Archive | May, 2012

Webster odds ‘n’ ends

21 May

Every once in a while, several little blog ideas pile up, none of which seems appropriate for a whole posting unto itself. And so you have this edition of Odds ‘n’ Ends:

A Channel 8 cameraman catches the action as Webster Thomas counselor Sue Stacy chats with a student.

Congratulations to Webster Thomas School High School counselor Susan Stacy, who was awarded the Golden Apple Award last week from WROC Channel 8. The station presents the award about once a week to recognize the positive things teachers (and in this case, counselors) do for students. Mrs. Stacy was nominated by 2010 graduate Antonio Garzone, who credits Mrs. Stacy’s guidance and encouragement with making it possible for him to go to college.

Channel 8 sent a reporter and cameraman to film the award presentation. The piece will air tomorrow, May 22 at 5:30 pm on Channel 8 and at 10 pm on Fox.

* * *

I had the real pleasure of meeting Pat and Debbie Bush a few weeks ago, the new owners of Webster Hots on East Main Street. I’d heard that the restaurant had changed ownership in January, but never followed up on the news, so I took the opportunity to pump Pat and Debbie for information, and invite them to email me anything else they wanted to let people know.

What I got from Debbie does a nice job of summing up the new and old, so allow me to quote from the email:

We have made a few changes to the place, things like changing the staff, cleaning things up and really focusing on customer service. The menu has stayed, for the most part, the same other than a few things. We are now serving a Guinness Beer Battered Fish Fry on Fridays. I started it last week and the customer have all said that it is fantastic.

Some other things that we have that is not the “norm” would be the Zinnger Plate, mmmmm…it is soooo good (the former owner came up with it). It is phili steak, chicken fingers, peppers, onions and Mozzs cheese all slathered in buffalo wing sauce and placed on two sides (usually mac and home fries) We also do a battered deep fried hot dog that many customers have become addicted to. For those with a sweet tooth we have deep fried apple pies, brownies and fresh baked cookies. The hot sauce and mac salad are homemade. With the nice weather people have been taking advantage of the outside deck to eat.

I am having fun and have really enjoyed getting to know the village and our customers.

* * *

Back in February I wrote that the Maplewood Nursing Home’s website was up for an award from the Rochester Business Journal. Well, turns out they didn’t get that award. But the folks there recently informed me that their website designers DID just win a different award – or to be more accurate, two awards.

The occasion was the 2012 Summit Creative Award® competition, and Maplewood’s website designers Bob Wright Creative were recognized with a Gold Award in the Consumer Service Website category, and a Silver Award in the Health/Medicine Website category.

All entries were judged in 23 major categories, in which judges look for innovative and creative concepts, strong executions and the ability to communicate and persuade.

Check out The Maplewood’s award-winning website for yourself by clicking on the picture above.

Webster Cadettes earn silver

21 May

Congratulations to these young ladies from Webster Cadette Troop 60434, who received their prestigious Girl Scout Silver Award on Friday, May 4th.  They’re all sixth graders at Spry Middle School.  (Thanks to Deb Hill for passing along the news!)

(L-R) Hannah Ippolito, Ryan Morency, Rachel Hill, Annika Schouten, Kaylee Gibb, Meaghan Gartland, and Alyssa Zaft

Follow updates on Bay Bridge closures through Twitter

18 May

This note came across my email box yesterday, courtesy Webster Chamber of Commerce president Barry Howard:

Many of you may have heard already, or you will be reading about it soon, that a major NYS Department of Transportation project to replace the expansion joints on the Bay Bridge will be taking place over the next few months.

This project will require significant lane reductions and that the bridge be closed periodically, sometimes overnight during the week and at least 4 times this summer for a whole weekend (9:00PM on a Friday until 9:00PM on a Sunday). When the bridge is closed it will be in one direction or the other; either westbound (Webster to Irondequoit) will be closed OR eastbound (Irondequoit to Webster) will be closed. Provisions are being made for emergencies and for some critical emergency traffic.

This project does not allow for a fixed timeline so it is NOT POSSIBLE to tell you what the entire schedule will look like for the next few months – we do not know exactly which days lanes will be closed and /or which nights or weekends the bridge will be closed. The schedule will be driven by work completion and the DOT will provide as much notice as possible for lane reductions and closures.

Because we don’t have a fixed schedule, the Webster Chamber has started a Twitter account for you to follow what is happening on the bridge. The Twitter account is @104Bridge and you can sign up for a twitter account that will notify you via email or text message by going to http://www.twitter.com.

The Chamber will tweet information provided to us from NYS DOT and we will re-tweet on each of the days with affected lane reductions or closures to remind you and keep you informed of bridge plans.

The detour for times when the bridge is closed will be Bay Road and Empire Blvd – to be used during closures in either direction. Westbound traffic will exit at Bay Road and travel south on Bay Road and then west on Empire Blvd to the 590 on ramps. It is already clear that putting that much traffic onto those roads in even smaller peak travel times will result in huge delays and gridlock. It is suggested you avoid the whole area if possible by going further south to roads such as Route 286 or Route 441 before heading westbound.

I will also try to re-tweet announcements when I notice them. But to follow the Bay Bridge update Twitter feed directly, click here.

New Ridge Road shop not for everyone

17 May

Last week a friend of mine fed me some local news.  She told me it looked like another business was moving into the old Play it Again Sports storefront in that little strip plaza across from Towne Center (the Target plaza). She had looked in the window and saw what appeared to be some very fancy lamps. Perhaps it was a lamp store? So I stopped by there yesterday and checked it out for myself.

Those weren’t lamps. They were hookahs.

For those of you unfamiliar with the word (like I was):

 hook·ah/ˈho͝okə/   Noun: An oriental tobacco pipe with a long, flexible tube that draws the smoke through water contained in a bowl. 

The new store is called “Look Ah Hookah Smoke Shop.”  The signs in the window advertise cigars, water pipes and pipes.  They exhort patrons to “Honk if you hookah.” Their tag line is “We’ll smoke you up.”

Not a place I’ll be visiting very often, that’s for sure.

Webster’s on a wild goose chase

15 May

Baby geese are cute and fuzzy, but eventually grow into messy, aggressive adult geese.

A few days ago, as I was driving along Empire Blvd. near Abbott’s, I almost rear-ended a car which had come to a dead stop in front of me. After letting loose a few … um, highly complimentary … adjectives to describe said driver, I looked more closely and saw why he had stopped.

Two adult Canada geese and half a dozen fuzzy goslings were slowly waddling their way across the busy road.

My near-accident was a perfect illustration of the big problem Webster is having right now with geese. A recent survey of the local geese population counted about 200 resident geese in the area – those are the ones which nest locally and don’t migrate very far. Plus, this spring you can add about 50 new goslings to that number as well.

So basically we now have about 250 geese making their way around town, befouling walkways and ponds with their droppings, damaging lawns, spreading disease, and causing automobile accidents.

The survey identified several areas where the problem is particularly bothersome:

* North Ponds Park
* R.L. Thomas High School
* Willink Middle School
* Calvary Automation (Publisher’s Parkway)
* Mirrorshow Management (corner of Hard Rd. and Publisher’s Parkway)
* Webster Parks and Recreation building
* Empire Park
* Webster Park
* Webster Golf Course
* Webster Schroeder High School

North Ponds Park has a large number of resident geese.

All sorts of eradication strategies have been tried already, with limited success. The Rec Center installed decoy coyotes on their property last August, which scared the geese for a while – and some residents, for that matter. But eventually the geese caught on. More recently, the Mirrorshow Management folks strung fishing wire and tinfoil around their ponds. That worked for about two weeks. So far, nothing seems to be working for very long.

Last week, representatives from the Parks and Recreation Department brought the issue to the Town Board to see what could be done. Several possible solutions were presented, including hiring a border collie to scare away the geese (Brighton has had some success with this), putting stones around ponds (geese like a grassy habitat) and addling the eggs (spraying them with corn oil so they never hatch).

All of these plans would cost the town a lot of money. One idea, however, received a lot of support from the board members: a capture and euthanize program. With the help of strategically placed snow fencing, human sheep dogs herd geese into holding pens from which they’re collected, shipped out of town and euthanized. And the best part? Federal grant money will pay for it.

So right now, that’s the plan. Sometime in the next few months the town will conduct a catch and euthanize program at North Ponds Park. Then, once the local geese population is at a manageable level, the Rec Department will use its bag of tricks — and maybe some budget money from the town — to keep it there.

TWO markets to market in Webster this summer

14 May

You may remember a blog I posted last week about how this summer’s village farm market will be located on Main Street instead of the parking lot behind the fire hall. When I wrote that blog, I assumed that the Joe Obbie Farm Market which we have enjoyed for years was simply moving its location, perhaps to get better exposure. I have since found out that I was only half right.

The Joe Obbie Farm Market is indeed moving this year, but it’s going outside the village, to Webster Towne Plaza on Holt Road (the Target plaza). The new location will offer a lot more space and better parking. It will open for business on Saturday June 9 and run from 9 am to 12:30 pm every Saturday.

The village has answered that move by establishing a second, totally separate, farm market, which will set up on Main Street from 8 am to 12:30 pm every Saturday, also beginning June 9.

So now Webster has two farm markets. It will be interesting to see if there’s enough business – and vendors — to support both markets. I like the idea of having a market right on Main Street, which will draw more people into the village, but I wonder what the parking will be like, given that the vendors will be setting up in the parking spaces.

Stay tuned.

Annual school budget vote is Tuesday

13 May

I’d be willing to bet that’s not news to you. It seems you can’t turn around lately without seeing a sign advertising the school budget vote. You’ve seen it in school newsletters, in the local papers, and every Webster School District household received a slick brochure in the mail.

But just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, here’s what you’ve missed:

The annual school budget vote and Board of Education election will be held on Tuesday, May 15. Polls will be open between 6 am and 9 pm in the Webster Schroeder High School gymnasium, 875 Ridge Road.

The 2012-13 budget proposal of $143,574,945 reflects a 2.13% increase over the current spending plan and continues to fund a comprehensive academic program for WCSD’s nearly 9,000 K-12 students.

Tax rates are estimated to increase by approximately 1.92%. For a Webster home that is assessed at $150,000 and has the Basic STAR exemption, property taxes would increase by $54 a year, or $4.50 a month. This increase is based on estimated assessed values and 2011-12 equalization rates. Final tax rates will be set in August and are subject to change pending final assessments and 2012-13 equalization rates. WCSD’s tax levy increase of 2.67% is below the 2.76% allowable tax levy limit. Property tax limits are based on a state approved 8-step formula with results that vary from district to district.

In addition to the budget, a school bus proposition of $1,220,000 will go before voters to purchase ten 65-passenger buses and three 29-passenger buses.

Voters will also see two candidates for two board of education seats on the ballot: Frederick “Fritz” Killian and Suzanne Casey. Killian was appointed to the board in February to replace Chris Inzinga, who resigned suddenly. Casey’s been a board member for 15 years.

You’ll find a lot more detail about the budget and the school board candidates on the Webster School District website. Or you can go straight to a .pdf of the slick brochure by clicking here.

 

PTSA looking for calendar artists

12 May

The Webster Central Schools PTSA has just announced that its 2012-2013 PTSA Calendar Cover Art Contest has officially begun.

The contest is open to all students in grades K-11 in the Webster Central Schools.  There will be two winners, one for the smaller size calendar and one for the larger size calendar. Each winner will receive a $50 United States Savings bond and have their art work reproduced on more than 2000 calendars sold by the Webster Central PTSA.

Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, May 30 (no late entries will be accepted), and the artwork will not be returned.  Entries must conform to the rules below and will be judged on their artistic merit and the ability to reproduce the work on the calendar.  The subject of the drawing must relate to education.

Alexandra Carpenter, then a 6th grader at Willink Middle School, created this design used on the 2010-11 calendar.

Here’s the fine print:

ALL ENTRIES MUST:

  • be hand drawn in black ink or black marker on white paper no larger than 11” high by 14” wide (or smaller than 8 ½ X 11″); landscape format preferred;
  • must not include copyrighted characters or images such as Snoopy or Mickey Mouse;
  • must not be folded;
  • must not include the name of a specific school or teacher, and must not contain any misspelled words;
  • must have the following information printed on the back of the artwork: student’s name, current school and grade, and home telephone number;
  • Artwork should reflect education and/or positive youth values (such as the 40 Developmental Assets).

Artwork must be submitted to your school office or library by Wednesday, May 30.  For any questions contact your school’s PTSA Chair or Terri Edwards at 872-3993 (tme @rochester.rr.com).

Bay Bridge construction means major headaches

11 May

Get ready for some major traffic hassles this summer.

Word has come down from the NYS Department of Transportation that the Irondequoit Bay Bridge will be closed for several weekends this summer to complete a $14.1 million renovation project.

We haven’t yet been told exactly when it will be happening, but what we do know is this: the closures will take place on four weekends, twice in each direction, sometime between June and October, from 8 pm Friday through Sunday evening.

The good news is that only one direction will be closed at a time, and the other direction will flow normally. Bad news is, the work will still displace about 30,000 vehicles each weekend day. That’s 30,000 more vehicles that will be shunted onto Empire Blvd between Bay Road and the 590 on-ramps.

Boy, THAT’S gonna be fun.

Click here to read the D&C article for more information and Supervisor Ron Nesbitt’s reaction.

 

 

Fate of village water decided — at least for now

11 May

A battle royale brewing this week over the future of the Webster Village water supply seemed to fizzle out a bit at last night’s Village Board meeting.

At issue is the quality of the village’s water supply and what — if anything — should be done about it. On one side of the argument is a vocal group of residents called Webster Village Residents for Monroe County Water. At a community meeting earlier this week, the group presented its position that village water is not only caustic, but downright unhealthy, and the village should make the switch to service from the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA). On the other side is the Webster Village Board, which appeared poised to authorize a controversial reverse osmosis water softening system.

The issue was expected to come to a head at last night’s Village Board meeting, when Mayor Peter Elder and the village trustees were planning to take a final vote. About 30 people in the audience waited patiently through several procedural matters, noticeably perking up a bit when the discussion finally came around to water. Everyone was curious to see what the final verdict would be: reverse osmosis or MCWA.

Two resolutions were presented. The first authorized the board to contract with MCWA to provide village water. The second authorized the village to bond out a reverse osmosis system. Neither resolution was approved. (Read today’s Democrat and Chronicle article about the meeting here.)

So in the end, after more than two years of surveys and studies, meetings and public comments, the board decided to do nothing. At least for now, village residents will continue to get their water from the village, from the Dewitt Road well fields, from the Irondo-Genesee aquifer.

I think the non-vote came as somewhat of a surprise to many in the audience (including myself) who really expected the board to press forward with the reverse osmosis plan. Not having to fight tooth-and-nail against RO was a victory for the Webster Village Residents group. But the village’s decision to keep the status quo fell short of the group’s ultimate goal of ditching the wells and switching to Monroe County water.

After the meeting, Webster Village Residents representative John Cahill admitted he didn’t really know what the group’s next step would be. But he made it clear they would continue to fight the fight, and try to convince village leaders to do what they say most village residents really want:  switch to Monroe County water.

It’s a fight they pledge to take all the way to next March’s village elections, if they need to.

 

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