Author: Brendan Doran

September 7th, 2017

Updated – 6:40am, story now includes response from District Attorney Brooks Baker:s

HARTSVILLE, NY – A fairly large number of Hartsville residents turned out at the Town Hall Thursday afternoon for David Pullen’s resignation speech and to protest the leadership of Town Supervisor John Bowles. Many accusations in the form of signs were directed at Bowles. At the beginning, Supervisor Bowles was not present, but showed up at the end of the Pullen press conference and answered questions from reporters.

Pullen announced that he is resigning as their representative after 9 years. Pullen says that he was legally re-elected to his position early in the year by the majority of the board but was then told by Bowles he would not approve it. According to Pullen, that was just the tip of the iceberg, and Pullen maintains that Supervisor Bowles has mishandled issues since taking office in January of this year. Pullen also stated that he has been ignored by both the NYS Attorney General and the Steuben County District Attorney regarding these issues.

Response from District Attorney Brooks Baker:
“The DAs Office has been contacted in reference to issues in Hartsville. They were not ignored. I looked into the allegations, from what we were presented there was nothing which warranted action by law enforcement. I referred them to the AGs Office to further review the issues.. My understanding from follow up conversation with that Office was that they too found no actionable conduct.
Far from being ignored these issues we’re addressed and reviewed. There mere fact that Mr. Pullen did not like the findings of the DA or the AG does not mean his concerns were ignored.
I cannot speak to Mr. Pullens reason for resignation, but disagreement with the findings of the DA and AG is far cry from being ignored by either of us.”

ATTORNEY PULLEN’s RESIGNATION SPEECH
Pullen’s entire resignation speech:

VIDEO OF REPORTERS ASKING QUESTIONS OF SUPERVISOR BOWLES:

ENTIRE “B-ROLL” VIDEO OF REPORTERS QUESTIONS SUPERVISOR JOHN BOWLES, INCLUDING QUESTIONS FROM THE PROTESTERS

September 6th, 2017

HORNELL, NY –New Hornell School Superintendent Jeremy Palotti and all principles in attendance at Wednesday’s monthly BOE meeting had the same thing to report; the first day of school went very smooth and transportation was a big part of that.

There was some concern at the high school after major entrance/exit renovations were performed over the summer and Palotti and staff could not have been happier with the transition. “Reports from all school buildings were positive,” said Palotti, “Drop offs and pickups were spot on.”

Also receiving praise was Welliver construction superintendent Mick Pavlick and his entire work force. “The work that has been performed on the high school by Shannon Davis and his crew, Jim Miller and their crew in such a short amount of time is simply phenomenal,” high school principle Scott Carroll said. “They came in round the clock and on weekends waxing floors and preparing classrooms for opening day and they did an outstanding job.”

And lastly the board heard from the audit committee before the regular meeting and no red flag flags were mentioned only suggestions, mostly pertaining to how the cafeteria is run.

September 6th, 2017

HORNELL, NY – The Hornell BOE held a special ceremony Wednesday afternoon to honor seniors who completed their requirements over the summer and are now officially in the HHS graduating class of 2017. This was Hornells 136th commencement.

Of the five graduates, the three in attendance who personally received their diplomas were Zach Baily, Brandon Hawkes, and Jesse Mead. Absent were Trystan Remchuk and Tylor Speed. After a big round of applause and many handshakes cake and punch were served.

August 24th, 2017

HORNELL, NY – The Hornell IDA passed a resolution Thursday afternoon authorizing them to officially start signing closing paperwork on the new apartment complex on Fairlawn Ave. According to IDA Director Jim Griffin, there is a 90 day waiting period required by the state before purchase and sale contracts can be finalized.

Griffin also said that there are current discussions going on with Riedman about the purchase of additional property at the Fairlawn site. The stipulation to purchase this additionally property relies on the fact that phase one has to be completed. That phase consists of 60 units with two townhouses per unit. There will be a total of 10 buildings with 6 apartments per building.

The IDA overall is very pleased with the progress being made at both apartment complexes currently under construction. Griffin concluded, “Both housing projects are well under way with the footers poured at the 60 high end apartments at the Airport. Hopefully they can get the buildings up during the winter with occupancy expected sometime around February 1st of next year.”

Also according to Griffin, the acquisition of the Sunset and 18 North Main Street (Old Marion Rohr) has caused problems because they are unoccupied buildings. “Liability insurance on the structures is not a problem,” explained Griffin, “but fire insurance is concern and we are currently shopping around for that now. “ Griffin went on to say that they are looking to reduce the current insurance costs of around $9,000 a year.

August 22nd, 2017

HORNELL, NY – The city of Hornell passed two important resolutions Monday night that will allow a new entertainment venue at 101 Opera House Lane to open its doors. A State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) and a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will be performed on the property that was the former Illusions nightclub. These studies are conducted to make sure the new business has no significant impact on the environment.

When completed they will pave the way for Local residents and Pants Saggin Dezign owners Ryan and Curt Fliatz to open their new theater with a House of Blues type theme, hopefully to attract large venues comparable to Tags in Big Flats. According to Mayor Shawn Hogan, Curt Fliatz plans to break in the new facility with a wedding September 16th. The city is assisting them with their economic loan program.

One of the stipulations when the pair bought the property was to continue to allow HPG’s “Thursdays in the Park” in the soon to be gated adjacent lot. The city originally planned to lease that lot to them but decided to outright sell it as long as the brother continue to use it for its originally intended purpose.

August 21st, 2017

HORNELL, NY – Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan announced how much money the city will be saving by installing LED lighting throughout the city Monday night and the savings is no less than staggering. Phase one consisted of Main Street to the highway, and the cost to replace the 132 fixtures was $34,636 with the first year total savings in electricity at $17,425. This makes the payback period just shy of two years. “On that phase alone we will be saving $17K plus a year so it’s definitely a must for the city,” said Hogan.

Phase two consists of changing over Jane Street, Loder Street, and John Street with a total of 109 fixtures which will be completed by this summer with a cost of $12,928. The first year savings alone on this phase will be over $14,000 which means that project will pay for itself in less than a year.

“The bulbs are durable,” stated the Mayor, “With warranties of 10 years plus, which in turn should makes them profitable 10 times over in the long run.” Hogan also noted that the light now emitted is bright white instead of the pale yellow characteristic of the old lights, which in turn greatly enhances visibility.

Also getting the new LED lighting is the water treatment plant at a cost of $13,510 with a savings of $5,361 per year with that payback period being around 2.5 years.

According to Hogan, the city is only changing over what they own, as NYSEG owns a majority of the fixtures and changing those are up to their discretion. “There are a few communities that have taken over their entire lighting fixture grid, at a cost of possibly in the millions,” said Hogan, “but we haven’t gotten to that point yet, but it would be something to consider in the future.”

August 19th, 2017

HORNELL, NY – There was a great turnout at the annual celebration of the Democratic Party and Mayor Shawn Hogan Saturday morning at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Hornell Saturday afternoon. Although the Mayor was unable to attend due to a family function, long time Democrat and community leader Sam Nasca chaired the event and welcomed 5 out of 7 candidates seeking Tom Reed’s post to speak. Each presented a speech containing their objectives.

The five democrat’s present at the celebration running for Tom Reed’s seat are as follows:
Ian Golden from Ithaca
Rick Gallant from Painted Post
John Hurtzler from Trumansburg
Tracy Mitrano from Rochester
Eddie Sunquist from Jamestown

Nasca also recognized local democrats running for election or re-election which included:
Andy Greely – running for 5th Ward Alderman
Michelle Smith – re-election for Chamberlain
Ron Nasca – running for 9th Ward Alderman
Rich Argentieri – running for 4th Ward Alderman

The big question is whether the Democratic Party would endorse a candidate for Mayor and at this point it did not happen. Current mayoral candidates include John Buckley/Republican party representative – John Lewis/ Independent party representative, and Joe Duffy/Green party representative.

Also recognized were long time alderman Joe Foreman, Steuben County Legislator Randy Weaver, and many other prominent members of the party.

August 16th, 2017

HORNELLSVILLE, NY – Official groundbreaking took place this morning for the 60 high end apartments being constructed near the Hornell airport. Work is well under way with foundations in place and materials passing through on a regular basis. The project is being undertaken by the Basset Group from Rochester, NY and is currently in its third week.

August 15th, 2017

ARKPORT NY – Arkport village mayor Charles Flanders had some bad news for the board of trustee’s Tuesday night at their monthly meeting. Apparently the major water project renovations currently going on in the village are exceeding the allotted budgets anticipated by the village.

According to Flanders, the first phase of the project went over the budgeted amount and the second phase depleted what was left and then some. The village has already used up their two grants, the first grant for $750,000, and the second grant for $800,000. “We can’t quit now,” said trustee Jon Hedges, “If we do we will lose our grants.” Mayor Flanders chimed in, “Were so close to getting something replaced that is antiquated, let’s get this completed.” The board now plans to take out a loan for $570,000 to finish the project without any additional frills suggested by the contractors.

Power and construction crews should be finishing the new gas main on Meadowbrook this week and the County is scheduled to open the detour this Monday, the 21st.

The village is also shopping for a new health insurance policy for its two full time employees. Broker Curtis T. Corkey of Financial Services gave a presentation to the board confident he could save the village money with his suggestions. The board has till the end of October to make a decision as the new plan would not start until January 1st.

And finally it was announced that Jen Bush will be retiring as clerk August 27th. The board received her letter of resignation Tuesday night and immediately appointed fill in Theo Holder to take her place.

August 14th, 2017

CANISTEO, NY – According to Canisteo Town Supervisor Steve Weed under the shared services program the county is considering consolidating courts to save money. “The population of Steuben County is 99,000 people,” Weed explained, “and we have 47 courts, which are way too many courts according to Steuben County officials.”

Weed went on to say that a proposal to have a district court system may soon go in front of the legislators. “An example would be combining Jasper, Greenwood Canisteo courts with individual judges still being elected for each district, but assigned different nights behind the bench. This would save money by not having to have law enforcement officials having to hunt down specific judges at all hours of the night. Also arraignments would be much easier transporting violators directly from the Steuben County Jail to a designated courtroom.”

In other news the town of Canisteo officially voted to abandon Hallet Road (aka Wood Road). The road has not been opened or worked on for the past 6 years and also has not been used by the public or as a public highway in over 6 years. The road begins on Travis Hill in the town of Canisteo heading northeasterly then in an easterly direction toward the town line of Canisteo for a total of 2622 feet. According to board members it would cost the town tens of thousands of dollars to bring the road back up to code so abandonment was a logical option.

August 14th, 2017

CANISTEO, NY – The Canisteo-Greenwood Board of Education agreed to move forward with a possible $17 million capital project with LaBella Associates. The final number could be as low as $15 million or as high as $17 million depending if any additional items are agreed upon. The work can be broken down as follows:

C-G High School – BCS base costs $2,566,302 with additional costs up to $1,944,096
C-G Elementary, Middle School – BCS base costs $5,613,818 with additional items $3,283,430
Canisteo Bus Garage – Option 1 totals $1,554,815 or option 2 at $2,112,660
Athletic Project Costs – $337,392

One big question brought up by board president Mike Nesbit was whether it would be cost effective to air condition the whole High School or just the 3rd floor as planned in the project. Nesbit’s concern was that only air conditioning the classrooms on the 3rd floor and not the second could create a rush of teachers requesting classrooms on the air conditioned floor. The first floor was not a major concern as most classrooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

According to Interim Superintendent Chris Roser, the school currently has enough monies in their capital reserve funds to finance their share of the project. This in turn would mean no extra burden on the local taxpayers.

In other news the board has hired Amanda Denkenberger to teach Special Education at the high school level. Denkenberger comes from teaching at Jasper-Troupsburgh with this being her fourth year on the job. Roser had much praise for her and said that she will be a great addition to their staff.

August 14th, 2017

HORNELL, NY – Assemblyman Joe Errigo, Alderman John Buckley, Deputy Director for the Finger Lakes Region Spencer Bernard, and Mike Palmesano all visited the Concern for Youth on East Main Street in the city.

Errigo met with children and listened to their success stories from the program along with sharing some stories of his own. The center serves around 30 students a day meals, activities, counseling, sports, among many others.

Executive Director Susan Hooker, who has been involved in the program since the early 90’s, said the facility is constantly looking for new revenue to upgrade the building, continue to provide quality lunches and dinners, and support the staff and counselors who spend endless hours working with the children.

Hooker said that she has recently received a much needed grant for $66,000 that will primarily be used for building upgrades. Renovations will include all new windows throughout the building, a new kitchen, and all new floors.

The reason for Errigo’s visit was to seek funding through his office to help alleviate some of the financial burdens required to keep the center up and running. The assemblyman seemed more than will to do what he can to help the program out.

Also in attendance was Middle School music teacher Christa Fortin, who was responsible for her Drumline receiving the state title. Since there is no Drumline program currently at the High School level, she would like to see funding to start a program there.