Photos by Tom Rivers: New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid praised the local officials for identifying projects to be considered for state funding.

KNOWLESVILLE – A commission looking at projects in Orleans and Niagara counties has finalized a list totaling about $60 million in the two counties, with about $30 million for both Orleans and Niagara.

The Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative Commission met today at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County to go over the final recommendations for projects. The list will now go to the full REDI Commission, which will divvy up $300 million in funding for eight counties in the state.

State Assemblyman Michael Norris, R-Lockport, thanked the state officials and members of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s team for making the $300 million available, and for pushing to include Orleans, Niagara and each of the eight counties on the southshore.

“It will make a significant impact on our southern shore in areas that haven’t been looked at in many decades,” Norris said at today’s meeting. “We’re very, very grateful. It will make a big difference for decades to come.”

The Commission worked with municipal and business officials at Lake Ontario communities to identify projects that would protect infrastructure, businesses, cultural assets and other important community sites.

The Oak Orchard Harbor is pictured on Aug. 29. Local officials want to ensure the harbor is regularly dredged of sediment.

The group from Niagara and Orleans picked about $30 million worth in each county. (A 15 percent local match will be required for each project.)

The list includes:

Orleans County

• Hamlin-Kendall intermunicipal wastewater infrastructure, $9,053,000

• Yates Town Park, $5,372,000

• Lakeshore Road in Carlton, $2,062,000

• Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina in Carlton, $1,853,000

• Bald Eagle Marina in Kendall, $1,560,000

• Point Breeze and Oak Orchard Creek, boat launch in Carlton, $751,000

• Public town road ends, culverts in Kendall, $654,000

• Green Harbor Campground Marina in Carlton, $554,000

• Former Crawdaddy’s Marina in Carlton, $534,000

• Public water lines in Carlton on Lakeshore Park Road West, $235,000; and Lakeshore Park Road East, $385,000

• Thompson Drive in Kendall, $131,000

• Route 237 Right of Way in Kendall, $40,000

Niagara County

• Olcott Harbor and Wastewater Pump Stations Nos. 5 and 6 in Newfane, $15,707,000

• Wastewater Shared Services in Town of Newfane and Village of Wilson, $4,461,000

• Sunset Island – East and West Barriers in Wilson, $3,446,000

• Clark Island and Tuscarora Yacht Club in Wilson, $2,458,000

• Youngstown waterfront in Town of Porter and Village of Youngstown, $2,103,000

• Olcott Beach Berm in Newfane, $1,814,000

• Townline Pier in Village of Wilson, $1,430,000

• Private property/power plant (multiple use site) in Somerset, $1,334,000

• Lewiston Landing Whirlpool Jet Boats in Lewiston, $1,214,688

• Roosevelt Beach Boat Dock in Wilson, $125,000

• YMCA Camp Kenan in Somerset, $87,000

Multiple counties

• Regional dredging management council for several harbors on south shore, including Oak Orchard in Carlton, $5 million

• Promotion of state parks in several counties

The $300 million pot of REDI funding includes $20 million for homeowners affected by this year’s Lake Ontario flooding. They each can apply for up to $50,000 in state assistance to help offset damages to their primary residences. The homeowner application period will begin Oct. 1 and will close Oct. 31.

About 200 people attended a concert at the Yates Town Park by Lake Ontario in July 2014. The park is at the end of Morrison Road. A commission is suggesting $5,372,000 to protect the site from flooding and erosion.

Assemblyman Norris urged the state officials to expand the homeowner eligibility for people who live in the houses on a seasonal basis, and not just allow funding for primary residences.

“These people pay taxes and they need our help,” Norris said.

Orleans County Legislator Ken DeRoller said the group working on the projects tried to spread out the funding to include Orleans County. He was pleased to see the list today, which goes to the state next week for a final approval. The state in October is expected to announce the projects that will be funded.

The list addresses roads that are in danger of erosion and flooding from the higher lake levels. It will better fortify marinas and water-based businesses. The Eagle Creek Marina in Kendall, for example, wants to extend jetties and redirect water away from the marina.

The joint wastewater system for Kendall and Hamlin would be near the Cottages at Troutburg and would include residences near Countyline Road in the two towns that are in danger of losing septic fields due to erosion from the lake.

DeRoller was also pleased to see $5 million put in for dredging harbors for several counties, including Orleans. The REDI group also wants to better promote the Lake Ontario fishery. The group didn’t put a dollar amount on that effort.

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ALBION – The fourth annual Orleans County Heritage Festival runs from Sept. 6 to Sept. 15 and includes many events highlighting local historic sites.

The festival also will include a commemorative button. Terri Wood of the LonoWood Art Company in Albion designed the button that includes images of the courthouse dome, the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway, quarrymen tools, Cobble the Mouse at the Cobblestone Museum, and the bronze statue outside the Orleans County YMCA. That statue will be dedicated during a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The YMCA used to be an Armory for soldiers to train.

To see a schedule of the Heritage Festival, click here.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina’s downtown at Main Street and Center Street is pictured last week. The downtown has many independent small businesses that generate sales tax for the county.

Orleans County is seeing growth in its sales tax so far this year, the only one of the four GLOW counties ahead of the 2018 pace.

In Orleans, sales tax collections were at $8,409,045 the first six months of the year, up 2.5 percent from the $8,207,811 the first half of 2018, according to the State Comptroller’s Office.

Genesee County is down 0.2 percent to $19,686,969, while Livingston is off 0.8 percent to $16,498,246, and Wyoming County is down 2.1 percent to $8,642,926, according to the Comptroller’s Office.

State-wide sales tax grew 3.4 percent in the first quarter and 3.2 percent in the second quarter, the Comptroller reported.

Wages and consumer spending are growing at a modest pace. However, a decrease in gasoline prices in the first half of 2019 caused a drop in the portion of tax collections from the sale of motor fuels, the Comptroller’s Office said.

Kim DeFrank, Orleans County treasurer, said the actual cash receipts in sales tax is up about $300,000 for the first six months, from $7,532,315 in 2018 to $7,835,191.

Sales tax in Orleans County grew by 2.9 percent or $475,614 in 2018, from $16,273,192 to $16,748,806. (The county keeps about 92 percent of the sales tax and shares $1,366,671 with the four villages and 10 towns.)

This year the state has shifted some of the Aid and Incentives to Municipalities to the counties. The governor in his budget proposal proposed cutting $290,276 in AIM to eight towns and four villages in Orleans County. State-wide, the governor wanted to reduce AIM funding by $59 million.

But villages and towns strongly objected to cuts. After an outcry from towns and villages, Gov. Andrew Cuomo put the AIM funding back in the budget. However, it won’t be paid for by the state. It is to come from the sales tax from internet sales, which currently often skirt the sales tax. The tax would be taken from the counties’ local share and be directed to the AIM program.

The counties are to pay the AIM the second half this year. DeFrank said county officials haven’t received direction from the state about when to pay the money.

That $290,276 wipes out the increase in sales tax so far collected at the county.

The county budget for 2019 is counting on additional sales tax growth of $560,000. The sales tax increases have helped the county pay for infrastructure projects and also stay under the state-imposed tax cap, which is usually about 2 percent a year.

The county also is seeing growth in the occupancy or “bed tax,” a 4 percent tax for people who stay in hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and 62 rentals in the county through Airbnb.

The tax generated $19,807 for the county in the first six months of 2019, compared to $15,602 the first half of 2018, DeFrank said.

The tax last year generated $51,002, with $35,400 in the final three months. (In 2017, the bed tax generated $45,374.) The county uses the funds for tourism promotion.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Bert Mathes, a member of the Buildings and Grounds crew for Orleans County, puts an aluminum cover over a window sill at the Treasurer’s Office, 34 East Park St.

Mathes and the Buildings and Grounds are putting in 22 new windows at the building. They are almost halfway on the project, which is expected to take another month to complete.

The county paid Medina Window $7,170 for the new windows, which includes 16 that are 36 inches by 102.5 inches, and six windows that are 36 inches by 92.5 inches.

The county next year is expected to do some brick work on the exterior and also paint the outside. The interior offices may also be painted in 2020, said Kim DeFrank, the county treasurer.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Nancy Traxler is introduced during today’s Orleans County Legislature meeting. She is the new director of veterans’ services in Orleans County. John Pera, left, is commander of the American Legion in Orleans County and also the post commander in Holley.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature this afternoon voted unanimously to appoint Nancy Traxler as the director of veterans’ service for the county. She has worked the past two years as a veterans’ service officer in the county.

She takes over for Earl Schmidt, who is taking a job in Buffalo as Department Service Officer at American Legion of New York State. Schmidt led the county’s Veterans’ Service Agency since Dec. 7, 2015.

Traxler of Waterport served 27 years in the Air Force, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan. She is a combat veteran and a Blue Star mother and wife.

She said she is determined to help veterans and their families receive benefits they have earned through their service.

Traxler and the office will pursue claims for veterans through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, including compensation and pension, medical care, rehabilitation and vocational services, and insurance and indemnities.

Traxler said her position as veterans’ service officer will also be filled.

Once the office is at full staff, they will work to reorganize the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer-to-Peer Program, which provides social opportunities for veterans and their families.

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Photo by Tom Rivers: Jim Whipple, Orleans Economic Development Agency chief executive officer, discusses how to promote the Medina Business Park during a meeting in January 2017. The 300-acre site is one of the largest certified shovel-ready sites in the state.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation today that will require economic development agencies to live-stream their meetings, including public hearings. Videos of the meetings also need to be posted on the agencies’ websites within five days.

The legislation pertains to all industrial development agencies, including the Orleans Economic Development Agency.

Jim Whipple, chief executive officer of the Orleans EDA, said he is waiting details from the state on how to meet the new guidelines. The Orleans EDA has its monthly meeting the second Fridays each month at 8 a.m. at 121 North Main St., Albion, in the conference room of the Albion Visitors’ Center.

The meetings are open to the public but usually only include the board of directors, EDA staff and a news reporter. An agenda and other documents from the meetings are posted on the Orleans EDA website.

Public hearings move around the county, usually at the village hall or town hall in a community where a tax incentive plan is being proposed.

Whipple is one of three staff members for the Orleans EDA, which is much smaller than many other IDAs in the state. He doesn’t expect it will be a big effort to meet the new state guidelines. However, he thinks it will stifle some conversation among the board members and staff.

“It might restrict some of the interplay and people might be less likely to share ideas outside of the box,” he said. “I think our meetings will be more stodgy.”

Cuomo signed the legislation (S.88/A.3002) that he said will make the IDAs more transparent with the public, and also allow more community members to see the boards and staff at work.

“Industrial development agencies are tasked with revitalizing communities and fostering economic growth at the local level, but most New Yorkers don’t have time to attend meetings and participate in the process,” Governor Cuomo said in a news release. “This new measure will help foster civic engagement and get more residents involved in the meetings and hearings that will ultimately have a huge impact on the future of their communities.”

The new legislation takes effect on Jan. 1.

The video recordings need to remain available to the public for five years.

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ALBION – The Orleans County District Attorney’s Office will have two training sessions on Tuesday for school administrators, police officers and prosecutors regarding Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

Those sessions are closed to the public and will be at the 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building.

Joe Cardone, the Orleans County DA, said there will be public forums at dates to be announced about the state legislation, which creates a mechanism to take guns away from people who are likely to hurt themselves or others.

Under the newly enacted Article 63-A of New York’s Civil Practice Law and Rules, the New York Supreme Court can issue an ERPO against a person who possesses or has access to certain types of guns.

Police officers, school administrators, or district attorneys, or family or household members of the person are permitted to file a petition in Supreme Court, seeking an ERPO. After a hearing, if the court determines that the person is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to the person or to others, the court may issue an ERPO.

The order would require that firearms, rifles, or shotguns that the person possesses, or has access to, be surrendered to police, and would permit police to seize guns of those types from the person. There are time limits on the length of an ERPO, and the order may be renewed under certain circumstances.

“While I fully support an individual’s constitutional right to bear arms, each of you need to be aware of this change in the law,” Cardone said. “Through this training, we hope to provide our police, school administrators, and our prosecutors with the information they will need to understand this recent change in the law.”

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