit, looking at officers’ pay checks over five years, since the village shifted from having officers work five 8-hour shifts a week to 12-hour shifts. With the 12-hour shifts officers worked seven shifts every two weeks for 84 hours of straight time. The change was made to reduce overtime in the police department and to give officers more days off.
Mayor Angel Javier Jr., left, and Trustee Chris Barry spoke at the meeting. Barry faulted the mayor for reducing officers’ pay one pay cycle before the issue had been fully researched.
The CPA firm, The Bonadio Group, said the village made an error in determining the hourly pay rate. The annual salaries should have been divided by 2,184 hours. That’s 84 hours multiplied by 26 weeks.
However, the village used the hours in a 40-hour week or 2,080 for the year. When the salary was divided by 2,080, instead of 2,184, the hourly rate was about 5 percent higher than it should have been.
Bonadio said 15 officers were overpaid ranging from $650 to a maximum of $27,000.
Mayor Angel Javier Jr. unilaterally lowered the officers pay to what he believed was the correct rate. That lasted one pay period in June before the police union filed a grievance and three other board members – Chris Barry, Zack Burgess and Tim McMurray – voted to have the officers continue to be paid at the rate they were getting.
That was before Bonadio submitted its report on July 12.
“We didn’t have evidence in front of us,” Burgess said during Wednesday’s meeting.
Barry said the issue remains unresolved without a final report. He is holding off on making a decision until there are more details.
Village Attorney John Gavenda said the village will have hearings with the police officers’ union as it works to resolve the issue.
“We’re working our way through the process,” Gavenda told residents during Wednesday’s meeting. “We have hearings coming up with the police department. We don’t have answers right now to everything.”
Javier was urged to look into the issue by a village employee in April. He said it came as a shock that the pay rates seemed to be off. Javier said the “potential overpayment” continues and the numbers grow each pay period.
“It is compounded with overtime and everything,” he said.
He has reached out to the state comptroller’s office for an opinion and a course of action.
Some residents spoke at Wednesday’s meeting. Lori Laine, a business owner in the village, said she thinks the village should go to the correct pay schedule with the officers, but not seek any repayments if the village made an error in calculating the pay. She didn’t think that would be fair to the officers.
Her husband Tom Laine also urged the village “to put the brakes on it” and not continuing paying officers at the higher rate.
Javier, in an interview on Sunday, said he wants to hear from the state comptroller’s office about the issue, whether the village needs to pursue getting money back from overpayments.
Kevin Sheehan, a former village trustee and deputy mayor, said the village will lose officers if Albion goes after money caused by a village mistake. Other officers won’t want to come and work at Albion, Sheehan said, calling the issue “a load of crap.”
“You know how hard is it to get people here,” Sheehan said. “No one will want to come here. You’re stepping over dollars to save dimes.”
He said he is sympathetic to the officers, many who are early in their careers with young families and mortgages.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 July 2022 at 11:49 am
Mayor pushes for money to be paid back: Union files grievance
ALBION – A forensic accounting firm has revealed the Village of Albion overpaid police officers $236,000 over five years, a situation that continues every pay period.
A clerical error has resulted in officers being paid at a higher rate, Mayor Angel Javier Jr. said. Representatives from The Bonadio Group – Brian LaFountain and Melissa Bucukoviski – presented their findings on July 12 to the Village Board.
Angel Javier Jr.
Most of the village employees are on 40-hour week schedules. But the police officers are on an 84-hour schedule every two weeks.
The officers in 2017 were switched from three 8-hour shifts a day to two 12-hour shifts. That change was made to reduce overtime in the department and give officers more days off. They would also be paid four more hours of straight every pay period, from 80 to 84 hours.
With the 12-hour shifts, sometimes officers work three in one week and four in others.
To determine the hourly pay in the salaries, the village should have divided the annual salaries by 2,184 hours. That’s 84 hours multiplied by 26 weeks.
However, the village used the hours in a 40-hour week or 2,080 for the year. When the salary was divided by 2,080, instead of 2,184, the hourly rate was about 5 percent higher than it should have been.
Bonadio said 15 officers were overpaid ranging from $650 to a maximum of $27,000, Bonadio said in a report to the village.
Javier said the village needs to recoup the overpayments, especially now that the overpayments have been detailed by a professional firm.
He made a decision last month to have the officers paid at what should be the correct rates, about a 5 percent pay reduction from what the officers had been receiving. That only lasted one pay period.
Three board members – Zack Burgess, Chris Barry and Tim McMurray – voted to have the officers paid at the rates they had been receiving. At that time the forensic audit from Bonadio wasn’t completed.
The village is asking the State Comptroller’s Office for an opinion on how to best remedy the situation.
The union for the police officers also has filed a grievance. The union, led by Dan Baase as president and Robert Wagner as vice president, said the pay reduction in the paychecks from June 16 violated a new labor contract that started June 1. Officers had their pay cut about 60 cents an hour in that pay period.
Baase filed the grievance on June 17 and sought that the pay rate be based on 2,080 hours in a year, which he said had been in place since July 2016. The grievance seeks to have officers made whole for “any losses incurred because of the employer’s unilateral change in the method of calculation.”
Javier, in an interview on Sunday, said the overpayments are a bad situation for everyone. But he said the village will need to be paid back despite it being the village’s error.
“We can’t just ignore it,” he said. “We have to do right by the taxpayers.”
Javier started as mayor on April 4 and right away the Village Board needed to get to work and complete the village’s budget by April 30 for the 2022-23 fiscal year. During that budget process Javier said he wanted to know how all village employee salaries were calculated.
The village’s deputy treasurer at the time told Javier she believed the village had been overpaying officers because the hourly pay rates weren’t changed when the village implemented the new shift schedule in 2017.
Javier requested an independent analysis be done in April and retained The Bonadio Group. Bonadio studied the village pay records and found the pay rates in the system were not adjusted in accordance with the 84-hour pay period, leading to incorrect hourly rates and overpayments.
The Bonadio Group went through the pay records for each officer since February 2017 and determined what the pay should have been at the correct hourly rates, and then subtracted that from the higher rate to determine the overpayment.
Javier said he is pushing to have the situation rectified. He has been joined by Trustee Joyce Riley in voting yes for officers to be paid at a lower rate, with the annual salaries divided by 2,184 hours instead of 2,080.
“The overpayment continues every single day,” he said. “I respect the good work done by all village employees, especially the ones that protect our community. However, I believe they should adhere to the terms of the contract they signed and should not be overpaid.”
Photo by Tom Rivers: Violet Sims, left, and Brandy McKinney celebrate their grand opening today for their businesses. They share space at the Arnold Gregory Office Building at Suite 120-122. Sims is owner of Simply Elegant Nails and More and McKinney owns The Healing Spot.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 July 2022 at 7:57 pm
The Healing Spot, Simply Elegant Nails and More operate out of Arnold Gregory
The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the two with a ribbon cutting. Darlene Hartway, right, is the Chamber director. Barry Flansburg, left, represented Assemblyman Steve Hawley and presented the two with citation for the new endeavors.
ALBION – Two Medina residents have teamed to open businesses at the Arnold Gregory Office Building at 243 South main St.
Violet Sims and Brandy McKinney celebrated with a ribbon-cutting today at Suite 120-122. McKinney owns The Healing Spot, offering manicures, pedicures, hair and sugaring (hair removal). She has worked in the cosmetology field for 20 years.
Sims runs Simply Elegant Nails and More with a focus on nails and waxing. Sims is a nail specialist and esthetician. She was working out of a salon in Medina that shut down during the Covid lockdown and didn’t reopen. She has six years of experience.
The two teamed up and last month opened their businesses together at Arnold Gregory.
“We want to bring some funk and more fun into Albion,” Sims said. “We have clients from all over the place.”
The space is decorated with a feather theme.
“That is to relax and get away from things,” Sims said.
The site is open Tuesday through Saturday. Call 585-283-4206 for more information.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 July 2022 at 8:52 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The band Eagle Creek performed on Thursday evening to start Albion’s Canal Concert series.
Albion has six concerts scheduled in the series from 6 to 8 p.m. by the fire hall on Platt Street.
Eagle Creek plays rock and roll with songs by the Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Black Crowes, Bob Seger, Joe Walsh, Robin Trower, ZZ Top, Gin Blossoms and Stone Temple Pilots. Here the band is performing, “867-5309/Jenny.”
The band members include Nick Salvatore, lead guitar and vocals; Dick Brant, rhythm guitar and vocals; Gary Bassman Tarr, bass guitar and vocals; and Jimmy Joe (Woody) Woodroe, drums.
Nick Salvatore sings and plays the guitar for Eagle Creek.
Dawn Marciszewski fills a bag with popcorn. The Albion Fire Department also sells hamburgers and hot dogs at the concerts.
The attendees at the concert included a boater.
The concerts are sponsored by the Village of Albion with support from the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 July 2022 at 3:07 pm
Provided photos
ALBION – The Albion Lions Club celebrated a successful year of community service on Tuesday evening. Dan Conrad, left, passes the gavel of the club’s leadership to new President Ron Albertson.
Conrad will now work with seven local Lions Club in the region to establish or grow Leo clubs in local high schools.
“Being a Lions Club member is more than just a meeting or an event,” Conrad said. “This club is a family and is always there to work with each other and is there for the community.”
Other officers of the Albion Lions include Jake Stinson as vice president, Mary Janet Sahukar as secretary and Lloyd Wright as treasurer.
Conrad welcomed two new members into the Albion club. June Persia is shown in photo at left and Keith Adams is at right.
Christine Buongiorne, right, presents Mary Janet Sahukar with the “John Keding Pride of the Pride Award” in honor of Buongiorne’s father. Keding was a Lions Club member for more than 50 years and a longtime local auto repair shop owner. He passed away at age 85 on Jan. 18, 2021.
Sahukar was praised for her many years of service to the local Lions Club.
“Mary Janet is always there to lend a hand, give advice, mentor new members and always has that great smile on her face,” Conrad said. “The award was voted on within the club and she won anonymously. She always gives it her all not only at meetings but at events also. She is what being a Lion is all about.”
