District has stayed under the tax cap last 15 years; transportation will be available to all students next year

MEDINA – The school district is proposing a $42,162,921 budget for the 2024-25 school year that increases spending by 5.2 percent or $2,067,106 from the $40,095,815 in the current school year.

The budget proposes a 2.0 percent tax increase, up from $8,814,697 to $8,990,990. This is the 15th consecutive year Medina is under a state-imposed tax cap of about 2 percent, said Dr. Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent.

The budget and the election for two board of education members goes to a vote from noon to 8 p.m. on May 21 at the District Office, 1 Mustang Drive.

The budget maintains all academic, extra-curricular and athletic programs, including modified sports and clubs, Kruzynski stated in a letter to the community.

Medina also will keep all support positions established with a federal stimulus grant and will make transportation available to all students in the 2024-25 school year.

The district for about a dozen years has had a single bus run in the morning and afternoon, with an expanded walk zone – 2 miles for students in middle and high school, and 1 mile for those in elementary school. The district made that decision during a budget crisis when the state made steep cuts to school districts in 2010-11.

The district is in a stronger financial position now. Medina will add more busses next year and continue with the one morning and afternoon bus runs. It will cost about $525,000 with district reserves covering the cost in 2024-25. After that, state aid will pay 90 percent of the cost, Kruzynski said.

There are some staff cuts in the proposed budget and those are being made through attrition with several retirements in the district.

“Our board members have worked diligently with the administrative staff to create a fiscally responsible budget, and one that exemplifies excellence in education,” Kruzynski wrote in a  letter to the community about the budget.

There are two candidates for two open seats on the board. Alissa Mitchell and Jennifer Buondonno are both current members of the board.

Mitchell, the board vice president, is a first grade teacher at Brockport. Buondonno is an assistant branch manager at Tompkins Community Bank.

Photos and information courtesy of Medina Lions Club

MEDINA – The Medina Lions Club on Saturday teamed up with Scouts and their leaders from Troop and Pack 28 for clean up at Lions Park by the Erie Canal in Medina.

Each year the Lions clean and mulch the parks, trees and flower beds. Mulch is provided by the village of Medina and brought onsite for the work.

This year seven Lions Club members and approximately 12 scouts pulled weeds, spread mulch, and cleaned the area. Each worker was treated to a hot dog lunch when the work was done.

The Medina Lions wish to give special thanks to Todd Draper and Tim Miller, the adult leaders from Troop and Pack 28, for mobilizing the help.

The Lions motto is “We Serve” and we greatly appreciate the help from the community to allow us all to enjoy a nicer area.

Provided photos

MEDINA – Joseph Andrew Brueckner became Troop 28’s newest Eagle Scout on Sunday during a ceremony and celebration at Glenwood Park in Ridgeway.

In the photo at left, Brueckner thanks people for their support during his scout journey, including Todd Draper in back. In the photo at right, Brueckner celebrates with Scoutmaster Tim Miller.

Brueckner has been a scout since the 1st grade. His Eagle Project consisted of adding 2 benches and 10 birdhouses at Glenwood Lake.

This photo shows a group of all Eagle Scouts. From left Scoutmaster Tim Miller, Steve Miller, Joe Brueckner, David Vanderwalker, Todd Draper and Eli Pask.

Brueckner is a senior at Medina High School and is in the AME program at BOCES.  He works as an intern at Amada Tool America in Batavia as well as helping with his family’s restaurant and catering business. He plans to continue his education after high school but is uncertain which school he will choose.

Joe Brueckner is shown with his family, including father Matt Brueckner, mother Kim Brueckner and brother Brandon Brueckner.

Joe Brueckner does a trust fall with Eagle Scouts Tim Miller, Eli Pask, Steve Miller, David Vanderwalker and Todd Draper (not shown in photo).

MEDINA – The Medina Area Partnership will continue to implement beautification projects in Medina’s downtown business district with the annual placing of flower pots.

MAP is seeking monetary donations to assist with the cost of flowers, soil and other products needed to achieve those initiatives.

Cost to sponsor a flower pot is $75, and anyone interested is asked to send a check payable to Medina Area Partnership to Mary Lewis, Creekside Floral, 509 Main St., Medina. Lewis is chair of MAP’s Beautification Committee.

Those who sponsor a pot will be recognized on a sign in a flower pot, as well as on the large sign outside of city hall and on the MAP website. Larger donations are also welcome to assist with other beautification projects, where the objective is to make the downtown community and greater Medina area an attractive place to visit.

Provided photo

MEDINA – The Medina Area Partnership on Wednesday unveiled a new cutout standup board with a historical theme. The new standup board was painted by artist Brandi Zavitz.

MAP has the display next to the Hemp House at 409 Main St. The new artwork allows two people to poke their faces in cutouts and appear like a Victorian couple on a walk with their cute little dog. The Erie Canal Basin is in the background.

Kathy Blackburn, one of the MAP leaders, said the effort gives people another activity while they are in Medina. The display is expected to be out until after Christmas.

The MAP events’ committee would like to have another cutout standup sign in the future.

Rate drops from $21.16 to $13.97 after tax base grew by $100 million

MEDINA – The Village Board adopted a $7,678,256 budget for the general fund on Thursday that will increase the amount of taxes collected by 3.1 percent. However, the tax rate will plunge more than $7 – from $21.16 to $13.97 per $1,000 of assessed properties.

The towns of Shelby and Ridgeway, where the village is located, both completed town-wide reassessments in 2023 and those new values take effect in the 2024-25 village budget.

The tax base increased by $100.5 million, going from $178,984,667 to $279,494,874. That is a 56.2 percent increase.

The tax rate dropped 34.0 percent or by $7.19.

During a budget public hearing on April 8, the budget was at a 34.9 percent tax increase or up by $1,320,759. The Village Board and the department heads shaved $1.2 million from that to try to get to a “minimal amount,” said Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman.

However, she said the board can only cut so much. The village will be looking for more revenues outside of the property tax. Medina has tried for years to get in increase in the local sales tax, but has been kept flat by the County Legislature since 2001.

“This board has had numerous discussions on the need to pursue additional funding sources while looking long-term on how to best to continue services while trying to keep the tax rate affordable,” Sherman said.

Overall spending in the general fund is at $7,678,256 – up $84,960 or by 1.1 percent. The water fund is up 4.1 percent or by $83,296 to $2,102,947. The sewer fund is down 3.1 percent or by $39,816 to $1,256,195.

Debbie Padoleski, retired village clerk and treasurer, was elected to the Village Board in March and started her term on April 1. She ran for the board partly due to the rising assessments in the village and potential for much higher tax bills.

Some residents will actually see lower tax bills with this village budget, depending on the percentage of increase in their reassessments, Padoleski said. But others will be paying more.

“While we were able to reduce the levy by $1.2 million from the proposed budget, our hands have been tied by several factors,” she said.

Union contracts push up labor costs, and Padoleski said the lack of an increase in the local sales tax strains the village budget. Medina gets $160,160 of the local sales tax total, which is expected to be near $25 million this year. That is less than 1 percent for Medina of the total in the county.

Padoleski also thinks the village isn’t properly treated by the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway with divvying up the tax burden at the town level. Village residents should be seeing more of a break in their town taxes, padoleski said.

Without some relief from the towns and county, Padoleski said the Village Board could face hard choices in the future about cutting some services.

“We are one step away from cutting services and while some of us are not yet ready to do that, I have been assured that we will continue to look for ways to cut costs, increase revenue and be open to different ways of doing business,” Padoleski said. “Our taxpayers need to be our main priority, always.”

Here are the village tax levies and tax rates in the past six budgets:

• 2024-25 tax levy, $3,903,200; tax rate, $13.97
• 2023-24 tax levy, $3,786,964; tax rate, $21.16
• 2022-23 tax levy, $3,296,140; tax rate, $18.95
• 2021-22 tax levy, $3,259,119; tax rate, $18.77
• 2020-21 tax levy, $3,197,059; tax rate, $18.46
• 2019-20 tax levy, $3,138,059; tax rate, $18.32

Event was fundraiser for East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Cheech, one of the pro wrestlers who competed Saturday in the Medina High School gym, acknowledges the crowd after he won a five-man scramble.

It was one of the featured battles in the “Spring Smash,” a benefit for the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company. Empire State Wrestling brought a group of pro wrestlers, including three with ties to Orleans County, for the event.

About 450 people attended the 2 ½-hour “Spring Smash” on Saturday. That matches the crowd from about a year ago, when ESW held its first event at Medina. ESW previously did an annual event at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds, with crowds of 350 in 2018 and then 200 in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic kept the wrestlers away starting in 2020 before last year’s return to Orleans County.

Cheech, one of the ESW’s more popular wrestlers, now faces the ESW champion Spencer Slade on May 18 during Brawlfest at Riverworks in Buffalo.

Colin Delaney, formerly of the WWE, screams when Spencer Slade twists Delaney’s leg. Slade, the ESW champion, kept his title.

Spencer Slade, an imposing physical specimen, acknowledges the crowd before his match. Slade is hearing-impaired and wears ear protection.

Kevin Blackwood, one of the most successful pro wrestlers from Orleans County, returned to battle Yoya. Blackwood has Yoya in a headlock.

Blackwood, 33, grew up in Albion as Kevin Lockwood. He lives in Los Angeles and wrestles all over the United States and Canada.

Erin Moody of Albion is Lockwood’s uncle. Moody remembers Lockwood as a little boy, jumping off the couch and pretending to be a wrestler.

“I’m really happy to see Kevin following his dream,” Moody said. “He is really doing it. Not many people get to live their dream.”

Maxx Cannon, “The Big Filthy,” makes his entrance into the gym. Jacob Miller of Medina wrestles as Maxx Cannon. Miller, 30, has been wrestling for about four years, but he took nearly a year off after the birth of his daughter. Saturday was his return to the ring.

He said he was thrilled to get a big response from the local crowd.

He battled Frankie Feathers, the former ESW champion.

“There is nothing like being in your hometown,” Miller said.

He has wrestled with ESW, Buffalo Championship Wrestling, Southern Tier Wrestling and Xcite Professional Wrestling.

Maxx Cannon gives a big facial reaction in his match against Frankie Feathers. Cannon had Feathers beat, but the referee missed the count after being knocked down.

Cannon enjoys interacting with the crowd and being on the microphone, talking some trash with his opponents.

During Saturday’s match, when he had the mic, he snuck in, “Let’s go Mustangs!” in a tribute to his alma mater.

Gavin Glass (right), a Medina native, is up high on the ropes with Darren Crowe. Glass used his “Glass Cutter” move to finish off Crowe.

Glass, 26, returned to the ring last month after taking about a year off when he became a father. Glass has been wrestling for almost a decade and travelled all over the country and Canada.

“I grew up wanting to do this since I was in fourth grade,” he said. “The dream has come true.”

Gavin Glass signs an autograph on a kid’s arm after Glass was victorious.

Adrianna Fury, right, has Haley Dylan down on the mat in the only match featuring women wrestlers. Dylan won the battle.

Zach Nystrom was among the wrestlers in a  five-man scramble. Nystrom, a Texas native, now lives in Pittsburgh. He wrestles “up and down the East Coast,” often devoting Thursdays through Sundays to wrestling, and then returning to his regular job in logistics for a trucking company. He said the regular job “is much more boring than this.”

Nystrom, 26, played college football and was working as an iron worker when he decided to give wrestling a try. He loves the physicality of the sport, and some of the exaggerated showmanship.

He is a power wrestler. He doesn’t do fancy moves. His slogan: “Making the Basics Brutal.”

Nystrom typically is a “bad guy” in the matches. He enjoys connecting with the crowd.

“Wrestling is physical theater,” he said. “It’s somewhere between sport and show. For us, it’s our passion and we’re living out our dream.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Second graders at Oak Orchard School in Medina helped plant four trees Friday on North Avenue as part of an Arbor Day celebration in the village. These kids with shovels include Emma McGrath in blue sweater and Gabrielle Watts.

The four trees plants by the kids were “Northern Acclaim” varieties.

This group is in a second grade class taught by Jamie Brooks. Her students have helped with Arbor Day plantings for five years. They students look forward to it every year and it ties in with their science lessons.

“They are learning about the earth around them,” Brooks said. “It’s talking the classroom outside.”

Members of the second grade Glee Club at Oak Orchard Primary School sang three songs to help celebrate the tree planting on Earth Day. Here they are singing, “This Land Is Your Land.”

Andrea Busch, director of the Glee Club, leads them in singing from a stage on North Avenue, not far from the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

The group sang “This Land Is Your Land,” “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

Medina is planting 69 trees this spring with 44 new trees on North Avenue, South Avenue, West Avenue, Park Avenue and State Street Park. The other 25 trees are going in Boxwood Cemetery.

Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman reads an Arbor Day Proclamation and shares her enthusiasm for the community’s commitment to trees.

Arbor Day 2024 marks the 17th year Medina’s urban forestry program has been a participant in the Tree City USA program of the National Arbor Day Foundation. The annual Tree City award honors Medina’s commitment to community forestry.

Many of the trees were paid for with donations through ReLeaf Medina. Click here for more information.

Mary Lewis, the Medina Tree Board chairwoman, said the Tree Board welcomes corporate and community sponsors to the tree-planting program.

The Arbor Day celebration included 2nd and 3rd graders from Medina Central School. The kids in front are second-graders in Abbi Keppler’s class.

Provided photos: Medina students Alexander Balaban, Isabella Gray and Elaina Bitsas pitched their idea of Pets & Found.

Press Release, Medina Central School

BUFFALO – Medina Junior-Senior High School business students competed and won top honors at the first-ever 43North Students to Startups Finals! The event was held at Seneca One Tower in Buffalo, NY.

Medina students Alexander Balaban, Isabella Gray and Elaina Bitsas competed against nine other teams, most from larger districts, and came home with first place and $1,000 for their hard work and effort.

Their business idea – Pets & Found – was a subscription style app to help owners find their pets and partner with local veterinarians to develop a kind of animal patient portal to benefit both pet owners and veterinarians.

43North is an accelerator program for seed-stage startups and has given over $5 million annually into growing Buffalo’s startup ecosystem. 43North is excited to collaborate with educators to inspire entrepreneurship and innovation in their classrooms.

“We are so proud of these students,” says Jody Sargent, one of the school’s business teachers.  “We want to congratulate them for their hard work and effort as well as Business/Computer teacher Mrs. Krista Lindke who worked extensively to prepare these students for their success.”

The students were featured on  the news television stations in Buffalo last night.

From left include Mr. Jody Sargent, Isabella Gray, Elaina Bitsas, Alexander Balaban and Mrs. Krista Lindke at the 43North Students to Startups Finals.