Photo by Tom Rivers – Albion police officers David Mogle, left, and Will Francis respond to the scene of an accident on Saturday on Route 98, north of the village near the Five Corners.

Press Release
Orleans County Sheriff
Scott Hess

GAINES – An Albion man remains hospitalized in satisfactory condition this afternoon following a two-vehicle crash on Saturday in the Town of Gaines.

The incident occurred shortly after 5:30 p.m., at the intersection of routes 98 and 279 and Bacon Road. This intersection is commonly known as the Five Corners.

A 2007 Hummer HU3 Suburban was traveling south on 279 at a high rate of speed. A 2001 Chevrolet Malibu 4dr was northbound on Route 98 in the turn lane and preparing to turn left onto 279. The Hummer entered the intersection and struck the front end of the Malibu.

The Hummer continued southbound on Route 98 crossing and exiting on the east side of the roadway. The vehicle became airborne and overturned, then grounded and struck some shrubbery before becoming airborne a second time and striking a tree while still in the air. The vehicle then came to rest in an upright position against some other trees.

The driver (sole occupant) of the Hummer is identified as David W. Kuhns, 38, of Albion. He was extricated from his vehicle by Albion firefighters and flown by Mercy Flight helicopter to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

The driver (sole occupant) of the Malibu is identified as Michael J. Pommerening, 56, of Kent. He was treated at the scene by personnel from Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance. He was not transported to the hospital.

While the investigation is continuing, it’s apparent that alcohol, excessive speed, and reckless operation were contributing factors. Pending his recovery, Kuhns is facing DWI and other charges.

The incident was investigated by Sergeant G.T. Gunkler. He was assisted by Sergeant D.W. Covis, Investigator D.E. Foeller Jr., Deputy T.C. Marano, and Deputy T.N. Tooley.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The driver of Hummer going at a high rate of speed hit another vehicle on Route 98 near the 5 corners and then went airborne, flipping in the air at least once, before hitting a tree and coming to a stop near an embankment.

This vehicle was hit by the Hummer. The driver appeared uninjured and was talking with Orleans County deputies at the scene.

The driver of the Hummer survived the crash and was taken by Mercy Flight helicopter after being extricated by Albion firefighters. The accident was just south of Bacon Road near the intersection with Route 279.

Albion firefighters and personnel from Central Orleans Voluneer Ambulance work to get the driver extricated from the Hummer. He was transported by COVA to a landing zone for Mercy Flight at the Christian Missionary Alliance Church. Dale Banker, director of Emergency Management for Orleans County, is pictured in red.

Shelly Smith has lived at the 5 corners for 14 years. She said there are typically two serious accidents at the intersection each year. Many of those vehicles have ended up in her yard.

She saw the accident today, and watched the Hummer go airborne and flip over at least once in the air. The vehicle bounced into a tree, ripping the bark off about 20 feet up the tree.

“I have never seen anything like it,” she said.

Pieces of the Hummer were all over her yard.

“This is the worst I have ever seen,” she said. “I’ve never seen a car catapult.”

This photo shows where the Hummer took some of the bark off a tree.

The accident remains under investigation. The name of the driver of Hummer hasn’t been released. He was conversing with COVA personnel and Albion firefighters at the scene.

Mercy Flight takes off by the Christian Missionary Alliance Church.

Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – A crowd gathers on the front lawn at Fair Haven Treasures this afternoon to dedicate an International Peace Garden. Many of the attendees were Santas in town for the Charles W. Howard Legendary Santa Claus Conference.

Ray and Linda Burke, owners of Fair Haven Treasures, are pictured with members of the Claus Clan, a group of Santas who like to celebrate their Scottish heritage.

The Burkes were praised by speakers for transforming the homestead into an art gallery and co-op.

“Thank you Ray and Linda Burke for unlocking the door to a promising future,” said Carol Culhane, the Gaines town supervisor.

John Proctor named the hamlet in Gaines “Fairhaven” more than 200 years ago. Proctor is considered the Paul Revere of Ridge Road because he rode along the Ridge, warning settlers that the British were coming during the War of 1812. He had a log cabin at the corner of 98 and 104 before the large brick house was built in 1834.

Ruby Hoffey, a music therapist at Rainbow Preschool in Albion, sings the American national anthem during today’s ceremony. She also sang the Canadian anthem.

The Peace Garden celebrates the friendship between the United States and Canada and the largest unguarded border in the world.

A member of the Claus Clan watches the celebration in Gaines today.

Paula Savage, left, of Batavia is founder of the Peace Garden Foundation. She presents a certificate to Carol Culhane, Gaines town supervisor, that certifies the garden at Fair Haven is on the International Peace Garden Trail.

There is also a peace garden at Brown’s Berry Patch in Carlton. The gardens must have a connection to the War of 1812.

At the Browns, family matriarch Bathshua Brown settled in the area in 1804 when the trees were so dense in Carlton the area was known as the Black North. She helped fight off the British in the war and took one of their captains captive.

Orleans County Legislator Lynne Johnson said John Proctor and Bathshua Brown should both be considered heroes in Orleans County, and their efforts should not be forgotten.

County Legislator Lynne Johnson addresses the crowd. She cited the pioneer grit of many of the early settlers such as John Proctor and Bathshua Brown.

Johnson thanked Ray and Linda Burke for their efforts to upgrade a vacant house and turn it into Fair Haven Treasures.

The Burkes were also presented with a proclamation from State Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s office for the garden.

Georgia Thomas, a volunteer at the Cobblestone Museum, is pictured with a Santa from Gatlinburg, Tenn. Fair Haven Treasures is located in historic Gaines, which includes the Cobblestone Museum, the only National Historic Landmark in the county.

Gaines Town Justice Bruce Schmidt served as master of cermonies during today’s dedication.

These three Santas are all from New England. They said a peace garden fits perfectly with their efforts as Santa.

“People say Christmas is all about children, but it’s really all about heart and believing in the good in everyone,” said Jim Rizzio, a Santa from Ansonia, Conn.

Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – The American Red Cross provided food and clothing to the owner of a house on Eagle Harbor Road in Gaines that burned last night.

Volunteers Diane Sargent and Jim McMoil responded to the fire at 2516 Eagle Harbor Rd. David Snyder, owner of the cobblestone home that was built in 1850, has made arrangements for temporary housing, Red Cross spokesman Jay Bonafede said.

The agency will make specially trained disaster mental health volunteers available to help deal with the emotional aspects of this disaster, and the Snyder will meet with our caseworkers in the coming days to help work on a long-term recovery plan, Bonafede said.

Volunteers in the Red Cross’s Disaster Action Team also responded to a fire in Buffalo last night on St. Lawrence Avenue.

In March 2015, volunteers from the Western New York Chapter responded to 47 incidents, providing immediate emergency assistance to 172 people, Bonafede said.

The fire in Gaines remains under investigation.

Firefighters try to put out the fire in Gaines last night. Several fire departments responded to the scene.

Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – A cobblestone house that has been dutifully cared for by its owner has been badly damaged in a fire tonight.

David Snyder was getting ready to go to bed when he sensed something wrong in his attic. He opened the attic door and the fire seemed to take off, said his sister, Tricia Snyder.

She is thankful her brother made it safely out of the house with his two dogs.

This photo is taken looking towards the back of the house with water coming down from the ladder truck.

It was difficult for Snyder and his family to watch the fire gain strength with flames shooting out of the roof.

Firefighters work to get the fire under control.

Snyder has gutted the house and done a lot of work inside, his sister said.

Neighbors said the house was a popular, welcoming place when Snyder was raising his children. Neighbors said they would try to rally around Snyder in the coming days.

Firefighters stand at the front of the house and direct water to the roof where flames were shooting out.

The dispatch call went out just before 10 p.m. to 2516 Eagle Harbor Rd. Firefighters were inside the house but were called out of the building as the fire spread in the upper floor.

Firefighters put lots of water on the fire, trying to get it under control.

Medina Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich hustles down Eagle Harbor Road to help at the scene.

Photos by Tom Rivers

The bells on the Cobblestone Universalist Church will ring at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, the 150th anniversary of the death of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was shot on April 14 while watching a play at Ford’s Theater. An actor, John Wilkes Booth, shot the president in the back of the head. Lincoln’s death came six days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, effectively ending the Civil War.

Churches around the country will ring bells at 7:22 a.m. on April 15 to mark Lincoln’s death. The Cobblestone Society met last night during its board meeting and agreed to have the historic church on Route 104 join the bell-ringing in appreciation of Lincoln’s life.

Other churches are urged to participate.

This statue of Abraham Lincoln looks out over the City of Buffalo from the Buffalo History Museum in this photo from November. Rockwell Hall at Buffalo State, left, and the Richardson Olmsted Complex loom in the background.

These are some of the designs for new signs for the Town of Gaines as proposed by Bill Downey of Downey Signs.

GAINES – The Town of Gaines will have new welcome signs on Route 104, and also two signs each at the Town Hall and Highway Department.

The Town Board approved a bid from Bill Downey of Downey Signs to make six new signs total for $4,150. Downey will make the signs using carved redwood. He will prime them and put on three coats of paint, Town Supervisor Carol Culhane said.

Downey made the town signs for Barre in a similar style. He has 25 years in the sign business.

“I just think with the redwood there is no substitute,” Culhane said.

Culhane is an artist and will try to develop a town logo for the signs that includes cobblestones and a stagecoach.

In other action, the Town Board:

Approved a $9,000 contract with Wendel Energy to take an inventory of the town’s 10 meter pits, including photos and an assessment of the conditions of each site.

Discussed eliminating the $75 hook-up fee for town water customers who turn off their water during winter. They wouldn’t be charged the restoration fee as long as they continue paying a $16 quarterly service charge.

The board may vote on the issue next month.

Approved a resolution seeking more state funding for towns and villages through the Aid and Incentives to Municipalities program, which currently gives $715 million annually to upstate cities.

The resolution, approved by the Town Board calls on the state to increase AIM funding by 50 percent with more money going to municipalities based on population density, and police and other services provided, with considerations made for tax exempt property as well.

Passed a resolution seeking a repeal of the SAFE Act, a gun control measure approved by Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature in January 2013.

File photo by Tom Rivers – Albion firefighters responded to a chimney fire on Ridge Road in Gaines last March 12 during a blizzard.

ALBION – A deal over 20 years that gave Gaines property owners drastically low fire protection rates will end after 2015. Village of Albion officials said Gaines should expect a much bigger bill for fire protection in the future.

Gaines residents outside the village pay 35 cents per $1,000 of assessed property for fire protection in 2015. That is by far the lowest rate in Orleans County. Most residents in the towns pay fire protection rates over $1 per $1,000 of assessed property.

“It’s going to be a significant increase over what they are paying now,” village attorney John Gavenda said during a joint meeting Monday evening among officials from the village and town of Albion.

Albion town residents pay a $1.23-rate for fire protection from the village’s fire department.

The issue was raised during the town and village meeting because the village would like to continue the fire protection contract with the town of Albion, a contract that has included small increases in recent years.

Gavenda said the contract with Gaines will need to be negotiated this year. Gaines could either contract with Albion or Carlton, or start its own fire department. Whatever the town decides, Gavenda said the town won’t be getting such a bargain price for fire protection.

The village agreed to a 20-year deeply discounted rate in 1995 in exchange for Gaines making the sewer plant on Densmore Street tax exempt. Current village officials don’t think it was a fair deal.

Village Trustee Peter Sidari said the village shouldn’t have had to pay taxes to Gaines for the sewer plant. The town should have made that exempt without pushing for such a low fire protection rate 20 years ago, Sidari said.

The village has many tax exempt sites within its borders from other governments, including the school district, state and county. Sidari said the village doesn’t bill them, and the town should have done the same for the village.

“There’s no secret that they have to pay more,” Gavenda said about Gaines. “They are on a very favorable contract.”

Gavenda said the village expects to soon sit down with Gaines officials to discuss the future fire protection contract.

Here are the fire protection rates for towns for 2015:

Albion, $1.23; Barre, $1.45; Carlton, 75 cents; Clarendon, $1.01; Gaines, 35 cents; Kendall – $1.40 to Kendall and $1.61 to Morton; Murray – $1.57 to Holley and $1.59 to Fancher-Hulberton-Murray; Ridgeway, $1.17; Shelby, $1.49; and Yates, 52 cents to Lyndonville.