By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 December 2020 at 9:31 am
Positivity rate much higher with last 50,000 tests, compared to first 50,000
Orleans and Genesee counties have passed 100,000 Covid-19 tests in the two counties during the pandemic.
The updated daily report from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments on Monday showed the two counties were at 101,307 Covid tests, with 3,419 of those coming back positive, for a positivity rate of 3.37 percent. (On Thursday, the last update before Monday, the two counties were at 98,908 tests.)
It took five months at the beginning of the pandemic to reach the first 50,000 tests in the two counties and about 2 ½ months to get the second 50,000 tests. That shows the testing availability has increased locally, especially with rapid testing clinics twice a week in Genesee and now weekly in Orleans.
The two counties passed 50,000 tests on Oct. 9. At that point there were 50,312 tests with 661 positives for a positivity rate of 1.31 percent.
In the next 50,995 tests, there were 2,758 positives for a positivity rate of 5.41 percent.
The two counties have a similar positivity rate since March.
Genesee County: 66,684 Covid tests with 2,180 positives for a positivity rate of 3.27 percent.
Orleans County: 34,623 Covid tests with 1,239 positives for a positivity rate of 3.58 percent.
The two counties have just under 100,000 people with 40,352 in Orleans County, and 57,280 in Genesee, according to the 2019 Census estimates. Some of those residents have been tested numerous times if they work in nursing homes, healthcare, hair salons and other businesses where the state requires frequent testing.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed the Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020. The Act (S.9114/A.11181) prevents residential evictions, foreclosure proceedings, credit discrimination and negative credit reporting related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The more support we provide for tenants, mortgagors and seniors, the easier it will be for them to get back on their feet when the pandemic ends,” Cuomo said. “I want to thank the legislature for passing this important protection for New Yorkers all across the state who need a hand.”
It also extends the Senior Citizens’ Homeowner Exemption and Disabled Homeowner Exemption from 2020 to 2021. The Act adds to New York State’s efforts to protect tenants and homeowners from the economic hardship incurred as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When the Covid-19 pandemic began, we asked New Yorkers to protect each other by staying at home. As we fight our way through the marathon this pandemic has become, we need to make sure New Yorkers still have homes to provide that protection,” Cuomo said. “This law adds to previous executive orders by protecting the needy and vulnerable who, through no fault of their own, face eviction during an incredibly difficult period for New York.”
The legislation helps tenants facing eviction and mortgagors facing foreclosure proceedings due the pandemic in five areas:
• Residential Evictions
The Act places a moratorium on residential evictions until May 1, 2021 for tenants who have endured COVID-related hardship. Tenants must submit a hardship declaration, or a document explaining the source of the hardship, to prevent evictions. Landlords can evict tenants that are creating safety or health hazards for other tenants, and those tenants who do not submit hardship declarations.
• Residential Foreclosure Proceedings
The Act also places a moratorium on residential foreclosure proceedings until May 1, 2021. Homeowners and small landlords who own 10 or fewer residential dwellings can file hardship declarations with their mortgage lender, other foreclosing party or a court that would prevent a foreclosure.
• Tax Lien Sales
The Act prevents local governments from engaging in a tax lien sale or a tax foreclosure until at least May 1, 2021. Payments due to the locality are still due.
• Credit Discrimination and Negative Credit Reporting
Lending institutions are prohibited from discriminating against a property owner seeking credit because the property owner has been granted a stay of mortgage foreclosure proceedings, tax foreclosure proceedings or tax lien sales. They are also prohibited from discriminating because the owner is in arrears and has filed a hardship declaration with the lender.
• Senior Citizens’ Homeowner Exemption and Disabled Homeowner Exemption
Local governments are required to carry over SCHE and DHC exemptions from the 2020 assessment roll to the 2021 assessment roll at the same levels. They are also required to provide renewal applications for anyone who may be eligible for a larger exemption in 2021. Localities can also set procedures by which assessors can require renewal applications from people who the assessors believe may no longer be eligible for an exemption in 2021. Recipients of the exemption do not have to file renewal applications in person.
On September 28, Governor Cuomo announced the State’s Tenant Safe Harbor Act would be extended and expanded until January 1, 2021 to protect additional residential tenants from eviction if they are suffering financial hardship during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The Executive Order extends the protections of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act to eviction warrants that existed prior to the start of the pandemic, and those who are facing other than nonpayment evictions but suffering the same hardship.
Governor Cuomo first announced a State moratorium on residential and commercial evictions on March 20 to ensure no tenant was evicted during the height of the public health emergency. The Governor signed the Tenant Safe Harbor Act on June 30 which became effective immediately as well as additional legislation providing financial assistance to residential renters and landlords. Additionally, previous Executive Orders have prohibited charges or fees for late rent payments, and tenants facing financial hardship can still use their security deposit as payment and repay their security deposit over time.
During today’s legislative session, the Assembly Minority presented amendments intended to curtail the governor’s expanded authorities and provide greater balance and accountability in the “Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act” (A.11181). The Assembly Majority rejected each proposal.
Earlier this month, members of the Assembly Minority wrote to conference leaders, including Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, urging lawmakers to rein in Gov. Cuomo’s unilateral powers as soon as the Legislature reconvenes. Despite 10 months of expanded authority and laws created by executive order rather than the legislative process, the Assembly Majority declined to take action.
“Our constituents deserve to have their voices heard in our government, and I am saddened the Majority has decided to deprive New Yorkers of their representation in state government by allowing the Governor’s unnecessary executive authority to persist,” Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) said. “This authority has long outlived its usefulness, and at this point a return to normal, constitutional governance is overdue.”
In addition, the Assembly Minority offered amendments to add protections for small businesses and small landlords also suffering losses as a result of the Covid-19 economic collapse. The “Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act” creates a hardship declaration that effectively ends residential eviction and foreclosure proceedings until May 1, 2021. Members of the Assembly Minority proposed the same protections provided to residential tenants be offered to small landlords and businesses as a way to alleviate financial pressures and allow thousands of job creators and individuals to begin their recovery.
The three amendments proposed today intended to:
Restore legislative checks and balances for emergency declarations exceeding 45 days and ensure judicial due process rights for any actions that affect fundamental constitutional rights (A.10546, Goodell).
Provide the same protections extended to residential tenants in A.11181 to small businesses also facing mortgage and tax foreclosures. Also extend foreclosure protections to small landlords who are not covered by the bill in chief.
Require hardship declarations to include a statement, under penalty of perjury, that tenants have used their best efforts to obtain all available government assistance for rent or housing, and to make timely partial payments that are as close to full payments as their circumstances permit.
Advisory from Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments have updated guidance for those on mandatory and precautionary quarantine as long as they don’t have symptoms.
This is for community members, travelers and healthcare personnel, with exceptions:
Consistent with recent CDC guidance, quarantine for individuals exposed to Covid-19 can end after 10 days without a testing requirement if no symptoms have been reported during the quarantine period.
Individuals must continue daily symptom monitoring through Day 14.
Individuals must be counseled to continue strict adherence to all recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions, including hand hygiene and the use of face-coverings, through Day 14.
Individuals must be advised that if any symptoms develop, they should immediately self-isolate and contact the local public health authority or their healthcare provider to report this change in clinical status and determine if they should seek testing.
For those who work as healthcare professionals at Nursing Homes, Adult Care Facilities, certified as Enhanced Assisted Living Residences (EALR) or licensed as Assisted Living Programs (ALP):
Individuals can be released from quarantine after 10 days of being symptom free, however they are still furloughed (not able to report for work) for the full 14 days.
Individuals will have to continue to self-monitor the entire 14 days. Individuals must be counseled to continue strict adherence to all recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions, including hand hygiene and the use of face-covering, through Day 14.
Individuals must be advised that if any symptoms develop, they should immediately self-isolate and contact the local public health authority or their healthcare provider to report this change in clinical status and determine if they should seek testing.
These quarantine requirements are also applicable to travelers who are not essential workers and/or who did not complete the testing requirements described in Executive Order 205.2.
If you believe you are a contact or have been notified you are a contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, it may take a few days for contact tracers to initially contact you due to the volume of contacts.
Please self-quarantine, even if you are feeling fine. Stay away from other household members, use separate bathroom facilities (or sanitize after each use), have meals delivered. If you start to feel ill, contact your primary care provider and let them know you were exposed to or tested positive for Covid-19.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2020 at 5:21 pm
Both counties see big increases in people hospitalized with Covid
In the first update in local Covid-19 cases since Thursday, Genesee and Orleans are reporting a combined increase of 181 new confirmed cases.
Both counties are reporting big increases in people hospitalized with Covid. Orleans has 18 residents hospitalized with Covid, which is up from 8 on Thursday and 6 a week ago.
Genesee County has 38 residents hospitalized with Covid, an all-time high during the pandemic. That is up from 29 on Thursday and 14 a week ago, according to data from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.
In Orleans County, there are 80 new positive cases of Covid-19 for a total of 1,239 cases since March.
The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon).
The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
Of the new cases, 14 were on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
Of the new cases, 19 are inmates of the Orleans Correctional Facility. There are 49 inmates who have now tested positive for Covid at the men’s prison in Albion.
The county also is reporting 78 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.
• Albion Central School reported that a middle school student and high school staff member tested positive for Covid-19.
The student’s last day in school was Friday, Dec. 11. Due to the 48-hour lookback period, the Department of Health determined there was no need for contact tracing or the quarantine of students and staff members.
The staff member was last in school on Friday, Dec. 18. Contact tracing and the quarantine of students and staff members was implemented according to health department guidelines, the district stated on its website.
In Genesee County there 101 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 for a total of 2,180 positive cases.
The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford).
The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
Of the new cases, 3 are residents at LeRoy Village Green Residential Healthcare Facility, 3 are residents of Premier Genesee Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation in Batavia, 2 are residents of Genesee Senior Living in Batavia, 2 are residents at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia, and 1 is a resident at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Batavia.
The county is reporting that 148 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and have been removed from the isolation list.
• Correction from the Genesee & Orleans County Health Departments: 6 recoveries have been retracted from today’s number as 4 previously reported are residents of the NYS Veterans Home at Batavia and 2 are residents of Leroy Village Green Residential Healthcare Facility. Persons reported recovered are community members only and don’t live in nursing homes which are regulated by the Department of Health.
• Data will be vetted: Today’s report includes data since Thursday, Dec. 24th, after 2:00 p.m. Due to the increased numbers from the holiday weekend, the G-O Health Departments anticipate to have the data updated over the next couple of days in order for staff to make sure the date is properly vetted.
• What does recovered mean? What “recovered” means in relation to Covid-19: Generally when someone is recovered that means they are feeling better. With Covid-19 the G-O Health Departments are using the term recovered to show the individual is no longer able to spread the virus. This means they have been on isolation for at least 10 days, have not had a fever over 100 for 72 hours without fever-reducing medication, and their respiratory symptoms are getting better.
There have been cases where people have started doing better for a short period of time and then they are hit with symptoms again or a new set. Some have had continued respiratory issues, developed pneumonia, sepsis, other infections, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), extreme fatigue, etc.
Because of the time in bed, there is a higher risk of blood clots which can cause strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms as well as other symptoms.
• Percent Positive 7-day average of Covid-19 tests as of Dec. 27: Genesee: 11.7% and Orleans: 8.2%.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2020 at 3:48 pm
ALBION – Orleans County health officials expect vaccines will start this week for people in the “1A” group – residents and staff and long-term care facilities. Healthcare workers are also in the 1A group and many of them also received the vaccine last week, traveling to Unity Health in Rochester for the shot.
The vaccine will now be administered in Orleans County and it could take into the end of next week to administer the shots in the 1A group. Then health officials will start with the “1B” group of frontline workers, including EMS staff, coroners, and funeral home workers.
“It is very fluid with little information flowing from the state,” said Paul Pettit, the public health director in Genesee and Orleans counties. “This will be a mammoth effort that will require all our community partners (Public Health, health systems, providers and pharmacies) to assist in vaccinating over the next 6 months.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that 140,000 people have received the first of two shots of the vaccine so far in the state.
New York expects to receive another 259,000 doses this week, with 139,400 coming from Pfizer and 119,600 coming from Moderna, Cuomo said.
The state is expanding the priority populations eligible to receive a vaccine to include urgent care center employees and individuals administering Covid-19 vaccines, including local health department staff, and residents of the Office of Addiction Services and Supports’ congregate facilities.
Vaccines will continue to be distributed for high-risk hospital workers, federally qualified health center employees, EMS, coroners, medical examiners, funeral workers and residents and staff of Office for People with Developmental Disabilities and Office of Mental Health facilities, Cuomo said.
“Next week, the state expects to expand this universe further with the addition of ambulatory care workers and public-facing public health workers,” he said.
Locally, Pettit said Orleans Community Health in Medina and Oak Orchard Health in Albion will be administering the shots for the 1A group. He expects people will make appointments for the vaccinations as the county moves to 1B and other groups or they will get the shots through scheduled clinics.
After people get the first vaccination shot, they will need to get the second shot three weeks later.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2020 at 2:43 pm
Photo by Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor – Andrew M. Cuomo speaks in New York City on May 9, 2020.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today he is signing an executive order that will withhold pay raises for himself and other state-wide elected officials and commissioners.
Cuomo was in line for a $25,000 pay increase in 2021, from $225,000 to $250,000. The governor’s pay was $179,000 a year and was at that level for 10 years until it was increased to $200,000 in 2019 and then $225,000 this year.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli also won’t get raises, nor will commissioners such as Dr. Howard Zucker, the state’s health commissioner.
“It’s no reflection on what these commissioners have done,” Cuomo said today during a news conference about Covid-19 and the state’s response. “They probably worked harder this past year and performed better than any commissioner in their position frankly in decades. There has been no test like this test for a government official.”
The governor said withholding the raises shows sacrifice and solidarity for the people of the state during a difficult financial period.
“I also want to thank the Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney General and the Comptroller for the same statement that they’re making,” Cuomo said. “They’ve all worked incredibly hard this year and this is another sign of their commitment and their public service so I thank them very much.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2020 at 12:04 pm
ALBION – Orleans County will keep a lobbying firm in 2021 at a cost of $90,000 for the year, the same rate for 2020.
The County Legislature agreed 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.
County officials say the firm has given Orleans County a “louder voice” at the state and U.S. capitols. Park Strategies was founded by Al D’Amato, the former U.S. senator from New York who is a Republican.
The firm assist 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, including expansion of high-speed internet.
This will be the seventh year the county has contracted with Park Strategies. County officials believe the relationship has benefitted residents. Park helped make the county’s case for canal bridges to be repaired. The state is spending about $10.7 million on 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.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2020 at 11:16 am
File photo by Tom Rivers: Orleans County election commissioners Janice Grabowski, left, and Kathy Case count absentee ballots in this photo from Sept. 18, 2017.
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature has re-appointed the two election commissioners who led the Board of Elections through an unprecedented year.
Kathy Case of Murray represents the Republican Party and Janice Grabowski of Barre represents the Democrats.
They were reappointed for another two-year term, from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2022. They will each be paid $20,823 in 2021, and $21,239 in 2022.
“It’s been a different year but we all got through it,” Case said this morning. “You just have to do the job.”
Grabowski and Case in 2019 moved the Board of Elections office from a wing in a nursing home – The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center – to a the new addition at the County Administration Building.
But this past year brought new challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A special election for the 27th Congressional District and a presidential primary were all delayed. They were eventually held on June 23, the same say as the local Republican primary. That meant the Board of Elections had three different elections on the same day.
They sent out about 24,000 absentee ballot applications for those races. About 5,000 voters would request absentees for the June 23 elections, and another 3,600 cast in-person ballots.
The county was approved for $46,022 in federal CARES funding to help with the added costs with the primary and election.
For the second year, early voting was offered at the Board of Election for nine days prior to the general election.
In the 2019 general election only 374 people used early voting option over nine days. This election, there were more than 10 times that turnout for early voting with 3,753 choosing that option.
The Board of Elections also handled about three times as many absentee ballots for the general election. There were 2,914 applications for absentee, which was up from 952 in 2016.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 December 2020 at 9:45 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: Traffic moves through Main Street in Albion on Dec. 26.
The County Legislature has approved the 2021 sales tax apportionment and it breaks a recent trend by giving the four villages a slight increase in the sales tax.
In recent years, the towns with villages has received small increases each year – at the expense of the villages.
The county receives about $17 million in sales tax annually, and shares $1,366,671 with the four villages and 10 towns. They have been frozen at that level since 2001.
The Legislature opted to not cut the towns’ and villages’ sales tax share for 2021, despite the strain on the county budget from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Once a decade the town and village amounts are set based on local population. However, each year after that the share is modified based on the assessed values of towns with villages.
There are four villages but two of them, Albion and Medina, are in two towns. So that makes six out of the 10 towns with villages as part of their population. Barre, Carlton, Clarendon and Kendall don’t have villages so their sales tax has been unchanged for nearly a decade.
With the towns with villages, if a town grows its tax base faster than the rate in a village, that town will get more sales tax – by getting more of the village’s. That is what happened almost every year since 2001. Most of the new development is just outside the village borders, or reassessments give the towns bigger increases than in the villages.
The villages saw their share take a hit by nearly $30,000 from 2013 to 2020, falling from $404,661 in 2013 to $375,620 in 2020.
But in 2021, the six towns with villages will collectively receive $7,831 less with the difference going to the villages. The Village of Albion will get $2,465 more, while Holley is up $906, Lyndonville gets a $1,125 increase and Medina is up $3,335.
Despite the increases, the four villages are still down significantly from their peaks in sales tax in the last 20 years.
In Albion, the village hit a high of $211,669 for Albion in 2004. In 2021, it will receive $168,153, which is $43,516 less than in 2004.
In Holley, the village hit a high of $62,549 in 2002 – 19 years later it’s down to $45,957, a cut of $16,592.
Lyndonville was at $18,592 in 2002 and has dropped to $16,368 in 2021.
In Medina, the village received a high of $173,592 in 2002 and will be at $152,973 in 2021, a decline of $20,619.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 December 2020 at 6:37 pm
Finger Lakes still 2nd highest, remains over 8 percent
Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office: This is each region’s percent positive with Covid-19 tests in the past three days.
The Finger Lakes Region, which includes Orleans and eight other counties, no longer has the highest percent of positive Covid-19 tests in the state.
The Mohawk Valley has taken the undesirable top spot with the highest percent positive in recent days, as well as in the past week.
The percent positive over the past 7 days, by region, includes: Mohawk Valley, 8.8%; Finger Lakes, 8.1%; Capital Region, 8.0%; Long Island, 6.6%; North Country, 6.5%; Central New York, 6.3%; Western New York, 6.2%; Mid-Hudson, 6.0%; New York City, 4.6%; and Southern Tier, 3.1%.
Orleans did have the highest percent positive for Covid tests recently, but now is fourth out of the nine counties.
In The Finger Lakes Region, the positivity rate the past seven days for the nine counties includes:
Genesee, 11.9 percent
Livingston, 11.2 percent
Wyoming, 9.0 percent
Orleans, 8.5 percent
Seneca, 8.4 percent
Monroe, 7.9 percent
Ontario, 7.2 percent
Wayne, 6.5 percent
Yates, 5.0 percent
The Finger Lakes remains near the top of the list, and the region leads the state for percent of residents hospitalized due to Covid, at .08 percent.
There were 921 people hospitalized in the Finger Lakes on Saturday or .08 percent of the population, double the state-wide percentage people hospitalized with Covid at .04 percent. Central New York and Mohawk Valley are next at .05 percent.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the Covid numbers from Saturday. There were 7,183 hospitalizations in the state for Covid on Saturday (Dec. 26), the most in the state since May 10, when there were 7,226 hospitalized with Covid.
The most people hospitalized in one day during the pandemic is 18,825 on April 12. The day with the fewest Covid patients hospitalized is 418 on Aug. 30.
“As we near the end of the holiday season, New York remains locked in a footrace between the vaccine’s quick distribution and Covid-19’s continued spread,” Governor Cuomo said. “It has been a tough year and we still have several tough months ahead, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we will make it there if we all do our part to slow the spread.
“New York is working closely with the medical community to not only administer the vaccine, but to continue growing capacity as well,” Cuomo said today. “As that work progresses, the rest of us need to step up, stay united and continue doing what we know works—wearing masks, staying socially distanced and washing our hands.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 December 2020 at 4:07 pm
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature set salaries for some of the elected and appointed officials following a public hearing on the matter on Dec. 16.
The Legislature set the salaries for the following county employees, who are elected or appointed:
Social services commissioner, $101,135 with $200 longevity bonus for 10 years in the position
Commissioner of Public Works, $95,667
County Attorney, $95,667
Public Defender, $95,667
Sheriff, $83,251 with $2,000 longevity bonus for 30-34 years of service
Real Property Tax Director, $80,970 with $500 longevity bonus for 15-19 years of service
County Treasurer, $78,745 plus $1,250 longevity bonus for 25-29 years of service
Personnel director, $76,583
The legislators set the salaries to compensate management and elected officials at 2 percent increases for 2021 and 2022.
That resolution from the Legislature will “control costs and provide certainty for the approaching budget process as it relates to compensation for management and elected officials,” according to the resolution approved by the Legislature.
The salaries in the management plan also continues a high deductible plan and complete health insurance reorganization with new hires responsible for paying 20 percent of the cost of the health insurance premium.
The Legislature also approved the following salaries, effective January 1, for certain part-time and unclassified employees:
Annual:
Coroner, $2,089 – $100 per case/$50 per Hospice Case
Deputy Budget Officer, $3,714
Deputy Fire Coordinator, $2,357
Fire Investigator, $2,357
Historian, $11,500
Orleans County Engineer, $26,500
Director of Computer Services, $92,537
IT Operations Analyst I, $64,459
Secretary to the District Attorney, $54,554
Secretary to the Assistant District Attorney (.06), $46,170
Secretary to the Assistant District Attorney (.13), $38,009
Director of Public Health, $102,500
Public Health Administrative Officer, $60,431
Director of Community Health Services, $84,370
Secretary to the Sheriff, $56,095
Secretary to the Highway Superintendent, $56,095
Daily:
Court Attendant, $76.94
Examination Monitor (Full Day), $133.30
Examination Monitor (Half Day), $66.66
Hourly (Part-Time Employees):
Animal Control Officer, $15.37
Clerk (Elections), $12.50
Correctional Officer (Jail), $15.37
Correctional Officer (Jail) Second rate, $21.22
Crew Leader (Sheriff), $14.38
Deputy Sheriff Marine Patrol – Non Certified Deputy, $14.81
Sheriff Marine Patrol – Certified, $17.69
Dispatchers, $15.37
Medical Director, $107.00
Voting Machine Technicians, $19.44
Hourly (Full Time Employees):
Director of Emergency Management, $19.92
The Legislature also approved the salary for the Legislature chairman at $18,866 for 2021, with the vice chairman to be paid $14,265, and the other five legislators to each be paid $12,576 for 2021.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 December 2020 at 11:30 am
Tearful good-byes after 15 years as clerk of the Legislature
Nadine Hanlon
ALBION – Nadine Hanlon next week will start her new job as the Orleans County clerk. She has been the clerk to the County Legislature the past 15 years.
It was a tearful goodbye on Dec. 16 during her last monthly meeting as the Legislature clerk. Lynne Johnson, the Legislature chairwoman, and Hanlon both had to fight back tears during the meeting.
“I’m speaking on behalf of all the legislators when I say It was truly our honor and you will be missed,” Johnson said at the meeting.
Hanlon was elected county clerk in November. She will move back to the County Clerks’ Building at the Courthouse Square. She worked in the top floor with the Legislature before the group shifted to the new addition last year at the County Administration Building on Route 31.
The county clerk’s office is on the second floor of the historic building at the Courthouse Square. Hanlon will be over in the County Administration Building frequently because the county clerk oversees the Department of Motor Vehicles in the CAB.
“The legislators have treated me very well in my tenure here,” Hanlon said. “Thank you for everything you have taught me along the way.”
Hanlon’s father, the late Michael Paduchak, has his portrait on the wall in the Legislature chambers. Before there was a County Legislature 40 years ago, there was the Board of Supervisors, made up of the 10 town supervisors. Paduchak was the Kendall town supervisor and served on the Board of Supervisors.
Before joining the county, Hanlon was the Kendall town clerk. She also served 10 years on the Kendall Board of Education, including several years as president.
In 2013, she was chosen as the county employee of the year.
“I’m not leaving my work family, I’m just moving to different county office,” Hanlon said. “I get to continue to work with you and that is awesome.”
The Legislature appointed Lisa Stenshorn of Kendall to take over as clerk of the Legislature on Jan. 1. She has been the deputy clerk of the Legislature under Hanlon.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 December 2020 at 8:41 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: This home on East Park Street in Albion has several decorations out for the holidays.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a wind advisory from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday for Orleans, Niagara, Monroe, northern Erie, Genesee and Wyoming counties.
There will be southwest winds 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 mph expected.
“Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects,” the Weather Service said. “Tree limbs could be blown down and a few isolated power outages may result. Travel may be difficult in high profile vehicles.”
