By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 December 2021 at 4:36 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: This pile of about 6,000 tires is next to the Orleans County DPW on West Academy Street in Albion. About 3,000 more will soon to be delivered to the site.
ALBION – Orleans County is paying $25,000 to have about 9,000 tires removed this month that have been collected by the local towns and villages.
There are currently about 6,000 of those tires piled up at the Orleans County Department of Public Works on West Academy Street. They have come from other municipalities that have picked them up from ditches, roadways and in the community.
About 3,000 more tires are expected to be delivered to the DPW on West Academy Street.
They should all be gone by the end of December.
The County Legislature approved paying $25,000 to Modern Disposal Services on Thursday for the one-time service of removing the tires and property disposing of them. The county uses $2 from the annual $216 solid waste collection bill to residents to deal with disposing of tires.
The county also will continue to accept tires during the household hazardous waste collection in August. More than 1,000 tires have been collected at those events the past two years.
The Legislature said it wants to be good stewards of the environment and assist the towns and villages which accumulated big piles of tires.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 November 2021 at 9:06 am
Through October sales tax increased by $2.3 million compared to first 10 months last year
Orleans County’s sales tax revenue through the first 10 months of 2021 is well ahead of the pace in 2020.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported Orleans is up 14.9 percent in sales tax revenue through October, going from $15.5 million in the first 10 months of 2020 to $17.8 million so far this year.
Last year was a big sales tax year for the county, when Orleans saw a 9.2 percent increase for the whole year, going from $17.7 million in 2019 to $19.4 million for the entire 2020.
Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer, attributed a big portion of the increase to sales tax on purchases through the internet.
Higher gas prices also are a factor in the higher sales tax revenue.
DiNapoli said October was up 12.9 percent statewide with Orleans increasing 16.9 percent, from $1.3 million to $1.5 million.
Statewide each month beginning in April this year has exceeded the sales tax from 2020.
“Sales tax collections came in strong in October, boosting local revenues,” DiNapoli said. “The consistent growth over the last few months is a positive sign of our economic recovery and life moving forward as we deal with the ongoing reality of Covid-19.”
Nearly every county saw year-over-year collections for October grow by double digits, with Monroe County having the largest growth at 37 percent, DiNapoli said.
Among the GLOW counties here are the sales tax numbers for the first 10 months:
Genesee up 20.9 percent from $33.7 million to $40.7 million
Livingston up 17.9 percent from $29.2 million to $34.5 million
Orleans up 14.9 percent from $15.5 million to $17.8 million
Wyoming up 17.3 percent from $16.0 million to $18.8 million
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 November 2021 at 8:57 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Orleans County Legislator Don Allport, rights, presents a proclamation to leaders of Supportive Care of Orleans in recognition of the organization’s 30thanniversary and also for National Hospice and Palliative Care Month.
Dave Schubel, back right, is chairman of the board of directors for Supportive Care. He is joined by, from left: Elisa Chambery, chief executive officer; Pat Eick, secretary of the board; and Maura Pierce, a member of the board of directors.
Supportive Care of Orleans provides care for all those living with life-limiting illness in Orleans County, as well as support for their caregivers and loved ones. The organization provides patients and their families with personalized medical treatment, counseling, spiritual support and bereavement coordination.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 November 2021 at 8:30 am
Village of Albion proposes regulations for solar energy
ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board voted in support of several projects, including a bakery in Gaines, an auto repair shop in Ridgeway and farmworker housing in Gaines.
• Planners last Thursday recommended the Town of Gaines approve the site plan and issue a permit for Brian Ettinger to operate a bakery from his home at 3009 Brown Rd. There won’t be on-site consumption or serving. Sales will be through pickup or delivery.
• In Ridgeway, planners recommended approval for a permit for Kyle Morgan to operate a motor vehicle repair shop at 3925 Salt Works Rd. The 2,760-square-foot building includes a 3-bay garage. It has been used as an auto repair shop for more than 50 years. Morgan plans to run the business, KJM Kustoms, on a part-time basis.
• In Gaines, Haylett Farm Enterprises is proposing to build a 30-person labor house at 3147 Kenyonville Rd. for seasonal farmworkers. County planners recommended the Town of Gaines approve the site plan and issue a permit for the project.
• The Planning Board also backed the Village of Albion’s proposed regulations for solar projects in the village. The village will allow roof-mounted and ground-mounted solar projects.
For large-scale projects (bigger than 25 kW), the village establishes regulations for setbacks and lot sizes, as well as a decommissioning plan. Applications for solar projects also will require blueprints, proposed changes to landscape, description of the solar farm facility and an operation and maintenance plan.
The large-scale projects that are ground-mounted shall not exceed 12 feet in height, and need to maintain a front setback of at least 75 feet in a retail business/airport/commercial and/or recreational area with rear and side setbacks at least 25 feet in those areas.
The front setback should be at least 100 feet for residential and light industrial areas, and rear and side setbacks at least 200 feet when abutting residential property and 100 feet when abutting business and commercial zones.
The large-scale projects need to be on a minimum lot size of 10 acres, with the ground-mounted solar energy system not exceeding more than 80 percent of the lot size. The systems also will need to be enclosed by fencing.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 November 2021 at 6:49 pm
Orleans and Genesee counties have no intention of following Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz with a mask mandate in all indoor, public facilities. That mandate, announced Monday, took effect today.
Poloncarz took the action in response to a surge in Covid cases in Erie County.
Orleans and Genesee have among the highest positivity rates for Covid in the state. In the Erie County the percentage of Covid tests that have been positive the past seven days is 9.4 percent. It’s 10.0 in Genesee and 10.6 in Orleans.
Orleans and Genesee aren’t moving forward with an indoor mask mandate for public places.
“While we remain committed to the health and safety of our communities, Genesee and Orleans County will not be creating or implementing any new mask or vaccine mandates at this time,” according to a statement from Rochelle Stein, Chair of the Genesee County Legislature; Lynne Johnson, Chair of the Orleans County Legislature; Matthew Landers, Genesee County Manager; Jack Welch, Orleans County Chief Administrative Officer; and Paul Pettit, Public Health Director for Genesee and Orleans counties.
“We believe new mandates will only push residents into private settings where spread will still continue but local businesses will suffer. For almost two years, businesses across the region have taken various measures to protect their workplaces and we trust them to do the same at this time.”
The joint statement from the Genesee and Orleans officials continues:
“We recognize and are concerned about rising infection and hospitalization rates, which is why we continue to strongly encourage our businesses and residents to continue to follow CDC recommendations and mitigation strategies such as practicing social distancing, wearing masks, and getting vaccinated, including booster shots. It is also important to note that those who become infected and those who are symptomatic should immediately isolate.”
“Finally, the state needs to provide greater testing resources for our schools and community as a whole, both for symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. This is important as those we can identify as Covid-19 positive can be quickly isolated to help prevent spread. Local governments alone cannot be expected to find and procure all of the test kits needed between the school and community needs.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 November 2021 at 9:09 am
United Way will screen and identify households for grant in towns of Albion, Gaines and Shelby, as well as villages of Albion, Holley and Medina
ALBION – State and federal funds for about $600,000 will pay the expense of hooking low-to-moderate income households to a new wireless internet system that soon will be installed by RTO Wireless of Wellesley, Mass.
The grant will pay for the household equipment to connect to the system. That wireless internet service receiver equipment is about $650 per household. That grant will pay the costs for 920 households that are in the villages of Albion, Holley and Medina, as well as the towns of Albion, Gaines and Shelby. Those communities were eligible because at least 51 percent of households met the criteria for being low to moderate income.
The grant is part of funding package for $1,999,833 from the state Housing Trust Fund Corporation, the state Office of Community Renewal and the state Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) funds. Those funds will pay for the wireless internet expansion for the low to moderate income municipalities, covering the household equipment and also part of the expense from RTO for installing the system on towers.
County Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson praised County Chief Administrative Officer Jack Welch for modifying the county’s grant application, which increased the number of households eligible for the funding from about 500 to 920.
The Legislature last week also awarded a $92,902 contract that is covered with the grant to the United Way of Orleans County. That agency will coordinate a screening process for the low to moderate income households.
The United Way already is leading a digital literacy initiative in the county and will be assisting many of the eligible households in learning how to use the technology.
Work should start soon from RTO Wireless, which will co-locate equipment on existing county-owned communication towers and also build three new towers for the equipment. The county-owned towers include the Emergency Management Office on West County House Road in Albion, Route 31A in Clarendon, Maple Ridge Road in Medina, Route 31 in Albion next to Public Safety Building, West Avenue in Lyndonville, Route 237 in Kendall, Route 237 in Holley by the water tank.
The Legislature on July 28 voted to accept a $3,608,435 bid from ROT to make high-speed internet available for the current 1,351 address points that can’t connect to the service.
County officials say the project will be done by this time next year, and could be complete in as soon as seven months.
The system will gradually be turned on tower by tower, Welch said.
The total of unserved addresses in the county includes 74 in Albion, 302 in Barre, 35 in Carlton, 57 in Clarendon, 39 in Gaines, 16 in Kendall, 41 in Murray, 287 in Ridgeway, 206 in Shelby, and 294 in Yates for 1,351 total.
The county is using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds as well as the state grant for the project.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Members of the recent Microenterprise Assistance Program class graduated in ceremonies Tuesday night at Lockstone. Seated, from left, are Beth Miller of Albion, Deloris Mosher of Kent and Lindsay O’Connor of Kendall. Standing, from left, are Steve Thomas of Albion, Ryan Jenks of Holley, MAP coordinator Diane Blanchard, former MAP graduate Michelle Gallo of Holley, Sada Mills of Medina, mentor/instructor Dorothy Daniels of Albion and Dan Conrad of Albion. To date the MAP has graduated 544 prospective business people.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 22 November 2021 at 6:15 pm
ALBION – With the recent graduation class, Orleans Economic Development Agency’s Microenterprise Assistance Program has catapulted 544 prospective individuals on their path to success.
Tuesday night at Lockstone in Albion, seven more graduates celebrated completing the class, managed by Diane Blanchard.
Lindsey O’Connor of Kendall presents her business plan to the Microenterprise Assistance Program graduating class on Tuesday night at Lockstone in Albion.
As usual, the class represents a unique number of innovative business ideas by these budding entrepreneurs.
Those who presented their business plans were Ryan Jenks, who plans to start a machine shop; Sada Mills, who runs a quilting and crafts business out of her home in Medina; Lindsay O’Connor of Kendall, who does furniture refurbishing; Danial Conrad, who has opened Toyz N Kandy in Albion; Elizabeth Miller of Albion, who plans a bakery and deli; Deloris Mosher of Kent, who plans Deez’s Cupz, which will sell printed signs and clothing with her designs; and Steve Thomas, who has a catering business.
Ryan Jenks of Holley works as a mechatronics engineer for Zweigles. He took the MAP class to help him with his desire to open a machine shop. Perspective customers can reach him at jnxengineering@gmail.com.
Sada Mills of Medina is calling her new business Sadas Spirited Stitches and Such. She does quilting and crafts and makes quilts from jeans scraps. Her target market is women between the ages of 30 and 65 and she is gearing up for the holiday season.
Everything is hand made using repurposed materials, including jeans and sweaters. She said key chains are a big seller and her porch signs made with chalk are unique. Her e-mail is sadasspiritedstitchesandsuch@yahoo.com.
She strives to retire from her full time job by 2025.
Sada Mills of Medina receives her graduation diploma from the Microenterprise Assistance Program class Tuesday night at Lockstone. Mills plans to open a quilting and crafts business in Medina.
Elizabeth Miller had been living in the Adirondacks when she made the decision to move back home to Albion. She had a job working in a restaurant, when it closed due to Covid and she was out of a job.
She plans to open a bakery and deli, where she eventually will have meats and cheeses which she will slice to order. She has acquired space in the former Albanese’s Restaurant.
“This is more than a bakery,” Miller said. “I make all my own mayonnaise and dressings from scratch.”
Favorites are her maple mayo and pepper mayo. Her deli menu will change daily, with items such as white bean chicken chili, clam chowder and special sandwiches.
She said the support from her boyfriend, family and friends has been incredible.
Deloris Mosher of Kent does printing of textiles and linens at her home. She specializes in sports teams, such as the Buffalo Bills, using designs she has created herself. She will also do printing from designs her customers provide.
“I still work full time at Walmart, and this was a hobby which I really liked,” Mosher said. “I now want to do it for other people.”
Lindsay O’Connor and her husband James love restoring old furniture and want to make a business out of it, transforming old furniture into quality and value-oriented pieces. They currently work out of their home, but hope to have a physical location by March 2022 with a grant from Orleans County EDA. That way customers can view furniture in a gallery setting, as if it were in their own home.
James is a truck driver and brings home pieces of furniture he may spot along the road, and family and friends bring furniture items to them.
Lindsay said they like to combine the old with the new, the classic with the contemporary. Since going into business in March last year, they have sold 300 pieces out of their home. They can be contacted at ravenmoonrevival.com.
Steve Thomas of Albion previously had a food truck, and through trial and error he found out what worked and what didn’t. He hopes his new venture will be more successful – running Hot Spot Catering from his location on West Avenue in Albion. He had set up a tent and grill in front of Ace Hardware and did very well, he said, making him hopeful for his new venture.
Dan Conrad receives his graduation diploma from Dorothy Daniels and Michelle Gallo, program mentors and instructors. At right is MAP coordinator Diane Blanchard.
Daniel Conrad’s new business Toyz N Kandy sprung out of his experiences in the local candy store as a kid.
He has rented space on East Bank Street in downtown Albion, where he has set up a Foosball table and air hockey. He sells retro candy, including penny candy, and even quarter candy. He said Gary Withey who ran Fischer’s Newsstand has been an inspiration to him.
The program concluded with a success story by Lynn Palmer, who took the MAP class two years ago and has since grown a very successful overstock business in Albion.
Also in attendance at the graduation were Jon Costello and Sam Campanella, class mentors with SCORE, who have since retired, and Paul Hendel, chairman of Orleans County Economic Development. New mentors and instructors are Michelle Gallo, who took the class in 2018, and Dorothy Daniels.
Gallo has returned to speak to several classes since she graduated with her husband. They started out with a junk yard and towing business. She said they will clear more than $1.5 million this year in the junk yard. She has repeatedly told the MAP classes how the course has helped her and her husband succeed. They recently purchased a third business, the former Hamlin Station, which they opened two weeks ago as Gallo’s Bar.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 November 2021 at 1:33 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Brian Marsceill, an Orleans County deputy sheriff, is congratulated by Justin Niederhofer (right), the county’s deputy emergency management director on Wednesday during the County Legislature meeting. Legislator Bill Eick is at left. He presented Marsceill with a “Special Recognition Award” from the Legislature.
“The Orleans County Legislature does hereby commend you for your commitment to serving the communities in Orleans County,” the citation states.
Marsceill won the Jack Meehan Photography award for photo on April 3 from fire in Murray. Marsceill won in the “Accidental Cause” for the NYS Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators, Chapter 23.
Marsceill is a nationally certified arson investigator. He has worked 15 years in law enforcement, starting with the Attica Police Department, then Medina PD and the past four years with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.
The electrical fire in Murray was on Ridge Road. It wasn’t an arson.
Marsceill was able to determine a nail was driven through the metal siding into wire and that put a hole through the wire.
Photos courtesy of Orleans County Emergency Management Office: The picture with the zip-ties shows the nail, and the hole that was put through the wire. Marsceill was commended for “a very rare find” in determining the cause.
This picture shows the hole through the middle of the wire caused by the nail, before the zip-ties were placed.
Photo by Tom Rivers
Firefighters prevented the electrical fire from turning into a big blaze. Firefighters were dispatched to 16576 Ridge Rd., across from the Murray Superette at about 10 p.m.
The building, a former video store, has two apartments. One that is vacant was full of smoke and the tenants in the other apartment called 911 to report the smoke coming out of the apartment.
Firefighters discovered electrical wiring had melted and the insulation and studs were charred and smoking. They sprayed some water to keep it from becoming a bigger fire.
Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke
ALBION – The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office participated in the 21st Annual National Prescription Take-Back Day on Oct. 23.
This event was held at the Orleans County Public Safety Building with personnel from the Criminal Division and the Corrections Division of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.
The collection site took in 570.2 pounds of unused prescription medications and 319 pounds of sharps for a total combined weight of 890 pounds.
The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office has participated in the National Prescription Take-Back Day since 2012 and has collected a total weight of 10,695.5 pounds (5.3 tons) of prescription medications and sharps. This event is very successful for Orleans County with an average of 563 pounds of unused medications and sharps collected for each event.
New York State had 116 law enforcement agencies participate and they took in over 28,947 pounds of unused medications during the October event. On a national level, 744,082 pounds (372 tons) were collected. The combined total weight for all events since the start of this program is over 15 million pounds of unused medications collected nationally.
The National Prescription Take-Back Day is a very important community service that allows the residents of Orleans County the means to safely, dispose of unused medication and sharps. This event helps prevent groundwater contamination due to improper disposal and assists with preventing illegal diversion of medications.
The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all of the community partners that assisted with coordinating the event. The Orleans and Erie County Public Health Departments, Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (GCASA) and Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Control Unit all played important roles in making this program a success in Orleans County.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2021 at 9:45 am
ALBION – Orleans County’s tentative budget for 2022 would increase spending by $5.4 million and raise taxes by 1.9 percent in a spending plan that tackles infrastructure projects and maintains local services.
Federal and state aid, including funding in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, will offset some of the spending increase.
Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer, submitted the tentative budget on Monday that stays below the state’s property tax cap.
There will be a public hearing on the budget at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 1 in Orleans County Legislative Chambers, 14016 Route 31 West, Suite 200, Albion. The County Legislature then plans to meet the next day at 4:30 in the Legislative Chambers at 4:30 to vote on the budget, with the fiscal year starting Jan. 1.
“This year’s $78 million budget recommendation is influenced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the employment challenges of retaining and hiring new employees,” Welch said in budget message to the Legislature. “The challenges we have experienced has altered our historical way of delivering services to the public.”
The budget will increase the tax rate from $9.98 to $10.09 per $1,000 of assessed property. About $2.20 of that rate is support for towns and villages in the county, including prosecution of vehicle and traffic offenses, AIM-related payments, a sales tax distribution of $1,366,671 and $2,050,000 in community college chargebacks.
The budget also keeps the solid waste and recycling fee at $216 for the year, maintains e-waste sites at three locations in the county, and will continue the annual household hazardous waste collection event which includes residential tires.
The county has benefitted from sales tax revenues that are up over $1 million this year, driven by a significant increase in sales tax from sales over the internet.
The county’s contributions to the pension system also will be decreased by about 20 percent due to a stronger Stock Market on March 31, 2021, compared to a year earlier. However, health insurance premiums are projected to increase 37.1 percent, fueled by a hike in pharmaceutical costs, Welch said.
The county is reducing two positions overall from a workforce of 439. But that is due to eliminating some part-time positions and making full-time jobs in an effort to fill vacant positions. The county, like the private sector, has struggled to fill some jobs. There are currently 17 positions open in the county government.
“In the past we have been able to utilize part-time positions to supplement our operations,” Welch said. “However, part-time positions are now harder to fill than full-time positions.”
The county is planning to use $1.6 million of its American Rescue Plan Act for over $800,000 in deferred maintenance to its buildings and properties, as well as fiber-loop project to improve the computer network between our buildings. The county also will invest in the computer services department for mobile technology for employees and also to improve security to protect against ransomware attacks.
The federal ARPA money will also fund five full-time positions, Welch said.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Katie Harvey (center) is the Orleans County Director of Personnel and Self Insurance. During today’s Orleans County legislature meeting she presented plaques to the employees of the year: Mary Ellen Messmer, a supervising public health nurse; and Justin Niederhofer, deputy emergency management director.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2021 at 9:59 pm
ALBION – Two Orleans County employees were recognized as employees of the year for their efforts to serve county residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mary Ellen Messmer, a supervising public health nurse, led the Health Department’s contract tracing efforts, often arriving before regular work hours and staying late to call people who were in quarantine due to testing positive for Covid or for being in close contact with someone who tested positive.
Messmer has worked 26 years with the county government. She was praised for her efforts during the pandemic, for helping to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Public Health has been at the center of the Covid response and she has been at the forefront of case investigations and a key component of daily operations,” said Katie Harvey, the county’s director of personnel and self insurance. “She has been extremely organized, professional and detailed in her work throughout the pandemic.”
Messmer assigns the Covid cases to staff members to investigate, and makes many of the calls herself, staying positive and showing compassion to residents in a stressful situation.
“She monitors all of the investigations and pays close attention to detail to be sure that investigations are conducted appropriately.” Harvey said. “She asks nothing of her staff that she would not do herself. The Health Department has been short staffed in her unit for over a year. However she has consistently provided the coverage needed for the continuity of the Health Department’s response needs.”
Justin Niederhofer, the county’s deputy emergency management coordinator, assisted the Health Department in organizing Covid testing clinics at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds and also the mass vaccination clinics at the Ridgeway Fire Hall.
Niederhofer joined the emergency management office in a part-time role in 2017. That position was increased to full time last year near the start of the pandemic.
He started a N-95 respirator fit testing program for the Orleans County Deputy Sheriffs, and employees at the county jail, probation and department of social services. Niederhofer also assisted Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer, and the personnel office with the county’s communicable disease plan that became an appendix to the existing county continuity of operations plan.
Niederhofer also took the lead on ensuring that the county met the state requirement for a six-month stockpile of personal protective equipment including surgical masks, N-95 respirator masks, gloves, face shields, goggles and hand sanitizer for all county employees.
“All of his hard work and dedication during the Covid-19 pandemic has made Orleans County a better and safer place to live and work for our employees and residents,” Harvey said.
The county’s EAP Committee selects employees of the month. The EAP Committee receives nominations from fellow employees and department directors.
The employees of the months for the past year were: October 2020, Elizabeth Milazzo in Social Services; November, Kevin Colonna in Sheriff’s Office; December, Mary Ellen Messmer in Public Health; January 2021, Leanne Donovan in Office for the Aging; February, Devon Pahuta in Sheriff’s Office; March, Carie Doty in Public Health; April, Joseph Grager in Public Works; May, Patrick McGurn in Computer Services; June, Della Fisher in Office for the Aging; July, Justin Niederhofer in Emergency Management Office; and August, Patricia Marciszewski and Julie Vendetti, Sheriff’s Office – Dispatch.
From this pool of candidates, a Department Head must make a recommendation to a separate committee to determine the Employee of the Year, Harvey said.
“The committee looked for additional service that an employee has performed since the individual was recognized as an Employee of the Month,” Harvey said.
Photos by Ginny Kropf: The first class of mentors for Orleans County’s Digital Divide initiative pose with program leaders during the first training session last week. From left are volunteers Barb Dunham, Ann McElwee, Michelle Figueroa, training leaders from Can Code Lee McPeter and Rachel Sheridan, volunteers Pamela Denson, Jeanette Worsley and Jessica Sutch and program coordinator from Cooperative Extension, Katie Leach.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 15 November 2021 at 11:09 am
KNOWLESVILLE – Volunteers training to be mentors in the Orleans Digital Literacy Initiative underwent their first of two days of training Wednesday at Cornell Cooperative Extension at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.
The initiative, funded by a $364,000 grant from the WNY COVID-19 Community Response Fund administered by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, will provide digital education and one-on-one mentors across Orleans County. The grant is being administered by United Way of Orleans County.
“The Orleans Digital Literacy Initiative was established to address widespread societal gaps created by 20 years of rural digital divide,” said Dean Bellack, director of United Way which led the way in applying for the grant.
Lee McPeter with Can Code leads the first training session at Cooperative Extension for mentors in Orleans County’s Digital Divide initiative.
Robert Batt, director of Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension, was instrumental in applying for this grant, with help from Nyla Gaylord, fundraising coordinator at United Way, and Mary Beth Debus, president of Program Savvy in Buffalo, according to Bellack.
The first step in the process was to contract with Can Code, a company which has developed software career training programs for workforces, to lead in the training of mentors. Nine volunteers from various agencies in Orleans County are currently going through the training process, led by Lee McPeter, career services adviser, and Rachel Sheridan, director of finance and administration. Their ultimate goal is to reach 2,000 people, one-on-one, or in small groups by the end of 2023, thereby increasing digital literacy in Orleans County.
Katie Leach from Cooperative Extension was hired as designated coordinator of the Digital Literacy Initiative.
The two-day training of mentors will teach them all aspects of computers, so they can go out and help individuals use their devices in all areas of their life, such as how to buy a computer, how to access information online, setting up accounts, sending e-mails and using social media safely.
Dean Bellack, director of United Way of Orleans County, chats during a lunch break with Katie Leach from Cooperative Extension, who has been designated as coordinator of the mentors for the Digital Divide initiative.
This first group of volunteers come from Community Action, OCALS, Job Development, Office for the Aging and Hoag Library.
Over the next couple of years, Bellack said they have budgeted $30,000 to advertise, by billboards, a direct mail campaign and paid ads to inform the entire county about the services provided by the Digital Divide Initiative grant. He said their goal is to have 2,000 to 3,000 people in the community continuing to train groups.
“The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo believes in digital literacy education,” Bellack said. “A large part of the population in total do not have basic digital literacy skills. More people are shopping online, e-mailing and using social media. Everything has gone from print media to online – all over the United States. These mentors are helping us raise digital literacy. Orleans County is actually the leading county in New York state on educating the public with digital literacy skills. We’re way ahead of the curve, and the credit goes back to Robert Batt.”
Katie Leach, who has a teaching degree in English as an additional language, has been hired to coordinate the program and develop protocol. She will work out of Cooperative Extension, and develop extra curriculum to add to the Can Code training program.
“This will help people, personally and professionally,” Leach said. “I haven’t been so excited in years. I really feel I can give to my community.”
Robert Batt, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, who wrote the grant to support Orleans County’s Digital Divide initiative, checks his notes during the first mentor training session at Cooperative Extension last week. The second training, headed by Mary Beth Debus, will take place Tuesday.
Bellack said mentors are strictly volunteer, but their organization gets a small compensation.
All mentors get a laptop and Chromebooks like children use, so parents can learn how to help them do their homework.
Debus, a professional consultant, who helped organize the program from the start, will lead the next training session on Tuesday.
“In time, this will result in huge benefits to the community and improve a lot of people’s lives,” Bellack said.
Volunteers interested in more information or being mentors for this program are urged to contact Leach at (585) 798-4265, Ext. 146 or e-mail her at kel99@cornell.edu.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2021 at 7:08 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The dome of the Orleans County Courthouse is illumined in green tonight, the 11thday it has been lighted up in support of veterans. The flags are by a veterans’ memorial that was spearheaded by the Knights of Columbus.
Orleans County is participating in “Operation Green Light” to recognize the service of military personnel.
Veterans continue to serve their community in the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, church groups and civil service, county legislators said in resolution last month supporting the green light initiative.
Many of the military personnel experience significant stress in transitioning to civilian life, and many commit suicide in that first year out of the military, legislators said.
“With designation as a Green Light for Military Service County, Orleans County hereby declares from November 1st through Veterans Day, November 11th 2021 a time to salute and honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform transitioning from Active Service,” legislators said in the resolution.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 November 2021 at 7:00 am
Tom Bindeman, director of the Nioga Library System, said many local public libraries helped residents with internet access, including people using the WiFi in parking lot after hours.
ALBION – The public libraries in Orleans County are making their annual request for county funding, and this time the libraries say they are playing an important role in helping to bridge the digital divide in the county.
The libraries see many patrons come in to use computers with internet access during regular business hours for the libraries. And many also use the libraries’ WiFi in parking lot after hours for internet access, said Tom Bindeman, executive director of the Nioga Library Sytsem, which includes libraries in Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties.
“We have people applying for jobs online, applying to colleges online from the parking lot,” he told county legislators last week.
Bindeman and leaders from the four public libraries in Orleans met with the County Legislature to ask for funding in the 2022 budget.
The libraries would like to collectively receive $1 per resident or $40,343. The budget in 2021 included $10,087 that was split up among the libraries in Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina.
The county was giving $29,914 to be shared among the four libraries as recently as 2002, but that dropped to $7,480 in 2003. Since then, the amount was raised to $12,587 in 2007, $13,617 in 2010, and then was cut to $10,087 in 2011. It hasn’t changed since then.
Sandra Shaw, director of the Community Free Library in Holley, thanked legislators for the support in the county budget. She said the libraries are doing more shared programming and borrowing from each other’s collections with the inter-loan program.
The libraries also have embraced Zoom video conferencing during the pandemic to reach people with programming who are off site.
And the libraries offer an extensive online book collection to their patrons, Bindeman said.
The libraries and their internet resources are important in the Nioga system “because there are many dead spots in the three counties,” Bindeman said about the high-speed internet gaps.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 November 2021 at 9:07 am
The unemployment rate in Orleans County is at 4.3 percent, based on the latest data from the State Department of Labor.
That is the first time the county’s rate has dropped below 5 percent during the Covid-19 pandemic which started in March 2020. It peaked at 16.8 percent in April 2020. This year it’s been as high as 7.6 percent in February.
The rate is down from 5.7 percent in July and 5.6 percent in August to 4.3 percent in September.
The 4.3 percent compares to 5.6 percent a year earlier in September 2020. Orleans has about 500 more people working, from 16,000 to 16,500, with the number on unemployment down from 1,000 to 700 from September 2020 to the same month in 2021, according to the state DOL.
Nationally the unemployment rate is down from 7.7 percent in September 2020 to 4.6 percent this September with 6.23 million more people working, from 147.8 million to 154.0 million.
In New York, the unemployment rate is down from 9.9 percent in September 2020 to 6.3 percent in September 2021, with 282,100 more people working in the state (from 8.38 million to 8.67 million).
Bronx has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 12.4 percent and Yates County is the lowest at 3.2 percent.
Orleans County’s sales tax revenue through the first 10 months of 2021 is well ahead of the pace in 2020.
ALBION – Orleans County’s tentative budget for 2022 would increase spending by $5.4 million and raise taxes by 1.9 percent in a spending plan that tackles infrastructure projects and maintains local services.
