New York state briefs

DPW depot replaced with canalside housing

FAIRPORT - Alongside the Erie Canal, a housing complex is being proposed for the site of the former village Department of Public Works building at 15 Park St.

Kal Wysokowski, executive director of the village Office of Community and Economic Development, Monday unveiled plans for Tow Path Park, which would include 22 rental apartment units and 11 condominiums on a 1.62-acre lot on the south side of the canal.

Wysokowski, speaking to a joint meeting of village boards and commissions, said another feature would be a wine and gourmet-pizza bar, a gazebo, additional docks and public access to the canal with parking underground. The apartments would be about 1,200-square-foot or half the size of the condominiums.

Construction cannot be done before spring 2009 because the town of Perinton, which is having a new highway building built, is leasing the site until then from the village Industrial Development Agency, which bought it about a year from the village for $400,000.

Fire destroys barn in Jasper

JASPER - A rusty chimney pipe is considered the cause of a barn fire that destroyed a Jasper man's race car and tools Sunday evening.

Jasper firefighters were called out to the barn of David Erskine at 6:42 p.m. to the fire at the intersection of County Route 21 and County Route 71, according to Jasper Fire Chief James Rice.

"He lost a race car and other stuff he had stored in there," he said, adding Erskine also lost all of his tools in the blaze.

Fire investigators point to an unattended wood-burning stove in the building and an old chimney pipe running up the side of the building.

"There was a hole in the pipe, the flue pipe, on the outside of the barn," said Steuben County Fire Inv. Michael Gilman, adding the building was a complete loss.

Exploding propane and acetylene tanks also accelerated the inferno, Rice said.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire, Rice added, and no injuries were reported.

Dollinger eyes return to Albany

BRIGHTON - Town officials found out today that former state Sen. Richard Dollinger has resigned from his post as town justice for a possible run for his old position.

Supervisor Sandra Frankel confirmed that she had received Dollinger's letter of resignation, although she said she was disappointed with the short-term notice.

Frankel said Dollinger will possibly seek a state Senate seat.

"He has been a good judge and I wish he had filled out his full term," she said.

Dollinger, a Democrat, has been a judge for the town since 2005 and was nearing the end of his four-year term. He served in the Senate from 1993 to 2002 and would be running for the 56th District seat, currently held by Sen. Joe Robach, a Republican.

Hornell Area Arts Council closes doors

HORNELL - The Hornell Area Arts Council has closed its doors, ending a 36-year run.

But don't expect the arts to go away in Hornell, said Mayor Shawn Hogan.

Hogan said the last remaining board members for the organization will meet with him and Ginnie Lupi, the executive director of ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes, on Wednesday to help keep some form of the council going.

"Hopefully, we can infuse some fresh blood into it," he said.

According to Hogan, the council has been weakened in recent years by a lack of grant funding and a loss of interest from board members.

Lupi said her organization would be willing to take over the activities of the Hornell council, but said there are no concrete plans at this time.

For now, the fate of the council's charter, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and of the equipment in the council's office is uncertain. The phone number listed for the Hornell council's office has been disconnected, according to a recorded message.

The council was created in 1971 to promote cultural awareness and arts in the community.

"The city has always been a sponsor," Hogan said, adding he will do what he can to keep some form of arts council in the Maple City alive and well.

Air Force officer thanks school

GREECE - Sheila Yerdon's first period sixth-grade English class got a crash course in geography and social studies on a recent Monday morning.

Not from a book, though. That day's lesson came in the form of a tall, lanky man dressed in fatigues.

Air Force Col. Tim Sakulich visited Athena Middle School to thank students for writing to him and his comrades while they were stationed in South Korea. His son, Michael, 12, is a sixth-grader at Athena.

Yerdon has her students write to service people every year. It's hard to describe what the letters mean to the men and women, especially those away from home for the first time, Sakulich told the class.

"It was just a great reminder of all the wonderful things back home," he said.