SWEDEN – A Holley man was killed on New Year’s Eve in a hit-and-run in the Town of Sweden, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Thomas Taylor, 53, was plowing driveways on Wednesday night. He parked his truck in a driveway on Brockport-Spencerport Road at about 11:30 p.m. when he got out to look for a customer’s house. While walking on the shoulder of the road, he was struck by an oncoming vehicle, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

A passenger in Taylor’s pickup heard a noise and found Taylor lying in a ditch. Taylor was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – A two-car accident on Route 237 resulted in two people going to the hospital for minor injuries, Holley fire officials said at the scene.

The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. One motorist appears to have driven through the stop sign at Telegraph Road, crossing into North Main Street, where the car was struck. The Orleans County Sheriff’s Department is expected to issue a news release on the accident later.

A driver in one of the vehicles was trapped inside after her vehicle was T-boned. Holley firefighters were able to extricate her from the vehicle.

The Holley Fire Department and Fancher-Hulberton-Murray Fire Company were both at the scene. Monroe Ambulance transported one of the drivers with the Brockport Fire Department taking the other.

Past Holley Fire Chief Dave Knapp said the intersection has been the scene for many accidents over the years, including a fatal crash in March 2008.

Holley firefighter John Totter surveys the scene on North Main Street.

Press Release, Orleans County Undersheriff Steve Smith

CLARENDON – Two Brinks employees escaped serious injury this morning when their armored truck ran off the roadway and overturned in the Town of Clarendon.

The incident occurred at approximately 11 a.m. on Holley-Byron Road (Route 237) between Hinds Road and Church Street.

Gary E. Machlowski, 64, of Buffalo was operating the truck headed north on Rt. 237 when he failed to negotiate a curve near Hanson Stone Corporation. The truck ran off the west side of the roadway and overturned, coming to rest on its roof.

A passenger in the truck’s rear compartment is identified as James A. Reinertsen, 32, of Buffalo. Both Reinertsen and Machlowski were treated at the scene by Clarendon EMS and Monroe Ambulance personnel. Neither individual was transported to the hospital.

Supervisory personnel from Brinks responded to the scene as well as a second armored truck. That section of Rt. 237 remained closed to traffic until about 1:45 p.m.

The incident was investigated by Deputy M.C. Mele, assisted by Deputy T.N. Tooley.

HOLLEY – School district voters will go to the polls form 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today to decide whether the district can move forward on an $8.9 million capital project.

The project includes roof top HVAC units, windows, radiators, flooring and exterior doors. The district also wants to improve the student drop-off area and the playground at the elementary school and move the tennis courts.

The district already has $2.5 million set aside in a capital reserve account to cover the local share of the project, which will be mostly paid for from the state. District officials say local taxes won’t be increased because of the project.

The proposal follows about $32 million of school improvements at Holley Central School. But more work needs to be done and the district is ready to pursue “nuts and bolts” on improvements that weren’t part of a recent capitol project, said Robert D’Angelo, the district superintendent.

D’Angelo expects the projects in the capital plan will make the district more efficient and reduce energy costs. The work would likely be completed in 2016 and 2017.

Voting today is in the middle/high school foyer. Voters must be at least 18, a United States citizen and a legal resident of the school district for at least the last 30 days.

HOLLEY – School district residents, by a more than 2-to-1 vote, approved an $8.9 million capital project today.

The proposition passed, 175 to 72. The project includes roof top HVAC units, windows, radiators, flooring and exterior doors. The district also wants to improve the student drop-off area and the playground at the elementary school and move the tennis courts.

The district already the local share of the project set aside in a reserve fund. District officials say local taxes won’t be increased because of the project.

The proposal follows about $32 million of school improvements at Holley Central School. The project approved today includes “nuts and bolts” on improvements that weren’t part of a recent capitol project, said Robert D’Angelo, the district superintendent.

The district will need to submit designs to the State Education Department before sending the work out to bid. The project is expected to be completed in 2016 and 2017.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – The fountain in the Holley Public Square is up close with a full moon in the background in this photo taken this evening.

Village officials used a state grant to refurbish the fountain this year. The fountain was first installed in the Public Square 100 years ago.

Lights are already hanging in the Public Square. A Christmas tree will be lighted on Saturday at 6 p.m. The community is welcome to attend that event.

The Salisbury Fountain was originally given to the village by Mrs. Abraham Salisbury. According to a plaque, it was “Presented through the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.”

District wants healthier kids and families

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Brenda Swanger, president of the Holley Board of Education, joins Holley children in trying the new iDANCE fitness game during a grand-opening celebration on Monday for the school’s new fitness center.

The center is in a spot where the library used to be located in the elementary school.
Holley received a federal grant for nearly $800,000 over three years for fitness programs for the community. That grant paid for the equipment, and also will fund a nutritionist to work with the cafeteria staff and health classes.

The grant also is paying to train Holley staff on the equipment and be available from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the center will be open for family fitness nights beginning today.

The center will be open to students after school from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Robert D’Angelo, the district superintendent, watches children try new exercise equipment in the fitness center, which includes four large flat screen televisions. D’Angelo said the televisions will appeal to some of the room’s users.

“By itself some of the equipment would be too boring,” D’Angelo said. “People want the TVs.”

The fitness center includes many exercise bikes with video screens. The screens resemble scenes and terrain, making it appear the users are riding the bikes down a street or a course.

Some of the equipment also has video games, but those games will only work if the exercise equipment is being used. It’s part of a push towards “exergaming.”

“The difference is the technology,” said Lisa Campbell, a Holley physical education teacher. “We’re hoping to win over the kids.”

Campbell helped the district secure the grant. She and other school officials were concerned about student’s obesity rates and body mass indexes.

The district used that data to help secure the grant from the federal government. Campbell said students need to be taught proper nutrition and be encouraged to exercise while young. If they are overweight as children, they are very likely to be that way as adults, she said.

School officials were joined by dignitaries for a ribbon cutting, including from left: Clarendon Town Supervisor Richard Moy, Murray Town Supervisor John Morriss, Murray Highway Superintendent Ed Morgan, State Senator-elect Rob Ortt, Eileen Banker (chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley), BOE President Brenda Swanger, BOE member Robin Silvis, teacher Lisa Campbell and BOE member Sal DeLuca.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MURRAY – Dark smoke billowed into the sky at about 4:30 p.m. today, making firefighters think there was a structure fire at 16210 Lynch Rd.

When firefighters arrived on scene, they learned the cause for the smoke was a rubbish fire, including a burning television and other household items that were in a pile. Firefighters from Fancher-Hulberton-Murray and Holley responded to the scene.

School district will discuss capital project on Tuesday; Vote is on Dec. 9

HOLLEY – Holley Central School welcomes the community to check out a fitness center on Monday during a celebration beginning at 6 p.m.

The district used an $800,000 federal Carol White grant for the project. The grant will also pay for an initiative to promote good nutrition among students, staff and families, said Robert D’Angelo, district superintendent.

The new center, located in the elementary school, will be open to the community on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. with certified staff on hand. If there is demand for more hours, the district will try to accommodate the need.

Holley will also host an informational meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the middle/high school auditorium. That meeting will include a presentation on a proposed $8.9 million capital project. The vote will be on Dec. 9 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The capital project include includes roof top HVAC units, windows, radiators, flooring and exterior doors. The district also wants to improve the student drop-off area and the playground at the elementary school and move the tennis courts.

The district already has $2.5 million set aside in a capital reserve account to cover the local share of the project, which will be mostly paid for from the state.

Holley site gets new life with extensive renovations

Photos by Tom Rivers – This building used to have a wooden exterior when it was Tagg’s Tavern. The wood was removed to reveal cast iron columns in front. Dan and Monica Seeler needed to rebuild walls, paint them and make numerous other improvements for one of the most prominent buildings in Holley. The site will have an awning when it is expected to open as a restaurant and bar in the spring.

The Holley Falls Bar and Grill is awaiting cosmetic work inside. Otherwise, the extensive remodeling is mostly complete. The restaurant will have room to seat 60 people with another 20 spots in the bar.

HOLLEY – Dan and Monica Seeler have been asked if they are crazy for taking on perhaps the most ambitious renovation and transformation project in Holley’s recent history.

The couple moved from Hamlin to Holley seven years ago. They see a lot of potential in Holley, a close-knit small town with a collection of historic commercial and public buildings around the Public Square.

The former Tagg’s Tavern had been vacant for several years when the Seelers bought it four years ago. They envisioned the Holley Falls Bar and Grill in the tavern, with high-end apartments upstairs and in a neighboring site, a former barbershop. (The Holley Falls are located down Frisbee Terrace, a short walk from the restaurant.)

The restaurant gives a view of the Public Square, including a former church that is now a residential site. “We have given it new life,” Dan Seeler said about the building.

It would take a major transformation to pull off the transformation. The Seelers have three of the apartments ready with two more to go. The bar and grill is down to the cosmetics. That business should open in the spring.

The Seelers have won the respect from many in the community for their commitment to excellence, and for what people see as a draw to the community, a business that could pull in customers for other merchants.

“It will be an asset to the village,” said Jonathan Ross, owner of Jonathan’s Pastry at 23 Public Square, two storefronts down from the Seelers. “It will build up the value of Holley.”

Dan Seeler stands in one of the apartments above the Holley Falls Bar and Grill. There are three apartments, ranging from 900 to 1,100 square feet, above the restaurant.

Ross said the village has benefitted from another recent major remodel: the Save-A-Lot in the former Jubilee. The Seelers’ project adds to that movement in the business district.

“It’s all about the traffic flow,” Ross said about the business district. “(The new restaurant) should bring other people from outside Holley.”

The Seelers have been working on the transformation at Tagg’s for three years. It hasn’t been easy. They were approved for $130,000 in matching grant through the NY Main Street program. They won’t get that money until the project is done.

They actually were approved for two grants with $80,000 towards the former Tagg’s and $50,000 for the extensive remodeling of the former barbershop building. They needed to wait for state approvals before doing most of the work.

The Seelers put up this new building, which includes their office, two apartments and the kitchen for the restaurant. The previous structure collapsed following the brutal winter.

Last winter’s punishing cold proved the final blow for the barbershop building. When the Seelers prepared to work on the site early this summer, the building collapsed.

They removed the debris and have built a new structure. However, instead of $50,000 in grant money for the project they will only get $17,000 because the historic building is gone. They had intended to just do interior renovations of the building, not construct a new site.

The Seelers were out $33,000 in grant funds and also had to spend more on the project with a new building. Mr. Seeler was sad to see the old structure go. He prides himself in bringing back sites that have been long neglected. But the building proved too far gone.

Dan Seeler heads into one of the new apartments above the future Holley Falls Bar and Grill. The entrance to the apartments is in an elevated courtyard.

Tagg’s was nearly at the point of no return, he said.

“This building was on its last legs,” he said.

He has repaired masonry walls, replaced floors and strengthened the structure. When he took off the wooden exterior, he discovered the orginal cast iron columns for the façade. They have been spiffed up and now are proudly part of the building’s look.

Seeler, 57, has worked in the commercial construction business for 40 years. A carpenter by trade, he has led the renovation effort at the Tagg’s site with help from his two sons, Jesse and Sean. Mrs. Seeler will run the steak and seafood restaurant.

The Seelers have worked on four other projects in the community in addition to the Tagg’s transformation.

“We like the small-town atmosphere here,” Seeler said. “We could have a mini Brockport here.”

The Seelers are grateful to be in the home stretch of the project. Three of the apartments should be available next month. Seeler created a courtyard for the three upper apartments. Tagg’s and the barbershop building used to have roofs that touched. But Seeler left some room between the roofs, allowing for the courtyard up high as well as the entrances to the apartments.

The interior of the Seeler apartments features lots of woodwork and existing light.

Seeler put in many windows to utilize natural light. The apartments give a birds eye view of the Public Square. Seeler has been spending his Saturday mornings giving tours of the apartments and restaurant space to interested community members. He loves their reaction to the apartments.

“Everybody I talk to has the hubbubs about it,” Seeler said. “People are excited.”

Most Holley residents remember the site as a notorious bar and rooming house. Now, Seeler believes the site has a urban apartment feel with a bar and grill that will be a major positive for Holley and Orleans County.

“I’ve tried to use my knowledge from the years and years of building with this project,” Seeler said. “We’ve given it new life.”

Seeler has two more apartments under construction, including this one which will be 1,300 square feet on the second floor. “It has a great view and a personality of its own.”