Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A motorist turns from West Park Street onto Main Street in Albion this evening at about 8:30. Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess issued at travel advisory at 3:30 p.m. today. He is lifting the advisory at 11 p.m.
“Drivers should continue to use caution due to slippery conditions and also in isolated areas of poor visibility due to blowing and drifting snow,” Hess said.
Photos by Tom Rivers – A Village of Albion plow truck is on East Park Street, preparing to turn on Platt Street. It’s been a busy day for the DPWs and highway departments.
It has been snowing almost constantly since this morning, but the snow has slowed its pace and it should taper off tonight, the National Weather Service advised.
A travel advisory remains in effect for Orleans County. I went for a walk by the Courthouse Square around 8:30 p.m. There was hardly any traffic out. I saw more plow trucks than other vehicles.
Main Street was mostly deserted. Here is a photo looking south by the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. The historic marker notes that journalist Terry Anderson grew up in Albion.
The First Presbyterian Church shrugs off the latest winter storm. The church was built in 1874 from local Medina sandstone. It has endured many winters. The Orleans County Courthouse, built in 1858, is the focal point of the district that is named to the National Register of Historic Places.
The snow shows off the sandstone blocks in the Presbyterian Church.
A plow truck heads up Route 98 in front of the Presbyterian Church.
The County Treasurer’s Office looks peaceful after about a foot of snow fell today.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Brian Christiaansen, owner of the Mark’s Pizzeria in Albion, gets ready for the onslaught of orders later for the Super Bowl. Christiaansen also owns the Mark’s Pizzerias in Medina and Newfane.
ALBION – The biggest game of the year is also the busiest day for many local pizzerias. They have all of the employees working today, preparing pizza and chicken wings, with a fleet of drivers ready to make deliveries.
“It’s like cooking the Thanksgiving dinner for everybody,” said Ken Printup, owner of Uncle Sal’s Place in Albion.
With nearly two decades in business in Albion, Printup said he and his staff of 17 employees have the frantic pace of the Super Bowl down to a science, doing prep work and managing the kitchen to get the orders out for the game.
“The first few years we did half as much as we do now, but there was twice as much chaos,” he said. “We’ve got it down now.”
The Super Bowl is his biggest day, followed by Thanksgiving Eve and then Halloween, Printup said.
At Mark’s Pizzeria in Albion, employees and owner Brian Christiaansen started at 9 this morning, after a busy day on Saturday prepping for today. Christiaansen has his entire staff of 27 working in Albion today, including 14 delivery drivers. He also owns the Mark’s sites in Medina and Newfane.
“This is by far our busiest day,” he said. The action peaks between 4 and 7 p.m.
Dan Passalacqua, co-owner of Avanti Pizza in Albion and Medina, said Avanti is actually busiest on Halloween and Christmas Eve. But today will be huge.
“It’s all hands on deck,” he said. “It will have its challenges because everybody wants their pizza before game time. We’ll just keep going until the phone stops ringing.”
They showed up in force in Albany on Monday, in what has become known as the annual “Tin Cup Brigade.” Leaders of cities with big problems: shrinking tax bases and populations, and rising costs for pensions, employee benefits and mounting infrastructure needs. The mayors of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Yonkers and New York City all demanded more help from the state.
“Let’s make this the year that the state steps up to the plate when it comes to investing in public safety at the community level,” Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said at a joint legislative hearing about the state budget. “Let’s make this the year when we start to make our cities strong and truly livable again.”
The mayors painted a picture of despair – deteriorating neighborhoods and loss of businesses and residents – while also sharing hope that the cities would be stronger with more state funding.
They were hammering at the Aid and Incentives for Municipalities, a program that provides $715 million in state money to cities, villages and towns. The cities already get the lion’s share of that money – far more in per capita dollars than the towns and villages. (Click here for an Orleans Hub article on Monday detailing the disparity.)
Most small cities get between $100 and $200 per person. In villages of similar size, the per capita aid from the state generally ranges from $5 to $10. Big cities get even more per capita. Buffalo, the second biggest city after New York City, gets $617 per person.
Orleans Hub wrote about this glaring inequity on Monday. That was also the day the Assembly and Senate held the joint hearing in Albany about local government.
I’ve tried to find out why the cities’ per capita aid is so much more than villages, despite their comparable services and comparable problems. I still haven’t got any good answers.
But I think the main reason may be the mayors of the cities aren’t afraid to ask for the money. They go to Albany and demand it.
The same hearing on Monday didn’t include a mayor from a village. (Click here to see the list of speakers.) The city leaders also were on the radio and television, trying to make their case for more money. I don’t think the state legislators realize how unfair the state aid sharing is, and I don’t think they know the depth of distress in the villages. No village voice is heard in Albany, advocating for these places.
The big cities are led by professional politicians making six-figure incomes with huge staffs to draft speeches and line up media appearances. The villages have mayors who typically are working other full-time jobs. These mayors make less than $10,000 a year. They don’t have assistants. They drive themselves and don’t have security.
The state legislators should insist on hearing from some of the mayors from these upstate villages.
Warren, the Rochester mayor, noted that her city gets less per capita than others, including Buffalo. However, at more than $400 per person, Rochester gets far more per capita than the $6.41 for village of Albion residents.
I agree with this statement from Warren: “Let’s make this the year that we work together to come up with a needs-based AIM aid formula that provides equitable assistance to all.” That should apply to the villages as well as the cities, Mrs. Mayor.
Orleans Hub’s editorial on Monday detailed the unfairness in state aid per capita for cities versus villages. Small cities get far more than villages, despite functioning in largely the same ways. However, the cities get about 20-to-1 more in aid per capita.
Take the city of Salamanca, population 5,815. It gets $928,131 in state aid or $159.61 per person. The village of Albion, population 6,056, gets a measly $38,811 or $6.41 per person. The village of Medina and its 6,065 residents get $45,523 or $7.51 per person.
I’ve had trouble sleeping since discovering the state-sponsored discrimination against the village people over the weekend. I’m so angry and outraged about it, knowing that fair treatment from the state would have prevented some of the devastation in these upstate villages.
The state has been shafting these communities, leading to their demise. If the villages, many with full-time police and myriad of other services, were on par with cities like Salamanca, we would have much different places. They would be much healthier places with smaller tax rates, updated infrastructure and higher property values. It wouldn’t feel like these places are falling apart.
Many of those familiar with upstate villages will recall grander, more prosperous days. I often hear people reminisce about Albion as “the place to be.” Yes, we have lost major industries, and the loss of well-paying jobs has hurt these communities.
But the state’s feeble aid has been a dagger in the heart. It’s year after year of neglect and indifference. And the governor has the gall to lecture these places that he rarely sets foot in about controlling expenses and reducing layers of government.
The main problem for these villages is a state government big on lectures and mandates, with no money to back it up.
The latest unemployment news from the state Department of Labor shows a marked improvement in the unemployment rate in Orleans County, compared to a year earlier. However, Orleans still ranks among the counties with the highest jobless rates in the state.
Orleans County had a 10.9 percent unemployment rate in December 2012. That fell to 8.5 percent in November 2013, and then to 8.4 percent last month.
The counties with the four highest rates include Bronx, 10.6 percent; Hamilton, 9.1 percent; Jefferson, 9.1 percent; and Lewis, 8.9 percent.
The following have the lowest unemployment rates: Tompkins County, 4.1 percent; Nassau, 4.8 percent, Putnam, 4.8 percent; and Rockland, 4.9 percent.
The state DOL report shows a growing private sector job count, up 109,900 from December 2012 to December 2013. The state’s unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in December 2013, which was down from 7.4 percent in November.
The unemployment rates for other rural GLOW counties include 6.1 percent for both Genesee and Livingston, and 7.3 percent for Wyoming.
The five school districts in Orleans County are all closed today due to dangerously cold temperatures. It is sub-zero outside and the wind gives a wind chill of minus-25.
The districts however will offer the Regents exams, including transportation for high school students taking those tests.
“We have several students that have prepared for it,” Lyndonville Superintendent Jason Smith said about the Regents. “It’s a one-shot deal for them and we have students trying to get an advanced score.”
Albion has cancelled classes for grades kindergarten through 8. High schoolers were off this week anyway, except for Regents. The high school bus is delayed two hours. The morning exams start at 10 with the afternoon tests at noon.
Smith, the Lyndonville superintendent, kept school open on Monday with a two-hour delay. With today’s closing, Lyndonville has now used up four snow days. To accommodate for those days, a March 14 Superintendent’s Conference Day has been changed to an early release day.
The districts need to provide a minimum of 180 days instruction, according to state law. If districts use up all of their snow days, they may have to adjust the school calendar, including scheduled vacation days. Smith said that would be a last resort.
“We should still be OK, but we’re hanging on by a string,” he said.
Medina has closed school today due to the biting cold temperatures and wind.
Holley, Kendall and Lyndonville are on a two-hour delay.
Albion Central School is closed, but if the weather improves, Albion will have the Regents exams and will run busses two hours late. That announcement, on whether or not there will be Regents today, will be made at 7 a.m.
Photos by Tom Rivers – A reading room at a domestic violence shelter in Orleans County has been dedicated to Susan Reynolds, a volunteer and supporter of the shelter and its residents. Reynolds died on Oct. 27.
At least once a month for two years, Susan Reynolds arrived with gifts – gas money, toiletries, quilts, pillow cases and hand-stitched bags.
Reynolds, a retired school counselor from Hilton, had a heart for the residents at a domestic violence shelter in Orleans County. She was active in two quilting guilds and she convinced the members to donate gifts to the shelter in Orleans. (The Hub isn’t disclosing the location.)
“No one was as dedicated as Sue,” said Margie Aldaco, the shelter’s administrator.
Reynolds died on Oct. 23. Last Saturday Aldaco and PathStone dedicated the reading room in the shelter in memory of Reynolds.
“What a loss,” Aldaco said about Reynolds. “We’re so sad. She never wanted recognition for anything. She wouldn’t even take a tax receipt. I just felt an overwhelming need to recognize her.”
Reynolds considered volunteering and giving to shelters in Monroe County. But the Brockport resident turned to Orleans County.
“She felt the larger cities have more resources and get more help,” Aldaco said.
Margie Aldaco, administrator of the safe dwelling in Orleans County, stands by a room dedicated in memory of Susan Reynolds.
Aldaco has worked there for 10 years. When she started there were three employees at the site. Now it’s just Aldaco. PathStone has been forced to cut back due to budget constraints.
The shelter has three apartment units for families to stay up to 90 days until longer-term housing can be secured. The safe dwelling provides privacy, court advocacy, Internet computer access, a support group, transportation and other services.
Aldaco works with battle-scarred residents, connecting them to support in the community. Many of the residents in the shelter have suffered physical, emotional and mental abuse.
“Sometimes they are more broken from the verbal abuse than the physical after so many years of being told you’re worthless,” Aldaco said.
Aldaco secured a new grant that pays for pet care. Often women and families in abusive situations will not leave because they worry about their pets. PathStone has a grant that will pay for pet boarding at the Olde Dogge Inn.
Aldaco welcomes “serious, committed volunteers” for the safe dwelling. For more information, contact her at 589-8733 or 1-866-314-SAFE.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County Legislator Don Allport said he is fully behind the push to sell the county-owned nursing home, saying the site will be better run by a private company and will spare county taxpayers an annual deficit in the millions. He is speaking at a Legislative Luncheon today at The Village Inn.
GAINES – Orleans County Legislator Don Allport didn’t mince words today when asked questions during a Legislative Luncheon organized by the Chamber of Commerce.
About the push to sell the county nursing home, a sale that could be acted on next month: “I am completely in support of this sale,” he told about 75 people at the luncheon. “I’m adamantly against government being involved in the healthcare system. The private sector does it better.”
Allport said the nursing home could ring up a $3.4 million deficit this year. The 120-bed facility is a burden on taxpayers, he said.
If a three-person local development corporation votes next month to accept a purchase offer for the nursing home, the deal isn’t done. The sale needs to be reviewed by the state Department of Health, and that could take a year or more.
Once the sale is final, Allport said county taxpayers “will see a significant cut in taxes.”
The Villages of Orleans will also go on the tax rolls, perhaps boosting the village, town, county and school district assessments by $5 to $10 million, Allport said.
The switch to a private owner should ensure the site stays opens for years to come, he said. The county can’t afford the steep losses. He expects the service will improve under a private operator that is focused on nursing home care.
“Give it to someone who knows what they’re doing,” Allport said. “Because government doesn’t.”
Allport of Gaines was the county’s representative during the Legislative Luncheon that included state legislators George Maziarz and Steve Hawley. (They’ll be featured in a separate article.)
Allport was critical of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature for enacting a property tax cap about three years ago that did not provide significant mandate relief for local governments. Mediciad and eight other state mandated programs account for more than 100 percent of the county property tax bill, Allport said.
He was asked about whether Cuomo is jockeying to run for president, and whether that would be good or bad for the county.
“I don’t think America is foolish enough to put someone in that position who lied about mandate relief,” Allport said.
He also said the governor took an oath to uphold the Constitution and violated it by pushing through the SAFE Act, which Allport said infringes on Second Amendment rights.
In New York, Democrats have a major enrollment edge over Republicans for state-wide offices. New York is still a high-profile state, and many of the political talking heads speculate Cuomo’s policy pushes are aimed for a higher office.
Allport said he worries for the country if Cuomo or another liberal Democrat was elected U.S. president.
“Oh Lord, help us if we go down the road and a New Yorker ever becomes president.”
ALBION – Village and county officials agree that the Orleans County Major Felonies Crime Task Force is a success in deploying a team of officers with specialized training to target drugs and major crimes.
The Task Force includes an officer from Albion, Medina and Holley police departments and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department.
Since the Task Force formed about a decade ago, a reoccurring issue has been how to best fund the operation. The county pays $50,000 towards the salaries of the Albion and Medina officers, and Holley receives $25,000 for its part-time officer assigned to the Task Force.
Albion and Medina have asked for either more funding for its officer or assurances that the officers’ overtime can be contained.
A new year has started for the task force and the Medina and Albion village boards have yet to sign off on the contract with the county.
The contract proposal says the two villages will receive $50,000 towards the officer. The contract then asks each village to commit to $2,500 in overtime.
Albion Mayor Dean Theodorakos said he would be thrilled if Albion only had to pay $2,500 towards the officer overtime, which village officials said often reaches $8,000 to $10,000 or more annually.
Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni said he thinks the contract is asking the village to commit to at least $2,500 in overtime, as well as any OT costs that exceed that. He said the contract hasn’t always been clear and is interpreted differently among the Task Force’s board of directors.
The Task Force board includes the police chiefs, sheriff, mayors of the three villages, some county legislators and District Attorney Joe Cardone. The group meets Jan. 31 to talk about the funding issue.
“It all comes down to money,” Nenni said Wednesday after the Village Board discussed the issue.
Nenni said it costs about $80,000 annually to have a full-time officer on the Task Force. That includes the salary, overtime and benefits.
The county’s $50,000 to Albion and Medina for a dedicated officer on the Task Force has not changed in a decade. The county tried to drop that to $25,000 last year, but the villages protested.
Medina would like to see the $50,000 increased because the officer is working on issues county-wide, and sometimes works outside the county. Assigning an officer from the village police departments also takes an officer away from those departments, sometimes leading to increased overtime costs for the village police.
Medina assigns an officer to the school district for about 10 months a year and the district pays $60,000 to the village for that officer. The district tries to cover the full cost of having an officer there for 10 months.
The Task Force arrangement right now pays about 63 percent of the Albion costs. Albion Trustee Kevin Sheehan said the county should at least cap the overtime to the villages at perhaps $7,500. If the officer exceeds that cap, the county should pick up the difference, Sheehan said.
Sheehan would also like to see funds from the forfeiture account be used to help reduce the villages’ overtime costs for officers on the Task Force.
Some of those funds are paying for a $20,000 renovation to the Task Force’s headquarters at the Public Safety Building.
Nenni urged the Village Board members to attend the Jan. 31 meeting and state their case.
“If you want it, go there and ask for it,” Nenni said.
ALBION – The Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation is “very close” to choosing a buyer for the 120-bed county nursing home, Chuck Nesbitt, the county chief administrative officer, said this morning.
The corporation was created by the County Legislature last February. The Legislature transferred ownership of The Villages of Orleans to the HFC and tasked the group with finding a buyer for the site.
The Legislature appointed former Yates Town Supervisor Russ Martino to serve as the group’s chairman. He is joined on the three-person board by former Gaines Town Supervisor Richard DeCarlo and Richard Moy, the current Clarendon town supervisor.
They are scheduled to meet today at 1:30 at the Health Department building next to the nursing home on Route 31. The group will meet behind closed doors to discuss the purchase offers for The Villages of Orleans.
Nesbitt is working with the group to make the decision. He doesn’t expect the group to decide today, but the board could make the decision next month.
The HFC narrowed the bids to two firms. One is Mordy Lahasky, Benjamin Fuchs and Benjamin Landa, which has multiple facilities in the Albany, Long Island and New York City. The other group is led by Kenneth Rozenberg and has multiple facilities across New York State.
The HFC will pick the buyer. The County Legislature gave the HFC that authority last Feburary when the nursing home was transferred to the local development corporation.
The sale will need final approval from the state Department of Health, and that review often takes a year or more to go through Albany.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed an $807 million increase in education aid for schools in 2014-15, a 3.8 percent increase. That includes about $1.6 million more in operating aid for five districts in Orleans County and about $3.5 million more in overall funding, including building aid.
The governor also proposed a $2 billion “Smarts Schools” initiative that would add technology to schools, including high-speed Internet. The initiative also invests in classroom space for full-day pre-kindergarten.
The five Orleans districts would get $7.25 million of the Smart Schools money as part of a budget proposal unveiled today by Cuomo. Albion would receive $2,228,441 in Smart Schools funding, with the Holley at $1,311,463, Kendall at $967,959, Lyndonville at $733,151 and Medina, $2,000,222.
The State Legislature will weigh in on the budget, which has an April 1 deadline to be adopted.
Here are the numbers for each district:
Albion’s overall aid would increase 2.05 percent or by $488,487, increasing from $23,817,833 to $24,306,320. That includes building aid. The operating aid would be up $455,093 to $21,552,139.
Holley would see an overall increase of 15.65 percent or by $1,973,600 – from $12,608,780 to $14,582,380. That is driven by the state’s share in a capital improvement project at the school. Holley’s operating aid is up by $153,466 or 1.3 percent to $11,775,746.
Kendall’s overall aid increases by 3.8 percent or $345,342 from $8,899,710 to $9,245,052. Its operating aid would rise 3.0 percent to $8,620,585.
Lyndonville actually sees a slight drop in its overall state aid, according to the governor’s budget proposal. The district’s aid would decrease 0.2 percent or $15,890 from $7,813,809 to $7,797,919. Lyndonville’s operating aid would increase by $946 or by 0.1 percent to $6,348,586.
Medina would see a 3.8 percent increase or $736,887 more in overall aid, going $22,431,071 to $23,167,953. The district’s operating aid would increase 3.3 percent to $19,250,084.
The governor also proposed $1.5 billion over five years for full-day pre-kindergarten, $720 million over five years to expand after-school programs, and teacher excellence awards that would provide up to $20,000 in annual compensation for teachers that are rated “highly effective.”
Timothy G. Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association, said the budget is “austere,” and doesn’t meet the $1.5 billion in state aid needed to maintain existing programs at 700 districts across the state.
“While the governor’s budget contains many laudable issues such as state-funded universal prekindergarten and after-school programs, his state aid allocation falls way short of the mark,” Kremer said.
He said he hopes the state Legislature will boost the state aid increase from the $807 million proposed by Cuomo.
David Lewis
ALBION – The leader of the board of directors for the Orleans Economic Development Agency is stepping down after eight years in the position.
David Lewis of Waterport has agreed to stay on the seven-member board, but he will not continue as chairman of the EDA. He has been on the board for 15 years. The EDA board is expected to pick a new chairman at its Feb. 14 meeting.
Lewis is retired from Kodak as a senior research associate. He traveled the world for the company, and chose to settle in Waterport at Oak Orchard on the Lake.
He was praised by EDA officials for a steady hand and calm demeanor leading the organization through staff restructuring early on as chairman.
“He’s been a great chairman,” said Jim Whipple, CEO of the Orleans EDA. “He’s a very easygoing, level-headed guy who doesn’t get fazed.”
With Lewis as chairman, the EDA helped facilitate one of the biggest economic development projects in the county’s history, the construction of a $90 million ethanol plant in Medina in 2007.
“That was huge,” Lewis said. “Watching that was just incredible.”
The plant uses about 20 million bushels of corn annually to produce about 55 million gallons of ethanol. It has a big ripple effect in the agricultural industry, giving farmers an insatiable buyer for corn locally. Many farmers have invested in new grain storage facilities and improved land since the ethanol plant opened.
The EDA has worked with many developers and companies with projects in the county in recent years. It also has kept up a commitment for a small business program, providing businesses with training and low-interest loans.
The agency has worked with some larger companies to access state grants and loans, and also to get a discount on property taxes.
“We need to do whatever we can to create employment,” Lewis said. “I think we’re doing the best we can.”
The agency will soon have a new chairman. It also is looking to fill one vacancy.
Orleans County legislators George Bower and Ken Rush were the legislative representatives on the board, but both didn’t seek re-election in November.
They have been replaced on the EDA board with new legislators, John DeFilipps of Clarendon and Ken DeRoller of Kendall. DeRoller was already on the board as an at-large member. That spot is now vacant. The Legislature will appoint someone to fill that spot.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Troops at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station will be receiving 184 packages from Orleans County with playing cards, candy, powdered drink mixes and some toiletries.
Four American Legion posts and Community Action of Orleans & Genesee gathered all of the items and then packed them in camoflauge pouches donated by the Salvation Army.
Larry Montello, left, is first vice commander for the Legion in Orleans County. He’s also commander of the post in Medina and a driver for Community Action. He is pictured this morning with Darien Rhodes, center, of Community Action and Andy Ebbs, maintenance supervisor for Community Action.
The trio loaded a Community Action bus with the pouches. They will be delivered to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station by veteran Becky Hucknall. Anni Skowneski, case manager for Community Action, also assisted in the effort.
The Legion and Community Action have worked together in recent years with the “Treats for Troops” program. In the past they have delivered the items to the Armory in Lockport, Fort Drum and Niagara Falls.
“We’ve been trying to spread the wealth,” Montello said.
Press release, New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, Inc.
ALBION – A corrections officer was injured Saturday at the Orleans Correctional Facility by an inmate with apparent mental health issues, the New York Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association reported.
On Saturday at about 1:10 a.m., an inmate rushed onto a podium in a dorm that houses 60 inmates. He quickly placed an officer into a headlock, and began screaming, “They are after me, I’m gonna kill you!”
The inmate tried to grab the officer’s telephone. The officer was able to call for backup assistance. Throughout this whole incident, until responding officers could place the inmate in mechanical restraints, the inmate was screaming, “I’m God. I will kill everyone!”
The officer sustained back injuries, as well as a laceration on his arm due to his struggle with this inmate, said Mike Dildine, vice president of NYSCOPBA Western Region.
This is another incident in a medium security prison where an officer was assaulted by an inmate who belongs in a maximum security facility, Dildine said.
There were more than 100 assaults on staff in 2013 than in the previous year, although there were less inmates in the system, NYSCOPBA said.
The group said the state’s prisons are becoming more dangerous for corrections officers due to Gov. Cuomo’s policy of closing prisons, combined with State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s policy of housing some violent inmates in double-bunk situations.
