Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Employees with Super Seal in Macedon have been a Bullard Park today putting down a colorful coating on the new basketball courts. They are using squeegees to spread about 800 gallons of paint on the new courts.

Super Seal expects to put another coating down, and then add the lines for the basketball court as well as pickleball next week.

The Village Department of Public Works installed the new hoops last week.

The Albion United Methodist Church is paying for two of the new hoops, a final top coat, the painting and lining of the courts, fencing on the south side and concrete barriers to keep vehicles from driving on the courts.

Sanford Church, the Orleans County Court judge, also paid for two of the new hoops.

In June, Keeler Construction put down the first layer for two full-size outdoor basketball courts. That was funded with a $40,000 grant from the James and Juli Boeheim Foundation.

The Greater Albion Recreation and Events, Inc., a non-profit organization, secured the funding with assistance from the Orleans County United Way.

KENDALL – The school district will ask for voter approval on Dec. 12 for a proposed $12,680,000 capital project with most of the work at the elementary school.

The vote will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Kendall Town Hall, 1873 Kendall Rd. School leaders will also discuss the project during a public forum at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the elementary school auditorium.

District officials say the project won’t result in a tax increase. The state is covering 74 percent of the costs. Kendall has 15 percent of the expense already in a capital reserve fund. The other 11 percent is money Kendall has been paying in debt from prior projects that will be retired.

Kendall’s recent capital projects have focused on the junior-senior high school. This proposed project is primarily at the elementary school.

The work at the school is an estimated $11,122,076 and includes site improvements with new paving, a new playground with age-appropriate equipment.

Inside the elementary school, projects include safety and security upgrades to interior doors, entryways, and alarm systems, as well as energy- efficient classroom lighting, corridor enhancements and auditorium upgrades, according to the district.

The project includes $153,089 in work at the junior-senior high school for common area improvements with new flooring and lighting.

In the transportation building, two bus lifts would be replaced at a cost of $1,065,278.

A roof would also be replaced for the Buildings & Grounds facility at a cost of $339,557.

If the referendum passes, the project goes into the design phase to be submitted to the State Education Department in the summer 2024. After SED review/approval, construction is expected to start in the spring 2025 and be complete the end of 2026.

Many students addicted to vaping, with unknown long-term health effects

Photos by Tom Rivers: Mary Wright, a prevention education with UConnectCare (formerly GCASA), discusses some of the signs of a vaping addiction including difficulty with concentrating on school work when can’t vape, inability to go anywhere without the vape and taking a few puffs, and strong cravings to vape when waking up in morning and going to bed at night.

ALBION – Many students in middle and high schools are addicted to vaping, and battle strong cravings to vape during school days.

That is a problem, not only due to the unknown long-term health consequences of vaping, but also because vaping is prohibited on school campuses and people under 21 can’t legal buy vaping or tobacco products.

Despite that, health officials at a Vaping Summit in Albion estimate 10 to 20 percent of teen-agers are chronic vaping users.

“Vaping is a serious public health issue facing the youth in our community,” said Paul Pettit, public health director in Genesee and Orleans counties.

He spoke at the Vaping Summit in the Albion Middle School Auditorium, the first summit in either Orleans, Genesee or Wyoming counties.

Vaping has become popular among middle and high schoolers in the past seven to eight years, health experts said at the forum, with many parents thinking vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Vaping also is comes in thousands of different flavors, and many are candy flavored adding to the impression that they are safe and healthy.

Speakers at the Vaping Forum included from left: Kristina Hawes, senior health project coordinator at the Wilmot Cancer Institute in Rochester; Dr. Danielle Smith, assistant professor at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo; and Mary Wright, prevention educator for UConnectCare, formerly GCASA.

But the health experts say vaping often comes in stronger nicotine concentrations than cigarettes, and the users become very distracted and irritable if they can’t vape, especially during several hour stretches during the school day.

“It is a nicotine stimulant that is very addictive,” said Kristina Hawes, senior health project coordinator at the Wilmot Cancer Institute in Rochester. “With e-cigarettes there is no regulation, there is no standardization of devices or e-liquids.”

She said “Big Tobacco” is using “predatory marketing” to target kids to become users of the products.

The community was urged to not “normalize” vaping. Dr. Danielle Smith, assistant professor at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, said many teens see friends and family members vaping and assume it’s OK to use the products.

She urged people to wait until at least 21, and preferably 25, if they are going to try vaping – not when they are a child.

“Don’t use your body as an experiment,” she said.

Mickey Edwards, Albion Central School superintendent, said the district is pushing to educate students about the dangers and addictiveness of vaping.

“We’re trying very hard not to normalize it,” he said during the summit. “We’re giving kids education and not just being punitive.”

He thinks parental acceptance of vaping is one reason vaping is popular among youth.

“The parents may not see it as a problem because they do it themselves,” Edwards said.

Mary Wright works at Albion schools as a prevention educator for UConnectCare, formerly GCASA. She sees students struggle with strong cravings to vape during the school days. Some students give in to those cravings.

Vaping has made those addicted students struggle to concentrate, and maybe get in trouble because they can’t fight off the urge to vape.

Albion has started a “Vape University” as an alternative to suspension with a focus on prevention. Students participate in educational sessions (four sessions on the first offense for possession or use of vaping product). Students are educated about nicotine use and made aware of resources in community for support. Students who decline the sessions through the Vape University will face school consequences per the code of conduct.

Paul Pettit, public health director in Orleans and Genesee counties, speaks at the Vaping Forum on Tuesday evening, the first such forum in either of the counties. Pettit said vaping “is a serious public health issue facing the youth in our community.”

The Vaping Summit included statistics included some results from a 2021 survey among local high schoolers and middle schoolers about tobacco, drug and alcohol use.

Among 11th graders, 18 percent in Orleans County said they tried alcohol within the past month in 2021, while 2.5 percent smoked a cigarette, 13.2 percent tried marijuana and 1.3 percent used a pill, according to a survey of the students.

Among the respondents, 59 percent of 11th-graders viewed alcohol as harmful, while 74.7 percent considered cigarettes bad for their health, 36.0 percent thought marijuana was harmful and 71.7 percent said using pills not subscribed to them was bad.

The local survey didn’t specifically ask about vaping. The National You Tobacco Survey in 2022 surveyed more than 3 million middle and high school students. The survey found that 4.5 percent of middle schoolers regularly use tobacco products and 16.5 percent of high school use those products.

Wright, the prevention educator, said she sees students wrestling and struggling with the impacts of becoming vape addicts. The products can be costly for kids, who don’t tend to have much spending money.

Students say they feel like they are bad role models by vaping around younger siblings or cousins, she said.

There are some immediate health impacts from frequent vaping: sore throat, nose bleeds, headaches and worsening asthma.

Wright said vaping can distract users from other goals, often leading to more isolation.

“This can take over your life and cause you to drop other activities,” she said. “A lot of students have a hard time throughout the day staying focused. They reach for the vape.”

She works with students to develop a “quit plan.” Students, when trying to break free from vaping, often ask friends and family to help them quit by not vaping around them.

Diana Fulcomer, a prevention educator at Medina schools, said parents need to help keep their children from becoming vape addicts.

“Many parents still think I’d rather they be vaping than smoking a cigarette,” she said. “We need to educate the parents, too.”

Playground, restrooms, pickleball/tennis courts suggested before adding more fields

Photo by Tom Rivers: The pavilion and playground at the Barre Town Park are shown on Nov. 3, 2022.

BARRE – The Town Board was urged to take a gradual approach in moving to upgrade the town park with a new playground, and possibly a restroom and pickleball/tennis courts.

The town has a lot of space at the park and could add more fields, walking trails and other amenities in the back end of the property.

But Jason Foote, director of Parks and Recreation for the town, said the fields are currently underutilized. Barre used to host a summer soccer program but that shifted to the town-owned fields in Carlton.

Barre has youth baseball teams in the Albion Midget League. This year they practiced in Barre but didn’t have home games because of new drainage tile being installed. Foote said the drainage work has made a big difference and will help the fields dry out sooner after a rain.

He would like to see the Little League field be used for youth baseball and softball tournaments next year.

The town also has a full-size field for the teen-agers and adults who play baseball.

Foote advised the Town Board at last week’s board meeting to not look at developing more fields, but instead focus on keeping their existing fields in top condition.

“Let’s take care of the two fields we have and make them the two best fields in the county so people want to come here,” said Foote, who has coached the Barre Cubs youth baseball team for many years.

The town park on Route 98 opened about two decades ago. It currently has porta-potties, but Foote told the Town Board a better option to make the site more attractive to local residents and visiting teams would be to have permanent restrooms.

If there were restrooms, Foote said the park could be marketed for flea markets and other events.

He also said courts for pickleball, tennis and basketball would likely be frequently used.

He would like to keep the existing playground and add a Ninja Warrior-style playground that has been paid for with fundraisers by the Barre Betterment Committee.

The Town Board said they liked the concept plan suggested by Foote, but want to have a joint session with the Barre Betterment Committee, Barre Park Committee and the Town Board to discuss the next steps with the park.

Town Supervisor Sean Pogue said the park is 60 acres, but only about 15 are utilized right now. He said a simple hiking trail could make better use of the entire park.

Foote also said a disc golf course and cornhole boards are also new amenities that wouldn’t require much maintenance from the town.

He discouraged the town from adding more fields, which would be more upkeep for the town and may not have much use in the immediate future.

“I don’t think the right direction is putting in more fields,” he said.

BARRE – The Town of Barre’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals will have a joint public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Town Hall to take comments on a proposed cell tower.

Bell Atlantic/Verizon has proposed a 170-foot-high tower with a 4-foot-high lightning rod at 14295 West Barre Rd., on land owned by the Frederick A. Daniels and Adrienne C. Daniels Irrevocable Trust.

Verizon, in its application to the town, acknowledges the company “has service inadequacies in the Town of Barre.”

The hearing on Nov. 13 will be for site plan approval and a special use permit from the Planning Board, and a height variance from ZBA.

Besides the tower, the project includes a 7-foot-tall chain link fence, an equipment shelter and gravel access road.

Verizon also will be able to lease out space on the tower to other companies.

MURRAY – The town has about $250,000 left from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and has about a year to spend the funds.

The board isn’t certain how it will spend those funds, whether it could goes towards public water, upgrades to the town hall, new ditch-clearing equipment for the highway department or another project or expense.

The town was awarded $305,742 in ARPA. Murray used $30,600 in 2023 to pay Monroe Ambulance for EMS coverage in the town.

Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio in the proposed 2024 town budget has put the ambulance contract to be paid by town taxpayers and not with the ARPA money. Monroe is seeking $52,000 from Murray next year.

Sidonio doesn’t want to see the ARPA money “nickel and dimed” and reduced to the point where it couldn’t cover new equipment or a town hall upgrade.

He didn’t want ARPA used for the ambulance in 2023 because he believed the Village of Holley should have chipped in towards the ambulance because Holley also received ARPA money.

President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021. Some of the funds went to local governments to help them make investments in long-term assets, rebuild reserves and cover temporary operating shortfalls.

Murray still has the bulk of its ARPA. Some residents on Brockville Road have asked for a public waterline because their wells run dry and there is poor water quality. Part of Bennetts Corners Road also would like a public waterline.

Sidonio would rather see the ARPA funds go towards a project with town-wide benefit rather than to help a few residents.

He said the town hall needs upgrades, and Highway Superintendent Dirk Lammes has advocated for ditch-mowing equipment.

“The ARPA funds will eventually run out,” Sidonio said. “I don’t want to nickel and dime the ARPA fund to diminish the ability to do a larger project.”

Sidonio, Town Councilman Gerry Rightmyer and Lammes plan to go see the residents’ properties where public water is requested to assess the size of the project.

MEDINA – A Medina man was sentenced to 6 years in state prison after he faced numerous drug charges for criminal sale and criminal possession for a controlled substance.

Ronald O. Riley Jr.

Ronald O. Riley Jr., 44, was charged in June for allegedly selling crack cocaine. He was sentenced as a second-felony offender this morning in Orleans County Court by Judge Sanford Church. Riley also will be on post-release supervision for three years when he is out of prison.

In other cases in County Court today:

• Xavier Hand, 26, of Medina pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He faces up to six years in state prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.

Hand admitted in court today he had fentanyl last January with the intent to sell it. He also admitted to having a loaded firearm.

He was charged in February and accused of selling and distributing fentanyl pills disguised as prescription oxycodone pills. He also allegedly disguised Xanax bars and high-grade marijuana.

Law enforcement seized 114 fentanyl pills disguised as Oxycodone pills, over 2,000 disguised Xanax bars, over a half of pound of Psilocybin mushrooms, over 14 pounds of high-grade marijuana, over $156,000 in cash, a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, scales, numerous packaging material and other drug paraphernalia.

• Corey Weathers of Rochester pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and faces up to two years in state prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.

Weathers was stopped in a vehicle on Route 31A (West Lee Road) in Barre on Nov. 22 and law enforcement found two bags with a white powder that was confirmed to be cocaine, District Attorney Joe Cardone said in court.

Weathers is a second-felony offender. He also faces 1 to 2 years of post-release supervision as part of the plea agreement today.

• Austin Buzzard, 24, of Carlton was sentenced to six months in the county jail for violating his probation. Judge Church revoked the probation after Buzzard admitted to being in contact with someone who has an order of protection against him, for making a false statement, for getting arrested, and for not notifying probation of an address change.

• Cal Share of Kendall admitted to violating his probation and could face up to 364 days in the county jail when he is sentenced on Nov. 29.

Share is on probation for driving while intoxicated. He admitted to drinking alcohol on several occasions including twice when his ignition interlock device indicated he had been drinking, for failing to report to probation on six occasions, for having an adulterated urine sample and for not doing any of his community service.

• Joe Cortez, 40, of Batavia was found to be incompetent by mental health professionals. His case has been delayed so he could have a psychological evaluation.

Cortez faces up to nine months in the county jail for second-degree criminal contempt for violating an order of protection.

He will now receive mental health treatment to see if he can be competent to help in his own defense.

Photo by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Sandra Shaw, director of the Community Free Library in Holley, shows a sketch of a mural proposal for the back of the building. The library is seeking a grant from GO Art! for the mural by Arthur Barnes. (The mural on the left was recently finished by Tony Barry. The scene from Barnes is at the center and right.)

Shaw attended the Murray Town Board meeting on Monday and asked for a letter of support from the Town Board for the project. Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio said he would write a letter stating the town’s backing for the project.

The library recently celebrated the completion of the first mural on the back of the building at the Public Square. That mural by Barry has an Erie Canal theme and includes a portrait of Myron Holley, an early canal commissioner who the village was named after.

The mural by Barnes would highlight the community’s agricultural heritage, showing apple and wheat farms and older barns. The artist will try to show how the farming community looked not long after the canal opened in 1825.

Shaw said the library continues to look for ways to connect with the community. She noted there will be a pajama storybook hour in the library at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 25 that will also be available through Facebook live.

The Community Free Library will be doing a Halloween party on Oct. 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with pumpkin painting and crafts as part of Holley’s Fall “Hallow” Fest that day.

Shaw also invited community members to be at the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, when about 250 Christmas cards will be signed with messages for veterans at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia.

MURRAY – The town has a new deputy supervisor and he isn’t a member of the Town Board.

Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio on Monday announced Eric Collyer would be the new deputy town supervisor, replacing Mike Mele who resigned from the Town Board after being named an Orleans County elections commissioner on June 27.

Michael Christopher has been appointed to fill Mele’s seat on the Town Board as a councilman, but the deputy supervisor was unfilled until Monday’s Town Board meeting when Sidonio announced Collyer would be in the role.

Collyer is the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals chairman. He also is running with Sidonio to be on the board. They are both endorsed by the Conservative Party. They campaigned together for the Republican primary in June.

Sidonio lost the primary to Gerry Rightmyer, 350-237. The incumbent Town Board members, Lloyd Christ and Randy Bower, topped Collyer with Bower receiving 319 votes and Christ 314, to Collyer’s 274.

Sidonio said he is comfortable with Collyer stepping in as town supervisor if Sidonio is unavailable. Collyer will be given keys to the town hall and the supervisor’s office. He can sign checks and documents, and run town meetings if Sidonio can’t be there.

Sidonio acknowledged he is often at odds with the other board members.

“I got a hostile board,” he said. “With Eric, he shares the same values I do fiscally.”

In the other towns in Orleans County, the deputy supervisor is a member of the Town Board. Sidonio reached out to the Association of Towns of the State of New York for a legal opinion about whether a person can be appointed deputy town supervisor without actually being on the Town Board. Lori Mithen-Demasi, general counsel for the Association of Towns, said in an email to Sidonio the deputy doesn’t have to be a Town Board member.

A Zoning Board of Appeals member or Planning Board member also can be the deputy town supervisor, but a Town Board member cannot be a member of the ZBA or Planning Board, according to the legal opinion. In Collyer’s case, he is on Zoning Board, and can serve as the deputy town supervisor because he isn’t on the Town Board.

Collyer’s appointment as deputy town supervisor is good until Dec. 31.

In Murray, the upcoming election includes all five positions on the Town Board. (Early voting is from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5 with the general election on Nov. 7.)

For town supervisor, Sidonio has the Conservative line while Rightmyer has the Republican and “Community” lines for a 2-year term.

The other four Town Board seats also are up for election. Lloyd Christ and Randy Bower are unopposed as Republicans for four-year terms.

There are two other two-year terms with Michael Christopher and Elaine Berg running as Republicans and Eric Collier backed by the Conservative Party.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Holley’s lift bridge on East Avenue is shown on June 2, 2018 during a fireworks show to cap the village’s June Fest.

HOLLEY – The lift bridge in Holley will close to traffic on Thursday and is expected to reopen two weeks later on Nov. 2, the state Department of Transportation advised today.

The bridge will be closed for maintenance. The lift bridge was originally constructed in 1911. Motorists should utilize the bridge carrying State Route 237 over the Erie Canal or other nearby canal bridges during the closure, the DOT said.

“Motorists are urged to slow down and drive responsibly in work zones,” according to the DOT advisory. “Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual’s driver license.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Albion Fire Department has been testing the fire whistle on top of the Village Office this afternoon. It is expected to go off again at about 3:30 this afternoon after being activated earlier in the day, said Fire Chief Jeremy Graham.

The fire whistle has been inactive for more than a decade after some of the downtown business owners complained the siren was too loud.

The Fire Department would like to make operational again to use only for big emergencies, such as structure fires and other community emergencies, Graham said.

ALBION – Mercy Flight EMS has proposed to provide ambulance services for six towns in Orleans County at a lower cost than Monroe Ambulance, which has the contract for central Orleans and Murray and Clarendon in eastern Orleans this year.

Mercy Flight has submitted a proposal to the towns to provide two dedicated advanced life support ambulances in a six-town block of Orleans at a cost of $180,000 for 2024.

Mercy Flight would commit to responding to emergencies within 20 minutes “at least 90 percent of the time,” Scott Wooton, executive vice president of Mercy Flight, wrote to Bridget O’Toole, attorney for the Town of Barre and one of the negotiators in the new ambulance contract.

His letter was dated Aug. 15. He said that response time is barring inclement weather “or other unforeseeable or unavoidable obstacles.” Mercy Flight would commit to responding within 25 minutes for non-emergencies at least 90 percent of the time for the six towns of Albion, Barre, Carlton, Clarendon, Gaines and Murray.

Wooton said Mercy Flight would keep ambulances at existing bases at 239 South Main St., Albion; 8050 Call Parkway in Batavia; and 1483 Lake Road North, Hamlin.

Murray town officials on Monday during their board meeting characterized Mercy Flight as not being interested in the contract to serve the Orleans towns in 2024. Wooton said Mercy Flight would very much like to have the contract.

“Mercy Flight EMS has remained committed to Orleans County and has great interest in contracting with the towns,” he said today.

Monroe Ambulance is seeking $300,000 to serve the six towns as well as Kendall. The company would commit to one ALS ambulance in Albion and a basic life support from either Holley or Brockport.

Mercy Flight took over the COVA ambulance base in Albion after the organization shut down late last year. Mercy Flight has kept the COVA employees throughout this year.

“Our Albion-based employees are all still active and are anxious to be able to serve their community once again,” Wooton said in an e-mail message. “They have been very flexible and we have been utilizing them in our other service areas temporarily, but they are all ready and waiting (and excited!) to return home on a full-time basis again. We would be pleased to have an opportunity to meet in person with the Town Supervisors and other stakeholders to answer any questions or concerns that they may have regarding what we can bring to the table.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: A Monroe Ambulance was at the scene on a fire last month in Albion on Phipps Road.

MURRAY – Monroe Ambulance is seeking a 50 percent increase in a contract to serve seven towns as the primary ambulance provider.

The company based in Rochester is in its first year of a contract with six towns in Orleans County. The first year was supposed to be for $200,000 but was reduced to $181,200 after Kendall bowed out of the agreement.

Monroe is now seeking $300,000 for 2024 to be the primary ambulance provider for the central Orleans towns of Barre, Albion, Gaines and Carlton, and the eastern towns of Clarendon, Murray and Kendall.

Randy Bower, a Murray town councilman, is on the negotiating committee for the seven towns working on a new contract with Monroe. He said during Murray’s Town Board meeting on Monday that Monroe initially was seeking “just shy” of $500,000 for 2024, but has since settled on $300,000.

At that amount, Murray’s share would increase from $30,600 in 2023 to $52,000 next year, said Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio.

Murray used part of its federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for the ambulance service in 2023. But Sidonio said the expense is budgeted to be covered by town taxpayers next year, and is driving a 20-cent increase in the town tax rate, from $4.61 to $4.81 for the outside-village rate and $3.03 to $3.23 for town residents in the Village of Holley.

The town will have a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 on the proposed budget for 2024.

“This is the one item that is putting significant pressure on the budget,” Sidonio said during Monday’s board meeting.

Monroe is seeking the increase to better compensate staff at a time when the minimum wage has been steadily rising, Bower said.

Bower and Sidonio said Murray officials are satisfied with the service from Monroe Ambulance in the past year. Monroe would keep an advanced life support ambulance in Albion and a basic life support ambulance in Holley and Brockport as part of the contract. The BLS would be based in Holley for 12 hours at the firehall and then 12 hours from Brockport at Strong West, Bower said.

“They are doing a good job here,” Sidonio said.

He praised local firefighters in Murray Joint Fire District for often being the first on the scene for EMS calls before handing off a call to a crew from Monroe Ambulance. He said local firefighters have been fast on calls to help many residents, including his late father-in-law, Jeff Machamer, who passed away on Sept. 24. One firefighter was quick to respond at 3 a.m. on a call and stayed with the family for several hours, Sidonio said.

“I can’t say enough about the local gang,” he said.

Sidonio and Bower said Mercy Flight hasn’t shown much interest in the ambulance contract this time. A year ago, Mercy Flight and Monroe Ambulance both pursued the ambulance contract with six of the towns voting for Monroe, while Kendall insisted its fire districts already had an agreement with Monroe at no charge.

Monroe this time is demanding Kendall pay towards having a dedicated ambulance in eastern and central Orleans.

Bower said he expects Monroe will be approved as the ambulance provider in 2024 with the contract to be reviewed again next year.

UPDATE at 2:00 p.m. on Oct 17: Mercy Flight officials say they are very interested in providing ambulance coverage for Orleans and would have two ALS ambulances in the county as part of a $180,000 contract agreement. Those ambulances would be mostly staffed with employees from the former COVA Ambulance based in Albion.

Overdose deaths on rise in 2023 in Orleans County for first time since 2018

Press Release, Orleans County government

ALBION – The Orleans County Probation Department and the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments are working together to battle opioid overdoses.

GO Health will install overdose emergency kits, also called NaloxBoxes, in the Probation Department and Public Safety Building. These kits include naloxone and other opioid overdose response tools.

“At Probation, we have dealt with many people that are battling substance use disorder so this is an effort to be prepared in case of an emergency,” said Sarah A. Osborne, Probation Director.  “So many families across our community have been impacted by substance use disorder that any steps we can take to be better prepared are worth doing.”

According to GO Health, in Orleans County, opioid-related deaths peaked in 2018 with 11 fatal opioid overdoses (27.0 per 100,000 population). Since 2019, there have been 26 fatal overdoses in Orleans County, with some deaths still pending review and investigations. The majority of opioid-related deaths were male, white individuals and people in their 20s and 30s.

“Unfortunately, 2023 will likely be the first year with an increasing number of opioid-related deaths since 2018,” said Paul Pettit, Public Health Director for GO Health.  “The fact is we have seen a decline in use of heroin and commonly prescribed opioids, but the rise of fentanyl in concurrence with stimulant drug use, especially cocaine, is now our biggest area of concern.”

GO Health is encouraging businesses and other organizations to follow the lead of the Probation Department and consider installing overdose emergency kits.

For those interested, you can complete an application (click here). If you have questions or would like additional information, you can call the Health Department at 585-589-3278.