Fairley Elementary School abuzz with excitement during open house – Oswego County Today – Oswego County Home Page
HANNIBAL – Families flocked to Fairley Elementary School for an open house recently to learn about the district’s expectations and to meet the teachers and staff members who will help guide each student toward success.
Fairley Elementary School student Rachel Dix shows her mom, Christina Shoults, an activity sheet she completed in Barb Mosny’s second grade classroom.
The open house provided an opportunity for parents to tour the school with their child and to check out the class projects already under way.
In addition to touring individual classrooms, families lined the hallways to view some of the student artwork and writing samples on display.
“I did this,” Donald McFarland said as he showed his mom a picture he colored during his first week of second grade. “I spent a lot of time on it.”
With the building abuzz with excitement and a new vision and mission in place, Superintendent Donna Fountain said she is looking forward to seeing the students grow and embrace the positive changes happening throughout the Hannibal Central School District.
“There are so many great things happening in our schools,” Fountain said. “We have families who are very involved in their child’s education. The turnout for open house is great and will set the tone for a fantastic school year.”
The on-again, off-again move of Cayuga Community College to the former P&C supermarket on Fulton’s southern border is on again.
The Cayuga County Legislature Tuesday night approved a purchase agreement for the store and set up a capital fund to pay for the project.
It represents a reversal for the college, whose leaders were unhappy that their initial plan to renovate the store and add a second floor came to a sudden end when store owner Tops Supermarkets sold the closed store to a company called JHMPAC, Inc.
College President Daniel Larson hinted that he suspected JHMPAC was tied to the college’s current landlord in the Fulton Commons location and that the sale to JHMPAC was intended to keep the college renting space at Fulton Commons.
The new agreement represents a tidy profit for JHMPAC, which bought the store from Tops for $700,000, according to county records, and will sell it to the college for $950,000. Original store owner Penn Traffic sued the city to lower its property tax assessment on the store. It won a reduction to $1.25 million from the original $2 million and received a refund from the city and the Fulton City School District.
The college will keep its current campus open for several years after the new campus opens in the Fall of 2012, to offer community and business-training courses.
Cayuga Community College is one step closer to realizing its vision of an expanded campus for its growing Fulton branch. On Tuesday, the Cayuga County Legislature approved the signing of the purchase agreement for the former P&C Foods building in the River Glen Plaza in Fulton, and approved the establishment of a capital fund for the project.
The College will pay $950,000 to buy the property from its current owner JHMPAC Inc. The state approved the project and has committed to funding half of the $11.3 million needed to renovate the property. Cayuga County will bond for the other half of the project.
The College intends to move its Fulton campus from its current 50,000-square-foot space in the Fulton Commons on West Broadway Street/Route 3 into the former P&C Foods building by Fall 2012. The new space offers a larger space and 20,000 square feet in a partial second floor to be added as part of the remodeling project.
“We looked at several sites in Fulton, but ultimately, we believe this space gives us the greatest flexibility and room to grow,” said Daniel Larson, president of Cayuga Community College. “The location is ideal for a college – set back off the road, with plenty of parking and its own entrance from two major roadways. We’re excited to begin renovations on the new space and transform this vacant building into a vibrant college campus.”
The River Glen property sits on a small hill at the intersection of the major, divided highway Interstate 481 and Route 57 at the southeast end of Fulton. The entrance to the property is highly visible, and controlled by a traffic light. The plaza has 898 parking spots.
Future purchases could enable the College to grow into other vacant store fronts in the River Glen Plaza. The College is exploring the feasibility of purchasing 40 acres of land adjacent to the 20-acre P&C site.
The College expects to move all of its credit-bearing degree and certificate programs into the River Glen building, and will offer credit-free community education and workforce development courses and other activities in the Fulton Commons space for at least the next five years. The Fulton Commons space will enable the College to expand its workforce development programming for the 28 largest employers in Oswego County as well as other smaller companies.
The announcement comes as welcome news to the 130 faculty and staff members who work at the Fulton campus and have developed creative ways to deal with the shortage of space for a growing campus community.
The College has experienced a dramatic increase in enrollment at the Fulton campus. In 1994, Cayuga first began offering courses to 92 students in two rooms in an old parochial school in Fulton. By 2006, when the Fulton Extension Center became an official Branch Campus that offers complete degree programs, enrollment had jumped to 1,106 students. Today, campus enrollment in Fulton is more than 1,260.
“This design of the current Fulton campus creates a unique engagement between faculty, students and staff,” said Maggie Killoran, associate vice president and dean of the Fulton campus. “Students are studying, working, participating in events, or just chatting in all corners of the building. While this creates a very dynamic, collegial, and active environment, it can sometimes be difficult to find a quiet space. We are at full capacity at this location—in terms of learning space, computer labs, and dedicated student areas.”
“This new facility will give students the room they need to have their own space for learning activities, club meetings, athletics, performances, and for just being students,” she said. “So we are all thrilled to know that this purchase will allow us to better meet the learning and social needs of our students.”
As the College is able physically to accommodate the growing number of students, it expects to hire more faculty and staff to teach and support them.
“Data from the New York State Education Department show us that we educate about 25 percent of the high school students in Cayuga County, where we’re only doing the same for about 10 percent in Oswego County,” Larson said. “But, we know from census data that 58 percent of Oswego County residents 25 years and older have earned a high school diploma only. Helping these non-traditional students earn a college degree will be another goal for us in Oswego County.”
This is fantastic news! This project, as time goes on, could become the biggest thing to happen to the City of Fulton in decades! Now is the time for the city, and the Greater Fulton Area in general, to capitalize on this expansion and nurture the potential spin off business and revenue that will occur from have a full college campus in Fulton. If you give the people a reason to come, they will come.
This can ultimately add a dramatic increase to sales tax revenue at current commercial businesses, and attracting more business which in turn will also result in added revenue for the area. This is a win-win situation regardless of what nay-sayers may claim. The future is becoming brighter, the future is exciting, the future is here…
Fulton does not keep the sales tax collected in the city of Fulton it goes to Oswego County. The City of Fulton gets a set amount from Oswego County then gets a % if the County collects over a set amount.
Exactly Mike. Therefore it only goes to prove that the more sales tax revenue we can collect from further development, the more OVER that percentage the city will take in.
The bad news is when they buy the property it comes off the tax rolls. That means the City of Fulton (and the school district) will have to either cut more services or raise taxes to cover the loss.
Fulton, NY – Oswego County Opportunities, one of the top 10 largest private employers in Oswego County, has welcomed six new members to the agency’s staff.
Pictured are new employees of OCO who have recently completed the agency’s orientation program. Seated from left are: Nicole Drinkwine, Jessica Recor and Tiffany Segady (Residential Services). Standing from left: Brian Belcher and Alysha Ashley (Residential Services) and Andres Sotolongo (Health and Nutrition Services).
Patricia ‘Paddy’ Lucille Waloven, 72, of Pasadena, Texas, died on Thursday January 24, 2013, at home after a long illness.
Born, January 22, 1941 at Leavenworth, Kansas, she was the daughter of the late Col. John Q. Walker, U.S. Army (Ret.) and the late Helen L. (McDonald) Walker.
Growing up as an Army brat, she resided at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; San Gabriel, Calif.; Eagle Rock, Calif.; and Occupied Japan; graduating from Rolla High School in Rolla, Mo., in 1959.
She was heavily involved in genealogy, spending many years researching her family tree and family trees of other families.
As a writer of short stories, poems, family history documentation, U.S. and state census data collection, she took advantage of computer technology and purchased her first computer in the early 1980s.
Mrs. Waloven was employed until the time of her death as food service manager at J. Frank Dobie High School, Houston, Texas.
Mrs. Waloven was responsible for the supervision of 26 cafeteria employees, food safety, food ordering, inventory, and daily meal preparation for a student body population of 3,700 students.
In addition, she was responsible for catering for special events sponsored by administrative staff at the high school.
Mrs. Waloven started her employment with the Pasadena Independent School District in 1979 at Jensen Elementary School; Williams Elementary School in 1982; Pasadena High School in 1983; Test Kitchen in 1986 and Pasadena High School in 1987.
She is survived by her husband, Robert M.; children, Denise Eddleman of Houston and Christopher Eddleman (Pamela) of Humble, Texas; a grandson, Samuel Eddleman; step-grandchildren, Patrick Wills, David Strout, all of Humble, Michelle J. Waloven of Manhattan, NY, and Christine M. Waloven of Glens Falls, NY.
Funeral services will be held on January 29 at 3 p.m. in the chapel of Grand View Funeral Home with interment to follow in Grand View Memorial Park.