By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 January 2019 at 8:19 pm
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.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 January 2019 at 8:40 am
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.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 January 2019 at 4:04 pm
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.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 January 2019 at 6:13 pm
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.
File photo by Tom Rivers: This photo from September 2016 shows Maple Ridge Road, just east of Route 63. The Village of Medina is adding a pedestrian bridge over Oak Orchard Creek, near where the signs for routes 31 and 63 are shown in photo.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 January 2019 at 2:36 pm
MEDINA – The Village of Medina will add a pedestrian bridge over Oak Orchard Creek on a busy and dangerous section of Maple Ridge Road.
The Village Board on Monday approved accepting funds from the Town of Shelby for the project. The money comes from a revolving loan fund from the Orleans Economic Development Agency.
The EDA is giving money to municipalities from a fund that needs to be discontinued. The state is requiring economic development agencies to shut down the revolving loans funds.
The state is allowing the funds to go back to the municipalities where there were projects that borrowed funds and then paid them back.
Shelby is due to receive $130,000 of the money from the revolving loan fund. The Town Board agreed to give those funds to village to go towards the bridge. Medina also will contribute some of its own money from a fund that has been dormant for several years.
The projects need to be considered by the state as a benefit to low-to-moderate income residents. Any project that improves handicapped accessibility automatically qualifies from the state, Whipple said.
The pedestrian bridge has been sought by the village for several years but Medina hasn’t received grants which would have also added sidewalks to Maple Ridge, which has become more popular for pedestrians with new businesses and also the presence of a GCC campus center.
Mayor Mike Sidari said area by the creek is narrow and seems to funnel pedestrians close to the road. It has been identified as a safety concern for several years.
The EDA has other money from the revolving loan fund to give to local municipalities. The towns or villages need to approve a project that meets state guidelines by March 31 or else the money goes back to the state Office of Community Renewal.
• Orleans County is due to receive about $200,000. The county has several projects it is considering but hasn’t settled on one yet, Whipple said.
• The Town of Yates will receive about $9,000 and will use that to improve handicapped accessibility at the town hall and parking lot.
• The Town of Albion has about $40,000 coming and has agreed to give the money to village to make Bullard Park more handicapped accessible.
• The Village of Holley is due about $115,000 and hasn’t determined how it use the funds yet, Whipple said.
Courtesy of Parkitects: This rendering shows a proposed layout for improvements to the Pine Street Park in Medina, which is off Park Avenue across from the Olde Pickle Factory.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 January 2019 at 10:09 am
Anonymous donor will lead fund-raising effort for $150,000 project
MEDINA – The Village Board on Monday approved a plan to upgrade Pine Street Park, adding a splash pad, new playground equipment and pathway that would include flowers and butterfly gardens.
An anonymous donor is leading the fund-raising effort for the improvements, which would be about $150,000. The Orleans Renaissance Group is helping to facilitate the fundraising.
Ben Frasier, a project manager for Parkitects in Buffalo, went over the proposal with the Village Board. The layout can be tweaked after consultation with Joe Perry, the DPW superintendent.
Pine Street Park is off Park Avenue across from the Olde Pickle Factory. The park currently doesn’t have too many amenities. Frasier said new playground equipment and the path with flowers and butterfly gardens could be the focus this year with the splash pad to follow, unless all of the fundraising comes together quickly. If the money is lined up soon, the park improvements could all happen this year.
The splash pad would be a smaller one, with a touch system to activate the water. Some of the water from the splash pad could be directed to water the flowers and the gardens.
Most of the park would remain open space to be used as a baseball field and for pickup soccer games.
There currently is a splash pad in Orleans County. Parkitects is also working with Albion to add a larger splash pad at Bullard Park this year. A state grant is covering most of the costs for that project.
A new playground and path are also planned for the park.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Medina Fire Chief Tom Lupo, right, pins the lieutenant badge on Michael Young during the Village Board meeting this evening. Steve Cooley, left, also was promoted to lieutenant.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 January 2019 at 10:24 pm
Steve Cooley shakes hands with Fire Chief Tom Lupo after the chief pinned the lieutenant’s badge on Cooley. Lupo will be retiring as fire chief on April 30.
MEDINA – The Village Board promoted to veteran firefighters to lieutenants during this evening’s Village Board meeting. Michael Young and Steve Cooley both are moving up in the ranks.
Young has worked for the Fire Department for 12 years while Cooley has been with Medina for nine years. They will work opposite shifts helping to lead the department.
Both were praised for their dedication and skills they bring to the department by Fire Chief Tom Lupo.
The fire chief also submitted a letter notifying the board of his intention to retire on April 30. Lupo has been working as fire chief since March 28, 2016. He stepped in the position in a part-time role for up to 30 hours a week while he was also the assistant chief at the Lockport Fire Department.
Lupo was brought in to provide leadership to the department on a short-term basis. The village will replace him with a full-time chief and Medina wants to have the successor ready before Lupo leaves on April 30, Mayor Michael Sidari said.
The position will be posted through Civil Service.
The mayor said Lupo has been a hard-worker who has made a big impact at the Fire Department.
“Thank you for what you’ve done for us, the department and the village,” Sidari told Lupo at the meeting, where the board accepted his resignation “with our sincere regrets.”
Lupo told the board he appreciated the chance to serve the department as fire chief.
“The opportunity that the Village Board gave me to lead the Medina Fire Department as Chief has been one of the best experiences of my professional career,” Lupo wrote in a Jan. 14 letter to Mayor Sidari. “The experience I have gained from working for the Village has been wonderful. I could not ask for a better place of employment. The village as a whole is absolutely beautiful. The whole area seems to be on an upward arc. I hope in some small way, I helped in the resurgence.”
“It is truly refreshing to see a governing body that cares about its workforce and places a high value on team work and respect,” Lupo continued in his letter. “The esprit de corps among the village workforce is great to see. I feel the fire department will function as well under the current cadre of officers as it has during my tenure.”
Provided photos: The Medina Varsity Winterguard performs on Saturday and took first place at Orchard Park.
Posted 27 January 2019 at 7:19 pm
Courtesy of Medina Mustang Band
MEDINA – The Medina Junior Varsity and Varsity Winterguards performed in competition for the first time this season on Saturday at Orchard Park with 25 guard units from Western New York and Canada performing.
The JV competed in the Regional A class (RA) and took second place with a score of 48.52. First place went to Lancaster with a score of 48.92.
The Varsity Guard performed in the Scholastic A class and earned first place with a score of 57.92.
The Winterguard season for Medina began in November with auditions and practices. Medina is sponsoring 3 guard units this season. The Pony guard is in its second year of existence and consists of 15 students in grades 5-8. This year their show is “The Queen of Soul – Aretha Franklin.”
The Medina Junior Varsity Winterguard earned second place.
The Junior Varsity Guard consists of 14 students in grades 4-9 with many returning members who have moved up in their skill level and accomplishments. This year’s show is “Imperfect” about the determination and perseverance that it takes to overcome the demons in our lives and realize that we are each perfect in our own way.
The Varsity Guard consists of 13 students in grades 7-12 who are seasoned performers. This year their show is “I Can Only Imagine.” Many people experience the loss of a loved one and this show takes you on a journey that can bring back fond memories of that special person.
All three guards will compete on this Saturday in Batavia. In total they will compete in eight shows this season before the championships. Medina’s home show is March 9.
Firefighters credit smoke detectors for saving lives and property
MEDINA – Medina firefighters say smoke detectors were key in getting a quick response to a fire in a garage overnight.
The Medina Fire Department and police officers were dispatched at 3:33 a.m. today to 117 Eastview Drive for a carbon monoxide alarm activation with light smoke in the garage.
Police officers Fraiser and Gross arrived at 3:34 a.m. and reported heavy smoke showing from the garage. The officers moved the residents to a patrol vehicle and gained entry to the garage as Medina Engine 11 arrived on scene, the Medina Fire Department posted on its Facebook page.
Medina FD Lieutenant Young declared a working fire in the attached garage and requested the balance of the structure fire assignment be dispatched. Firefighters from the 4th Platoon made quick work of the fire and all mutual aid units were cancelled.
Fire damage was contained to one of the two vehicles parked inside the garage and that vehicle is a total loss. The second vehicle as well as the garage, its contents and the house are intact, only receiving some minor smoke damage.
Crews remained on scene until 5:20 a.m. There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters during this incident. The fire is non-suspicious in nature and is currently under investigation by Medina Fire Department investigators.
“This incident highlights the vital importance of smoke detectors,” the Fire Department said. “Two lives were saved and over one hundred thousand dollars of property and contents were spared destruction because this house had smoke detectors properly placed throughout it.”
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 23 January 2019 at 1:33 pm
Photo by Ginny Kropf: Darren Wilson, right, president of the Lyndonville Foundation, presents a check for $20,000 to Orleans Community Health CEO Mark Cye to help with purchase of a handicap accessible van for the North Wing,a skilled nursing facility at Medina Memorial Hospital.
MEDINA – Efforts to purchase a handicap accessible van for the North Wing at Orleans Community Health got a big boost with a donation from the Lyndonville Foundation.
On Monday, Lyndonville Foundation president Darren Wilson presented a check for $20,000 to hospital CEO Mark Cye.
Hospital personnel made a request to the Lyndonville Foundation after a suggestion by Lynne Johnson, Orleans County legislator and Lyndonville resident who is also on the Orleans Community Health board.
“We were looking for a local group which could support us in our efforts to purchase a van,” said Cindy Perry, director of outreach, education and marketing for the hospital’s Community Partners. “Our van takes residents to sites all over the county, including Lyndonville for ice cream in the summer.”
Wilson said the Foundation is always looking for opportunities to help the local community.
“Our board felt this was a valuable service which needed funding,” Wilson said. “This is what the Foundation does – fill gaps where funding is needed.”
Cye said they previously had a van, but it has been out of service for more than a year.
“It will be great to have a vehicle again which can accommodate wheelchairs,” Perry said.
The new van has been ordered and delivery is expected soon. It is a 14-passenger with wheelchair accessibility.
