HOLLEY – The Village Board on Monday approved a $2,116,716 village budget that will increase taxes by 1.8 percent.

The budget increases the tax rate by 2.0 percent from $16.92 to $17.26 per $1,000 of assessed property. The tax levy, what the village collects in property taxes, will go from $1,004,300 in 2022-23 to $1,022,300 in 2023-24.

Mayor Mark Bower said the Village Board imposed a spending freeze on Feb. 1 which allowed Holley to have more money from the current budget to carry over into the next fiscal year to help prevent a bigger tax increase. The village also is able to tap into some of its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to help with some of the expenses.

Bower said all village employees will get 2 percent raises in the new budget. The village, however, will need to look at updating salaries to stay competitive with other municipalities, especially for its electric workers, Bower said.

The budget for 2023-24 includes the following departments or categories with 2022-23 in parentheses: Department of Public Works, $429,573 ($367,492); Police, $328,980 ($324,000); Office, $302,202 ($300,049); Employee Benefits, $173,562 ($167,179); Debt Payments, $154,000 ($139,137); Water Fund, $515,720 ($493,636); and Sewer Fund, $212,679 ($172,248).

The Holley village budget no longer includes the fire department. That is now managed by commissioners in the Murray Joint Fire District. The tax rate for that district is $1.82 per $1,000 and isn’t in the village taxes.

The village’s new fiscal year starts on June 1.

Photos from Murray Joint Fire District

MURRAY – A truck hauling corn overturned on Monday afternoon shutting down Ridge Road for  a few hours.

The driver of the truck for Shelby Transportation was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital for minor injuries, Murray Fire Chief Rick Cary said.

The truck was hauling corn west to the ethanol plant in Medina. The truck driver lost control of the vehicle and it overturned at about 1:45 p.m. between Hindsburg and Petersmith roads.

Murray firefighters were assisted at the scene by the State Police, Orleans County Sheriff’s office, Orleans County Emergency Management and the state Department of Transportation.

Ray Kerhaert’s Towing & Auto Repair in Rochester was able to get the truck back upright. No additional information is available.

Provided photos

HOLLEY – It was another huge effort today from Holley for the annual Canal Clean Sweep, a state-wide effort along the Erie Canal towpath and in the canal communities.

This group of Holley students gathers for a photo with some staff before heading out to pick up trash along the towpath, canal park, village streets and Lynch Road and Hurd Road outside the village.

Before heading out the group was addressed by Holley Mayor Mark Bower and District Superintendent Brian Bartalo.

Many of the students were in the Interact Club in the middle-high school, and the EarlyAct kids in the elementary school. There are about 100 students in the Interact Club. EarlyAct started this year in the elementary school and has about 40 members.

Casey Onisk, a senior and Interact member, designed the T-shirts.

The 100-plus students and many teachers and administrators is up from about 75 last year.

“This day has grown every year,” said Samantha Zelent, the Interact Club advisor and a school counselor. “For small Holley to have this large of a turnout really speaks volumes about us.”

EarlyAct member McKenna Seaward, school staff member Jean Smith, and parent Eric Frendendall grab garbage along the canal.

Middle School Interact Club members Ava Mosier, Chloe Bowen and Addyson Moyer check the Public Square for litter.

A group of Interacters joins Karri Schiavone, left, the elementary school principal.

There was lots of trash to be picked up in the village and out in the countryside.

Some Interacters found a lost rooster.

Interacter Desiree McCormack and Rotarian Jeff Martin fill a trash bag while out on Lynch Road.

A group of middle school boys and 6th grade teacher Dustin Gardner found lots of trash and also a ski, a bat, golf balls and 13 dollars.

HOLLEY – The school district will allow community youth soccer teams to use the Woodlands soccer complex.

Holley’s youth teams have played their home games at the JP’s fields off Route 31 near the Holley Business ark. But the Holley Soccer Club is growing with more teams, said Harris Reed, the club president.

The club reached out to the school district about having use of the Woodlands fields. Those fields are considered among the nicest in the area, and even hosted the state soccer tournament in the late 1990s.

Brian Bartalo, the school district superintendent, said the two full-size fields will be available for the community youth soccer program. There will also be some tree-clearing at the site to remove some dead ash trees.

There are 150 kids in the Holley Soccer Club, Reed said. The club only has one full-size field at JP’s and several other smaller fields there. The Woodlands complex gives the program more options for scheduling games.

“Our Soccer Club is growing and we want to keep it growing,” Reed said. “With the Woodlands now we can accommodate more teams and games.”

Holley will use Woodlands for games only, Reed said. He appreciates the district making them available for the club soccer program.

“This will mean a lot to the kids,” Reed said. “That is a one-of-kind field. It’s out in the woods.”

The Holley Soccer Club also is raising funds for the program, including a first-time chicken barbecue on May 20 at the JP’s site. Those tickets are available pre-sale only. Contact a soccer player or check the club’s website for more information.

HOLLEY – Mayor Mark Bower will lead a town hall meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss vandalism at village-owned sites in the community, including the bathrooms/shower facility by the canal and the bathrooms at the Firemen’s Field on North Main Street.

“We want to mobilize our residents to all be on the same page,” Bower said about making people aware of the vandalism. “What can everyone do to minimize the amount of vandalism we experience?”

Police Chief Bob Barton is expected to provide information about the number of incidents and extent of the damages.

“It has been unreal on North Main Street,” Bower said about the Firemen’s Field park. “At the canal bathroom building the fixtures have been ripped out of the wall, things get smashed, and there is graffiti. We’ve got to do something about it.”

The mayor will lead a discussion about the issue from 7 to 8:15 p.m. in the village office in the former Holley High School.

He would like to do two town hall meetings a year with a focus on a pressing issue in the community. He also will give residents a chance to ask questions about other concerns.

Bower said he also will be forming a mayor’s advisory council that he would like to have in place next month to help identify and address issues in the village.

‘We’re not a target district but we still have work to do, and the Regents is one of them.’ – Holley School Superintendent Brian Bartalo

Photo by Tom Rivers: Brian Bartalo, Holley school district superintendent, said the district remains committed to continuous improvement for students.

HOLLEY – School district leaders announced Holley, after four years, is no longer considered a “target” school district in need of improvement.

The district has made solid gains academically and is off the list of target districts by the State Education Department. Holley was put on the list in January 2019 due to low scores for seventh- and eighth-graders. At that time Holley was one of 106 school districts on the list out of 733 districts in the state.

The district’s performance in state standardized tests for seventh- and eighth-graders was in the lowest 5 percent at the time, said Brendan Keiser, the district’s director of Teaching and Learning.

“We did it – we’re off the list,” Keiser told the Board of Education on Monday. “It’s been a journey. The last four years have been incredible.”

Keiser and Brian Bartalo, the district superintendent, praised students, parents, teachers, administrators and board of education members for committing to improvement.

“It felt like a burden but it gave us a path, and we will continue on that path,” Bartalo said.

Being on the list of target districts brought about $250,000 in additional state resources annually to Holley for consultants, educational materials and resources. Holley will continue to utilize consultants as it pushes for continuous improvement, Keiser said. The district can tap into its federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act for those resources.

While the district has seen strong improvement in student performance, Bartalo and Keiser said high school Regents scores continue to lag, despite Holley’s high graduation rate.

Holley will make raising Regents scores a focus in the immediate future. The district also wants to improve academic performance for students in special education. Hispanic students in the middle school also are a subgroup with low scores on standardized tests, Keiser said.

Bartalo said he will be discussing a strategic plan on April 28 with teachers that will focus on the next five years at Holley. The four years as a target school provided a blueprint for raising student achievement, Bartalo said.

“We’re not a target district but we still have work to do, and the Regents is one of them,” Bartalo said.

Robin Silvis, the board president, praised the district and community for their efforts, especially during the Covid pandemic, to boost student achievement.

“It felt yucky to be a target district,” Silvis said. “It was a gut punch and we took the tools to make it work. There has been substantial growth here.”

HOLLEY – The Board of Education approved a proposed $28,920,000 school budget for 2023-24 that would increase property taxes by 1.49 percent.

The budget goes to a public vote on May 16 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the foyer of the junior-senior high school.

The tax levy increase is under the district’s allowable tax cap of 3.79 percent, said Sharon Zacher, Holley’s assistant superintendent for business.

The levy would increase by 1.49 percent or $115,034 to $7,835,466. That is the smallest increase since taxes were increased by 1.35 percent in 2017-18. The following years the tax levy increase was 2.0 percent in 2018-19, 2.5 percent in 2019-20, and then 1.95 percent for each of three years from 2020-21 to 2022-23.

The budget shows a 7.81 percent spending increase or by $1,938,000 – up from the $26,982,000 in the current school year.

The increase is driven by inflation and contractual agreements, Zacher said on Monday while going over the budget during the Board of Education meeting.

Holley would get a big boost in Foundation Aid from the state – 15.99 percent or $1,869,196 more, from $11,623,776 to $13,492,972, based on the governor’s budget. The state budget remains at an impasse, nearly three weeks late. Zacher said the increase proposed by the governor makes up for some of the lagging aid from the state in recent years through Foundation Aid.

The district also is planning a capital outlay project that won’t exceed $100,000 with state aid covering up to 92.3 percent of the cost. The projects include middle/high school door replacement and hardware – roof access doors, custodial hall to gym vestibule fire doors, auditorium stage door going to the mezzanine, and fob access to the main office, counseling and library.

The ballot on May 16 will also include a proposition authorizing the district to spend up to $338,000 for two full-size buses and one smaller bus.

Another proposition will authorize Holley to collect $200,815 for Community Free Library – up from $194,966 in 2022-23.

There are also three candidates running for the Board of Education – Dan Cater, Trina Lorentz and Robin Silvis. The seats are currently filled by Silvis, the board president, and Andrea Newman.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MURRAY – Adam Blosenhauer of the Murray Joint Fire District is on the scene of a brush fire on Hindsburg Road in Murray this afternoon.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 3:13 p.m. This is a vineyard and field with lots of wood next to the Salamaca Estate Winery near Ridge Road.

Adam Blosenhauer puts out the field fire on Hindsburg Road. Firefighters from Murray and Albion doused the fire which devoured much of the vineyard.

Matt Francis of the Albion Fire Department carries this hose through the vineyard.

Murray firefighters – right to left Assistant Chief Jimmy Fox, Assistant Chief David Smith and Lieutenant Adam Blosenhauer – hose down chunks of wood and grass.

The dry conditions and temperatures near 70 have the area vulnerable to brush fires, firefighters said.

An outdoor burn ban is in effect from March 16 through May 14. Fox, the assistant chief, said the owners of the property didn’t start the fire. A fire investigator is at the scene to try to determine the cause.

Fox said firefighters started battling the brush fire closest to the winery and moved towards to the vineyard to make sure the fire didn’t get to the barn on site, which has been used for Salamanca Estate Winery.

Albion firefighters used a deck gun to send water into the field that was smoking and hot from the fire. John Papponetti of the Albion FD is up top on the truck.