State decides against extending expressway westward towards Orleans County

SPENCERPORT – The State Department of Transportation will have a public hearing on Thursday at Spencerport High School to discuss its plan to improve the safety of the Route 531 terminus.

The DOT estimates it will cost $14.2 million to upgrade the current terminus at Route 36. The project won’t extend the expressway west towards Orleans County.

There will be an informal open house on Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Spencerport High School cafeteria area. Project displays will be staffed by the project team to describe the status of the project and collect public input.

A formal public hearing will start at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium. A short presentation will outline the alternatives that were studied for the project including engineering, traffic, environmental, and right-of-way aspects and the basis for selecting the preferred alternative. Oral comments will be recorded and written comments will be received.

This project is a direct result of the Route 531 Extension Study that was concluded in 2009, DOT officials said. It was determined that the expressway would not be extended and Route 31 would not be widened.

However, the information collected during the study indicated that spot improvements to improve safety and reduce congestion at the existing Route 531 terminus as well as along the Route 31 corridor.

Since this new project was initiated to address the needs at the terminus, the DOT has looked at several possible alternatives and measured them against the purpose and need statement. Each involves a significant change to how the intersection at Route 531/36 and 31 operates today.

The preferred design alternative consists of a conventional four-legged, at-grade, signalized intersection at Route 531 and Route 36. The Route 531 to Route 31 transition would be just south of existing Route 31, along the existing eastbound on-ramp.

Route 531 would connect directly to Route 31 and would transition from a four-lane expressway to a two-lane rural arterial west of Route 36. The main through movement that currently turns right onto Route 36, then left at the proceeding Route 31 / Route 36 signalized intersection would continue straight along Route 531 to Route 31.

Route 31 would be widened to add a center median to separate the eastbound and westbound travel lanes from where the “new” Route 531 lanes tie into Route 31 all the way to just east of Gallup Road. Former Route 31 would be transformed to a cul-de-sac approximately 2,000 feet west of Route 36, which would continue to provide access to the residential homes located on the north side of Route 31. A continuous two-way left turn lane between Gallup Road west towards Salmon Creek Road would be provided to ease travel at intersections.

The DOT expects to open construction bids in the summer 2016, with construction to start that fall and be complete in the fall 2017.

For more information on the project, including renderings of the site improvements, click here.

Provided photos

The Iroquois Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America held its annual Cub Winter Fun Day on Jan. 17 at Letchworth Park’s Trailside Lodge.

There was a snowball throw, Iditarod race, nugget run, a tug of war, tube race and other events.

Pack 3062 from Holley placed in all seven competitions with one first place, two second place ribbons and four third place ribbons.

Pictured include, front row, from left: Lilly Moore, Gabe Lindsay, Tyler Moore, Damian Frazier, Miguel Pulcino, Ethan Gonzalez, Dawson Arnold and Braden Read.

Back row: John Patt, Hunter Smith, Ronald Thorn, John Kuhls and new Cubmaster Wayne Thorn.

Cub Scouts in Medina in Pack 28 and 35 had fun in their annual Pinewood Derby today at the United Methodist Church.

Photo by Tom Rivers – James Sunser, president of Genesee Community College, addresses the Orleans County Legislature on Wednesday. There are nearly 1,000 GCC students from Orleans County currently enrolled in courses.

ALBION – Genesee Community College is adding new courses that better fit employment needs in the community and the college will also build two new structures to improve services for students, GCC President James Sunser told Orleans County officials this week.

He provided some data on GCC’s reach into Orleans County. The college has 959 students from Orleans, including 164 at the Albion campus center and another 100 at the Medina center. There are 427 high school students in Orleans County taking GCC classes.

The college has a $169.1 million economic impact in the four-county GLOW region, including $25.6 million in Orleans County, Sunser said at Wednesday’s County Legislature meeting.

This spring GCC expects to start site work on two new buildings at the main campus in Batavia. The college is also working to create a scholarship endowment for students in Orleans County.

“There’s a lot going on,” Sunser said. “It’s a very exciting time.”

Renderings courtesy of GCC – The proposed Student Success Center would provide a one-stop destination for students and first-time visitors to GCC, and “second-career” students.

The two new buildings will cost about $20 million to build with the state contributing $10 million and Genesee County $7 million. The GCC Foundation has raised $4 million towards a $5 million goal that includes the capitol projects and scholarships.

The building projects include a 9,000-square-foot “Student Success Center” and 43,000-square-foot “College and Community Event Center.”

The Student Success Center will include student support services to boost student achievement and retention, Sunser said. The vacated space for some of these services at the William W. Stuart Forum will be renovated for classrooms.

The Student Success Center will also help alumni with job placements and to look at job retraining possibilities.

The College and Community Event Center will include a field house that will be available for conferences and trade shows.

The new “College and Community Event Center” will be next to the college’s athletic fields. The building would include classrooms, coaching facilities, food service facilities as well as a wellness center.

The building would have public floor space that could be used for student gatherings, trade shows, community exhibitions, athletic competitions and charitable events.

Sunser said the Orleans County community is welcome to help with the fund-raising towards the capitol projects and scholarships. There will be a kickoff campaign for Orleans County from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 12 at The Village Inn, 14369 Ridge Rd. The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, call 343-0055 x 6244 or email pabrown@genesee.edu.

Sunser noted the college has developed several new degree programs in response to business needs in the community. About 25 students graduate each year in the vet tech program and they have a high placement rate, he said.

Other new degrees include programs in food processing, agri-business, heath sciences, STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics) initiatives, expanded tourism and hospitality, and enhanced mathematics.

GCC and Erie Community College are partnering on a new degree with nanotechnology.

Kelly Kiebala will be employment and training coordinator

Kiebala

ALBION – The leader of the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council is leaving that position to become the employment and training coordinator for Orleans County.

The County Legislature created the new position and hired Kelly Kiebala for the job. Kiebala has been director at GO Art! since 2009. Prior to that she was director of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce for three years.

Kiebala is a Medina native and former trustee on the Medina Village Board. After living in San Francisco she moved back to the area in the late 1990s and worked nine years for GO Art! as a program coordinator before joining the Chamber as director.

In the new full-time position, she will help connect county residents to job opportunities, including emerging careers. She will work with businesses, schools, colleges and agencies to help match residents with local employment needs.

“There are going to be new jobs in the future that don’t even exist now,” Kiebala said. “The Legislature wants Orleans County to be ahead of the game.”

The county is well positioned for high-tech and jobs of the future with the STAMP site just across the county borders in the Town of Alabama.

STAMP is a 1,250-acre site and is aligned to attract the next generation of nanotechnology companies, including semiconductor chip fabs, flat panel displays, solar, bio-manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing companies to New York State. New York committed $33 million in the current state budget to advance the site.

Kiebala will start her job with the county in March. GO Art! will be looking to fill her position.

“I’m sad to be leaving the arts council,” she said. “But I’m from Orleans County and I’m really committed to the community.”

ALBION – An inmate found dead in the Orleans County Jail on Sept. 28 had heart disease and died of natural causes, Sheriff Scott Hess said this afternoon.

Juan Muriel-Gonzalez, 40, of the Bronx was found dead in his cell by corrections officers during the lunchtime chow call on Sept. 28.

The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rochester made a final determination on Muriel-Gonzalez’s death. The Medical Examiner has determined the cause of death was “Issues Related to Cardiovascular Disease” and the manner of death was “Natural Cause(s),” Hess said.

Muriel-Gonzalez was taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rochester for autopsy.

He had been incarcerated since June following his arrest for promoting prison contraband in the first degree. He pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree during an Aug. 24 court appearance, when he admitted to mailing prescription narcotics to his ex-wife, an inmate at the Albion Correctional Facility.

Muriel-Gonzalez faced a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 years in state prison. He was to be sentenced on Nov. 17.

Rocky Sidari

ALBION – Rocky Sidari, Albion’s fire chief the past five years, has been appointed one of three county coroners.

Sidari took the oath of office and was sworn into the position on Friday. He responded to his first call on Friday night at a fatal Carlton fire. Sidari worked with Scott Schmidt, a veteran county coroner, on the call.

Sidari said he will shadow Schmidt and another coroner, Charles Smith, as part of his training. He also expects to attend a conference for coroners.

“There is a lot to learn and each call is different,” Sidari, 42, said on Sunday.

He was appointed coroner by the Orleans County Legislature on Jan. 14. He fills a vacancy created when Joe Fuller of Albion resigned after being elected Albion town justice.

Sidari is a familiar face to many local residents and the emergency services community. He has been an officer with the Albion Fire Department for about 20 years. He works as a general mechanic at the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion.

He also is part of the county’s critical incident stress management team, which helps firefighters with a stress debriefing after a fatal fire or serious car accident.

Sidari said he will strive to be a calming presence as coroner, especially for grieving family members of the deceased.

“I’ve built up a lot of relationships in the community,” he said. “Maybe it will be comforting for a family to see someone they know.”

Sidari said he will step back from fire chief in April.

“I wanted something that would fill that gap,” he said about his willingness to serve as coroner. “I’m definitely looking forward to the next chapter of my life.”

Photo by Tom Rivers – Lynne Johnson, vice chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, said selling the county nursing home has proved a wise decision, saving local taxpayers millions of dollars. She was one of the speakers on Friday during the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Luncheon.

ALBION – It was a controversial choice, and resulted in lots of protesting and public disapproval. But the decision to sell the Orleans County Nursing Home has proved a good one, Legislature Vice Chairwoman Lynne Johnson said.

“Selling the nursing home is the best thing we’ve ever done as a Legislature,” Johnson told about 75 people on Friday during the Legislative Luncheon.

She was one of the featured speakers during the event at The Village Inn. The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce organized the luncheon.

Johnson had legislators in attendance all stand up for supporting the nursing home sale. The $7.8 million sale became final on Jan. 1. It removed what had been about a $1 million annual expense to local taxpayers. That deficit was forecast to hit $2 million or more annually, especially as federal Intergovernmental Transfer Funds dry up.

“Job well done, gentlemen,” Johnson told the legislators.

The new owner, Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC, took over the nursing home on Jan. 1, acquiring the 120-bed Villages of Orleans Health & Rehabilitation Center.

The new owner has kept 99 percent of the former county employees, Johnson said. The company has also offered benefits and seniority for the employees.

With the nursing home out of the county budget, legislators cut taxes by 1.5 percent and reduced the tax rate from $10.11 to $9.89 per $1,000 of assessed property for 2015.

The county also committed to an $8 million bond for a series of bridge, culvert and county building projects in the next three years. That annual payment will be covered from $260,000 in gambling money approved by the state, Johnson said.

“The sale of The Villages takes the pressure off,” Johnson said. “We can rebuild our bridges and culverts.”

The county cleared a major milestone in 2014, wrapping up $7 million upgrade to its emergency management system, Johnson said.

The county is now working to expand broadband Internet coverage throughout Orleans, especially in the outlying rural areas that do not have high-speed Internet. Four companies have submitted bids for expanding broadband in the county. Those proposals are being reviewed.

The timing of the project fits with Gov. Cuomo’s push to extend broadband throughout the state.

“We stand ready to go after that money,” Johnson said about the governor’s broadband initiative.

Johnson told the Chamber crowd that county leaders are vigilant and active in fighting a plan to regulate Lake Ontario water levels.

Orleans, Niagara and other southshore lake counties worry a new plan for lake levels will lead to more extreme highs and lows in the lake, putting commercial and recreational businesses at risk, while also eating up valuable lakeshore property due to erosion.

“When property owners assessments go down, it affects all of Orleans County,” she said.

Johnson and Niagara County Legislator David Godfrey travelled to Washington, D.C. in July to press the counties’ concerns about the plan from the International Joint Commission. Johnson said it was unprecedented for a county legislator to visit the nation’s capital and press a cause on behalf of the county.

She praised the partnership with Niagara County and their two-county Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance.

“NORA gives us a bigger voice for concerns,” Johnson said.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Downtown Albion is decorated for the holidays in this file photo.

ALBION – Orleans County saw its sales tax revenue jump 6 percent in 2014, an $883,457 increase, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

State-wide, sales tax was up 3.00 percent, from $26.74 billion in 2013 to $27.54 billion in 2014. Orleans had the biggest gain among the four rural GLOW counties.
Genesee County had a slight decrease, down 0.16 percent or $62,107, from $38,057,036 to $37,994,929.

Wyoming County’s 2014 revenue was almost identical to the 2013 sales tax. The county increased by 0.13 percent or $22,255, going from $16,831,191 to $16,853,446.

Livingston County saw a sizable increase, growing 2.97 percent or by $899,100, from $30,229,388 to $31,128,489.

Orleans saw the most growth of them all, increasing 5.96 percent from $14,819,904 to $15,703,362.

While Orleans saw the biggest rate of increase, the county still lags in sales tax per capita. Wyoming County, with 42,155 residents, has almost the same population as Orleans with 42,883 residents, according to the 2010 Census.

However, Wyoming collects about $1.1 million more in sales tax than in Orleans. The sales tax is an indicator of the economic health of a community, and the money also reduces pressure on property taxes and helps pay for government services and programs.

In Wyoming County, the per capita for sales tax was $399.80 in 2014. In Orleans, the county averaged $366.19 per resident. The sales tax also includes money spent by visitors.

Livingston and Genesee do far better than Orleans and Wyoming. Livingston, population 65,393, has a sales tax per capita of $476.02, while Genesee County (population 60,079) has a per capita for sales tax at $632.42, about $266 more than in Orleans.

Sheriff Scott Hess

ALBION – Scott Hess, Orleans County’s sheriff for nearly 12 years, intends to retire after Dec. 31, ending a 31-year career in law enforcement.

Hess said today he won’t seek re-election as leader of the Sheriff’s Department. Prior to being sheriff, Hess was police chief in Albion for five years. He worked with the Albion PD for nearly 20 years.

“I’m looking forward to my next challenges in life,” Hess said today.

He has led the Sheriff’s Department with technology upgrades, including improvements in the dispatch operations. Hess also oversees the Orleans County Jail, which recently received more than $1 million in upgrades, staving off pressure from the state for a new jail.

Law enforcement agencies in the county also created a SWAT team under his watch.

Hess praised the law enforcement officers for their commitment to the community. He also said the county has made the resources possible for upgrades in the department.

“It’s been a collaboration with others,” Hess said. “I really can’t take any of the credit. We’ve accomplished many things working with the legislators and staff.”

Orleans Hub file photos – The Dady Brothers kicked off a new concert series in Albion last June 18. The brothers performed a set list of mostly Irish music. John Dady is in front with Joe behind him. The village hosted the series last year on Thursdays on a closed-off East Bank Street.

BATAVIA – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council has announced funding for several cultural programs in Orleans and Genesee counties for 2015.

GO ART! approved $41,600 in state decentralization grants for 26 projects in the two counties. The agency also approved $5,000 in Ripple Grants to support local artists who wish to involve the community in their creative process.

GO ART! approved $2,500 in Ripple Grants to Alex Feig of Orleans Radio for a “Remembers Medina” music recording and video, and $2,500 to Bill McDonald of Batavia for the Travelling Towpath Troubadors, a concert series along the Erie Canal.

“Wild” Bill McDonald, center, performs with the Ghost Riders last summer during a concert series in Holley. McDonald will play a series of concerts this summer along the Erie Canal.

Albion native Stacey (Kirby) Steward was approved for a $2,000 Spark Grant for an arts project with Holley Central School students. Steward’s project is sponsored by the Orleans County Adult Learning Services.

“Seeing Like an Artist” will encourage students to see the world as an artist sees it – noticing details that many miss. Students will be introduced to observational drawing and encouraged to practice developing skills such as focus, patience and attention. Inspiration will be drawn from nature.

Third graders will have several sessions with Steward, including drawing sessions, scientific observations and sharing sessions. The project will culminate in a mural created by the students and Steward.

The decentralization grants for projects in Orleans County include:

Village of Albion, Concerts by the Canal, $2,530;

Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, Finally Fridays concert series, $2,300;

World Life Institute in Waterport, Voice from the Earth, $3,440;

Bill Lattin, sponsored by Pullman Memorial Universalist Church, for Halloween Pictures and Pranks Show, $1,515;

Lake Plains Players, $2,000 for fall production and $800 for spring production;

The Cobblestone Society Museum for “The Lost Generation,” $2,300;

Yates Community Library, “More Than Just Books,” $2,800;

Lyndonville Lions Club for Concert Fun for the Summer, $1,500.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Meredith Patterson, winner of the Orleans County American Legion Oratorical Contest, shared her winning speech with the County Legislature today. Patterson, a junior at Albion, calls on citizens to better understand the U.S. Constitution and commit themselves to being active participants in the government.

Patterson said the Constitution is a job description for Americans.

“How long do you think you would be employed if you didn’t understand your job description?”

Orleans County Legislator John DeFilipps is at left and Mark O’Brien, director of the County Mental Health Department, is in back at right.

ALBION – The union representing workers at the former Orleans County nursing home announced the employees have approved a contract with the site’s new owner, Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services.

Comprehensive purchased the 120-bed Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, effective Jan. 1. The company paid $7.8 million for the facility on Route 31.
Chautauqua County also sold its nursing home in Dunkirk to a private company, VestraCare.

CSEA employees at both the Albion and Dunkirk sites approved five-year labor deals with the new owners of the nursing homes.

“These companies have shown a commitment to the residents and to the workers,” said CSEA Western Region President Flo Tripi. “They came into negotiations sharing our goals, and they honored the workers’ experience and dedication to quality care.”

Both contracts provide wages comparable to former agreements. They also retain the former county employees’ seniority, offer health insurance and provide other terms and conditions geared toward maintaining an experienced and dedicated staff for the residents.

“VestraCare and Comprehensive Healthcare know that quality care will suffer if you lose good, long-term workers and replace them with low-paid, inexperienced staff,” said CSEA Private Sector Director Bob Compani. “These companies are not willing to punish good workers for profit. They are looking to make changes the right way, to continue to provide quality care and to protect middle class jobs.”

Photos by Cheryl Wertman
BARKER – Several days of crushing cold temperatures have left lots of ice floating near the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

Cheryl and Mike Wertman were at Barker today at Golden Hill State Park, near the Orleans County line, and Cheryl took these pictures.

“We were amazed at how much ice there was out on the lake,” she said. “It was floating out at least a half a mile.”

It will warm up on Sunday and Monday, with both days forecast for highs at 29 degrees.

Photos by Tom Rivers

Orleans County residents have been busy this morning shoveling, snow-blowing and plowing, trying to dig out from a lot of snow. Up to 10 inches was expected in parts of Orleans.

In the top photo, Michelle Bonnice brushes off her car on Platt Street in Albion. She is visiting her parents, Phil and Harriette Greaser.

Don Powell shovels the front of the Greasers’ property, which faces the Orleans County Courthouse.

Winds whip snow from the top of the buildings in downtown Albion.

Visibility was starting to improve at 9 morning as cars pass along the Main Street lift bridge in Albion. The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook until 10 a.m. today.

All of the schools closed today due to the snow and poor visibility in the morning. This car is pictured on Platt Street near the Erie Canal.

Temperatures are forecast to reach a high of 20 degrees today, followed by highs of 16 on Saturday and 28 on Sunday, according to the Weather Service.