Exponential growth at annual event.

One hundred and twelve business professionals and local community members attended the annual Fairport-Perinton Chamber of Commerce’s The State of the Town, Village, & Schools. This event has seen exponential growth during the last three years.

Annually the Fairport-Perinton Chamber of Commerce hosts an event entitled The State of the Town, Village & Schools for the benefit of its members, interested professionals and citizens.  The event opens with an hour of networking and attendees enjoy lunch at the Burgundy Basin Inn while listening to the presentations.  All of the hosted speakers reinforce the bond of community, earning wealth, health, and enjoyment from working together.

Brett Provenzano, Superintendent of the Fairport Central School District, sparked the beginning of our annual public presentations with the goals of this current school year:  Create a timely budget process reflecting District goals & values; Develop a plan to adjust start times to align with research, fiscal resources, and scheduling constraints; Create and sustain curriculum that is research-based, developmentally appropriate, and student-centered; Connect each student with equal access and opportunity within the school environment.  Our schools spring-board off of past successes: graduating 97% of our students, 64% being awarded Regents Diplomas with Advanced Designation; exceeding New York State & national Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) averages; 87% of AP exam-taking students earning scores of three or higher; 90% of seniors going to 95 different colleges; five students were awarded 2017 National Merit Scholarship Competition Semi-Finalists; named top high school in New York by Newsweek. Work has begun on a district-wide space utilization study, five-year building condition survey, transportation capital project, and additional capital improvements.

The Town of Perinton was represented by speaker Mike Barker, Perinton Town Supervisor.  Mike spoke of growth-to-come on 1285 Fairport Road led by the ESL Federal Credit Union and Hamilton Place on Hamilton & High Street Extension, where 16 two-family units and one detached single-family structure will be built.  This past year we have enjoyed Wegmans’ growth, Aldi’s presence, and development continuing at Whitney Town Center (residential options/retail), Creekstone (residential options), Hickory Woods (residential options), Stonebrook (residential options), The Glen at Perinton Hills (residential options), The Woodlands at Stonebrook (semi-assisted living), Basin View (single-family), Janders Run (single-family), Magnolia Manor (single-family), and Summit at Woodcliff (single-family).  Work has begun on the parks, open space and trails master plan.  Two new basketball courts and one pickleball court have been added at Potter Park in honor of Joe Cummings.  Kreag Road Park now has a new picnic shelter and Fellows Center Park and Perinton Park buildings have renovated restrooms and kitchens. District rezoning on the Fairport Road corridor and Whitney Road West is anticipated.  Also, improvements will take place this year on 90 miles of roadway, one-mile of asphalt sidewalk being replaced with concrete, Perinton Park improvements for pedestrian access, including a gateway feature on Fairport Road, new internal sidewalk, landscaping, lighting, and gathering areas in the lower park, fishing access enabled by a footpath along Irondequoit Creek linking Spring Lake Park with Penfield’s Channing Philbrick Park, replacing the Town Hall sidewalk and landscaping the improvement, and website updates to allow for public access to the Town’s Geographic Information System’s mapping and data.  

The Village works closely with the Town of Perinton and the Fairport School District to consolidate services where ever possible, reasonable and beneficial to all. Mayor Fritz May directed our attention to the dates of April 29 & 30 for our Village Sesquicentennial Celebration.  He also reviewed recent accomplishments including:  new bridge on Water Street; large storm drain repair under North Main Street; cell tower built to replace the Summit Street water tower to host existing antenna, which is a significant source of income for the Village; $30 million private investments (The Residences at Canalside, $17,500,000; Mixed-Use Development at 92 S. Main Street, $2,400,000; Residential Conversion at 84 High Street; High View Senior Apartments at 134 High Street, $9,500,000).  Looking forward, conceptual plans are forming for the former HP Neun Building on Parce Avenue and another site on North Main Street.  This new development will connect to Iron Smoke Whiskey and Triphammer Bierwerks.  Plus, residents from our greater community continue to frequent and have fun at our annual events. In September, we hosted a unique event - - the 10th Annual Global Mural Conference.  In summary, the Mayor stated, “The Village works closely with the Town of Perinton and the Fairport School District to consolidate services where ever possible, reasonable and beneficial to all.  We so appreciate our team approach”

Three of the active Chamber members shared their event experience.  Attendee Chris Pedrone, Perinton Community Office Manager, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust, said, “There are so many great things going on in the community; it is hard to keep up with all of them.  Thank you to the Chamber for bringing this information together for us!”  Bob Ruhland, aka Mr. Perinton and Keller Williams Realtor stated, “As a Perinton resident, to hear the Town’s, Village’s, and Schools’ updates and projected growth is something every citizen should know about.”  Also, Tim Shortsleeve, Partner, tys, said, “It was an incredibly informative and upbeat presentation.  I was impressed hearing and seeing how well our local leadership is serving the needs of our community.  Thanks to the Chamber for the opportunity  to learn that when compared to our peers, we are viewed as the leaders and trend setter within the state and certainly are not followers!”

Our Fairport-Perinton Chamber serves as a connector for our community.  Annual events like the State of the Town, Village & Schools, monthly informal coffees, quarterly membership luncheons, educational offerings, events hosted by our members, and communication channels involving the website, enewsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn bring us together to increase visibility and share information to benefit all involved.

Photo credit: Pat Luke of Luke Photography