By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2023 at 2:16 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – Lyndonville elementary students are performing Disney’s Jungle Book Kids with shows at 7 p.m. today and 2 p.m. on Saturday at the school’s Stroyan Auditorium, 25 Housel Ave. Admission is free with donations accepted.
The top photo shows Bagheera, a panther played by Emily Kroll. She looks out for Mowgli, a boy who was raised by wolves and played by Fatima Lieberman, back right.
Lydia Bailor is Baloo, a giant bear at left who befriends Mowgli.
There are 40 Lyndonville fifth- and sixth-graders in the cast, including Sierra Frasier who is the flower. Students are also running the lights and helped make the set pieces.
Declan Fonda plays King Louie, an orangutan and wily leader of the jungle.
Fatima Lieberman plays the role of Mowgli, who has been raised in the jungle. Some of his animal friends realize the jungle has become too dangerous for Mowgli and they try to connect him to a “man village.”
Lydia Bailor plays Baloo and sings “The Bare Necessities.” Baloo urges a more care-free lifestyle for Mowgli, a contrast from the message from Bagheera.
Madelyn Ingersoll is Kaa, a snake that lulls Mowgli to sleep and tries to squeeze him into submission. The snake coils include Caylin Scholes, Harli Crawford, Chloe Sabino and Annaliese Irwin.
YATES – The Town of Yates cancelled the Oct. 12 Town Board meeting, and apologizes to those who arrived and planned to attend the meeting.
It is rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.
The public is advised that the Yates Town Board plans to vote on a resolution to approve the tentative budget for 2024 at the Oct. 18 meeting. If the resolution passes, then the tentative budget becomes the preliminary budget for 2024 and will be subject to a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6, at the Town Hall.
Melissa Kate Miller, left, and Kristin Brandt will be featured on Monday at Yates Community Library.
LYNDONVILLE – The Erie Canal Traveling Museum will be the first of two featured programs at Yates Community Library in downtown Lyndonville on Columbus Day, Monday. The program begins at 11 a.m.
Gathered over decades, fascinating tools and other artifacts used in everyday life in our area in the early-to-mid-1800s will be on display. Presenter Melissa Kate Miller will shed light on how they were used, and attendees can get a hands-on look at the artifacts.
“Different Perspectives On The Erie Canal,” presented by Kristin Brandt, will be the second feature of the day (also observed as Indigenous Peoples’ Day), starting at 1 p.m.
This program will explore the differences and disputes between the local Native Americans known as the Haudenosaunee, and New York Governor DeWitt Clinton at the time of Canal construction. Respect for nature and the plant life native to the Canal corridor will also be explored.
Both programs are encouraged for ages 8 and up, and are free of charge. This programming has been made possible by the generous support of Humanities New York and Arts for Learning WNY. The library will provide snacks and water for attendees, between the two programs. For more information, please call the library at (585) 765-9041.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 October 2023 at 2:55 pm
LYNDONVILLE – The village has been approved for $576,437 in short-term, interest-free financing for the planning, design and construction of disinfection improvements at the village’s wastewater treatment plant.
Mayor John Belson said the news is “huge” for the village which is in the process of putting in the chlorination system that was mandated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Belson said the village has tried to get government grants and financing assistance previously but wasn’t approved.
He said the new chlorination system should be in place by the end of the month.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the financing for Lyndonville this afternoon as part of $234.5 million in financial assistance for water infrastructure improvement projects across the state.
“By investing in our state’s water infrastructure, we are laying the foundation for regional growth and prosperity while protecting our natural resources,” Governor Hochul said in a press release. “This financial assistance helps ensure that cost will not be a barrier as communities across the state continue to modernize treatment systems with vital infrastructure upgrades, helping usher in a healthier, more resilient future for New York.”
Provided photos: From left include Lutheran Pastor Craig Rhodenizer, United Methodist Pastor Timothy Schultz, Presbyterian Pastor Martha Mitchell, volunteer Laura Campbell, volunteer DeAnn Diermyer, and Lyndonville Area Foundation Treasurer Russ Martino.
Posted 28 September 2023 at 1:50 pm
Press Release, Lyndonville Area Foundation
LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville Area Foundation donated $4,000 to assist the Lyndonville Yates Ministerial Association to operate the LYFE – Lyndonville Yates Food Emergency pantry.
The pantry is located in the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church and has been in operation for about 30 years. This community ministry is supported by volunteers and donations from the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church, Lyndonville United Methodist Church, Yates Baptist Church, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Our Lady of the Lake, Foodlink and by the generosity of private donors and caring citizens.
The food pantry and other services that LYMA offers such as the Foodlink drive-thru distribution events have grown over the years and supports about 75 families monthly, said Pastor Martha Mitchell. She attributes this to the quality of products that are offered and the consistency and availability of the pantry.
With an industrial-sized refrigerator and freezer, the pantry allows them to offer an assortment of cold and frozen food items along with canned and boxed food, personal hygiene items and even diapers.
The pantry is open to local residents from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 107 North Main Street, Lyndonville. Pastor Mitchell said that they can always use donations of food staples like canned soup, macaroni, ketchup, mustard, cereal, pancake mix, syrup, canned chicken and hamburger helper.
If you can donate your time or would like to drop off food items to support the pantry, please contact Pastor Mitchell by calling the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church at (585)765-2838 or stop in during the normal pantry hours and introduce yourself. They are always looking for volunteers!
The pantry includes an industrial-size refrigerator and freezer, as well as shelves for food.
Project became inactive due to added costs and concern from fault line near site
The pristine beauty of Lake Ontario is pictured from the Yates shoreline. (Courtesy of Michael Loftus)
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 3, No. 31
YATES – In the 1970s, a second rural Orleans County site was considered as the location of a nuclear facility.
Beginning in the 1960s, NYSEG began to acquire parcels of land in the Town of Yates and the neighboring Town of Somerset in Niagara County in anticipation of the construction of an atomic electric generating station.
The Journal-Register of May 11, 1972, announced that the New York State Atomic and Space Development Authority (ASDA) had selected a site in the Town of Yates for study as a possible location for the construction of an atomic power generating station.
The site, referred to as the Morrison Road Site, was an area bounded by the Lake Ontario shoreline, Foss Road and Morrison Road. Construction costs would range from $350-$400 million and completion would take eight to ten years. A site in the Town of Wilson was also under consideration, as was a site in Cayuga, Town of Sterling.
Speaking at an Albion Chamber of Commerce dinner held at Marti’s Restaurant in Albion, on May 24, 1972, ASDA chairman James G. Cline outlined the positive aspects of the plant. Members of the Orleans County Industrial Development Authority and the Orleans County Economic Development Authority were also in attendance.
Mr. Cline and other members of the ASDA staff claimed that the overall impact of the plant would be minimal and that it would provide considerable economic benefit. Analysts had determined that the site in question consisted of “low- viability farmland that was marginal at best.” The power transmission route would be underground and out of view. Discharged water would not interfere with lake ecology, surface algae or critical marine life. Similar plants showed no radioactive buildup, even after ten years of operation.
However, residents of the Town of Yates were not impressed.
The Journal-Register of 14 June 1972 reported on an “Open Letter” prepared by a group of Lyndonville signers who urged a letter-writing campaign to local, county, state and federal officials protesting the installation.
Among those who signed the letter were Bartlett Breed, Bernard Brinsmaid, Mr. & Mrs. James Whipple, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Whipple, Mr. & Mrs. John Eppolito and many others. The letter began:
“The signers of this letter are opposed to the building of an atomic power plant in the Town of Yates, or indeed, anywhere on the river and lake front between Buffalo on the west and Rochester on the east.”
The arguments against the proposed plant were cogently argued, the probability and disastrous consequences of an accident being the foremost cause of concern.
The letter pointed out the false claims and spurious logic used in the promotion of the proposal. It referred to the findings of the Brookhaven Report (1957) which questioned the safety of nuclear energy and clearly outlined the catastrophic consequences of an accident which the Atomic Energy Commission had acknowledged.
It also explained the conundrum caused by the Brookhaven Report: based on the findings of the report, utility companies refused to build atomic plants unless covered by insurance, but insurance companies refused to provide the necessary insurance to utility companies who planned to build atomic energy sites.
However, the Price-Anderson Act (1957) circumvented this roadblock. Under this act, the government and the private insurance industry would provide a limited amount of coverage for atomic power plants, thus freeing utility companies from liability in the case of a catastrophic occurrence.
The letter argued that the insistence that atomic power plants be situated in rural areas was a further indication of their inherent dangers. It cited the dangers of low-level radiation and of toxic radioactive wastes. It also pointed out that the Federated Sportsmen’s Clubs of New York State, representing some three hundred thousand members, had called for a moratorium on the construction of nuclear power plants in the state.
The topic generated a great deal of discussion, articles, and Letters to the Editor in 1973 and 1974. Then, on July 25, 1975, NYSEG announced that plans for the construction of nuclear power plants in Somerset and Yates were suspended, following the discovery of a geological fault reported by the US Geological Survey.
The existence of the Clarendon-Linden Fault which extends some 60 miles from Attica to Lake Ontario would necessitate investigation into the geological and seismic factors which could potentially disrupt stored nuclear material and would greatly increase construction costs. The Morrison Road site was deemed inactive, and Somerset was designated a prime site for a coal-fired power plant.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2023 at 1:36 pm
School officials eyeing about $24 million in improvements, with more in next phase including possible turf field
Photo by Tom Rivers: David Kenyon, senior landscape architect, presents a rendering for a turf field at the Lyndonville, a project that school officials said will have to be pushed back for another capital project, not the one that could go to a public vote in November or December.
LYNDONVILLE – School officials are working with engineers and architects at the Wendel firm to pare down a list of projects to upgrade the school district.
An initial list of facility upgrades and site improvements at the district came in at $50 million.
That’s about twice what the district can spend with its state aid and also a district capital reserve. Lyndonville won’t pursue a project that increases local taxes, the board said at the meeting last Thursday.
The district and Wendel have grouped those projects in three phases, but some things in phase one will need to be removed to get the costs down.
School officials will try to finalize a list in the next month with the project to go to a public vote possibly in mid-November or December.
“Right now this is really big picture,” said Justin Parish, lead project architect from the Wendel firm.
He and three of his Wendel colleagues went over the costs of the project on Thursday evening with the Board of Education.
The prices listed anticipate a construction schedule two years from now in 2025 when costs are expected to be up another 16 percent, Parish said.
Lyndonville has a three-phase project to try to include all items identified to upgrade the school district.
But for now phase one tentatively includes:
The Main Street school building – $11,299,786
replace/upgrade boiler – $5,491,248
air-conditioning throughout building – $5,293,008
restroom renovation – $499,777
brick repair –$15,753
This school building was closed for a few years but reopened during the Covid pandemic in 2020-21. That building allowed Lyndonville to space out students and have in-person classes all five school days each week, while most other districts were on an alternating hybrid schedule.
Lyndonville now uses the Main Street site for ages 3 and 4 all-day prekindergarten, and first and second grades.
Housel Avenue school – $15,077,144
demolition of annex and new build – $3,879,649
roof replacement – $2,955,105
replace/upgrade boiler – $1,879,445
replace antiquated electrical panels – $1,184,868
restroom renovation – $825,322
upgrade generator (comm shelter) – $490,290
secure vestibule – $81,715
Justin Parish, lead project architect, goes over the list of items identified for the school building on Housel Avenue.
Site improvements – $10,613,584 for phase one
turf field – $3,623,190
turf field lighting – $1,339,005
6-lane rubber track – $2,362,950
softball and baseball lighting – $1,831,286
scoreboard for turf field – $551,973
bus garage parking lot – $511,973
concession stand with bathrooms – $393,825
In phases 2 and 3, the list includes an accessible playground ($708,885), courtyard design ($511,973), 1,000 seat bleachers with press box ($787,650), bleachers for softball/baseball ($236,295), pickle ball court ($291,430), baseball/softball drainage ($15,753), 10-by-10 foot storage shed ($47,259) and miscellaneous site and lighting upgrades ($551,355).
Bus garage – $574,456 for a roof replacement.
In phase 3, the district should consider an overhead door replacement ($169,943), restroom addition ($70,889) and other mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades ($1.3 million).
Lyndonville already announced parts of phase one have been eliminated, including the turf field, new track and lighting and scoreboard for the turf field.
Under the current maximum cost allowances for state aid, Lyndonville would receive up to $19,572,061 in state funding for construction and another $4,582,426 for incidentals (site work and soft costs), or $24,154,487 altogether.
The construction projects identified by the school committee and Wendel officials totaled $29,522,394 (or $9,950,333 over the maximum state aid.) The incidentals totaled $21,236,830 (or $16,654,494 over the state aid).
The district’s construction committee will meet again this week to review the project and try to narrow the scope.
Parish, the lead project architect, said the construction numbers are conservative, and it’s possible the costs may be less when the project is bid which would allow Lyndonville to include more items in phase one.
Phases two and three would need to be spaced out about every five years to allow Lyndonville to be eligible for more state aid towards a capital project.
Parish suggested the costs would be in line financially for the total project by cutting most of the site improvements, and instead only doing $433,208 in that category – $393,825 for a concession stands and bathrooms, $23,630 for baseball/softball scorebooths, and $15,753 for baseball/softball drainage.
Sharon Smith, the district superintendent, said it was a “gut punch” to have to cut the new track and turf field.
“We’ve taken our hopes and dreams and tried to set priorities,” she said.
Ted Lewis, president of the Lyndonville Board of Education, listens to a presentation from engineers and architects at the Wendel firm on Thursday evening.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2023 at 9:56 am
LYNDONVILLE – The Board on Education on Thursday approved the tax warrant for the 2023-24 school year. There are four towns that have parts of their boundaries in the school district, and the tax rates vary by more than $4 depending on whether there was a town-wide reassessment this year.
Lyndonville’s total tax levy is up 1 percent or by $46,187 to $4,664,927.
Carlton and Ridgeway both did a town-wide reassessment this year that will result in a sharp drop in the tax rates. Carlton is down from $16.56 to $12.17 per $1,000 of assessed property, while Ridgeway’s rate drops from $18.09 to $12.17.
The district also includes Yates and Gaines, which didn’t do a town-wide revaluation. The state is using equalization rates to try to ensure those property owners are paying at a rate that matches their property values.
The Gaines rate will drop from $16.56 to $16.44 while Yates is up from $15.80 to $16.44.
The district will collect 4,664,927 in school taxes from the four towns. That includes $1,300,803 from Carlton (down from $1,346,050 in 2022-23); $28,913 from Gaines (up from $28,504 in 2022-23); $664,333 in Ridgeway (down from the $674,403 in 2022-23); and $2,670,786 from Yates (up from $2,569,781 last year).
The tax rates for the Yates Community Library include Carlton and Ridgeway at 33 cents, and Gaines and Yates at 44 cents. The school district will collect $124,808 for the library.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 August 2023 at 8:51 am
LYNDONVILLE – The school district will be making free breakfasts and lunches available to all students this school year.
The district was accepted by the state Department of Education to be included in the Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Breakfast/Lunch Program. Lyndonville started offering the free breakfasts and lunches this summer and has served about 2,000 meals.
“That we can feed every child two meals a day that really helps our families,” said Sharon Smith, the district superintendent.
There are about 600 students in the Lyndonville district, including those in prekindergarten.
Lyndonville school officials and the Board of Education decided to apply for the program last school year, and expected Lyndonville would have to pay about $14,000.
But the state will cover the district’s share, so there won’t be any local cost for providing the meals.
To qualify for the program, a district or school building must have an Identified Student Percent (ISP) of at least 40 percent. Lyndonville is at 42 percent, Smith said. She added that 58 percent of the student body is in poverty.
The ISP isn’t determined by student eligible for free and reduced lunch. Instead it depends on SNAP and Medicaid recipients identified through the electronic direct certification matching process (DCMP) and extension of these eligibility benefits to siblings or other household members not matched. It also includes homeless children identified by the homeless liaison, Head Start students, migrant, runaway and foster children certified directly by the state or local foster agency.
Lyndonville families don’t need to register to have access to the meals, Smith said.
The Board of Education on Thursday extended its food service contract with Personal Touch Food Service, Inc. in Buffalo, increasing the amount by 3.5 percent.
The cost for breakfast will increase from $3.0640 to $3.1712 per meal, and lunch will go up from $3.5810 to $3.7063.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 August 2023 at 7:53 am
‘Sonny’ Dent and Gary Wakefield praised for their service
Photo by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – Gary “Sonny” Dent, left, and Gary Wakefield celebrate their retirements from Lyndonville Central School on Thursday evening.
They were recognized during the Board of Education meeting, which they had a recess for a reception for the two retirees.
Dent worked for the district for 20 years with the first 15 as a groundskeeper and the past 5 years in maintenance.
“I enjoyed everything about the job,” Dent said. “I loved the kids, and the challenges.”
He said the school district is like a family. He was grateful to be a part of it for two decades.
Dent was praised by Sharon Smith, the district superintendent.
“This place worked because of you, Sonny,” she said. “Everyone here knows it. We are eternally indebted to you.”
Board of Education member Harold Suhr said Dent is “a diamond in the rough” with great character.
“He can do anything and everything, and do it with nothing,” Suhr said. “He’s done a great job. You can’t replace him.”
Wakefield worked 23 years as a custodian for the district. He said he is very thankful for a career in a school setting.
“You see the kids everyday with their smiling faces,” he said. “I made a lot of friends with the teachers.”
Wakefield battled cancer seven years ago and he said the teachers showed him great kindness which helped him get through that health challenge.
Smith said Wakefield greets everyone with a smile and is a big part while the school looks so good.
“He is one of kindest, most thoughtful guys I’ve ever met,” Suhr said during the board meeting. “Gary, your heart is bigger than this entire school building.”
YATES – In the 1970s, a second rural Orleans County site was considered as the location of a nuclear facility.
