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Orleans County

New judge swears in county officials

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2017 at 3:32 pm

Skip Draper, Kim DeFrank among new elected officials at county level

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – New Orleans County Court Judge Sanford A. Church administered the oath of office to several newly elected county officials today during a ceremony at the Orleans County Courthouse.

The top photo shows Kim DeFrank, the county’s new treasurer, taking the oath of office. She is joined by her husband Glenn and their daughters, Erin and Kasey. DeFrank succeeds Susan Heard as county treasurer. DeFrank has worked in the office for 24 years. Heard retired from the position but is starting a new job as Gaines town clerk.

Skip Draper of Medina takes the oath with some help from his great-nieces, Emma Moeller (center) and Cora Williams. Draper is the only new legislator on the seven-member County Legislature. He was the Shelby town supervisor. Draper succeeds David Callard, who didn’t seek re-election and retired on Aug. 2. Draper has a countywide position on the Legislature.

Bill Eick of Shelby takes the oath while his wife Pat holds The Bible. Eick’s district includes most of Shelby, Barre and Clarendon.

Don Allport of Gaines signs the oath of office with County Clerk Karen Lake-Maynard. Allport has a county-wide position.

John DeFilipps shakes hands with Sanford Church after taking the oath of office. DeFilipps of Clarendon is joined by his wife, Donna. DeFilipps has a countywide position and is the current chairman of the Legislature.

Karen Lake-Maynard of Medina takes the oath of office for county clerk while her friend Terry Ingerson holds The Bible.

Lynne Johnson of Lyndonville is joined by her daughter Clancy in taking the oath. Johnson’s district includes Yates, Ridgeway and a small section of Shelby.

Fred Miller takes the oath and his wife Betty Sue hands the judge The Bible. Miller is the lone Democrat on the County Legislature. Miller, an Albion resident, represents a district that includes the towns of Albion and Gaines.

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Sanford Church takes the oath as new county judge

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2017 at 2:16 pm

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Sanford A. Church takes the oath of office today while his wife Diane holds The Bible. Church was sworn in by James Punch, who retired on July 29 after nearly 27 years as county judge.

Church, an Albion attorney who served about 20 years as the county’s public defender, was elected to a 10-year term as judge on Nov. 7.

“He has distinguished himself with his knowledge of the law, his integrity, his intelligence and his courage,” Punch said. “Running for office, as many of you know, is not easy.”

Church took the office in front of many family, friends and other elected officials.

Church is known by many in the community as “Sandy.” He has been a long-time Little League coach, member of service clubs and a former member of the Board of Education.

His two children, Ben and Molly, made the trip home for the swearing-in. Ben, 26, is a graduate of the Northwestern Medical School in internal medicine, and is doing his residency in California. Molly, 24, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and is studying to be a mental health counselor in Boston at Tufts University.

Punch said the judge position is critically important in the community.

“If we don’t respect the law we run the risk of a chaotic society,” Punch told the crowd at the swearing-in ceremony. “It’s in everyone’s interests to respect Sandy and to respect the law, and to remember how lucky we are that Sandy was willing to do this.”

Sanford Church raises his right hand and takes the oath of office. He solemnly swore “to faithfully discharge the duties of office of Orleans County judge and to uphold and defend the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the United States of America, so help me God.”

Church will attend a “judge’s school” or a judicial institute next week at Pace University in White Plains. Because he was public defender of many pending cases in criminal and family courts, outside judges will continue in Orleans in the short term.

Judge Sara Sheldon of Niagara County has been an acting criminal court judge and Judge Charles Zambito of Genesee also has been handling some of those cases. Judge Michael Griffith of Wyoming County also has been presiding over some of the Family Court cases. Those judges are expected to continue in the short term in Orleans. Judge Punch also could handle some Family Court cases as a judicial hearing officer.

Church is expected to fully take over in Criminal and Family courts in the spring. He will assume the duties in Supreme and Surrogate’s courts next month. He is expected to handle some criminal cases in Genesee County in early 2018.

Because Church is becoming a full-time judge, he has to shut down his law office in Albion. He can’t practice law and also work as a full-time judge in the same community. He doesn’t have a partner to continue the law office. Church & Church has been in his family since 1903, and the office dates back to the early 1800s.

Judge James Punch and new County Court Judge Sanford Church speak before a crowd gathered in the Orleans County Courthouse today for a swearing-in ceremony.

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County sets fees for weights and measures, hires director

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 December 2017 at 9:58 am

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature voted last week to approve fees for the weights and measures director for inspecting and testing devices and systems.

The Legislature also hired Ronald P. Mannella to serve as the new weights and measures director on a provisional appointment. Mannella is the son of Ron Mannella, the Gaines highway superintendent.

The younger Mannella will be paid $39,143 annually. He starts on Jan. 3.

The position used to be run out of the Highway Department but has been moved to the Health Department.

The Legislature established the following fees for weights and measures (effective Jan. 1):

SCALES (Up to and including 15 kg (33 lb.) capacity)

Each of the 1st five scales/establishment – $20

Each after 1st five – $10

Over 15 kg and including 300 kg (661 lb.) – $40

Over 300 kg and including 1500 kg (3,307 lb.) – $100

Over 1500 kg and including 7000 kg (15,432 lb.) – $140

Over 7000 kg and including 23000 kg (50,706 lb.) – $160

Over 23000 kg (50,706 lb.) – $200

Tank batch and crane scales – $200

WEIGHTS – FIELD STANDARD (Class F)

Up to and including 3 kg (7 lb.) – $8

Over 3 kg and including 30 kg (66 lb.) – $16

Over 30 kg and including 300 kg (661 lb.) – $32

Over 300 kg and including 1200 kg (2646 lb.) – $60

LINEAR FIELD MEASURES

Up to 1 m (39 in.) – $4

Over 1 m and including 16 m (52 ft.) – $8

Over 16 m and including 31 m (102 ft.) – $12

Over 31 m – $20

Fabric measuring devices – $20

Wire and cordage measuring devices – $40

LIQUID MEASURES AND DEVICES

Liquid measures 20L (5 gal.) or less – $8

Liquid pump (hand operated) 20L (5 gal.) or less – $20

PETROLEUM DISPENSING AND MEASURING DEVICES

Single dispensing pump – $20

Dual dispensing pump – $40

Blend dispensing pump – $40

Grease and oil pump – $8

VEHICLES

Metering systems 300L/min (79 gpm) or less – $100

Metering systems over 300L/min – $120

Compartment calibration:

Up to and including 3000L (793 gal.) capacity – $40

Over 3,000L and including 6,000L (1,585 gal.) capacity – $80

Over 6,000L and including 12,000L (3,170 gal) capacity – $120

Over 12,000L capacity – $240

STATIONARY PETROLEUM METERING SYSTEMS

Up to 400L/min (106 rpm) – $100

Over 400L/min including 2,000L/min (528 rpm) – $120

Over 2,000L/min including 4,000L/min (1,057 gym) – $140

Over 4,000L/min – $160

BULK MILK TANKS

Up to 3,000L (793 gal.) capacity – $40

Over 3,000L and including 6,000L (1,585 gal.) capacity – $80

Over 6,000L and including 12,000L (3,170 gal.) capacity – $120

Over 12,000L capacity – $240

TIMING DEVICES

All commercially used devices where time is a basis for charge – $4

Devices owned or operated by government agencies – No charge

TAXI METERS – $40

WITNESSING FEE

(Fee administred when costs are incurred by the Director of Weights & Measures when inspecting and certifying equipment where Privately owned calibrated equipment is being used)

0-2 hrs – $100; 2-4 hrs – $200; 4-6 hrs – $300; 6 hrs and above – $400

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Orleans hires full-time tourism director

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 December 2017 at 7:21 pm

Dawn Borchert

ALBION – Orleans County has hired a full-time tourism director, who expects to see the county’s tourism industry grow.

Dawn Borchert comes to the county with an extensive background in tourism. The Akron resident has worked as executive director for the New York State Travel Industry Association since 2004. She has 27 years in the business including five years as the tourism marketing director for the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

Borchert will succeed Lynne Menz, who has been working part-time on a contractual basis. She will continue working for county tourism 8 hours a week in designing brochures, working on the website and helping with marketing. Menz wanted to step back from the manager position so she can devote more time to her business, Lynne Menz Designs.

She said Borchert has deep connections in the tourism industry and has the passion to propel the county’s tourism efforts.

“She is a gift to the county,” Menz said. “She has experience at the state level. She knows everybody in the tourism industry. She is eager and she is a hard worker.”

Menz was hired in 2015 following the retirement of Wayne Hale, who served as tourism director in addition to director of the Planning and Development Department.

When she was at the Genesee Chamber, Borchert worked with Hale to establish a “Country Byways” tourism package in the rural GLOW counties.

Borchert gives the county its first full-time tourism director. She starts Jan. 2 at an annual salary of $48,897.

Menz said the county’s heritage tourism sites, such as the historic districts and Cobblestone Museum, could be bigger draws. The county’s top tourism attraction is the fishing industry. It accounts for about $12 million in visitor spending.

Orleans, however, ranks dead last among the 62 counties in New York for tourism revenue, according to a study last year by Tourism Economics and Empire State Development.

Many counties, including some small ones, bring in well over $100 million in tourism revenue. But no county brings in less than Orleans, which totaled $24.421 million in visitor spending in 2015. That was about $4 million less than the 61st-ranked county, Chenango, at $28.455 million.

The lack of a chain hotel in Orleans has hurt the county’s tourism numbers, according to the Orleans Economic Development Agency which pushed to recruit BriMark Builders to construct a new Cobblestone Inn and Suites hotel in Medina. That 3-story hotel would be 10,557 square feet on Maple Ridge Road next to Pride Pak. The project has received the local approvals. It could open in 2018.

That hotel will allow the county to change its pitch to visitors, urging them to stay overnight. Many of visitors right now are day-trippers who come for an event and then drive out of the county.

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New tourism calendars highlight Orleans County sites

Dennis Button of Albion took this photograph of a tugboat on the Erie Canal in Eagle Harbor. It is featured on a new calendar by the Orleans County Tourism Department.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 December 2017 at 11:41 am

Photo by Tom Rivers: Peggy Barringer, second from left, is congratulated for winning the Orleans County tourism photo contest for 2017. Her photo of a fisherman and sailboat during a sunset at Point Breeze took the top prize among 85 entries. Her photo is featured for July in the new 2018 county tourism calendar. She is pictured with County Legislature Chairman John DeFilipps, left, Tourism Director Lynne Menz, and Legislator Ken DeRoller.

ALBION – The Orleans County Tourism Department has picked some of the best images from a photo contest and put them in a calendar of local sites.

The new calendar includes more than a dozen local images A panel of judges picked the top photos. The County Legislature on Wednesday congratulated Peggy Barringer of Albion for winning the annual contest for the second year in a row. Her image of a fisherman and sailboat during a sunset at Point Breeze was the grand prize winner. She also won in 2016 with an image of blossoms at Mount Albion Cemetery.

Barringer also won first place in the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor photo contest in 2015 for a picture of a great blue heron by the canal in Albion.

She said she has been taken photos seriously for about 25-30 years. She bought a good Pentax 35mm camera when her daughter Jasmine was born and keeps the camera close by.

“Going way back I was always the person who had the camera,” Barringer said.

She worked about 25 years in banking in Albion at Dime, Anchor, Washington Mutual and Chase. In 2009, she enrolled at Genesee Community College and earned a degree in digital arts, taking several photography classes.

Barringer now works in the business office at the Albion Correctional Facility. She runs a photo booth business part-time and continues to take many photos of local scenes.

“I find beauty in ordinary things,” she said.

This is Barringer’s winning photo in the 2017 county tourism contest.

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Villages regain some of shrunken sales tax share

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Village of Medina is home to many restaurants and businesses that generate sales tax. Medina’s sales tax share, however, has dropped from $160,988 in 2013 to $153,811 in 2018.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2017 at 8:12 pm

After seeing $25K decline from 2013 to 2017, county formula gives villages $3K more in 2018

The four villages in Orleans County will get a little more in the local sales tax next year, according to the 2018 apportionment approved by the County Legislature on Wednesday.

The villages saw their share take a hit by $25,000 from 2013 to 2017, falling from $404,661 in 2013 to $379,265 for 2017. Next year the four villages – Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina – will collectively receive $382,240.

The county receives about $15 million in sales tax annually, and shares $1,366,671 with the four villages and 10 towns. They have been frozen at that level since 2001.

Once a decade that share is set based on local population. However, each year after that the share is modified based on the assessed values of towns with villages. If a town with a village grows its tax base faster than the rate in a village, that town will get more sales tax – by taking some of the village’s.

That is what has been happening almost every year since 2001. Most of the new development is just outside the village borders.

The villages this time were able to pass the rate of assessment growth in the towns.

Here are how much the villages will receive in sales tax in 2018:

Albion – $167,203 ($164,617 in 2017) and $180,457 in 2013.

Holley – $45,878 ($45,671 in 2017) and $47,595 in 2013.

Lyndonville – $15,349 ($15,316 in 2017) and $15,626 in 2013

Medina –$153,811 ($153,661 in 2017) and $160,988 in 2013.

Here are the town shares for 2018:

Albion – $122,468 ($124,978 in 2017) and $111,754 in 2013.

Barre – $64,536 (no change because no village)

Carlton – $95,418 (no change because no village)

Clarendon – $116,261 (no change because no village)

Gaines – $87,858 ($87,933 in 2017) and $85,317 in 2013.

Kendall – $86,813 (no change because no village)

Murray – $113,089 ($113,295 in 2017) and $111,372 in 2013.

Ridgeway – $128,868 ($129,171 in 2017) and $123,488 in 2013.

Shelby – $102,913 ($102,760 in 2017) and $101,116 in 2013.

Yates – $66,206 ($66,239 in 2017) and $65,929 in 2013.

The villages received more back in 2001, when the amount was frozen collectively to the 10 towns and four villages. The village share peaked at $211,669 for Albion in 2004 (down $44,466 to $167,203 in 2018). Medina dropped $19,781 from $173,592 in 2002 to –$153,811 in 2018.

Holley hit a high of $62,549 in 2002 – 16 years later it’s down by $16,671 to $45,878. Lyndonville was at $18,592 in 2002 and has slid to $15,349 in 2018.

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Orleans votes to keep tax exemption for Cold War veterans

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2017 at 10:14 am

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature on Wednesday voted to continue a tax exemption for Cold War veterans. The exemption was due to expire on March 31, 2018, but no longer has an expiration date.

The county enacted the exemption 10 years ago and it was due to sunset. The exemption is good for up to 10 percent or a maximum of $4,000 off the assessed value of a property.

With a county tax rate of about $10 per $1,000 of assessed property, the maximum exemption would save a Cold War veteran about $40 in county taxes.

There are about 100 veterans in the county currently receiving the exemption, said Dawn Allen, the county’s director of Real Property Tax Services Department.

Earl Schmidt, the director of the county’s Veterans Service Agency, has been pushing county officials to renew the exemption. During a public hearing last month, Schmidt said some counties may have a gap in the exemption due to it expiring. He doesn’t want that to happen in Orleans County.

The exemption is good for eligible veterans who served in the military from Sept. 2, 1945 to Dec. 26, 1991.

The exemption also includes up to $20,000 off the assessment value for property owned by disabled veterans.

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State has approved 500 breakwalls for Orleans property owners after lake flooding

Photos by Tom Rivers: Spencer Pilon of Pilon Construction in Albion stands by a new breakwall in Kendall on Lomond Shores West. This is one of 30 breakwalls Pilon has put in this year after flooding tore apart many older breakwalls and eroded large chucks of the shoreline.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2017 at 9:56 am

48 are complete or under construction with much work to be done in 2018

Pilon Construction has created this path to move heavy equipment to the shoreline to install a new breakwall in Kendall.

KENDALL – Pilon Construction went about the tricky task of getting heavy equipment in a narrow lane on Lomond Shores West in Kendall on Wednesday. The company put in swamp pads and steel plates to move an excavator and dump trucks to the shore, where about 600 tons of stone will be placed to protect property.

Pilon has put in 30 breakwalls this year and expects to do at least that many next year.

“We’re trying to give the residents some peace of mind,” Spencer Pilon said on Wednesday, when waves pounded the shoreline.

The historic flooding from Lake Ontario this year has chewed away large chunks of backyards along the shoreline. Spencer Pilon has been heading the breakwall effort for Pilon Construction. In some cases this year, he gave an estimate for a homeowner and had to come back a couple days later after more feet of property was lost.

He and a crew from Pilon have been building break walls full-time since May. While they were working, detached decks and other large lumber sometime floated by.

Pilon said his father and grandfather put in many of the breakwalls on the shoreline about 40 years ago. This year the lake has been punishing the shoreline since April, prompting a “state of emergency” declaration by the towns of Kendall, Carlton and Yates, as well as Orleans County and New York State.

The State Legislature approved a $15 million fund to provide assistance for lakeshore homeowners with property damage, capping the grants at $50,000. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is looking to increase that amount due to demand.

In Orleans County, about 500 applications have been approved. The governor has said all of the approved applications should be funded.

So far, 48 projects are complete or under construction in the county, said Chris Raymond, deputy for Housing Rehabilitation Programs for the PathStone Corporation. PathStone has been hired by the state to administer the program in Orleans County.

In addition to the 48 projects, 57 homeowners paid for their projects with their own money or loans and are waiting for additional funding from the state for reimbursement, Raymond said.

The top photo shows a property on Lomond Shores West in Kendall without a breakwall. Pilon Construction has the site prepped for about 600 tons of stone. The bottom photo shows a complete breakwall that Pilon recently put in.

Of the applications submitted, 10 were denied. The state set a threshold for income if the damaged property was a secondary home. If the total annual income of the occupants exceeded $275,000, they weren’t eligible for a grant.

The state has given priority to funding for senior citizens and disabled residents, with higher emphasis given if the projects involved septic systems or flooding in the house. Damage to the shoreline is considered less of a priority.

Many of the houses are located on narrow roads like Lomond Shores. The houses are close together and the yards are muddy. That makes it difficult to move the heavy equipment needed to do the jobs.

“Half the battle is getting in,” Pilon said on Wednesday.

The swamp pads and steel plates create a temporary path that helps to minimize damage to the yards and septic systems, while allowing the excavator and trucks to get near the shore.

Pilon brings in some big boulders that are 3 to 6 tons each. Those are used as the exterior wall and as the base. Smaller rocks then fill in the breakwall. Pilon doesn’t just aimlessly drop big stones by the edge of the lake. He said the tiered approach – big stones on the exterior wall and as the base with smaller stones on top – help the wall to absorb the hits from the waves.

Pilon said the company expects to be busy with the breakwalls in 2018 and perhaps beyond.

PathStone said there are many properties awaiting work.

“It looks like a year-plus to address every property,” Raymond said. “PathStone is presently concentrating our efforts and the state’s money on properties close to the lake with no/minimal shoreline protection, low lying homes or eroded, undercut cliffs.”

The deadline to apply for the residential projects passed in September, but there is still time for businesses and non-profits to seek state and federal assistance for damages from the flooding. Click here and here for more information.

Big stones are part of a new breakwall at left in Kendall.

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Treasurer leaves office with much deeper reserves for county

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2017 at 8:28 am

John DeFilipps, chairman of the Orleans County Legislature, presents a “Special Recognition Award” on Wednesday to Susan Heard, who is retiring after 24 years as county treasurer.

ALBION – When Susan Heard took office as county treasurer in January 1994, the county needed to take out a $975,000 revenue anticipation note to help with cash flow.

The county was in that position other times early in her career. But as the years went by, Heard was determined to boost the county’s reserves. On Wednesday she gave her treasurer’s report to the County Legislature. The county has a cash balance of nearly $10 million.

“This is what I’ve been doing the past 24 years,” she told legislators.

That $9,877,873 on Wednesday compares to $1,957,272 in January 1994, with the amount 24 years ago including the $975,000 that was borrowed.

Heard retires on Dec. 31 after 24 years as treasurer. She was chosen by peers as a county treasurer of the year. She worked in the Treasurer’s Office for 16 years prior to that. She is taking that 40 years of experience to a new job as Gaines Town Clerk.

On Wednesday, county legislators praised her “commendable service and dedication to the County of Orleans.”

She was presented a “Special Recognition Award.” Heard has said she serves as the “watchdog” of the county’s finances, an annual budget of about $65 million with hundreds of line items.

“Through your extreme professionalism serving as our Orleans County Treasurer, our county has benefitted from your extensive knowledge and service,” the citation reads from the Legislature. “Your fiscal oversight to Orleans County and beyond is widespread and long lasting. The Orleans County Legislature does hereby wish you success and happiness in all of your future endeavors, along with thanking you for your service and dedication to the county you were raised in.”

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Deadlines approach for businesses to seek aid from Lake Ontario flooding

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Lake Ontario shoreline in Kendall is pounded by waves today. High lake levels and windy conditions had waves smashing against the shoreline.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 December 2017 at 7:37 pm

Applications are due soon for businesses assistance for losses from the Lake Ontario flooding this year.

Businesses may be eligible for state and federal assistance.

“Lake Ontario’s devastating flooding has caused a great deal of hardship, both emotional and financial, for many residents and business owners along the shoreline,” said State Assemblyman Steve Hawley. “Fortunately, there are many resources available to aid in recovery, and I encourage all residents and business owners to keep a close eye on the upcoming deadlines and submit their applications accordingly. As always throughout this difficult time, my office is available to assist in this process so please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.”

Applications for New York’s Small Business Recovery Fund through Empire State Development are due on December 29, 2017 and more information can be found by clicking here. Eligible private non-profit organizations can also receive funding through the U.S. Small Business Administration. Applications are due by January 16, 2018 and more information can be found by clicking here.

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