Photos by Sue Cook – The Old Goat’s sign by the edge of the road features a well-dressed goat smoking a pipe and wearing a monocle.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

GAINES – Walking into The Old Goat is like stepping into a cozy country home. Tarama Vacanti, the owner of the store, greets you at the door with a smile and happily lets you explore. The store is made of three rooms full of antiques and vintage items, as well as some country crafts.

The Old Goat has a diverse selection. You can find everything from antique signs to sewing machines, lanterns to luggage, doorknobs to decorations, and many other items.

Vacanti started her business from her house by selling out of her garage and through eBay for 15 years. She finally decided to open a store in Gaines four months ago and has found a huge outpouring of interest in her business.

“The people here are awesome,” she said. “Everyone is very supportive. This is a lot of fun.”

Her husband Eddie helps create some of the store’s most popular items: recycled and repurposed furniture. The items, such as benches and cabinets, are usually made from wood that was sourced from barns and 1800s homes.

The front room of the shop offers a mixture of antique and recycled-wood furniture.

Many of The Old Goat’s customers are repeats and they come from Canada to Canandaigua. Some of them come in seeking specific items. Vacanti commented that some people come in to see what she has stocked for silver items, while another woman comes in looking for old-fashioned baby clothing.

The store has new items about twice a week, and Vacanti said her family brings her their finds all the time. She tries to make sure every time a customer comes in that they see something different.

Vacanti also said that if someone is looking for a specific item and she doesn’t have it, she will put it on a list of what to look for during buying trips.

The back room is a showcase for many smaller items such as antique toys and housewares.

The Old Goat, located at 14069 Ridge Rd. West, is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, call (585) 298-6167 or visit the business’s Facebook page by clicking here.

Hawley wants governor to apologize for comments about ‘extreme conservatives’

Photos by Tom Rivers – State Sen. George Maziarz credited Gov. Andrew Cuomo for pressing for tax relief, but Maziarz said the governor needs to provide some relief to local governments that are paying for state-mandated programs. County Legislator Don Allport is at left and State Assemblyman Steve is at right.

GAINES – State legislators said the atmosphere in Albany has changed under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who seems serious about bringing tax relief to state residents and businesses.

However, some of that relief will be in the form of an election gimmick, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley said during a Legislature Luncheon on Friday.

The governor, who is seeking re-election in November, wants a $350 state rebate to arrive in the mail for Middle Class families in October, Hawley said.

The governor has proposed $2 billion in tax relief to residents and businesses. State Sen. George Maziarz said that is quite a difference than 2009-10, when the state under Gov. David Paterson pushed through $14 billion in new taxes and fees. The new taxes under Paterson “were the dark days of Albany,” Maziarz said.

One of those taxes by Paterson, a tax called the 18-A utility surcharge, was supposed to expire after four years, but Cuomo has allowed it to continue, Maziarz said.

According to National Grid figures, the utility tax costs a typical large business $30,000 a year, $540 for a typical small business, and $55 per year for an average household. “It’s the most onerous tax,” Maziarz said.

He is chairman of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee. Maziarz wants the 18-A utility surcharge rescinded in the upcoming state budget. The tax generates about $500 million a year for the state. If it was gone, there would be more job creation and investment by businesses, he said.

The state legislators commented on a number of issues during the luncheon, which was attended by about 75 people at the Village Inn.

‘Extreme conservatives’

Hawley took issue with the governor’s comments on a radio show about a week ago, when Cuomo said “extreme conservatives” don’t have a place in New York.. He defined them as pro-life, anti-gay marriage and pro-assault weapon.

“Governor, we’re New Yorkers, too,” Hawley said.

The governor needs to represent all of the residents, including those from low-wealth school districts, those who support the right to bear arms and those with conservative social viewpoints, Hawley said.

“Governor, we do matter,” Hawley said. “That’s the diversity of the state. Hopefully we’ll be hearing form him soon with an apology.”

Cuomo said his comments were directed at candidates, saying “extreme conservatives” don’t have a place for a state office in New York.

Maziarz, as an elected public official in the state government, said he is a conservative who views marriage as only between a man and a woman. He called the governor’s remarks “very disappointing.”

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley urged the governor to come to Western New York and apologize for comments about “extreme conservatives.”

Mandate relief

The governor has failed to push through any significant mandate relief for local governments, which are forced to provide some programs and services by the state, the legislators said.

“We implemented 2 percent property tax with the promise we’d untie the hands of the locals,” Hawley said. “But again that hasn’t happened.”

Cuomo and the Legislature have not worked to rein in program costs, especially the $60 billion annual Medicaid program, Hawley said.

He would like to see some the program’s costs reduced and county share in the program eased.

“The cost is unbelievably phenomenal,” he said.

Maziarz said one easy way to reduce the costs would be to bar EBT cards from being used at casinos and strip clubs.

Both said they want residency requirements before people can access benefits, and the state should do drug and alcohol testing for people on public assistance.

Hawley and Maziarz agreed the state should have reached a deal on mandate relief before imposing a property tax cap on the local governments. The local municipalities, without relief from the cost drivers from the state, will be forced to slash non-mandated services and eat into their reserve funds to stay under the 2 percent cap.

Population loss

The eight Western New York counties, including Orleans, all lost population between 2000 and 2010. Upstate has sluggish growth overall, while the country is seeing robust growth.

The loss of people pulls money out of the community. That includes retirees who head for other states, including the less tax-oppressive Pennsylvania, said Ken Pokalsky, vice president of government affairs for the New York Business Council.

“An astounding amount of income is leaving,” he said. “We’re losing a lot of wealth. A lot of people are leaving when they enter retirement.”

The legislators said less taxes and a better business environment would lead to more jobs and opportunities for people to be in the state.

Fracking

Hawley and Maziarz both said they support fracking, but they think New York may have missed the opportunity due to endless studies and delays by the governor and the Legislature.

The industry has had a transformative impact in Pennsylvania and other states. The price of natural gas, however, has fallen and companies may not be pushing to invest in new areas right now.

Fracking could have been a huge boon to the state, particularly along the economically depressed Southern Tier, Maziarz said.

“It could have created a lot of jobs and economic development,” he said. “I think we may have missed the boat on that one.”

Broadband

The two legislators say there are working with local officials and Congressman Chris Collins for rural Broadband to be accessible in rural pockets of the county where there currently isn’t service. They said Collins may have an announcement soon about a Broadband initiative.

“It’s good for our children,” Maziarz said. “It’s the wave of the future.”

Casino in Henrietta

Hawley and Maziarz don’t support a new casino in Henrietta that would be run by the Seneca Nation of Indians. The Senecas haven’t submitted a formal proposal for the casino, but a developer said the tribe is talking about the project.

Marcia Tuohey, a former County Legislature chairwoman, now sits as the county’s’ representative on the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors. WROTB owns Batavia Downs, which returns some of its profits from a video gaming center to Orleans and 14 other counties, as well as the cities of Rochester and Buffalo.

A casino in Henrietta would be devastating to the Downs, Tuohey said, and may mean no money would be shared with the member counties.

Hawley and Maziarz said the region may already be saturated with casinos, video gaming sites and Lotto games.

“It would just a redistribution of the same money from one area to the next,” Hawley said about the Henrietta casino.

GAINES – A Holley woman who has developed her own line of shampoo and conditioners has purchased a Ridge Road building that she intends to turn into a co-op for other vendors.

Kim Rowe plans to turn the former “Buy American” mercantile into a co-op with arts, crafts and antique vendors.

The Orleans County Planning Board supported the project during its meeting on Thursday. Planners said the project fits in nicely with the historic flavor of Ridge Road and the nearby Cobblestone Society Museum.

Rowe, owner and developer of U Make Scents, is working to open Cobble-Ridge Co-op.

In addition to the vendors, Rowe would like to use the site for an outdoor flea market in the spring and fall. Eventually she would like to sell food products inside and outside at the location.

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

GAINES – Two Albion teenagers are hospitalized this afternoon following a one-vehicle crash in the town of Gaines.

The incident occurred shortly after noon in the 2900 block of Densmore Road, just south of Route 104.

Jenny Lee Ettinger, 19, was operating a 2001 Chevrolet Tracker northbound on Densmore Road when she lost control of the vehicle. The SUV crossed the center line and ran off the west side of the roadway into an apple orchard, coming to rest after impaling itself on a tree. Ettinger was flown to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by Mercy Flight helicopter.

A male front seat passenger is identified as Austin J. Klein, 17, of Barre. He had to be extricated from the vehicle by Albion firefighters. He was transported to Strong by Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance.

Slippery road conditions and imprudent speed were contributing factors. The incident was investigated by Deputy E.N. Fuller and Sergeant D.W. Covis.

Photo by Tom Rivers

GAINES – A 13-foot-long fiberglass fish has been a local landmark for nearly 25 years at Al Capurso’s front yard on Route 279 in Gaines.

Capurso used to run the Bait Barn at the location, and bought the fish in 1990 from the Albion and Medina Rotary Clubs, which used it in the 1980s to promote the Orleans County Trout and Salmon Derby.

The Rotary Clubs sold it in 1990 to Capurso. The fish was targeted with graffiti a few years ago as part of a Albion High School class prank. The fish had a Purple Eagle theme until Capurso painted it recently with a message: “Go Fish.” He plans to add yellow spots to the fish once the weather permits.

Capurso said the fish needs some repairs and the trailer holding it is shot. He would be interested in donating it to a new owner if it was used to promote the local fishery.

I’d like to see something like this down at Point Breeze. This is something people would get their picture taken with and could add to charm of the area.

Carlton has $25,000 to spend as part of Point Breeze’s prize for winning the Ultimate Fishing Town. That money needs to be used to promote the fishery and a nice public art project could make the area more distinctive.

I wonder how much it would cost for a 20-foot-long fish?

154-foot-high structure will be allowed away from public

GAINES – The Town of Gaines Zoning Board of Appeals ruled tonight that Chris Watt needs to take down a 154-foot-high turbine that was erected about two years ago at Watt Farms, 3121 Oak Orchard Rd.

Watt can put it up somewhere else on his property as long as it’s at least 169.4 feet away from the public. That includes U-pick orchards and a route that is used by a train as part of the farm’s agri-tourism efforts.

The turbine was the focus of a lawsuit in state Supreme Court after Watt’s next-door neighbor Mary Neilans and her brother Robert sued the town, claiming proper procedures weren’t followed. The Planning Board waived site plan review and didn’t offer residents a chance to comment on the turbine during a public hearing, according to their lawsuit in State Supreme Court.

Judge James Punch issued a ruling in January 2012, not siding with either party. He put the issue back in the town’s hands.

The Town Planning Board was abolished by the Town Board last year and its functions were passed to the ZBA. That board made Watt submit a site plan application for the turbine. The board said Watt could keep the turbine but it needed to be moved away from a farm market/greenhouse/retail area. It is currently 117 feet away from the building.

The town wants a buffer zone of 1.1 times the height of a turbine or 169.4 feet in this case. That is the recommended distance from the state Ag and Markets, according to the ZBA decision.

“This came down to public safety,” said Michael Grabowski, the ZBA chairman.

The board was unanimous tonight with members Raymond Burke, Marilynn Miller, Curtis Strickland and David Thom all joining Grabowski in supporting the decision.

Watt attended the meeting with his attorney Lance Mark. They said they will consider their next course of action, which may include an appeal in State Supreme Court.

The ZBA did not find fault with the turbine fitting agricultural purposes or meeting the setback requirement from a neighbor’s property. Grabowski said the turbine met those standards. But he said the structure needs to be moved away from public spaces in case the tower fell or a blade broke off.

GAINES – Residents in the town of Gaines will pay a slightly lower tax rate in 2014 after the Town Board approved a $1,327,371 budget on Tuesday.

The town will take in $570,882 in property taxes next year, the same as in 2013. Because the town’s total assessed value grew 1.9 percent, from $111.3 million to $113.4 million, the tax rate will drop.

Residents in the village of Albion who live in Gaines will pay $4.12 per $1,000 of assessed property, which is down from $4.19 in 2013. Property owners outside the village will pay a $5.26 rate, which is down from $5.37.

“We’ve pared down expenses and we’ve been conservative,” said Town Supervisor Carol Culhane.

The budget reduces spending from $1,341,647 to $1,327,371. The 2014 spending plan gives town employees 2 percent raises, except for members of the Town Board. Culhane will continue to be paid $5,500 while the four town councilman are each paid $2,800, the same pay level the past several years.

The costs for state retirement contributions, which have been escalating in recent years, will go down slightly next year. The town is also budgeting the same amount for health insurance.

Culhane said the main meeting room will be updated in 2014. The carpet will be replaced with money left over from the Bicentennial Committee.

The chairs will also be swapped out with ones that have been in storage in the basement. The windows are also being replaced with a state courts grant.

The room was painted this year as a project through the Iroquois Job Corps Center in Shelby. Culhane said all of the projects will total less than $300 in direct costs to town taxpayers.

The 2014 budget also keeps a very low fire protection rate for Gaines residents outside the village. The rate will go up from 31 cents to 36 per $1,000 of assessed property. Most of towns pay at least $1 per $1,000 of assessed property for fire protection.

The village of Albion is trying to negotiate a new contract with a higher rate for Gaines residents, Culhane said.

Photo by Tom Rivers

GAINES – A Crew was out today putting in a new driveway for Fairhaven Treasures, a site at the southeast intersection of routes 98 and 104. The new driveway will be on 98.

The property owners, Ray and Linda Burke, have been transforming the former Swiercznski homestead into an art gallery and high-end craft co-op. The Burkes are hoping to open the site to the public on Nov. 29, a day after Thanksgiving.