ALBION – Orleans County residents won’t be voting on whether or not the county should sell its 120-bed nursing home because such a vote would be illegal.

That was the response from David Callard, the County Legislature chairman, after public calls for a referendum on the issue.

County officials have consulted with legal counsel and opinions from the state comptroller and attorney general.

“It simply can not be authorized because it would be illegal to do so,” Callard said at today’s Legislature meeting.

State statutes don’t specify that a public vote for a nursing home sale is permitted by law. Without the specifics in the law, the county can’t put the matter to a vote, Callard said. The county also can’t expend public money for a referendum that is not permitted or required by state law, he said.

Callard’s statement did not sit well with Dee Smith, a member of Concerned Citizens of Orleans County, a grass roots group that opposes the sale.

“I feel I don’t matter to you,” she told Callard and the Legislature. “I don’t trust you. I don’t have faith in you.”

The county formed a local development corporation to work on the sale of The Villages of Orleans. Proposals are due Oct. 16. The LDC board, led by Russ Martino of Lyndonville, may schedule a meeting for Oct. 18 to discuss the offers for the nursing home.

“I am not looking forward to going into a private nursing home,” Smith told the Legislature. “I’m so disappointed in you people.”

Legislator George Bower was the lone legislator who opposed transferring the nursing home to the LDC in February, and pressing the three-member LDC with finding a buyer for the site.

Bower said the lack of a referendum and a say from residents in the process is “poor.”

Two lawsuits have challenged the legality of the LDC’s formation and other procedural issues. Both times the county has been upheld in State Supreme Court.

Here is the prepared statement by Callard in regards to the referendum:

“It is important to clarify a point that seems to be missing from the discussion on the nursing home. The county government as an administrative unit and political subdivision of the State of New York, does not have the power to supersede or override state laws. There is no authority granted to the county legislature by the laws of New York State to hold a referendum on issues that are not specifically authorized for referenda in state law. We do not have the power to grant such a request.

“It has been consistently held in this State that a municipality may not submit a question to referendum, either advisory or binding, in the absence of express statutory authority. The New York State Attorney General and the Office of the State Comptroller have weighed in on this issue numerous times over the years, rendering opinions which consistently state that referenda which are neither permitted nor required by statute are improper and without effect, and that municipal monies may not be expended for such purposes. Simply put, they are illegal.”

Workers will pay higher deductibles, reducing county’s health insurance costs

ALBION – About 70 Orleans County employees in the Sheriff’s Department will receive 2 percent pay hikes annually over three years.

The workers will pay higher deductibles to their health insurance, which will reduce county health premium expenses, Chuck Nesbitt, the county chief administrative officer, said today.

The savings in health insurance, about $4,000 less for a family premium, will make the contract “cost neutral” for the county when the raises are factored in, Nesbitt said.

The contract runs from Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2015. The health insurance savings are expected to offset the raises in 2014 and likely in 2015, Nesbitt said today after the County Legislature approved two contracts.

One agreement includes 24 deputies while the other covers 47 workers – dispatchers, corrections officers and civilian clerks. Past county employee contracts generally only included recent or new hires with higher deductible plans. Now all employees, regardless of seniority, are in the higher-deductible plans, which is helping the county offset some of the rising health insurance premiums, Nesbitt said.

With the two agreements approved today, all county employees are now under contract until at least the end of 2014.

ALBION – A union representing employees at The Villages of Orleans, the county-owned nursing home, may appeal a judge’s decision last week.

James Punch, acting State Supreme Court justice, sided with the county in a lawsuit that alleged the Orleans County Legislature improperly formed a local development corporation for the purpose of the selling the 120-bed nursing home.

CSEA, the union representing about 130 county employees at the nursing home, is reviewing options and considering an appeal.

“We are disappointed that the judge found the claims in our legal action to be legislative or premature, but that does not mean that our claims are incorrect,” said Cindy Troy, president of the CSEA Orleans County unit. “We will not back down from our belief that the Legislature acted incorrectly, and that The Villages of Orleans must remain public and available to county residents.”

CSEA’s lawsuit sought to invalidate the Orleans County Legislature’s resolution to create the LDC and transfer ownership of The Villages to the LDC.

The union filed the lawsuit last summer on behalf of petitioners Jan Standish and Mary A. Lewis, two union members who work at The Villages and who have relatives living there.

This is the second time Judge Punch ruled in favor of the county in a legal challenge about the LDC formed to sell the nursing home.

“I feel that the judge has once again ruled wisely and justly,” David Callard, chairman of the Orleans County Legislature, said in a statement on Friday. “We felt confident that we had acted appropriately and legally and the court confirmed that.”

Four candidates – Gary Kent of Albion, Jack Gillman of Kendall, Gregory “Emil” Smith of Medina and Linda Rak of Lyndonville – have formed an independent “Save Our Nursing Home” party for the Nov. 5 election. They are challenging Republican-endorsed candidates.

Two other Democratic Party candidates, Fred Miller of Albion and Dave Schult of Waterport, also say they oppose selling the nursing home.

Orleans County is part owner of the race track

Photo from Batavia Downs’ Facebook page – Batavia Downs has been teasing images of the new $27 million expansion and renovation project through its Facebook page.

BATAVIA – Orleans County residents may not realize that our county is part owner of Batavia Downs, which today at noon will open its doors to the public following a $27 million expansion project.

The Downs is owned by Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., which was formed 40 years ago when 15 counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo entered the OTB business.

At one time, OTB parlors were a booming business, but the expansion of state-sanctioned gambling as well as a downturn in horse racing fans has put OTB parlors in a deficit. The New York City OTB has gone out of business, unable to make money anymore.

Western OTB is the only regional OTB in the state that owns a race track. Western OTB bought Batavia Downs in 1998. It seemed a doomed venture. But 10 years ago the state allowed video gaming machines (which look a lot like slots) in the race tracks. That has proven a major bonanza for WROTB. The video gaming more than offsets losses at OTB parlors and in running live horse racing meets. Some of those profits trickle down to Orleans County.

Orleans and other member counties should reap more money now that Batavia Downs has expanded the gaming floor and improved the amenities at the rack track on Park Road.

I covered Batavia Downs for about a decade for The Daily News in Batavia. There were times the organization was in financial crisis. But video gaming, where customers lose more than $40 million a year in Batavia, has proven a life-saver for WROTB, which shares about half of the revenue with the state.

I won’t be able to stop by Batavia today, but I hope to get out for the formal ribbon-cutting on Oct. 17. I’m not a gambler myself, but it is quite remarkable to see the resurgence of this old race track. If I were a betting man, I would have predicted the building would have been razed to make way for a Big Box store.

The Downs has steadily grown its business while competing against fancier Indian-owned sites in Niagara Falls, Salamanca and the Turning Stone resort in Verona. Those sites give a much smaller percentage of the profits to the state.

New York has embraced gambling, without much protest from its residents. If gambling and casinos are going to be here, I support Batavia Downs getting some of the action and investing in a local site and employing local people. Some of the profits are divvied up to WNY counties that badly need the money.

ALBION – Orleans County officials reported today that the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the county in a lawsuit brought by the CSEA union, claiming the county improperly formed a Local Development Corporation that was tasked with selling the county nursing home.

This is the second time Acting Supreme Court Judge James Punch ruled in favor of the county in a legal challenge about the LDC formed to sell the nursing home, The Villages of Orleans.

“I feel that the judge has once again ruled wisely and justly,” David Callard, chairman of the Orleans County Legislature, said in a statement this afternoon. “We felt confident that we had acted appropriately and legally and the court confirmed that.”

The County Legislature, in a 6-1 vote, created the LDC on Feb. 27. Only Legislator George Bower opposed it, saying the Legislature had previously said it wouldn’t consider selling the facility until 2014.

The Legislature in a super majority vote is moving to sell the 120-bed Villages of Orleans because of the prospect of deficits that could top $2 to $4 million.

Four candidates have formed an independent “Save Our Nursing Home” party line to challenge to the incumbent Republicans in next month’s election. Those candidates say the county has overstated the potential losses and hasn’t work bring more revenue to the facility while reducing costs.

Chairman Callard has stated the best way to preserve the nursing home for the community is to sell the site so it can be run by a private operator. That would ensure a high quality of care for residents, while maintaining jobs and preserving programs, “without dire financial consequences to the taxpayers.”

CSEA represents 135 county employees at The Villages. The lawsuit alleged 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 noted 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, according to the CSEA suit.

Acting Supreme Court justice James Punch dismissed the case on Tuesday. Orleans Hub didn’t hear about this until late this afternoon and was unable to get a copy of Punch’s written decision. The Hub should have more on this next week.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Two 2010 Dodge Caravans recently replaced older vans in the Orleans Joint Veterans Council’s fleet of vehicles that are used to take veterans to medical appointments. Pictured, from left, include sign maker Greg Stanton, program coordinator Gloria Kuhn and Paul Fulcomer, the county’s Veterans Service Agency director.

ALBION – Nine months ago the Orleans Joint Veterans Council put the word out that its fleet of vans was getting old. Many of the six vehicles were well past 100,000 miles.

The council sent out 150 letters, asking for help to replace some of the aging vans. One anonymous donor offered to give a 2010 Dodge Caravan to the council instead of trading it in. Many people also stepped up with financial support. That allowed the council to buy another low-mileage Dodge Caravan.

That has made it a little less stressful for the volunteer drivers and their passengers. The “new” used vans are less likely to break down on a trip to the Buffalo VA.

The council acquires and owns the vans, and the VA pays for the gas and maintenance. The service is free to veterans.

The two new vans have decals advertising the transportation service for veterans. Greg Stanton of Stanton Signs designed and put on the decals. Stanton, a veteran, has been going to the VA in recent years. He praised the quality of care.

He said more veterans should pursue medical care through the VA, which is no charge to veterans.

“At the Batavia and Buffalo (VA), everybody welcomes you,” Stanton said.

But getting to the appointments can be a challenge for many elderly vets, or younger veterans who may not drive or who battle disabilities.

In 1996, the council started the volunteer-run transportation service. That first year about 200 veterans were driven to medical appointments, mostly in Batavia and Buffalo.

The organization now has six vans that delivered 1,015 veterans to appointments in 2012, taking them to Batavia, Buffalo, Canandaigua, Syracuse and Bath. The council has eight volunteers scheduling rides and 22 driving the vans. They put in 5,210 volunteer hours last year.

Gloria Kuhn, the volunteer coordinator, praised the office crew and drivers for their dedication.

“We have a wonderful program here,” she said. “We’re very proud of what we do.”

The council welcomes more volunteers. Owen Toale, a  retired newspaper publisher with 27 years in the military, started volunteering a few years ago. He often drives a van twice a week. He said it is very rewarding to help the vets access needed medical care.

Toale helped rally donors to replace two of the vans. He said the council needs to work on raising money to replace more vans in the near future.

For more information on the program, call (585) 589-2856.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The former Chase site in Albion closed earlier this month after laying off about 400 people. County officials are optimistic the site will soon be utilized by another company.

New data from the state Department of Labor shows Orleans County has one of the highest unemployment rates in upstate, and the report is based on August numbers, before JPMorgan Chase shut down its Albion call center that employed about 400 people.

Orleans County’s 8.4 percent unemployment rate is only topped in upstate by St. Lawrence County, 9.1 percent; Oswego, 8.8; and Montgomery, 8.5. New York City has an 8.7 percent unemployment rate with Bronx County, at 12.0 percent, the highest in the state.

The job picture in Orleans is worse than similar-size nearby rural counties. Genesee has a 5.8 percent unemployment rate, while Wyoming is at 6.6 and Livingston, 6.7.

Orleans is in much better shape than a year ago when it had an 11.0 percent unemployment rate in August 2012. It’s also slightly better than July 2013 when the rate was 8.5 percent.

Orleans County officials are optimistic the Chase site will soon be reused. I noticed several contractors are working at the site this week. The county’s economic development officials said they can not offer any specifics about the site’s future due to confidentiality agreements.

The site is in good shape and accommodated 1,000 workers only a few years ago. There is also readily accessible parking for several hundreds cars.

State-wide the latest unemployment report shows the private sector job count increased by 126,800 from August 2012 to August 2013. The state’s unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in August 2013 and the economy added 22,700 private sector jobs, bringing the job count to a record high, according to the Department of Labor.

After debuting last year, county now has 3 teams

Photos by Tom Rivers – Members of the First Lego League work on their Lego robot Monday. The 4-H youths include, from left: Maxim Rambach of Medina, Deegan Bragg of Medina, Zach Moore of Albion, Daniel Squire of Medina and Jayden Neal of Albion. Three Lego teams practice at Liberty Fresh Farms in Albion, the home of the former Remley Printing Company.

ALBION – Monday was a glorious day for a group of 4-H’ers. A new Lego robot kit arrived for a team of Lego builders.

Tiny plastic pieces were then carefully set in rows and piles. The 4-H’ers then began the task of turning the parts into a robot that could be programmed to move pieces and conquer obstacles.

The 4-H program last year launched a First Lego League team. There were 13 kids on the team last year. The Lego League has grown in popularity with 26 members, ages 8 to 14 this year. They are split into three teams.

Zach Moore, 12, of Albion is a returning member. He spent part of Monday’s Lego meeting putting tank treads on the Lego robot “so it can climb over things,” Zach said.

Zach is active in 4-H and shows animals at the 4-H Fair. He prefers working with the Legos.

“I’ve always liked building things,” he said.

One of the Lego teams opened a new robot kit on Monday, which caused great excitement. That team is led by coaches Jason Foote, left, and Michael Beach, who both have sons in the program.

The 4-H Lego Club draws members from throughout the county. Zach said he made many new friends last year in the Lego Club’s debut season. This year incudes 12 returning players, and 14 newcomers, which is fine with Zach.

“Hopefully I’ll make more friends this year,” he said.

The Lego Club was going to practice and have meetings at the fairgrounds in Knowlesville. But the growing program outgrew the space.

The Panek family, owners of an onion packing facility on Route 98 in Albion, offered the upstairs of the former Remley Printing Company building for the teams.

The Paneks’ offer is the latest example of generous support for the Lego teams, and also a robotics club that is in its third year, said Erik Seielstad, one of the program’s coaches and mentors.

Xerox in Rochester and Baxter International in Medina are the main sponsors for the teams in Orleans County, but several other businesses are supporting the program. Each Lego team requires about $1,000 for field kits, robots and entry fees. The robotic team, which features 17 high schoolers, needs about $15,000 a year to compete in events.

Albion friends and Lego team members James Michael Beach, left, and Jacob Foote, both 9, look over the pieces of a new Lego kit.

Seielstad provides hands-on supervision of the teams, while his wife Marlene has become an effective fund-raiser for the program.

“She has a vast network for funding,” her husband said.

Mr. Seielstad, a systems engineer in Rochester, is pleased to see the 4-H members so focused during their meetings.

“It’s a good program,” he said. “It gives kids an opportunity to do stuff. The kids drive it and they make it happen.”

The Lego teams meet three times a week in the fall, and then it drops down to once a month in the winter and spring after their main competition later in the fall. The robotics team starts in January.

The Lego teams through FLL are all working with a common theme – Nature’s Fury – this year. They need to research natural disasters and program their robots to respond to the aftermath. That could mean removing a dangling branch after a hurricane ripped through a neighborhood.

Teams are researching sandstorms, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters, and they need to have a response plan in place, with the robot moving quickly to complete tasks. The robot may be outfitted with arms or claws to perform some of its missions.

Jason Foote and Mike Beach are co-mentors of one of the teams. Their sons, Jacob Foote and James Michael Beach, are both 9 and they are returning players.

“They’re using Legos to solve real-world problems,” said Mr. Foote, who works as a civil engineer.

James Michael enjoys Legos, and looks forward to the meetings through 4-H.

“It’s still Legos, but they’re taking it to the next step with technology,” said Mr. Beach, a team leader for quality control at CRFS. “You’re trying to get a robot to accomplish something.”

Project includes new transmission towers, 1,100 radios and rebuilt communication system

ALBION A project that has been years in the making and will give emergency responders a new communications system is now projected to cost $7.1 million.

The county increased the maximum cost from $5.3 million to $7.1 million during the Legislature’s meeting this morning. The $5.3 million figure was from about a year ago when the county voted to pursue a maximum of $4.5 million in financing for the project.

The county doesn’t intend to borrow more for the project. County officials expect Orleans may need to use about $4.2 million of the bond to cover its share of the project.

Since approving the $4.5 million bond for the project in April 2012, the county was awarded a $2 million state grant towards the project from the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. That lessens the local burden for paying for the project.

The original scope of the communications upgrade has changed from when the county voted to seek the $4.5 million bond. County officials were eyeing two new radio transmission towers, one on each end of the county that would be leased.

The county instead will pay to build three towers that are 180 feet high. One will be on land owned by the town of Clarendon near its highway garage off Route 31A, the other will be next to the county’s Civil Defense Center on Courthouse Road in Albion and the other will be next to the Medina water tank on Route 31A. Medina and Clarendon both agreed to lease the land to the county at no cost.

“Originally this was a lease versus buy situation, and we’re going to buy,” said Chuck Nesbitt, the county’s chief administrative officer.

If the towers were leased, the county’s ongoing annual costs would be higher, Nesbitt said. By owning the infrastructure, the county can also collect co-leasing fees if other companies want to put communications equipment on the towers.

The county also was considering piggybacking on Monroe County’s communication system, but that was going to cost more than having its won dedicated system, Nesbitt said.

Orleans County approved a $5 million deal last year with the Harris Corporation to rebuild the county’s emergency communications systems. Harris will reprogram 1,100 portable radios and make upgrades to the dispatch center.

The county’s radio system was last overhauled in 1992. The county has one transmission tower on Countyhouse Road. That’s about 10 miles from the eastern and western ends of the county. Firefighters, police officers, and other first responders for years have complained that the county’s current radio system is often unreliable, particularly on the edges of the county.

Harris is manufacturing the infrastructure for the Orleans project at its facility in Henrietta. The new system will meet the P25 industry standard for digital radio communications.

The new towers should be up in the spring and the new system should be operational next summer, Nesbitt said.

Agenda includes helicopter landing pad in Medina and addition for RS Automation in Albion

ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board will review the site plan for a new Dunkin’ Donuts on Thursday, one of the last hurdles for the company to knock down a warehouse and build a new site on Main Street in Albion.

If county planners approve the project, Dunkin’ still needs a final vote from the Village of Albion Planning Board. That vote is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at Village Hall on East Bank Street.

Dunkin’ wants to begin demolition in October and have the shell of the new building up soon after. The company is eyeing a January opening for the new store.

County planners will review the site plan at 7 p.m. in Conference Room C of the County Administration Building, 14016 Route 31 West, Albion.

Dunkin’ wants to remove a warehouse between Tim Hortons and the railroad tracks. The store would be 2,000 square feet with 46 parking spaces. There would be a drive-through and driveways on both Main and Platt streets.

The property is at 153 South Main St. in the General Commercial District.

The Orleans County Planning Board will consider two other projects at its Sept. 26 meeting, including site plan review for a helicopter land pad and access drive on Ohio Street in Medina. That will be near Medina Memorial Hospital in the Single-Family District and Medical Services Overlay District.

Planners will also weigh in on the site plan for a detached storage building in the town of Albion at 4015 Oak Orchard Rd. The building in the Light Industrial District will be next to RS Automation, which is owned by Rick Stacey.