ALBION – An Albion woman who was injured in an April 22 car accident on Route 31 near Knowlesville has died from those injuries, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office has reported today.
Sue “Sue Ellen” E. Ryan-Sauer, 66, died on April 29 at Buffalo General Hospital Neuro Intensive Care Unit.
Ryan-Sauer was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her granddaughter, Sara Secore, 20, of Medina. Secore made a right turn from the south shoulder of the highway in an attempt to enter a private driveway. While making the turn, Secore’s action caused a westbound pickup truck, driven by Jack Bower of Waterport, to strike the passenger side of the Secore vehicle, Undersheriff Chris Bourke said in a news release.
Ryan-Sauer was taken by Mercy Flight helicopter to Erie County Medical Center. Bower was transported to Medina Memorial Hospital. Secore was not injured.
No charges are being filed at this time, Bourke said. Orleans County deputies R. Flaherty, J. Gifaldi and J.J. Cole conducted the investigation.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 April 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – Teams of powerful draft horses, with participants from eight states, are competing today in at 4-H Fairgrounds in the “Pull of Champions.”
This is the second straight year the event has been at the fairgrounds in Knowlesville after the State Fair in Syracuse used to host the competition.
The event draws many out-of-state competitors who are eager to compete after winter.
There are nearly 20 teams competing in either the lightweight division (3,425 pounds or less for two horses), or the heavyweights for teams that exceed 3,425 pounds.
This team from Michigan takes in the action inside one of the livestock barns at the fairgrounds.
The teams need to pull a dynamometer 27 1/2 feet for a full pull. The dynamometer, in the final pulls, can simulate 160,000 pounds.
Brian Ressequie of Cato is announcer for today’s horse pull.
Sydney Root of Bolivar is pictured with a team that is owned by her family.
This will be the second straight year the fairgrounds is hosting the horse pull. After a small crowd last year, organizers were pleased to see about 400 people in the stands today.
This is a closeup of a horse owned by Lori Root and her family in Bolivar. The family has been competing in horse pulls for 35 years.
“Horses are an addiction,” she said. “Once you are around them and like them, you want to compete. Here it’s a friendly competition. Everyone helps each other.”
This team from Michigan waits its turn to pull.
First prize today for each division is $750.
In addition to New York, teams in the competition are from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Florida and Ohio.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 April 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
WATERPORT – Nick Nesbitt is pictured with Mike, a Belgian draft horse that is part of a horse-pulling team. Nesbitt has been competing in horse pulls for the past decade and will vie in the lightweight division (3,425 pounds or less for two horses) on April 25 at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.
This will be the second straight year the fairgrounds will host the horse pull. It is expected to draw at least 20 teams from the Northeast.
The competition used to be held at the State Fairgrounds in Syracuse but moved to Knowlesville last year.
“This will kick off the pulling season in the Northeast,” Nesbitt said today in Waterport at his horse barn on Wilson Road. “You’re going to see some of the best pullers in the country.”
The competition starts at noon at April 25 and features the lightweight division and then the heavyweights, where both horses top a combined weight of 3,425 pounds.
They will pull a diorama just like in the tractor pulls. That diorama, in the final pulls, can simulate 160,000 pounds. The teams of horses need to pull it 27 ½ feet for a full pull.
This Belgian draft horse is named Skip and is the other half of Nick Nesbitt’s draft horse pulling team. The Belgian draft horses are muscular, bred to pull a heavy load.
The horse pulling teams will compete in the main livestock building at the fairgrounds and there will be bleachers inside for spectators.
Nesbitt said the horses like the competition.
“They love it,” he said. “They are proud after they pull a big load.”
Nesbitt, an apple farmer, grew up watching horse pull competitions with his father Steve and family friend Gordon Bentley. Nesbitt has competed in the sport the past 10 years, often training with the horses two hours a day. He is a past winner at the Erie County Fair and the Warren County Fair.
The draft horses impress the crowds at the events, he said. Long before machines, draft horses provided the muscle on farms and numerous public works projects.
“The whole country was built on draft horses,” Nesbitt said.
He hopes a big crowd turns out for the competition on April 25.
“The louder the crowd, the more into it the pullers and horses get,” he said.
For more information on horse pulling, visit horsepullresults.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – The lift bridge in Knowlesville will be closed on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No traffic will be permitted across the bridge during that time, including emergency vehicles.
The bridge has been limited to one lane and 6 tons in recent years. The bridge was built in 1910.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 March 2015 at 12:00 am
County board also supports small wind turbine in Ridgeway, food service at Carlton business
ALBION – Orleans County Planning Board members supported a plan for a bed and breakfast in the Town of Ridgeway at the southeast corner of the Telegraph and Bates roads intersection.
Rodelle Mammano and Sunshine Charters want to open the bed and breakfast at the location, a 70-acre site of mostly brush/woodland. The house is a single-family dwelling with an in-law apartment and garage.
Planners on Thursday recommended Ridgeway officials approve the site plan and a permit for the project. County planners said the exterior sign advertising the business should not exceed 2 by 2 feet.
In other actions, the Planning Board:
Supported a Ridgeway resident’s plan for a 153-foot-high “small wind energy conversion system” at 2693 Townline Rd.
William Sills wants to erect the wind energy project that would generate 10 kilowatts of power. He will need a variance for the height beyond 120 feet. The Planning Board supported the variance, saying an accessory building and stand of mature trees along the frontage of the property help conceal most of the turbine from motorists.
The tower would be freestanding lattice construction, and set back 252 feet from the front (west) lot line, 280 feet from the north lot line, 686 feet from the south lot line and 415 feet from the rear (east) lot line. Those setbacks are far enough to avert any significant impacts on neighbors, Planning Board members said.
Sills is working with Sustainable Energy Developments from Ontario, NY, for the project.
Backed the request for a permit to serve food at the Vintage Apple Garden at 1582 Oak Orchard Rd., Carlton.
Paula Nesbitt started the business at the site last year. The business had been Bertsch’s Good Earth Market.
Nesbitt wants to add a lunch menu and coffee bar to the greenhouse and seasonal farm market at the corner of Route 98 and Park Avenue.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 March 2015 at 12:00 am
RIDGEWAY – The Town Board agreed to seek a $750,000 grant from the state to help sway a Canadian company to commit to a $10 million project at the former BernzOmatic site, which was vacated last July by Worthington Cylinders.
Pride Pak Canada Ltd. in Ontario, Canada, proposes to establish a new vegetable processing, packaging and distribution facility in the former BernzOmatic property located at 1 BernzOmatic Drive.
The company wants to expand its operations and better serve a large northeastern US grocery chain, said Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Development Agency.
Pride Pak, formed in 1983, is Ontario’s largest fruit and vegetable processing company. Barone told Ridgeway officials that the company currently exports approximately 50 percent of its product to the U.S. market.
Pride Pak wants to purchase the BernzOmatic property – a 180,000-square-foot facility with 30-plus acres of land. The company will do substantial renovations to the existing plant and purchase new machinery equipment at a total initial project cost of $9.6 million, Barone said. Additional capital expenditures are planned for future phases of the project in years 2 through 5.
It’s not a done deal because the company is considering another site in Pennsylvania. The incentive packages will be part of the company’s decision.
“So while we are cautiously optimistic, we also need to be realistic – the project principals are weighing options being presented by New York State and Pennsylvania,” Barone said at a public hearing on Monday.
Pride Pak expects to create up to 80 new permanent full-time positions by the end of year one. The state Office of Community Renewal grant of $750,000 will assist Pride Pak U.S. affiliate in the acquisition and installation of new machinery and equipment.
By year five, the company could have up to 200 workers at its U.S. site, Barone said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 March 2015 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – Worthington Industries closed its Medina plant last July 31.
RIDGEWAY – The Town Board will be joined by economic development officials at a 7 p.m. public hearing today, seeking state funding for a company to use the former Bernz-O-Matic site for vegetable processing and distribution.
Ridgeway intends to seek a Community Development Block Grant through the state. The manufacturing facility was vacated by Worthington Cylinders last summer and about 150 people were laid off.
Worthington bought Bernz-O-Matic in 2011. Bernz-O-Matic had operated in Medina since 1969, making torches.
Worthington makes cylinders for the torches in Wisconsin. The company closed its site in Medina and shifted the torch production to Wisconsin, where the company said it could do everything at one site, saving in transportation costs.
Orleans Economic Development officials said a Canadian company is eyeing the space for a vegetable and food processing facility at 1 Bernzomatic Drive. The company is considering another location in addition to Medina so the Medina project isn’t a done deal, an economic development official said.
The state funding would make the Medina site a more attractive option for the Canadian company, the official said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 March 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – Orleans County Highway Department employee Ryan Hill fills a pothole today at the intersection of Knowlesville Road and Route 31 in the Town of Ridgeway. (Greg Rosato is pictured in back.)
The Highway Department has two crews out today using Cold Patch to fill potholes, which have proliferated from the punishing winter.
Greg Rosato has a shovel full of Cold Patch for one of the potholes.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2015 at 12:00 am
RIDGEWAY – Republicans in Ridgeway interested in serving in elected positions at the town and county level are welcome to seek an endorsement from the Republican Committee.
Three positions on the Town Board are up for election and the incumbents are expected to run again. That includes Town Supervisor Brian Napoli and Town Council members Paul Blajszczak and Mary Woodruff.
The town justice position will also be on the ballot in November. Joe Kujawa was appointed to the post in January.
The Ridgeway Republican Committee also expects to meet with candidates for County Legislature, sheriff and coroner, and the town committee will make a recommendation to the Orleans County Republican Committee for those positions, said Karen Kaiser, the Ridgeway Republican Committee vice chairwoman.
She encouraged Ridgeway Republicans interested in seeking a town or county position to contact her at 585-590-6410 or by email at karen.lahnen@gmail.com, or they can call GOP Chairman Richard Fisher 585-356-5719.
“We want to make sure anyone interested is heard from,” Kaiser said.
Contributed Story Posted 1 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photos
The Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company held its annual installation dinner on Saturday night and named Don Marchner, left in top photo, as the firefighter of the year for 2014. Marchner responded to 279 of the fire company’s 290 calls.
Marchner was also installed as the fire company’s new fire chief. He is pictured with First Assistant Chief Jason Bessel, center, and Second Assistant Francis “Woody” Woodward, who served as fire chief in 2014.
In memory of her husband, Larry Petrie, Harriet Petrie presented the Ridgeway EMS with a new suction machine.
Front row, from left: EMS Captain Kristin McAdoo and Harriet Petrie. Middle row: Katie Tuohey. Back row: Guy Scribner, Chris Seefeldt, Glen Busch II and Charlie Smith.
The 2015 officers include, front row: Laurie Marchner, secretary; Kristin McAdoo, EMS captain; Valerie Childs, director; Stacey Seefeldt, vice president.
Second row: Ricky Tuohey, safety officer/director; Francis Woodward, 2nd assistant chief; Don Marchner, chief; Mike Kelly, president.
Third row: Jim Marciszewski, captain; Jason Bessel, 1st assistant chief: Matt Natale, foreman; Todd Hansler, sergeant at arms; and Glen Busch II, treasurer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli talks with reporters after dissolution was defetated on Tuesday. Napoli said the town can find cost savings for the village through shared services
MEDINA – With residents casting a decisive blow against dissolving the village, Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and town leaders from Shelby and Ridgeway say they will work towards cooperation to reduce the costs of government in the community.
Meier pushed dissolution, seeing it as a way for a more efficient government for the Medina area, while also bringing in much-needed state aid.
The dissolution plan was fiercely opposed by the leaders from the two town governments, as well as village employees and many village residents. The referendum – “Shall the Village of Medina, New York be dissolved?” – was defeated, 949-527. By law, the issue can’t be voted on again for at least four more years.
Meier said the village faces the same challenges after the vote as it did to start the day.
“We still have a declining tax base, a shrinking population and climbing costs,” he said shortly after the results were announced. “Our sustainability predicament remains.”
Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said he looks forward to seeing proposals from the two towns on how to reduce government costs in the Medina community.
Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli said he wants to have serious talks with the village and Shelby town officials about shared services. He believes that cooperation among the municipalities can reduce taxes for village residents.
“The residents (through this vote) told us they want us to look at shared services,” Napoli said in the Senior Center, where many village and town officials, and other residents were gathered to hear the results of the vote.
David Stalker is a member of the Ridgeway Town Board who lives in the village. He sees the village is struggling and needs some help.
“We’ve been ready and willing to talk,” Stalker said about the Ridgeway officials.
He was among the group that waited for nearly 1,500 ballots to be counted, by far the most of an village vote in at least a generation.
Election Inspector Judy Szulis announced the results at 10:35 p.m. The polls closed at 9 p.m.
Stalker was like many of the residents who worried about the fate of the Fire Department and Police Department if dissolution had passed.
“I like having them and knowing they can be there in 3 minutes,” he said.
That was a common refrain from voters interviewed by the media on Tuesday. Residents said they don’t like their high taxes, but they said they didn’t want to lose a responsive police force and fire department.
“Taxes you can deal with, but the proper time for emergencies can’t be compromised,” said resident Peter Kaiser, 31.
He was one of several residents who wasn’t able to vote because he wasn’t registered. He said he assumed he could vote as a village resident, but he wasn’t recorded as registered by the Orleans County Board of Elections.
Tracy Cody had the same situation. She lives in the village, but unbeknownst to her, she wasn’t registered to vote.
She also owns land outside the village in Ridgeway. She went to the polls on Tuesday, concerned her town taxes would go up if dissolution went through. She also didn’t like the uncertainty with the police and fire department.
She supports the idea of one government for the community, with the two towns merged and a village dissolution to follow. She thinks consolidating the two towns is the first step.
“Combine everything into one,” she said.
It was a busy day for election inspectors with nearly 1,500 people voting at the Senior Center. Election inspector Norma Huth is at left wth inspector Judy Szulis at right.
Mayor Meier and supporters of OneMedina see merger of the two towns and elimination of the village as an ultimate goal for the community, providing a streamlined government, more state aid and a stronger political voice.
OneMedina saw dissolution of the village as a first step, but folding the village services into the towns, different taxing districts and an LDC for sewer services proved confusing to many people.
One woman, a life-long Medina resident at age 74, said there were too many unknowns if dissolution had passed.
“Everything is so unclear to everybody,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “It’s been back and forth with the facts and there’s been too much fighting.”
Crystal Petry, 22, is a Shelby volunteer firefighter who lives in the village. She voted against dissolution. She said the Medina Fire Department, which includes paid firefighters, is critical to western Orleans County. She also thought it was unfair to residents in Shelby and Ridgeway outside the village who faced tax increases if the referendum had passed.
“There’s other ways of going about doing it,” Petry said. “Give the towns a chance.”
Steve Seitz, a Shelby town councilman, said Shelby welcomes the village officials for ongoing dialogue about sharing services.
“Hopefully we can get back to the table,” Seitz said.
Meier said he was encouraged by the 527 “yes” votes, 36 percent of the total. The 527 tops the number of people who voted in the last village election. Only about 400 voted last March.
He said dissolution could loom again because of the difficult situation the village faces. It has limited options for boosting revenue to pay for the services the community values so much. Meier said the village shouldn’t just raise property taxes. The $54 rate per $1,000 of assessed property (village, town, county and school taxes) is one of the highest in the state.
Election inspectors Mary Ann Arder, left, and Norma Huth count ballots. It took about an hour and half to record all of the votes.
Residents and businesses can save significant money in taxes just by moving outside the village and avoiding the village’s $16.44 tax rate. Dissolution would have chopped the overall rate by about $6 per $1,000, saving $420 for a village property owner with a house assessed at $70,000.
“Sometimes it takes time for people to warm up to this kind of transformational change,” Meier said. “We voted tonight. I can’t say if this will be the last vote on the issue. This is a conversation that will continue for years to come.”
He noted a vote to abolish the village court failed in its first vote but sailed through the second time in 2010.
Village Trustee Mark Irwin supported dissolution and was disappointed to see it be rejected. He noted a strong push from the dissolution foes – “They preyed on peoples’ misunderstanding.”
A dissolution plan would have preserved existing village services, realized $277,000 in efficiency saving and $541,000 in additional state aid.
“Right now the ball is in the towns’ court,” Irwin said.
Meier said he looks forward to seeing the ideas and plans from the two towns.
“I think we really need to figure out what the towns’ proposal are,” he said. “They have said, ‘There are better ways, there are better ways.’ All eyes are on them to follow through with what they said.”
The 1,476 who went to the polls on Tuesday is about half of the people who were eligible to vote. The village has 6,065 residents, according to the 2010 Census. Judy Szulis, an election inspector, was pleased by the big turnout.
“We’ve had people come out who had never voted before in a village election,” Szulis said. “There have been a lot of new faces in here today, which is a good thing.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 January 2015 at 12:00 am
‘Dissolution has divided friends, neighbors and families. This cannot go on.’ – Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli
Photos by Tom Rivers – Shelby Town Supervisor Skip Draper, right, responds to a question about village dissolution. He is joined by Councilman Dale Stalker during a meeting at the Medina High School Auditorium attended by more than 300 people.
MEDINA – A big crowd of about 300 people attended a public meeting by the Town Boards in Shelby and Ridgeway on Wednesday night. The town officials stated their strong opposition to the dissolution of the Village of Medina.
Villagers shouldn’t expect the towns to pick up the level of services currently provided in the village, officials from both towns said.
Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and other supporters of the dissolution plan see it as a restructuring of services that eases the tax burden on village residents, shifts some costs to the towns and brings in much-needed state aid.
But Jeff Toussaint, Ridgeway town councilman, called it a divisive effort that will only push costs onto the towns. He said the plan has residents outside the village fretting about “unbearable tax hikes.”
“The dissolution plan promoted by One Medina will not unite Medina but ruin it,” Toussaint said.
Ridgeway Town Board members David Stalker, right, and Paul Blajszczak both voiced their opposition to village dissolution. Stalker lives in the village and he said he enjoys the heightened services which come at a higher cost.
Village residents will vote on dissolution from noon to 9 p.m. on Jan. 20 at the Senior Center.
Residents won’t be voting on a specific dissolution plan. They will decide whether or not the village government will continue.
Shelby Town Supervisor Skip Draper and Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli both said the dissolution plan doesn’t save nearly enough money to justify eliminating the village government and creating new layers of government bureaucracy, including special districts, a local development corporation and additional burdens on the two towns.
The plan identifies $277,000 in cost savings and $541,000 in additional state aid for $818,000 in overall benefit. (Click here to see the dissolution plan.)
But with combined budgets of more than $10 million, the $277,000 was called a small amount in operational savings.
“I don’t trust the math,” Draper said. “It’s very clear these are all estimates.”
Draper said he is dubious there would be any savings at all because the plan only calls for adding one full-time position to the police department, which would go from covering the village to both towns, or from 3 square miles to 98. If four police officers were needed that would offset the $277,000 in identified cost savings.
Gary Lamar, president of the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company, said the Medina Fire Department is critical to ambulance and fire service for Western Orleans County. He doesn’t want to see the Medina Fire Department disrupted through dissolution.
The town officials said they want to recommit to shared service discussions. Draper said the communities have established a record of cooperation before through courts and assessing services. He sees benefits to the village if the towns took over all plowing and street maintenance. However, if villagers want sidewalk plowing, they could pay for that and other “enhanced services,” Draper said.
The Shelby town supervisor sees the two towns providing “baseline services,” with village residents paying for additional services such as police.
Meier has said shared services don’t do enough to ease the significant tax strain on village residents. Villagers pay a combined tax rate of $54 per $1,000 of assessed property. Moving outside the village can knock about $12 off that combined tax rate, a significant disparity and major disincentive to invest in the village, the mayor has said.
The village tax rate would drop about $6, according to the dissolution plan. Ridgeway residents outside the village in 2013 paid a $6.71 rate for town, lighting and fire protection. That would rise 46 percent to $9.83 if the village dissolves and services are picked up according to the plan.
Shelby residents would see a 10 percent increase with dissolution with the 2013 rate for outside-village residents going from $8.36 per $1,000 of assessed property to $9.17. That would raise taxes for a $70,000 home from $585 to $642.
But the town officials don’t buy the numbers, particularly with the costs for police.
Paul Hendel served as moderator for the meeting at Medina High School.
Shelby Town Councilman Steve Seitz said the plan wasn’t well thought out and didn’t include input from the town officials. He told the village officials they shouldn’t quit on the village. He urged them to come back to the table and find more ways to share services and cooperate.
Ridgeway Town Councilman Paul Blajszczak described the dissolution plan as “radical and premature.”
He urged village residents “to elect candidates interested in productive collaboration.”
The town officials were asked to be specific in how the taxes could be cut for village residents. Shared services was a refrain among the two towns.
Napoli, the Ridgeway supervisor, said the dissolution push has stirred the passions of the community – for the wrong reasons.
“Dissolution has divided friends, neighbors and families,” Napoli said. “This cannot go on.”
Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli speaks against dissolution, saying the community should preserve the village. Jeff Toussaint is at right.
Ed Weider is one the proponents of “One Medina,” an effort that seeks to dissolve the village and merge the two towns. He spoke after several residents and town officials spoke about the beautiful downtown and historic flavor of the community.
Weider said there is another part of Medina, and it is growing: decay. He travels the village in a motorized wheelchair. He sees lots of vacant houses and properties being neglected.
Dissolving the village and merging the towns would lower government costs and bring in much needed state aid, helping to pay for services and lower residents’ tax bills, Weider said.
“i don’t think we can afford to maintain the status quo,” Weider said.
Weider praised the two town boards for their presentation on Wednesday night. The boards have proven they work well together and are willing to face community challenges. Weider urged them to support the village dissolution, to bring a unified and streamlined voice to local government.
Ed Weider addresses the two town boards before about 300 people on Wednesday night. Owen Toale is at right, holding the microphone for Weider.
The town officials were asked if they had been approached about a merger of the two towns. They said they hadn’t. Blajszczak said they would have to consider the issue if there was a citizen petition.
But he doubted there would be significant savings because there would still be the same amount of work with water, sewer, street maintenance and plowing, and other services.
“Would a merger save money?” Blajszczak said. “That’s an assumption.”
Some of the residents asked the town officials what the village residents get for the $1.1 million villagers pay to the two towns annually. Draper noted assessing and court for sure.
“The amount of service from the town is minimal at best,” resident Dick Berry responded to Draper.
Berry said he wished more of his local taxes could be directed to the village, which is doing the bulk of the work.
“There has to be a better way,” Berry said.
The town officials were also urged to press for more sales tax revenue from the county and to demand more municipal state aid from New York.
Proponents of dissolution will have a public meeting on Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Medina Theatre. That meeting will include Don Earle, Seneca Falls town supervisor. He will share his community’s experience with dissolution, discussing impacts on taxes and services, and the community’s reaction to the changes.
MEDINA – After serving in local law enforcement for almost 27 years, newly appointed Ridgeway Town Justice Joe Kujawa is seeing things from a different perspective.
“I knew I wouldn’t be a police officer forever,” Kujawa said.
A few years ago, when his shift at the Medina Police Department changed to days, he started having much more interaction with the local courts in Ridgeway and Shelby.
“I got to know Larry (Sanderson) and Dawn (Keppler), and I got interested in the other side of the law,” he said. With the police department, he said it was difficult to see a case through to the end unless it went to trial. (Sanderson was the judge in Ridgeway and Keppler serves as Shelby’s judge.)
“It’s nice to make that step to the other side and see cases get completed,” Kujawa noted.
Kujawa’s first day behind the bench was Jan. 5 with a docket of about 20 cases. He was accompanied by Keppler. She was there as a mentor in some cases, and she took the lead in a few, Kujawa said, “because they were cases she wanted to finish.”
The new cases were handled by the new judge, who thanked his new colleague.
“Dawn’s been great throughout this whole process,” he said. “She’s been a great mentor, and she’s a real good person.”
Much of the month leading up to Kujawa’s first day behind the bench was hectic, as his retirement from the Medina Police Department took effect and he spent a week in Albany training for his new post. And, like most people starting something new, Kujawa said there were some nerves to battle the night of Jan. 4.
“I still got butterflies,” he chuckled. “I made sure to get there early on Monday, and looked over the docket. When all eyes are on the new judge, you want to make a good first impression.”
This past Monday’s docket featured penal law cases like disorderly conduct, trespassing, and other similar types of offenses. There were no felonies over which to preside. As Kujawa explained, “All cases start in local court, and the only time a town judge would have jurisdiction over a felony is at the initial arraignment.” The felonies then move up to Orleans County Court before Judge James Punch.
The arraignments can happen at any time, and both Kujawa and Keppler, along with Yates Town Justice Don Grabowski, all are perennially “on call” for such things and serve as back-ups to each other.
Kujawa was appointed by the Ridgeway Town Board after receiving the endorsement of the Republican Committee. His name was chosen from a group of three candidates. While he said pursuing a judgeship was something he had discussed with Sanderson, the latter’s declining health led to the process happening sooner than expected. Sanderson resigned as a local judge in November after 22 years. (Sanderson died on Monday at age 73. Click here to see his obituary.)
Leaving the police force behind meant leaving behind brothers in blue, which is something Kujawa said he will miss about his long-time job.
“They’re a good bunch of individuals who love their work,” he said. “I’ll also miss the daily interactions with the people I saw, the merchants I visited. Everybody likes to see police officers on the streets, and I’d stop by businesses to talk.”
After wearing a uniform for so long, putting on a black robe “felt different” but training in Albany helped Kujawa put the new garb in perspective.
“They said, ‘Town justices are the gatekeepers of the judicial system,'” he recalled. “You’ve got to respect the power of the position, and others should, too.”
The change in Kujawa’s role in the community, and when it occurred, created a bit of a whirlwind for his family during the holidays, but the adjustment has not been too difficult.
As the saying goes, behind every good man is a great woman, and Kujawa’s wife Barb has been supportive of his new post. She did note, however, that when he first mentioned his desire to serve on the bench, it came as a shock.
“I was used to him being a cop,” she said. Becoming a judge “happened sooner than we expected, but I’m glad he’s happy. I’m happy, too.”
Photo by Howard Balaban – Barb and Joe Kujawa are pictured at home.
Barb added that her job in town – she is manager of the gift shop side of Rosenkranz Pharmacy in downtown Medina – has allowed a number of people to stop by and extend their congratulations.
She also said that the couple’s three children are proud of their dad.
“They saw that he wanted something, he pursued it, and he took the proper steps to achieve it,” she said.
Kujawa had noted how Barb was “still adjusting to me not having a set schedule every day.” However, his wife gently disagreed.
“Joe’s not a ‘sitter,'” she said. “I know that he won’t be staying home; he’ll always be out doing something.”
Barb said the most telling difference with her husband’s new job was a newfound sense of security, for even though Medina is not necessarily a hotbed for violent crime, one never knows.
“The biggest difference to me is watching the sirens go by, and not having to worry about him being in the car, or where he’s going,” she said.
She recalled how she used to stay up at night listening to the police scanner and worrying about her husband’s well-being. “Finally I told myself I had to stop,” she said.
However, in other parts of the country there are spouses of officers who do continue to worry, as they live in places where police officers’ actions have come under increased national scrutiny thanks to the advent of instant communication and social media, Kujawa was asked his opinion about such things as anti-police protests in New York City and Ferguson, Mo. He said seeing the news left him feeling both anger and sympathy.
“If they’re so angry with the police and don’t trust the police, who will they call if they need help?” he said. “It’s culture shock for me to see those kinds of things, because Medina isn’t like that.
“Still, the police are necessary,” he continued. “Everybody wants the law enforced…and people need to remember that those on the job are trained to make split-second decisions.”
He explained that in today’s world many split-second decisions are dissected for months after the fact.
“We should present someone a scenario and ask them what they’d do,” Kujawa suggested, before snapping his fingers. “Time’s up. What’d you decide? That’s how much time a police officer may have to make a decision.”
He further stated, “I feel for the guys on the other side of the tape in those areas. I can’t imagine the intense focus on them, and the fear they must have of making a mistake.”
Yet with the news focusing on the proverbial worst, Kujawa said he is looking forward to possibly seeing people at their best. After all, as a judge he now has the authority to officiate wedding ceremonies.
“That’ll be different,” he smiled.
Kujawa said moving forward in his judgeship would not have been possible without the support of his entire family, from his wife, to the couple’s children, and their grandchildren. The two oldest are in kindergarten and decided to help him out this past Christmas.
“They got me a box of candy canes for Christmas,” he said. “They told me they were for me to eat in case I got hungry on the bench.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 January 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
RIDGEWAY – The fire at a milking parlor on Tuesday morning killed a pregnant dog and two calves, fire investigator Walter Batt said today.
The dog was inside the milking parlor and was due to soon give birth. Farm owner Marcus Miller used a heat lamp to try to keep the dog warm.
The dog was contained inside by 4-by-8-foot sheets of OSB (Oriented Strand Boards). Batt said the lamp caught the OSB boards on fire.
The milking parlor was a total loss and was removed on Tuesday afternoon. Miller and the Amish community already have started to frame a new milking parlor that Miller said he hopes to have up and running in about three weeks. His herd of 45 cows all survived the fire and will be milked at a neighbor’s farm until the new parlor is ready.
