Photos by Tom Rivers – Patrick Whipple fills out his ballot today at Yates Town Hall, which has been busy with voters.

YATES – Long-time Yates residents are seeing something today they don’t recall in their lifetimes: A big flock of people has turned out at the polls for a local election.

There has been a steady stream of people throughout the day on Main Street for people to vote at Yates Town Hall. By 5 p.m., 550 people had cast ballots out of 1,466 registered voters, or about 40 percent of the eligible voters. There were still four hours to go till the polls closed.

“There have been a lot of new faces,” said one of the poll workers. “This just doesn’t happen like this in this little town.”

Most of the local elections in Yates offer a slate of unopposed candidates. Turnout is light at the polls. But this election, there is a race for town supervisor, and three candidates are vying for two other spots on the Town Board.

Jim Simon, a write-in candidate for town supervisor, arrived at 6 a.m. and has been standing by this sign all day, hoping to connect with voters.

Jim Simon mounted a write-in campaign after losing the Republican Primary in September to incumbent John Belson for town supervisor. It was close, with Belson winning 153-146.

But Simon stayed committed in the race. He stood by the Post Office beginning at 6 a.m. with a big sign urging people to vote for him, John Riggi and Glenn Maid. All are vocally opposed to a proposed wind turbine project in the community.

A citizens group, Save Ontario Shores, formed when Apex Clean Energy announced its plan for 60 to 68 of the turbines in Somerset and Yates.

The election workers established 100-foot buffer zones for candidates to not campaign before voters entered the Town Hall to cast their vote. Simon stood in front of the Post Office. He had many conversations throughout the day.

“It’s great to see everyone exercising their Constitutional right to vote,” he said.

There was a sign not far from Simon displayed high, promoting Wes Bradley, a town councilman who wasn’t endorsed by SOS. The sign urges voters to support a “fair and impartial” town official. That is the same message in signs for Belson.

Richard and Linda Fisk arrived across the street from Simon at 7 a.m. They were there to support Belson and Bradley. The couple has lived in the Lyndonville community for more than 70 years.

They said they hadn’t seen a bigger crowd to Main Street since the Fourth of July, when Lyndonville hosts a big festival.

“There has been a lot of interest and a lot of traffic,” Mrs. Fisk said.

Richard and Linda Fisk have stood by their 1948 Mercury truck since 7 this morning. The truck includes a stuffed animal of a dalmation. “Fear Not The Wind” is painted on the truck door.

The Fisks said they have known Belson and Bradley for many years, and both are long-time community servants with the best interests of the community in mind.

“I’m doing this to keep the Town Board where it’s at,” Mrs. Fisk said. “I believe in what I’m doing. I believe it’s best for the town.”

They said they have received many honks of support and thumbs up from passing motorists.

The Fisks even chatted with Simon during the day and SOS members. Everything was civil, Mrs. Fisk said.

“We’re not at each others’ throats,” she said. “The bottom line is everyone has their own opinion and they’re entitled to it.”

Glenn Maid (left), a candidate for Town Board, is pictured with Anne Smith, treasurer of Save Ontario Shores, and Paul Lauricella, a candidate for County Legislature.

Some Save Ontario Shores members were on the north side of the Town Hall, near the library looking to speak with residents before they voted.

“We want to elect our candidates,” said Smith, who has been out since 9 a.m., hoping to chat with voters.

“We’ve had a lot of thumbs up from people and horns beeping,” she said.

Lauricella has been an active government watchdog in recent years. He often speaks about voter apathy. But he was smiling about the busy election polls today in Yates.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much traffic on Election Day,” Lauricella said. “It’s the revolution of Lyndonville. Isn’t it wonderful?”

YATES – Apex Clean Energy says public support is building for the company’s plan to build 60 to 68 turbines in the towns of Yates and Somerset that would peak at 570 feet high.

The company issued a press release about “political posturing” by Save Ontario Shores, a citizens group opposing the turbine project.

SOS on Oct. 16 opened 421 surveys of Yates property owners, asking their opinions about the turbine project. Of the respondents, 77.9 percent of Yates property owners say they oppose the project. Somerset town officials also did a survey of residents that showed strong opposition to the turbines.

Last Friday, Save Ontario Shores and Somerset town officials gathered at the lighthouse in Barker for a press conference and rally against the turbine project. The town has retained Dennis Vacco, a former state attorney general, to fight the Apex project.

Apex issued a statement saying it will continue to do public outreach about the project. As more residents learn about the plan, they tend to support the turbines, the company said.

“More and more residents in the project area are choosing to participate in the project,” said Dan Fitzgerald of Apex Clean Energy. “We continue to add participants as people have the opportunity to research and learn about this.”

Apex said the recent surveys in Yates and Somerset “deliberately excluded residents” of both towns.

The company released quotes from a resident in each town that support the wind energy project.

Floyd Koerner of Somerset said the town is paying Vacco $270 an hour  “in a clear attempt to score political points for the election, based on a well-funded misinformation campaign against advanced energy solutions in our local community.”

“In direct contrast, we are local residents and landowners interested in progress over politics, based on scientifically supported facts, benefits and the long-term future of our community,” Koerner said. “When the election is over, we’ll still be here fighting for the good of our community.”

Susan Campbell of Lyndonville has written letters to the editor to the Orleans Hub in support of the wind energy project.

“SOS claims to be worried about the health of the people in Yates and Somerset, but in truth I feel that they just want to continue to pollute our air and water with outdated energy technology,” said she in a news release from Apex. “In my opinion, the only fact that SOS brings up that cannot be disputed is that they don’t like the way the turbines look. This is the only planet we get and it is time we take the responsible steps to preserve it. The wind turbines will be a big step in that direction.”

YATES – The Town of Yates continues to work on a survey of town residents about the wind turbine issue in the community, Town Councilman Wes Bradley said today.

Save Ontario Shores, a citizens’ group opposed to large-scale turbines, sent a survey to residents this week. That survey didn’t clearly say which entity was doing the survey.

John Riggi, SOS president, said the organization moved to do the survey because the town effort has been slow.

“One reason we’re doing the survey is because the town hasn’t done anything,” Riggi said this morning.

SOS hired an accounting firm, Lumsden & McCormick LLP of Buffalo, to collect the surveys, collate results and provide the results to the residents of Yates. The surveys are due back Oct. 16 and results will be shared during a 7 p.m. Oct. 19 meeting at White Birch Golf Course.

Bradley said the town has formed a three-person committee to work on the survey. Bradley represents the Town Board, with Taylor Quarles, development manager for Apex, and Richard Pucher, from SOS, all on the committee to form questions and develop a process for the survey. The group meets again on Tuesday.

“It’s inclusive, it’s transparent but it will take some time,” Bradley said today. “The accuracy is more important than the speed.”

His goal is to have a survey with objective results that can be viewed as accurate and unbiased data by the NYS Siting Board, if Apex advances the project with 60 to 68 wind turbines. The Siting Board will give the final say on the project covering Yates and the neighboring Town of Somerset.

“One-sided efforts lack credibility,” Bradley said. “We want a survey that will be viewed as an objective measure by the New York State Siting Board, should we ever get to that point.”

Bradley didn’t want to issue a timetable on the town survey because of the uncertainties with reaching a consensus with three different entities.

YATES – A group of concerned Yates citizens has decided to finance and conduct a formal survey of the Town of Yates regarding the proposed Apex Lighthouse Wind project in Yates, Save Ontario Shores announced.

SOS, a citizens group that opposes the turbine project in Yates and Somerset, announced today that residents will receive a survey in the next few days from Lumsden & McCormick, LLP, which SOS said is an impartial accounting firm in Buffalo.

The citizens group said the survey is needed to detail the will of the citizens in Yates. The Town Board has discussed doing a survey, but SOS said that survey hasn’t materialized.

Lumsden & McCormick will be collecting all surveys, collating results and providing those results to the residents of Yates, the Yates Town Board, the Orleans County Legislature, the Somerset Town Board, the Niagara County Legislature, and the NYS Public Service Commission.

The surveys are being sent to the property owners on the official tax rolls of the Town of Yates. Each survey is confidentially tabulated and impartially controlled to ensure accuracy and validity, SOS said in an email today.

The questions were developed by several Yates residents. Surveys are due back by Oct. 16 and will be opened and tabulated by Lumsden & McCormick at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19.

The results will be made public at the conclusion of the tabulating process during the Oct. 19 meeting at White Birch Golf Club.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman
BARKER – Golden Hill State Park is in the process of constructing a new playground at the campground on Lower Lake Road, just east of the Orleans County line in the Town of Yates.

While adding new swings, the centerpiece of the playground is the replica of the lighthouse for the main structure. It has the date the lighthouse was built – 1875 – on the side, Golden Hill plaques on the smaller towers and the signature lighthouse on the center tower.

The playground is to be completed in time for this coming Sunday’s Christmas at the Lighthouse Celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

YATES – A section of Route 63, north of the Village of Lyndonville, will be closed to motorists for about a month while a culvert is replaced, the state Department of Transportation announced today.

The culvert carries Route 63 over a creek in the town of Yates. The structure is located between East Yates Center Road and Route 18, approximately one-third of a mile south of the Route 18 intersection.

Keeler Construction of Albion is doing the work on the $392,000 project.

The road will be closed for a maximum of 30 days in an effort to minimize travel disruptions, the DOT said today in an advisory. A posted detour will direct motorists to use routes 104, 269 and 18. The bridge is expected to reopen to traffic in late October.

The existing jack-arch structure was constructed in 1915 and has reached the end of its service life. The new structure will be a precast concrete box culvert with precast concrete wing walls, the DOT said.

Photos by Tom Rivers
YATES – A 10-wheel dump truck hauling several tons of corn silage flipped over on Murdock Road this morning at about 7:45 a.m.

The driver of the truck suffered back and leg injuries and was taken by Medina Fire Department ambulance to Erie County Medical Center. A state trooper on the scene in Yates said the injuries to the driver were not serious.

The driver had just passed a bend in the road, which was wet from a morning rain. The driver was traveling north on Murdock, just north of the Yates-Ridgeway town line, when he lost control of the vehicle, the state trooper said. The road has narrow shoulders and the truck went into a ditch and flipped upside down.

Lyons Collision in Medina was called to get the truck out of the side of a field and back in an upright position. This photo shows Austin Lyons, left, and Ron Ettinger attaching cables to the truck.

Lyons pulls the truck up out of the ditch. The truck was hauling corn for Kludt Brothers Farms in Kendall. Kludt has a custom harvesting business and had harvested corn from a field for Torrey Farms. Kludt contracted with the truck driver to haul the corn.

Murdock Road was closed while Lyons Collision worked to get the truck safely from the scene. Lyndonville Fire Department was on the scene directing traffic.

Lyons Collision personnel reattach cables and chains after the truck was pulled to its side. The group includes, from left: Austin Lyons, his father Jeff Lyons, and Ron Ettinger.

The truck gets a final pull before its back on all 10 wheels. It took Lyons about 90 minutes to move the truck from the ditch to the road.

John Belson

YATES – John Belson, the Yates town supervisor for nearly four years, survived a Republican primary challenge from Jim Simon, a vocal opponent of a wind turbine project in Yates and Somerset.

Belson was ahead after voting on Thursday, 145-139. Belson distanced the lead by another vote after absentees were counted this morning, with Belson picking up 8 more votes and Simon gaining 7.

Belson said he has tried to stay neutral in the wind turbine project, waiting for Apex Wind Energy to submit official documents about the project.

“We’ve tried to stay on the middle ground and gather information,” Belson said after the absentees were counted. “We try to stand up for the whole community.”

Apex wants to build 60 to 68 wind turbines that would peak at 570 feet. Most of them would be in Somerset but some would be in northern part of Yates on the western side of the town, according to the proposal.

Save Ontario Shores, a grass-roots group opposed to the project, backed Simon for the election. The group wants to see Yates officials be more aggressive in rejecting the plan.

Save Ontario Shores points to Somerset, where the Town Board passed an official resolution to oppose the project following a survey of town residents that showed overwhelming opposition to the large turbines near the lakeshore. Somerset also has hired an attorney to fight the project.

Yates is now forming a committee to have a survey. That will include a Town Board member, Wes Bradley, and at least a representative from Apex and Save Ontario Shores.

“It’s been very controversial and we’ve been thrown into the middle of it,” Belson said about the turbine project.

Meanwhile, Belson and the Yates Town Board have other town business. They are working on the 2016 town budget and a plan for a shared assessor among Yates, Ridgeway and Shelby, Belson said.

Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

YATES – A search for a missing man with autism ended about an hour after it began, when the man was located unharmed this afternoon.

Autism Services Inc., of Buffalo, brought a group of 10 people to a location in the 1800 block of Murdock Road in Yates. The purpose of this excursion was for the group to participate in a Nature Walk. The group’s tour guide was preparing to start the walk when one of the individuals, a 21-year-old male, bolted from the group and ran off into a wooded area shortly before 1 p.m.

The individual had been gone about 30 minutes when 9-1-1 was called. Law enforcement officers and firefighters responded to the area and set up for a search detail.

At about 2 p.m. a woman at a residence in the 1900 block of Niagara-Orleans County Line Road saw an individual she did not recognize on the back porch of the house in Yates. She ran out of the house and across the road to a neighbor’s home and called Niagara County 9-1-1.

Niagara and Orleans County deputies responded to the house and located the missing man inside the residence in an upstairs bedroom. This location is almost 2 miles from where the individual went missing. He was returned to the Murdock Road location where he was examined by EMS personnel, and then returned to person(s) responsible for his supervision.

The incident was investigated by Deputies M.C. Mele and R.M. Flaherty. They were assisted by Environmental Conservation Law Enforcement, the Lyndonville, Ridgeway, and Shelby Fire Departments, and the Orleans County Office of Emergency Management. An Albion Police K-9 also responded to the scene, but was not needed due to the individual being located.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Jim Simon, a candidate for town supervisor in Yates, said he opposes the Lighthouse Wind project in Yates and Somerset, saying it will have a negative impact on the overall community. He said he will push for town and county resolutions opposing the turbine project.

LYNDONVILLE – Three candidates endorsed by a grass roots anti-turbine group say the Yates community has plenty of potential to draw more residents and small businesses, without mammoth wind turbines.

Save Ontario Shores held a campaign rally on Tuesday evening for Jim Simon, Valerie Pratt and John Riggi. They will be on the ballot for the Republican Primary on Sept. 10.

The three all see a big upside for the community with the lakeshore, wildlife, committed residents and small-town charm.

They have the backing of Save Ontario Shores, which formed last December when the community learned that the lakeshore towns of Yates and Somerset were eyed for nearly 70 wind turbines that would peak at 570 feet tall (when the blade is at it’s highest point). Those are about 150 feet taller than many of the turbines in Wyoming County.

Save Ontario Shores started attending Yates Town Board meetings, and members say the Town Board hasn’t been responsive to their questions or demonstrated leadership in advocating for residents who would be harmed by the project.

Pratt, a candidate for Town Board in the Republican primary, said going to board meetings is like “talking to a wall.”

Richard Pucher, the retired Lyndonville school superintendent, has been active with Save Ontario Shores. He welcomed about 50 people to the campaign rally on Tuesday at the White Birch Golf Course.

“We decided the only way to get a response from the Town Board was to have a different Town Board,” Pucher told the crowd.

(The Town Board last month said it would form a committee that would work to survey residents about the proposed wind project. Somerset already did a survey that showed strong opposition to the project. Both Somerset and the Niagara County Legislature have gone on the record against the project.)

Simon has forced a Primary against incumbent Town Supervisor John Belson, who has the Republican endorsement.

John Riggi is a candidate for the Town Board and also president of Save Ontario Shores. He is pictured in front of a slide show of photos of the Yates community, including an apple orchard.

Pratt and Riggi, president of the Save Ontario Shores, are in a three-way race for the Town Board in the Primary. Incumbent Wes Bradley is the other candidate. Riggi noted that Bradley has attended many of the Save Ontario Shores meetings.

Bradley also has spoken out against a State Siting Committee that would only have two local representatives on a seven-person committee that would decide if the project is approved.

Simon said Bradley and Belson are both “good people,” but Simon said the current Town Board hasn’t done the proper outreach in the community, getting residents’ input on the proposed wind project and keeping them informed of the issue and other projects in the town.

Simon, the dean of the GCC campus centers in Albion and Medina, said Apex Wind Energy representatives should have met with Yates officials and community members long before it started getting leases from land owners for the project.

“We need to start this conversation over,” Simon said. “Apex came in without talking to the town.”

Simon said he would form a business advisory and tourism committee, as well as renewable energy committee if he is town supervisor.

He also would want to hear from residents about possible expansions of the town water system and work to enhance the town park, possibly adding bathrooms and playground equipment.

He would favor an overhaul of the town website to include more updates on town news, and also provide a way for residents to connect with board members and town officials.

Simon and his wife moved to Millers Road a decade ago with their eight children after he retired from the U.S. Air Force.

John Riggi says the hundreds of signs against the the wind project in Yates and Somerset shows a “mandate” against the project.

Riggi grew up in Caledonia, a small village in Livingston County, and moved to Yates with his wife of 34 years, Donna, to a lakefront home in May 2014. The location had long been a dream for the couple, which has three grown children.

Riggi works as director of quality at Baxter Healthcare in Medina. He said he would bring “data-driven analysis” to tackling issues in the town.

He sees potential in the town as a draw for residents and tourists with the agrcultural base, the bald eagles and other wildlife, and Lake Ontario, which has the potential to turn the Great Lakes communities from the Rust Belt to the “Blue Belt,” especially as California and other parts of the country struggle with drought.

Valerie Pratt speaks during the candidate rally on Tuesday.

Valerie Pratt, 22, said she would focus energy on revitalizing Main Street. She said Yates officials can pursue grants to bring in businesses and help repair buildings.

She said the Lyndonville school district is recognized as a top performer, including in national rankings. The community could use the school district’s reputation to attract more younger families, which could help revitalize neighborhoods.

Pratt was born and raised in Northern Virginia, and visited the Lyndonville area often to stay at the family property known as Robin Hill. She has worked the past year full-time for LynOaken Farms with its cider mill, winery and other special events.

She opposes the turbine project, believing companies are building the indstrial-size projects to gain tax credits without a long-term commitment to the communities.

“It’s a short-term get rich and leave quick project,” she said.

Michael P. Silversmith

YATES – A Marshall Road resident faces numerous criminal charges, including 13 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force is reporting.

Law enforcement agencies last week searched the home of Michael P. Silversmith, 57, of 1856 Marshall Rd.

The Task Force was assisted by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in the search.

Law enforcement determined that some of the property, including a Cub Cadet LTX-1042 KW riding lawn mower and Mercury 9.9 HP outboard boat motor, were stolen from Niagara County, the Task Force reported.

As a result of that search warrant execution and identification of some of the allegedly stolen property, Silversmith on Monday was arrested possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a weapon and other charges.

Silversmith faces one count of criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree (a Class D felony), 13 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and eight counts of possessing a restricted use pesticide.

Law enforcement seized 13 rifles and shotguns from the property. Because Silversmith is a convicted felon, he wasn’t allowed to possess the seized guns, the Task Force said in a news release today.

A large quantity of restricted pesticides were also located on the property and was investigated by DEC officers.

Silversmith also faces numerous codes violations regarding the property, issued by the Town of Yates code enforcement officer.

Silversmith was arraigned in the Town of Ridgeway Justice Court, by Town Justice Joseph Kujawa. Silversmith was committed to the Orleans County Jail on $25,000 cash bail.

He is to appear at Yates Town Court on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The investigation is ongoing into the possession of stolen property, and further charges and arrests are pending, the Task Force reported.