30,000 solar panels will be installed on Allis, Beals roads

Contractors work on the project at Allis Road, which is bigger than the one on Beals. The conduit will be buried.

RIDGEWAY – The largest solar project in Orleans County is under construction in Ridgeway, with the 30,000 solar panels expected to be operational in the spring.

Borrego Solar Systems is constructing the two systems, which are both on land owned by Ken Baker, a livestock farmer on Beals Road.

The solar project at 3846 Beals Road will be for 3.5 megawatts with 11,745 panels that will be ground-mounted at a 25-degree angle. Borrego is using 16.5 acres of a 29.4-acre parcel. The solar array will be surrounded with a fence, and 240 trees will be planted as a buffer along Route 31 and part of Beals Road.

The other project is for 5 megawatts and 18,295 panels at 3962 Allis Rd., near

Bethel Missionary Baptist Church and the new Helena Chemical plant. Borrego is using 29.0 acres of a 42.0-acre parcel.

The company is in a 15-year PILOT where it will pay the local governments – Town of Ridgeway, Orleans County and Medina Central School – $7,000 per megawatt the first year or $59,500 total for 8.5 megawatts. The payments then increase by 2 percent each following year or $78,507 at year 15.

The revenue sharing is divvied up based on a proportionate share of the tax rates. The school district has the highest tax rate so it gets the most — $35,105 in the first year. However, the PILOT deal allows Lee-Whedon Memorial Library to receive 3 percent of the school district’s total, which will be $1,053 for the library in the first year.

The town is to receive $7,735 the first year, while the county’s share will be $16,740.

Ken Baker, a livestock farmer and a General Motors employee in Lockport, said the project comes at a good time. He is on strike from GM, where he has worked for 25 years.

He raises pigs, chickens, ducks, goats and steers. It is tough to be in farming on a smaller scale, Baker said.

The solar gives him a guaranteed income of about $50,000 annually, which he said will help in retirement. At GM, he doesn’t have a pension.

After the racking system in built, the solar panels will be placed on the units. Borrego will be installing about 30,000 panels that are each 77 inches by 39 inches. The two projects together will have a capacity to generate 8.5 megawatts of electricity.

Baker can continue his livestock operation, and can do it knowing he has steady income from the solar.

He said many farmers have approached him about the project. They are interested in having large-scale solar on their land.

“A lot of farmers are looking at it,” Baker said.

Depressed prices, especially for dairy, are hurting the ag economy. And Baker said farmers are concerned over the impact of new farm labor regulations in the state, where workers will be paid overtime after 60 hours per week and have the right to unionize.

Josh Richardson is managing the construction for Borrego Solar Systems. He said the project should be operational in March-April. Borrego is building the two solar projects, with AES to operate the system.

The solar arrays will have a fence around each site. The Beals Road array, which is along Route 31, will have a buffer that includes 240 trees.

“Once we’re done with construction it’s a very minimal impact,” Richardson said.

The Ridgeway site was attractive to  Borrego partly due to its close access to powerlines. Richardson said he expects to see many more large-scale solar projects in New York, where the state has set goals for far more wind, solar and renewable energy.

Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature want at least 70 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030. By 2040, the goal is for 100 percent carbon-free electricity. By 2050, the state has a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent compared to 1990.

About 15 to 30 construction workers are on site most days building the solar projects in Ridgeway.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Where’s Waldo? Today he is on East State Street in Albion, between the Orleans County Courthouse and the Albion Free Methodist Church. He has already been in several spots in Albion the past week.

Waldo was created by Matt Hand, his wife Crystal and their daughters. The Hands each year have created a scarecrow for Albion’s scarecrow contest in the downtown. Last year they made a Pennywise scarecrow from the movie It. The first year for scarecrow in 2016, the Hands made a witch hanging sideways from the light pole on Main Street.

The family helped organize the scarecrow contest for the Albion Merchants Association about a week ago.

Last year, Pennywise was moved around town and Matt wanted a traveling scarecrow again this year.

Waldo isn’t just roaming a few blocks. He has been in the downtown, on Route 31 and near Walmart before his stop by the Courthouse today.

Matt said he wanted a friendlier scarecrow this year that schoolkids could look for on their bus rides.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Downtown Browersy President Liz Groat and vendor Erik Sinkora, who is the Medina site manager, are pictured today outside the forefront at 413 Main St.

MEDINA – The Downtown Browsery celebrated its grand opening in Medina today. The cooperative has 30 vendors who opened on Sept. 3 at 413 Main St., which was the long-time site of the former Journal-Register newspaper.

The Downtown Browsery started 15 years ago in Albion with a few vendors at 14 East Bank St. Now the Browsery has 40 vendors and has expanded to three storefronts on North Main Street in Albion.

The Medina site includes 10 of the vendors from Albion, plus about 20 new ones. The Medina site has benefitted from the busy foot traffic in downtown Medina, said Liz Groat, Browsery president.

“Medina is way cool,” she said this morning, as people crowded into the store.

The Browsery had a ribbon-cutting as part of the grand opening celebration today. Pictured from left include vendor Karen Ferchen, Medina Business Association President Cindy Robinson, vendors Erik Sinkora, Darlene Janas, Wes Hansen, Medina Mayor Michael Sidari, Dale Laubacher, Lucy Sackett and Browsery President Liz Groat.

Since the Browsery opened last month in Medina, the Albion site has experienced more customers with people from Medina wanting to check out the Albion store as well, Groat said.

That was part of the goal in expanding to Medina, to promote both Browsery locations.

“So far it’s been great,” she said about the Medina site. “We have no complaints.”

Some of the Browsery vendors were joined at the grand-opening celebration today by Medina Mayor Michael Sidari and Medina Business Association President Cindy Robinson.

Robinson said the downtown storefronts are nearly all full with nearly 100 businesses. The MBA welcomes the Browsery which offers another retail opportunity in the downtown.

Robinson said some professionals are starting to go in the second floor of the buildings because the first floor is at near capacity.

Wes Hansen and Dale Laubacher of Medina are among the new vendors in the Browsery. They sell knick knacks, pastel artwork by Hansen and other finds they pick up at garage sales. They are pleased with the response from customers.

They appreciate the low risk as a vendor. They contribute 10 hours a month in helping to run the store, while paying a small fee for space in the building.

Liz Groat said the Browsery has an eclectic mix of items. She said today was the first time pies were available from the Church of the Abundant Harvest in Knowlesville/Millville.

The Browsery in Medina is located in the location of the former Journal-Register newspaper.

Provided photo: Jonathan Doherty, left, is pictured with his friend Ben Metcalf on Thursday in Elba when Doherty received an Award of Merit from the Iroquois Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Doherty, an Eagle Scout, has remained active with scouts in Albion as an adult, including his current role on the Program Planning Committee for Troop 164.

He was called a perfect representative for the Boy Scouts, and an eager promoter of the values of the program.

He also is active with the Self Advocate All Stars through the Arc of Genesee Orleans. Doherty helped start that group in 2006.

He also volunteers with the Albion Alumni Association, Strawberry Festival Committee and other community organizations.

“Overooked Orleans” – Vol. 5, No. 39

October is American Archives Month and is a wonderful opportunity to feature some of the collections within the Department of History.

Although the County Historian maintains an extensive collection of published works, documents, photographs, ephemera, and other paper materials, a number of textile and 3D artifacts exist within the office. This “prize banner,” awarded to the Orleans District Lodge of the I.O.G.T. (2019.010), recognizes the organization’s membership growth during the 1908-09 year.

Established in 1850 as the Knights of Jericho by Daniel Cady, the organization merged the following year with a similar lodge from Oriskany Falls to form the Order of Good Templars. A schism in the organization in 1852 caused a number of members to form the Independent Order of Good Templars, renumbering Excelsior Lodge of Syracuse from Lodge No. 14 to Lodge No. 1. Although it started as a fraternal organization, the I.O.G.T. mission spanned beyond abstinence from alcohol. The Good Templars fought for equal rights, “admit[ting] women on equal terms with men.”

The Good Templar platform consisted of six points:

1. “Total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage.”

2. “No license in any form under any circumstances for the sale of liquors to be used as a beverage.”

3. “The absolute prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating liquors for such purposes.”

4. “The creation of a healthy public opinion upon the subject; by active dissemination of truth in all the modes known to enlightened philanthropy.”

5. “The election of good, honest men to administer the laws.”

6. “Persistence in efforts to save individuals and communities from so dreadful a scourge; against all forms of opposition and difficulties until our success is complete and universal.”

According to a booklet published by Kendall Lodge No. 538 in 1899 entitled 31 Years of Good Templary, “We aim to save the young, pure and virtuous from falling into the snares of the tempter as well as helping those who have sunk low in the scale of human degradation to rise again.”

Welcoming men, women, and children alike, the I.O.G.T. believed that ridding the world of the wretched drink was a community affair. Drunkards posed concerns for local communities, unable to hold down a job, engaging in violence, and abandoning wives and children.

On one particular occasion, James O’Connell of Fletcher Chapel, a violence-prone farmer, went on a week-long drinking binge much to the chagrin of his wife. January 16, 1896, he told his wife he would visit the priest at Medina and “sign the pledge,” turning his back on the alcohol. Instead he visited a gun store in the village and purchased a .22 revolver, returned home, and shot his wife in the head. Although she survived the incident, she lived the remainder of her life with the bullet in her skull. O’Connell spent eight years in Auburn Prison.

This particular banner was awarded to Orleans District Lodge No. 16 on September 11, 1909, just over 110 years ago. A joint meeting with Holley’s Fountain Lodge No. 840 included the conferral of the organization’s secret degree on 20 new members by Grand Chief Templar Ben Wright of Lockport.

J. E. West of Poughkeepsie was in attendance to present banners to three lodges with the largest net membership gain between May of 1908 and May of 1909. Holley’s membership increased by 28 members, Kendall by 17 members, and Jeddo by 8 members. This “beautiful new prize banner was presented…to Orleans District for making the largest net gain in membership for the year ending May 31, 1909.”

Press Release, Sheriff Randy Bower

Provided photo: Sheriff Randy Bower and Deputy Jason Barnum, Lyndonville’s school resource officer, joined elementary school students for lunch at Lyndonville during Sheriff’s Week.

In the month of September, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department 911 Dispatch Center processed 1,944 police incidents, including 698 events for Sheriff’s Road Patrol, 198 for the New York State Police and 1,048 calls for the village police agencies of Lyndonville, Medina, Albion and Holley. There were 574 Fire/EMS-related calls dispatched countywide with 454 of those calls emergency medical in nature and 2 drug overdoses.

Road Patrol Deputies handled 44 automobile accidents, including 11 with injury and 16 car-deer collisions. Road patrol also made 57 service attempts and successfully served 31 subpoenas, civil or court papers.

The Sheriff’s Animal Control Division handled 149 incidents including 46 stray or loose animals,  7 neighbor dog problems, and several other miscellaneous animal calls. In addition, 14 animals were taken into shelter on voluntary surrenders.

The Orleans County Jail processed in 83 inmates and handled 82 prisoner transports to court appearances, medical treatments, or other correctional facilities.

As part of our continuing commitment to the community, Sheriff’s Week on Sept. 16-22 allowed us the opportunity to have lunch with all of the elementary students in all five school districts. We so enjoyed spending time with the children of our county.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Medina firefighters climbed an aerial ladder to check on a building next to one that collapsed this afternoon.

The building a 331 North Main St. is being removed as part of a planned takedown. However, the front wall of that building toppled over onto the sidewalk at about 4:10 p.m.

The building wasn’t leaning towards the neighboring structure, said Medina Fire Chief Tom Lupo.

“The building did what it was supposed to,” he said. “It essentially collapsed onto itself and not on any other buildings.”

No one was injured when the wall fell over. The contractor, Durable Demoliton of Lockport, had the area fenced off.

Medina firefighters initially were concerned the owner of Durable Demolition, Ryan Plache, may have been onsite and perhaps trapped in the rubble. He was safe and had left for the day.

Plache returned to site at about 5 p.m. and was working to take down the other walls.

Rita Zambito owns the property, which will be cleared for parking. She and her family plan to open a party house next door.

The building being taken down follows the removal of the former Starlite Cleaners. That building was damaged in fire a more than a decade ago.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation paid to have Starlite removed in December 2016. That building was deemed by the DEC to be unsafe. It was torn down after the asbestos and other contaminants were removed.

Press Release and photo from GCC

BATAVIA – It is finally finished! This past summer the multi-year parking lot project at Genesee Community College’s Batavia campus was completed, which established a new, expanded and safer configuration of the 12-acre parking lot.

And perhaps most significantly, the project introduced a new pedestrian walkway that connects the west and east sides of campus giving those who walk to the new Richard C. Call Arena from the new Student Success Center or main building the opportunity to enjoy an 18,000 square-foot garden space that is approximately 720 feet long.

Under the leadership of Senior Groundskeeper Dennis Pietrzykowski, the GCC grounds crew took full advantage of the planting season and their in-house expertise to fill five themed garden areas that flank each side of the walkway. Each with a unique theme, the five gardens incorporate plants chosen specifically to create a medley of color, shape and texture for every season.

As visitors walk west from the college’s main building to the Call Arena, they will enjoy:

• Island One – The Buffering Boxwoods creating a formal garden bed complete with the boxwood hedges and in the spring a bed of crocuses and daffodils will pop up to shake off winter.

• Island Two – The Restful Retreat features locust trees and a quiet cozy area of lawn to invite visitors to slow down and maybe stop to relax and sit upon the provided park benches.

• Island Three – The Woodland Garden features eight new trees including the Red Oaks and American Sycamore to provide plenty of opportunity for bird life and shade in the summer.

• Island Four – The Butterfly Garden is filled with a wide variety of flowering plants, from spireas to azaleas, hydrangeas to day lilies and dwarf lilacs – all designed to attract butterflies and other insects throughout the warmer seasons.

• Island Five – The Rose Garden at the western end offers bright colors and fragrant blooms in season, and greets incoming traffic and guests as they approach campus from College Road West. Six different kinds of roses are featured, as well as 20 other flowering species.

Finally, back at the most easterly edge of GCC’s new Garden Walkway are 10 huge planters, each sponsored by a different student club with a variety of plants selected and planted by the students and their advisors.

“In total, the new gardens added 50 large trees in more than a dozen varieties and more than 2,500 plants to the Batavia Campus,” Pietrzykowski said. “But my personal favorite is called Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick – it has curly branches and looks its best in the winter months. Everyone should visit campus to find it. Here’s a hint, it’s in one of the more formal gardens.”

The team introduced more than 130 tons of new top soil to accommodate all of the trees, shrubs, bulbs plants and other materials. In addition, GCC was proud to work with all local businesses, contractors and suppliers to complete the project.

“We purchased everything locally,” Pietrzykowski said. “I had all the suppliers on speed-dial and they were great.”

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

On New York State Organ Donor Enrollment Day, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday urged New York State residents to register as organ donors through the newly-modernized New York State Donate Life Registry.

According to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, nearly 10,000 New Yorkers are among the 113,000 Americans currently awaiting an organ transplant. Nationally, 20 people each day die while awaiting a match for a transplant, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. A person is added to the wait list every 10 minutes, but one donor can save as many as eight lives.

“New York State has made it easier than ever to become an organ donor,” Governor Cuomo said. “Now when you’re signing up for health insurance or renewing your license, you have a chance to potentially save a life by simply checking a box.”

Governor Cuomo signed an Executive Order in 2017 that made increasing the number of registered organ donors a priority, directing the State Health Department to work with all state agencies, Donate Life NYS and other partners, to provide the public with additional opportunities to register as organ donors through the NYS Donate Life Registry. That directive has helped to drive enrollment numbers through new portals such as the New York State of Health Insurance Marketplace, where 213,252 people have enrolled to become donors while purchasing or renewing their health insurance plans since the option was introduced in April 2017.

Registering through the DMV is one of the simplest ways to sign up to be part of the organ donor registry. As of this week, more than 5 million of the 5.9 million enrolled in the registry did so through the DMV. The DMV includes on its driver’s license application and renewal forms the choice for New Yorkers to enroll in the NYS Donate Life Registry.

Under “Lauren’s Law,” named for Lauren Shields, a Rockland County resident who received a life-saving heart transplant at age 9, DMV customers are required to check one of two boxes related to organ donation for their driver’s license or non-driver ID application to be processed.

In 2017, 16-and 17-year-olds became able to register their consent to donate the first time they applied for their permit, driver’s license or non-driver ID. As of this week, more than 60,665 people in this age group have signed up to become donors, and since 2015, these initiatives and legislative actions have in total yielded more than 2.6 million new donors.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said, “We are working hard in New York State to increase the number of organ, eye and tissue donors. Through collaboration across state agencies, we are highlighting the need for life-saving organs and seizing on opportunities that put the choice to donate front-and-center for New Yorkers by reminding them during everyday activities of the importance of becoming an organ donor.”

Donate Life New York State Executive Director Aisha Tator said, “There are thousands of New York’s men, women and children currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. This annual event serves as a rallying cry to encourage New Yorkers to help save a life by enrolling as organ donors. Enrolling in the New York State Donate Life Registry is a way to ensure that individuals’ wishes about donation after death will be clearly known and carried out.”

Don’t wait, enroll in the NYS Donate Life Registry online today through the following online options:

The NYS Donate Life Registry website – www.donatelife.ny.gov

The NYS Department of Motor Vehicles website – dmv.ny.gov

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – A new playground at Pine Street Park is a popular spot for kids to climb, swing, slide and play.

Cole Houseman, 3, of Medina, left, tests his balance on Wednesday. He is joined by Adalynne Fox, 2, of Medina.

Community members raised the money to upgrade the playground. The improvements will also include a new splash pad and a pathway that will include flowers and butterfly gardens.

Jay Houseman, 1, of Medina tries a climbing wall at the new playground.

While the park is getting about $150,000 in improvements, one favorite is staying. The Snail remains a popular piece at the park, which is located off Park Avenue.

East High students visit local dairy farm, Mount Albion

Provided photos

ALBION – These East High students from Rochester met some of the farm animals at Poverty Hill Farms in Albion on Wednesday. The Neal family gave students a tour of the dairy farm, which also has some pigs. The students were also offered ice cream.

The East High students visited Albion in a cultural exchange program that has been going on for the past decade through the Rotary Interact Club. A group of Albion students will spend a day later this school year at East High School.

The Rochester students also spent part of the day at Charles D’Amico High School in Albion and went to Mount Albion Cemetery, where they climbed the Civil War memorial tower.

Tim Archer, Interact Club advisor in Albion, said the cultural exchange days help the Rochester and Albion students learn from each other and get past stereotypes of life in rural and urban areas.

The East High and Albion students are pictured with some of the farm machinery at Poverty Hill Farms on West County House Road.

Jody Neal, one of the farm co-owners, leads the group through one of the barns for the cows.

Jody Neal gives the students a tour of the milking parlor.

An East High student befriends one of the calves at the dairy farm.

MEDINA – Orleans Community Health will sponsor an open house Oct. 24 to educate the local community about the future of the Orleans Community Health Foundation and the status of the hospital.

The day will include lunch and a presentation at noon in the first floor board room. Tours of the hospital will begin at 1 p.m.

The hospital hopes to generate interest among potential new board members, said Foundation director Heather Smith.

The Foundation will also lead tours of the facility and visitors will have the opportunity to meet and greet some of the hospital’s doctors and other staff.

“There is such a huge population of elderly and diabetic who need these kind of doctors,” Smith said about the hospital’s urologist, podiatrists and other specialists. “It is important to make their services available locally.”

Smith said when the Foundation was asked to participate in an open house, they jumped on board.

“We are excited to see this type of growth,” she said.

Smith would appreciate RSVP’s to her office at 798-8426.

23,000 acres weren’t planted in Orleans due to wet spring

Photos by Tom Rivers: These soybeans in the Albion FFA Land Lab have benefitted from the warm weather in the fall, without a hard frost.

Farmers in Orleans County who took a chance by planting crops later than usual are getting some nice warm weather to help the crops mature.

Normally a hard frost has hit by now, with shuts down corn and soybeans.

But the freezing temperatures have stayed away, allowing crops to mature. Farmers would like about two more weeks of warmth for the corn and soybeans to reach good yields and high quality, said Larry Meyer, director of the Farm Service Agency in Orleans and Monroe counties.

In Orleans, there are usually about 125,000 acres planted each year with corn and soybeans. Meyer said the wet spring delayed planting with farmers deciding not to plant 23,170 acres. There were about 90,000 acres that went unplanted in Orleans, Genesee, Niagara and Monroe counties, Meyer said.

“There is still a lot of corn that is green,” Meyer said today. “But most of the soybeans are drying down. Most are looking good.”

Farmers who planted late will know in couple weeks if they have a quality crop with a good yield.

“If we can get a couple more weeks without a killing frost, we’ll catch up,” Meyer said. “It could turn out OK for people who did plant.”

The FFA Land Lab is on Clarendon Road behind the school campus. This year the FFA is growing soybeans after doing corn last year.

Nate McMurray, a Democrat running for Congress in NY-27, is calling for Chris Collins, who recently resigned after pleading guilty to insider trading and lying to the FBI, to return the Congressional salary he has collected since his indictment in August 2018.

McMurray sent a letter to Judge Vernon S. Broderick asking the judge to consider ordering Collins to return his salary and forfeit his pension as a part of sentencing. McMurray lost a close election to Collins last November.

While calling Collins’ case “inherently tragic” and expressing sympathy for Collins’ family and victims, McMurray also pointed out that Collins had profited from his deception of voters in his district and deserved to lose his salary as a result.

“Following his guilty plea last week, Mr. Collins has admitted that his actions were in fact illegal; that he knew they were illegal; and that his claims of innocence were false,” McMurray wrote in a letter to the judge. “With his re-election predicated on an admittedly false claim of innocence, I urge that in sentencing, you recognize this fraud on the taxpayers of this nation and the people of New York’s 27th Congressional District and require him, in addition to whatever other penalties you deem appropriate, to repay his salary from the date of his indictment until his resignation and forfeit his taxpayer-funded pension.

After months of proclaiming his innocence, Collins changed his plea to “guilty” last week and admitted in court that he knew what he was doing was illegal.

Collins will be sentenced in federal court in Manhattan on January 17, 2020.

GAINES – The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victims in a fatal car accident this morning on Route 104 in Gaines.

Brooke Allen, 21, of Lyndonville was driving a 2000 Nissan sedan eastbound when she struck a deer at 6:49 a.m. She her passenger – Richard Forder, 20, of Albion – were both pronounced dead at the scene by county coroner Rocky Sidari.

Allen swerved left after hitting the deer, went into a skid with her car crossing the westbound lane of the road. The car went over the edge of a guardrail, flipped over, and went down an embankment at Beardsley Creek. The car hit a concrete structure and was completely submerged upside down in the creek.

If the car had crossed the road a few feet farther west or east there likely wouldn’t have been a fatal accident, Bourke said. But the car caught the edge of the guard rail, which propelled it upward and caused it to flip over and land upside down in about 5 feet of water in the creek.

“It’s a horrible, traffic chain of events,” Bourke said at the scene.

Investigators can’t tell if Allen and Forder were killed from impact or if they drowned. Their bodies were taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsies.

The accident closed a section of Route 104, between Eagle Harbor and Gaines Basin roads, until about 12:30 p.m.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the New York State Police Accident Reconstruction Team and the Albion Fire Department.

This is the second fatal accident in Orleans County in less than a week. On Saturday three people were killed on Route 63 in Shelby when a U-Haul crossed the lane and collided with a pickup truck.