By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Today is the last day for candidates for village trustees to submit petitions in Lyndonville and Medina. Both villages have two positions open for election on March 18.
In Medina, the trustee positions for Mark Irwin and Mark Kruzynski are both up for election. Candidates need to submit petitions signed by at least 100 eligible voters in Medina to the Village Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. to be on the ballot.
In Lyndonville, the trustee positions currently filled by James Tuk and Charles Coville are up for election. Candidates need to submit petitions signed by at least 30 eligible village voters. Those petitions are due by 4 p.m. today in the Village Clerk’s office.
Albion doesn’t have any open positions for election this year. Next year in March will be Albion’s next election.
Holley has its village elections the third Tuesday in June. Candidates in Holley can pick up petitions beginning March 31 and can submit those petitions to the village clerk between May 5 and May 12. Two trustee positions currently filled by Skip Carpenter and Brian Sorochty will be up for election.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 February 2015 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Combat and disabled veterans who served in wartime won’t get a discount on their Medina school taxes, the Board of Education voted tonight.
The board was considering offering the minimum tax exemption allowed by a new state law. That would have lowered the taxable assessments by $6,000 for veterans who served in wartime (World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Persian Gulf Conflict since Aug. 2, 1990). With $6,000 off the assessments that would save eligible veterans about $140 each.
But in a 5-2 vote, the board opted against the exemption with the majority not thinking it was fair to other school taxpayers who would see an increase in their taxes.
“Our duty is to all of the taxpayers,” said William Keppler, a Board of Education member. “We have to lower everyone’s taxes so all people see a savings.”
Keppler’s father served in World War II.
“I respect the vets,” Keppler said. “I love the vets.”
Board Vice President David Sevenski also opposed the exemption. He thought it was discriminatory towards some veterans, including those in the Cold War and those who are renters and don’t own their own homes.
“The law doesn’t treat all veterans equally,” Sevenski said.
Sevenski comes from a military family. His daughter leaves next week for the Marines. He would prefer to see tax relief for all residents.
“Our goal is to try to reduce the tax rate for everyone,” Sevenski said.
Several veterans attended a Jan. 14 public hearing about the exemption with most speaking in favor of it. Other community members worried about the tax shift, especially on lower-income young families.
The minimum tax exemption for veterans would have raised taxes by $32 for nonveterans for a property assessed at $100,000.
BOE President Chris Keller and board member Carol Heiligenthaler both voted for the exemption.
“I went with the idea that providing it for combat and disabled veterans was do-able in my mind,” Keller said after tonight’s meeting. “That’s a different category of citizen.”
Sevenski said the board wrestled with the issue. Medina is the first Board of Education in Orleans County to bring the exemption to a vote since the state passed a law in December 2013 allowing school districts to offer the exemption.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 February 2015 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – The Village Board voted on Monday to pursue a federal grant to cover the salaries and benefits of two full-time firefighters.
The board has discussed the issue in recent meetings. Medina Fire Department leaders asked the board to seek four firefighters. That would cover the department’s staffing needs and also give Medina a better chance of getting the funding for over two years, said Captain Mike Maak.
The department currently has 13 full-time firefighters and two full-time temporary positions, as well as about 20 call men. The grant could be used to make the temporary positions permanent.
Village Board members said they didn’t want to boost staffing to an unaffordable level after the grant expired.
“It’s certainly in the village’s interest to pursue it and have some of the personnel costs covered even for two years,” Mayor Andrew Meier said. “The question is, ‘Is it sustainable for the long-term?'”
The village received a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grant before, when the department became the primary ambulance provider for western Orleans beginning in 2007.
Medina Fire Department leaders have been pushing the past year to have more staff for the department. The call volume reached 2,986 in 2014, the highest ever. When the department pitched the plan to take over ambulance calls, the projections were for 1,800 calls annually for the department.
The department has raised mileage reimbursement rates for ambulance calls and added out-of-district charges for calls outside western Orleans to try to boost revenues. However, Meier worries if the village can pay the salaries for 17 career firefighters when the grant expires. Right now there are 13 on the payroll, plus the two temporary positions.
Other board members agreed to pursue the grant for only two positions.
“Why hire four when we know we can’t sustain them after two years?” said Trustee Marguerite Sherman.
In other action, the board:
Appointed Tim Elliott to the Village Planning Board, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of Rachael Tabelski. The Village Board also appointed Kathy Blackburn as an alternate to the Planning Board, filling the spot by the late Marcia Tuohey.
Accepted the resignation from Krista Bacon as a part-time water billing clerk. Her last day will be Feb. 19.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Some want Lyndonville to field own soccer team
Photos by Tom Rivers – Lyndonville Board of Education President Ted Lewis said the cooperation with Medina Central School has been a positive for both districts.
LYNDONVILLE – Some Lyndonville students and parents want the school to bring back its own varsity boys’ soccer program.
For the past three seasons, Lyndonville students have played with Medina’s team. Lyndonville was down on soccer players, but now there are enough to field a competitive varsity team, Board of Education members were told tonight.
“We could have our own Sectional banner from our own kids hanging up in the gym,” parent Kristen Nicholson told the board.
She believes the school district could build a strong soccer program, starting with elementary “house” programs and working up to JV and varsity.
“You got to give it a chance now for the kids who are here and have the numbers to form a team,” Nicholson said.
One Lyndonville senior said he tried out for the team in Medina and was cut after a week. Another parent said her son, who had played JV, didn’t want to play varsity with Medina so he didn’t try out.
The issue was brought up because Medina and Lyndonville have been talking about extending the inter-municipal agreement for some extracurricular activities. The Board of Education voted tonight to extend a partnership with Medina Central School, where Lyndonville students can play soccer and football at Medina and can also be in Medina’s marching band.
Harold Suhr, a member of the Lyndonville Board of Education, speaks in favor of continuing an agreement with Medina Central School where Medina and Lyndonville share some sports teams and other extracurricular activities, including marching band and the high school musical.
Medina students perform in Lyndonville’s school musicals. Districts also share professional development programs for staff.
“Right now it’s a very positive relationship with Medina,” said Jason Smith, the Lyndonville district superintendent. “They’ve been great working with us.”
Lyndonville faces a declining enrollment, and that reality is forcing the district to be creative to offer opportunities for students. Jim Moody, a board member, said the shared programming may just be in the early stages for the school districts if the enrollments continue to fall.
“The same kinds of issues will be dealt with in the future,” Moody said. “There has been a demographics change in the community.”
Board members Harold Suhr and Michelle Dillenbeck said the student body, even in its declining numbers, needs to be part of more activities at the school to make those programs more viable. They both said boys are spending too much time on video games when they could be part of sports and other programs at school.
The board vote was unanimous to continue the boys soccer program with Medina. Dillenbeck worried if Lyndonville pulled out of soccer, the other opportunities for Lyndonville with Medina would be lost.
Michelle Dillenbeck, a Board of Education member, said it currently isn’t sustainable for Lyndonville to have enough athletes for some sports. She voted to continue partnering with Medina for some sports and activities.
She also doesn’t think Lyndonville would be able to field a competitive boys soccer team long-term, given the school’s declining enrollment.
Board President Ted Lewis said the partnership with Medina has gone well and he wants it to continue.
“The essence is how can we do more sustainable opportunities for our students given the demographics of our county,” Lewis said.
Suhr, a Lyndonville board member, says the cooperation has helped both districts. The new agreement is for two more years and both districts can opt out with 30 days notice.
Suhr said the agreement has allowed Lyndonville kids to play football, be in the marching band and play soccer. Suhr said the Medina soccer coach has cut some Medina students to make room for good Lyndonville players.
He remembers when he was a senior at Lyndonville and the school eliminated football. He transferred to Albion for his senior year and played for the Purple Eagles.
“When one door closes another opens,” Suhr said.
He is thankful for the year in Albion, saying he made many new friends.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The seventh annual Wine About Winter sold out of 750 tickets fast. The Medina Business Association then added 50 more and they were sold quickly. And then another 50 more.
Those 850 wine enthusiasts were in downtown Medina today, sampling wine from 30 locations in the business district. The event drew people from Rochester to Buffalo, including people who had never been to Medina before.
Aaron Slopa of Amherst gets wine from Cheryl Holt in Ashlee’s Place. Holt was pouring “Stiletto” from Midnight Run Wine Cellars in Ransomville.
Slopa said the wine-tasting showed him a vibrant downtown business community.
“It’s good seeing all of the small businesses I wouldn’t have seen before,” he said.
These friends enjoyed Wine About Winter in Medina today.
Slopa was joined by a friend Chris Sheffield of Kenmore, who was in Medina for the first time today.
“I didn’t realize the small-town charm,” Sheffield said. “There is great architecture here.”
The event continues to grow from the 250 tickets that were sold in the debut in 2009.
Sandy Barnes from Schulze Vineyards & Winery pours wine for Michael Buongiorne and his wife Chris inside The English Rose Tea Shoppe.
Barnes said Medina is one of the few vibrant small-town downtowns in Western New York. She said the Medina business district is comparable to East Aurora and Ellicottville.
“Medina has that old-town feel and it’s still a big area,” she said. “It’s your one-stop town.”
The community is ideal for a wine-tasting event because it has so many independent businesses within a few blocks, Barnes said.
Paul Schwenk of Schwenk Wine Cellars in Kent pours Rainmaker Red for wine-tasting participants inside the Wide Angle Art Galery. Kim Keil, co-owner of the gallery, is in back offering chocolate-covered pretzels and other snacks.
Wide Angle also was a host for the Ale in Autumn tasting in September. Keil said the events give the gallery lots of exposure.
“It’s great publicity,” she said. “It’s bringing 850 people in here to see some awesome artwork.”
Angela Waldriff, owner of Ashlee’s Place, also said her business benefits from the events.
“If there aren’t people who shop now, they come back,” Waldriff said.
Many young adults were walking Main Street and the business district for Wine About Winter. The balloons were outside the 30 wine-tasting spots on the tour.
Kathy Blackburn, vice president of the Business Association, said the members will discuss how the event went with the expanded crowd this year. She said the event is serving its goal of giving people a fun outing in the dead of winter while also promoting the local businesses.
“This draws people who have never been to Medina and when they see it they are quite amazed with the variety of shops and historic charm,” Blackburn said. “You don’t find too many downtowns like this anymore.”
810 Mead Works was popular with its tasting room and honey-flavored mead.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
This mural inside KeyBank in Medina shows how the current Blissetts Specialty Shop looked at left more than a century ago. Rotary Park, at right, used to have a commercial building at the corner of Main and East Center streets.
MEDINA – Greg Stanton remembers coming into the former Marine Midland Bank on Main Street after hours and on weekends to paint a mural that stretches more than 20 feet long.
Stanton used panoramic photos of the downtown from about a century ago to create the scene that has now endured inside the bank since 1984. When he painted the mural, the bank was owned by Marine Midland. It was later bought by HSBC, which sold the Medina site in January 2012 to KeyBank.
Stanton created four murals in all for the bank in 1984. Three have been painted over, but the one of the historic downtown endures.
Customers enjoy the painting, and many often to stop to look at it, said Bob Rice, the relationship manager for the bank at 514 Main St.
I hadn’t been inside the bank for several years until Friday. I thought it was Mary Zelazny’s last day and wanted to do a story on her. She has one more week before she retires after 37 years. She is the site’s branch manager.
I hadn’t seen the mural before, and I think it’s an impressive depiction of the downtown. In many ways Main Street hasn’t changed too much, and that is one of the charms of Medina’s downtown.
Stanton was 28 when he painted that mural. He is happy it has remained inside the bank for 31 years and counting.
“I never expected it to last this long,” he said. “It’s something I love doing.”
The Napa Auto Parts building on Main Street used to have a tall tower.
Stanton also created murals of Medina’s coat of arms, the train depot, and he thinks a canal scene. Those ones were painted over.
Zelazny said she hopes the large mural will remain part of the bank.
“It was a fun job,” Stanton recalled. “It was a labor of love.”
He remembers trying to paint the mural during regular bank hours, but people kept talking to him, preventing him from working on the job.
“It’s kind of neat that it has stayed,” he said about the artwork. “Which will live longer, the mural or me?”
The current KeyBank site at 514 Main St. used to be a Post Office.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The renderings for the proposed Family Dollar in Medina were on display at the Village Planning Board meeting tonight in City Hall.
MEDINA – The Village Planning Board gave final approval tonight for a new 8,320-square-foot Family Dollar on Maple Ridge Road.
Construction is expected to start in the spring and the new store could open in the fall, said Andy Hart, project manager in civil engineering with Bergmann Associates. Hart met with the Village Planning Board tonight to go over the site plan, which was approved unanimously following several months of review.
Family Dollar will need to work with the state Department of Transportation and utility companies for site work and infrastructure at the site before the building construction can start.
Planning Board Chairman Chris Busch said he was pleased with the final design of the store, which will have a brick appearance and black trim to give the building a more classic look.
Busch has seen other dollar stores in other communities that resemble block and steel pole barns. Medina has design standards for new construction in the commercial and business districts.
“That will be a very nice looking Family Dollar,” Busch said after the board approved the project.
The Planning Board also issued a negative declaration on the project, saying it won’t have an adverse environmental impact.
The site will have 28 parking spaces, and include trees and other landscaping improvements, Busch said,
Family Dollar will move out of the Tops Plaza and go about ½ mile east to a site across from Tim Hortons.
The Durban Group, which is based in North Carolina, is managing the building project at 11300 Maple Ridge Rd. The project includes a 25-foot-high pylon sign and connection into the village’s sewer system.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 January 2015 at 12:00 am
File photo – These trees were planted last year on Gwinn Street. Medina planted 57 trees in 2014 on Gwinn Street.
MEDINA – The village will plant 42 trees this spring with most on Park Avenue. Those trees will finish the planting effort on Park Avenue begun several years ago.
There will also be a few additional ancillary plantings on West Center Street and West Avenue near the Central Business District.
“The main 2015 site plan depicts a return to Park Avenue in the rotation of plantings on main thoroughfares,” said Tree Board Chairman Chris Busch. “As always, the trees have been selected specifically for the needs of this site. The small trees are those considered to be appropriate for underwire plantings by National Grid and are reimbursable by them.”
The Village Board approved the tree planting plan on Monday. Most of the cost is covered by donations and the National Grid reimbursements.
One village trustee, Mark Irwin, voted against the plan. He would like to see more trees planted on the east side of the village, especially along East Center Street.
The National Arbor Day Foundation has given Medina a “Tree City Growth Award” and has designated the community a “Tree City USA” for its commitment to planting trees every year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 January 2015 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – The Tops Plaza on Maple Ridge Road will gain a new tenant with Carquest Auto Parts moving from Route 63 to the plaza, Code Enforcement Officer Marty Busch said.
Carquest is currently located at 4215 South Gravel Rd. Construction has started in its new home at the plaza. The location by Tops will give Carquest more space, Busch told the Village Board on Monday.
The plaza recently added a new tenant with Snap Fitness gym. That 24-hour location is at 11170 Maple Ridge Rd. Paul and Jeremiah Hackett opened the Snap Fitness. They also own a Snap Fitness in Niagara County.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jonathan Higgins, a captain with the Medina Fire Department, was on the scene at a fire on Friday in Carlton. Higgins wants the village to pursue a federal grant that would add personnel for fire and ambulance calls. But the Village Board worries if there are enough ambulance revenues to pay for staff when the grant runs out.
MEDINA The Medina Village Board says it will leave no stone unturned as it looks for revenue to help offset property taxes. The board will also work to reduce costs in village operations.
Resident Betty Rogowski attended Monday’s Village Board meeting and wanted to know the next steps for the community after dissolution was rejected a week ago, 949 to 527. Rogowski said she pays $7,802 in taxes annually, and she wants some relief from the big tax bill.
Monday’s meeting was the first for the Village Board since the dissolution vote. Medina Mayor Andrew Meier pushed dissolution as a way to reduce the tax burden on village residents. A study on dissolution showed how the tax rate could drop by $6 per $1,000 of assessed property on villagers.
Meier said Medina will be hard pressed to come up with ways to reduce taxes in the village by a similar amount without dissolution. The village would need about $1 million in new revenue or cuts to make that kind of impact.
Village officials need to have a new budget approved by April 30. The 2014-15 budget took in $2,738,602 in taxes from village property owners for a $16.44 tax rate.
Meier sees trimming the budget as something the board has some control over.
“We will have to find cost reductions,” he said.
Assistance from the local towns, county and state are all outside village control, Meier said.
Trustee Mike Sidari said the other governments need to be asked for help.
“Let’s get the ball rolling and put some pressure on our elected officials,” Sidari said.
He wants the village to pursue more state aid and a bigger share of the sales tax revenue in the county.
Medina currently gets $38,811 in state Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. That is a paltry sum for a village of 6,065 people, Sidari said, especially when smaller-size cities get far more. Sherrill in Oneida County gets $372,689 in AIM funding for a city of 3,071 people, he noted.
Sidari said the village should craft an official resolution, seeking more state funding, and distribute it to other villages and towns in the county and region, trying to build a movement. The board tasked Village Attorney Matthew Brooks to write a formal resolution to be voted on soon in the future.
Meier said the board shouldn’t expect any more money from the state. The governor’s budget didn’t include any AIM increases. Meier doesn’t have much hope the state would respond to the villages.
“Any increase appears DOA (Dead On Arrival),” Meier said.
But he supports passing a formal resolution, stating the value of villages and why the state should provide them with fair AIM funding.
The county had a big year for sales tax revenue in 2014, increasing by 5.96 percent from $14,819,904 to $15,703,362. The county has frozen the share to local towns and villages since 2001 at $1,366,671. Resident Tim Elliott said now is good time to push for more sales tax because of the increase for the county and the fact that it is no longer paying for the county nursing home.
The village of Medina receives $159,586 of the local sales tax or about 1 percent. Meier estimated that 30 percent of the sales tax in the county is generated by businesses in the village or close to the village borders.
He said he has pressed for more of the local sales tax in recent years, but has always been rebuffed from the county leaders.
Sidari said the village should make it an issue and engage other towns and villages in the county in seeking more of the funding.
Prior to the dissolution vote, the leaders of the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway both said they had ideas for reducing village costs. Meier and the Village Board said they await concrete proposals from Skip Draper, town supervisor of Shelby, and Brian Napoli, the supervisor in Ridgeway.
In the meantime, the board will look closer at village operations, trying to reduce costs.
Medina Fire Department Captain Jonathan Higgins sees a federal grant for hiring four firefighters as a way to improve services in the community and reduce the local cost.
A federal Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grant would cover firefighters’ salary, benefits and retirement contributions for two years, as long as Medina maintains its existing staffing levels of 13 full-time firefighters, Higgins said.
The village could count two existing temporary positions for the grant and add two more full-timers, Higgins said. The added staff would reduce overtime costs for the department, and ensure the department has manpower for all of its calls.
Meier has concerns about adding the staff, even if it is grant funded. The village would unlikely be able to afford the positions after two years based on ambulance revenues.
“I don’t think we should set ourselves up for a difficult decision in two to three years,” Meier said. “I don’t see our revenues to the point where we can sustain four more firefighters.”
The village is 58 percent of the way through its budget year and the fire department has 57 percent of the revenues, putting it slightly behind pace for $1,050,000 budgeted. If the department keeps up that pace, it would be about 2 percent off budget or a $20,000 difference.
The fire department on Nov. 1 raised the mileage reimbursement rate for ambulance calls from $20 to $30. With 34,000 miles a year on ambulance calls that change could generate $340,000 if fully realized. But Meier said Medicare rates, self pay and other uncollected revenue makes that a big question mark.
The board delayed the decision to pursue the grant until Feb. 9 when it could have a better sense of revenue projections for the future, and the impact of added staff on reducing overtime.
The board did vote on Monday to raise most ambulance fees by 3 percent and increase the out-of-district charge from $50 to $75 for each call. That charge doesn’t apply to western Orleans County, including the villages of Medina and Lyndonville, and towns of Yates, Shelby and Ridgeway. The charge would be added to bill for calls in central Orleans County, eastern Niagara and Genesee County.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Todd Zinkievich has led department since 2003
Photos by Tom Rivers – Todd Zinkievich is pictured outside the Medina Fire Department in this file photo from March 2013. Under his leadership, the department replaced Rural Metro as the primary ambulance provider in western Orleans County in July 2007. The department responded to nearly 3,000 calls in 2014, its busiest ever.
MEDINA – Todd Zinkievich has led the Medina Fire Department through a momentous time in its history, particularly with the Fire Department replacing Rural Metro in July 2007 as primary ambulance provider in western Orleans County.
The Department grew from six full-time firefighters to 13 now, plus two temporary full-time positions and about 20 call men. The call volume has jumped from about 300 a year a decade ago to 2,986 in 2014, the most ever in the Fire Department’s history.
The call volume continues to grow at a rate of about 200 per year since the ambulance switch. Zinkievich is proud of the level of service from the department, but he told the Village Board the department needs a new leader. He intends to retire this summer with his last on July 3, although he said the last official day will likely be later due to comp time.
“The last couple of years have been very, very stressful on me,” Zinkievich told the Village Board tonight. “I’ve tried to disguise how much this whole dissolution has affected me.”
Village residents last Tuesday voted to reject dissolution by a 949-527 vote. But Zinkievich said the uncertainty with the issue, whether the village government and Fire Department would dissolve, took a toll on him and other village employees.
“Quite honestly I’ve lost my vision for the department,” he said. “We didn’t know which direction we were going in.”
Zinkievich made the annoucement today because he wanted to give the Village Board plenty of notice about his retirement to allow for a smooth transition to a new chief.
Medina Mayor Andrew Meier told Zinkievich he should be proud of his record of service to the Fire Department and community.
“These guys made my badge shine,” Zinkievich responded. “We’ve built this into one of the best fire departments in the state and I feel in the country.”
Medina Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich takes a short breather while fighting a fire on Jan. 6 at a Ridgeway farm.
Other Village Board members praised Zinkievich for his effort, especially for his leadership as the department expanded its commitment to the community with the ambulance service.
Zinkievich joins the firefighters on many of the calls. He is an intermediate EMT.
“Because we’re such a small department I have to run on a lot of the calls,” Zinkievich told Orleans Hub in a March 2013 interview. “I do, too, because I’ve always been a firm believer that we should spread the workload amongst all of our employees. When you take one person, myself, out of that equation of 13, you’re taking 7.3 percent of your workforce away from it. These guys are working hard and they’re working hard for us, so I’m going to work hard alongside them. I go on my fair amount of ambulance calls. I may be driving the ambulance or in back as a medic.”
Zinkievich grew up in a firefighting family. He first joined the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company before joining Medina in 1994.
“I love helping people,” he told Orleans Hub in a previous interview. “I love making a difference in somebody’s life. Generally when we’re called somebody is in trouble. They’re either hurt or something is on fire. It’s up to us to get there, mitigate it and offer whatever assistance we can.”
MEDINA – Two Medina residents were arrested today and jailed on drug charges, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported.
Shine
The arrests were made following a 2-month-investigation into the sale and distribution of crack cocaine in the Village of Medina, the Task Force reported.
The Task Force, the Orleans County Multi-Agency SWAT Team and the Medina Police Department executed a search warrant at 125 Starr St., lower apartment.
The following were arrested:
Andre D. Shine, 31, of 125 Starr St., lower apartment. He was charged with four counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (a class B felony) and four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (class B felony).
He was arraigned in the Town of Ridgeway Town Court by Justice Joseph Kujawa. Shine was committed to the county jail without bail, due to a previous criminal history, the Task Force reported.
Major
Shine is to appear in Town Court at 1 p.m. on Jan. 28.
Amanda L. Major, 24, of 125 Starr St., lower apartment. She is charged with one count of both criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, which are class B felonies.
Major was arraigned by Ridgeway Town Justice Joseph Kujawa and remanded to county jail on $20,000 bail.
She is due back in Town Court at 1 p.m. on Jan. 28.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli talks with reporters after dissolution was defetated on Tuesday. Napoli said the town can find cost savings for the village through shared services
MEDINA – With residents casting a decisive blow against dissolving the village, Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and town leaders from Shelby and Ridgeway say they will work towards cooperation to reduce the costs of government in the community.
Meier pushed dissolution, seeing it as a way for a more efficient government for the Medina area, while also bringing in much-needed state aid.
The dissolution plan was fiercely opposed by the leaders from the two town governments, as well as village employees and many village residents. The referendum – “Shall the Village of Medina, New York be dissolved?” – was defeated, 949-527. By law, the issue can’t be voted on again for at least four more years.
Meier said the village faces the same challenges after the vote as it did to start the day.
“We still have a declining tax base, a shrinking population and climbing costs,” he said shortly after the results were announced. “Our sustainability predicament remains.”
Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said he looks forward to seeing proposals from the two towns on how to reduce government costs in the Medina community.
Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli said he wants to have serious talks with the village and Shelby town officials about shared services. He believes that cooperation among the municipalities can reduce taxes for village residents.
“The residents (through this vote) told us they want us to look at shared services,” Napoli said in the Senior Center, where many village and town officials, and other residents were gathered to hear the results of the vote.
David Stalker is a member of the Ridgeway Town Board who lives in the village. He sees the village is struggling and needs some help.
“We’ve been ready and willing to talk,” Stalker said about the Ridgeway officials.
He was among the group that waited for nearly 1,500 ballots to be counted, by far the most of an village vote in at least a generation.
Election Inspector Judy Szulis announced the results at 10:35 p.m. The polls closed at 9 p.m.
Stalker was like many of the residents who worried about the fate of the Fire Department and Police Department if dissolution had passed.
“I like having them and knowing they can be there in 3 minutes,” he said.
That was a common refrain from voters interviewed by the media on Tuesday. Residents said they don’t like their high taxes, but they said they didn’t want to lose a responsive police force and fire department.
“Taxes you can deal with, but the proper time for emergencies can’t be compromised,” said resident Peter Kaiser, 31.
He was one of several residents who wasn’t able to vote because he wasn’t registered. He said he assumed he could vote as a village resident, but he wasn’t recorded as registered by the Orleans County Board of Elections.
Tracy Cody had the same situation. She lives in the village, but unbeknownst to her, she wasn’t registered to vote.
She also owns land outside the village in Ridgeway. She went to the polls on Tuesday, concerned her town taxes would go up if dissolution went through. She also didn’t like the uncertainty with the police and fire department.
She supports the idea of one government for the community, with the two towns merged and a village dissolution to follow. She thinks consolidating the two towns is the first step.
“Combine everything into one,” she said.
It was a busy day for election inspectors with nearly 1,500 people voting at the Senior Center. Election inspector Norma Huth is at left wth inspector Judy Szulis at right.
Mayor Meier and supporters of OneMedina see merger of the two towns and elimination of the village as an ultimate goal for the community, providing a streamlined government, more state aid and a stronger political voice.
OneMedina saw dissolution of the village as a first step, but folding the village services into the towns, different taxing districts and an LDC for sewer services proved confusing to many people.
One woman, a life-long Medina resident at age 74, said there were too many unknowns if dissolution had passed.
“Everything is so unclear to everybody,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “It’s been back and forth with the facts and there’s been too much fighting.”
Crystal Petry, 22, is a Shelby volunteer firefighter who lives in the village. She voted against dissolution. She said the Medina Fire Department, which includes paid firefighters, is critical to western Orleans County. She also thought it was unfair to residents in Shelby and Ridgeway outside the village who faced tax increases if the referendum had passed.
“There’s other ways of going about doing it,” Petry said. “Give the towns a chance.”
Steve Seitz, a Shelby town councilman, said Shelby welcomes the village officials for ongoing dialogue about sharing services.
“Hopefully we can get back to the table,” Seitz said.
Meier said he was encouraged by the 527 “yes” votes, 36 percent of the total. The 527 tops the number of people who voted in the last village election. Only about 400 voted last March.
He said dissolution could loom again because of the difficult situation the village faces. It has limited options for boosting revenue to pay for the services the community values so much. Meier said the village shouldn’t just raise property taxes. The $54 rate per $1,000 of assessed property (village, town, county and school taxes) is one of the highest in the state.
Election inspectors Mary Ann Arder, left, and Norma Huth count ballots. It took about an hour and half to record all of the votes.
Residents and businesses can save significant money in taxes just by moving outside the village and avoiding the village’s $16.44 tax rate. Dissolution would have chopped the overall rate by about $6 per $1,000, saving $420 for a village property owner with a house assessed at $70,000.
“Sometimes it takes time for people to warm up to this kind of transformational change,” Meier said. “We voted tonight. I can’t say if this will be the last vote on the issue. This is a conversation that will continue for years to come.”
He noted a vote to abolish the village court failed in its first vote but sailed through the second time in 2010.
Village Trustee Mark Irwin supported dissolution and was disappointed to see it be rejected. He noted a strong push from the dissolution foes – “They preyed on peoples’ misunderstanding.”
A dissolution plan would have preserved existing village services, realized $277,000 in efficiency saving and $541,000 in additional state aid.
“Right now the ball is in the towns’ court,” Irwin said.
Meier said he looks forward to seeing the ideas and plans from the two towns.
“I think we really need to figure out what the towns’ proposal are,” he said. “They have said, ‘There are better ways, there are better ways.’ All eyes are on them to follow through with what they said.”
The 1,476 who went to the polls on Tuesday is about half of the people who were eligible to vote. The village has 6,065 residents, according to the 2010 Census. Judy Szulis, an election inspector, was pleased by the big turnout.
“We’ve had people come out who had never voted before in a village election,” Szulis said. “There have been a lot of new faces in here today, which is a good thing.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 January 2015 at 10:38 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers – A “No Dissolution” sign, one of many in the Medina community, appears on West Center Street.
MEDINA – Village residents voted to keep their village government today in one of the busiest and most contentious local elections in recent memory.
By a 949 to 527 vote, residents voted to reject dissolving the village. That will preserve the police department, a paid fire department, Department of Public Works and other village employees.
Supporters of dissolution pushed to dissolve the village, saying it would cut about $6 off the tax rate for village property owners, who pay one of the biggest combined tax rates in the state. That would have cut village taxes by $420 for a house assessed at $70,000.
But residents against dissolution worried about the loss of services. Town officials in Shelby and Ridgeway said they wouldn’t match the “heightened services” that villagers currently enjoy.
Orleans Hub will have more coverage on the dissolution vote.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Voters go to polls from noon to 9 p.m.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Village residents will vote today at the former New York Central Railroad Station, which is currently the Senior Center at 615 West St.
MEDINA – Village residents 18 and older will go to the polls today to decide if Medina will continue its village government.
Dissolution has been in the news for many months, even drawing the attention of media in Rochester and Buffalo. Supporters of dissolution say it will help reduce the tax burden on village residents, who pay one of the highest combined tax rates for school, village, town and county taxes in the state.
Dissolution opponents fear critical village services would be lost, especially with police and a paid fire department. They point to Lyons, which last year voted to dissolve its village with a plan for the Town of Lyons to assume police services.
The Town Board has decided not to continue the Lyons Police Department, with the calls to be handled by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department after Dec. 31.
