MEDINA – The Medina Police Department is offering a program where decals can be put on homes or vehicles to alert emergency responders that there may be a person there with autism or special needs.

“The decals enable responding units to draw on their training and understand that a person in the home or vehicle may not speak, respond to, or comply with verbal commands; may hide, or wander off, or may have no awareness of danger,” the Police Department stated in a notice to the community.

This decal may be helpful for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, auditory processing disorder, intellectual/developmental disability, Down Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD, Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease or other disabilities that prevent the individual from reacting appropriately in emergency situations, the department said.

The Medina PD is providing these decals free of charge to village residents once an attached application is completed (click here to see the application).

The decals should be placed near the front door of their home and/or the rear window of a vehicle so law enforcement officers can easily see them.

After registration for the program, the Medina PD will request that the Orleans County Dispatch note the address in the county system with a brief description of the special needs or diagnosis. Residents who wish to register for the program but do not wish to display a decal, may do so by filling out the application and requesting zero decals. The decals should be removed if the individual with special needs/autism no longer resides in the home or rides in the vehicle.

For questions regarding the Medina Police Department Decal program, email the Medina PD at medinapolice@villagemedina.org.

Applications for the decals also will be available at the Medina PD tent next Tuesday (Aug. 2) at National Night Out. That will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. outside the Wise Intermediate School.

MEDINA – The Village Board is seeking a grant for about $300,000 to cover the full costs of installing four fast electric charging stations in the Canal Basin.

The Village Board voted on Monday evening to submit an application for up to 100 percent of the costs through the 2022 Municipal Zero-emission Vehicle (ZEV) Infrastructure Grant Program, which is offered through the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Protection Fund Climate Smart Communities.

The village was encouraged to seek the funding because its high poverty statistics make the village a strong candidate for the funding, Deputy Mayor Owen Toale said.

The village authorized the Barton & Loguidice firm to complete and submit the application. The firm will be paid $1,250 for its work on the application.

If Medina receives the grant and moves forward with the project, Toale said he expects the village will be charging people for the electricity. They would likely pay through a credit card on the stations.

The village is opting to go with the more expensive charging stations with a faster charge. Toale said the Barton & Loguidice recommended the faster charging stations, because Medina’s poverty statistics make the community eligible for a larger grant for the project.

Medina was finalist last year, missing out to Rochester and Newark in Finger Lakes Region; Smaller villages eligible for up to $4.5 million with $10 million for metro areas

Photo from Governor’s Office: Gov. Kathy Hochul announces the state will make $200 million available for downtown revitalization. She spoke on July 13 in Jamaica, Queens.

The Village of Medina, which has been a finalist for a $10 million downtown revitalization grant, will get another shot at millions from the state.

However, Medina would now be eligible in a new program – NY Forward, where the grants are targeted for downtowns in hamlets and villages. Instead of $10 million, the grants would be for up to $4.5 million, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

She announced the state is making $200 million available for downtowns – $100 million to invigorate smaller and rural downtowns and $100 million for downtown areas in metropolitan areas.

Medina is in the Finger Lakes Region. Last year it missed out on the $10 million to the Village of Newark in Wayne County and the City of Rochester.

Other previous $10 million grant winners in the Finger Lakes region include the City of Geneva in 2016, the City of Batavia in 2017, the Village of Penn Yan in 2018 and Seneca Falls in 2019.

Medina was one of five finalists for the grant in 2019 and in 2021.

Medina had a committee that identified residential, commercial and tourism projects that would build on recent successes and investments in the downtown and canal area.

“Yes, this is disappointing for the village,” Mayor Mike Sidari said when Medina missed out last year. “However, we need to look at where we were 10 years ago and where we are now. Our village has been transformed, from our downtown to our recreation areas. We have a lot of hard-working dedicated residents and business owners working to continue to improve our village. Let’s be proud of what we have and continue to make Medina one of the most outstanding communities in WNY and the Finger Lakes.”

Medina’s application in 2021 sought funding for streetscape Improvements, multi-use trail along the Medina Railroad from the museum to Main Street, upgrades to Canal Village Farmer’s Market, improved waterfront access and amenities at the Canal Basin Park, enhanced programming at State Street Park (ice skating rink, enhanced lighting, boat tie-ups, benches and bicycle racks, and a construction of a nature trail), boat tie-ups and docking facilities at the Lions Park, viewing platform and at Medina waterfalls, wayfinding signage, small grant fund for local businesses, adaptive reuse of the old Medina High School to turn into apartments, and redeveloping the Snappy facility on Commercial Street by the Erie Canal into a mixed-use commercial and residential space.

Gov. Hochul announced the downtown revitalization availability last week in Jamaica, Queens, a past winner for the $10 million.

The governor announced that the $100 million for smaller and rural communities would be through the NY Forward program, while the metro areas would be through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

“New York’s downtowns are the heart and soul of our communities and regions, and today we’re taking comprehensive action to support them,” Hochul said last week. “The Downtown Revitalization Initiative has ignited a renaissance in these spaces, which are critical to the continued growth of businesses and local economies, and I am proud to support this vital program. As we grow our downtowns, we are proud to launch a new program — NY Forward — that will provide crucial support to New York’s smaller and rural communities to help bring them back to the bustling towns and villages they once were.”

Hochul announced NY Forward to build on DRI’s momentum. She said NY Forward will support a more equitable downtown recovery for New York’s smaller and rural communities with a focus on hamlets and villages. NY Forward is meant serve smaller communities and support local economies that often have a feel and charm that is distinct from larger, metropolitan urban centers funded through DRI, she said in a news release.

The state us assigning a consultant to work with NY Forward communities through a planning and technical assistance process to develop a slate of readily implementable projects, with each regional economic development council nominating the winners.

NY Forward differs, however, by providing capacity-building workshops and technical assistance from consultants to assist communities in developing their full applications and throughout the implementation process, Hochul’s office said in the news release.

NY Forward also offers two funding options for each region—two $4.5 million awards or one $4.5 million grant and two $2.25 million grants.

Applications for NY Forward will launch later this month and winners are expected to be selected later this year.

For more information, click here.

MEDINA – The Medina Area Partnership has compiled a 20-question scavenger hunt where participants will develop a deeper understanding of the community and also have a chance to win prizes.

Tim Elliott of MAP put together the scavenger hunt where people earn tickets for prizes for every correct answer. Three of the 20 questions are particularly challenging and those ones are worth 10 tickets for the right answers.

Each correct answer gets a ticket with a name put in a hat where the family prizes include items from Case-Nic Cookies and Della’s Chocolates. The adult prize is a night on the town, Elliott said.

An example of a regular question: “Who is buried to right of one of Medina’s most famous residents who survived the Titanic at age 27?” Clue: May Howard is buried in the Kenyon family plot at Boxwood.

“It’s not something you can Google,” Elliott said about the questions.

His goal is to get people out exploring and learning about the community.

“You don’t have to do all in one sitting,” he said. “It’s not meant to be super easy. The concept is to get people out of the house and see more of Medina.”

Elliott is the former owner of the Into the Enigma escape room. He currently runs the axe range at 810 Meadworks and is a village trustee.

Elliott and Scott Robinson, MAP president, want to make the scavenger hunt an annual summer challenge in Medina.

With the challenge, when people locate the area of the clue, they will be asked an additional question to confirm it’s the correct place. For every question answered correctly, participants earn a ticket towards the grand prize. The three bonus questions are worth 10 tickets each.

“Tim has been working on this event for years and I’m thrilled to see it coming to fruition,” Robinson said. “Whether you’re approaching this as a family event, an afternoon date, or just something to do, we think you’ll have a great time. It’s a great opportunity to couple an activity with visiting our shops and other establishments.”

The clue sheet is available for $10. The hunt can be attempted in a couple of hours, or it can completed over multiple days during July and August.

Completed scavenger hunt forms must be submitted by Sept. 1 to be entered into a drawing for either a family prize pack or an adult night out. Each prize is valued at $150.

For more information or to purchase the clue sheet, click here.

MEDINA – The Medina school district announced it has been approved for a federal grant to continue providing free breakfast and lunch to all students.

Medina has been offering free breakfast and lunch to all students the past four years through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Breakfast/Lunch Program.

“This program has been a tremendous help to our students,” said Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent. “It’s harder to learn when you’re hungry. We know that all of our kids will have a breakfast and lunch each day.”

The CEP program provides the opportunity for schools in high poverty areas to provide two nutritious meals every school day, while eliminating the stigma for those students previously identified as “low income.”

The CEP began in 2011 with three states piloting the program and then became a nationwide program in 2014. To be eligible for CEP at least 40 percent of students must be identified as “directly certified” for free meals without a meal application through programs such as SNAP, TANF and Medicaid. Medina school district has met this eligibility guideline.

For additional information about the program, contact the following:

• Medina Jr.-Sr. High School, Principal Michael Cavanagh, at (585) 798-2700 ext. 1
• Clifford Wise Intermediate School, Co-Principal Daniel Doctor, at (585) 798-2700 ext. 2
• Oak Orchard Primary School, Principal Jennifer Stearns, at (585) 798-2700 ext. 3

Provided photo and information from John Dieter, Scout Master for Troop 35

MEDINA – Troop 35 spent a week at Camp Mountain Run in Pennfield, Pa. There were 20 Scouts and three leaders from the troop there from July 10 through July 16.

During that time the scouts worked on merit badges and scout skills towards rank advancement. Nine first-year scouts were involved in the “Trailblazer Program” designed to learn skills in order to become a First Class scout.

The remaining members of the troop worked on merit badges towards there next rank advancement several working towards Eagle Scout.

The Medina scouts worked on a variety of badges from welding, swimming, astronomy, pioneering, wilderness survival, climbing, rifle, archery, first aid and others. Troop 35 scouts completed 81 merit badges during the week.