Photo courtesy of Bob Barton

HOLLEY – Multiple fire departments have been on scene this afternoon of a fire at 34 High St. in Holley. Firefighters were dispatched for a car fire in a garage at a single-story ranch.

ALBION – Orleans County has accepted $120,000 from the state for fiscal year 2023, and is using those funds from the opioid settlement to contract with UConnect Care (formerly GCASA).

The County Legislature last week approved accepting the funds and then an agreement with UConnect for treatment and prevention services.

The Legislature last week also approved transferring $5,000 in opioid settlement funds from the Mental Health Department to Suicide Prevention Coalition.

The money for Orleans comes from the more than $2 billion secured by the state from companies involved in manufacturing, distributing and selling opioids.

Gov. Kathy Hochul last week said $192 million of those funds have been allocated state-wide in the first year of the settlement.

She said the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports and Department of Health has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support a full continuum of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services designed to increase access to help and support in every area of the state.

“I know how devastating it is watching a loved one navigate addiction, and how important it is to expand and enhance these services so that everyone is able to access the help and support they need,” Hochul said. “We are distributing historic amounts of funding to address this crisis, including through the opioid settlement fund, which is allowing us to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors responsible for the role they have played in this crisis.”

There were 6,300 overdose deaths in the state in 2022, with opioids involved in more than three-quarters of those deaths, Hochul’s office said.

OASAS Commissioner Dr. Chinazo Cunningham said, “We remain in the worst overdose crisis ever, and New York State is taking decisive, concrete steps to help individuals, families, and communities that have been impacted.”

YATES – The Yates Town Board wants to impose four moratoriums so the town can update local laws on short-term rentals, solar, wind and farmworker housing.

The town is seeking a 180-day period where Yates won’t process applications or issue permits for projects in the moratoriums.

“I find a lot of our local laws are outdated,” Jim Simon, the Yates town supervisor, said at last week’s Orleans County Planning Board meeting.

The Planning Board recommended the town proceed with moratoriums on wind, solar and the short-term rentals, but the board voted against moratorium on farmworker housing.

One Planning Board member, Bruce Kirby of Gaines, said all four efforts from the town “are major examples of NIMBY.” Kirby said the town seems to be trying to thwart development in those four areas.

“This is insanity,” he said.

Simon said the town is halting development with the updated laws. Yates will allow projects in all four areas, but Yates will have clearer regulations, he said.

With the moratorium on farmworker housing, the Planning Board cited ongoing litigation between the town and H.H. Dobbins, which operates a farm and also packing house, the latter serving about 60 different farms. Dobbins wants to build a housing facility with 30 beds on North Lyndonville Road (Route 63). Yates says the workers on the farm can stay there, but the town contends employees in the apple packing house technically are not farm workers.

A State Supreme Court judge sided with Dobbins, but the town has appealed that decision.

Yates is now looking at a local law for farmworker housing that it says will align with standards from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. The town wants to require farmworker housing have at least 51 percent of the workers in the housing be from one farm.

Many in the agricultural community, including the Orleans County Farm Bureau, have pushed back on the proposal, saying it would limit farms from sharing housing or one smaller farm from renting space from another.

The Orleans County Planning Board wants to stay out of the matter. The town can proceed with the moratorium with a super-majority vote, which would need at least four yes votes from a five-member board.

With wind, solar and short-term rentals, the issues are big topics in other communities.

Gary Daum, a Planning Board member from Yates, said the state continues to incentivize solar projects, and there are now several under development in the county, but none yet in Yates.

“It changes all the time,” Daum said about solar. “Our governor every day signs new bills.”

Simon said he is concerned about fires with the battery-storage facilities for solar, and that’s among the issues Yates wants to address in its law.

Yates will be looking at regulations for residential, commercial and industrial systems, whether roof and ground-mounted.

Project funded as part of nearly $3 million state grant

ALBION – A tower soon to be constructed in Carlton also will carry about $1.2 million in communications equipment.

The County legislature last week approved agreements for equipment on the tower. The county will pay L3 Harris Technologies of Lynchburg, Va. Up to $825,000 to purchase national interop communications equipment and associated services.

The county also approved paying $416,410 to Zetron Inc. in Redmond, Wa. for national interop communications equipment and associated services.

The expenses will be covered as part of a $2,990,000 million state grant awarded to the county in March.

The grant pays for a new tower and equipment at the Orleans County Emergency Management Office on West Countyhouse Road in Albion, equipment for a new tower in Carlton, and two backup 911 dispatch consoles at the EMO site. (Construction has started on the foundation of the new tower in Carlton and the 180-foot-high tower should be ready in the spring.)

The Legislature last week also approved spending $97,725 to L3 Harris Technologies for the two backup dispatch consoles.

The Legislature also approved an agreement for up to $200,000 last week with Timothy Worth of Radio Technologies in Webster to administer the $2,990,000 grant and provide technical resources for the county. The agreement runs from Dec. 20, 2023 to March 28, 2027.

In another project funded mostly with a state grant, the county approved spending $165,163 with L3 Harris Technologies for new radios and associated accessories for the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department. A state grant covers $110,000 of the cost.

ALBION – Orleans County has renewed a contract with Park Strategies to assist with advocating at the state and federal levels for funding and also to make the county’s voice heard about legislation that could help or hurt at the local level.

The county will pay Park $90,000 for 2024, the same rate since 2020. The agreement calls for the county to pay Park Strategies $5,000 a month for government affairs services at the federal level and $2,500 a month for government affairs services at the state level. The county first retained Park in 2015.

County officials say the relationship has paid off recently with millions in aid for broadband funding, and a $2 million grant through U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office for a new building for the Emergency Management Office.

Park Strategies was founded by Al D’Amato, the former U.S. senator from New York. The firm assists county officials in setting up meetings with representatives from the state and federal governments. Park Strategies also makes the county aware of legislative that could be helpful or harmful to the county, and brainstorms ways to pursue funding for critical projects in the county.

In the past county officials have praised Park Strategies for helping to make the county’s case to the state Department of Transportation for canal bridges to be repaired. The state spent about $10.7 million recently to fix seven bridges.

The state also has repaved portions of the Lake Ontario State Parkway, committed to dredging harbors on Lake Ontario and also allocated funds to protect lakeshore properties from flooding.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The steeples of the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, front, and First Baptist Church of Albion are shown at about 11:30 a.m. today.

It is foggy in Orleans County today, and the National Weather Service said a dense fog advisory remains in effect until 7 a.m. on Friday. The advisory includes Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Erie, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties.

The Weather Service said there will be hazardous driving conditions due to low visibility.

Today is forecast to reach a high of 46. The highs in the following days include 43 on Friday, 37 on Saturday, 37 on Sunday and 33 on Monday, which is New Year’s Day.

Unemployed also grew by 200 in county, according to DOL

The latest stats from the state Department of Labor show 400 more people were working in Orleans County in November, compared to the same time a year earlier.

While employment in the county was up from 16,300 to 16,700 from November 2022 to November 2023, the number of unemployed also increased from 500 to 700 during that time, the DOL reported.

The county’s unemployment rate increased from 3.3 percent in November 2022 to 3.8 percent last month, the DOL reported.

In New York, the state-wide unemployment rate up from 3.8 to 4.0 percent from November 2022 to November 2023, while national rate edged up from 3.4 to 3.5 percent in that time.

Statewide employment increased 193,400 during those 12 months to 9.34 million, and people on unemployment went up 30,000 to 395,500.

The unemployment rates in Orleans County so far in 2023 include 4.8 percent in January, 4.3 percent in February, 4.0 percent in March, 2.9 percent in April, 3.1 percent in May, 3.3 percent in June, 3.5 percent in July, 4.0 percent in August, 3.2 percent in September, 3.5 percent in October, and 3.8 percent in November.

Here are the unemployment rates in November for WNY counties:

• Orleans, 3.8 percent
• Genesee, 3.3 percent
• Wyoming, 3.9 percent
• Livingston, 3.4 percent
• Monroe, 3.8 percent
• Niagara, 4.1 percent
• Erie, 3.9 percent
• Chautauqua, 4.1 percent
• Cattaraugus, 4.2 percent

David Buczek works as a supervisor for National Grid

ALBION – There is a new trustee on the Albion Village Board, and he said he is committed to working for the good of the community.

David Buczek

David Buczek, 33, is a supervisor for National Grid, part of a team based in Albion that serves an area between Lockport and Spencerport, from Lake Ontario to Elba. He was promoted to supervisor after working as a lineman.

Buczek will finish out the final four months of Zack Burgess’s term. Burgess resigned in October after moving out of the village. That term ends March 31. Buczek said he plans to run for election in March for a full four-year term. He is a registered Democrat and will seek the backing of the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as support from independent voters.

“I’m an upbeat and positive person who will work with both sides of the fence,” he said Wednesday evening after attending his first Village Board meeting as trustee. “We need to find common ground at a time when our politics is so divided.”

Buczek said he sent an email to Mayor Angel Javier Jr. and Deputy Mayor Joyce Riley a couple months ago, expressing his interest to be more involved in the community. They interviewed him and he was appointed by the mayor to fill the vacancy.

Buczek, a Lackawanna native, moved to North Main Street in Albion about two years ago. He sees a lot of potential for the village to attract businesses that would prosper, providing good-paying and reliable jobs.

“Albion is a prime location between Medina and Brockport (east and west) and Batavia and Waterport (north and south),” Buczek said. “As a central hub for these locations, an emphasis should be placed on building the infrastructure for businesses and making it easier for them to establish locations here in Albion.”

Main Street also needs beautification and emphasis to fill store fronts. Buczek said he would work with community leaders and the business community on different events and village traditions in the downtown area, and a plan to better utilize the Main Street buildings.

A third goal for Buczek is ensuring the village workforce receives regular training and has the needed technology to help reduce costs and save energy.

“It is my overall goal to bring a positive change to the community and to give a voice to locals within our government,” he said. “I will work with our government employees and the community to continue to drive change for the future of Albion.”

Buczek wanted a career that would require both working with his hands and critical thinking. He earned a certification in energy utility technology from Erie Community College and overhead climbing. He is nearly done with his master’s degree at Buffalo State University in Multidisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Energy Utility Management. He also became certified in project management from Cornell University. He earlier earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Buffalo State.

Another $135K available in second round

The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council today announced $201,000 in grants for concerts and several other art and cultural projects in the two counties and another $135,000 will be available in a second round.

The funding is through the Statewide Community Regrant Program (SCR). GO Art! will be taking applications through the second round until Feb. 17.

The local arts council regrants the funding from the state through a transparent and competitive peer review panel process. The panel approved 46 applications for funding from the first round. Applicants were eligible to apply for up to $5,000 in the categories of Community Arts (Reach) and Arts Education (Spark), and $2,500 for Individual Artist Commissions (Ripple).

The categories and recipients are as follows:

REACH: The GO Art! Community Arts Grants (Reach Grants) provide seed grants to individual artists, collectives and arts organizations for projects and activities that enable Genesee and Orleans County communities to experience and engage with the performing, literary, media, and visual arts. Each year the program supports arts projects, including concerts, performances, public art, exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, readings and more.

REACH Recipients:

• Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina – $5,000 for Finally Fridays! 2024
• Yates Community Library in Lyndonville – $5,000 for Yates Community Library- More Than Just Books
• Friends of Boxwood Cemetery in Medina – $5,000 for Boxwood at Night 2024
• The Cobblestone Society – $5,000 for The Cobblestone Museum Arts Series for 2024
• Lyndonville Lions Club – $5,000 for I Hear the Music
• Village of Holley – $3,000 for Village of Holley Canal Concert Series
• Community Free Library in Holley – $5,000 for Continuation of Myron Holley Erie Canal Mural
• Care Net Center of Greater Orleans – $5,000 for Artists and Their Styles
• C. W. Bill Lattin with Fiscal Sponsor, The Cobblestone Society – $5,000 for Architecture Destroyed In Orleans County, N.Y.”
• Village of Holley – $2,000 for Festival Series 2024
• Canalside Radio Inc. – $5,000 for Harmonizing Communities: The Canalside Radio Initiative
• William Schutt with Community Partner, Village of Albion – $5,000 for Lighting the Erie Canal
• Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association – $5,000 for 2024 Hoag Music Series
• Michelle Cryer with Community Partner, Town of Carlton – $5,000 for Carlton Mural at the Cove
• Batavia Concert Band – $5,000 for 2024 Music in the Park Summer Concert Series
• Holland Purchase Historical Society – $5,000 for Holland Land Office Museum Guest Speaker & Concert Series
• Haxton Memorial Library – $5,000 for Talented Thursdays
• Alexander Volunteer Fire Department Band – $4,837 for community performances
• The Elba Betterment Committee – $4,550 for EBC Presents….
• Oakfield Betterment Committee Inc – $5,000 for Oakfield Labor Daze
• Genesee Chorale Inc. – $5,000 for 2024 Genesee Chorale Season
• Village of Bergen – $2,300 for the Hickory Park Concert Series
• Rebecca A O’Donnell with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY INC – $4,000 for Creative Community Connections at the Goose
• Batavia Business Improvement District – $5,000 for Jackson Square Concert Series
• David F. Burke with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY INC – $2,500 for “Wings” Mural for The Goose
• Heather Kathleen Davis with Community Partner, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church – $3,100 for Opera on the Oatka
• Genesee Symphony Orchestra – $5,000 for The Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s 78th Season
• Byron-Bergen Public Library – $5,000 for Arts in our Community
• Amanda M Taylor with Community Partner, City of Batavia Fire Department – $5,000 for Main Street Fire Hydrant Murals
• Bergen Business and Civic Association – $5,000 for Bergen Park Festival
• Woodward Memorial Library – $4,979 for Art All Year, Take Two
• St. Mark’s Episcopal Church – $2,415 for Music at St. Mark’s
• Kathlyn Baker with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY – $5,000 for Art Exploration Project
• Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming OUT!, Inc.- $5,000 for GLOW OUT! Pride Festival 2024
• Village of Corfu – $5,000 for Corfu Farmers Market 2024 Music Series
• GLOW YMCA, Inc. – $1,000 for GLOW Corporate Street Beat
• Gillam-Grant Community Center – $4,640 for A Spectrum of Art
• The Batavia Players, Inc. – $5,000 for the 2024 Season
• Marianne Skye with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY – $5,000 for Groovy Moves-Family Music and Movement

RIPPLE: The GO ART! Individual Artist Commission (Ripple Grant) supports local, artist-initiated activity, and highlights the role of artists as important members of the community. The Commission is for artistic projects with outstanding artistic merit that work within a community setting.

RIPPLE Recipients:

• David F. Burke – $2,500 for the Extension to Harvester Center Hallway Mural
• Thomas Jennings – $2,500 for the Missing Man- The Vince Welnick Story
• Joshua Lang – $2,500 for the Suite de Ballet Mvt 3
• Eric Weatherbee – $2,500 for The Humble Bard Presents

SPARK: The Arts Education Program (Spark Grant) supports arts education projects for youth and/or senior learners. Emphasis is placed on the depth and quality of the creative process through which participants learn through or about the arts. Projects must focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process.

SPARK Recipients:

• Linda Fix with Fiscal Sponsor, BCSD Foundation Community Schools – $5,000 for #It Takes A Village
• Bart Dentino with Community Partner, Oakfield-Alabama Central School District – $4,815 for The Spaces Between the Leaves
• Judd Sunshine with Community Partner, Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School – $4,200 for Erie Canal Songwriting Project

Artists, nonprofits, and municipalities seeking funding for arts related projects, programming, and events in Genesee and Orleans Counties are encouraged to apply to the second round of Statewide Community Regrant Program (SCR) funding through GO ART!.

For more information on applying for the Statewide Community Regrant Program visit: www.goart.org/grants or contact Mary Jo Whitman at mjwhitman@goart.org.

These grants are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

About the New York State Council on the Arts

NYSCA preserves and advances the arts and culture that make New York State an exceptional place to live, work and visit. The Council upholds the right of all New Yorkers to experience the vital contributions the arts make to our communities, education, economic development, and quality of life. To support the ongoing recovery of the arts across New York State, NYSCA is awarding record funding in Fiscal Year 2023, providing support across the full breadth of the arts.

Press Release, Genesee & Orleans County Health Departments

Have you ever wondered how an item that is not good for our health becomes popular? One way is vendors that produce them use clever marketing tactics to make people think they are safe, popular, good for you, and a status symbol.

E-cigarettes or vapes are these types of items. Although there are some regulations in the sale of e-cigarette/vape items, they are currently limited. In the United States, the legal age to purchase any nicotine-containing product, including e-cigarettes is 21. New York State has also banned flavored nicotine vape products to address the use of e-cigarettes among youth.

“According to the Food and Drug Administration, e-cigarettes/vapes are not approved as an aid to quit smoking,” stated Paul Pettit, director of Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health). “There is limited evidence that using a vaping device will help smokers quit, mostly because the individuals continue to smoke or use nicotine replacement while vaping, which increases the nicotine levels. Other FDA-approved prescription and over-the-counter medications are safe and effective to help people quit nicotine use. The best way to reduce the risk of nicotine-related illnesses and cancer is to never start using nicotine products of any kind.”

Companies that market e-cigarettes and vaping devices use marketing tools such as:

• “fun” flavors
• deep discounts
• marketing materials that are “youth-oriented” and located where young people go
• brightly colored ads or bright storefronts
• using celebrities who use e-cigarettes

The companies use popular packaging that are attractive to youth such as: flash/USB drives, favorite characters, hidden in hoodie strings, highlighters, backpacks, phone cases, pens, or smart watches.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to have honest conversations with youth about the issues and risks around vaping. Being aware of what is out there will take the glamor out of the product when talking with youth.

Tips on Quitting

• Pick a day on a calendar when you plan on quitting, let friends or family know.
• Download an app that helps you track your sober days, build new healthier habits, and provides motivation. Visit SmokeFree.gov for free apps to download.
• Get rid of all vaping devices.
• Understand what the withdrawal symptoms are such as headaches, hunger, trouble sleeping, and concentrating are just a few.

If feeling the urge to vape? Try these instead: Chewing gum or drinking water, exercise, yoga or meditation, and keeping your hands busy.

The sooner one quits, the quicker the body rebounds and repairs itself. For more help or information, contact your healthcare provider. You can also text, chat or call the New York State Smokers’ Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487).

For more information on GO Health programs and services, visit GOHealthNY.org or call your respective health department at:

• Orleans County: 585-589-3278
• Genesee County: 585-344-2580 ext. 5555

Photo and information courtesy of FMC in Middleport

MIDDLEPORT – FMC’s Agricultural Sciences Plant employees in Middleport, working with Local 1180 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and plant management, recently collected and donated several boxes and bags filled with non-perishable food the Middleport Food Pantry for local residents in need of access.

Pictured from left to right: Peggy Skomski, Food Pantry Volunteer; George Richards, FMC; Nancy Huntington, Food Pantry co-manager;  Josh Jackson (seated), FMC; Josh Walker, FMC and Justin Adam, FMC.

The Middleport Food Pantry is on South Vernon Street next to St. Stephen’s Church. The pantry is open every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Two veterans’ organizations gave a combined $1,500 this morning to a veterans’ van service run by the Joint Veterans Council.

Pictured from left include Warren Marshall, president of the Orleans Veterans Club; Mike Donahue, commander of the VFW Post in Albion; Dave Kusmierczak, president of the Joint Veterans’ Council; and Larry Hughson, board member for the Orleans Veterans Club.

The Orleans Veterans Club gave $1,000 and the VFW donated $500 towards a van replacement.

The organization has five vans, but was out of service and another isn’t reliable, Kusmierczak said. The group is looking to soon acquire a low-mileage used van.

The Joint Veterans Council has been operating the service for 27 years with volunteers taking veterans to medical appointments.

In 2022, 867 veterans were transported by 20 volunteer drivers who logged 4,446 hours.

Marshall said the van service has taken him to four appointments to the VA in Buffalo.

“It’s very helpful to me because I hate to drive to Buffalo,” he said.

Marshall takes himself to the VA in Batavia, but doesn’t like driving in a bigger city.

The VA pays for maintenance, gas and tolls for the service, but the local group needs to buy the vehicles.

“It’s a service that is definitely needed,” Marshall said. “It gets used.”

Altogether the 10 towns, 4 villages remain at same level since 2001

Charts by Orleans Hub: Three of the villages will see increases in sales tax while Albion takes more than $6,000 hit.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature has approved the amounts of sales tax for each of the four villages and 10 towns for 2024. Collectively, they will get $1,366,671, the same amount they have received since 2001.

Each year there are some slight changes for the municipalities depending on any shifts in the taxable values.

The Village of Medina will see the biggest increase, $8,114 – from $152,046 to $160,160. The Village of Albion’s amount will drop by $6,217 from $165,309 to $159,092.

Among the towns, Yates is getting the biggest increase at $4,429 (from $66,679 to $71,108), while Albion’s share outside the village drops $4,888 (from $123,953 to $119,065).

The majority of town and village boards in 2023 passed resolutions asking the County Legislature to increase the sales tax to the municipalities, but the Legislature opted against that in the 2024 budget, citing other rising costs for the county.

The county in 2022 took in $22.5 million in sales tax. Through the first three quarters of 2023, the sales tax went up 2.7 percent in Orleans County from $18.48 million to $18.98 million.

The towns and village receive about 6.0 percent of total. In their resolution asking for more sales tax, the towns and villages asked for 14 percent of the total. That’s what they were receiving in 1996 when the total local sales tax was $9,499,138.

If the county went to a 14 percent share it would have to increase the amount to towns and villages to $3,150,000 – a $1,783,329 increase.