Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Amyli Sofokles, 6, of Medina smiles while talking with Santa this morning at Medina Memorial Hospital.

Santa and Mrs. Claus met with children and their families from 8 a.m. to 10:30 in the hospital lobby. There also was breakfast available to the public, as well as crafts and cookie decorating.

Gabriella Romig, 3, of Medina lets Santa know her wish for Christmas.

Mrs. Claus meets Rosa Hastings of Medina and her three children: Kileigh, Karter and Khloe.

John and Michelle Konieczni of Medina join their baby Phoenix on Santa’s lap.

Serenity Chinn, 11 months old, of Medina meets Santa.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Linda Redfield leads a discussion on Nov. 18 at the Colonade, the former Medina Masonic Lodge. The discussion focused on emergency planning for radiation accidents in WNY.

World Life Institute concludes five-part series today

MEDINA – The World Life Institute concludes a series on global nuclear awareness today with a special presentation at the Colonade at 229 West Center St., Medina.

The program begins at 11 a.m. and focuses on ways individuals and families can protect themselves in a radiation emergency.

This is the last in a series of five thought-provoking public presentations on nuclear issues.

Paul Zimmerman, researcher and author with over 30 years experience working on the impacts of nuclear technology, will be a featured speaker today.

This special presentation introduces the scientific knowledge needed for safety and survival in a nuclear or radiation emergency, including the basic principles that must be clearly understood for personal and family protection.

The World Life Institute organized Global Nuclear Awareness 2017, a timely new educational program that explores what nuclear energy means for our future. The program aims to build science-based knowledge and awareness of nuclear issues to empower professionals and community members to understand and effectively respond to current and future nuclear threats and events.

For more information visit the program website by clicking here.

The most recent program about nuclear issues on Nov. 18 focused on emergency planning for radiation accidents in Western New York.

That program included public health experts and emergency planners, who discussed the current state of readiness for responding to a radiation accident in Western New York State.

Redfield was joined on Nov.18 by Albert Cheverie, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Orleans and Genesee Counties; Dr. Nicole Gerber, Emergency Manager for Roswell Park Cancer Institute; and Dr. David Bell, Global Public Health Specialist and professor at St. John Fisher College in Rochester.

Linda Redfield said Western New York and the Great Lakes have nuclear power plants and some radioactive material is transported by trucks through the region.

File photo by Tom Rivers: Marie Follet leads the Joyful Good Shepherd Ringers during a service on Dec. 24, 2015.

Press Release, Albion Alumni Foundation

ALBION — Albion will gather for its annual Community Christmas Concert on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 29 East State St.

The program includes a mix of local music, classic poetry, and an opportunity to sing some holiday favorites.

In keeping with tradition, the concert features Albion High School instrumental and vocal ensembles, this year joined by “The Joyful Good Shepherd Ringers” (Bell Choir from the United Methodist Church, directed by Marie Follett); local trio Crandall, Wood & Main (Dean Theodorakos, Joel Allen and Doug Syck); guitarist Bill Pileggi; vocalist Alec Sherman; and Dale Smalley at the organ and piano.

Doreen Wilson and Kim Remley will present traditional readings, and Jan-Mikael Erakare will share an entertaining Christmas poem by Ogden Nash. Audience members will be invited to sing along to help ring in the Christmas season.

Tickets cost $5 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Albion High School Alumni Foundation, which provides scholarships to local graduates.

“This concert is intended for our entire community,” said Maarit Vaga, a concert organizer. “Our hope is that this will be a joyous tradition for families, friends, and neighbors for years to come.”

WASHINGTON — The Senate narrowly passed a sweeping $1.5 trillion tax bill early this morning, legislation that will affect families, small business owners and large multinational corporations.

New York’s senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, joined other Democrats in opposing the bill.

“What a disgrace,” Gillibrand tweeted early this morning. “Families in New York and across the country deserve so much better than this bill.”

Schumer said Republicans “rebuffed” input from Democrats on the legislation.

“In my long career in politics, I have not seen a more regressive piece of legislation, so devoid of a rationale, so ill-suited for the condition of the country, so removed from the reality of what the American people need,” Schumer tweeted.

Congressman Chris Collins (R-Clarence) released the following statement after the United States Senate passed tax reform legislation:

“Now that the Senate has passed tax reform, we are one step closer to delivering on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to replace our outdated and complicated tax code,” he said. “By doubling the standard deduction, lowering tax rates, and enhancing the family tax credit, families in Western New York will be able to keep more of what they earn. Tax reform will unleash America’s competitiveness and bring jobs and profits back home, where they belong. While there are differences in the House and Senate versions of the legislation, we will find common ground in conference and get this important bill to President Trump’s desk.”

President Donald Trump sent a celebratory tweet early this morning: “We are one step closer to delivering MASSIVE tax cuts for working families across America. Special thanks to @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell and Chairman @SenOrrinHatch for shepherding our bill through the Senate. Look forward to signing a final bill before Christmas!”

UPDATED 10:10 a.m. with this statement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo: “Late last night, the Senate passed a tax bill that slashes tax rates for corporations and is hugely advantageous for the wealthiest Americans. These cuts will be paid for by working and middle class families across our nation. It will hit New York hardest. With this plan, Republicans in Congress are robbing New Yorkers of billions of dollars, endangering the health care of millions of Americans, and exploding the federal deficit. The devastating impacts both intended, as well as unintended given the rushed, secretive approach taken in writing and voting on this plan cannot be overstated. To implement discredited trickle-down economics and repeal health care for millions under the cover of tax reform before the public, or even every Senator can be informed of the details in the plan, is proof positive of just how bad that plan is.

“The bill is financed in large part by almost entirely eliminating deductions of state and local taxes, a bedrock principle underpinning our tax law since its inception. Eliminating this deduction means that New York will effectively serve as a piggy bank to finance tax cuts for other states. This plan is a sham that does not deliver on the GOP promise to help the middle class. It reflects upside down priorities – it helps the rich and corporations and does nothing to deliver on their false promise to our middle class citizens.

“The four members of the Republican delegation, who supported the House version of this unfair, unequal and economically devastating plan, betrayed their constituents. It is now time for New York’s entire Republican delegation to put New Yorkers first, vote the right way and tell their party leadership that they will not allow us to be pawns in a political agenda that inflicts financial pain on Democratic states at the direct expense of the Americans who call them home, all to benefit corporations and the wealthiest among us.”

HOLLEY – Members of the Holley Central School Humanities Class hosted an assembly Friday morning featuring Rochester author Marlies Adams DiFante, whose autobiographical book, Queen of the Bremen, recounts her harrowing experiences as a child trapped with her family in World War II Germany.

DiFante’s family was trapped in Germany in 1939 when World War II broke out. Her German parents had returned there from their home in Naples, New York, to visit her dying grandfather. They were unable to board a ship to come back to the U.S. because Marlies’ mother was pregnant and nearing the end of her term.

Students in the Humanities class have been studying the book and DiFante gave a first person account during her talk of how Hitler took over all aspects of life in Germany.

“He left people desperate,” DiFante explained. She told students that hunger and cold drove many to become members of the Nazi Party (something which her family steadfastly refused to do).

“The Nazis gave preferential treatment to party members,” DiFante said. “Many people joined the party just to have food for their children … but then you had to inform on your neighbors.”

DiFante described to students how young people their own age during WWII in Germany became members of the Hitler Youth. Young men were trained how to shoot down enemy aircraft and young women wrote deceptive letters to the troops telling them that everything was fine at home, when in fact, every German city had been leveled by bombings.

She described the horror of surviving repetitive bombings – and what it was like to have no food, to live in constant fear, to be abused and bullied by the German children, and to be completely alone in the world without one friend.

“Don’t bully,” DiFante told students. “You don’t know what others are going through. Try to help others … smile at them and greet them.”

Members of the Humanities class thanked Marlies and presented her with flowers and a gift.

She encouraged students to forgive others, and spoke of how her and her family’s faith in God got them through their ordeal. “Don’t ever give up on God,” she said, “because He loves you … I hope you’ll learn that no matter how bad things become, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Students in the Humanities class said they were moved and learned much from Marlies’ first-hand account.

“It’s cool to get to see her in person,” Andrew Moseman said.

“It means a lot more now that we have seen her and we can understand what she went through even better,” Cory Caccamise said.

Following her presentation, Marlies Adams DiFante speaks with Holley students personally.  She told them the importance of forgiving her aunt, with whom she stayed for a year as a child while her family was trapped in Germany during the Second World War. She suffered horrific neglect during those months.  Marlies said she was all alone in the world at that time, without even one friend, save a cow her aunt and uncle owned, who offered her companionship and comfort.

“Overlooked Orleans” – Volume 3, Issue 49

ALBION – These two photographs show the baseball grounds in Albion located on Caroline Street on land now occupied by the ARC of Orleans. A popular pastime in Orleans County, baseball teams commonly played on fields located at the County Fairgrounds until this site was created in the early 1900s.

The top photograph shows the grandstand, situated in the northeast corner of the lot. A 1911 map shows the grandstand situated at an angle and a small structure to the immediate west of the grandstand. Based on the bottom photograph, we can presume that the small building on the map is the structure occupied by Robert Clark, who is selling popcorn and peanuts to those watching the game. Behind the grandstand, the peak of a house on the north side of Caroline Street is slightly visible. One would venture to guess that this is 137 Caroline Street.

In addition to the field itself, the photographs show the 1905 baseball club consisting of Howard Kilborn, 1st base; James Craffey, 2nd base and team captain; Frank VanStone, 3rd base; Ralph Vick, Shortstop; Herbert Reed, left field; Homer Brown, center field; Walter Radley, right field; Robert Clark, Jr., pitcher; Pete Galarneau, catcher; Arnold Donovan, mascot. Standing in the bottom photograph (left to right) are Howard Kilborn, ___ McGarnwell, Robert Clark, Jr., “Doc” Davis, Homer Brown, Frank VanStone, Walter Radley, Pete Galarneau, “Doc” Creighton, Ralph Vick, and Herbert Reed. The tall man in the back wearing a derby is Timothy Donovan, a local furniture store clerk and father of the team’s mascot; Arnold is approximately 8 years old in the photograph.

It was in 1905 that Robert Clark attempted to form a baseball league in Western New York consisting of teams from Niagara Falls, Tonawanda, Lockport, Middleport, Medina, Albion, Holley, Brockport, Spencerport, and Rochester. Clark was well known throughout the area as a proficient pitcher, having signed a contract with Rochester’s Eastern League team in 1896 as the league’s youngest player at age 17. The same year this photograph was taken, Frank VanStone was offered a tryout with Erie, Pennsylvania’s baseball club, although no further note of his time with the team is noted.

In 1895, notice appeared in the local papers regarding Silas Elmore’s time with Albion’s baseball club. As rambunctious and tough young boy, he was hit by a train and lost one of his legs. Although he was “reformed” through his work with the Salvation Army, the local community took up a collection to purchase Elmore a wooden leg to ease his mobility issues. It was with this prosthesis that he was able to play at least one season with the team. He died several years later at the age of 32 from Addison’s Disease, a rare condition impacting the adrenal glands.

Upon closer examination, a large crowd has gathered to watch the game. The group is seated behind a screen of chicken wire to prevent foul balls from hitting spectators. All of those in attendance are dressed in their best attire and although a number of women are visible, they are seated together for the most part.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Saint-Gobain Adfors manufacturing plant on Route 31 was evacuated at about 2:15 p.m. today after a report of a structure fire inside the building.

Firefighters are shown checking the roof of the building at 14770 Route 31. There are firefighters on scene from Albion, Holley, Medina and Barre and perhaps other fire companies.

No information was available on the extent of the problem inside the building. There wasn’t smoke from a fire coming from the site.

A section of Route 31, from Clarendon Road to Butts Road, has been shut down.

MEDINA – A church in Akron has had Medina in its prayers and on its heart the past two years.

One Church NY has put that faith into action, working on opening a new campus in Medina at the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Ann Street by Medina Memorial Hospital.

One Church includes the Akron Free Methodist Church and the campus in Medina. Akron renamed its church to reflect the new mission in Medina and how the two congregations will be united as one, with the same staff, a joint budget and a shared ministry.

The Akron church has grown to about 450-500 for Sunday services. Many of the attendees are from Medina.

One Church NY, the former Scared Heart Catholic Church in Medina, is shown on Thursday evening.

Rick Rouse is the lead pastor at One Church. He has been in the ministry since 1982 and helped with church plants in Webster, Fairport and Amherst.

Dan Swain, the worship leader at Akron, will be the campus pastor in Medina.

“I do love people,” Swain said. “I feel like my job here is to connect with people.”

The Medina sanctuary has a much different look from the Sacred Heart era. The pews have been removed and are being replaced with 175 chairs. There is new paint and carpeting. The pulpit area also will have a large screen for multimedia presentations. Twice a month the sermon will be streamed in from Akron and shown in Medina. The other weeks in the month, a pastor will deliver the sermon in Medina.

Swain said the services will include an up-tempo band. The church will still sing traditional hymns, but most of the music will be more contemporary.

The fellowship hall in the basement also is being reconfigured into four classrooms.

One Church created this float in last Saturday’s Parade of Lights. The church also has been participating in the backpack and Boxes of Love ministries in Medina.

Rouse, who has a background in construction, has been joined by many dedicated volunteers the past two months on the building’s transformation. He also said Mazacom, a company based in Medina, has been key in helping to get the site ready.

The church is leasing the building from Skip Draper, the Shelby town supervisor who recently purchased the Sacred Heart site, including the rectory and former school.

The church is eyeing Jan. 7 for its first Sunday morning service at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

For more information, click here.

‘We are bleeding and we are dying. We have to stop these drugs from coming into our community.’ – District Attorney Joe Cardone

Tami Ashton speaks about her daughter’s addiction which ultimately claimed her life on June 27, 2016 at age 34.

MEDINA – There was anger, despair, frustration and hope – all expressed on Thursday night during a community forum about the opioid crisis in the community, which has caused several recent deaths and devastated many families.

“We’re done burying our kids,” said Tami Ashton. “We need to come together as a community and do something and the time is now.”

Her daughter, Christina Ashton, died from a drug overdose on June 27, 2016. Christina had been clean for 19 days. Her mother left the house for a 40-minute errand. When she came back, she found her daughter slumped over and not breathing in the backyard. Someone dropped off heroin and her daughter took all of it. Christina was 34.

“It’s killing our children and destroying our families,” said Ashton, who has become an addiction recovery coach with GCASA.

Thursday’s forum was attended by about 100 people and lasted more than 2 hours. Three people shared how their drug addictions escalated, nearly killing them.

Tiffany Neroni shared how drugs nearly killed her when she was a teen-ager. She has been sober now for a decade.

Tiffany Neroni was only 11 when she started smoking marijuana and taking pills with an older boyfriend. Drugs took over her life as a teen-ager. Her family had to send her away to get the treatment she needed, and not to be a danger to her siblings.

Neroni once was so high she didn’t come home for several days. A missing persons report was filed and she was found in Rochester.

She has been sober now for 10 years and wants to help others as a peer advocate, helping to ensure there is support after an addict completes treatment. Families of addicts also need services, Neroni said.

The addicts “have strengths and skill sets,” Neroni said. “They are valuable to the community.”

With treatment and support, they can be dedicated employees, business owners and other community assets.

A husband and wife from Niagara County shared their story of drug abuse that nearly claimed their lives. The husband needed to be revived with Narcan after a heroin overdose.

The husband was working in construction and injured his back. He took prescribed painkillers. When the prescription expired, he continued to use painkillers and turned to more hardcore drugs, including heroin, which were cheaper to buy than painkillers.

He committed crimes to pay for drugs, and was jailed for burglary and grand larceny. A drug diversion program through Niagara County, which required treatment, helped him to stop the cycle of drug use and crime.

District Attorney Joe Cardone said there is an epidemic of drug addiction in the community and country. “I’m angry about what’s happening in our society.”

His wife also had been using drugs for many years. She credited Vivitrol for helping her to stay clean. Vivitrol is a treatment that blocks the effects of opioid addiction. She hasn’t felt the triggers or pull to use drugs for more than a year.

District Attorney Joe Cardone has been the county’s top prosecutor for about 26 years. The drug crimes when he started tended to be misdemeanors with marijuana and recreational drugs.

Now, the county is facing an “epidemic” with heroin laced with fentanyl which is proving deadly, Cardone said.

“We are bleeding and we are dying,” the DA told the crowd. “We have to stop these drugs from coming into our community.”

He said the best way to fight the drug problem in the county is keep people from using it. He urged residents to let law enforcement know if people are selling drugs in the community. Cardone said he is frustrated with residents who blame others for “snitching” to law enforcement. Cardone said those tips to law enforcement can save lives and prevent misery in the community.

Doctors overprescribed painkillers for years which he said has fueled the national drug problem.

“Every small town in the United States has drugs,” he said. “We have to stop the flow of drugs into our country.”

Her praised the effort by GCASA and the Sheriff’s Office to have more treatment and services for residents battling drug addiction.

“Thank God for GCASA. Thank God for the sheriff and what he is doing,” Cardone said. “But it’s only a Band Aid.”

Kathy Hodgins, the director of treatment services for GCASA in Orleans County, said there are many services available in the county to assist people fighting addictions. She urged people to stop by GCASA in Albion, 249 East Ave., or call at (585) 589-0055.

Don Snyder, a chaplain for the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, wants the community to lift the stigma for people suffering from drug addictions.

The Sheriff’s Office has started a new CARES program that links people leaving the jail or treatment programs with volunteer mentors.

Don Snyder, a retired chaplain who worked in state prisons, is volunteering as a chaplain for the Sheriff’s Office and helping people go through the training to become a mentor or recovery coach.

Addicts recover “in different ways and at different speeds,” Snyder said. He urged the community to not attach a stigma to people fighting addictions.

Many have been pulled into drug abuse through painkillers, or from using drugs to mask other pain or childhood trauma.

Scott Wilson, the county’s jail superintendent, said the jail has stepped up its services for addicts connecting them to treatment programs, health insurance and Vivitrol. The county pushes to have a transition from the jail to GCASA or another treatment program.

Sheriff Randy Bower said Narcan has proven a life-saver in the county with 26 people saved from a fatal overdose this year in Orleans County. Those are just the calls to the 9-1-1 center. Bower said more Narcan doses may have been administered without a 9-1-1 call.

GCASA has been offering Narcan training and giving away the doses. On Thursday, there was a training at the end of the meeting and people were given Narcan nasal sprays.

“Narcan continues to make a difference in saving someone’s life,” said Diana Fulcomer, a prevention educator with GCASA.

ROYALTON – Niagara County Sheriff James Vountour has released the name of the hunter who died on Wednesday.

Stephen C. Harrington, 69, from the Town of Royalton is the man who died from an apparent medical emergency.

The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call at 9:20 on Wednesday morning reporting that a hunter had fallen from a tree stand in the woods behind 4562 Royalton Center Rd.

Unsuccessful life-saving treatment was given Harrington.

The investigation is continuing by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Bureau.

Ethanol output is up 30 percent from start decade ago

File photo by Tom Rivers: Western New York Energy’s ethanol plant is located at the corner of Bates Road and Maple Ridge Road in Medina.

Press Release, WNY Energy

MEDINA – On December 1, 2007, Western New York Energy (WNYE) completed construction and began producing clean burning, homegrown ethanol at its $90 million facility originally designed to produce 50 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol per year.

Ten years later, the company has added additional capacity through further investment, implemented new production technologies, and improved production efficiencies to be an industry leader.

Also in the first ten years, WNYE formed a transportation subsidiary, Shelby Transportation, LLC, to fill a logistics need for smaller farmers and WNY feed mills.

Today, the plant is capable of producing 30 percent over its original nameplate design while running more efficiently. Since the beginning, Western New York Energy has partnered with NY corn growers to purchase as much corn locally as possible. WNYE is projected to grind almost 21 million bushels of corn in 2018.

Ethanol is a high octane, low emission fuel that is generally blended at a 10% or 15% rate in gasoline today (E10/E15). A recent USDA study shows that blending 10% ethanol in our gasoline today reduces harmful, cancer-causing emissions by 43%. The ethanol produced by Western New York Energy from grain grown by local farmers is the cheapest octane available and saves money for families and consumers at the pump every day.

The zero-waste ethanol production process produces several high-quality co-products in addition to fuel ethanol. No part of the corn kernel goes to waste. New York State prides itself on being a leader in the production of clean renewable energy and WNYE is proud to be doing its part towards that effort.

Western New York Energy began from John Sawyer, Jr’s vision of creating a business that would improve farming and agriculture in WNY. Following that vision, John and Michael Sawyer worked with a local ownership group and community leaders to build the first ethanol plant in NY resulting in an improved local corn market and agricultural economy.

Western New York Energy would like to thank all of our investors and employees for their faith, hard work and commitment over the past 10 years. As a proud and active supporter of our local community, we look forward to continuing our operations here in Shelby and Orleans County for years to come.

Provided photo: Pictured front rowfrom left include: Sara Hillman, Melissa Barnosky, Ashlyn LeBaron and Molly Wadhams. Back row: Wally Skrypnik (Post Commander), Phil Warne (Finance Officer), Joe Gehl (Board Member) and Gary Befus (Adjutant).

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – The Albion High School Oratorical Contest was held today in the LGI at the high school. Four students participated in this annual event sponsored by the American Legion Sheret Post 35.

The purpose of the program is to develop deeper knowledge and appreciation of the U.S. Constitution. Each student prepared and presented a written speech based on the U.S. Constitution.

Sara Hillman’s speech was entitled “More than Words on Paper,” Melissa Barnosky’s speech was entitled “Significance of Suffrage,” Ashlyn LeBaron’s speech was entitled “Rights and Obligations,” and Molly Wadhams’ speech was entitled “Rights and Beliefs.”

Melissa Barnosky placed first and won $100. Molly Wadhams placed second and won $50.  Both students will progress to the Orleans County Oratorical Contest on Dec. 9 at Medina High School.

Sara Hillman, third place, and Ashlyn LeBaron, fourth place, each were awarded $25.

Rich Gannon, an Albion social studies teacher, is advisor for the competition in Albion.

Photos courtesy of Howard Owens/The Batavian: Ric Jones, director of the Genesee Chorale, leads the group during a rehearsal on Monday at the St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia.

MEDINA – The Genesee Chorale, a group of 70 singers, will be performing “Christmas Memories” this Saturday in Batavia and Monday in Medina.

The program includes some new songs, some classics and some old favorites with a new twist. Ric Jones of Medina directs the Chorale with accompaniment by Doug Hanson.

The concerts are at 7 p.m. on Saturday at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 E. Main St., Batavia, and at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at First Presbyterian Church, 522 S. Main St., Medina.

For information about tickets, click here.

Stories of favorite Christmas memories and traditions will be shared throughout the concert. These holiday tales will be paired with old Christmas favorites like White Christmas or fresh, new takes on a familiar text like Silent Night, by local composer and teacher, Stephen Shewan of Shelby. He is the director of bands at Williamsville East High School.

Ric Jones of Medina directs the group of 70 singers.

“I think it will be a magical walk down memory lane,” said Heather Lovelace, the Chorale president. “Nothing triggers old holiday feelings like Christmas carols, except perhaps the smell of those favorite Christmas cookies.”

While there won’t be Christmas cookies, there will certainly be music for all to enjoy. Let the Genesee Chorale jump start your holiday season.

ALBION – Orleans County plans to keep a tax exemption for Cold War veterans. The exemption is due to expire on March 31, 2018.

The county enacted the exemption 10 years ago and it is due to sunset. The exemption is good for up to 10 percent or a maximum of $4,000 off the assessed value of a property.

With a county tax rate of about $10 per $1,000 of assessed property, the maximum exemption would save a Cold War veteran about $40 in county taxes.

There are about 100 veterans in the county currently receiving the exemption, said Dawn Allen, the county’s director of Real Property Tax Services Department.

Earl Schmidt, the director of the county’s Veterans Service Agency, has been pushing county officials to renew the exemption. During a public hearing on Wednesday, Schmidt said some counties may have a gap in the exemption due to it expiring. He doesn’t want that to happen in Orleans County.

“We are ahead of the game,” Schmidt said.

The exemption is good for eligible veterans who served in the military from Sept. 2, 1945 to Dec. 26, 1991.

The exemption also includes up to $20,000 off the assessment value for property owned by disabled veterans.

David Kusmiersczak of Medina urged the Legislature to continue the exemption.

“This will help all of us,” Kusmiersczak said during the public hearing.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature extended the motel tax for another three years. The “occupancy tax” is an additional 4 percent tax at motels, bed and breakfasts, lodges and vacation rentals.

The revenue is used to support the county’s tourism department. The revenue from the motel tax has been growing in recent years, and the county expects more growth with a new hotel coming to Medina.

The county’s budgeted amount for the motel tax has grown from $27,500 in 2015, $33,000 in 2016, $39,000 in 2017 to $42,000 tentatively budgeted for 2018.

The county started a 4 percent tax on lodging in 2004. The extension lasts until Dec. 31, 2020.

BriMark Builders has proposed a new 58-room hotel, Cobblestone Inn and Suites, on Maple Ridge Road in Medina, next to Pride Pak and almost across the street from Genesee Community College. County officials expect the hotel to open late in 2018.

In other action during Wednesday’s meeting, the Legislature:

• Approved purchasing Taser equipment for six probation officers from Axon Enterprises Inc. The five-year agreement includes $1,762 the first year and $2,232 annually in years two through five for a total contract of $10,690 over five years.

• Approved a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance for $5,069 for matching funds to purchase bullet-proof vests for the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

• Approved an agreement between the Sheriff’s Office and Voiance Language Services of Tucson, AR. The company will provide over-the-phone translation and interpretation services at 75 cents per minute on an as needed basis for three years.

• Authorized using a $1,990 grant for the Sheriff’s Office to purchase child safety seats from the Evenflo Company.

• Authorized Dale Banker, director of the Emergency Management Office, to spend $186,099 in a State Homeland Security Grant from 2016 for the following: $161,358 for Harris Radio 800 MHz radio system equipment and software upgrades to Finger Lakes Communications; $11,550 for installation, programming and testing of both AES Encryption and Phase 2 TDMA to Radio Technologies; and $13,191 for annual hardware and software maintenance agreement at the Emergency Management Office.

• Authorized filling the vacant full-time director position for Weights and Measures.

• Appointed the following to two-year terms on the Oak Orchard Watershed Board: Ed Morgan, the chairman from the Soil and Water Conservation District; Guy Smith of Albion; Peter Smith of Albion; and Jon Peglow of Barre.

• Appointed the following to the County Planning Board: Kevin Johnson of Clarendon, Russell Bosch of Clarendon (alternate), Andrew Kludt of Kendall, Monica Seeler of Holley (alternate), Gary Daum of Yates and Ed Urbanik of Yates (alternate).