Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – West Center Street (Route 31) in Medina is littered with potholes. The freeze and thaw cycle is wreaking havoc on the pavement.
I think the stretch of Route 31 in the village of Medina may be the most pothole-plagued in the county.
It’s been too cold for highway crews to get out and effectively patch the potholes.
MEDINA – The Village of Medina will be getting $55,000 from the Orleans Economic Development Agency to build a new pedestrian bridge over Oak Orchard Creek on Maple Ridge Road.
The EDA’s board of directors approved the allocation on Friday. The money comes from a revolving loan fund that needs to be phased out.
Medina also will use $130,000 from the Town of Shelby for the bridge. That $130,000 also is from the revolving loan fund through the EDA.
The state is making the economic development agencies around the state close out the funds. The remaining funds can stay local if there is a project identified by March 31. The projects need to serve low-to-moderate income residents, or improve handicapped accessibility at a public space.
If a project isn’t identified that meets the state criteria, the funds need to be sent back to Albany.
The section of Maple Ridge by the creek has become busier with a housing development, several new businesses and also the GCC campus center. There are also about 200 available acres in the area being promoted for development by the EDA.
The pedestrian bridge and sidewalks on Maple Ridge have been sought by the village for several years but Medina didn’t receive grants for the project.
Courtesy of Cobblestone Suites: The proposed 58-room hotel in Medina will look similar to this Cobblestone Suites hotel in Pennsylvania.
MEDINA – Developers of a proposed 58-room hotel on Maple Ridge Road are looking at a late spring to summer ground-breaking on the project.
The new Cobblestone Inn and Suites hotel will be on Maple Ridge Road, next to Pride Pak and almost across the street from Genesee Community College.
Cobblestone said the project will be $6,750,000, which includes paying the EDA $50,000 for 5 acres of land. The hotel owner estimated it would create 12 full-time jobs when its open with an average salary of $29,000. The project will create 275 construction jobs.
The 3-story hotel would be Cobblestone’s first project in New York. It will be the first chain hotel in the county and is expected to keep more visitors in the county for overnight stays, boosting occupancy and sales taxes. The occupancy tax is used to promote tourism in the county.
The Orleans Economic Development Agency on Friday approved a $250,000 loan to Medina Hospitality LLC for furniture, equipment and fixtures for the project. The Orleans EDA approved the loan through its Orleans Revolving Loan Fund. That fund is being phased out and this will likely be the last loan through the program.
BriMark Builders has been working on the project in Medina for a few years. It secured Planning Board approval from the Village of Medina and Orleans County in 2017. BriMark is based in Neenah, Wisc.
Cobblestone Inn and Suites has built about 80 hotels with most of them in small towns, typically working with investors in the host community. An investor from Pennsylvania is leading the effort to build the project in Medina.
The project includes 65 parking spots, an access drive, outdoor patio, sidewalks, dumpster enclosure, and an optional future gravel truck parking area.
Photo courtesy of Medina Marching Band
VICTOR – Medina’s varsity winter guard team is shown competing Saturday in Victor. Medina came in second with 65.60, which was behind Corning Painted Post with 65.96.
Victor hosted its 20th annual winter guard show and all 3 of Medina’s guards competed. Winter guard is a hybrid performance art form that combines elements of music, dance and military-like precision marching. Winter guard came into existence 30 years agond is an international sport.
In the Novice class Medina took 1st place (no numerical scores). In the RA class, Medina came in 2nd with 57.10, bested by Eastridge with 58.35.
In other classes Victor came in 1st in Cadets with 55.56; Geneseo in Senior class with 45.70; Batavia 1st in A1 with 64.70; Gates-Chili in Independent A with 71.25; Victor in Scholastic Open with 72.0; Lancaster in Independent Open with 68.40; and the Brigadiers in Independent World with 74.20. (The ARC of Yates performed in exhibition and it was obvious how much this group of adults put their hearts into performing.)
Medina’s next competition is Feb 16 at East Syracuse Minoa. Medina’s home show is March 9.
Michelle and Joe Sidari will be featured on House Hunters tonight at 10 as they look for their home in the Rochester area.
A Medina native and his wife will be featured on the “House Hunters” show tonight at 10. Joe and Michelle Sidari look at three houses before making their choice.
The couple shares their journey in whittling down debt to be in a position to buy a house.
The couple met at St. John Fisher College, where Joe played football. They both graduated in 2009. Joe is a business teacher at the Ganada school district. His wife sells Mary Kay cosmetic products.
They have been married since 2010.
Joe is the son of Medina Mayor Mike Sidari and his wife Brenda.
“They’re very busy and they have a lot of fun together,” Mike Sidari said. “I can’t wait to go to the viewing party to watch it.”
The mayor said he watched some of the taping of the show. He was told for every 500 minutes of footage, only 5 minutes will be aired. The TV crew was with Joe and Michelle for five days.
The HGTV show is on Spectrum Cable Channel 56 and Channel 44 in Medina.
House Hunters promotes the episode by saying: “First-time buyers are on the hunt for a home in Rochester, New York. She’s looking for a place with a home office near the city but he’s hoping for a big backyard and a little privacy farther out. Most of all, this young couple just needs more room to start their family.”
The freezing rain and ice has made the roads slippery for motorists. Joe Perry, Medina DPW superintendent, is urging motorists not to drive if they have that option the next few hours.
“We have 4 trucks out salting and are having a hard time keeping up with the ice,” Medina Mayor Mike Sidari posted on Facebook. “We are expected to receive up to a half inch of ice. Watch for low hanging tree limbs and wires.”
If there is a wire hanging or down on the ground, Sidari said people shouldn’t try to move it. They should call 911.
Orleans County is under a winter weather advisory until 1 a.m. tonight due to the freezing rain.
Photos courtesy of Medina Marching Band
BATAVIA – Medina’s Varsity Winter Guard is shown performing Saturday in Batavia. Medina took first place in Scholastic A with 61.10. followed by Corning in 2nd with 60.73, and Orchard Park in 3rd with 54.60.
In other classes Victor took 1st place in Cadets with 52.15; in A1 Batavia was 1st with 57.63; in Independent A the Ventures wth63.09. In Scholastic Open Orchard Park was the only competitor and Lancaster was the sole competitor in Independent Open. Scores were not available for either of these two guards.
In the RA class Medina’s Jr. Varsity took 2nd place with a score of 56.99, bested by Lancaster with 58.02.
In the Novice class Medina took 1st place, with Hinsdale in second. There are no numeral scores in this class.
Medina took all three of the school guards to this show in Batavia, which included guard units from Western NY and Canada.
The winter guard program is a component of the Marching Band Program under the direction of Jim Steele. Diana Baker is the director for all three guard units and is assisted by Anna Oakes, both Medina alumni. There is camaraderie among the students in all three guards, helping each other with props, costumes, techniques and moral support.
Medina will compete in Victor this Saturday. Medina’s home show is March 9.
Provided photos courtesy of John Dieter, Cubmaster of Pack 35
MEDINA – Scouts from Troop & Pack 35 celebrated Scout Sunday at Holy Trinity Church this morning at the 11 a.m. Mass. Scout Sunday’s purpose is to recognize the contributions of young people and adults to Scouting. The Scouts are sitting listening to Father Dan Fawls give a homily.
After Mass the Scouts from Pack 35 held their annual pinewood derby at Holy Trinity’s Parish Hall. Each den held race heats to decide fastest car in each den, then the winners went on to race for the fastest car in the Pack.
Sam Gray took 4th, Joe Reese placed 3rd, Anthony Reese placed 2nd, and Stephen Gobeli took 1st place for the entire Pack.
Photos by Ginny Kropf
MEDINA – The Wine About Winter event in downtown Medina on Saturday was a sellout with 850 participants, including Dorothy Casey, Robin Wehling and Carol Bellack of Medina and Tami Siffringer of Lyndonville, who enjoy a sample of wine in The Book Shoppe in Medina.
They not only enjoy the wine tasting, but do a little shopping along the way, while taking a chance to win prizes at many of the 28 participating businesses.
Sue Phillips, owner of The Book Shoppe, holds a tray of peanuts which she offered participants at Wine About Winter. At left is clerk Erica Caldwell. Phillips said the event gets people into the stores and is good for business.
Heather and Bob Brockman of Wilson, right, buy their Chinese auction tickets from volunteers at Wine About Winter. This is the couple’s first time at the event. They learned about it while shopping in Medina during the Christmas season.
Scott Barber hands out maps of the stores participating in Wine About Winter to Kelly Stahl of Medina and Laurie Kurdziel. This is Stahl’s fifth year attending the event, which she said is always a good time.
Joey Robinson passes out wine glasses to Melissa Hansler and Tracey Hendrick. They like everything about Wine About Winter, especially because it gives them the chance to walk around Medina.
Sarah Fisher hands out wrist bands to participants in Medina’s 11th Wine in Winter on Saturday. At right, Cindy Robinson, president of the Medina Business Association, and Kathy Blackburn, president of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, register the 850 who bought tickets.
Lines stretched down half a block in Medina during VIP registration at Wine in Winter on Saturday.
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Katelyn Spierdowis of Albion plays the clarinet with the senior high band during this afternoon’s All-County Music Festival at Medina High School.
There were about 75 students in the band from Albion, Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina. The band wasn’t able to have a rehearsal on Friday when Medina closed school, but the students and conductor Bill Tiberio still performed four songs today.
The junior high chorus and elementary band also performed. There were nearly 300 students involved in the All-County Music Festival, which is organized by the Orleans County Music Educators’ Association.
The band is pictured from back stage during the performance today at a packed Medina High School Auditorium.
Bill Tiberio led the high school band as guest conductor. He has worked as a music teacher for 35 years, including 31 years at Fairport High School. The band played “Concert Variations” by Claude Smith, “Rest” by Frank Ticheli, “On the Banks” by Matt Conaway, and “Undertow” by John Mackey.
The boys in the junior high chorus sing a “South African Suite” by Henry H. Leck. The group was directed by Christina Reisdorf, a music teacher at Transit Middle School in the Williamsville Central School District.
The chorus also sang “Seize the Day,” “Nine Hundred Miles, Traditional American Folk Song” and “Rhythm of Life.”
Kelly Follman, an Orleans County resident and Rochester City School District teacher, conducted the elementary band. They performed “Bugs” by David Shaffer, “Celtic Air and Dance No. 2” by Michael Sweeney, and “Thunder” by Paul Murtha.
The elementary band started practice at 8:30 and worked diligently to be ready for the 2 p.m. concert.
Kelly Follman served as guest conductor of the elementary band with about 80 students at the All-County Music Festival.
Isaac Coppini, a tuba player from Albion, performs with the senior high band.
Two villages in Orleans County will have elections for village trustees on March 19.
Medina has two positions for two years on the ballot. The spots are currently filled by Todd Bensley and Owen Toale. They have both taken out petitions to seek re-election. A village resident 18 and older can submit petitions to run for the board. The petitions need to be signed by at least 100 registered voters in the village.
The petitions are due at the village office by Feb. 13.
Voting for the March 19 election will be from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center, the former railroad depot on West Avenue.
Lyndonville also has two trustee positions for four-year terms on the ballot. The spots are currently filled by Darren Wilson and Mary Kage. They have both taken out petitions to run for the board again.
Candidates need to submit petitions signed by at least 25 registered voters in the village. The petitions are due by Feb. 13.
Voting will be from noon to 9 a.m. on March 19 at the Village Hall on Main Street.
The two other villages in the county don’t have elections this March. Albion is in an off election year and Holley has its elections in June.
MEDINA – The Medina school district will be closed on Friday for the third straight day as bitter cold persists.
Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent, said Medina will close “due to the wind chill advisory and the amount of walkers that we have.”
The forecast calls for the temperature to only be 3 degrees at 8 a.m., 6 degrees at 10 a.m. and 10 degrees at noon.
The All County Festival will go on as scheduled for Saturday at Medina. All students participating will need to report to the high school at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
File photo by Tom Rivers: One of the rooms in the Hart House Hotel includes a picture of Bob Hope, one of the prominent customers of the former Newell company. The room is one of four hotel rooms and two extended stay loft apartments in the former Robert H. Newell Building at 113 West Center St., which for 86 years was home to the Robert H. Newell Shirt Factory. That company manufactured custom-made shirts, including for many famous customers, including Hope and Winston Churchill.
MEDINA – The Village Board has approved a 2 percent occupancy tax and will use the funds to promote economic development and tourism in the village.
Medina needs the State Legislature to approve the new tax, and Assemblyman Michael Norris, R-Lockport, has offered to take the lead in getting the legislation through Albany.
The village’s new 2 percent tax is on top of the 4 percent occupancy tax imposed by the county. The 4 percent occupancy tax generates about $35,000 a year and is used solely by the county for its tourism promotion efforts.
Medina has been looking for ways to boost revenue for the village without relying on property taxes. Mayor Mike Sidari isn’t sure how much the 2 percent tax will generate for the village.
It will be applied to hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and other lodging establishments within the village.
Medina will see an increase in rooms with the renovation of the Bent’s Opera House to be partly used as a hotel. A new chain hotel, Cobblestone Inn & Suites, also is expected to be built on Maple Ridge Road.
In passing the occupancy tax, the Village Board stated in a resolution there would be the following advantages for Medina:
• Promote economic development throughout the Village of Medina and its historic Business District;
• Increase promotion and use of the Erie Barge Canal for economic growth to locally owned businesses;
• Help promote a stable property tax base.
The board said many events and businesses draw people to the community throughout the year, including the wine and beer tasting events, Thomas the Train at the Medina Railroad Museum, Farm-to-Table dinner, fishing derbies, the Parade of Lights, and the many businesses in a vibrant downtown.
The Village Board wants to help promote those businesses and attractions. It also wants to have more resources to promote economic development at the business parks in Medina.
The village can use the money from the bed tax. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed wiping out the village’s AIM funding of $45,523, which hadn’t been increased in many years. The Aid and Incentives to Municipalities for Medina has been a tiny fraction of what the state gives a city.
Medina also has seen its shares of the local sales tax fall because of a formula tied to assessed value. As the assessed value in Ridgeway and Shelby has increased faster than the rate of growth in the village, the two towns have taken some of the village’s sales tax under the county formula.
The board couldn’t say when it expects the State Legislature will approve the new tax in Medina.
File photo: This picture shows a body camera on an Albion police officer. Albion started using the cameras on Oct. 1, 2016.
MEDINA – The Police Department will be adding body cameras to the 13 members of the department, likely in March, Police Chief Chad Kenward said.
The department has purchased 13 body cameras for about $12,000. State funding from Sen. Robert Ortt and money from a state forfeiture program from a drug arrest in medina are covering 76 percent of the cost, Kenward told the Village Board on Monday.
The remainder of the cost, about $3,000, is from the Police Department budget.
“Each officer has been assigned a body cam and will be wearing it when on duty,” Kenward said today. “We are still in the initial stages of the project. The cameras just came in the other day. We are currently working on installing the software into the system and I am working on the policies and procedures for the camera program for the department.”
Albion started using body cams on officers on Oct. 1, 2016 and the Holley Police Department added four body cameras in October 2017. The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have body cams.
Kenward said the cameras have reduced personnel complaints for other departments, and also provide evidence during an arrest or incident.
Kenward also notified the board a new vehicle for the K9 and Lt. Todd Draper, the dog’s handler, is now in service.
Photo courtesy of Mary Woodruff: The late Willis Burr Woodruff, a former Medina resident, is honored on one of the banners in Alfred in Allegany County.
MEDINA – Portraits of Medina residents who served in the military will be displayed on utility poles in Medina by Memorial Day. The banners of “Hometown Heroes” are expected to be up until past Veterans Day in November.
The Medina Village Board approved the program on Monday. Mary Woodruff, a Ridgeway town councilwoman, is leading the effort. She pushed for it after her late father-in-law Willis Burr Woodruff was featured on a banner in his hometown of Alfred.
That banner was unveiled in the spring through a project that also including neighboring Almond in Allegany County. Woodruff served in World War II. He later ran the local Agway plants in Knowlesville and Batavia.
His daughter-in-law liked the patriotic display and wanted to see a similar effort in Medina. The towns of Ridgeway and Shelby also have endorsed the “Hometown Heroes” with their highway crews offering to help the Medina DPW put up the banners and the hardware to hold them in place.
Woodruff said the first group of 35-50 banners should be up by Memorial Day. The banners have red and blue borders with a portrait of the featured veteran, as well as the vet’s name, time of service, branch of military, and honors.
“Can you see the effect when the Medina Marching Band comes through on Memorial Day?” Woodruff told the Village Board. “There won’t be a dry eye.”
Anyone from Medina who served in the military, past or present, is eligible to be featured on a banner. There is a $200 charge to be honor someone with a banner. The vinyl banners are double-sided and 5 feet tall by 2 ½ feet wide.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Mary Woodruff addresses the Medina Village Board on Monday. Jada Burgess, deputy village clerk, is in background.
Woodruff said she wants the program to be ongoing, with more veterans added each year.
“Let the world see we are proud of our men and women who have served and fought for our country’s freedoms,” she said.
There is a Feb. 15 deadline to order a banner to be up in time for this Memorial Day. The banners will go on Main Street including in the downtown, East Center Street, West Center Street, Pearl Street and Park Avenue.
The banners are expected to last about three years. Woodruff would like to see the banners moved around each year so the same veteran isn’t in the same spot.
She plans to keep the banner program going “for as long as people are interested in honoring their family or friend veterans.”
Application forms are available at the Medina Village Office, Ridgeway Town Hall, Shelby Town Hall and English Rose Tea Shoppe.
For more information, send Woodruff an email at mbwoodruff16@gmail.com.
