Photos courtesy of Lyndonville Central School: Youngsters enjoy the new PreK playground that opened last week.

Press Release, Lyndonville Central School

LYNDONVILLE – The school district on Sept. 9 hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to open a new PreK playground.

The playground equipment and installation were funded through the district’s Universal PreK grant to provide full-day pre-kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-old children residing within the Lyndonville school district. The vibrant playground is designed specifically for children ages 2-5 as a safe place for them to learn, play and grow.

“The new PreK playground is an asset to the district,” said Elementary Principal Elissa Smith. “Play is an essential aspect of learning and helps develop children’s coordination, motor skills, cognitive abilities and social awareness. We look forward to adding additional gross motor play opportunities next spring.”

LCS currently has 65 students enrolled in the district’s PreK program. For more information on Lyndonville’s PreK program, please visit the district’s website.

Provided photos: Dr. Teresa Lawrence, an educational consultant, leads discussions this summer for the school district as it worked on a strategic plan for the 2021-22 school year.

Press Release, Lyndonville Central School

LYNDONVILLE – Over the summer, Lyndonville Central School faculty, staff, administration and Board of Education members worked together to develop the district’s 2021-22 strategic plan. Together, they identified literacy as the overall goal for the school year.

“Literacy skills are imperative for a child’s overall development,” said Superintendent Jason Smith. “It is the foundation for doing well in school. Literacy is more than just reading and writing. It is also the ability to make sense of and engage in advanced reading, writing, listening and speaking in all subject or content areas. By providing students with a strong foundation in literacy, we greatly improve their ability as a student, community member and life-long learner.”

Throughout the year, teachers will find unique and creative ways to engage all students and enhance their literacy skills. The outline below provides an overview of the plan and steps to be taken to achieve the overall goal.

Identified Goal: To have all students proficient in literacy as aligned with their age and ability. At LCSD, we will provide students with equal access to all learning.

Challenge 1: How do we identify and support struggling students?

• We continuously collect and utilize data to create focused instruction and intervention strategies that benefit the whole child.

Challenge 2: How do we align literacy across content areas throughout our secondary grades?

• We begin with daily explicit vocabulary instruction and collaborate with peers to incorporate effective strategies in and out of our classrooms.

Typically, Lyndonville develops a strategic plan yearly to set goals and serve as the driving force throughout the school year. Due to the pandemic and the focus on health and safety, the district was unable to develop a formal plan last year.

“It was nice to be able to work together as a team this summer and build upon the strategic plan we previously established,” said Smith. “It unites our focus as a district, sets our goal and provides direction to ensure a successful year.”

If you have questions regarding literacy building within your child’s classroom(s), please reach out to their teacher(s). We look forward to seeing the many engaging activities and projects that will happen this year.

YATES – The Town Board has set a 7 p.m. public hearing on Oct. 12 to hear from residents whether Yates should allow marijuana to be sold from a legal dispensary, where people could purchase adult-use cannabis products. The hearing will be at the Town Hall, 8 South Main St.

The state is giving municipalities until Dec. 31 to decide whether they will opt out of allowing marijuana dispensaries. The municipalities also need to decide by the end of the year if they will opt out of allowing onsite consumption at businesses such as a smoking lounge.

The state has approved a 13-percent excise tax on marijuana with a breakdown that includes 9 cents for each taxable sale to the state, 3 cents to the municipality that has the dispensary, and 1 cent to the county. Municipalities that opt out wouldn’t be eligible for the 3-cent share of the 13-percent sales tax.

Towns and villages can’t overstep the state and ban recreational use of marijuana. But the towns and villages can prohibit dispensaries and smoking lounges.

If the municipal board for a village or town decides to opt out, residents could still push a permissive referendum, with the matter going on the ballot.

Municipalities could also decide to opt out, and later decide to “opt in” and allow the dispensaries and lounges.

YATES – The Yates Town Board wants to reach out to the community to see if there would be support from dairy farms and residents for a manure digester, which converts methane gas into a biogas that can be converted into electricity.

The board on Tuesday discussed an initial feasibility study that shows there are plenty of cows in Yates and neighboring Somerset to do a large-scale digester that could be shared by more than one farm.

“It’s just an idea,” said Town Councilman John Riggi. “It’s nothing more than that now.”

The town wants to hear from dairies if they would support being a part of a digester, a project that Riggi said would likely come with grants from the state to help drive down the costs.

The digesters have become popular in the dairy industry, with many larger farms doing the projects on their own. Yates is looking at a project that could include more than one farm. If that happened, there would likely be a digester at a host farm, with others farms trucking manure to the site, and then picking up the finished fiber product – which is much less smelly and can be used for cow bedding or for horticultural purposes.

The town will look to form a committee to reach out to the dairy farms and residents. If there is interest in a project from the farms, Yates officials will likely pursue a more detailed feasibility study.

Riggi and Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the board will provide updates about the possible project in town newsletters and upcoming board meetings.

Riggi said he would only support the project if it proves a benefit for everyone in the town, and proves affordable with grants and incentives from the state.

He said a digester could also take pressure off Yates from hosting large-scale wind turbine and solar projects as the state pushes renewable energy.

“Every rural town has a target on its back with the renewable energy mandate,” Riggi said.

He sees a digester – using manure from dairies to ultimately create electricity – as a more appropriate renewable energy project in Yates than the large-scale wind and solar.

This design by the MRB Group in Rochester shows the layout of an improved Yates Town Park.

YATES – Town officials will open construction bids this morning at 10 for an upgrade of the Town Park on Morrison Road. The park is along Lake Ontario.

The state is paying 95 percent of the costs of the project estimated at $2.531 million or $2,404,450. It is part of $300 million in state funding for projects along the southshore of Lake Ontario. (Click here to see a bigger map of the project.)

The local share of the Yates project – $126,550 – will be covered with $26,550 of in-kind services by the town Highway Department and $100,000 in funding by the Lyndonville Area Foundation.

The town is eyeing completion of the project in next September. It would be a big highlight for Yates as the town celebrates its 200^th anniversary in 2022, Town Supervisor Jim Simon said.

After the bids are opened today, they will be reviewed by the town’s engineering firm, MRB Group in Rochester, and then come back to the Town Board for a vote.

During a Town Board workshop meeting on Tuesday, Simon told the other board members the project is on pace to be complete in about a year.

“It’s going really well,” Simon said about the project. “There are no hiccups that I am aware of.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: This photo from Oct. 23, 2019 shows some of the tables along the shoreline at the Yates Town Park.

Some highlights of the project and the estimated costs include an L-shaped breakwater at $640,000; pavilion with bathroom and fire place, $394,000; park activities (kayak boat launch, dock ramp, ADA compliant playground), $266,000; road, parking, pavement, $95,000; stone dust trail with benches, garbage can, bike rack and plantings, $75,000; stormwater, $56,000; electrical, $42,000; erosion control, $41,000; sanitary/leach field, $31,000 and water service, $20,000.

Engineering costs also are estimated at $372,000, with legal and administration fees at $93,000.

Annual operation and maintenance costs with the added amenities are estimated at $3,000 for water and electric service, insurance, bathroom cleaning and septic tank costs and other operation, maintenance costs. However, the town will save $1,500 annually by not needing portable bathrooms at the park. So the net increased operation and maintenance costs will be $1,500 or an additional penny on the town tax rate, according to the town’s calculations.

Simon believes the park will improve the quality of life in the community, improve health and wellness, and boost property values in that part of the community. It could also draw visitors to the community as the only town park along the Lake Ontario shoreline in Orleans County.

Simon said he would like to see the community eventually work to put in sidewalks from north of the village on Route 63 to the Town Park. That would be an ideal link between the village and park for walkers, joggers and cyclists, Simon said.

Gov. Hochul, however, expected to make them mandatory

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Lyndonville Board of Education met Monday evening approved a reopening plan for 2021-22 that makes wearing masks optional for students, except on busses wear the federal government is making them mandatory. Ted Lewis, left, is president of the Board of Education.

LYNDONVILLE – The Board of Education on Monday voted to make wearing masks by students optional, even if the community is in a “red zone” with high Covid community spread.

The board went against recommendations from the State Department of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the federal Center for Disease Control, which are all recommending students, teachers and staff wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

Lyndonville board members were unanimous in voting to make masks optional for students, saying the choice should be up to parents.

“I understand that this is a complicated issue and people’s opinions vary greatly to the point of anger and frustration,” said board member Susan Hrovat. “I know each person won’t be happy about this. My goal is to allow each parent to make a decision for their child as much as possible. If you choose to mask your children, that is great. If you choose not to, that is your decision as well.”

The board said it expects new Gov. Kathy Hochul will issue a mask-wearing mandate before the start of the school. If she does, that would be the requirement in Lyndonville.

Board member Steve Vann urged the board to vote on the issue on Monday evening and not hold off until hearing from Hochul and the state. He wanted Lyndonville to make its position clear about masks for students.

“Don’t hide from it,” Vann told the other board members. “I think we should vote on it tonight regardless of what the state sends down so all of our constituents know where we stand on the issue.”

The board on Monday reviewed a chart that was similar to one used by other districts for wearing masks. The chart was developed with the four other districts in Orleans County and the Orleans-Niagara BOCES.

Although masks are optional inside Lyndonville school, face coverings will be required for students on busses, per a federal directive.

The chart also was going to make wearing masks a requirement in common areas where there are many students. But the board, in a motion from member Steven Vann, changed the draft plan to make masks in those high traffic areas such as hallways as “recommended” rather than required. Vann said Covid needs 15 minutes of exposure to spread and hallways interactions are much briefer.

The proposal also had that masks would be mandated to wear in classrooms if the county was in a red zone with the highest community transmission. (Orleans County is currently in the orange zone for “substantial” community spread, just below the highest level.)

Lyndonville will welcome students back for the first day of school on Sept. 8. The board voted to make wearing masks optional for students, but the state is expected to make them mandatory throughout New York for students.

Vann and the other board members voted to make masks “recommended” inside the classrooms if the county is in a red zone.

Vann said the Orleans County numbers aren’t evenly spread out throughout all communities. He said the cases tend to be lower in Lyndonville compared to Albion and the more populated parts of the county.

The board didn’t have the numbers available during its meeting about Covid cases per school district last year. Jason Smith, the district superintendent, said Lyndonville had its first student test positive in October. Lyndonville saw more cases in December and January, before the cases declined, which very little Covid in May and June, he said.

A state database shows the Covid cases per school district for the 2020-21. Here is the breakdown for each district in Orleans County:

• Lyndonville (enrollment 639) had 20 students test positive for Covid (15 in-school and 5 remote) and 13 teachers and staff. The Lyndonvile students included 17 in junior-senior high school and 3 at the elementary level.
• Albion (enrollment 1,768 students) had 86 students test positive (75 were in-person students and 11 remote-only). Those students included 33 in high school, 26 in middle school, and 27 in elementary school. There were 26 teachers/staff that tested positive.
• Medina (enrollment 1,396) had 87 students test and the state database says 4 were in-person students and 83 were off-site students. Those students included 43 in high school27 at intermediate/middle school, and 14 at elementary school. The district also had 31 teachers/staff test positive for Covid.
• Kendall (enrollment 698) last school year reported 37 students tested positive for Covid with 35 on-site and 2 as remote-only students. That included 19 at junior-senior high school and 18 at elementary school. Kendall also had 4 teachers/staff test positive.
• Holley (enrollment 902) reported 45 students who tested positive last year, including 43 in-person students and 2 who were remote-only. Those students included 34 in junior-senior high and 11 at elementary school. The district also had 17 teachers/staff test positive.

Jason Smith, the district superintendent, encouraged the board to wait on voting about the mask issue until hearing if there will be a directive from the state. But Vann and the board members wanted to go on the record in support of making mask wearing a parental choice.

The district’s reopening plan will continue in-person education for five days a week, just like last year. However, there won’t be remote learning unless there is a documented medical reason for students.

Lyndonville will continue to do daily temperature checks of students, and will use some partitions in classrooms.

The district is waiting for final guidance from the local and state Department of health about quarantining students. One benefit of students wearing masks is there is less chance of students being in a 10-day quarantine if someone next to them tests positive for Covid, Smith said.

He noted of all the students who were quarantined last year after being identified as a close contact of a student who tested positive, none of those students quarantined ended up with Covid.

Lyndonville will have some rapid Covid tests available at school. The district used those last year to test some teachers and staff and Smith said the tests identified one staff member with Covid. Students can also be tested with a rapid test at school with a parent’s permission.

Smith said a message will be sent to the Lyndonville community today with details about the reopening plan for 2021-22.

Hrovat urged the district and community members to “respect the decision” by Hochul and the state if masks are required for students.

She also urged people to tone down the rhetoric with the masking issue.

“I would just ask that we all be kind to one another and respect each family’s decision to carry out the way they choose to protect themselves through this Covid crisis, and we just move forward the best that we can,” she said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – The former Crosby-Whipple building has been demolished and removed at 30 North Main St. in Lyndonville to make way for a new Dollar General.

These photos show the site on Friday evening. The new store will be next to Johnson Creek. The project includes a retaining wall next to the waterway.

The site will become a 7,600-square-foot Dollar General with 29 parking spaces. The Broadway Group in Huntsville, Alabama is the developer for the project. The 7,600-square-foot store is the smallest model offered by Dollar General. Most of the Dollar Generals are more than 9,000 square feet. The parcel of land on Main Street doesn’t give enough room for the larger size store.

The store will have 8 to 10 employees and offer convenience for Lyndonville shoppers, the Broadway Group told village officials back in March. Dollar General has another store 3.75 miles away at the corner of routes 63 and 104 in Ridgeway.

Market will be open Fridays through October at former Pennysaver site

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – Friday was opening day for the new Lyndonville Farm & Artisan Market on South Main Street at the site of the former Pennysaver buiding, which was demolished in March after the roof collapsed due to heavy snow and ice on Feb. 22.

Robert Smith, right, is owner of the property and Deborah Loke, left, is the market manager. She also will be a vendor selling products made with laser-cut wood.

“We want Lyndonville to be a destination and not a pass-through,” Loke said.

There were seven vendors for opening day of the market, which was from 4 to 8 p.m. There are three more vendors signed up and more are welcome, Loke said.

Smith said the loss of the Pennysaver building prompted him to look for other ways to utilize the site. A farmers and artisan market emerged as a great fit for the community, he said. There is room for 18 vendor booths in 10 by 10-foot locations, with space for three food trucks on the east end of the lot.

“It’s created a different set of opportunities,” Smith said at the market on Friday evening.

He would like to see an outdoor café with the space as well. He is renovating two buildings next door and is hopeful one of those buildings will be a café with “grab-and-go breakfasts.”

This sign on Main Street directs people to the new market at the corner of South Main and Eagle streets.

The Webber Building, which is two doors down, is being renovated into retail space on the first floor and hotel rooms upstairs. Work starts Monday to put in the air-conditioning and heating system, with electric starting in September, and then the insulation and drywall. Smith expects that site to open the first quarter of 2022.

There is interest in the two buildings, Smith said, including from an insurance agent and for a collaborative kitchen with demonstrations.

He is pleased with the variety of the vendors at the new market, with coffee and other beverages, produce, books, pizza, kettle corn and an array of artisan creations.

He sees the market serving the Lyndonville community and also tapping into the group headed to the lake on Friday.

James Roberts, owner of Big Bulbs Garlic & Produce Farm in Medina, holds an onion he was selling Friday. Roberts, 36, was making his farm market debut. He has also sold his onions, garlic and other produce at flea markets.

He was pleased with the crowd on Friday. There were about 100 people who stopped by.

Katherine Diegelman of Lyndonville holds her daughter Willa. Diegelman sells products through Usborne Books & More. She sells books for children from birth through the teen years.

“I’ve done pretty well tonight,” she said about the sales at the market. “I like to do events that are local and get these awesome books into homes.”

Press Release, Lyndonville Central School

LYNDONVILLE – Kindergarten and Pre-K registration remains open at Lyndonville Central School

There is still time to register your child for kindergarten or pre-kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year. If you are a resident of the Lyndonville School District and your child will be 3, 4 or 5 by December 1, 2021, they are eligible to enroll. Space is limited but openings are available for all age groups.

The Lyndonville School District will continue to have full day classes for kindergarten with breakfast, lunch and transportation available for those outside the Village. The five-day-a week PreK program engages students in planned educational activities, play and rest time. Breakfast and lunch are provided, and a new PreK playground was recently installed.

Please call or email the school at (585) 765-3122 or esmith@lcsdk12.org. You will need to provide your name, address, child’s name and child’s date of birth. More information can be found by clicking here.

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville community is welcome to attend an ecumenical service at 4 p.m. on Aug. 14 at the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church, 107 North Main St.

“Many in the village are feeling grief from several years of sadness that has befallen this community,” said Martha Mitchell, pastor of the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church. “We have lost too many to accidents and natural causes.”

Many residents have lost loved ones due to Covid-19, she said.

“Covid also made many elderly or people who live alone feel a real sense of sadness because they were, in fact, even more lonely,” Mitchell said. “Some have lost jobs or have struggled with the effects of having to cope with remote learning for their kids. For whatever reason, the last two years have taken a toll on peoples’ mental health.”

Mitchell will be joined in leading the service by the Rev. Craig Rhodenizer from St. John’s Lutheran Church and Pastor Olga Gonzalez from Lyndonville United Methodist Church.

“It will be non-denominational and just a lovely way to bring everyone together, give them a time to share their grief and to restore hope,” Mitchell said.

The 4 p.m. service also will include information about purchasing a memorial brick at the Yates Community Library as part of a memorial garden at the library.

Photos courtesy of Kathaline Woodruff

LYNDONVILLE – The band Blue Sky performs Monday evening outside the Yates Community Library at the library’s new back patio.

The library is hosting several concerts this summer on Monday evenings. The concerts receive some state arts funding through the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.

Blue Sky kept the crowd entertained on Monday evening.

The concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. The schedule the rest of the summer includes:

• Aug. 9 – Eagle Creek
• Aug. 16 – Mr. Mustard
• Aug. 23 – Laces Out
• Aug. 30 – Barker Community Band.

The public is welcome to bring a lawn chair or blanket, even a dinner picnic for the events.

Celtic Spirit performed on the lawn behind the library on July 26. The pipe band mixes traditional bagpipe music with various modern instruments, in its own unique arrangements.

The Old Hippies performed on July 19.

The library at 5 p.m. on Aug. 9 also is hosting a book discussion led by Anne Smiley about the three-volume graphic memoir, March, which is about the late Congressman John Lewis and his experiences as a leader in the Civil Rights movement.

The library’s book club, “Renegade Readers,” is reading March and will be participating in the discussion.

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville community will be putting up banners of local soldiers next year, with the portraits on utility poles from just before Memorial Day to just after Veterans Day.

Lyndonville joins a growing list of communities to embrace the banners of Hometown Heroes. Holley, Medina and Albion have them, and many other communities around the state do as well.

Valerie D. Wells, a Lyndonville native, is coordinating the effort in Lyndonville. She said American flags will stay on much of Main Street. She expects some of the Hometown Heroes will be part on Main Street and also be included on Maple Avenue, Willowbrook Drive and Lake Avenue.

The banners will cost $200 each, and that includes hardware so they can be attached to the utility poles. The Lyndonville Area Foundation will set up an account for the funds, Wells said.

“The Lyndonville community should feel great pride in honoring our veterans in this noble way for many years to come,” she said.

The banners are expected to be up for three years and then will be given to the family. They will be in a different location each of the three years, Wells said.

For more information on how to purchase a banner for next year, contact Wells at (585) 339-8500 or by email at vwells022@gmail.com.

LYNDONVILLE – The Orleans County Planning Board is recommending the Village of Lyndonville approve the site plan for a new farm and artisan market in Lyndonville at 29 South Main St.

Robert Smith, owner of the property, wants to have the market on Fridays, from 4 to 9 p.m. The market will be on the now vacant site where the Pennysaver stood.

That structure had its roof collapse on Feb. 22 from heavy snow and ice. The building from 1899 also had suffered deterioration with its support beams. The building was knocked down in March.

Smith, a Lyndonville native who now lives in Palm Springs in California, used Zoom video conferencing to attend Thursday’s Orleans County Planning Board meeting. He is redeveloping other Main Street buildings.

With the former Pennysaver site, he said there will be room for up to 18 vendor booths in 10 by 10-foot locations, with space for three food trucks on the east end of the lot. He will provide electric hookups for the food trucks, as well as port-a-potties on the 4,000-square-foot site.

He wants to make the market available on Fridays from Memorial Day to October.

“We think this is a good opportunity to bring people into the village,” Smith said. “On Friday night people are headed to the lake. This will be a chance for them to pick up provisions and a meal.”

Lyndonville students also are expected to provide entertainment on some of the market days.

The County Planning Board encouraged the Village Planning Board to seek more information on whether the booths will be set up and taken down weekly, or if they will be permitted structures. The board should also see if there is a parking plan for the vendors’ vehicles and the market visitors, county planning officials said.

ALBION — The Orleans County Planning Board will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday and among the proposals will be a farm and artisan market in Lyndonville at 29 South Main St., the former site of the Pennysaver.

The structure had its roof collapse on Feb. 22 from heavy snow and ice. The building from 1899 also had suffered deterioration with its support beams. The building was knocked down in March and the site is now vacant.

In other referrals for the Planning Board on July 22:

• Request for site plan review in Albion for a proposed 9,000-square-foot addition to an existing manufacturing facility at 4015 Oak Orchard Rd.

• Request for site plan review and a special use permit in Kendall for a 5 mega-watt solar farm at 1771 West Kendall Rd.

• Request for site plan review and a special use permit in Ridgeway for a recreational pond under 1 acre at 2901 County Line Rd.

• Request for permit and site plan review for another recreational pond under 1 acre at 3117 Knowlesville Rd.

• Request for site plan review in Ridgeway for 73-foot diameter by 32-foot high tank storage for chemical bulk storage at 3956 Allis Rd.