Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – If you’ve driven past the Orleans County Courthouse, you may have noticed a stone marker with a plaque at the corner of East State and Main streets, on the northwest corner of the Courthouse lawn.

I’ve never seen anyone stop to look at the marker. I checked it out and the marker, affixed to a slab of sandstone, commemorates the planting of a new tree in celebration of the country’s 200^th birthday. The tree was actually planted in the fall of 1975, a few months beofre the bicentennial.

The former Orleans County Board of Supervisors picked a tree as a lasting celebration of the country’s 200th anniversary.

Several of our towns have recently marked their 200^th birthdays, with Ridgeway the most recent. That town officially was established in 1812.

Other towns and villages have milestone birthdays on the horizon. I would encourage them to follow the county’s example and plant a tree to mark the occasion.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Dee Adams and Dave Kimball perform last night in Boiler 54 in the back of the former R.H. Newell Shirt Factory.

Last summer Andrew Meier opened the Boiler 54, an open-air music and performance venue in the back of the R.H. Newell Shirt Factory building on West Center Street.

Musicians have come from Ithaca, Buffalo, Rochester and Orleans and Niagara counties to play at the Boiler.

Last night, Dee Adams and Dave Kimball of Buffalo performed for more than two hours in Medina. Adams declared the venue “very special.”

Music lovers can choose from the Shirt Factory Café menu and can also order alcohol.

“You used to have to go to Buffalo or Rochester to hear this caliber of music,” said Judy Clonan-Smith, who is helping to book the bands. “This is such a beautiful setting.”

She encouraged the community to attend the concerts and support live music.

Amy Sidari last month opened the Cabaret at Studio B at Gotta Dance by Miss Amy. She is using one of the studios for an entertainment venue. Albion graduate Jackie Madejski performed Broadway and Pops songs last night. Madejski just finished her first year as a theater major at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Photos by Michael Karcz – Albion resident and college theater major Jackie Madejski performs last night at the Cabarat at Studio B.

Jackie two years ago gave an unforgettable performance as the lead in Peter Pan at Albion.

Sidari wants to showcase local talent and also draw performers from Rochester and Buffalo. She is hoping the cabaret can also boost traffic for other downtown businesses.

Madejski was accompanied on piano by Gary Simboli.

ALBION – Orleans County officials will head to court on Tuesday for the initial court appearance in a new lawsuit filed by the CSEA employees union, which seeks to stop the county’s push to sell The Villages of Orleans, a county-owned nursing home on Route 31.

A previous lawsuit filed by citizens in the county failed to sway Acting State Supreme Court Justice James Punch. And two other lawsuits in other counties filed by the CSEA also failed to convince judges.

Orleans County officials have declined to publicly comment on the latest lawsuit, filed July 10. (Click here to read an earlier article from Orleans Hub on that lawsuit.)

However, I talked with county officials, and they are confident the county’s decision to create a local development corporation, charged with finding a suitable buyer for the nursing home, will be upheld. They point to two cases in other counties.

In Onondaga County, a judge in May rejected the CSEA’s lawsuit trying to block the transfer and eventual sale of Onondaga County’s Van Duyn nursing home. (Click here to see an article from the Syracuse Post Standard about the lawsuit.)

State Supreme Court Judge Donald Greenwood ruled against the union. CSEA argued the county acted illegally when it transferred the nursing home to a county-created development corporation as an interim step toward selling the home.

Onondaga County officials said the nursing home faced multi-million-dollar annual deficits. That’s the argument presented in Orleans County, where county leaders say the nursing home could approach $2 to $4 million annual deficits.

CSEA has filed a notice of appeal in the Onondaga case.

In Saratoga County, a State Supreme Court judge last month dismissed a lawsuit by CSEA trying to prevent the county from selling the publicly owned Maplewood Manor. The union contested the county illegally transferred a county asset to the LDC while the nursing home remained a public use.

Supreme Court Justice Robert Chauvin ruled that CSEA had no grounds to sue over the county’s privatization plan.

“The factual allegations within the petition do not set forth any alleged illegal actions,” Chauvin wrote. “The allegations within the petition fail to establish any basis of standing and fail to present a justiciable controversy or otherwise set forth a basis for relief.

(Click here to see a report from The Ballston Journal.)

The union is considering an appeal in that case.

Bower of Holley is the current vice chairman

HOLLEY – Twice a week George Bower babysits his only great-grandchild.

“I absolutely love it,” Bower said. “It keeps me young.”

Bower, 76, relishes time with his family. He has been a steady presence at Holley school events for years, cheering on his grandchildren who play soccer, basketball and other sports.

He has tried to balance his family life with a career at Kodak and public service. He was a Murray town justice for 21 years before he was elected to the Orleans County Legislature in 1989. At nearly 24 years on the Legislature, he is the longest-serving member of the group, with Chairman David Callard two years behind.

But Bower, the Legislature’s current vice chairman, last week notified his colleagues and Republican Party leaders he won’t run again this election.

“It was really hard for me to get out,” Bower said on Wednesday. “But there comes a time. I’m fortunate I have really good health and I want to spend more time with my family.”

He plans to take more short trips with his wife Sandy, the county’s retired personnel director. Bower also wants to tend to a vegetable and flower garden.

He will continue to be a regular at Sam’s Diner in Holley, where he meets friends for breakfast almost every day.

He said he is proud of improvements to county facilities during his time on the Legislature. He noted the transformation of a former furniture store on Route 31 into the public safety building. The county has also upgraded its animal shelter, put on an addition and renovated the historic courthouse, and made a $10 million renovation and addition to the nursing home.

Bower last month was the lone legislator to oppose forming a local development corporation to be tasked with selling the 120-bed nursing home.

“Selling the nursing home that really bothers me,” he said. “That’s not the direction I think we should go.”

Bower was praised by Ed Morgan, the county GOP chairman, for his independence on the seven-member Legislature.

“Nobody agrees all the time,” Morgan said. “George would certainly speak when he has a concern on an issue.”

The GOP will endorse a candidate for the county-wide legislator position next month. The candidate has to live on the east side of the county in either Clarendon, Murray or Kendall. Morgan said John DeFilipps, a Clarendon town councilman the past decade, is interested in the part-time position.

Photos by Tom Rivers – The former McKenna and Orleans Sanitary landfills were built next to the Erie Canal in Albion, between Densmore and Transit roads.

ALBION – State and local environmental officials should soon have some answers about the contaminants – if there are any – in the Orleans Sanitary Landfill.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation will do a comprehensive test of groundwater at about 25 spots on the 35-acre OSL, which closed about 20 years ago. The DEC also will test water at the manholes were the landfill was being pumped.

A fund that paid to have leachate – garbage juice – pumped, hauled and treated at the Albion sewer plant was depleted in 2009. Since then, the landfill hasn’t been pumped.

Local and state officials want to know if the water at the site is dangerous, just in case the liner fails or the water spreads off site.

The DEC has hired a contractor to sample water for metals, volatile hydrocarbons, turbidity and other characteristics.

“When you test at a landfill there’s not any one thing you’re looking for,” said Dan Schuth, manager of the Soil and Water Conservation District in Orleans County.

The site was built to accept municipal waste so there shouldn’t be dangerous chemicals and pollution at OSL. However, a previous operator was fined for accepting garbage after hours.

“They will do a broad test of the water so we know what’s there in case it leaches out,” Schuth said.

He credited local state legislators for pressing the issue with the DEC to do the testing. A local citizens’ group, Stop Polluting Orleans County, also has been lobbying for the testing and for maintenance at the site.

A closed gate near Transit Road blocks access to the McKenna Landfill, which is a Superfund site. Neither McKenna or the Orleans Sanitary Landfill are currently being pumped of leachate.

Not only is OSL no longer being pumped, but the neighboring McKenna Landfill, an 18-acre site that is on the Superfund, also stopped being pumped about two months ago. The site will continue to have monitoring wells checked, Schuth said.

The state DEC wants to study the water quality at McKenna over a year to see if it’s necessary to continue pumping the leachate from the landfill and having it treated off site.

Albion town officials have been approached by Richard Penfold from Blasdell about a new landfill in the community, a project that was first proposed by Waste Management in the mid-1990s. The DEC approved a permit for Waste Management, but the Town Board later rejected the project, a decision that was upheld in court.

As part of its proposal for a new 78-acre landfill, Waste Management offered to take care of OSL and McKenna. Waste Management was leasing the property from John and Irene Smith, the former OSL owners, but that lease ended in 2011 and the site is back in the hands of the Smith’s bankrupt estate.

Ongoing care for the landfill should fall on the owners, DEC officials have said, but the Smiths declared bankruptcy.

Holley’s proposal for Downtown District also approved

ALBION The Orleans County Planning Board is supporting two projects in the town of Gaines – a farm labor project and art co-op.

The board on Thursday also backed a new Downtown District in the village of Holley and recommended the village revise its zoning text for downtown parking requirements.

In Gaines, Ray Burke is working to convert a single-family house at the corner of routes 98 and 104 into a co-op for high-end crafters and artists. Burke plans to add a driveway to the south of the building that will be accessible to Route 98. He is planning a parking area for 14 vehicles at 14386 Ridge Rd.

Burke is seeking a permit to run the business in the town’s commercial and historic overlay district. The Gaines ZBA will meet 7 p.m. Aug. 5 to vote on the project.

Burke and a group of volunteers have been working on the 3,000-square-foot house, which was built around 1840, for several months. He would like to be open “Fair Haven Treasures” in the fall, but that may be too ambitious, Burke told Gaines officials on July 2.

County planners said the project is “well-suited” for the Commercial/Historical District and has potential to complement the Cobblestone Society Museum complex.

Planners also supported Oded Kalir’s plan to add farmworker housing in Gaines at 13105 Eagle Harbor-Knowlesville Rd. Kalir, a fruit grower from Brockport, wants to convert an existing single-family house into farmworker housing. The house currently isn’t in an agricultural district but Kalir has applied to have it added to County Agricultural District No. 3.

Because the project isn’t in a certified ag district, he needs a permit. The house sits in a neighborhood with productive farmland, barns and other residences, planners noted.

In Holley, the Village Board has proposed a Downtown District that would include the Public Square, Thomas Street for numbered addresses 1 through 12, and the numbered addresses on Geddes Street Extension.

The zoning restrictions in the district will be similar to a Commercial District, except the downtown has more limited signage options and residential uses are not allowed in the first floor. Residential uses in the Downtown District will not be required to provide a minimum number of parking spaces. Residents may be authorized to use a municipal parking lot, according to the proposal.

Press release, NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association

ALBION – State investigators are looking into the possible poisoning of a correction officer at Orleans Correctional Facility on Wednesday. The apparent assault left the officer hospitalized for two days. It is not yet clear when he will be able to return to work.

The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon. The correction officer took a sip from a store-bought drink that he had been consuming throughout the day, and immediately noticed burning in his throat and became violently ill.

The officer was initially taken to Medina Memorial Hospital and later transported to Buffalo General, where he stayed for two days with pain in his mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach. Testing on the drink found PH-levels three-to-five times higher when compared to an untainted sample.

The dorm at the Orleans Correctional Facility where the incident took place was locked-down and searched immediately after the officer became ill. The New York State Police and Inspector General’s Office are now assisting with the investigation as well.

On Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state will close four more correctional facilities across the state, bringing the total of closures since the governor took office to 15.

“This incident at Orleans is just the latest proof that Gov. Cuomo and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision have an irresponsible approach to managing the budget of this public safety agency,” said Donn Rowe, President of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.

“The state wants to create the illusion that the system is rife with empty beds, but this is only made possible by double-bunking inmates. Instead of taking the opportunity to right-size the system – and make it safer for correction officers and inmates – the state continues to warehouse inmates by double-bunking and maintaining crowded and understaffed facilities,” Rowe said.

The incident follows a number of violent assaults at Orleans, reflecting a general rise in violence perpetrated against NYSCOPBA members statewide in recent years. Since 2011, while the overall number of inmate-on-officer assaults has gone down, the rate of assaults has actually increased.

The same statistical trend can also be seen in the number of inmate-on-inmate assaults and incidents of contraband being found in the possession of inmates. The trend points to the fact that while the inmate population has decreased, the state is housing a more violent inmate in medium security settings, like Orleans, the corrections officer union said.

Legislator doesn’t want county to pay for failing students

Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County’s costs towards community colleges have skyrocketed in recent years with most of the money going to Genesee Community College, pictured here at the main campus in Batavia.

ALBION – Orleans County has watched its budget for community colleges nearly triple in the past decade, jumping from $680,419 in 2004 to a budgeted $1.74 million in 2013.

“It’s growing at an alarming rate,” said Legislature Chairman David Callard. “It’s a serious situation. The costs are getting out of control.”

The county pays about a third of the tuition costs for county residents who attend community college. The state pays about a third and the students cover the other third.

More students have been enrolling at community colleges in the past decade. Genesee Community College is the most popular destination for Orleans residents who can choose between nearby GCC sites in Albion, Medina and Batavia.

GCC has worked to make classes and campuses more accessible to students, and the college has pushed “free” classes to high-achieving high school students in the summer. That marketing campaign bothers county leaders, who say the classes really aren’t free. Students don’t have to pay their share of tuition, but the county and state are still paying towards those classes.

Legislator George Bower, R-Holley, doesn’t want to see county dollars pay for courses that students fail or drop. He said he has asked GCC to provide a list of how many courses fall into that category, but hasn’t received the information. If students drop a class or fail it, Bower said the student should then foot the full cost of that course.

“I really don’t think our hard-working taxpayers should pay for students who fail,” Bower said during Wednesday’s Legislature meeting. “We still are paying and it has to stop.”

Legislators would like to see the community college funding formula changed so counties bear less of the costs. The state Legislature and governor would need to be involved to restructure the funding for community colleges.

“They should work to straighten out this damn mess,” Bower said.

June rate of 8.4 percent was down from 10.4 percent in 2012

ALBION – Orleans County’s unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent in June, down from 10.4 percent in June 2012. The state Department of Labor reported the county had 200 more people in the workforce in June, compared to the same month a year ago.

The county’s workforce grew by 300 people from May, when the unemployment rate was also 8.4 percent. That is higher than the state average of 7.5 percent.

New York’s economy is improving, based on the report that showed the state’s private sector job count increased by 110,500 from June 2012 to June 2013.

Other nearby rural counties also added jobs and cut their unemployment rates. Genesee is down to 6.2 percent unemployed, compared to 7.4 percent the previous year.

Wyoming County had an 8.2 percent unemployment rate in June 2012, and that fell to 7.2 percent last month. Livingston’s unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in June 2012, and dropped to 7.2 percent a month ago.

The Buffalo-Niagara region rate fell from 8.5 percent to 7.4 percent during the year, while the Rochester region rate was 7.0 percent, compared to 8.4 percent in June 2012.

The counties with the lowest rates include Saratoga and Tompkins at 5.7 percent, while Bronx County in NYC has the highest at 11.8 percent. In upstate, St. Lawrence County has the highest rate of unemployed at 9.6 percent.

To see the report from the state DOL, click here.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The CSEA union is backing a lawsuit that seeks to keep the 120-bed nursing home in Albion as a publicly owned facility.

ALBION – The union representing 135 county employees at The Villages has sued the county, the County Legislature, its Chairman David Callard, and a newly formed local development corporation that is charged with selling the 120-bed nursing home.

The lawsuit alleges the county improperly formed the LDC – the Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation – and the county’s fee title is invalid. The suit alleges other “arbitrary and capricious actions” and wrongdoing by the county, including efforts “to circumvent the stringent requirements of public health law.”

The lawsuit is the second that seeks to stop the county and its LDC from selling The Villages of Orleans. The first lawsuit, filed by local resident Mary Bannister and nursing home employee Dawn Hazel, contested the LDC was improperly created by the Legislature. Acting State Supreme Court Judge James Punch ruled in favor of the county last month.

The new lawsuit was filed July 10 and is not the same as the first one, said Cindy Troy, president of the CSEA union in Orleans County.

“This is in a different direction,” she said.

Legislature Chairman David Callard declined to comment on the lawsuit, except to say he favors due process through the court system.

CSEA and county attorneys are to appear in court on Aug. 6.

The suit was brought in the names of nursing home employees Jan Standish, a dietary at the nursing home since 1990, and Mary A. Lewis, a custodial worker since 1990 and member of the CSEA bargaining unit. Both have family living at The Villages.

The lawsuit notes that the union has a two-year contract running until Dec. 31, 2014. The Legislature in September 2011 also passed a resolution saying the nursing home would remain a public facility, subject to public governance, until at least the end of 2014.

The LDC was incorporated on March 7, 2013. The three-member board is led by its chairman, former Yates Town Supervisor Russ Martino. Other members include Clarendon Town Supervisor Richard Moy and Richard DeCarlo, a former Gaines town supervisor.

CSEA outlines six points in the Article 78 lawsuit. They include:

The state only allows LDCs to be used for economic development, the CSEA attorneys say in the lawsuit. The county created the Health Facilities Corporation to sell the nursing home to a third party, which the CSEA attorneys say is outside the purposes of the not-for-profit corporations law.

The county also violated the not-for-profit corporations law by transferring an interest to the LDC while the county retained the operating assets and operating responsibility for the responsibility, according to the lawsuit.

The county needs to determine property sold or transferred to an LDC first is no longer required for use by the county, according to the lawsuit. The county made the move without “fact-based determination,” the plaintiffs allege. The state Department of Health projects a 360-bed nursing home need for the county by 2016. Currently there are 310 beds, suggesting the nursing home will be in demand.

The lawsuit also contends the Legislature was wrong to create the LDC to sell a county asset. The Legislature can’t delegate that authority, and it should determine whether a sale is in the best interests of the county.

The lawsuit also says the county’s creation of an LDC to sell the nursing home is an attempt to circumvent public health law. The state DOH highly regulates nursing homes. The county formed the LDC without approval of the public health council. The LDC also can’t acquire, sell or lease property without permission of the commissioner of health. The county “failed to comply any of these provisions,” according to the lawsuit.

The CSEA attorneys also allege the county used “legal fiction” to create the LDC with a lease hold on the nursing home. However, the county retains all interests, rights and obligations to occupy, operate and maintain the site.

The LDC would take ownership of the site when it is ready to approve a sale. The sale would be made on behalf of the county, but in the name of the Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation.

“This results in a questionable transaction that takes the county’s name off of the sale of the Villages to a new owner-operator,” the lawsuit states, calling the plan an “excess of the authority” to act under a county law.

The suit seeks to annul the Legislature’s resolution that created the LDC, annul the “illegal lease and leaseback” between of the Villages between the county and the LDC,  and declare the county’s delegation of authority a violation of the statue and the state Constitution.

Photo by Tom Rivers – State Sen. George Maziarz speaks at the opening ceremonies for the Orleans County 4-H Fair on Monday. He encouraged residents to sign a petition urging the governor and State Legislature to repeal the SAFE Act.

KNOWLESVILLE – Visitors to the Orleans County 4-H Fair can sign a petition this week to repeal the NY-SAFE Act, legislation that has been roundly criticized by many legislative bodies in upstate New York.

The petition at the fair is sponsored by Sen. George D. Maziarz. Residents can sign it at the Orleans County Republican Party booth located in the Lartz Commercial Exhibit Building.

“The NY-SAFE Act, which I opposed, trampled on many of the rights that responsible gun owners hold dear,” Maziarz said in a statement. “I continue to try to build public support for overturning the law.”

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, has already turned in a petition to the state signed by more than 1,000 local residents.

Hawley has asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo to re-examine the process for enacting the law and allow his constituents to make their voices heard. Hawley and many of the county governments say Cuomo and the majority of the Legislature rushed the law into passage in January without feedback from the public.

Many of the provisions of the law are confusing and open to interpretation, Orleans County legislators said in a resolution asking for the law to be repealed. The county Legislature also has criticized the law for prohibiting firearm magazines with more than seven rounds, when most magazines have 10 rounds.

Hawley is critical of the way the law was approved without input from New York residents.

“Their voices were not heard during the hurried passage of this law,” he has said.

Hawley has sent a letter to the governor, telling him the SAFE Act did not protect the safety of New York families, but instead “trampled” the Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers.

Press release, Orleans County Chamber of Commerce

The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce is proud to present its Annual Awards Dinner each year to recognize the contributions made by distinguished businesses, individuals, agencies and organizations that have positively impacted the quality of life in Orleans County.

Winners are selected from nominations submitted by Chamber members, which are reviewed by a committee comprised of community and business leaders. The deadline for submission for nominations is July 25.

Business of the Year: This category is for a business that is deemed to have the most significant overall achievements during the year.

Lifetime Achievement: This award is presented to an individual(s) with a long-term record of outstanding business achievements.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: A company demonstrating a unique approach to business that has resulted in a strategic advantage in the marketplace; perhaps through the use of cutting edge technology or other innovative methods.

Phoenix Award: An organization or business that has successfully adapted or re-used an existing facility.

New Business of the Year: A business or organization that has opened its door for the first time in the past year.

Community Service: A business, organization or individual with a history of meaningful contributions to the community, including both professional and non-professional, and specifically one which generates the majority of revenue from sources other than sales of physical products.

For more information, call the Chamber at 585-589-7727 or check the Chamber website by clicking here.

Tom Zangerle created this painting of a canal bridge in Medina.

MEDINA – Orleans County artists and businesses have responded in a big way for a debut project, the Palettes of Orleans.

There are 73 painted palettes of local scenes. The palettes are on display in businesses throughout the county.

I was in Della’s Chocolates in Medina this morning and saw the palette painted of a canal bridge in Medina by Tom Zangerle.

The project is organized by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber has put a poster in each business window to indicate a palette on display. Shoppers can submit bids to buy the artwork and they can vote on their favorite one.

The project will run until Oct. 6. There will be a celebration Oct. 13 at Hickory Ridge, where final bids will be accepted for the artwork. Some of the proceeds will be used to fund art scholarships at each school district in the county.

Thom Jennings ran three times for Orleans County Legislature, saying he wanted a role to be an advocate for county residents.

Jennings, a Democrat, never managed a victory against Henry Smith for legislator.

But Jennings believes he has found an outlet to represent the county. He has been appointed by Gov. Cuomo to serve as a regional commissioner of the Genesee State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission. The Commission oversees state parks sites in a five-county area that includes Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Wyoming counties.

The appointment, which was approved by the State Senate, is for seven years.

“I’ve always been a strong supporter of recreation and historic preservation so I think this appointment is right up my alley,” said Jennings, a former chairman of the Albion Historic Preservation Commission. “I ran for office hoping that I would be able to serve the people of Orleans County and I think that this appointment gives me the opportunity to do that. I’m really excited.

The state park sites in Orleans include Lakeside Beach State Park and the Oak Orchard Marine State Park.

I would like to see the commission look at claiming one of the old sandstone quarries and opening it to the public. I think the state should reclaim the very first sandstone quarry that opened in 1837, just north of the canal on Route 63.

The quarry is now privately owned and has been filled in. It could be excavated, and a nice walking trail could be established around the perimeter of the quarry. It could include interpretive panels explaining the significance of Medina sandstone, which was used in so many homes, streets and prominent buildings throughout the region.

The sandstone industry provided thousands of jobs locally, and drew immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Poland and Britain. I think the state is the only entity that has the resources to pull this off.

Courtesy Gov. Cuomo’s office – The Mohawk Valley was flooded on June 28 after a severe downpour.

ALBION – In was mid-October 2006, when a heat wave followed a snowstorm in Orleans County.

Hundreds of trees, maybe more, snapped from the weight of heavy snow on their leaves and branches. The fallen limbs and trees knocked out power for days.

The melting 2 feet of snow unleashed flood waters. Homeowners, who were powerless, saw their basements fill with water because they couldn’t turn on their sump pumps. (I needed to have my basement in Albion pumped twice.)

That storm is the biggest “weather event” I can recall in my nearly two decades of living around here. We were in a state of emergency with utility trucks and firefighters descending on our county from all over the state. We even had electric workers from Quebec here, working to restore our electricity.

It was a fluke storm. Mostly, things aren’t too bad around here. We don’t have the big extremes that flood roads, creeks and homes.

It seems every year there is at least one community in New York that is devastated from a storm. The Mohawk Valley is the latest casualty of Mother Nature and aged infrastructure. A late June downpour with flash flooding left the region in soggy ruin.

The federal government on Friday declared 12 counties eligible for disaster aid due to the damage from the storm.

Eastern New York felt the wrath of Sandy last year. Binghamton was hit with massive flooding a few years ago. I grew up in Chautauqua County and about five years ago Silver Creek and Gowanda were inundated with water, destroying numerous homes.

“It is a tragedy that so many communities of hard-working, decent New Yorkers have seen their lives turned upside down by the unpredictable and damaging impact of these severe storms and floods,” Gov. Cuomo said Friday when President Obama approved the disaster declaration for the Mohawk Valley.

We don’t have the big extremes around here. The communities have done a nice job upgrading storm sewers and infrastructure, helping to funnel water off the streets when there is big storm.

Occasionally, we get hit with a fluke, but I think we’re safe from utter devastation. It’s definitely a plus during these days of turbulent weather.