By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2023 at 1:24 pm
ALBION – The 911 dispatch center for Orleans County will get a $325,000 overhaul with a new CAD/RMS system.
Sheriff Bourke
The County Legislature on Tuesday approved a contract with EM Systems Inc. of Buffalo for the computer-aided design technology and also a new record management system that will allow the village police departments and the Sheriff’s Office to have access to each other’s records while officers are in the field. The RMS allows law enforcement personnel to enter and retrieve data.
“This will create a master database of files in Orleans County,” said Sheriff Chris Bourke.
The dispatch center handles emergency calls for fire departments, police agencies, animal control and other issues.
County officials also received bids on the new CAD/RMS technology, and the other vendors bid much more than EM Systems. Bourke said one vendor sought $800,000 and the other was about $1 million.
He said it will take a year to 18 months to transfer records and get the new system fully integrated.
“We went through an exhaustive process,” Bourke said about the CAD/RMS upgrades. “We looked at demo after demo.”
A contingent from the county also spent a half day in Wyoming County to see the dispatch center with EM Systems.
The State Police used to pay for a record management system for the dispatch, but the State Police is going to a different RMS that won’t be in sync with law enforcement in smaller counties, Bourke said. The state also no longer will be providing money to the smaller counties for an RMS system.
Orleans is asking the Albion, Holley and Medina police departments to each contribute $3,000 annually towards the maintenance costs of the new system. The county is paying for the new system, but would like some assistance from the three police departments with the annual maintenance expense, Bourke said.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Orleans County is looking to strengthen the roof at the Public Safety Building, a former furniture store building that county bought in 1998.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 December 2023 at 8:49 am
ALBION – Orleans County legislators are looking to upgrade the roof at the Public Safety Building on Route 31 near Gaines Basin Road.
Legislators on Tuesday approved a contract for up to $47,700 with Wendel Companies of Williamsville for professional services for the design, bidding and construction support services for the project.
The roof reinforcement project will likely include strengthening the joists and other work on a large flat roof.
The county acquired the building in 1998. The former Marquart Furniture building allowed the county to move in dispatch, the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Probation and the Major Felony Crime Task Force.
But the building is cramped, county officials said. The Legislature on Oct. 24 approved spending $975,000 for the former GCC building at 456 West Ave. The county paid Herring Enterprises of Holley for the building, which hasn’t been used for classes for several years.
The county will move the Probation Department and District Attorney’s office out of the Public Safety Building and into the former GCC site. Once Probation and the DA’s Office move to the site, the Public Safety Building will be reconfigured for the Sheriff’s Office to allow for a more efficient operation, said Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 December 2023 at 1:04 pm
ALBION – A committee that includes leaders from village, town and the county governments have begun meeting to look for more ways to share services and reduce costs of local government.
The Orleans County Shared Services Committee met for the first time on Dec. 7. The group includes County Legislature chairman, the town supervisors from the 10 towns, and the four village mayors.
The group in the initial meeting put out some ideas to potentially explore, including code enforcement, assessing and the fire service.
Right now there isn’t a uniform approach for code enforcement across the county. Some towns also are concerned about having an assessor with the extensive training required for the position.
The town and village leaders expressed their concern about the not-too-distant future for the fire service, whether there will be enough volunteers to respond to emergencies and other calls.
“We are having a very organic conversation regarding shared services,” said Jack Welch, the county chief administrative officer who is working with the committee. “Shared services cannot be forced down upon the towns and villages. This process requires willing partners to be creative in changing the means of a service to allow for a same or similar end product of a service for our residents.”
County Legislator Skip Draper said one possibility in looking at the fire service may be to reconsider how the battalions are structured. Right now the western battalion is the west end of the county and includes fire companies that serve the towns of Yates, Ridgeway and Shelby, and villages of Lyndonville and Medina. The central battalion includes Carlton, Gaines, Albion and Barre, and the eastern battalion is Clarendon, Murray/Holley and Kendall.
Draper said it may make more sense to group the battalions by northern, central and southern parts of the county. The northern towns are all along Lake Ontario and fire departments could perhaps share equipment and training with water rescues. The central area from west to east include the larger villages of Medina, Albion and Holley, which tend to be more densely populated with larger and taller buildings, Draper said. There could be opportunities to share equipment and resources among those communities.
The southern part of the county – Shelby, Barre and Clarendon – tends to be the most rural with farmland.
The local leaders say they are concerned about enough personnel for the departments. They are interested in seeing if the local BOCES and schools, as well as community colleges, can help train or at least steer students to service with the fire departments.
“We are in the infancy stage in this process of developing a list of potential areas of shared services,” Welch said. “We left the meeting asking for the participants to follow up on some of their ideas and to bring back more possibilities of sharing services to the next meeting early in 2024.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 December 2023 at 1:25 pm
Orleans County Tourism Department
KNOWLESVILLE – With an influx of visitors expected for the total eclipse on April 8, the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds will be hosting several events from April 5-8 and making at least 50 camping sites available with RV hook-ups.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension is teaming with the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, the Albion Merchants Association and Orleans County Tourism Department for the events. The path of totality will pass through Western New York and Orleans County with the duration of the totality about four minutes beginning at approximately 3:18 p.m. on April 8, a Monday. The partial eclipse starts at 2:04 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.
“People are coming from all over to Orleans County to see it,” said Robert Batt, the Extension executive director.
The events at the fairgrounds include:
April 5 (Friday) – Camp sites available. Visitors will receive Orleans County gift bag with discounts to local businesses.
April 6 (Saturday) – Chamber Home, Garden & Outdoor Show with food vendors and kids’ activities, and a chicken barbecue by Elks. The day is capped off with fireworks at Fairgrounds at 8 p.m.
April 7 (Sunday) – Chamber Home, Garden & Outdoor Show with food vendors and kids’ activities. There will also be an Orleans County scavenger hunt with prizes for top three teams and one unique hidden prize. There will be a campfire sing-along with s’mores by the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen from 7 to 9 p.m. The Albion Free Methodist Church will lead a Glow Party at 8:30 p.m. at the pavilion with a DJ.
April 8 (Monday) – There will be food vendors and kids’ activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be kids’ activity from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. featuring the Orleans County 4-H nutritional program leading a session on astronaut food, including hands-on cooking.
For more information about the camp sites and events at the fairgrounds, click here.
Map from I Love NY: The path of totality for the eclipse passes on an arc through Western New York on April 8.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 December 2023 at 10:31 am
149 have now graduated since 2018; Nick Picardo named alumnus of year
Photos by Tom Rivers: Taylor Gilbert, a credit representative with Farm Credit East, is congratulated by Orleans County legislator Skip Draper on Thursday evening during the graduation ceremony for Leadership Orleans. Charlie Nesbitt, a retired state assemblyman, is in back. Gilbert is among 25 graduates in the 2023 class.
LYNDONVILLE – A new class has completed an intensive program looking at aspects of the Orleans County community and equipping them to be more involved to help steer the county to success.
Leadership Orleans has now graduated 149 people since the first class in 2018. The program aims to build the “citizen capital” of the community, helping develop leaders who are educated on the many facets of the community, from agriculture, non-profit organizations, government services, small and larger businesses, tourism, arts and culture, community health and economic development.
The class also learned about their individual strengths and weaknesses, their personality types and how that shapes their decision-making and tendencies.
The group visited 44 sites around the county during the year and heard from 53 presenters. The program is funded through sponsors and tuition.
Lynne Johnson chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, congratulates the class on completing Leadership Orleans, which included sessions each month.
“It is no small feat being able to make a commitment when all of our lives are so busy and hectic,” Johnson said during the graduation at the White Birch. “Your continued and future involvement in all aspects of our community is sorely needed and very much welcomed – from running for office, to serving on non-profit boards, to helping develop a vision of what our future can be – we need all of your talents.”
Johnson urged the group to be good listeners in their roles as leaders.
“Unfortunately, open dialogue is too often defined by who can shout the loudest, talk the fastest, deliver the most clever one-liners and generate the most likes on social media,” she said. “I do not think any of us would define that as leadership, yet that’s the path we’re on.”
Dana Joy, clinical supervisor for UConnectCare (formerly GCASA), accepts his diploma and certificates for completing the class from County Legislator Skip Draper and Jayleen Carney, representing Assemblyman Steve Hawley.
The graduates this year include:
Jenifer Batt, Director Community Services, Arc GLOW
Julie Berry, Author/Owner, Author’s Note
Gabriel Bruning, Owner, Bruning Farm & Mountain Mule Ciderhouse, LLC
Tracy Cliff, Deputy County Clerk, Orleans County
Angela Conway, Principal, Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School, Albion CSD
Carl Creasey, Training Manager, Claims Recovery Financial Services, LLC
Jesse Cudzilo, Executive Director, Orleans County YMCA
John Fitzak, Legislator, Orleans County
Taylor Gilbert, Credit Representative, Farm Credit East
Kristin Grose, Human Resources Manager, Orleans Community Health
Michele Harling, Town Clerk, Town of Yates
Katie Harvey, Director of Personnel and Self-Insurance, Orleans County
Cassandra Healy, Store Mgr./Classroom Inst., Community Action of Orleans and Genesee
Megan Johnson, Executive Director, Orleans Community Health Foundation
Dana Joy, Clinical Supervisor, UConnectCare (formerly GCASA)
Gwendolyn Large, Volunteer, Lyndonville Lions Club
Katherine Oakes, Horticulture Educator, Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension
Sarah Osborne, Director of Probation, Orleans County
Michael Restivo, Financial Advisor, Brighton Securities
Jessica Rockcastle, Human Resources Manager, Baxter Healthcare Corp.
Elizabeth Tuttle, Youth Services Librarian, Hoag Library
Skip Helfrich
The schedule for this past year included a two-day opening retreat in January, legislative affairs in February, economic & workforce development in March, community health in April, communities & culture in May, outdoor leadership in June, tourism & recreation in July, volunteerism in August, agribusiness in September, education in October, simulated society in November, a closing retreat on Dec. 7 and graduation on Thursday.
“It’s not the same session every year,” said Skip Helfrich, executive director of Leadership Orleans since it started. “Every year we try to make it better.”
He said there are already 25 people committed to next year’s class.
Leadership Orleans also will be starting a “Level Up” program in smaller groups. It will include eight people initially and they will meet weekly in seven 4-hour sessions.
“What’s the next level?” Helfrich said. “Where do we go from here.”
The “Level Up” will focus on how to motivate people, create passion, build a cohesive team, and sell yourself to peers, subordinates and supervisors.
The effort should start in the first quarter of 2024, Helfrich said.
George Kiefer (right), procurement manager for Takeform, accepts the “First Impressions” award on behalf of Takeform in Medina. Skip Helfrich, left, is the Leadership Orleans executive director. Takeform was one of 44 sites visited by the class. Kiefer said Takeform works hard to help companies and organizations make a strong first impression through signage and branding.
Katie Oakes, horticulture educator for Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension, shares remarks as a class member during the graduation. Julie Berry, owner of the Author’s Note bookstore in Medina, also spoke during the graduation.
Nick Picardo
Oakes also was picked by the class as “presenter of the year.” She runs the U-pick operation at LynOaken Farms in Lyndonville and gave a message about grafting apple trees. She said that can be a metaphor about bringing different people together and using their strengths.
“We are forever linked by this incredible journey called Leadership Orleans,” Oakes said.
Berry spoke about the power of atomic energy to create a much more through nuclear fusion. She said bringing different people together can result in a much more vibrant end result.
Leadership Orleans brought together people from diverse backgrounds, a program that is desperately needed during a time of polarization, Berry said.
Leadership Orleans also picked an alumnus of the year – Nick Picardo, the Kendall district superintendent.
Picardo was in the 2021 class, when he was executive director of Student Services for Kendall Central School. He has been the superintendent for nearly two years, and just last week led the district on a successful vote for a $12.7 million capital project.
Picardo has spent his educational career in Kendall serving as an administrator, social studies teacher, department chair, coach and advisor.
Jackie Dunham, left, presents the diploma to Gabe Bruning, owner of Bruning Farm & Mountain Mule Ciderhouse. Dunham and Charlie Nesbitt, in back, are both on the Leadership Orleans steering committee. Kelly Kiebala is chairman of the committee.
Nesbitt urged the graduates to shape the direction of the community.
“What makes one community successful and another not?” Nesbitt said during remarks. “It’s the people not the place. It takes a lot of people who know what they’re doing.”
ALBION – Orleans County Legislature Chairman Lynne Johnson has been appointed to the board of directors of the Healthcare Trustees of New York State (HTNYS).
HTNYS, a division of the Healthcare Association of New York State, aims to help healthcare trustees from hospitals and healthcare systems across the state navigate the shifting healthcare landscape, advocate for their organizations, and fulfill their governance responsibilities.
Johnson has been a trustee of Orleans Community Health for more than a decade. Her term on the HTNYS board begins Jan. 1.
“Serving on the board at Orleans Community Health, I have witnessed the rapid changes in healthcare and the challenges healthcare systems face in delivering quality, cost-effective care to residents, especially in rural communities like ours,” said Johnson, a Lyndonville resident. “I’m hoping to bring that perspective to the HTNYS board and teaming up with others to advocate for our communities.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 December 2023 at 9:26 am
The state is making $50,000 available to promote sports and physical recreation activities for youth in Orleans County.
The Genesee-Orleans Youth Bureau will administer the funding from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. Applications are due to the Youth Bureau by Dec. 31. Non-profit and community-based organizations are eligible to apply.
Grants can fund coaches, instructors, referee fees, equipment and uniforms, facility and field improvements, adaptive sports equipment and programming, and other needs.
Interested organizations can email the Youth Bureau for more information at youthbureau@co.genesee.ny.us or call (585)344-3960.
ALBION – The Safe Harbour program run by the Orleans County Department of Social Services is hosting a webinar Wednesday, Dec. 13, with a survivor and author of a book on human trafficking.
Jasmine Grace will speak from 1 to 3 p.m. on surviving the commercial sex trade and addiction.
Grace will discuss facts about sex trafficking and how communities can prevent it from happening. She has started Jasmine Grace Outreach to help people break free from drug addiction, sexual exploitation, and a hopeless way of life. She wrote the book, “The Diary of Jasmine Grace. Trafficked. Recovered. Redeemed.”
Participation in the webinar is free by those interested need to register in advance by emailing SafeHarbour@orleanscounty.gov. You will then receive a link to the Zoom video conference presentation.
The Safe Harbour program is designed to be a safe place for teens (12-18 years of age). In addition to providing education and awareness, Safe Harbour provides lessons in life skills to promote a strong foundation to help children launch into their future.
For more information on Safe Harbour or how you can get your child involved in the program, email SafeHarbour@orleanscountyny.gov.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 December 2023 at 4:11 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – David Horn, 7, of Medina and his mother Lynn look for a toy police car as part of this morning’s “Shop with a Cop” at the Albion Walmart. Rob Riemer, a chief deputy with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, joined the mother and son while they shopped.
This was the fifth time Walmart hosted “Shop with a Cop” in the Albion store. Walmart contributed a $4,000 grant to the Sheriff’s Office for the program that paired Sheriff’s employees with children and their families. The kids pick out items to help their families or be given as gifts for a family member.
Some of the kids made it their first priority to get a gift for a sibling or a parent. Each kid had about $350 to work with.
Chief Deputy Rob Riemer and David Horn pose for a photo in the store. Riemer said David was very excited and happy to be able to get the gifts fr his family.
David’s mother has been out of work with a medical condition. She said she appreciates the gifts for the family’s holiday celebration.
Lt. Steve Fox goes shopping with 10-year-old Brandon Kalpin of Albion.
Fox said Brandon had a good system to spread out the gifts for people he cares about.
Provided photo: This group includes some of the kids and members of the Sheriff’s Office, as well as some Walmart leaders. The Orleans County Office of Child and Family Services assists in the event. Jeannine Larkin, who helps coordinate the effort, said they try to have different kids for “Shop with a Cop” each year.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Retired Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin, center, speaks last week during a forum on immigration’s impact locally. Gary Kent, left, and Kim Remley listen while Lattin says the county has long needed immigrants, from the building of the Erie Canal to workers for the Medina Sandstone quarries to today’s agriculture.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 December 2023 at 6:23 pm
ALBION – Orleans County for about two centuries has benefited from the fruits of immigrants’ labor, from the construction and expansion of the Erie Canal, to the sandstone quarries to agriculture, the county has long needed the strong backs and determination from foreign workers.
Bill Lattin, the retired Orleans County historian, shared those sentiments during a forum last week about immigration, a two-hour discussion at Hoag Library. The event was organized by the Community Coalition for Justice and featured several panelists.
Lattin said there have been three big waves of immigration into Orleans County. First it was the Irish fleeing starvation from a potato famine. That resulted in many Irish immigrants coming to Orleans County to work on widening the Erie Canal from 1838 to the 1850s, Lattin said.
Workers were needed to expand the canal and the main tools were a pick, shovel and a wheelbarrow.
“They were doing work the established people didn’t want to do,” Lattin said.
The Medina Sandstone industry took off in the mid-19th century. Local quarry operators welcomed Polish immigrants in the 1880s and ’90s, and then Italians in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
“It was dirty work and no one else wanted to do it,” he said. “The stone quarries were dangerous places to work. There were explosions and dust, which caused medical problems.”
More recently, foreign workers come to Orleans County primarily to work in agriculture.
“Historically, immigration has been a great benefit to the overall mechanisms of Orleans County,” Lattin said. “I think it’s something we can be proud of.”
Wendy Oakes Wilson
The farmworkers now increasingly are here through the federal H-2A program which allows farmers to bring in legal workers who stay temporarily.
Wendy Oakes Wilson, general manager of LynOaken Farms in Lyndonville and president of Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina, said many local farms used to be able to hire a domestic workforce, with many temporary workers coming up for a few months from the south from states such as Florida.
But those workers are pretty much nonexistent these days for the local farms. LynOaken hires 38 workers from Jamaica who are paid a minimum of $16.95 per hour. LynOaken pays for their travel to get to Lyndonville and back home, and provides them with housing. With piece rate, the workers can make as much as $25 per hour, Wilson said.
Those workers are integral to LynOaken Farms and the winery’s success, Wilson said.
“Without them we would have to close up shop,” she said.
The workers pick apples, which are heavy in the bags carried by the workers. The pickers need to show great care to not pull the stems from the apple when picking them off the trees, or too squeeze them too hard and cause bruising.
“This is skilled labor and it’s a good portion of the economy in Orleans County,” Wilson said.
Leonel Rosario
Leonel Rosario started working at local apple farms when he was barely a teen-ager in the mid-’90s. He used to travel with his family to work in Florida, South Carolina and in New York.
They would pick apples, cut cabbage, plant vegetables and work in construction.
“We were happy to have a job,” Rosario said at the immigration discussion. “We were happy to go back home (to Mexico) and bring something.”
Rosario, his brothers and family members now own a grocery store, two restaurants, and several other businesses. Two of his brothers have their own farm. Other family have a tree-grafting business helping local farms who used to bring in people from Washington state for the service. The Rosario family also has a construction business locally.
Leonel Rosario said the Rosarios altogether employ about 120 people. They could use more employees.
He acknowledged it’s hard to find enough staff.
“We’re always looking for people to work,” he said.
Rosario said he is thankful for the local farmers who gave his family an opportunity. He worked many years for the Lamont Fruit Farm.
“Without the farmers there wouldn’t be any farmworkers coming here,” Rosario said. “All of the farmers have been great to work for.”
Cassandra Bocanegra, center, is the manager of Organizing and Strategy in the Finger Lakes for the New York Immigration Coalition. Mary Rutigliano, left, is a member of the Rochester Rapid Response Network that tries to support immigrants facing detention or deportation. Wendy Wilson is one of the leaders of LynOaken Farms in Lyndonville and the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina.
Two advocates for immigrants spoke as panelists during the forum last Thursday. Cassandra Bocanegra is the manager of Organizing and Strategy in the Finger Lakes for the New York Immigration Coalition. Mary Rutigliano is a member of the Rochester Rapid Response Network that tries to support immigrants facing detention or deportation.
Bocanegra said Orleans County has been a high enforcement area, partly due to the 500-bed immigration detention facility in Batavia. Many local law enforcement will call ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for routine traffic infractions due to a language issue, and those stops can lead to immigration or deportation proceedings for the immigrants, she said.
She said immigrants have revitalized the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, and they tend to open businesses providing jobs at a higher rate than native-born American citizens.
Bocanegra said NAFTA decimated the agriculture economy in Mexico and Latin American, causing an exodus of desperate people looking to come to the United States.
The U.S., however, has failed to update its immigration laws to reflect the reality near the border, and the need for workers in the United States, she said.
She bristled when someone in the crowd said he supports legal immigration, but doesn’t want “illegals” coming across the border.
“I don’t like the term ‘illegal,” Bocanegra said.
She said “undocumented” better reflects the humanity of people coming into the country without the proper documents. She faulted the U.S. for not providing more legal opportunities for immigrants to be in the country with permission.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and the basic human dignity we all deserve,” she said.
Rutigliano said the Rapid Response Network tries to assist immigrants with language access, transportation, bullying in schools and other challenges locally.
Immigrants are good for Orleans County but is Orleans County good for immigrants?” she said.
The Rapid Response Network was formed in 2017 due to the heightened immigration enforcement in the local rural counties.
“What can we do to make the whole GLOW region safer for immigrants?” Rutigliano said.
Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke said there are far fewer issues with migrant workers these days from a law enforcement perspective. He said many of the farmers have buses and vans to transport workers to the store, bank and for other needs. That has drastically reduced the number of farmworkers driving without licenses, he said. Wendy Wilson, left, is LynOaken Farms general manager and Leonard Oakes Estate Winery president.
Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke, an employee of the Sheriff’s Office for 39 years, said farmworkers and immigrants seldom cause problems these days.
“We do not see immigrants causing a disproportionate number of problems,” he said.
But the farmworkers in the 1980s and ’90s used to buy cheap cars and put license plates on them, operating without insurance and without driver’s licenses.
Now, many of the farms have buses and vans and take their workers to the grocery store, bank and other locations.
Bourke said the housing is much better now, too. He recalled when 20 to 30 workers were crammed into trailers.
“I see a much more organized system, a cleaner system,” he said. “We don’t see the traffic stops and problems like we did.”
Bourke said he has a deep respect for the farmworkers, who put in long hours often in extreme weather – cold, rain or intense heat.
“The people in the field are working people, they’re God-fearing people, they’re family people,” he said.
Bourke said the local law enforcement agencies are facing a worker challenge right now. The deputy sheriff exam used to get about 60 to 90 people, but now only gets 20, and half of those can’t pass the physical fitness requirements.
“Law enforcement are good-paying jobs with benefits and healthcare,” Bourke said. “But no one wants these jobs either. We’re trying to get more people to take the test.”
The sheriff said he would welcome more Spanish-speaking staff members, include among the deputies.
