Betterment Committee also doing hunter’s breakfast on Saturday

Photo by Tom Rivers

BARRE – The Barre Betterment Committee  hosted its first lighted tractor parade down Route 98 last Dec. 15.

The photo shows a tractor with a large American flag in back. Lamb Farms of Oakfield brought this tractor. There were about 10 tractors in the debut parade.

The parade will be back on Dec. 14 at 5:30 p.m. It starts on East Barre Road. The ending spot is to be determined.

The Barre Betterment Committee also is putting on its first hunter’s breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday at the Town of Barre highway garage. Saturday is the opening day for regular hunting season with firearms.

The committee will be serving all-you-can-eat venison sausage and gravy, biscuits, pancakes, eggs, juice and coffee. The breakfast is open to the community and costs $10.

For more on the Betterment Committee, click here.

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Voters in the Town of Barre had the highest turnout among the 10 Orleans County towns in the recent election.

Barre, at 51.2 percent turnout, topped 50 percent, which is unusual in a local election. Countywide, the turnout was 34.8 percent, with 8,048 voters going to the polls out of 23,183 registered voters. That rate was less than the 38.2 percent turnout for local elections in both 2015 and 2017.

In Barre, 645 of the 1,260 registered voters cast a ballot on election day, and also, for the first time, during nine days of early voting. Countywide there were 374 people who voted during the nine days of early voted. That accounted for 1.6 percent of the registered voters in the county.

Bare had seven candidates seeking three spots for the Town Board. That was the most intense election day battle among the 10 towns.

Most of the positions on the ballot throughout the county did not have opposition. At four towns – Albion, Carlton, Kendall and Yates – there weren’t any contested races.

That is reflected in the turnout there. Albion had the lowest voting rate at 30.0 percent.

Ridgeway, which had three candidates for town supervisor, had the second lowest turnout at 31.1 percent.

Here is a breakdown of turnout at the 10 towns.

Source: Orleans County Board of Elections; Orleans Hub calculations.

The position of sheriff was likely the most profile race in the county, but only one candidate, Chris Bourke, was on the ballot. He received 78.4 percent of the vote and withstood a write-in campaign. Brett Sobieraski lost a close Republican Primary to Bourke on June 25. Many of his supporters pushed him as a write-in candidate. There were 1,570 write-in votes. Bourke, the current undersheriff, received 5,693 votes.

Of the seven county legislator seats, six were unopposed. Don Allport of Gaines was challenged by Chase Tkach, a Libertarian Party candidate. Allport received 87.8 percent of the vote.

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BARRE – Sean Pogue has the lead to continue as town supervisor in Barre, according to unofficial results announced at the Barre Town Hall.

Pogue received 322 votes today, compared to 258 for Gerald Solazzo, who ran under the independent Citizens for Change.

Pogue in his campaign said there is more to the town government that the wind turbine issue. He said that project could bring significant financial benefits to the town, wiping out town taxes and allowing Barre to invest in its highway garage, firehall and town park.

Solazzo and two other Citizens for Change are critical of the project, and the town’s communication with residents about meetings and information with Heritage Wind.

The results announced tonight don’t include early voting, absentees or affidavit ballots.

There were five candidates on the ballot for two other Town Board seats. Richard Bennett and Larry Gaylard both didn’t seek re-election.

Kerri Richardson has the most votes tonight with 282 followed by 272 for Margaret Swan. Richardson is the president of Clear Skies Above Barre, a citizens group that has pushed for bigger setbacks, smaller turbines and more studies on the health and environmental impacts of the turbines. Richardson ran under the Citizens for Change and also was backed by the Conservative Party.

Swan was endorsed by the Republican Party.

Cindy Burnside, another Citizens for Change candidate, also is close with 256 votes for a Town Board seat.

LuAnn Tierney, a Democrat, received 202 votes. She ran as a team with Pogue and Swan.

Bradlee Driesel, a Republican, was on the ballot but withdrew from the race. He still received 101 votes.

Other candidates were unopposed in Barre including Town Clerk Maureen Beach, 327 votes; Town Justice Rick Root, 317 votes; and Highway Superintendent Dale Brooks, 403 votes.

In the race for Orleans County Sheriff, Chris Bourke received 417 votes in Barre today, while there were 92 write-ins.

Brett Sobieraski, who lost a close Republican Primary to Bourke in June, has been promoted by many of his supporters for a write-in campaign. The election officials at Barre didn’t have the names for the write-ins tonight.

Orleans Hub will have more election coverage later.

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BARRE – The town has been awarded $1.1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Water District No. 10. That includes a $601,000 grant and $500,000 loan.

The water district will serve 31 residential customers on parts of Angevine, McNamar and Transit roads. The district will replace wells that lack safe, potable water. Installing water mains will provide reliable water service to the residents as well as adequate fire protection, the USDA said.

The USDA is providing the funding through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program. Eligible applicants include rural cities, towns and water districts.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

BARRE – Shirley Nigro stands on the stage of her art studio in the former Barre Grange. Nigro opened the space to the public today for the first time.

There were five artists featured in the art show – Colleen Ware, Joan Barton, Debra Wilson, Lori Laine of Albion NY Rocks and Nigro.

They were among about 20 artists featured in Orleans County today as part of an open studio tour coordinated by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.

Nigro of Albion owns the Fired Up – Ready to Paint Ceramics. She makes ceramics in a style known as bisque wear. She also makes dolls, necklaces and other multi-medium artwork. She is known for her faces and has been featured in books and magazines.

Nigro is pictured in the first floor of the former Grange with many of her molds. She bought the former Grange from the Barre Presbyterian Church.

The building at 4688 Oak Orchard Rd, appealed to her because of its “big empty space,” with heat and electricity.

Debra Dale Wilson is one of the featured artists today in the open studio tour. She joined Nigro at the former Grange. She has done stained-glass painting and crafts, and has really embraced putting artwork on flat rocks.

Debra Dale Wilson works on painting a dragon on this rock.

Debra Dale Wilson had this painted rock of “Foxy Lady” on display.

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BARRE – Representatives from the Town of Barre, Albion school district and Orleans County are expected to soon sit down with Apex Clean Energy to discuss a payment in lieu of taxes plan for how much revenue the wind-energy company will give the three tax entities to have 33 turbines in Barre.

The Town Board on Wednesday voted to invite representatives from the school and county to join the town in negotiating a PILOT with Apex. The Orleans Economic Development Agency will also be part of the discussion and will administer a PILOT if a deal is reached.

Sean Pogue, Barre town supervisor, said the vote was just an invitation to start negotiations and doesn’t mean the town is supporting the project. Pogue and Town Councilman Richard Bennett both said Apex needs to “put more money on the table” for the community.

The company wants to build 33 turbines that would peak at 650 to 680 feet high. The company has said it would pay $8,000 per megawatt annually in a PILOT. At 4.8 megawatts each per turbine or 158.4 MWs total for 33, that would add up to $1.27 million.

In a typical PILOT in Orleans County, the money is divvied up based on the percentage of the tax rates in the taxing entities. In Barre, in the 2019 the town tax rate is $9.18 per $1,000 of assessed property, while the county is $9.96 and the school district, $15.10. That is $34.24 total.

Barre represents 26.8 Percent of the total tax rate, with the county at 29.0 percent and the school district at 44.1 percent. Divvying up $1.27 million based on those percentages would result in $340,360 for the town, $368,300 for the county and $560,070 for the school district.

However, town officials say they are looking for a PILOT where Barre gets a bigger percentage of the revenue, where it isn’t shared based on the tax rates.

Kerri Richardson, president of Clear Skies Above Barre, urged the town to tax the turbines at full value and not do a PILOT where Apex pays the local governments at a discount.

Richardson urged the Town Board to not let Apex drive the process. She urged the board to insist on the standards in the local laws that limit turbines to 500 feet.

She said insisting on health and safety protections for residents won’t chase the developer away. She pointed to the towns of Somerset and Yates, which have stronger laws than Barre for setbacks and anti-turbine candidates in office. That opposition hasn’t caused Apex to cancel the proposed Lighthouse Wind. The company announced it isn’t submitting an application this year for the project, but it isn’t abandoning its plans for Lighthouse. Right now the company is focused on Barre.

The Town Board on Wednesday voted to accept $50,000 from Apex so the town can hire an expert to help Barre consider concerns about the turbines and what would be reasonable for height, noise and setbacks. The town will hire an expert without input from Apex, said Lance Mark, the town attorney.

Residents questioned if the vote had enough support on the board because two members, Larry Gaylard and Tom McCabe, abstained. That left only three voting members. Richard Bennett voted against the reimbursement agreement while Pogue and Lynn Hill voted for it.

Some residents questioned if only two votes in favor was enough for the motion to carry. Mark said it was two out of three voting members and was enough for a majority.

Robin Nacca, a town resident, said she would seek a legal opinion about the vote. She said three votes should be needed to pass a resolution on a five-member board.

She also said she is concerned about conflicts of interest among board member who are involved in the process when they should be fully abstaining. She thinks there should be a moratorium on any discussions until there are officials in place who don’t stand to benefit directly or indirectly from Apex.

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PERRY – A veteran skydiver who died in an accident Saturday at Perry-Warsaw Airport was affiliated with Pine Hill Airport in Barre for many years.

Richard Cordero, 68, of Bergen ran Rochester Skydiving at Pine Hill for more than a decade. He left around 2014 when former airport owner Gene Haines decided to sell the airport.

News reports say Cordero, who had thousands of jumps to his credit, died when his parachute cords became tangled and he plummeted into a cornfield.

He was well-known in the Pine Hill area and was very dedicated to the sport of skydiving, said Ace Caldwell of Albion, a member of Pine Hill Airport for more than 30 years. Caldwell has cooked breakfast on Sunday mornings at the airport for decades, and he said Cordero’s wife would sometimes come in for breakfast, but if the weather was sunny, Richard was in the air.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

BARRE – About 50 kids do baseball and softball drills today at the Barre Town Park with instructors from NextLVL Sports Institute in Georgia.

North Point Chapel in Albion brought the baseball and softball academy. Retired Major League Baseball pitcher Chris Hammond will be joining the group from Wednesday through Friday with a special presentation for families on Wednesday evening at North Point Chapel.

Hammond pitched 14 seasons in the big leagues with the Reds, Marlins, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, A’s and Padres. He had his best season in 2002 with a 0.95 ERA with the Braves. He is only the third pitcher in the history of the Major Leagues to maintain an ERA under 1.00 for a full season.

Matthew Kemp, general manager of NextLVL Sports Institute, offers fielding instructions during the camp today at Barre Town Park. The camp continues through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. There is still time for people to sign up if they arrive before the 9 a.m. start time Tuesday to register. The camp is open to boys and girls, ages 8 to 18, in Orleans County and other nearby communities outside Orleans.

NextLVL is teaching hitting, agility and footwork, as well as strength training, diamond work and the fundamentals of the game.

The North Point Chapel Facebook page has more information.

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