Press release

MEDINA – The community will celebrate Arbor Day on Friday by planting trees and accepting a “Tree City Growth Award” from the National Arbor Day Foundation. The award honors Medina’s commitment to community forestry.

Medina is one of the few local communities with the “Tree Growth” designation. It puts the village in the company of well-known urban forestry communities such as East Aurora, West Point, Mount Vernon and Ithaca, said Chris Busch, chairman of Medina’s Tree Board. It is also the sixth year Medina has received the Tree City USA designation. Overall, this year Medina will plant over 60 trees, an increase of 10 trees from last year.

Medina’s annual Arbor Day Celebration is scheduled for 9 a.m. this Friday at 1018 West Ave. Hundreds of elementary school children from neighboring Oak Orchard Elementary School are expected to attend and participate along with FFA members from Medina High School.

“This will mark the first year we have had participation with our FFA chapter at Medina High School,” said Nicole Goyette, Medina’s Arbor Day coordinator. “This will be a great opportunity for them to interact with our younger students at an agri-based event like Arbor Day.”

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier is an advocate of his community’s forestry program.

“We’re extremely proud to be a Tree City USA and a Tree City Growth Award community,” he said. “It demonstrates the kind of commitment to the environment that helps make our village an attractive place to live, work and visit.”

The Tree City USA program and Tree City Growth Award is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters, and the USDA Forest Service. Tree City USA and Tree City Growth are national designations.

“We commend Medina’s elected officials, volunteers and its citizens for providing vital care for its urban forest,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation.

“Trees provide numerous environmental, economical and health benefits to millions of people each day, and we applaud communities that make planting and caring for trees a top priority.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

A nearly full moon gave downtown Medina a nice glow last night. The downtown will host a Civil War parade this Saturday at 10 a.m., part of the three-day Civil War encampment in the community. Re-enactors will battle by the GCC campus at 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

Mayor says village faces rising costs, shrinking assessments

MEDINA – Village property owners can expect a jolt to their tax bills for the 2013-14 fiscal year that begins June 1.

The tax rate could jump from $15.81 per $1,000 of assessed property to $17, a 7.5 percent increase, Mayor Andrew Meier said after tonight’s board meeting.

“It’s very demoralizing,” he said. “There’s no money anywhere.”

Medina’s village-wide assessment shrunk about $800,000, down to $165 million. Costs are up with rising contributions to the retirement system, health insurance and workers’ compensation. And revenues are down. The rising costs and declining revenues represent about a $300,000 swing from 2012-13.

Meier said fixed costs – employee benefits and wages – give the village little leeway to make reductions. That’s the same with fuel and many other operational expenses, he said.

Some municipalities with growing tax bases can hold their tax rates steady because bigger assessments sometimes keep pace with tax growth. But in Medina, the assessments are going down village-wide.

Meier believes the village tax rate is driving the decline in the values and assessments of village properties. Just moving across the village line into the towns of Shelby or Ridgeway can slash $12 off the overall tax rate for a property owner, saving a property owner with an $85,000 home about $1,000 a year in taxes.

Meier has been pushing to dissolve the village, believing that would create a tax structure that is more equal for village and town residents, rather than the current disparity. The village has received a state grant to study the dissolution. Meier wants to bring the issue to a public referendum. That could be two years away.

“There are inherent, built-in structural problems with how we provide services and split up how we pay for them,” he said. “It uniquely burdens the village.”

Meier wanted to hire a village coordinator to work on the study and help manage the village government, which has about 50 employees and a $4.5 million annual budget.

But he said that position is unlikely given the village’s financial situation for 2013-14.

“The Village Board needs to decide whether it will budget for it,” Meier said. “If we don’t budget for it, then it won’t be there, unless some other money turns up and I don’t think it will.”

Right now, the budget doesn’t include a village coordinator, a position that could pay $70,000 a year.

The Village Board and department heads are working to finalize the budget for a 7 p.m. vote on Monday at the Shelby Town Hall.

Meier worries the 2014-15 could be even more difficult for village property owners. A new reassessment dropped the village values another 5 percent, but those numbers don’t take effect until the 2014-15 budget. The shrinking tax base will put more pressure on the tax rate.

“The grim reality is we haven’t even taking the hit on the new assessments,” Meier said. “That’s next year.”

Budget restores modified sports, 2 positions

MEDINA – The Board of Education approved a $33,805,130 budget for 2013-14 that won’t raise school taxes and will restore some staff and modified sports.

Medina two years ago slashed 30 positions and eliminated many extracurricular activities. The district responded to a state aid cut of about $2 million for 2011-12.

The district is in better shape this budget. It will keep the tax levy at $9,135,636. The overall budget increases spending by $377,200. Teacher and staff benefit costs – health insurance, contributions to the retirement system, worker’s compensation – are up $640,428 to $8,107,706.

A $414,255 state aid increase will help pay for the rising expenses. Medina also is budgeting for a $150,709 reduction in transportation costs. The district this school year shifted to a combined morning and afternoon bus run. That has saved 75,000 miles on the bus fleet. However, the district purchased three buses because of the single bus runs for 2012-13. Next year, the district won’t have to add buses outside of its regular replacement schedule.

Medina also will see a $137,309 drop in debt service payments.

The Board of Education has talked about bringing back programs since the cuts two years ago. Modified sports for students in junior high will return next school year at a $35,500 cost.

“We’ve maintained our programs and added back modified sports, which I think is important,” said BOE President Carol Heiligenthaler.

The district also is bringing back a curriculum director, and will add a network specialist to focus on the school’s technology needs.

“This budget is fiscally sound while at the same time increasing opportunities for students,” Jeff Evoy, the district superintendent, said at Tuesday’s BOE meeting. “We have to remember we are here for our students.”

District residents can comment on the budget during a 6:30 p.m. public hearing May 7 at the district office. Voting will be from noon to 8 p.m. on May 21 at the district office.

Voters will also decide whether Medina can spend $200,000 to purchase one 66-passenger bus and two 30-passenger buses.

Another proposition would establish a capital reserve account for up to $2.5 million. School officials said they want to modify an existing reserve fund to allow for more money to be set aside. The district plans to use surplus funds at the end of fiscal years to put in the account.

Four seats on the Board of Education also will be up for election. The terms for Virginia Nicholson, Wendy Pencille, John McCarthy and Susan Squires are all expiring. The deadline to submit petitions to run for the BOE is 5 p.m. April 22.

Photo by Tom Rivers

Kody Leno, 11, of Medina climbs a 60-foot inflatable obstacle course today at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Knowlesville. This year’s Home and Garden Show includes a Kid’s Zone featuring the obstacle course and miniature golf. The activities are inside the Knight’s Building. The show, which includes 56 vendors, continues until 4 p.m. today.

Photo by Tom Rivers

Kevin Cercone, an employee with Shorty’s Beast Lawn Service in Medina, gathers fallen branches and other debris at Boxwood Cemetery in Medina today. Shorty’s was hired by the village for spring cleaning at the cemetery along Route 63.

Battles, Parade, Cotillion Ball highlight April 26-28 events

Photo by Tom Rivers – A Civil War cannon serves as a tribute to Civil War soldiers in Greenwood Cemetery in Kendall, one of several Civil War memorials in the area.

Press release

MEDINA – Civil War re-enactors will battle twice in Medina over the April 26-28 weekend, a Civil War encampment that also will feature a parade and cotillion ball.

Plans are being finalized for the three-day event at Genesee Community College’s campus center on Route 31A. Re-enactors, both Union and Confederate, will set up camp Friday evening from 4 to 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to view ongoing exhibits inside the Medina center at 11470 Maple Ridge Rd.

Exhibits will include Civil War dioramas, artifacts from a New York Infantry unit, period medical tools and children’s games. There will be ongoing demonstrations of blacksmithing, candle-making, period music and mortuary arts.

On Saturday, camps open at 9 a.m. followed by a parade through downtown Medina from 10 to 11 a.m.

“The parade gives the community a chance to really experience Civil War history in a unique way,” said GCC historian Derek Maxfield. “We’ve learned the route we’ve mapped for the parade is the same route Medina Company D of the 28th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment used when they went off to fight in the Civil War in 1861.”

During the parade 152 years ago, the women of Medina stopped the group to give Company D Captain Erwin Bowen a sword.

“Captain Bowen’s great-great granddaughter Mary Zimmerman Robinson is going to do the same thing during our parade,” Maxfield said. “She’ll present a sword to Capt. Bowen, as played by re-enactor Simon Taylor. It should be a touching moment.”

The parade will be true to 19th Century history, featuring re-enactors in uniform, horses, carriages and the Excelsior Fife and Drum Corps. It will end at the Railroad Museum, which was the depot the Civil War soldiers marched to when they left town.

Robinson is displaying her family artifacts. Visitors can also check out booths by the Medina Sandstone Society and Medina Historical Society, Medina RR Museum, Orleans Renaissance Group, Holland Land Office and Museum, Echoes Through Time Museum, Cobblestone Society and Rochester Museum of Military History.

In addition, a number of presentations are planned throughout the weekend, including:

Eleanor Stearns portraying Clara Barton
Tom Schobert portraying General Robert E. Lee
Derek Maxfield “Understanding the Emancipation Proclamation after 150 years”
Tom Rivers “Why Mt. Albion Tower may be the finest Civil War Memorial”
Dee Robinson “Women and the Civil War”
Donna LaValle “Proper Dress for the Civil War Lady Re-enactor”

Victorian fashion will be in full view Saturday evening during a Victorian Cotillion.

“We’re hoping some members of the community will join us in period costume,” Maxfield said.

The ball will be held in the Central Tent. Buffalo’s City Fiddle, which specializes in period balls, will provide the music. The ball runs from 7 to 10 p.m. Organizers are making it easy for parents to attend. During the ball, children’s activities will be offered inside the Campus Center.

Of course, no Civil War encampment is complete without the recreation of battle. Re-enactors will skirmish twice during the weekend, from 2 to 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

“The schedule is jam-packed,” Maxfield said. “There really is something for everybody. It should be a fantastic weekend.”

ALBION – Orleans County officials were urged to seek state grant funding and other resources to make two sites in Medina more attractive to developers.

The spots – a 120-acre cow pasture owned by the Keppeler family on Route 31A and the Medina Business Park on Bates Road – were called “priority sites” by the Orleans Economic Development Agency.

It received a $50,000 state grant to develop an economic development plan for the county. The 850-page document looks at the strengths and weaknesses of business sites throughout the county.

O’Brien and Gere, consultants for the EDA with the project, said the two sites in Medina are the county’s best bet for luring manufacturing and other companies. The sites both have access to water, sewer and other infrastructure. They both fall within the 30-mile radius of the hydropower plant in Lewiston. The New York Power Authority determines which companies receive that low-cost electricity.

Steve Eckler, the project manager for the study, recommended the county pursue funding to advance the sites, making them more “shovel ready.” The county could seek funding for the sites in the next round of regional economic development grants, he said. The deadline to apply is expected to be in July.

The economic development plan lists four other sites in the county that have business potential. Two others are in Medina: Allis Road near the railroad tracks just off Route 31 and Bates Road near Brunner. Other sites with room for companies include the Holley Business Park off Route 31 and the Albion Business Park at the corner of Butts Road and Route 31.

The report from O’Brien and Gere looks at the zoning of all the business sites, access to infrastructure, proximity to the Thruway, airport and railroad, and other issues.

Eckler urged the county to work on all sites, removing obstacles to development.

“Ultimately you want to make them as shovel-ready as possible,” he said.

County officials said they would review the thick document.

“This plan certainly serves the county well in the short-term and the long-term,” said David Callard, chairman of the Orleans County Legislature.

The Orleans EDA board is expected to discuss the development plan during its 8 a.m. meeting Friday.

Photo by Tom Rivers – These boarded-up houses on Genesee Street are expected to be gone this summer.

MEDINA – Two boarded-up houses that have depressed a neighborhood will soon be demolished.

The Village Board today voted to hire Fisher Associates of Rochester to do asbestos surveys at 613-615 Genesee St. and the next-door house at 617 Genesee St. The board said it would commit up to $5,250 for the surveys from the village’s economic development fund.

The surveys will show if any remediation is needed before the houses can be knocked down. Medina officials expect the houses will come down in the summer.

“It’s long overdue,” said Marty Busch, the village’s code enforcement officer.

In other action, the board:

Approved a parade for 10 a.m. on April 27 that will be part of a three-day Civil War encampment at Genesee Community College in Medina. The parade will include Civil War re-enactors. The parade begins at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and heads down Eagle Street to Main Street and then continues behind City Hall on Park Avenue.

The YMCA was approved to set up a thermometer fund-raising sign in Rotary Park for the next two months. The organization is halfway towards a $400,000 fund-raising goal for capital improvements at the former armory site.

The following were approved as call men for the Medina Fire Department: Sabrina Farnsworth, Cyndil Farnsworth and Dylan Parker.

MEDINA – The state has come through with a $750,000 grant and low-interest loan package for an Albion company that is expanding into Medina.

Credit Recovery Financial Services will receive a $367,500 grant and a $367,500 deferred loan with the other $15,000 going to Harry Sicherman, a grant writer and consultant from Buffalo. He prepared the application and will administer the funding.

If the company meets its employment goals – adding 315 workers in the next three years – the $367,000 loan won’t need to be paid back.

Medina applied for the money for CRFS in February. Mayor Andrew Meier praised the state’s Homes and Community Renewal agency for approving the request so quickly.

“Now that’s a quick turnaround,” Meier said Monday.

The Village Board agreed to serve as a “pass through” for the money. The village applied for the grant and loan, and is the official recipient. It will pass the money to the Orleans Land Restoration Corporation, which is part of the Orleans Economic Development Agency umbrella. The OLRC will then loan and give the grant money to CRFS.

The Albion company was started in 2002 by CEO Jodi Gaines. It has grown to more than 400 employees and company officials believe it could reach 750. CRFS outgrew its Albion site. It will work out of a 15,000-square-foot building at the Olde Pickle Factory for the next year while keeping some workers in Albion at a site on East Avenue.

In about a year it expects to shift to a 50,000-square-foot space at the Pickle Factory. CRFS expects to spend $7 million in the expansion project. The state funding will go towards purchasing computers, furniture and other equipment.

CRFS has become the leader in its industry, helping banks and investors recoup money when a home is foreclosed.

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.”