Organization is halfway towards $400k fund-raising goal

Photos by Tom Rivers – Jeff Winters, executive director of the YMCA in Medina, talks about a $400,000 plan to upgrade the site on Pearl Street during a fund-raising kick-off on Friday.

MEDINA – The YMCA in Medina has set a $400,000 capital campaign goal that organization leaders say will modernize a historic building for a new generation of Y users.

“This will turn it into a first-class facility,” said Medina attorney Lance Mark, who is chairman of the fund-raising drive.

The Y recently put a new roof on the former Armory, which was constructed in 1901. The state closed the site in 1977. The former Lake Plains YMCA moved into the building in 1980s.

The Y in Medina is now part of the GLOW YMCA, which owns sites in Batavia and Warsaw. The GLOW and national YMCA offer organizational support to the Medina-based organization, but don’t have money for the capital project.

“They help with the day-to-day in running the program,” Mark said. “We’re doing the fund-raising on our own.”

This rendering shows what the YMCA will look like with a handicapped accessible ramp added to the east side of the building. That project would cost about $80,000.

The Y in Medina has pushed to become a county-wide program in recent years, and that has paid off with a surge in new members, said Jeff Winters, the executive director. There are now 2,400 members, up 42 percent in the past 2.5 years. The Y runs other youth programs in Albion and Lyndonville.

“We’ve gone from being Medina-centric to Orleans County-wide,” Winters said during the capital campaign kick-off event on Friday.

The Y has already raised half of the $400,000 goal. That will allow the Y to put a much-needed handicapped accessible ramp on the east side of the building this summer. The steep front stone steps can be a challenge to senior citizens and young children, Winters said.

The ramp, at a cost of $80,000, will lead to a new main entrance. The Y will add a vestibule and two unisex bathrooms and shower areas inside. The lobby will be expanded for social areas for coffee and conversation. A “Child Watch” room and group exercise room will also be added.

The Y is finding the space for those rooms by removing the racquetball courts and shifting the double-court gym floor to take the space for racquetball. Winters said only about 10 members used the racquetball courts regularly while the gym sees heavy demand.

The new rooms and shifting of the gym floor are estimated to cost about $120,000. Those changes plus the new ramp would be the first projects in the capital campaign. Winters and Y leaders want to raise another $200,000 to overhaul heating, air-conditioning and other infrastructure.

Community members gathered in the gym on Friday to hear about a $400,000 plan to improve the YMCA, which is in a historic Medina sandstone building on Pearl Street. Membership has grown 42 percent in the past 2.5 years to 2,400.

Capital campaign leaders briefly considered moving the Y out of the historic Armory. But they value the landmark building, and say it has worked as a fitness and community center the past three decades. Building a new site would be far more costly than the capital campaign, Y leaders said.

State Sen. George Maziarz attended Friday’s kick-off event. He praised the community for finding a new use for the Armory in the 1980s, and for the continued efforts to keep the building relevant for a new generation.

“Many communities have torn down their armories,” Maziarz said. “This is an example of a great adaptive reuse. This is a real tribute to all of you who have kept this building alive and vibrant.”

The Medina Armory, built from Medina sandstone in 1901, closed in 1977 and became a YMCA in the 1980s. The site now draws from all over Orleans County.

Polka and ‘pigs in the blanket’ prove favorites

Photo by Tom Rivers – Baillie Oberther, 16, of Medina is crowned queen of Dyngus Day on Monday during a celebration at Sacred Heart Club. Bonnie Boyd, last year’s queen, passes on the crown.

MEDINA – They danced to the polka, delighted in “pigs in the blanket,” and even crowned a king and queen.

About 200 people celebrated Dyngus Day on Monday at the Sacred Heart Club in Medina. Before they danced to Brass Magic, a polka band from Rochester, the crowd took in Polish food staples, such as sweet and sour cabbage, scallop potatoes, smoked Polish sausage, pierogis and “pigs in the blanket” – rolled cabbage with pork.

The latter is State Sen. George Maziarz’s favorite. He has loved it since he was a kid.
“My grandma made them and I’d eat half a dozen in one sitting,” Maziarz said at the Sacred Heart Club.

He has been coming to Medina’s Dyngus Day celebration for 18 years. Maziarz spends much of the post-lent Monday at Polish celebrations in his district. There are several of the events in Niagara County earlier in the day before he joins the Medina crowd.

“It preserves people’s heritage,” he said about Dyngus Day. “It’s good for the young kids.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Brass Magic, a polka band from Rochester, entertains during a Dyngus Day celebration on Monday.

The day has been growing in popularity in Western New York in recent years. Buffalo hosts a big Dyngus Day party with a parade and 25 polka bands. That popularity spreads all the way to Medina and Orleans County.

“It keeps getting bigger,” said Dee Lucas, one of the coordinators of the event in Medina. “We just love doing it.”

Polish immigrants about a century ago started their own Catholic churches in Medina and Albion. Both have closed in recent years. The Polish-American congregation at the former St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Albion has joined the Dyngus celebration at Sacred Heart, helping the crowd size to grow.

Laurianne Pruski of Albion said Sacred Heart has been welcoming to the Albionites. She wore a red “Dyngus Day Buffalo” shirt with a white Polish eagle symbol on front.
She looks forward to the giant spread of Polish food every year. The cooks all prepare the food from scratch.

She said younger adults are enthused about the annual event. Many even join in polka dances.

“It sets a mark for the younger generation to carry on the traditions,” she said.

Alissa Bruce wants to do her part. Her grandfather was Polish and celebrated Dyngus Day. Alissa brought her 2-year-old daughter Elaina to Monday’s party. She delighted the crowd with her energetic dances with her cousin, 4-year-old Aidan Oberther.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Aidan Oberther, 4, dances with his cousin Elaina Bruce, 2, while a polka band plays at Sacred Heart Club.

“This is awesome,” Bruce said while the polka band played. “It’s great they keep it going.”

The event included the crowning of a king and queen. Both are active volunteers at the Sacred Heart Club.

New king John Weaver, 41, “never complains” when he is asked to help with dinners and other club events, said Lucas, one of the Dyngus coordinators.

The new queen, 16-year-old Baillie Oberther, helps prepare and serve fish fry dinners and other meals at the club. She said she doesn’t want to miss a Dyngus Day party.

“It’s a family tradition,” she said. “We all love the dancing, the food and the heritage.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

Hal Goodwin, front, and Paul Wengrzyeki carry the cross on Main Street on Friday during the annual “Cross Walk” on Good Friday. Christians from several Medina churches joined in the event, which included the reading of Scripture and singing of hymns.

“I’m feeling a lot of emotions, thinking about what our Lord went through,” Goodwin, a member of the Medina United Methodist Church, said after carrying the cross.

The Medina Area Association of Churches has been doing the “Cross Walk” for at least 20 years. They get together at noon every Good Friday, with Christians taking turns carrying the cross. The event begins at City Hall and includes several stops in the community, including Rotary Park, a gazebo by the canal and other prominent public locations.

Paul Wengrzyeki hopes passing motorists and onlookers took a moment to reflect on the meaning of Easter. Wengrzyeki, a member of First Baptist Church, has participated in the Cross Walk for several years.

“It gives me a sense of what Christ went through,” he said. “It’s a very meaningful experience.”

The Rev. Ray Noell, pastor of the United Methodist churches in Millville and Knowlesville, reads Scripture about Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, Christ’s crucifixion and his resurrection. Paul Wengrzyeki holds the cross while Noell speaks.

The cross is carried down East Center Street in Medina, part of the annual “Cross Walk” on Good Friday.

ALBION – Jim Sinner, the CEO of Medina Memorial Hospital, said he isn’t trying to “scavenge” Lakeside Health System, which is in process of drastically reducing its inpatient hospital beds from 61 to five. The Brockport hospital also was going to close its emergency room, but now intends to keep that open.

The shrinking hospital in western Monroe County creates opportunities for Medina Memorial, Sinner told Orleans County legislators on March 27. Many Albion and eastern Orleans residents are connected with Lakeside physicians and that hospital. With the changes at Lakeside, Sinner said more Orleans residents may choose Medina and their physicians rather than go into Rochester for health care.

Sinner has approached six Lakeside physicians about aligning with Medina. Sinner told county legislators the doctors are interested in joining Medina, which falls under the Orleans Community Health umbrella.

The Lakeside down-sizing comes soon after Orleans Community Health opened a new 7,500-square-foot health care facility in Albion at the corner of Route 31 and Butts Road. The site offers primary and urgent care. About 50 percent of the traffic to the site since November has been walk-ins. The center is open six days a week and could add evening and Sunday hours if there is a demand, Brian Banas, chief operating officer for OCH, told legislators.

Banas and Sinner said Orleans County is considered a “physician shortage area.” Many of the local medical practices are at capacity, they said.

“We don’t have enough docs in the community,” Sinner said.

Orleans Community Health hired two doctors to work at the Albion site. Dr. Sandra Boehlert focuses on internal medicine while Dr. Jamal Janania Sr. specializes in family medicine.

Sinner is trying to convince specialists to provide services in Orleans, even if it’s only one or two days a month.

The Albion center, a $1.5 million facility, has eight exam rooms and modern technology. It also offers physical therapy, occupational therapy and lab blood draw services. A $784,000 state grant Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers or HEAL covered half of the construction costs.

Orleans Community Health wants to add X-ray services in the new facility. Sinner and Banas are working on a certificate of need application that must be filed with the state Department of Health.

Sinner is pleased to see OCH expanding in the county. He has led the organization the past 15 years.

“It’s always been our goal to be the healthcare system of choice in Orleans County,” he said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

First Presbyterian Church in Medina hosted the African Children’s Choir on March 27. The 16-member group from Uganda includes eight boys and eight girls between the ages of 7 and 10. The group performed for a packed crowd of 300 people at the church. They are two months into a year-long tour of the East Coast. The choir has raised money to support 52,000 children in seven African countries since 1984. While in Medina, the children and choir volunteers stayed with host families. The group performed popular children’s songs, traditional spirituals and rhythmic Gospel favorites including “Amazing Grace.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Medina is moving a welcome center from the Chamber of Commerce building to City Hall.

MEDINA – A welcome center offering information about Medina history and attractions is moving from the Chamber of Commerce building to City Hall.

The Chamber has sold its building at 433 Main St. That is prompting the Tourism Committee and Medina Business Association to move the welcome center to the second floor of 600 Main St., the historic City Hall.

Jim Hancock, the Tourism Committee chairman, said the center is looking for volunteers to man the center from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He would people to be at the site from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and 9 to noon on Saturdays.

“We have a loyal crew that volunteers, providing directions and information about Medina,” Hancock told the Village Board on March 25. “But we are in desperate need of volunteers.”

He welcomes people to volunteer for even an hour or two each week.

The Village Department of Public Works will spruce up the second floor space with fresh paint and some historic-looking lights.

Former Mayor Marcia Tuohey urged the village to repair the front stone steps.

“It’s a historic building, the best one we have here in Medina,” she said. “The least we can do is make the steps look good.”

Peter Houseknecht, the DPW superintendent, said he is getting quotes to repair the steps.

Hancock updated the board on other tourism initiatives for 2013. About 550 bike riders are expected in early July for an overnight stay in the village as part of the 400-mile, eight-day “Cycling the Erie Canal” bike tour. Medina will feed the riders dinner and breakfast.

The Tourism Committee also is promoting an Aug. 10 “Blue Grass and the Blues in the Basin,” part of a summer concert series by the canal.

The group also is working with the Business Association for the Old Tyme Christmas celebration and parade of lights on Nov. 30.

Kathleen Holler (Empire Emergency Apparatus), Ryan Leffeler (Survival Armour), Sergeant Todd Draper, teacher aide Sharon Librera and student Luke Burdette.

Press Release: Orleans/Niagara BOCES

Medina Police Officer Sergeant Todd Draper and his K-9 partner hold a special place in the hearts of the Orleans/Niagara BOCES students at the Orleans Learning Center.

Sergeant Draper and his K-9 Kye, a Belgian Malinois, visit the center frequently to see the classes and the students have become very attached to Kye. When the students realized that Kye did not have a bulletproof vest to help protect him when he was on duty, the students made it their mission to raise money to get him one.

“Even though the K-9s are considered police officers, vests are not standard for them,” says teacher Theresa Clause. “The students were very upset about that.”

The students have been busy with Mrs. Clause and classroom aides Sharon Librera and Kathy Scarborough making and selling chocolate suckers to staff and students at their center and also to members of the community. They had managed in three months’ time to make $500, but it wasn’t enough to get the vest which range in price from $1,200 to $2,800. After appealing to the community through newspaper stories and posting on the Channel 2 – WGRZ website the outpouring of support for the students’ quest was remarkable.

“We actually had a few people contact us and say they would cover whatever the students couldn’t come up with so Kye would get his vest,” says Mrs. Clause. “We were very moved by people’s generosity.”

A local company, Empire Emergency Apparatus, decided they had to do something too.

“We had an employee who saw it on WGRZ and called me and said can’t we do anything to help,” explained Operations Manager Kathleen Holler. “I have a sister-in-law who worked for BOCES and I know how heartfelt this gesture was for the students and it really touched me. We supply law enforcement and fire personnel with equipment so I went to my boss and said can we do anything. He said let’s give them a vest. I almost started crying.”

She contacted Ryan Leffler, who works for Survival Armor, a ballistic protection company out of Florida and asked if he would be willing to come and measure Kye for a vest. He didn’t hesitate.

“I thought this is fantastic. These dogs put their lives at risk every day and they deserve to be protected. I am glad to be here and very happy to help these students’ with their goal.”

What was the reaction of the students while they watched their friend get fitted for his vest?

“We are so happy,” says Luke Burdette. “When I heard about that police dog that got killed in Herkimer it made me so sad and now I know that Kye will be safe and that is awesome.”

Sergeant Draper says he is very appreciative. “The students got it started with working so hard to raise the money and what a great added bonus to have this company be so generous in providing a vest for Kye. I can’t thank Empire Emergency Apparatus enough.”

Mrs. Clause says they are beyond thrilled how everything worked out.

“After talking to Sergeant Draper we have decided to donate the money we raised to a fund that will help other K-9’s get vests. This has been a great day for everyone. We want to thank everyone who made this possible. You have done a wonderful thing in protecting those who protect us.”

MEDINA – Two village trustees who were running without opposition on the ballot were re-elected on March 19.

Mark Kruzynski, the Medina High School principal, received 174 votes for another two-year term. Mark Irwin, a retired corrections officer, received 118 votes.

The two ran together on the Village Party line. They have been pushing for consolidation of government services, including a push to study the dissolution of the village.

They weren’t without opposition on election day. Former Village Trustee Owen Toale received 61 write-in votes. He has been critical in recent village meetings about a plan to hire a village manager for $70,000 to $80,000 a year.

Other residents also received write-in votes, including Mike Sidari, 6; Mike Maryjanowski, 2; Marguerite Sherman, 1; and Peter Huth, 1.

The new terms start April 1.

MEDINA – Pressure from the state to raise standards for all students is poisoning the learning atmosphere for students and teachers in Medina’s special education program, the Board of Education was told on March 12.

Jennifer Bansbach, a special education teacher, said two dedicated colleagues have resigned this year due to the unreasonable expectations. The state is requiring many of students classified with learning disabilities to take the same tests as students in regular education. That is setting up the students in special education, who often learn at different rates, for failure, said Bansbach, the special education chairwoman for grades kindergarten through 5.

“I’m philosophically opposed to having special ed kids go on the same path as regular ed kids,” she told the BOE.

Many parents reluctantly agreed to have their students classified for special education, but they did so believing the curriculum could be adapted to meet their children’s needs, Bansbach said.

“Now there are fewer or no options to modify the curriculum,” she said. “The kids are failing. You feel the frustration of the parents and the kids.”

New York this year moved to a new “Common Core” standard, trying to boost classroom achievement. The added rigor is backfiring for many special education students.

“There is really a fine line in breaking the students’ will to try,” she said.

Medina BOE member Chris Keller, an Albion teacher, said state legislators and the governor have done a disservice to spec ed students. He said State Sen. George Maziarz and other state officials should visit special education classrooms, to see the education process for themselves. Bansbach said spec ed students’ needs and abilities should be treated individually, not grouped with all the others.

Jeff Evoy, the district superintendent, told Bansbach she has the support of the BOE and administration. He bemoaned the business approach being taken towards education.

“Kids aren’t widgets,” he said.

Keller said the state should back up the push for more standards with more money, especially for districts like Medina and Albion that have high poverty rates. Albany should fund universal pre-K and kindergarten for poorer districts, Keller said.

“It’s a lot easier to crucify teachers than to address the problem,” he said. “It’s all about poverty, but they would rather beat on teachers.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Wendi Pencille, owner and handler of Humphrey, poses with the dog at the Medina school administration office. Humphrey has been visiting classrooms for the past 18 months.

MEDINA – When the 125-pound Landseer Newfoundland dog debuted at Medina Central School about 18 months ago, Kelly Linnan admitted he was a skeptic the dog would be a good fit with elementary students.

But Humphrey, a trained therapy dog, has made Linnan, a school counselor, a devoted fan.

“It is amazing what has occurred with this program,” Linnan told the Board of Education on March 12. “He gives unconditional, positive regard.”

Humphrey attended the BOE meeting and seemed happy to lounge on the carpet by his owner and handler Wendi Pencille, a member of the BOE.

Pencille brings the dog to school for about three hours every Thursday. He gets excited when Pencille pulls out his red bandana, which he wears around his neck, signifying he’s a trained therapy dog.

“He’s a trusted friend to the kids,” Pencille said. “There’s an emotional comfort.”

Some of the students will sit down and read a book to Humphrey. Others will snuggle up beside him.

“He loves the attention,” Pencille said. “He thinks he’s at the spa.”

Pencille, a wildlife rehabilitator, took classes with Humphrey at Ebbtide Kennels in Holley to become a trained therapy dog team. She is working to have three other dogs – a Saint Bernard, a German Shepherd, and another Landseer – trained as therapy dogs. Humphrey also is gaining certification for disaster relief.

Pencille volunteers when she brings Humphrey into the school. She sees the impact the dog has on the students.

“It’s very comforting for the kids,” she said. “A lot of kids have high stresses at home and school.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, addresses about 50 people Saturday at the Shirt Factory Cafe in Medina.

MEDINA – After two months in Congress, Chris Collins said he sees first-hand the frustration and cynicism that reigns in the nation’s capitol. Collins is a member of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate and the presidency are under Democratic Party control.

“We have a government that is designed for gridlock,” he told about 50 people Saturday during a 90-minute visit at the Shirt Factory Cafe in Medina.

Collins was most critical of President Obama for failing to put a budget on the table by a Feb. 4 deadline, and for spending too much time “politicking” and not enough time leading the country.

“This man is simply not doing his job,” said Collins, the former Erie County executive who was elected to represent an eight-county district in November. “He is the CEO of the country. What are his ideas for defense? What are his ideas for Social Security? What are his ideas to get us on a fiscal path for prosperity?”

The president warned in recent weeks and months about a March 1 deadline to avoid $85 billion in cuts. The president and Congress couldn’t reach a deal to avoid the “sequester” on Friday, and the cuts will hit the military particularly hard. However, Collins said the president’s grossly overstated the sequester’s impact.

“The president’s dire predictions that the sky was falling didn’t happen,” Collins told the Medina crowd, a group mostly of local Republican elected officials. “You have to be careful. If you become known as Chicken Little, people aren’t going to believe much of anything you say.”

Collins said $85 billion in cuts is a small percentage of the federal budget, about 2.4 percent of the $3.6 trillion total. He favors spending reductions, but he supports giving the president more authority to determine which agencies will be cut. Collins co-sponsored a bill in the House last week, seeking to give the president flexibility in making spending cuts.

Collins said the sequester will hit the wrong government personnel, and he blames Obama for the plan, “the nuclear option” that was intended to force a compromise.

“Only this president will try to inflict pain on the public to drive a point,” Collins said about cuts that will hit the military, airport security and meat inspectors. “If you’re really serving the public you’ll lay off the two bureaucrats in the back room that are really doing nonsense work.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County Republican Party Chairman Ed Morgan introduces U.S. Rep. Chris Collins to about 50 residents on Saturday at the Shirt Factory Cafe in Medina.

Collins touched on several topics during his talk in Medina.

Continuing resolutions

Rather than adopt a new federal budget, Congress and the president have been relying on “continuing resolutions” to keep the federal government funded. The CRs maintain the status quo, and Collins said they prevent the elimination of underperforming programs and the ability to better fund good ones.The president didn’t present a budget in February. The Senate hasn’t approved a budget in four years. The House Republicans will work on their plan, but Collins said the president, as the country’s CEO, should have gone first, with House and Senate then following with their plans, building off Obama’s ideas.

“Do you know by Feb. 4 he is required by law to submit his budget to the United States?” Collins asked the Medina group. “And again he didn’t do it. He deliberately didn’t do his job as the president of the United States. Do you know why? He doesn’t have a good budget to put forward! He is too busy playing golf with Tiger Woods.”

Collins expects this week that Congress to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government until September, when the new federal fiscal year begins. He is hopeful Congress and the president can agree on a budget for the next fiscal year.

“Let’s see if we can get a budget or else we’re stuck in this never-never land of continuing resolutions,” he said. “It’s just no way to run a country.”

Early clout

Collins was elected to Congress following a 40-year career in private industry that made him a multi-millionaire.

Collins said he is pleased to have been picked for two committees that are important to the 27th District – Agriculture and Small Business. He is chairman of the Small Business subcommittee on health and technology. He will lead a hearing this week on cybersecurity.

“The Chinese are deliberately trying to attack us through our computers, to wreak all kinds of havoc and steal information,” he said.

He also plans to lead hearings on the impact of the Obama health care law on small businesses. This January, companies will be hit with $2,000 penalties for each full-time worker without health insurance. That law will force many companies to reduce their workers’ hours so they are technically classified as part-time, Collins predicted.

He wants to amend the health care law, so people can work up to 36 hours, instead of 30, before they are deemed full-time. That would allow companies, especially fast food restaurants and other franchises, to offer more hours for employees in “starter jobs,” Collins said. Those employees typically are just looking for hours and experience, not health insurance coverage, he said.

The congressman said he is forming an agriculture advisory committee. He said farmers want to see the Farm Bill approved for a full five years, rather than the one-year extension it was given until September.

As a Republican in the majority, he said he has much more influence than a House Democrat.

“If you’re in the majority, you’re in the room where they are making decisions,” he said.

“If you’re in the minority, you’re on the outside looking into the window. You can tap on the window, and they may listen to you, or they might not.”

‘Nonsense’

Collins referred to many federal regulations and taxes as “nonsense.” He cited a new 2.3 percent tax on gross revenue for medical devices. The tax should be on profits, not revenues, he said. Many companies are doing well if they operate at a 5 percent profit rate on their revenue. The medical device tax will make many companies unprofitable or cut their ability to reinvest and grow the company, he said.

The tax would hit companies that provide and clean pillow cases for hospitals, he said.

Obama’s re-election assures that the device tax and Obamacare won’t go away, Collins said. So, he said he is working to minimize the damage. For the medical device tax, he wants to propose it be limited to no more than 10 percent of a company’s profits.

He wants to increase the cap on small business size, from 50 to 100 employees, that would be exempt from some of Obamacare’s requirements.

“We’re playing defense,” Collins said. “We’re going to protect the Constitution. We’re going to stand up for small business.”

Gun control

President Obama’s proposal for gun control “is going nowhere,” Collins said.

Democrats in the Senate are up for election this year and don’t want to alienate voters.

“They are in states where the Second Amendment is alive and well,” he said. “There is no way in the world if those guys who want to be re-elected will support more restrictive gun laws.”

Collins doesn’t support Obama’s proposal. He also is against New York’s state gun law passed in January.

“You can not legislate morality,” Collins said. “If you could we wouldn’t have robberies and murders. This president just wants to take the guns off the street. It’s one of his agenda items.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Barre Town Supervisor Mark Chamberlain, left, chats with U.S. Rep. Chris Collins before the congressman addressed about 50 people, mostly local elected officials, during a visit to Medina on Saturday.

Immigration reform

Collins called a bi-partisan push towards immigration reform “a bright spot.” Both parties want to make it easier for agriculture and other industries to have easier access to legal foreign workers, and to address the 11 million people in the country already here illegally. Many of the undocumented workers have proven to be hard-working and contributors to the country, Collins said. He wants a way for them to stay, to have a permanent residency and establish steps to work towards citizenship.

If the undocumented residents haven’t been working and if they committed violent crimes, Collins said they will be out of the country.

“There are 11 million here, and many of them are children who were brought here,” Collin said about the illegal immigrants. “We’re the only country they have known. We are a compassionate country.”

Republicans and Democrats both favor more border security “so we don’t have 12 million or 14 million (undocumented),” Collins said.

Local farmers have pushed for more than a decade for immigration reform or a better guest-worker program to bring in workers to milk cows, plant crops and harvest fruits and vegetables. In Orleans County, agriculture tops more than $100 million annually in revenues.

“There is a broad consensus that we have to deal with immigration reform,” Collins said. “We have to provide the workers we need in agriculture and other industries.  We have to secure our borders. Because all of these dots are being connected, I’ve got more optimism than not that we’ll get something done. My fight is for the farmers to make sure we get them access to legal workers.”

Roger Hungerford, former president and CEO of Sigma in Medina, told Collins that Congress should welcome foreign students who earn graduate degrees at U.S. universities. Many of those students are trained in the U.S., and then pushed out of the country, taking their talents back home, Hungerford said.

No new taxes

Collins said he will be a strident voice to reduce government spending, cut the national debt and ease taxes on Americans.

“When the president says he wants more taxes, he is taking that money out of the economy to go to Washington to be wasted by bureaucrats,” Collins said. “How does that help grow the economy? How does that incentivize small business owners to create jobs? All of a sudden you’re not going to take the risk, you’re not going to create the jobs.”

MEDINA – A Medina company will add 43 jobs as part of a $15 million expansion project at its Bates Road manufacturing plant.

Brunner International, which is based in Canada, has committed to a 45,000-square-foot addition to expand the production of machined axle forgings that are sold to large, heavy-duty truck and trailer suppliers. The Orleans Economic Development Agency confirmed this morning the company picked Medina for the expansion, turning down an offer from Kentucky.

New York Power Authority in December announced it approved 2.4 megawatts of low-cost electrcity for the project. The state also said it would provide a $750,000 incentive package under Empire State Development’s Excelsior Jobs Program.

The company, besides adding jobs, will utilize robots in the production of axle shafts, said Jim Whipple, Orleans EDA chief executive officer.

The EDA is working with Brunner to re-establish a new wetland as part of the expansion. The company will add the new building south of its current complex at the corner of Route 31 and Bates Road. Whipple said the company will present the site plan for the project to Ridgeway and Orleans County planning officials later this month.

Brunner completed a 41,250-square-foot expansion about five years ago that added 50 jobs in Medina.