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FLEMING — A Cayuga County mobile home park will be auctioned off after its owner failed to pay more than $55,000 in fines for not providing drinking water to residents and numerous other violations.

Locust Meadows, a 7.8-acre property in the town of Fleming, will be sold to the highest bidder at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Cayuga County Courthouse, according to Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck. The sheriff's office seized the property after a judgment was issued in September due the mobile home park's failure to pay the fines. 

The auction is the latest chapter in a years-long ordeal that began in 2018. The Cayuga County Health Department found that Locust Meadows violated several state laws by not properly monitoring the water supply and not providing adequate water pressure and drinking water. The mobile home park also lost electricity after the owner, Sharon Hitchings, did not pay the energy bill. 

The health department issued boil water orders in June and November 2018 due to the loss of pressure, but Locust Meadows never submitted results of samples to determine if the water was not contaminated. 

Eileen O'Connor, who heads the health department's environmental health division, told The Citizen that a boil water order has been renewed every quarter because no one is monitoring the water. A resident, Louise Bonilla, confirmed that they have been under a boil water order for more than three years. Bonilla said she buys bottled water every other day. 

"We take it off the rent," said Bonilla, who has lived at Locust Meadows for more than 25 years. 

In June 2019, the health department issued a complaint outlining the violations. A hearing was held in July 2019. Hitchings, who bought Locust Meadows in 2015 months after she won an $816,000 lottery prize, did not respond to the complaint and did not attend the hearing. The hearing officer found that Hitchings was guilty of the violations and ordered her to pay $55,000 in fines. 

The Cayuga County Board of Health met in September 2019 to adopt the hearing officer's findings. Hitchings did not attend the meeting. 

The Citizen's attempts to contact Hitchings were unsuccessful. 

With Hitchings failing to acknowledge the violations and pay the fines, the county sought a judgement against her. The judgement was signed in September 2021 and allowed for the seizure of the property due to nonpayment of fines, which now total $63,668 due to interest and additional fees. 

"The county has really tried to resolve this issue and has assisted but we can't continue to do this," O'Connor said. "The park needs to be brought into compliance with the rules and regulations of the state of New York." 

She continued, "We're hopeful that a person who is interested and willing to do what is necessary to bring this park back into compliance and to provide the residents with safe drinking water and to make sure the septic system is functioning properly." 

But O'Connor acknowledged that anyone could buy the mobile home park. They could continue to operate it as a residential property, or it could be transformed into something else. 

That worries Bonilla, who fears that they will be evicted if the buyer wants to repurpose the park. 

"We're not looking forward to this," she said. "Hopefully we don't have to move if we get a good landlord. I don't know. We don't have high hopes." 

The terms of sale for the auction note that "the interest of the judgment debtor being sold may be subject to liens, mortgages, taxes or other encumbrances." The highest bidder can pay by cash, check or attorney check. At least 10% of the winning bid must be paid by 4 p.m. Friday. 

A creek runs by the Locust Meadows Mobile Home Park.

Louise Bonilla has lived in the Locust Meadows Mobile Home Park for 25 years in Fleming. It will be put up for auction this week after Cayuga County seized it for failure to address health code violations.

An empty mobile home sits at the Locust Meadows Mobile Home Park in Fleming. The park will be put up for auction this week after Cayuga County seized it for failure to address health code violations.

Mail boxes are lined up together at the Locust Meadows Mobile Home Park.

Louise Bonilla has lived in her mobile home, right, at the Locust Meadows Mobile Home Parkfor 25 years.

The Locust Meadows Mobile Home Park in Fleming will be put up for sale at auction this week after Cayuga County seized it for failure to address health code violations.

Some of the mobile homes at Locust Meadow are occupied while others are empty.

Louise Bonilla has lived in the mobile home park in Fleming for 25 years.

The Auburn school resource officer facing a sex abuse charge is accused of forcing a 14-year-old student to touch his private area over his clothes while in his Auburn High School office last month, according to the felony complaint filed against him.

Auburn Police Department Officer William Morrissey III, 32, of Whitehead Lane, Throop, was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, and official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child, both class A misdemeanors. He pleaded not guilty and was sent to county jail on $25,000 cash bail after arraignment that night, then he posted bail Friday morning and was released.

Morrissey appeared Tuesday morning in Auburn City Court before Judge David Thurston. He came to the proceeding by himself, wearing a navy blue suit and tie.

Aside from saying "do you think got enough?" to a photographer taking pictures outside the courtroom, he declined to speak about his case to The Citizen.

During the appearance before Thurston, Morrissey's lawyer, George Hildebrandt, asked for a dismissal of the felony charge, arguing that the evidence presented at this point failed to meet the threshold for the charge.

Cayuga County Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather DeStefano told the court that evidence was still being processed and turned over to the defense, but it included a video-recorded statement from the alleged victim in which she described Morrissey — while armed and wearing his police uniform — grabbing her hand and placing it on his erect penis over his clothes.

"Definitely we think that meets the threshold (for the felony sex abuse charge)," DeStefano told the judge.

Thurston agreed with the prosecution and denied the dismissal request. He issued an updated order of protection for the alleged victim in the case, instructing Morrissey not to have any contact with the girl, including any contact via a third party. Thurston also moved the case to Cayuga County Court because it involves a felony count.

According to court records from the case obtained by The Citizen, the sexual abuse charge stemmed from the allegation that Morrissey, while inside his office at the high school last month, grabbed the girl's hand and made "her touch his erect penis, over his clothes."

For the endangering the welfare of a child charge, the complaint accuses Morrissey of "kissing and touching intimate parts" with the girl on multiple occasions in the city of Auburn, including at the high school, during February.

The official misconduct charge stems from the allegation that Morrissey used his position as a police officer and SRO to engage in inappropriate physical contact "with intent to obtain the benefit of his own sexual gratification."

Court records also include a transcript excerpt from a recorded telephone call Thursday between the alleged victim and Morrissey in which he tells her not to tell anyone about physical contact between them.

Morrissey, who started with APD in March 2016 and began working as an SRO in August 2018, was put on unpaid leave last week pending the outcome of the criminal case as well as an internal city investigation.

City Manager Jeff Dygert and APD Chief James Slayton said last week they received identical anonymous complaints about Morrissey in the mail on Feb. 28. Morrissey was removed from his post as SRO the next day, while APD started an internal investigation into the anonymous claim. That quickly evolved into a criminal investigation by the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, culminating with Morrissey's arrest on Thursday afternoon.

Under the most serious of the charges Morrissey faces, the maximum sentence for a conviction would be seven years in prison with three to 10 years of post-release supervision.

The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information relevant to the investigation to call Detective Lt. Frederick Cornelius at (315) 253-6562. Tips also can be sent to tips@cayugacounty.us or be made anonymously at through the sheriff's website at www.cayugacounty.us/452/Send-a-Tip. Any member of the sheriff’s office can also be reached at (315) 253-1179.

A customer who purchased a Powerball ticket at a Cayuga County convenience store is $50,000 richer. 

The New York Lottery said that a third-prize ticket for Saturday's Powerball drawing was sold at Fastrac in Weedsport. The ticket is worth $50,000. 

To win a third prize in the drawing, players must match four of the five numbers and the Powerball. The winning numbers were 8, 23, 37, 52, 63 and the Powerball was 13. 

The holder of the winning ticket has one year to claim their prize. 

The Powerball drawing is televised at 11 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The jackpot for Saturday's drawing was an estimated $85 million. 

After 6-year-old Ruari Biter was diagnosed with a brain tumor on Sept. 19, 2020, a group of people who knew the Union Springs girl and her family got together to support them.

They held a pasta dinner, sold shirts and created yard signs with the inspirational words "Ruari Sparkle." For its logo, the group adopted a purple tutu. The 6-year-old regularly wore one as she played with her toys in the stands of Union Springs varsity girls basketball games. Her older sister Finleigh was an assistant with the team, and the Biter family attends many of its games.

Two days after her diagnosis, Ruari's tumor was removed surgically. Though she required physical therapy to recover, as well as eye surgery in August, she is now cancer-free.

The group decorated the driveway of the Biter home to welcome Ruari back. But her parents, Meghan and Scott, didn't want that to be the last gesture from their groundswell of support.

For more information about RuariSparkle, visit ruarisparkle.org or find the group's page on Facebook @RuariSparkle.

"It was very humbling to see a community come together like that for your child," Meghan told The Citizen. "We desperately wanted to pay it forward, so we asked the group if it would help."

The group's board members are Meghan, Scott and Barry Schwarting, Terri Culver, Lori DeGraw and Meagan Kalet, all friends connected to the Biters through Union Springs schools and sports.

They didn't have to look far to find a name for the group: RuariSparkle.

Likewise, the group quickly arrived at a cause in pediatric cancer. In September, RuariSparkle held its inaugural Tutu Trot Walk/Run in September at Yawger Brook in Aurelius. More than 200 people took part in the event, where they were encouraged to wear tutus. Funds raised were donated to the group's Pediatric Brain Cancer Research and Comfort Fund at the Upstate Foundation, which was officially established on Feb. 22, 2022. (The date sounds like "tutu," Meghan said with a laugh.) The second edition of the Tutu Trot is already scheduled for Sept. 25, 2022, at the same location.

RuariSparkle, which is applying for 501(c)(3) status, is grateful for the support it has received from the community. Potters Farm to Fork restaurant in Port Byron will donate a portion of its March 10 proceeds as part of its Thankful Thursdays program, and XL Cookie Co. in Auburn donated some of its proceeds in September. Owner Casi Head designed a cookie for Ruari as well. 

Also in September, RuariSparkle was a beneficiary of change wars between classes at A.J. Smith Elementary and teams at Union Springs High School in September. The district held the fundraisers under the theme of "Go Gold for Kids with Cancer" in September, which is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. Each change war raised more than $2,000, Meghan said.

"That's insane to think in little old Union Springs," she said.

Between the Tutu Trot and other donations, RuariSparkle began its fund at the Upstate Foundation with $10,000. Meanwhile, the group has expanded its efforts further. Soon, it will use buckets at area businesses to collect aluminum can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse to recycle for cash. Based on Ruari's experience with treatment, the group is donating blankets to Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital as well. She received one in a gift basket, and Meghan remembered holding onto it for her daughter until she returned from surgery and needed the warmth.

"Hospitals are very cold. They try hard to be kid-friendly, but it's not normal," Meghan said. "A kid does not want to be in the pediatric intensive care unit."

Ruari doesn't quite understand the work that's happening in her name, her mother said. Her older sisters, Finleigh and Ainsley, have been "blown away" by the community's support. Ainsley, the oldest, has even decided to become a child life specialist based on the family's experience, Meghan said. For now, though, Ruari is enjoying seeing her name in letters in front of her house.

The RuariSparkle board at the group's Tutu Trot, Walk and Run in September.

The RuariSparkle board establishes the Pediatric Brain Cancer Research and Comfort Fund at the Upstate Foundation with a $10,000 check.

The RuariSparkle Tutu Trot, Walk and Run in September.

The logo for RuariSparkle on a bucket to collect can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse.

This St. Patrick's Day, the thoughts of Anne Greer will be with another European country.

Greer, 90, will lead New York State's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade Sunday in Auburn. Spanning 291 feet of Van Anden Street from State Street to the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the parade is the first of several events celebrating the holiday at the club through March 17. It's also the first year since 2019 the Hibernians can celebrate St. Patrick's Day without disruption by COVID-19.

The long wait would seem to make this St. Patrick's Day as much about the Irish as ever. But for Greer, more recent circumstances — the Russian invasion of Ukraine — will loom over the festivities.

"All the people there are under war like our Irish were for years," she told The Citizen. "The love is there for them. I want people to remember that on St. Patrick's Day, the Ukrainians."

According to U.S. Census estimates, Cayuga County has the highest percentage of residents with Ukrainian heritage (2.3%) of any county in New York state. In Auburn, many of them live in the northwest part of the city, a neighborhood away from the Ancient Order of Hibernians. They began immigrating here in the 1880s, not long after Greer's grandparents arrived from Ireland.

WHAT: New York State's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade

WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 13

WHERE: Begins at corner of State and Van Anden streets, Auburn; continues to Ancient Order of Hibernians, 79 Van Anden St.

NOTE: For a full list of St. Patrick's Day events in the Cayuga County area, see link below

The first thing her Grandpa Lawler did after getting off the boat from County Wicklow, Greer said, was join the Hibernians. The Irish Catholic fraternal organization is special to her family.

"The Hibernians club means everything to me," she said. "I don't know how to explain it, it's just my heritage."

At the time, there were Hibernians divisions in the east, west and central parts of Auburn. The clubs receded during World War I and World War II, Greer said, but they reorganized as one in 1951. The next year, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Her late husband, Richard Greer, was also a Marine and served in Korea and Vietnam over the course of his 30 years with the corps and its reserves.

Greer, whose maiden name is McNabb, said that side of her family came to America from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Her brother Tom McNabb would go on to be known as "Mr. Hibernian," having served as the organization's national president in 1978 and 1979, and then its national secretary for 30 years beginning in 1984. Greer served as his secretary, she said. She also started a junior Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians division in Auburn in 1976 and presided over it, off and on, a total of 16 times. At 90, and 91 on April 14, she's the oldest member of the club outright.

Her 69 years with the club will be honored on Sunday when Greer serves as grand marshal of its St. Patrick's Day parade. The tradition is a new one for the Auburn Hibernians, having begun in 2020. Greer laughed off being named grand marshal by asking, "Isn't that foolish?" But she's excited that the club, like the rest of the world, is starting to return to normal after two years of COVID-19.

"It means everything to me that we're on the way to recovery again," she said. "Except I want everyone to remember the beautiful country of Ukraine and all the people there."

David Gilmore celebrates St. Patrick's Day at the Ancient Order of the Hibernians in Auburn in 2021.

Jesse Hoselton, left, and Reagan Oliver perform a traditional Irish dance at the Ancient Order of the Hibernians while celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Auburn in 2021.

Volunteer Nancy Sroka gets in the spirit with a leprechaun hat while working the St. Patrick's Day drive-thru takeout corned beef and cabbage dinner at St. Mary's Church in Auburn.

Joanne Romano volunteers on the food line while working the St. Patrick's Day drive-thru takeout corned beef and cabbage dinner at St. Mary's Church in Auburn.

St. Patrick's Day drive-thru takeout corned beef and cabbage dinner at St. Mary's Church in Auburn.

A keepsake of the St. Patrick's Day drive-thru takeout corned beef and cabbage dinner at St. Mary's Church in Auburn.

Volunteers work the St. Patrick's Day drive-thru takeout corned beef and cabbage dinner assembly line at St. Mary's Church in Auburn.

Volunteers deliver the dinners at the St. Patrick's Day drive-thru takeout corned beef and cabbage dinner at St. Mary's Church in Auburn. 263 dinners were sold.

Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen

Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen

Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen

Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen

Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen

Hundreds of residents brought items for a Ukraine relief truck donation drive at the Holy Family Church parking lot in Auburn on Thursday. Sup…

The Citizen's top 10 most-read stories of the week. 

Read through the obituaries published in The Citizen

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