File photo by Tom Rivers: JJ Heideman of BAD-AsH-BBQ served up pulled pork and other food during the Orleans County Heritage Festival on Sept. 8 at Forrestel Farm in Shelby. The Village of Medina will charge food truck operators $25 a day if they do not have a physical location within the village.

MEDINA – The Village Board wants to welcome food truck operators for village events, but the board doesn’t want the operators to just cash in at the expense of food businesses with brick and mortar locations.

“We don’t want to take business away from the taxpaying businesses in Medina,” Mayor Mike Sidari said at Monday’s Village Board meeting.

The board, however, didn’t want to impose unreasonable fees that would keep the food trucks away.

“We want the food trucks because they are fun and draw people to the community,” said Marguerite Sherman, a village trustee.

The board decided to charge food truck operators $25 a day with a maximum presence of six days a month.

Businesses with brick-and-mortar locations within the village will be exempt from the fee. Not-for-profit organizations also will likely be exempt but they need to submit a request that will be reviewed by the Village Board.

In other action:

• The board agreed to set aside two docks at the Canal Basin for Pedal and Paddle Medina, which rents Hydrobikes and kayaks. The business, owned by Victor and Heather DiGiacomo of Middleport, opened last July in Medina. They will be charged $100 a month for each dock section, or $200 a month. The village also will designate one spot in the parking lot for the Pedal and Paddle, which carries some of the equipment on a trailer.

The business, the only of its kind along the canal in Orleans County, has been a welcome addition, said Owen Toale, a village trustee.

• The board agreed to provide barrels, barricades and a stage for the Lions Club’s community yard sale on June 2, but declined to provide portable bathrooms, saying it didn’t want to establish a precedent where the village provides bathrooms for community events.

• Approved use of part of Butts Park for LOYAL’s youth football and cheerleading program from Tuesday through Friday evenings from late July to early November.

• Agreed to close a section of West Avenue from Park Avenue to the property line by the Railroad Museum and Lee-Whedon Memorial Library. That part of the street will be closed to traffic for the annual “A Day Out with Thomas” when Thomas the Tank Engine is at the museum on May 19-20, and May 26-27.

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Courtesy of Orleans EDA: The Orleans Economic Development Agency has given two new roads by Pride Pak on Route 31A to the Village of Medina. This map shows the 300-plus acre Medina Business Park, which the EDA says is the largest shovel-ready business park in Western New York. The site includes land north and south on Maple Ridge Road, just west of the Bates Road intersection.

MEDINA – The Village of Medina has two new roads. The Village Board on Monday accepted the roads, each about 300 feet long, from the Orleans Economic Development Agency.

The roads were built beginning about two years ago on each side of the new Pride Pak vegetable processing plant.

The Village Board hasn’t officially named either road, but one of the new roads will be named for Pride Pak while the board and EDA haven’t settled on the other name, village officials said after Monday’s Village Board meeting.

The EDA orchestrated the road construction to accommodate Pride Pak and future development at the Business Park. The Orleans County Highway Department took the lead on the road construction, and the Village of Medina DPW installed the sewer infrastructure, with the Town of Shelby Highway Department helping with both the road and sewer work.

The EDA typically takes the lead in getting new roads built in a business park, and then turns the finished road over to the host municipality.

The road on the east side of Pride Pak is done, but the western drive has the potential to go farther into the business park and connect with another road off Bates Road, said Jim Whipple, the EDA chief executive officer.

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Site will include 3 fenced-in areas by Compost Plant

MEDINA – After about a year discussion, the Medina Village Board this evening gave the final approval for a new dog park, which will include three fenced-in areas by the Compost Plant on North Gravel Road, just south of Boxwood Cemetery.

Alaina Wilson has been leading the effort for the dog park. She will now push to raise $15,000 to $20,000 for the project.

“It’s for the people, and the dogs, and our village,” she told the Village Board.

The village last year first presented Gulf Street Park, north of the canal, for the dog park, but neighbors said they were concerned the park would bring unwanted noise and smells to their residential area.

The fenced-in area will have two sets of gates to enter. There will be separate fenced-in areas for small dogs, large dogs and also an agility area.

The enclosed area will allow dogs to be off-leash, with the area exclusive to dogs and their handlers.

There were two residents this evening who voiced concerns about the project at the Compost Plant, saying it may bother residents and visitors to the cemetery.

Excessive barking won’t be tolerated and dog owners will be expected to clean up after the dogs. Wilson said the people that use a dog park care about their animals and want them to get exercise and socialization.

Wilson said she will work to set up a GoFundMe for the park. Donations can also be set to the Village Office and be designated for the Dog Park. Wilson said the fundraising success will determine how soon the park can open.

Mayor Mike Sidari said the park will be open sunrise to sunset, just like the other village parks.

Wilson will take the lead in fundraising to construct the site. Sidari said the village may have to pay an extra $1,500 a year for insurance for the dog park.

Village Trustee Owen Toale said the dog park will be a addition for the community, and also the first one in Orleans County.

“We’re providing services to the residents of Medina,” Toale said. “It improves the quality of life.”

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Provided photos: Medina’s Varsity Winterguard performs on Saturday at Corning-Painted Post.

PAINTED POST – The Corning-Painted Post school district hosted its first winterguard show on Saturday with 15 guard units performing in competition.

In the Novice class Medina took 1st place, the Cadet guard also won 1st place, and Medina’s Varsity guard won the Scholastic A class with a score of 76.49.

Medina’s Novice class performs and won first place.

In the Regional A class, Gates won 1st place with a score of 76.32; in A1 class, Corning-Painted Post came in first with 74.15; in Senior class Lakeside won with a score of 71.22; Orchard Park won the Scholastic Open Class with a score of 79; and in Independent A class, Gates was the winner at 80.08.

The next time Medina’s guards will perform is at the Winterguard Championships on Saturday, April 7. The Championships will be held at the Gates-Chili High School located at 3 Spartan Way, Rochester.

The gates open at 11 a.m. and the show starts at noon. Admission is $15 for adults and children under 5 are free. Medina’s Novice guard performs at 12:21; the Cadet guard at 12:30 and the Varsity guard at 4:10 p.m. A total of 35 guards will perform and the retreat is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The Cadet guard from Medina also finished in first on Saturday.

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MEDINA – The school district has tweeted its disapproval of recent comments by former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, where they challenge each other to a fight.

Biden started taunts on Tuesday when he was speaking an anti-sexual assault rally  at the University of Miami. He told students if he and Trump had attended high school together, Biden probably would have “beat the hell out” of Trump.

Trump on Thursday morning put out a tweet: “Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!”

The Medina School District today at about 10:30 this morning urged Trump and Biden to be better role models.

“President Trump tweeted that he would destroy Joe Biden in a fight, after the former VP said he would beat up Trump,” Medina Central School District tweeted. “If students did something similar to these two 70+ year olds, they’d be disciplined per code of conduct. Adults-remember you are role models and kids are watching!”

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File photo: Clothing Depot volunteers are pictured in 2014 and include, from left: Sharon Breckinridge, Donna Barnum, Alice Zacher and Sue Metzo.

MEDINA – The Clothing Depot, run by the Medina Area Association of Churches, will be heading to a different site, the former Bells Supermarket at the corner of Orient and Starr streets.

The Clothing Depot is current part of the old Medina High School, the Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God on Catherine Street.

But that building has been purchased by Roger Hungerford and Talis Equity and will be renovated into apartments. The MAAC can stay in the building until June 30.

The MAAC said the former Bells site, which is owned by Matt Mundion, will be better location for displaying the used clothing, furniture and other items. The site has one big room. At Calvary, the MAAC uses a larger room and then four smaller rooms, said Sue Metzo, one of the board members and a volunteer with the Clothing Depot since 2006.

“It’s big enough and it has parking,” she said about the former Bells.

The site needs work before the MAAC can move in. The group is seeking community support to help with renovations. If the MAAC can assist Mundion with work on the building, that will result in a much more affordable lease. If Mundion has to do the improvements, Metzo said MAAC will have to pay more for rent.

The group has sent an appeal letter to the community, seeking support with renovations to the building.

The Depot has provided a way for residents to donate quality clothing and housewares, and then be purchased by customers, especially many in lower-income families, Metzo said.

The MAAC raises about $30,000 to $35,000 from the Clothing Depot each year that is donating back to the community, assisting Scouts, church projects, senior citizens, high school scholarships, Hospice of Orleans and other organizations.

Metzo said the MAAC has been looking for a site for the Clothing Depot for about 18 months. Many of the sites required rent that was three or four times what the MAAC has been giving Calvary. Mundion has offered a good deal, she said.

Once renovations are done, Metzo said the MAAC will start moving over many smaller items to the former Bells. The MAAC may need a professional mover to help with larger items, such as racks, counters and tables.

“We would certainly appreciate any donation of materials, money, or talent that anyone could give,” Metzo said.

The MAAC said the former Bells will need a new cage for incoming donations, a wall to separate the store area from the work area, more lighting, a furnace, and a good cleaning before it is painted.

The Clothing Depot goes back to least 2005 at Calvary. There are about 25 volunteers from several churches who run the site, which is open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Donations can be sent to the MAAC, PO Box 253, Medina, NY 14103.

For more information, email medinaareaasso.ofchurches@gmail.com.

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Provided photo: Emily Winters greets Medina Lions Club President Dean Bellack during a Lions meeting earlier this month.

MEDINA – Emily Winters, a Medina native who is a registered nurse and professional development specialist at Highland Hospital in Rochester, shared with the Medina Lions Club about her experiences in Puerto Rico.

Winters was part of a group of 11 health care providers from Rochester who went to Puerto Rico to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Winters spoke to the Medina Lions Club on March 5 about her 16-day volunteer effort in Puerto Rico. Winters went with a team out of Highland Hospital that worked to bring medical relief to those in a time of great need, said Dean Bellack, Medina Lions Club president.

Her story included her personal feelings of anticipation and anxiety of making such a trip and how such different experience shapes how you view life when you return.

Her team treated hundreds of people per day from minor issues to major critical needs.

“They saw it all,” Bellack said. “In addition, Emily Winters finds time to raise her family, commute to her position as a Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Highland Hospital in Rochester. The Medina Lions appreciate your commitment to Medina and your profession.”

She is the daughter-in-law of Bob Winters, who is a member of the Medina Lions Club. The club has 52 members and is active with several community events every year.

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Sidari, Sherman and Elliott ran without opposition

MEDINA – The incumbent mayor and two trustees were re-elected today in a low-key election without any opposition.

Mike Sidari was elected mayor with 41 votes, while Marguerite Sherman received 46 for trustee and Tim Elliott was picked on 43 ballots.

The trio ran together two years ago under the “The Village Party” and is back for two more years.

Sidari is an active member of the Medina Fire Department. He is retired as the food service administrator for the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion.

Sherman is a special education teacher at Medina. Elliott is co-owner of Brushstrokes Studios in Medina.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina Mayor Mike Sidari is pictured with elementary students during an Arbor Day celebration on April 29, 2016. The village has been planting about 60 to 80 trees each year for more than a decade.

MEDINA – Mike Sidari says it’s a good time to be Medina mayor with the downtown thriving, new businesses opening in the Medina Business Park and many residents committed to volunteering and improving the community.

Sidari is finishing his first two-year term as mayor and is unopposed in today’s election. He said years of groundwork are paying off with the revived downtown and businesses such as Pride Pak opening in the Medina Business Park. Takeform Architectural Graphics also is doing a big expansion and a new hotel, Cobblestone Suites, is expected to start construction this year on a 58-bed hotel.

The Orleans Economic Development Agency is marketing more land in Medina for businesses. The sites have access to infrastructure and the low-cost hydropower from Niagara Falls.

“There are a few projects coming up,” Sidari said. “The village is starting to make a comeback.”

Medina can’t sit idle and wait for the development. Sidari said the village will be doing a study of its sewer plant with assistance from the Orleans EDA.

“We will be looking at what we have now and where we need to be in the future,” Sidari said.

The village should look to increase sewer capacity to meet the demands of an anticipated buildout in the business parks, he said.

Sidari sees the downtown getting stronger with the renovation of the Bent’s Opera House into a restaurant, boutique hotel, and wedding venue with space for a market serving healthy options next door. Talis Equity and Roger Hungerford are driving that project. They are also planning to convert the former Medina High School into apartments.

Medina last year applied for a $10 million downtown grant from the state, but was denied with the funds going to Batavia. Sidari said village stakeholders are working on another application for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. If Medina is approved for those funds, it would speed up more projects in the downtown and by the canal waterfront.

“We’re definitely applying for that again,” Sidari said.

He is retired from the Orleans Correctional Facility, a men’s prison in Albion where he was the food service administrator providing meals to 1,000 inmates. He oversaw 7 employees plus 80 inmate workers.

Sidari has been on the Village Board for four years, with the first two as a trustee and the past two as mayor.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot and I’m still learning. Our goal is to make Medina better.”

Sidari is unopposed today along with Trustees Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott. The trio is running under “The Village Party.” Voting is from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center, 615 West Ave.

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