Photo by Tom Rivers: Robert Brown, president of Lake Ontario Fruit, speaks during Thursday’s meeting of the Orleans County Planning Board.

ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board gave its blessing to an expansion at Lake Ontario Fruit, an apple-packing business on Route 104.

The company, which packs and distributes about 1 million bushels of apples each year for more than 30 local farms, is working on a 28,070-square-foot addition of controlled atmosphere storage, a $5.5 million project that would mirror a similar expansion in 2013.

The County Planning Board recommended the Town of Gaines approve the site plan for the project and also a height variance. The building is proposed to be 36.2 feet high, just above the town limit of 35 feet. The 36.2 feet is same as other buildings on site and Lake Ontario Fruit wants to maintain that continuity.

The warehouse will also be 140 feet wide and 200 ½ feet in length. The new space is needed because many of the new apple trees that were planted in recent years are coming into maturity, with a full crop expected next fall. The new addition would allow the company pack about 220,000 more bushels, said Robert Brown, president of Lake Ontario Fruit and co-owner of Orchard Dale Fruit Co. in Waterport.

The project will disturb about 2 acres, with construction taking about 10 months. Brown told the county planners that Lake Ontario Fruit is working to upgrade its stormwater management system, which includes storm sewers and a pond behind the buildings that is designed to slowly release water into Proctor Brook. The company is working with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Town of Gaines on the stormwater management plan.

Lake Ontario Fruit has 71 employees and will add 10 more jobs as part of the controlled atmosphere storage expansion at 14234 Ridge Rd. The project was backed by the Orleans Economic Development Agency with nearly $600,000 in incentives, including sale tax abatements of $240,000 on construction and $156,000 on fixtures and equipment.

The EDA also approved a 10-year PILOT that gradually phases in the taxes on the new addition. Lake Ontario Fruit would get a 100 percent exemption or $34,496 off in property taxes the first year, and then 10 percent will be added each year until it’s at 100 percent in year 11. That PILOT will save the company $189,729 in property taxes over the 10 years. Lake Ontario Fruit also will be paying $155,233 more in taxes during than 10 years than is currently paid on the existing buildings.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Karen Kinter, CEO of Oak Orchard Health, speaks during a celebration for a new warming center at Christ Church, an Episcopal congregation at 26 S. Main St., Albion.

The site has cots, coffee, tea, soup and hygiene kits when the temperature drops below 32 degrees at night.

Oak Orchard Health is taking the lead on the warming center, in a collaboration with other churches, organizations and the county Department of Social Services.

Kinter noted Oak Orchard provides medical, dental and behavioral health services, and pushed to have the warming center for people in a housing crisis because of the impact on their health.

Hoag Library in Albion is a designated warming center from Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The site at Christ Church will open when needed during the hours when Hoag is not open.

For information on the warming center, call (585) 895-4090.

Julie Carasone, warming center coordinator, is in a room at Christ Church with cots, meals ready to eat, hygiene kits and other supplies. She praised religious organizations and non-profits for donating the materials to get the warming center going.

A state grant also is helping to cover the cost of per diem staff. David Starkweather will be the supervisor and will have two other paid staff. At least one will stay overnight when the center is open. It had a person stay overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday nights so far this week.

“We saw a need in unhoused people who needed a place to stay,” Carasone said. “We are officially open and people are welcome here. We do it without judgement. We accept people with open arms.”

The staff doesn’t pry into why people are in a predicament without housing. Carasone said Oak Orchard and the collaboration of others just want to make sure people are not out in the cold.

The Rev. Joseph Kozlowski, the Episcopal priest in charge at Christ Church and also St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Holley, offered a blessing during the official opening. He prayed for those who will take shelter at the warming center and those providing hospitality.

Kozlowski said the church leadership embraced making space available for the warming center. It is in the fellowship hall which for many years was the community kitchen until about two years ago.

“We have the space,” said Kevin Doherty, one of Christ Church’s leaders. “It is God-given space so we should use it for something good.”

Oak Orchard is providing the staff for the warming center, as well as the insurance.

This group, led by Karen Kinter, cuts the ribbon on the new warming center. There are representatives from Oak Orchard Health, the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, United Way of Orleans County, Orleans County government leaders, the Medina Area Association of Churches, Christ Church, Hoag Library, Assemblyman Steve Hawley and a representative from State Sen. Rob Ortt.

Holli Nenni, commissioner of the Orleans County Department of Social Services, said more than 100 people are currently in emergency housing, often in hotel rooms locally or in nearby counties. The warming center is another option for people without a place to stay.

Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, presented certificates of achievement of Oak Orchard Health and Christ Church for their efforts in opening the warming center.

Johnson noted the county has been in a state of emergency for several months due to the rising number of people in emergency housing.

“We have never in the history of Orleans County had as many homeless as we do now,” she said. “The need is great and they (Oak Orchard Health and Christ Church) rose to the occasion.”

Nyla Gaylord, executive director of the United Way of Orleans County, helped bring the different organizations together to work on the warming center, which she said is part of a bigger overall housing crisis in the county.

A shortage of stable housing has negative health impacts for many in the community, she said.

The United Way convened the first housing meeting in February, and a warming center was among the issues. Gaylord said the United Way just secured a grant to hire a consultant to help develop a plan for more housing in general, as well as emergency and low-income options.

That consultant will gather input from developers, agencies, and local government officials.

Gaylord praised the faith community, government leaders, and non-profit agencies for making the warming center a reality.

“This is a triumph of the community collectively,” she said. “And we’re going to do so much more.”

ALBION – The 911 dispatch center for Orleans County will get a $325,000 overhaul with a new CAD/RMS system.

Sheriff Bourke

The County Legislature on Tuesday approved a contract with EM Systems Inc. of Buffalo for the computer-aided design technology and also a new record management system that will allow the village police departments and the Sheriff’s Office to have access to each other’s records while officers are in the field. The RMS allows law enforcement personnel to enter and retrieve data.

“This will create a master database of files in Orleans County,” said Sheriff Chris Bourke.

The dispatch center handles emergency calls for fire departments, police agencies, animal control and other issues.

County officials also received bids on the new CAD/RMS technology, and the other vendors bid much more than EM Systems. Bourke said one vendor sought $800,000 and the other was about $1 million.

He said it will take a year to 18 months to transfer records and get the new system fully integrated.

“We went through an exhaustive process,” Bourke said about the CAD/RMS upgrades. “We looked at demo after demo.”

A contingent from the county also spent a half day in Wyoming County to see the dispatch center with EM Systems.

The State Police used to pay for a record management system for the dispatch, but the State Police is going to a different RMS that won’t be in sync with law enforcement in smaller counties, Bourke said. The state also no longer will be providing money to the smaller counties for an RMS system.

Orleans is asking the Albion, Holley and Medina police departments to each contribute $3,000 annually towards the maintenance costs of the new system. The county is paying for the new system, but would like some assistance from the three police departments with the annual maintenance expense, Bourke said.

Photo and information from Roy-Hart Central School

BUFFALO – The Royalton-Hartland High School Orchestra participated in the “Music in the Atrium” series at Roswell Park Cancer Institute recently.

They entertained the cancer patients, their families and the staff of Roswell Park with holiday favorites. The students enjoy participating in this event and are able to understand the impact of community service.

Masks are still required in the hospital to keep the patients safe.

RIDGEWAY – A Kent man was killed in a late-night accident on Wednesday after his vehicle hit a utility pole, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office is reporting today.

Damon C. Benfer, 23, was pronounced deceased at the scene. He was driving eastbound on Route 31 in Ridgeway at 12:50 a.m. when his vehicle left the south shoulder of the roadway and struck a telephone pole near Bates Road, Chief Deputy Jeff Gifaldi said in a press release this morning.

Orleans County Sheriff’s deputies and investigators, along with the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office are continuing the investigation into this crash, Gifaldi said.

Deputies were assisted at the scene by the Ridgeway and Medina fire departments.

Press Release, Albion Central School

ALBION – Angie Wolfe, a kindergarten teacher at the Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School, has been recognized by the Albion Fire Department for her dedication to Fire Safety Week at the school

On Monday, AFD’s Fire Chief Jeremy Graham, Second Lieutenant Fred Piano, and former Fire Chief Robert Conner presented Wolfe with the Friend of Fire Prevention Award for her dedication to keeping students and their families safe.

As a kindergarten intervention teacher, Wolfe feels that it is important for students to be introduced to these skills beginning at a young age.

“I feel like this [the program] is very important thing that we need to cover with our students because really it could happen at any time,” she said. “I really appreciate these guys and what they do, we’ve got it [the program] down to a science.”

Piano has been working on this program with Wolfe for the last decade.

“I’ve been helping with this Fire Prevention program for at least 10 years and she’s always been all in,” Piano said. “[Angie] does a great job and really puts a lot into it.”

Fire Safety/ Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of Oct. 9 to commemorate the devastation of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. During this week, firefighters partner with schools to help provide our youngest students with the tools they need to stay safe.

File photo by Tom Rivers: Fred Piano of the Albion Fire Department gives students a tour of the ladder truck on Oct. 10, 2019. The students were able to climb inside the truck. The Carlton rescue boat is in back. Barre, Albion and Carlton firefighters team up during the fire prevention week, going into classrooms and then having several stations outside to learn about the different equipment, tools and apparatus firefighters use to respond to emergency calls.

ALBION – Orleans County legislators are looking to upgrade the roof at the Public Safety Building on Route 31 near Gaines Basin Road.

Legislators on Tuesday approved a contract for up to $47,700 with Wendel Companies of Williamsville for professional services for the design, bidding and construction support services for the project.

The roof reinforcement project will likely include strengthening the joists and other work on a large flat roof.

The county acquired the building in 1998. The former Marquart Furniture building allowed the county to move in dispatch, the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Probation and the Major Felony Crime Task Force.

But the building is cramped, county officials said. The Legislature on Oct. 24 approved spending $975,000 for the former GCC building at 456 West Ave. The county paid Herring Enterprises of Holley for the building, which hasn’t been used for classes for several years.

The county will move the Probation Department and District Attorney’s office out of the Public Safety Building and into the former GCC site. Once Probation and the DA’s Office move to the site, the Public Safety Building will be reconfigured for the Sheriff’s Office to allow for a more efficient operation, said Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer.

MURRAY – A business that was a mainstay in Murray for about 45 years will reopen on Friday with a new owner.

Joe and Heather Tomasino are taking over the Transit Tires Sales business. They will rename it Joe’s Tires.

Phil and Lenora Portnoy opened the business in 1978. It first operated on Transit Road in Albion before going to 15753 Ridge Road about 30 years ago. They retired from the business and closed in June.

“The Portnoys put their blood, sweat and tears in this business,” said Heather Tomasino, who is a special education teacher at Kendall. “They provided a service to the community. It’s been a staple.”

Joe Tomasino is eager to open Joe’s Tires at the Transit Tire site at 15753 Ridge Road. He will soon have a new inventory of tires.

The Tomasinos said the locally owned tire business has been missed in the community the past six months. Joe was a long-time customer at Transit Tire, especially since he opened his used car business about 2 ½ years ago on Route 104 in Spencerport. He will continue to operate Joe’s Cars in Spencerport while upgrading the Transit Tire site.

“We got a lot coming,” he said today. “We have high hopes.”

Tomasino, 44, has been fixing cars since he was 13. He was a corrections officer for 10 years while working for different dealerships. The Kendall native and resident said he is grateful to have his own business close to home.

Some familiar faces will be part of Joe’s Tires. Curtis Russell worked for Transit Tire for 29 years. He is back at the site working for Tomasino. So is Matt Eden.

Russell said the business has an easy recipe for repeat customers and success: “provide a really great service at an affordable price.”

He said the Portnoys were always upfront on prices “with no hidden costs.”

Tomasino said the business will be open Monday through Saturday. For more information, contact Joe’s Tires at (585) 283-4028.

ALBION – A Medina woman was sentenced to six months in the Orleans County Jail today by Judge Sanford Church for violating her probation.

Erica Davis, 35, also faces a new charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. She is next to appear in County Court on Jan. 3.

She was on probation for criminal contempt in the first degree for intimidating a witness and also for resisting arrest. She admitted today in court to possessing crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and to resisting arrest.

Judge Church found those to be significant violations of her terms of probation and sentenced her to six months in the county jail.

Davis also was charged in October for allegedly selling crack cocaine in Medina along with codefendant Demarques “Dutch” Underwood. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 15 to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and could face up to six years in prison when he is sentenced on March 6.

In other cases in County Court today:

• District Attorney Joe Cardone made a plea offer to Erika Poole, 43, of Medina to plead guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and face up to eight years in state prison as a second felony offender.

Cardone said Poole is facing her fourth felony drug charge. She is accused of allegedly selling more than a half ounce of cocaine.

Her attorney asked for time to consider the offer. Poole is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 3.

• A Rochester man who allegedly tried to bring cocaine and fentanyl into the Orleans Correctional Facility had his sentencing pushed back until Jan. 10.

Lavar Green, 46, faces 2 to 4 years in prison for attempted promoting prison contraband in the first degree. He allegedly brought the drugs to the state prison in Albion on Nov. 12, 2022.

Green is a second-felony offender and previously served 15 years in prison for first-degree robbery, from 2004 to 2019.

Press Release, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney  

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to prioritize repayment of the state’s billions of dollars in outstanding federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) loans.

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) imposes a 6.0 percent gross federal unemployment tax rate on the first $7,000 paid annually by employers to each employee, resulting in a maximum federal tax of $420 per employee per year.

Employers in certain states may credit up to 5.4 percentage points of state unemployment taxes paid against the 6.0 percent tax rate, meaning that the typical FUTA tax is $42 per worker per year.

However, employers in states whose unemployment insurance funds have outstanding federal advances for two or more consecutive years, like New York, could have their FUTA credit reduced by an additional 0.3 percent for each year the outstanding balance is not repaid in full. This means that New York small businesses, through increased employer taxes, will bear the brunt of Governor Hochul’s irresponsibility and inaction in paying back the state’s federal UI loans.

“Governor Hochul’s inaction in paying back New York’s outstanding federal UI loans in a timely manner irresponsibly places that burden on our small businesses and hardworking families,” Tenney said. “At a time of skyrocketing inflation due to President Biden and Governor Hochul’s far-left fiscal policies, Main Street businesses across New York are struggling and are now facing even higher taxes as a result of New York failing to repay its outstanding federal UI loans.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, far-left officials in New York forced businesses to shut down, causing disastrous effects on our economy. Now, these same businesses will be forced to help repay the state’s federal UI loans despite the fact that the state had other means to repay the debt. This is reckless management from Governor Hochul and only serves to further hurt New York businesses while they’re already reeling from many other pressures. Today, I sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging New York to prioritize repayment of the outstanding federal UI loans to prevent additional harm to our small, local businesses and workers in New York.”

ALBION – A committee that includes leaders from village, town and the county governments have begun meeting to look for more ways to share services and reduce costs of local government.

The Orleans County Shared Services Committee met for the first time on Dec. 7. The group includes County Legislature chairman, the town supervisors from the 10 towns, and the four village mayors.

The group in the initial meeting put out some ideas to potentially explore, including code enforcement, assessing and the fire service.

Right now there isn’t a uniform approach for code enforcement across the county. Some towns also are concerned about having an assessor with the extensive training required for the position.

The town and village leaders expressed their concern about the not-too-distant future for the fire service, whether there will be enough volunteers to respond to emergencies and other calls.

“We are having a very organic conversation regarding shared services,” said Jack Welch, the county chief administrative officer who is working with the committee. “Shared services cannot be forced down upon the towns and villages. This process requires willing partners to be creative in changing the means of a service to allow for a same or similar end product of a service for our residents.”

County Legislator Skip Draper said one possibility in looking at the fire service may be to reconsider how the battalions are structured. Right now the western battalion is the west end of the county and includes fire companies that serve the towns of Yates, Ridgeway and Shelby, and villages of Lyndonville and Medina. The central battalion includes Carlton, Gaines, Albion and Barre, and the eastern battalion is Clarendon, Murray/Holley and Kendall.

Draper said it may make more sense to group the battalions by northern, central and southern parts of the county. The northern towns are all along Lake Ontario and fire departments could perhaps share equipment and training with water rescues. The central area from west to east include the larger villages of Medina, Albion and Holley, which tend to be more densely populated with larger and taller buildings, Draper said. There could be opportunities to share equipment and resources among those communities.

The southern part of the county – Shelby, Barre and Clarendon – tends to be the most rural with farmland.

The local leaders say they are concerned about enough personnel for the departments. They are interested in seeing if the local BOCES and schools, as well as community colleges, can help train or at least steer students to service with the fire departments.

“We are in the infancy stage in this process of developing a list of potential areas of shared services,” Welch said. “We left the meeting asking for the participants to follow up on some of their ideas and to bring back more possibilities of sharing services to the next meeting early in 2024.”

David Hull has now written stories for 28 different books in the series

(Left) This is the cover of the latest Chicken Soup for the Soul book, featuring 101 tales about the Christmas holiday, including two written by David Hull of Holley. (Right) File photo from 2018 shows David Hull holding two of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books that include a story he wrote.

HOLLEY – David Hull is a prolific contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. He has written stories that are featured in 28 of the books.

The latest book with a Christmas theme include two of his stories. “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Time for Christmas! 101 Tales of Holiday Joy, Love and Gratitude” totals 339 pages. There are now more than 300 Chicken Soup for the Soul tiles that combined have sold more than 110 million copies and been translated into nearly 50 languages.

Hull, 64, is a retired preschool teacher. He has a story in the Christmas book in a section about Holiday Hijinks. In “The Separation,” he writes about his mother not being happy that Hull and sister weren’t visiting for the holidays. She tricked them into thinking she and her husband were getting a separation, which prompted her children to make an emergency trip home – for the holidays.

In a section about Gratitude and Grace, Hull has a story, “Gramma’s Good China.” Hull shares how his father tried to reconnect with him after leaving the family for 16 years. Hull wasn’t happy about seeing his dad and refused to shake his hand or converse with him in that first meeting.

Hull’s grandmother urged him to let go of the bitterness and anger. Hull reached out to his father, invited him for Thanksgiving and they ate on Grandma’s good China, dishes that were only used on special occasions. Hull said the dinner and reconnection with his father helped to soothe his hard feelings.

Hull grew up in Brockport. He did a reading at the Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport on Dec. 9, sharing some of his stories from the Chicken Soup series.

Hull said he checks the Chicken Soup website for future book themes and also gets emails from them about topics. He sends in submissions and said he is accepted about 50 percent of the time.

“If you get rejected you have to try again,” he said.

The most popular Chicken Soup books tend to be humorous ones, and books about pets, Hull said.

“At heart I’m really a writer,” he said. “I write quite a bit. I really enjoy seeing my stories get in print.”

Hull studied English in college and earned a degree in education. He worked 28 years as a teacher at the Brockport Child Development Center at Brockport State College. He retired about a decade ago.

The latest Chicken Soup book is one of several in the series earmarked to raise funds for nonprofits. Royalties from this book go to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program.