Town also approves moratoriums to update laws on solar projects, short-term rentals and wind energy

YATES – The Town Board last week approved a six-month moratorium on applications, approvals, and construction of farm labor camps or housing beyond what is required under New York State Agriculture and Markets Law.

This has been a contentious issue in the town the past year with H.H. Dobbins wanting to build a new 30-bed labor camp on Route 63, north of the village.

The town has pushed back on the project saying workers in Dobbins’ apple packing facility aren’t technically farmworkers. Yates officials say farm labor housing should be reserved to workers directly on farms.

Dobbins sued the town, and a State Supreme Court justice sided with Dobbins. Yates has appealed that decision.

The town doesn’t have a problem with workers from orchards owned by Dobbins staying at the new farm labor housing. Dobbins, however, wants the housing to be available for both workers in its orchards and at the packing house, which serves about 50 different local farms.

Dobbins also wants the housing to be available year-round. Yates officials said it could be used 10 months a year to reflect the seasonal nature of farm work.

Yates, following last week’s vote, will now take six months to review its law “to analyze and determine potential appropriate revisions and amendments,” the board said in a resolution last week.

The Orleans County Planning Board on Dec. 21 recommended denial of the moratorium, and the board said it didn’t want to weigh in on an issue in litigation.

The Town Board faults the County Planning Board for its rationale, and not making a decision based on the merits of the of the referral. Local municipalities refer some projects to the County Planning Board for an advisory opinion.

The local municipality can override the county opinion but needs a super-majority vote. In Yates’ case, that is at least four yes votes on the five-member Town Board. That board voted to override last week on Jan. 8 and criticized the county’s handling of the referral, citing litigation between the town and Dobbins.

“This is not a basis of proper review by the County Planning Board, as it does not address potential County-wide impacts,” the Town Board stated. “This proposed Local Law is of general applicability and the County Planning Board’s focus on a particular application or litigation matter is inappropriate and exceeds its jurisdiction under the statute.”

Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the town will work with the agricultural community, including a representative from the State Department of Agriculture and Markets, to update the local law for farm labor housing.

Simon said the town supports agriculture, and farmworkers. He noted there are 238 beds at 12 different farm labor housing sites in the town that are all approved by the Orleans County Health Department. Those 238 are the second most of the 10 towns in the county, which has 1,603 beds for farm worker housing. Carlton has the most with more than 400.

Dobbins is seeking to build a 30-bed housing site that would be 104 feet by 40 feet. With more delays from the town’s court appeal, and now a proposed moratorium, Dave D’Anniballe, the company controller, said last month it could be 2025 or later when the housing could be fully utilized. Dobbins should be able to get started on the labor housing in 2024 but would only have use of it for harvest workers from August to November, D’Anniballe said.

He presented a packet of information to the Planning Board last month that included a letter signed by 31 farmers against the moratorium and the plan to change the local law, requiring at least 51 percent of workers to be at a single farm.

Chad Kirby, president of the Orleans County Farm Bureau, also sent a letter in support of the Dobbins labor housing, specifically the option to have housing that serves more than one farm. Kirby said other family farms may need to share housing, or may need to rent space because they cannot afford to build their own.

In addition to reviewing the town law on farm labor housing, Yates approved six-month moratoriums to review and update its law on short-term rentals, solar projects and wind energy facilities and alternative energy systems.

Simon, the town supervisor, said Yates needs to update its laws in response to changes in all three industries.

The town will have public hearings when it presents changes to the local laws later this year.

YATES – Town Assessor Patricia Laszewski is pushing to complete the first town-wide reassessment in Yates in five years.

There are 1,800 properties in Yates, and Laszewski will be assigning market values to all of them. The values will likely be up for most of the properties. Laszewski said the real estate market has stayed hot, although there are fewer properties for sale right now.

Laszewski led Ridgeway and Shelby through town-wide reassessments in 2023. She has retired from the two towns and remains with Yates in a part-time role.

Ridgeway and Shelby have appointed Julie Cecchini to be their new assessor. She was the assessor clerk in those towns.

Laszewski said Yates property owners will have the opportunity to challenge their assessments through a grievance process in the spring.

Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the reassessment schedule and grievance procedure will be highlighted in an upcoming town newsletter.

The towns in Orleans County used to be on the three-year cycle for doing the town-wide reassessments. Some towns held off in 2022 and 2023, thinking a hot real estate market would slow down. Some towns also have had changes in their assessor and have put of a full town-wide reassessment.

In 2023, Carlton, Kendall, Ridgeway and Shelby all completed full reassessments, at least four years since the last one.

Photos by Tom Rivers

YATES – Firefighters check a trailer after a fire this evening at 11089 Roosevelt Highway in Yates. The homeowner, Donald Snider, was taken by ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester to be evaluated for smoke inhalation.

Snider told firefighters he was sleeping when he awakened to smoke in the trailer, which he recently moved to.

The fire caused the most damage to bathroom and bedroom, said Justin Niederhofer, the county’s emergency management director. Fire investigators want to speak with Snider to hear more about the beginning of the fire. Niederhofer said the cause was accidental, and remains under investigation.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at about 7:30 p.m. Lyndonville Fire Chief Mike Heideman said Lyndonville were assisted at the scene by Ridgeway and Medina firefighters. They were able to limit the fire from spreading throughout the structure.

“They did a really good job stopping the fire,” he said.

Route 18 was closed to traffic between Route 63 and Marshall Road.

Firefighters were able to keep the fire from tearing through the entire structure.

YATES – The Yates Town Board wants to impose four moratoriums so the town can update local laws on short-term rentals, solar, wind and farmworker housing.

The town is seeking a 180-day period where Yates won’t process applications or issue permits for projects in the moratoriums.

“I find a lot of our local laws are outdated,” Jim Simon, the Yates town supervisor, said at last week’s Orleans County Planning Board meeting.

The Planning Board recommended the town proceed with moratoriums on wind, solar and the short-term rentals, but the board voted against moratorium on farmworker housing.

One Planning Board member, Bruce Kirby of Gaines, said all four efforts from the town “are major examples of NIMBY.” Kirby said the town seems to be trying to thwart development in those four areas.

“This is insanity,” he said.

Simon said the town is halting development with the updated laws. Yates will allow projects in all four areas, but Yates will have clearer regulations, he said.

With the moratorium on farmworker housing, the Planning Board cited ongoing litigation between the town and H.H. Dobbins, which operates a farm and also packing house, the latter serving about 60 different farms. Dobbins wants to build a housing facility with 30 beds on North Lyndonville Road (Route 63). Yates says the workers on the farm can stay there, but the town contends employees in the apple packing house technically are not farm workers.

A State Supreme Court judge sided with Dobbins, but the town has appealed that decision.

Yates is now looking at a local law for farmworker housing that it says will align with standards from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. The town wants to require farmworker housing have at least 51 percent of the workers in the housing be from one farm.

Many in the agricultural community, including the Orleans County Farm Bureau, have pushed back on the proposal, saying it would limit farms from sharing housing or one smaller farm from renting space from another.

The Orleans County Planning Board wants to stay out of the matter. The town can proceed with the moratorium with a super-majority vote, which would need at least four yes votes from a five-member board.

With wind, solar and short-term rentals, the issues are big topics in other communities.

Gary Daum, a Planning Board member from Yates, said the state continues to incentivize solar projects, and there are now several under development in the county, but none yet in Yates.

“It changes all the time,” Daum said about solar. “Our governor every day signs new bills.”

Simon said he is concerned about fires with the battery-storage facilities for solar, and that’s among the issues Yates wants to address in its law.

Yates will be looking at regulations for residential, commercial and industrial systems, whether roof and ground-mounted.

Town of Yates appeals State Supreme Court decision, seeks moratorium to modify local law for farm labor housing

Photos by Tom Rivers: Yates Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the Town Board is seeking the moratorium to clean up outdated language in the local law about farm labor camps. He is speaking during Thursday’s Orleans County Planning Board meeting.

YATES – A State Supreme Court justice has sided with H.H. Dobbins & Son in the Lyndonville company’s effort to build housing on North Lyndonville Road (Route 63) for workers for its apple farm and its packing house.

Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso on Nov. 8 made his ruling in favor of Dobbins in a lawsuit against the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board in Yates. The judge also backed Dobbins in its request to make the housing year-round and not just seasonal.

Yates on Nov. 14 filed a notice of appeal from attorneys Charles Malcomb and Aaron Saykin, Hodgson Russ LLP lawyers working for the town.

Brian Napoli, the Planning Board chairman, said state Agriculture & Markets has struck down local laws deemed too restrictive to agriculture. Napoli supported the board’s decision to deny the Yates request due to litigation between the town and Dobbins.

The ruling from Caruso rescinds and annuls the ZBA interpretation dated June 29 regarding “whether farm labor camps may be occupied by H2B workers who pack apples?”

Dobbins employs foreign workers through the H2B program for the packing house. Foreign workers who work directly on farms come through visas through the H2A program.

The ZBA opposed the 30-bed housing because the H2B workers don’t just work for Dobbins. They also pack apples for about 50 other farms.

But the judge said the labor camp “may be occupied by H2B workers, and any other workers, who perform fruit packing operations and/or field work.”

Yates, besides appealing the judge’s decision, also seeks a moratorium on farm labor housing, and wants to amend the local law to say the housing must used by at least 51 percent of workers at one farm.

The town doesn’t have an issue with farm labor housing when the housing is used for people who are doing farm work for the farm that owns the housing. But Yates officials say H.H. Dobbins Inc. owns and operates a packing house that serves many farms, not a single entity.

Yates attorneys, in court filings, describe the packing house as a “factory” that shouldn’t be included under farm labor housing. Judge Caruso ruled the packing house employees should be considered farm workers and eligible for the housing.

Dobbins operates a farm and the packing house. H.H. Dobbin & Son LLC owns a fruit orchard and the 30-bed labor camp would be used solely by those workers from June through the end of November.

H.H. Dobbins Inc. owns the packing house, which utilizes the H2B program with foreign workers. That operation plans to use the housing from the end of November through May.

There are workers for the orchard from February through May, and Dobbins officials say they want the housing to be shared by workers from both operations during those three months.

The Orleans County Planning Board considered the town’s request for a moratorium on farm labor housing during its meeting last Thursday. The board ultimately voted to deny the referral from the town, with members saying they didn’t want to weigh in on an issue in pending litigation.

Jim Simon, the Yates town supervisor, said the town currently has more than 200 beds of farm labor housing. The town isn’t trying to block farm labor housing. It just wants to update the law which he said currently “has a lot of old language, etc.” That law was last updated in 2003.

He said the Town Board plans to work with the ag community to modify the regulations.

“We will work with farm for a good law,” he said.

Gary Daum, a member of both the county and town planning boards, said the town is seeking to address questions about the current regulations in place. He said he values Dobbins as an important local employer in the town.

Dave D’Anniballe, controller at H.H. Dobbins & Son LLC, said the town is seeking to change the law while Dobbins has already submitted a plan.

“We’re concerned the town is trying to move the goal posts while the kick is on the way,” he said.

Dobbins applied for the housing on Jan. 4, 2023 and still is in limbo on moving forward with a building that would be 104 feet by 40 feet. With more delays from the town’s court appeal, and now a proposed moratorium, D’Anniballe said it could be 2025 or later when the housing could be fully utilized. Dobbins should be able to get started on the labor housing in 2024 but would only have use of it for harvest workers from August to November, D’Anniballe said.

He presented a packet of information to the Planning Board that included a letter signed by 31 farmers against the moratorium and the plan to change the local law, requiring at least 51 percent of workers to be at a single farm.

Those farmers disputed a characterization from Town Board members that the labor camps are like “barns.” The farmers said new farm labor housing facilities have modern kitchens, cable TV, wireless internet, flat-screen TVs, high-efficiency heating and numerous energy-efficient windows to let in natural light.

Anna Shuknecht, a senior loan officer for Farm Credit East, sent in a letter supporting Dobbins in its push to improve the housing for the foreign workers. Dobbins packs 1.1 million bushels of apples, with Orleans County farms representing 75 percent of the farms served by the packing house. Dobbins has 71 employees overall including local workers.

Maureen Torrey, a farm owner in Yates for 30 years, said in a letter to the town that she is “quite disturbed” by Yates proposed moratorium on applications, approvals and construction of farm labor camps. The moratorium holds up investment in the housing and sends a discouraging message to the farm community, Torrey said.

She said many different visa programs allow for farm labor programs with the stays ranging from three to 10 months, and those programs are regulated by the federal government. The labor housing also is regularly inspected by local and state government officials.

Torrey said many farmers have formed cooperatives and work together for marketing and packaging of farm commodities – fruit, vegetables, dairy products and grain.

Chad Kirby, president of the Orleans County Farm Bureau, also sent a letter in support of the Dobbins labor housing, specifically the option to have housing that serves more than one farm. Kirby said other family farms may need to share housing, or may need to rent space because they cannot afford to build their own.

YATES – The Orleans County Legislature on Tuesday accepted a $1,580,192 bid to replace the bridge over Johnson Creek on Angling Road in the Town of Yates.

CATCO, a construction company from Alden, submitted the low bid for the project. Construction is expected to start in the spring, said John Papponetti, the county’s commissioner of public works.

The project will be funded 80 percent by the federal government, 15 percent by the state through Marchiselli funds and the remaining 5 percent from the county.

Press Release, Lyndonville Area Foundation

Provided photo: Steve Goodrich (left), commander of the American Legion Houseman Tanner Post in Lyndonville, shakes hands with Jim Simon, Lyndonville Area Foundation director and Houseman Tanner Post member.

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville Area Foundation donated $500 to the Houseman Tanner Post to support the annual Wreaths Across America Community Brunch.

The event will be hosted at The Webber Kitchen Collaborative in Lyndonville on Dec. 16 prior to the laying of wreaths on veterans’ graves at the local cemeteries.

Wreaths Across America is a nationwide program that honors those who have served by placing Holiday Wreaths on the graves of our service members. Steve Goodrich, the Houseman Tanner Post Commander, said that this is their way to thank the volunteers that will be laying wreaths on veterans’ graves in the Lynhaven Cemetery later that day.

The American Legion Post holds fundraisers throughout the year to help raise funds to defray the cost of the brunch, where they expect to host around 50-75 people. Members of the Post and volunteers raise funds a variety of ways during the year.

This year the American Legion booth accepted donations at the Lyndonville 4th of July celebration for opportunities to win a variety of prizes donated by local artisans. Additionally, during the Town of Yates Street Dance in August, the Post sold Sunflower Bouquets donated by a local resident. The funds raised, along with donations made by local businesses, cover the cost of the event.

“Due to Legion bylaws, we cannot directly help or sponsor any organization,” Goodrich wrote in an application to the Foundation. “We can show our gratitude to those helping to remember the Fallen.”

If you are a Veteran and are interested in becoming a member of the Lyndonville Houseman Tanner Post please contact Joe Hausler at 585-967-2934 or email the Post at AmericanLegion1603@gmail.com.

Photo by Tom Rivers: A volunteer carries wreaths to be placed at veterans’ graves at Lynhaven Cemetery on Housel Avenue in Lyndonville last Dec. 17 as part of the Wreaths Across America observance. Volunteers placed 441 wreaths at veterans’ graves in Lyndonville last year. Wreaths Across America will be observed on Dec. 16 with ceremonies locally in Lyndonville, Medina and Holley.

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville community decorated 85 Christmas trees at Veterans Park this holiday season. The lights were turned on for the first time this evening, when Santa flipped the switch at the “North Pole” at the park.

The trees are decorated by families as memorials, and also by businesses and organizations in the community.

The trees will stay up until about New Year’s Day.

Santa arrives by a horse-drawn wagon down Main Street at about 5 p.m.

A crowd gathers to see Santa and the lights get turned on the trees.

People walk down the paths to see all the trees in what has been a Lyndonville tradition since 2013.

The tree in front is decorated by the Woodward family.

After flipping the switch to light up the trees, Santa went to the Village Hall to meet with kids. Lily Hamilton, 10, of Lyndonville was among the kids eager to share a wish list with Santa.

Some of the trees are reflected in Johnson Creek.

The Lyndonville school chorus sang several Christmas carols before the trees were lighted up.

Provided photos: The Lyndonville school district has a much-improved fitness center that includes more exercise equipment, including these stationary bikes.

Press Release, Lyndonville Central School

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville school district has set Monday for the grand reopening of the fitness center located at 25 Housel Ave.

State-of-the-art new equipment has been purchased and installed, including: stationary bikes, treadmills, stair climbers, elliptical machines, glide trainers, squat racks with TRX cable crossover systems, core bags, kettlebells, free weights, Olympic bars, Plyo Boxes, a dual pulley machine, rowing machine, as well as two additional squat racks. Some of the existing equipment still has good life left in it and has been incorporated into the room plan as well.

Funding for our fitness center was made possible through state grants which promote social-emotional well-being and physical fitness. There was no impact to our taxpayers.

The district is pleased to offer such an outstanding fitness center to the Lyndonville community. From Dec. 4 through May 2024, the fitness center is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. on days that school is in session. The center is available for use by residents of the Lyndonville Central School District, age 18 and older, free of charge. Community members should use the Tech Entrance to access the Fitness Center.

Middle and high school students who live in the district may use the facility in the evenings with adult supervision. The fitness center is available for use by our students during the school day and for student-athletes after school.

We invite and encourage community members to come out and take advantage of LCSD’s “new” fitness center hours.

There are many new free weights for residents to build stronger bodies.

MEDINA – The Medina VFW Post is displaying a wall poster made by the kindergarten class at Lyndonville. Pictured include Dave Berry, left, junior vice president of the Lincoln VFW Post, and Allan Kropf, a Korean War-era veteran.

These veterans are pictured at the VFW Post in medina with cards made by the eighth grade History Club at Medina. Pictured with the cards includes from left, Bob Coon, Mark Traxler, Allan Kropf, Rick Forder, Mike Harmer, Michael Owczarczak, Post Commander Pat Little, Greg Smith, Dan Anderson and Bill Beach.