ALBION – Orleans County legislators this afternoon accepted five construction bids totaling $7,006,600 for a 22,000-square-foot addition to the County Administration Building on Route 31.

Alternates for $495,900 push the total bids accepted to $7,502,500. In addition, the county will pay the Wendel firm $900,000 for construction administration, project coordination, additional design services, commissioning services and grant administration.

Construction is expected to start next month and continue for 15 months until the building is ready for the Health Department, Board of Elections, information technology department and the Legislative office and staff.

The bids accepted include:

• Holdsworth Klimowski Construction of Victor, general construction, for $4,557,000 (base bid), plus $202,600 for alternates, for $4,759,600 total.

• Michael Ferrauilo Plumbing & Heating of Rochester, HVAC, for $1,034,000 (base bid), plus $83,700 for alternates, for $1,117,700 total.

• Suburban Electric of Albion, electrical, for $1,057,000 (base bid), plus $209,600 in alternates for $1,266,600 total.

• MKS Plumbing Corporation of West Seneca, plumbing, for $273,000 (base bid) with no alternates.

• All State Fire & Security of Buffalo, fire protection, for $85,600 (base bid) with no alternates.

The Legislature also approved a $500 monthly stipend for Chuck Nesbitt, the county’s chief administrative officer, for serving as the capital project owner’s representative, to be paid from April 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019.

The Legislature said unforeseen circumstances may require change orders in the project. The Legislature authorized Nesbitt to review and approve change orders up to $25,000.

Nesbitt was appointed to Project Oversight Committee with County Legislators Bill Eick and John DeFilipps. That committee will review and be authorized to approve change orders that do not exceed $50,000.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The County Administration Building on Route 31, behind The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, will have an addition to make room for relocated county offices.

The Legislature has approved a maximum bond of $10,063,881 for an addition the building on Route 31, behind the nursing home. The bond is expected to be significantly reduced from grants for the project. The county has already been approved for a $3,682,748 state grant towards the project and could receive more assistance. State Sen. Robert Ortt also secured a $200,000 state grant for the project.

The Board of Elections and Public Health Department currently are leasing space from Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services. Comprehensive purchased the former county-owned nursing home for $7.8 million in January 2014. The county has been leasing space from Comprehensive for Elections and Public Health because those offices are part of the nursing home complex.

Moving those offices from those sites will spare the county from paying those lease payments. The money the county was paying for the lease will go towards paying the debt for the addition.

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – The new Medina bowling team had a great first year, and Coach Robert Dennis said it was a positive experience for everyone involved, including himself.

“We had two matches at home at Medina Lanes and two matches away,” he said. “Competitions were at Newfane, Clarence, Sweet Home and Akron and we beat all four schools making us undefeated in our first year!”

At the end of this season, the team competed in a tournament at Brad Angelo Lanes in Lockport against six schools where they won and kept their undefeated status. Congratulations go to team members Ian Wagner, Jessica Granchelli, Lydia Bataglia, Ian Joseph, Elissa Blount, Morgan Allis, William Brazwell, Alex Allis, Morgan Crossett, Brandie Carson, Jackson Touhey, Enzo Gulliani, Joe and Tom Biacelli, Gracie Cogovan and Steven Secore.

“Without the support of Medina Lanes’ Eric Greenlief, Jim Foss, Tom Allis, along with owners Gerry Allen, Dr. David Stahl and Chris Bacon, we wouldn’t have been able to pull this off,” Dennis said. “My team practiced well over 80 games in this short season and they supported all our students in this new program. Also thanks to the Medina School Board for showing their support to the team. This group of kids are a joy to work with and was a very rewarding program for us all.”

Village trying to offer more incentives to stay with Medina long-term

Photo by Tom Rivers – Medina Police Chief Chad Kenward shakes hands with Jacob Reeves, one of six officers to be sworn in during this evening’s Medina Village Board meeting. Sgt. Todd Draper also congratulates the officers who have all been on the force for less than a year. Corey Collins is at right.

MEDINA – The Village Board on Monday approved changes in the retirement programs for both career firefighters and police officers, allowing their retirement benefits to grow if they work more than 20 years.

The village has capped the benefits at 20 years or 50 percent of the average of the final three years of their salaries. With the switch to the 384-e retirement plan, an additional 1/60^th of the final average salary will be added to the annual pension for each additional year on the job. If someone works three more years after year 20, they would see their pension grow by 5 percent.

The new changes take effect on March 30.

Village officials are hopeful expanding the retirement benefits will be an incentive for firefighters and police officers to spend their careers with Medina.

“We can’t the match the salaries (offered by many other departments), so we’re trying to improve the retirement,” said Village Trustee Owen Toale. “We have to do something to stem the loss of these people.”

The village has experienced a lot of turnover in recent years with some firefighters and police officers leaving for better pay and benefits at other departments. That then leaves vacancies, driving up overtime costs. The village often fills the positions by putting new firefighters and police officers through training academies. That can cost about $15,000 for a firefighter to go through the 11-week academy for pay and tuition. The police academy is nearly a year and costs the village about $50,000 before the officer begins road patrol.

There are 12 police officers and 21 career firefighters at Medina.

The change in the retirement plans will cost Medina about $26,000. Firefighters and police made concessions to cut that village expense in half. They have reduced clothing and cell phone allowances and also given back some of their training pay.

“Some of firefighters and police go to other municipalities that offer it,” Mayor Mike Sidari said about the retirement plan. “We can’t offer larger pay, but this would be an incentive to keep them longer.”

File photo by Cheryl Wertman: Lyndonville’s Anna Lewis (17) works the ball up field against Notre Dame during a soccer game in September 2015. Lewis wore the Medina Mustang uniform this year in a combined girls soccer team with Lyndonville and Medina. Next season, Lyndonville will be the host school for the combined team.

LYNDONVILLE – The Medina and Lyndonville girls varsity soccer team combined for the first time this past fall, the latest effort by the two school districts to share some athletic programs.

The soccer team will stay combined in the fall, but this time Lyndonville will be the host school and the team will play in the Genesee-Region League in Section V, instead of the Niagara-Orleans League in Section VI.

Medina is the host district for football and boys varsity soccer, while Lyndonville is host for a boys volleyball team.

The Lyndonville Board of Education approved the change last week with Lyndonville becoming the host school for girls varsity soccer, and the Medina Board of Education approved it on Tuesday.

Mark Kruzynski, the Medina school superintendent, said the shared sports programs have worked out for both schools by keeping programs, fielding competitive teams and reducing overall costs.

Some of the Lyndonville girls soccer games will be played at Medina, and the team will wear Medina uniforms for those games. Some of the Medina boys soccer games also are played in Lyndonville, with the team wearing Tigers uniforms.

“We’re hosting boys soccer and they’re hosting girls soccer,” Kruzynski said. “We see it is as a cooperation. It’s not Medina absorbing Lyndonville. There are savings for both districts.”

Each district continues to maintain its own JV programs, although Kruzynski said the districts are discussing whether it makes sense for shared services with some of those programs in the future.

Jason Smith, the Lyndonville school superintendent, said the district is glad to host the varsity girls soccer program. He said the shared programs has worked out well for the two districts.

“We’ve had a good relationship with Medina,” Smith said this afternoon. “We’re trying to keep things balanced. There is a lot of pride at both schools.”

Lyndonville students also have the option of being in the Medina Marching Band and many Medina students are part of the musical based at Lyndonville.

The upcoming Census 2020 intends to add a question about citizenship. Several states plan to sue, saying the change will result in a deliberate undercount and also violate the Constitution.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced on Tuesday that he will lead a multistate lawsuit to block the change in the Census.

“A fair and accurate count of all people in America is one of the federal government’s most solemn constitutional obligations,” he said in a statement. “The Trump Administration’s reckless decision to suddenly abandon nearly 70 years of practice by demanding to know the citizenship status of each resident counted cuts to the heart of this sacred obligation – and will create an environment of fear and distrust in immigrant communities that would make impossible both an accurate Census and the fair distribution of federal tax dollars.”

The Census is done every 10 years and should count everyone, whether they are citizens or not. An undercount can result in less federal aid to communities, and also affect how boundaries are drawn for Congressional districts.

“This move directly targets states like New York that have large, thriving immigrant populations – threatening billions of dollars in federal funding for New York as well as fair representation in Congress and the Electoral College,” Schneiderman said. “My office will lead a multi-state lawsuit to protect New Yorkers, preserve a fair and accurate Census, and hold the Trump Administration accountable for violating both the 14th Amendment and the Enumeration Clause of the United States Constitution.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the citizenship question will undermine the accuracy and legitamcy of the Census data.

“The Trump administration’s decision to ask about citizenship on the U.S. Census is a gross political act that launches another missile at the heart of New York,” the governor said in a statement. “Make no mistake: this decision is anti-immigrant and is intended only to serve the political agenda of those in power in Washington.”

A misrepresentation of the number of New Yorkers will jeopardize critical funding for New York’s health care, social services and other programs that benefit all New Yorkers, Cuomo said.

“In New York, we believe our diversity is our greatest strength and that, unless you are Native American, we are all immigrants,” Cuomo said. “With the Statue of Liberty raising her torch in our Harbor, we will never stop fighting to uphold the values of inclusion and opportunity for all that built this state and this nation.”

File photo by Tom Rivers: Village officials worry about pedestrian safety along Maple Ridge Road, which has seen several new businesses open in recent years.

MEDINA – The village has been approved for a $50,000 grant to study pedestrian and bicycle accommodations on Maple Ridge Road, from Bates Road to the former Ames Plaza.

Mayor Mike Sidari said the study should help Medina make its case for a state grant to help pay for sidewalks on that stretch of Maple Ridge and a pedestrian bridge over Oak Orchard Creek on Maple Ridge.

The $50,000 grant from GTC includes a $5,000 local match from the village for the “Maple Ridge Road Corridor Pedestrian and Bicycle Accommodations Feasibility Study.”

Medina applied for a TAP – Transportation Alternatives Grant – but was denied last year. The TAP is 80 percent federally funded with a 20 percent local share. The funding is from the federal government, but awarded by the state.

The sidewalk project with a small bridge would cost $1.3 million, according to initial cost estimates from Labella Associates in Rochester. To improve its chances for the next time funding is available, Medina will develop a plan for sidewalks on Maple Ridge Road. Medina intends to work with Wendel, a professional firm, on the study.

The mayor said he wants sidewalks on what has become a busy commercial strip with many residences nearby. There are currently sidewalks near the Route 63 intersection on Maple Ridge Road, but most of the road lacks sidewalks from Bates Road to the former Ames plaza.

Many people walk along Maple Ridge Road or use motorized wheelchairs. Sidari said the sidewalks would improve safety for many local residents.

Maple Ridge has become busier with GCC, manufacturing plants, chain stores and a residential community. The Orleans Economic Development Agency also is working to develop a hotel on Maple Ridge next to the Pride Pak vegetable processing plant.

ROCHESTER – A woman accused of fatally shooting a Lyndonville woman has been deemed fit to stand trial.

Holly Colino, 32, last Oct. 31 was declared incompetent to stand trial. But today in State Supreme Court, Judge Charles Schiano determined that Colino has made progress and can now assist in her own defense, Rochester media stations are reporting.

Colino is accused of shooting Megan Dix on Aug. 25 while the 33-year-old-wife and mother was taking her lunch break at a parking lot on South Avenue in Brockport. Dix was seeking some peace and quiet on her lunch break at Lowe’s.

Colino, 32, grew up in East Rochester. She had been living in Arizona. Brockport Police Chief Daniel Varrenti said after the arrest the murder was a random act of violence. Dix did nothing wrong to provoke the attack, the police chief said.

Colino is to appear back in court in June when the judge may set a date for a trial.

Provided photo: FFA students, from left, working on a Little Free Library include Thomas Vasquez, Ryenn Oliver, Jacob Washbon and Dale Parker.

Press Release, Medina Central School

MEDINA – The FFA students at the Medina High School have started to build Little Free Libraries to hopefully place at Rotary Park and Pine Street Park. The FFA needs the Village Board to OK the project.

The whole concept of a Little Free Library is a “take a book, return a book” exchange.  Anyone may take or bring a book to share. It’s a great way for people to share their favorite books with members of their community.

FFA Advisor Mr. Todd Eick and his students are even making a traveling one that they can bring to the farmer’s market with them.

“I think it is a great idea and we have decided to fill our library with books on nature, animals and plants since that is what we enjoy,” Eick said.

The libraries have popped up all over America and are a way for communities to inspire a love of reading. It increases access to books for all readers of all ages which ties in nicely to the school district’s WE READ campaign.

“I was looking online to see where there are other little libraries like this and although there are many in Buffalo and Niagara and Monroe counties, there is a definite lack in Orleans County,” Eick said. “If we get this approved by the Village Board it will be a great way to make reading more accessible to everyone.”

File photo by Tom Rivers: JJ Heideman of BAD-AsH-BBQ served up pulled pork and other food during the Orleans County Heritage Festival on Sept. 8 at Forrestel Farm in Shelby. The Village of Medina will charge food truck operators $25 a day if they do not have a physical location within the village.

MEDINA – The Village Board wants to welcome food truck operators for village events, but the board doesn’t want the operators to just cash in at the expense of food businesses with brick and mortar locations.

“We don’t want to take business away from the taxpaying businesses in Medina,” Mayor Mike Sidari said at Monday’s Village Board meeting.

The board, however, didn’t want to impose unreasonable fees that would keep the food trucks away.

“We want the food trucks because they are fun and draw people to the community,” said Marguerite Sherman, a village trustee.

The board decided to charge food truck operators $25 a day with a maximum presence of six days a month.

Businesses with brick-and-mortar locations within the village will be exempt from the fee. Not-for-profit organizations also will likely be exempt but they need to submit a request that will be reviewed by the Village Board.

In other action:

• The board agreed to set aside two docks at the Canal Basin for Pedal and Paddle Medina, which rents Hydrobikes and kayaks. The business, owned by Victor and Heather DiGiacomo of Middleport, opened last July in Medina. They will be charged $100 a month for each dock section, or $200 a month. The village also will designate one spot in the parking lot for the Pedal and Paddle, which carries some of the equipment on a trailer.

The business, the only of its kind along the canal in Orleans County, has been a welcome addition, said Owen Toale, a village trustee.

• The board agreed to provide barrels, barricades and a stage for the Lions Club’s community yard sale on June 2, but declined to provide portable bathrooms, saying it didn’t want to establish a precedent where the village provides bathrooms for community events.

• Approved use of part of Butts Park for LOYAL’s youth football and cheerleading program from Tuesday through Friday evenings from late July to early November.

• Agreed to close a section of West Avenue from Park Avenue to the property line by the Railroad Museum and Lee-Whedon Memorial Library. That part of the street will be closed to traffic for the annual “A Day Out with Thomas” when Thomas the Tank Engine is at the museum on May 19-20, and May 26-27.

Courtesy of Orleans EDA: The Orleans Economic Development Agency has given two new roads by Pride Pak on Route 31A to the Village of Medina. This map shows the 300-plus acre Medina Business Park, which the EDA says is the largest shovel-ready business park in Western New York. The site includes land north and south on Maple Ridge Road, just west of the Bates Road intersection.

MEDINA – The Village of Medina has two new roads. The Village Board on Monday accepted the roads, each about 300 feet long, from the Orleans Economic Development Agency.

The roads were built beginning about two years ago on each side of the new Pride Pak vegetable processing plant.

The Village Board hasn’t officially named either road, but one of the new roads will be named for Pride Pak while the board and EDA haven’t settled on the other name, village officials said after Monday’s Village Board meeting.

The EDA orchestrated the road construction to accommodate Pride Pak and future development at the Business Park. The Orleans County Highway Department took the lead on the road construction, and the Village of Medina DPW installed the sewer infrastructure, with the Town of Shelby Highway Department helping with both the road and sewer work.

The EDA typically takes the lead in getting new roads built in a business park, and then turns the finished road over to the host municipality.

The road on the east side of Pride Pak is done, but the western drive has the potential to go farther into the business park and connect with another road off Bates Road, said Jim Whipple, the EDA chief executive officer.

ALBION – A Medina resident was sentenced to four years in state prison on Monday. Russell E. Sargent, 52, admitted in a previous court appearance to having cocaine with the intention of selling it on May 18.

He was sentenced for attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. He could have faced up to 5 ½ years in prison, but as part of a plea deal the sentence was capped at 4 years.

“He acknowledges what he did is foolish,” Public Defender Joanne Best told Sara Sheldon, interim County Court judge. “This all dates back to the seriousness of the the drug use he has engaged in the last few years.”

Sargent apologized to the court, his friends and family.

“You’re getting too old for this,” Sheldon told Sargent. “What a crappy way to live your life.”

Her sentence included the option for Sargent to go to the Willard drug treatment program through the state correctional system.

He also has to pay $230 restitution to the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force.

In other cases:

• Some of the charges have been dismissed for a Ridgeway man who allegedly held a woman against her will for several weeks, while physically and sexually assaulting her.

The woman couldn’t provide specific dates for all of the alleged crimes. Gerardo Quiros, 31, was facing 36 counts but some of those were dismissed because the District Attorney’s Office couldn’t provide the exact dates. However, the victim was able to provide specifics for many of the alleged crimes. Quiros is now facing 24 counts, including seven counts of first-degree rape, 10 counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of third-degree assault, one count of both criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third and fifth degrees, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief in the fourth degree, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Quiros remains in the county jail after his bail was revoked in January by Judge Sheldon. The judge said she wouldn’t consider releasing him from jail.

He is scheduled to go to trial on June 18.

• A Holley woman was sentenced to four months of weekends in jail plus five years of probation after getting her third charge for driving while intoxicated in the past 10 years.

Katherine Christ, 29, was charged on June 20 with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

The judge took her driver’s license. Christ has to pay a $520 court surcharge and will have to have an interlock ignition device that measures her BAC when she resumes driving.

• Corey Goebel, 27, of Sparling Drive in Rochester pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and five years probation when he is sentenced on June 25.

He admitted he entered a garage on June 21, 2017, intending to a commit a crime in Clarendon on Monroe-Orleans Countyline Road.

Goebel faces a similar charge in Monroe County. Judge Sheldon said she would have given Goebel more time in jail but Monroe County already agreed to a plea deal of six months in jail, and five years of probation.

“I’m not happy with this, but Monroe County went first,” she said.

• Judge Sheldon, a Niagara County judge, is reducing some of the cases she has in Orleans County. She has been filling in since James Punch retired last July 29. Sanford Church was elected in November and is assuming more of the workload. Charles Zambito, a judge from Genesee County, also is handling some of the court cases.

Sheldon told some of the people in a judicial diversion program that Monday was her last time seeing them. Those cases will be shifted to Zambito, who has court on Thursday mornings.

One of the local residents in the diversion program thanked Sheldon for giving him a second chance. If he completes drug treatment and doesn’t commit any additional crimes, his felony drug charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

“You’re welcome,” Judge Sheldon told the man. “I want to see you strong and sober.”

Photos by Marsha Rivers: The sunrise is shown this morning at Bullard Park in Albion just before 7 a.m.

The temperature hit 50 in Orleans County on Monday on a sunny day. Today is forecast for a high of 43, followed by a high near 49 on Wednesday. The temperature keeps rising with a high of 53 on Thursday followed by Friday’s high of 46, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

Easter weekend includes high of 45 on Saturday and 43 on Sunday.

At the top of the sledding hill at Bullard Park, a knitted cap lies on the ground after some of the snow has melted.

Site will include 3 fenced-in areas by Compost Plant

MEDINA – After about a year discussion, the Medina Village Board this evening gave the final approval for a new dog park, which will include three fenced-in areas by the Compost Plant on North Gravel Road, just south of Boxwood Cemetery.

Alaina Wilson has been leading the effort for the dog park. She will now push to raise $15,000 to $20,000 for the project.

“It’s for the people, and the dogs, and our village,” she told the Village Board.

The village last year first presented Gulf Street Park, north of the canal, for the dog park, but neighbors said they were concerned the park would bring unwanted noise and smells to their residential area.

The fenced-in area will have two sets of gates to enter. There will be separate fenced-in areas for small dogs, large dogs and also an agility area.

The enclosed area will allow dogs to be off-leash, with the area exclusive to dogs and their handlers.

There were two residents this evening who voiced concerns about the project at the Compost Plant, saying it may bother residents and visitors to the cemetery.

Excessive barking won’t be tolerated and dog owners will be expected to clean up after the dogs. Wilson said the people that use a dog park care about their animals and want them to get exercise and socialization.

Wilson said she will work to set up a GoFundMe for the park. Donations can also be set to the Village Office and be designated for the Dog Park. Wilson said the fundraising success will determine how soon the park can open.

Mayor Mike Sidari said the park will be open sunrise to sunset, just like the other village parks.

Wilson will take the lead in fundraising to construct the site. Sidari said the village may have to pay an extra $1,500 a year for insurance for the dog park.

Village Trustee Owen Toale said the dog park will be a addition for the community, and also the first one in Orleans County.

“We’re providing services to the residents of Medina,” Toale said. “It improves the quality of life.”

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the application for the Excelsior Scholarship for new applicants in the 2018-19 academic year is now open. SUNY and CUNY students whose families make up to $110,000 annually can now apply for tuition-free college (click here). The Excelsior Scholarship, in combination with other aid programs, allows eligible full-time students to attend a SUNY or CUNY two-year or four-year college tuition-free.

“The Excelsior Scholarship program makes the dream of higher education a reality for many New Yorkers who once felt a college degree was out of reach,” Governor Cuomo said. “Access to higher education has become essential in today’s economy, and I encourage all eligible New Yorkers to apply for this program that will help open the door to opportunity and equip students with the skills they need to succeed now and into the future.”

The 2018-19 Excelsior Scholarship application, which became available this morning, is open to students first entering college in the fall 2018 term and current college students who have never applied for the Excelsior Scholarship. Current Excelsior Scholarship recipients should not complete this application. For students who first received an award in fall 2017 or after, no additional action is needed for 2018-19.

To be eligible for an Excelsior Scholarship, students must be New York State residents, plan to attend a SUNY or CUNY two- or four-year college, take 30 credits per year (including Summer and Winter sessions), and be on track to graduate on time with an Associate’s Degree in two years or a Bachelor’s Degree in four years. For the 2018-19 academic year, household federal adjusted gross income can total up to $110,000 to be eligible. In 2019-20 and beyond, New York State families can earn up to $125,000. Recipients must also plan to live in New York State for the length of time they received the award.

Approximately 53 percent of full-time SUNY and CUNY in-state students, and more than 210,000 New York residents, now attend school tuition-free thanks to the addition of students receiving the Excelsior Scholarship.

Dr. Guillermo Linares, Acting President of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation, said, “Last year’s launch of the first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarship program enabled an unprecedented number of New York’s students access to a college education.  This year, with Excelsior Scholarship’s expansion, we can truly say that a college degree more attainable than ever for all New Yorkers.”

To apply, students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the NYS Tuition Assistance Program application, if applicable, and the Excelsior Scholarship application at hesc.ny.gov/excelsior.

Applications will be accepted through Monday, July 23.

Employee drove dump truck into garage with box in upright position

Photo  by Tom Rivers

CARLTON – One of the bays in the Carlton highway garage was damaged today when an employee made a mistake and drove into the space with the box of a dump truck in the upright position.

That took out about six rows of cement blocks above the door, the steel-beam header and also damaged the door, Highway Superintendent Kurt Van Wycke said.

“The big thing is no one got hurt,” he said.

The employee is a long-time motor equipment operator for the town. Van Wycke said the employee is a hard worker and asset to the highway department.

The employee had the box in the upright position to wash out salt from the winter plowing season. The employee then went to put the truck back in the garage but forgot to lower the box.

“He is a veteran employee who was just thinking about the next thing to do,” Van Wycke said.

The open space has been boarded up and the insurance company will be on site on Wednesday. Van Wycke said the damage will be repaired.

The dump truck only has some cosmetic damage and still works just fine, he said.