YATES – Two culverts on Platten Road in the Town of Yates will be replaced likely late this summer or early fall.

The Orleans County Legislature on Wednesday approved the low bid, $817,643, to Keeler Construction of Albion. The county will soon have a preliminary construction meeting with Keeler to determine the work schedule, said Jerry Gray, the county highway superintendent.

The county bid the two culverts together to get a better price on the project, Gray said. There is one culvert east of Swett Road and the other is west of Swett. The culverts carry water from Oak Orchard Creek tributaries.

Other bids for the culvert project include: $833,667 from Villager Construction in Fairport; $837,750 from Ironwood Heavy Highway LLC in Rochester, $848,845 from Union Concrete and Construction Corp. in West Seneca, $880,806 from Zoladz in Alden, and $884,607 from C.P. Ward Inc. in Scottsville.

The project will be paid from an $8 million bond the county took out two years ago for a series of infrastructure projects.

Provided photos

LYNDONVILLE – The school district and local firefighters worked together this morning to simulate a drunk driving accident, trying to send a strong message to students to not drink and drive at Friday’s prom or at upcoming graduation parties.

Lyndonville has put on the exercise annually in June to urge students to show good judgement and show responsibility when they get behind the wheel.

Some Lyndonville students wore makeup to look bloodied with injuries as part of the DWI simulation this morning. The students are pictured with local firefighters who extricated students from the vehicles.

Students watch firefighters work to get students out of the vehicles.

YATES – A plan for up to 70 wind turbines in Yates and Somerset has received some of its strongest resistance, including public rebukes from Congressman Chris Collins and State Sen. Rob Ortt, because they see the project as possibly jeopardizing the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

Apex Clean Energy, developer for the project, countered last week saying the proposed project would not harm the base’s mission or the future for other military training plans.

H. David Belote, a retired Air Force colonel, now works as a consultant for Apex. He met last week with local officials, Save Ontario Shores members, landowners and supporters of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

Belote showed them a March 16 letter from the Department of Defense, stating the DoD doesn’t see a negative impact on the base from Lighthouse Wind.

“The project is unlikely to impact military testing and/or training operations in the area,” Steven J. Sample, chief of the Military Evaluation Branch for the Department of Defense, wrote to Taylor Quarles, development manager for Apex.

The DoD did an informal review of the project, and is awaiting locations and heights of the turbines. The DoD, as well as the Federal Aviation Agency, will take a more thorough review of the project once the final application is submitted, which is expected this summer.

Belote said the far western end of the turbines are about 25 miles from the base. “It’s not an impact,” he said in a phone interview.

The turbines won’t affect drone operations when those begin at the base, Belote said, and he doesn’t expect there will be issues with radar from the turbines, which could peak at more than 600 feet to the top of the spinning blades.

The radar issue will be reviewed by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, but that organization needs to know final locations and heights. Belote said he expects that review will be this summer or fall.

Belote served as the first director of the Pentagon office that approves or rejects wind and solar projects around military bases. He said in his current role as a consultant that he wouldn’t advocate for a turbine project if it would hurt a military operation.

If the mission of the base changes in the future to other planes, such as F-22 or F-35, Belote said Apex could put night-vision lighting on the turbines. He said other air bases, such as the Travis Air Force Base in California, have many more turbines closer than what is proposed for Somerset and Yates. Belote said there are nearly 900 turbines within 12 miles of Travis.

The presentation from Apex didn’t allay concerns by the project’s opponents. Save Ontario Shores met with Quarles and Belote last week at Apex’s Barker office. SOS said it wanted more information about how the turbines could impact the base.

“This was really more of the same,” said Pam Atwater, president of Save Ontario Shores.  “Apex makes vague statements and then refuses to give the public access to the data that they were based upon. We did not hear anything that has changed our position. Apex will use every option available to them, including using high-paid D.C. lobbyists, to try and force this project upon communities that have legitimate concerns about the impact of the project on local employment and have clearly expressed they do not want the wind turbines installed.”

Atwater also said the letter from the Department of Defense was just an informal or preliminary review.

“SOS is deeply concerned with the next Base Realignment and Closure Commission process,” she said. “If the DoD, which is under extreme pressure from the Obama Administration to engage in green energy initiatives, were to rule that the Apex project is not an encroachment into the MOA (Military Operating Area), there would be nothing preventing a future BRAC, under a different administration with different priorities, from overruling the decision and concluding that some level of encroachment does exist.  Sacrificing what is now an encroachment free MOA could place NFARS, which has already faced closure recommendations from the last two BRAC’s, in jeopardy.”

Provided photos

LYNDONVILLE – Volunteers from the Yates Community Library placed 50 flags on the school grounds near the Johnson Creek dam today. Another 50 flags will be placed on Main Street on Friday morning.

Other Lyndonville residents also purchased Main Street flags that were bought in honor of loved ones. Donors for those flags will get to take the flag home on Monday after the traditional Memorial Day service held at the village park.

Library Trustee Patricia Mumau attaches a flag dedication tag for the flags on the school lawn.

Ginny Hughes did much of the organizing for the flag display.  She saw a similar display in Auburn. Kathleen Sillick created laminated dedication tags for each flag with names as specified by the donors. Jim Watson and his son Eric provided rebar and PVC pipe cut to fit for appropriate flag display. Patricia Mumau created an advertising flyer and designed the layout for flag placement. Gail Foss and Herbert Bohnet, also trustees, assisted in driving in the rebar posts and labeling the flags.  Mark Hughes and Joy Bohnet, spouses of trustees, also helped.

Library Trustees Ginny Hughes and Gail Foss attach a tag with flag dedication and name of donor. Mark Hughes is in back with the driver device.

The Lyndonville Village Department of Public Works surprised the trustees with a special gift that greatly aided installation: a custom-fabricated driver for pounding in the supporting rebar.

The flags will fly all weekend and will provide a background for the annual Memorial Day service in Veterans Park, downtown Lyndonville, at 9 a.m. on Monday.

After noon on Memorial Day, those who have purchased a flag may pick them up to take home.

LYNDONVILLE – The school district is proposing a budget that will reduce taxes by 3.4 percent, continuing a downward trend in the tax burden.The district is proposing a budget that seeks a tax levy of $4,266,578, which is down from $4,416,578 in 2015-16. The previous year, 2014-15, the district’s tax levy was $4,666,578. Lyndonville has reduced the tax levy by $400,000 in two years, a drop of 8.6 percent.

The district’s $13,254,000 budget is nearly the same in expenditures as in 2015-16. The 2016-17 budget is $108 more than the $13,253,892 in 2015-16.

Lyndonville was able to reduce taxes partly due to a $260,000 increase in state aid. The district also reduced spending by $65,000 for utilities, $45,000 to BOCES, $40,000 in retirement contributions, $40,000 for a building condition survey, $40,000 for Social Security costs, and $25,000 less for unemployment.

District leaders have set aside $100,000 for capital projects, including an estimated $65,000 to $75,000 to remove an underground diesel tank and install above-ground unit, and an estimated $25,000 to $35,000 for LED stage lighting.

Voting on the budget will be Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. at the Stroyan Auditorium forum.

Other propositions include:

Three incumbents on the Board of Education are all running unopposed for three-year terms. They include Harold Suhr, Terry Stinson and Rick Mufford.

$91,589 for Yates Community Library (up from $90,653).

Establish 2016 Transportation Reserve Fund to fund bus and vehicle purchases, not to exceed $720,000 over 8 years.

Authorization to purchase one 66-passenger school bus at a maximum estimated cost of $110,000.

School officials say the bus proposition and Transportation Reserve Fund will not have an impact on the tax levy.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Gary Daum, a Yates resident and a member of the Orleans County Planning Board, discusses Yates’ proposed moratorium and a updated law on wind energy facilities. The Planning Board supported the proposals by Yates.

YATES – The Orleans County Planning Board is supporting the Town of Yates in revising a nearly decade-old local law on wind energy facilities.

The previous town ordinance from 2008 caps the height of turbines at 420 feet. Apex Clean Energy wants to build up to 71 turbines in Yates and Somerset that would be between 490 to 620 feet in height to the top of the turbine blade.

Yates isn’t proposing a height restriction with the new law, but instead would require setbacks from residences, roads, municipal boundaries and other public use areas 4.5 times the turbine height. With turbines at 620 feet, the setbacks would need to be more than a half mile.

“This would effectively be a ban on turbines,” Dan Fitzgerald, project manager for Apex Clean Energy, told the County Planning Board on Thursday.

Apex submitted 13 pages of comments about the local law.

Jim Simon, the Yates town supervisor, said town officials aren’t trying to ban turbines.

“This law wasn’t written for a developer,” Simon said. “This law is written for our town and for our people.”

Dan Fitzgerald, project manager for Apex Clean Energy, shares his concerns about the Yates proposed law. The meeting on Thursday was held at the Carlton Recreation Hall.

The Planning Board said the new regulations are more rigorous than the 2008 law, as they should be because the latest-generation of utility-scale turbines “rise to much greater heights than those envisioned when Yates’ current law was adopted.”

The bigger turbines involve deeper foundations, longer shadows, farther ice throws, greater visibility, and more reasons to analyze potential impacts on birds and wildlife, the Planning Board said.

“It’s still evolving,” said Planning Board member Gary Daum, a Yates resident. “It’s about people and innovation and new things.”

The revised Yates law expands the findings section from 10 to 24 items, with the developer required to analyze ambient sound, background sound, weighted sound pressures, shadow flicker and tower height, and many other issues.

The town also will require a transportation plan for construction of turbines to assess potential damage to local roads and bridges, and mitigation of traffic congestion with movement of turbine materials.

Yates also will require developers with wind energy facilities to complete reports and analysis from the projects on groundwater, geotechnical, flora/fauna, cultural/historical/architectural/, wildlife, blade throw, stray voltage and aviation.

Planners noted that the strength of the local laws for wind turbines is currently unsettled given that the state leads the process through Article 10, with a state siting board voting on the projects.

Yates also is seeking a six-month moratorium on wind energy conversion systems. That moratorium will give the town time to pass its revised law and also incorporate revisions into the Yates-Carlton-Kendall Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan, as well as the town’s comprehensive plan.

Apex officials said they thought their project should be grandfathered in and not be subject to the moratorium. Apex has been meeting with landowners in Yates about the project for 22 months, said Taylor Quarles, development manager.

Apex hasn’t submitted a formal application for its project. It is seeking a second meteorological tower to assess wind strength. That tower wouldn’t be able to go up until after the moratorium.

Town also seeks moratorium on turbines until zoning updated

YATES – The Town Board is inviting the public to comment on proposed changes to the local law for wind energy facilities. There will be a 7 p.m. hearing today at Lyndonville High School Auditorium, 77 Housel Avenue.

The town is working to amend its local law from 2008. Since that law was passed, Apex Clean Energy has approached landowners in Yates and neighboring Somerset to construct about 70 wind turbines that would peak at more than 600 feet high.

Yates is also having a hearing this evening at 7 on a proposed moratorium on the wind facilities law. The town seeks a moratorium on wind energy facilities while it updates its zoning regulations, reviews the Yates-Carlton-Kendall Local Waterfront
Revitalization Plan, and also updates the Town Comprehensive Plan.

The revamped wind energy facilities law will promote the public health, safety and welfare through the establishment of standards and review processes that will regulate the installation of wind energy conversion systems in the Town of Yates, town officials said in a notice about the law.

Yates officials are seeking a law that “minimizes adverse impacts on the town’s character, environment, economy and property values.”

James Tuk says voters spoke on March 15 when he lost mayoral election

LYNDONVILLE – James Tuk, the deputy mayor in Lyndonville, resigned on Friday, not long after the March 15 election for mayor when he lost, 92 to 19, to John Belson, the former Yates town supervisor.

Tuk said the defeat was a message from voters that they weren’t pleased with his job performance. Tuk had been leading the village government since Halloween, when Steve McAvoy resigned due to the demands of his full-time job.

“I made quite a few adversaries over time and they wanted a different person as mayor,” Tuk said. “Somebody didn’t like the way I did things. I’ve made peace with all of this.”

Tuk was a member of the Village Board for five years. He said the village has projects in the pipeline, including efforts to make the Lyndonville Dam more accessible to the public and to improve the mechanicals at the scenic site.

The village also wants to redesign Veterans Park next to the Dam. The park with some improvements could help bring more people downtown, Tuk said.

“These are in the infancy stage,” Tuk said. “The challenge is to find the money to pay for it.”

Tuk said serving on the board was “very interesting and very constructive.” He only missed two meetings in 5 years. He missed those two because in December 2013 he suffered a stroke which paralyzed his left side.

“I returned to meetings in February 2014 because I was elected to do so and the challenge of the position aided my recovery,” Tuk said. “I am not yet 100 percent but continue to work towards being that.”

File photo by Tom Rivers – Jonathan Oakes is interviewed during the ice wine harvest in January 2015. There needs to be a deep freeze to harvest frozen grapes for ice wine. Oakes will be featured April 9 at an event in Canandaigua.

CANANDAIGUA – The New York Wine and Culinary Center will host Leonard Oakes Estate Winery on April 9 during a winemaker dinner.

The center in Canandaigua has featured Leonard Oakes at many events before, but this is the first time the winery on Ridge Road in Medina has an event exclusively for their products, said Jordyn Gould, the PR and marketing coordinator for the Wine and Culinary Center.

“They’ve been a good partner and this is an opportunity for a larger event to be focused on them,” Gould said.

The event will showcase wine and Steampunk Hard Apple Cider from Leonard Oakes and includes a seven-course meal of local foods. (For more information on tickets, click here.)

While guests enjoy food, winemaker Jonathan Oakes will share stories and insider information on his beverages. Oakes helped develop the winery a decade ago, first planting vineyards in Lyndonville.

Oakes and his cousin Jerod Thurber attend many of the New York Wine and Culinary Center events and the two have engaging personalities, Gould said.

“They know how to work a crowd,” she said.

Leonard Oakes Estate Winery also has quality products, she said. Leonard Oakes has become an award-winning producer of handcrafted artisanal wines and ciders.

Town supervisor, village mayor say they will work together

John Belson

LYNDONVILLE – John Belson appreciates the strong support from the community in Tuesday’s village mayoral election, a victory that returns him to elected office only a few months after he narrowly lost a re-election bid for Yates town supervisor.

Belson will now lead the Lyndonville village government. He has lived in the village since 1997. The village is 1 square mile with 838 residents. The village sits within the Town of Yates.

The Yates town supervisor and Lyndonville mayor work out of neighboring buildings on Main Street. The town supervisor and mayor need to work together because the town contracts with the village for fire protection and water service.

Jim Simon, the man who defeated Belson in a write-in campaign for town supervisor last November, congratulated Belson on his victory.

Simon said Belson will be a “quick study” in knowing how village government works. Belson is already well-schooled on community issues, Simon said.

The new mayor, who takes office April 1, also is familiar with town government and the Yates perspective. That should make it easier for the town as it works with the village, Simon said.

Belson was elected on Tuesday, winning 92-19 over James Tuk, the current deputy mayor.

Belson said the village struggles with a shrinking tax base. It has limited options for growing the tax base, and has many tax exempt properties, with the school district, churches, and village and town facilities.

“We’re all pressed for money,” he said.

Belson would like to boost the downtown business district. He welcomes more people to be involved in the village government and community organizations. He said service organizations, fire departments, churches and even municipal boards need more interest and participation from the community.

“The younger generation needs to be more involved,” he said. “I would like to get more public participation and involvement.”

The village elections don’t allow for much of a transition to the new elected officials. They take office on April 1, about two weeks after the election. The town elections are in early November and the new officials take office on Jan. 1, nearly a two-month transition.

With the town, the newly elected officials also don’t set the budget. That is done by the old board. The Belson-led Town Board in 2015 created the budget for 2016 that is now managed by the Simon-led Town Board.

With the village, the budgets are due before May 1. That means Belson will have a month to work on the village budget that he will then have to manage for 2016-17. At the village level, the new officials start in one of the busiest months for those elected officials. At the town level, the officials start in January, which is often a slower month.

Belson said he is ready for the challenge after the strong support in the election.

“I got a lot of energy from the residents in the village,” he said.