Voters in the Le Roy Central School District will be asked to vote on a proposed $12.5 million capital improvement project that would provide upgrades to buildings and facilities in the school district and not result in additional taxes levied on properties in the district.

The vote was approved by the Board of Education on Tuesday and is scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. on Dec. 5 in the Library Media Center of Wolcott Street School.

For more details about the proposal, see The Batavian's previous story: Le Roy Central Schools reviewing $12.5 million capital project for facilities repairs, multipurpose sports field

With its 14th win of the season, and no defeats, The Batavia Blue Devils Girls Soccer team clinched the Monroe League Division 4 crown.

Batavia beat division rival Greece Olympia 6-1.

With one regular season game left, the Blue Devils are ranked #1 in Class A at 14-0-1 with 4.367 seeding points and Aquinas trailing at 13-1-2 and 4.188 seeding points.

Batavia's final game is Friday at home against Greece Athena (Class AA, 8-5-0).

On Wednesday, Batavia Sophomore Ella Shamp started the scoring 11 minutes into the game off a pass from Ella Radley.  Anna Varland added a penalty kick goal three minutes later, and Ella Shamp added another goal in the first half off an assist from Anna Varland.  

Batavia added three more goals in the second half by Ella Radley, Ady O’Donnell, and Anna Varland, with assists from Jaimin MacDonald, Anna Varland, and Isabella Walsh.  

"The team is peaking at the right time and is really having fun," said Head Coach Roger Hume."They just want to play and play hard.  

Using artful ball handling and precision passing, Byron-Bergen picked apart Alexander's defense and notched its 13th win of the season in Girls Soccer, beating the Trojans 6-0.

Scoring:

• Makenzie Hagen, assisted by Mia Gray 
• Emma Starowitz, assisted by Mia Gray
• Mia Gray, unassisted
• Mia Gray, assisted by Libby Starowitz
• Grace Diquattro, unassisted
• Makenzie Hagen, assisted by Mia Gray

Nova Pocock and Natalie Prinzi combined in goal for the shutout.

"We do have very talented players," said Head Coach Wayne Hill when asked about his team's quality play. "They’ve put a lot of time in over the years working on their skills. We have an excellent JV and modified program with equally fantastic coaches. They prepare our kids to succeed at each level."

The Bees, with one regular season game left at home on Friday against Wheatland-Chili, are 13-3 and seeded #4 in Class C2. 

All three losses for the Bees game against higher-class teams -- 2-0 to Class AA Our Lady of Mercy, 4-1 to Class A Aquinas, and 5-4 against Class B Nichols.

"We’ve played a difficult schedule this year, which we are hoping prepares us for a successful postseason," Hill said.

Last season, Byron-Bergen went into the post-season undefeated and didn't lose until the state championship semifinal game in Cortland.

For more photos or to purchase prints, click here.

Growing up in Batavia as one of seven siblings, Lydia Bruce learned to be part of a team early on, she says.

“I came from a big family, and I always embraced the role. We’re very close, we always grew up doing everything together. We were always raised to push each other and support each other,” Bruce said during an interview Wednesday. “I embrace each day as a new opportunity to just be better and do better. That’s my philosophy and what I push for. And to be in a positive work environment.”

It’s that positive work environment — and her role as general manager — that earned Bruce recognition as a top-performing manager at the East Main Street McDonald’s and recipient of a Ray Kroc Award. 

Established in 1999, the award goes to managers who embody the corporation founder’s “vision of excellence,” with Bruce being one of 395 managers named from 70 markets around the world. 

As she was approaching graduation from Batavia High School in 2005, Bruce began to work at McDonald’s restaurant as a crew member, working in the kitchen and serving customers.

She attended Brockport State College and transferred to Buffalo State College with the intention to pursue a teaching career, all the while continuing to work at a McDonald’s to earn money while she gradually crept up the promotions ladder. 

Then something unintentional happened. “My career at McDonald’s started to take off in 2008-09,” she said. She became an assistant manager. 

“I could see what a great career it was, what it had to offer me, and my main thing was always teaching, you know, that was my core,” she said. “And I could see that I could still do that with my career at McDonald's. So for me, it was like a green light. And I've been doing it ever since.”  

She moved back to her hometown in 2010 as she continued climbing those rungs, moving to shift manager within two years and then gradually working her way up from system manager to general manager.

“So when I moved back to Batavia, the opportunity presented itself for me to come back here and work as a general manager. And so I took it because, you know, this is my hometown, and I wanted to see where I'm at in my career and field fruition here in my hometown, where, you know, obviously, I am a local, so I know how much we can help in the community,” she said. 

"I’m a strong supporter," she added, "and just watching my crews succeed, and my managers succeed, and making sure that they have the adequate training as far as growing McDonald's as a business and growing their personal lives and their personal journey of their own, and watching them grow both personally and professionally, is the most satisfying thing to me. Just always being their coach and always being their supporter is such a daily blessing to me.”

As for receiving the award, “I was completely surprised. It was an honor,” she said, adding that she would consider more of an investment in the future.

“McDonald’s offers so many opportunities, I do aspire to grow professionally,” she said. “It is something I would be looking forward to in the future. The majority of my family is in Batavia, and my children are here.”

She also pointed to a company stat about one in eight Americans working or having worked at one of the more than 40,000 McD’s in the world, offering employment to a diverse population of folks. Her daughter, Bridgette Nordee, may be following in mom’s footsteps, working now as a crew member.

Bruce worked at five different locations during her journey since high school, helping to improve performance and ensure each location was set up for success, company officials said. She has remained close to the pulse of education by hosting multiple McTeacher’s Nights each year, which raise money for PTAs, and as an advocate for the Archways to Opportunity program, an educational strategy that gives McDonald’s employees an opportunity to grow and learn by providing them assistance with improving English skills, earning a high school diploma, working towards a college degree, or helping to make an education and career plan with advisors.

Bruce’s award includes a cash prize, a trophy and a trip to McDonald’s Worldwide Convention in Barcelona, Spain. 

“I’m extremely appreciative to be receiving the Ray Kroc Award this year. I’m consistently looking for ways to grow both personally and professionally and am so honored to be presented with this recognition,” Bruce said. “McDonald’s has provided me with so many wonderful opportunities to grow in my career and serve my local community. I love watching my crew succeed and support one another to reach our goals.

“I’m always taking the high road, just pushing positivity and having a welcoming environment, pushing a positive mindset,” she said. “I just go into each day trying to be better than I was yesterday."

McDonald's independent franchisees and regional management nominate restaurant managers for the Ray Kroc Awards to recognize their hard work, dedication, and commitment to McDonald's and its customers.  Restaurant managers play a critical role in delivering an outstanding customer experience and ensuring that McDonald’s is a great place to work, officials said.

“We are extremely proud of Lydia and her dedication to our team, customers and the Batavia community,”  local McDonald’s Owner/Operator Harry Schatmeyer said. “She is a true testament to the people-first culture we promote here at McDonald’s and is well deserving of this recognition.”

Now that City Council has agreed to commit $75,000 for a zoning code update — through a vote taken during this week's business meeting — the city will be able to get up to speed with that part of its comprehensive plan.

The zoning code update was to happen about five years ago, but a change in management and the bane of everyone’s existence — COVID — came along to put a halt to those plans, City Manager Rachael Tabelski said during an overview of the need for funding. 

“Many of you remember when the city undertook the planning effort in about 2016-17 that culminated in the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan update. Among several recommendations in the plan, one of the significant recommendations was that we update our zoning code … we need to have flexible zoning if we are going to be able to have more housing in different areas than we've had in the past, specifically, if it's been an industrial or commercial area that might lend itself to housing,” she said. “So, as the manager at the time left, and we went through reorganization here at the city, I think it's time that we get back to this process and update, and this is just the zoning code update.”

She had provided that explanation during a previous council meeting, requesting that the $75,000 come from an unassigned fund balance and be put into a fund specifically for the purpose of updating the zoning code. 

“So we could move forward with the process. It would probably be a nine to 12 or 13-month process where we would have a formal committee that gets together. Typically, we'd like members of the existing Planning Committee and the Zoning Board of Appeals and citizens to be part of that committee,” she said. “We will do public outreach through the process. So it is a planning process. But in the end, you'd have an approval and a public hearing to change the zoning codes. So again, it's a long process, but long overdue, and we have had it as one of our goals from the Comprehensive Plan and the city's strategic plan for several years.”

A council member asked how she came up with the figure of $75,000, and she has been around other comprehensive studies that have cost at least that or double, she said, for the total plan and rezoning, “so I was thinking we plan to put it out for RFP, with our prequalified engineers, or open it up.”

“I haven’t made that decision yet, but I was hoping this would be enough to bring in the consultant to guide us through the process,” she said. “Because we definitely do need an expert sitting with us through the process, but with that, it would be staff members and, like I said, committee members and citizens that participate.”

Council voted on Monday to transfer the $75,000 from the general fund unassigned fund balance into a committed fund balance for the project of zoning code update and future land use planning.

This project will help to achieve the goals of the 2017 comprehensive plan update, in which the city outlined a future-use land map where new zoning regulations will dictate the form and use of properties within the city. 

Press Release:

Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Genesee County will hold its Annual Meeting and Recognition Dinner on Tuesday, October 24 at 5 p.m. at Terry Hills Restaurant, 5122 Clinton Street Rd., Batavia.

CCE of Genesee County cordially invites you to join us for dinner and help us recognize employees and volunteers. Cornell Cooperative Extension friends, volunteers, and members of the community are welcome to attend.

Please register by October 16 by visiting our website or contacting Laura Guiste: leg224@cornell.edu or 585-343-3040 Ext. 101.

Press Release:

To all motorists, businesses, and property owners along Commerce Drive, Federal Drive and Treadeasy Avenue in the Town of Batavia:

Due to regional rain delays on other projects this project is being delayed a day. The new schedule for Commerce Drive, Federal Drive and Treadeasy Avenue is for paving to occur on Oct. 12 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Paving will begin on Commerce Drive and Federal Drive.

Once work is complete paving operations will move to Treadeasy Avenue (portion of roadway between railroad tracks near Summit Lubricants TO city-line). 

All efforts will be made to maintain access to and from the properties. Properties will experience delays in access while paving through driveways.

Motorists will experience changing traffic patterns to include one-way movements, temporary closures, and flagging operations as the paving project progresses. All efforts will be made to get motorists to and from their destination with minimum delay.

This work is weather dependent. If work is delayed it will be rescheduled for the next available date.

If there are any questions concerning this work, please contact The Town of Batavia – Highway Department at (585) 343-1729 Extension 218. Thank you for your cooperation in advance.

Join us for LandPro's two day fall savings clearance event on Friday and Saturday this weekend! Customers will get a coupons for additional savings on 2023 Mower, Compacts, Gators and more!  Check out our coupons here!

A 30-year-old Batavia resident has been accused of dealing drugs following a six-month investigation by the Local Drug Task Force.

Leonard A. Johnson, III, is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.  The charges are Class B felonies.

Johnson is accused of selling crack cocaine to an agent of the task force in Batavia on two separate occasions. 

Following an arraignment in County Court on the sealed Grand Jury indictment, Johnson was released on his own recognizance.

The task force was assisted by Sheriff's deputies and the District Attorney's Office in the investigation and apprehension of Johnson.

A 99-year-old World War II veteran who would have graduated in 1942 if he hadn't left school to support his family received an honorary diploma on Tuesday from the Le Roy Central School District Board of Education.

Steve Vernaccini went to work for Lapp Insulators at age 17. A year later, he was drafted and became a radar operator in the U.S. Army for nearly three years.

"I can't explain to you how gratifying this is to receive this," Vernacinni said. "I'd like to have had this a long time ago, but Uncle Sam wanted me, so I did what he wanted." 

Vernacinni will celebrate his 100th birthday on Oct. 16.

While attending Le Roy Schools, Vernacinni was a member of the High School Band. He played the baritone horn for five years. He was also the track manager.

Principal David Russell presented Vernaccini with his honorary diploma with his family in attendance.

Russell said Vernaccini is a person who embodies the true spirit of what it means to be an Oatkan Knight.

"On December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously stated, 'The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.' The 'absolute victory' referred to by President Roosevelt would not have been possible without people like Mr. Steve Vernaccini. Mr. Vernaccini answered the call to serve during World War II, and in doing so, sacrificed the opportunity to make many memories with his family and friends."

Information and photos courtesy Le Roy Central School District.

The Town Board, in a 4-1 vote this evening, decided it wants to join an Orleans County lawsuit that seeks to stop construction of a sewer main along Route 63 from the STAMP manufacturing site in Alabama to the Oak Orchard Creek in Shelby.

Orleans County on Sept. 11, filed suit in State Supreme Court to stop a sewer line from coming into the Town of Shelby and depositing up to 6 million gallons of what Orleans says is “contaminated” water into the Oak Orchard Creek.

The county alleges that the Genesee County Economic Development Center formed a “sham corporation” in STAMP Sewer Works to make the 9.5-mile-long sewer main happen.

Orleans officials worry the sewer discharge could impair the water quality of the creek, cause flooding and hurt economic development opportunities at the Medina Business Park.

Scott Wengewicz, Shelby town supervisor, said he agrees with the concerns voiced by the county in opposing STAMP.

Shelby will spell out its reasons for objecting to the project when it files a notice to intervene with State Supreme Court Justice Sanford Church. The judge has set a court date for Oct. 23 at the County Courthouse in Albion for the initial hearing in the Orleans lawsuit. He also has issued the preliminary injunction to not allow any sewer main construction in Orleans County until the arguments are presented in court.

Kathy Bennett, the Shelby attorney, said the town has “a right to have at seat at the table” in court and any other discussions about the project.

“We are clearly an interested party,” she said after this evening’s Town Board meeting.

Ed Zelazny, a town councilman, cast the lone vote against seeking to join the lawsuit. Zelazny said the Town Board previously voted in support of the STAMP Sewer Works. That was in a 5-0 vote on Oct. 13, 2020, when Shelby provided its consent to the forming of STAMP Sewer Works.

Zelazny said the Town Board should have demanded money to ease town taxes as part of the vote, and the board members then should have stated their concerns about the impact on the Oak Orchard.

Zelazny said he doesn’t want to see the town commit to spending taxpayer dollars on another lawsuit.

Bennett, the town attorney, said the vote from the Town Board about three years ago was only for the formation of STAMP Sewer Works and didn’t give Shelby’s blessing to discharge wastewater from STAMP into the Oak Orchard.

STAMP would send up to 6 million gallons a day at full capacity. The first two tenants at STAMP – Plug Power and Edwards Vacuum – would have a daily discharge of 50,000 gallons of treated wastewater, GCEDC said.

Story courtesy Orleans Hub

Al McGinnis would like to see a little more equity amongst those receiving services in the City of Batavia. 

And the City Councilman has proposed establishing a group of a few fellow council members and citizens to make it happen.

“My idea, council president, city manager, is that we form a group of three council people, and two to three people from the outside skilled in finance, to get together, and I’d like you to be the spokesman as council president, and we’ll decide how we will approach revenue enhancement,” McGinnis said during council’s business meeting Monday. “My idea is to look at individuals and organizations that currently do not pay property tax at all, and are nonexempt status, not to pay property tax but to pay a fee to reside in the city to help cover police, fire, DPW, overall. I’m not asking for a fortune, just asking for a fair share, some sweat equity from those individuals who use those services and rely on them."

According to Tax Exempt World, there are 209 tax-exempt organizations listed for the City of Batavia, though not all of them have a physical address listed. 

Those nonprofits would have paid a user fee, for example, to help offset expenses of last year’s extra $296,220 in the three-year police contract, the $800,000 for a new E12 fire department pumper, or the total $3,038,830 for police personnel expenses, plus snowplowing, road maintenance and water treatment upkeep expenses.

Councilman John Canale agreed with McGinnis about the idea, adding that “it’s always been a concern of the public” about a lot of tax-exempt organizations, such as nonprofits and religious entities, not paying for costly city services.

“And can we look at possibly have them pay to compensate for the services that they do use,” Canale said. “I think it’s worth exploring, I think it’s a great idea.”

Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. also agreed, and said that he would be available for what City Attorney George Van Nest carefully termed a “work group,” since it could not be an official committee of council members. 

Van Nest also said that once there’s more concrete information for what the group wants to implement, it would have to be reviewed, per New York State standards, because there may be certain restrictions involved. 

“We will come up with the ideas and review it with legal and make sure what we can do and can’t do,” Jankowski said. 

Snow isn’t falling just yet, but that’s not stopping city resident Dawnna Slocum from thinking about her neighborhood sidewalks this coming winter.

Slocum is tired of having to either navigate unshoveled sidewalks or brave the streets when walking and so she took the issue to City Council Monday evening.

“And I’m seeing children at school having to make the same choice,” she said during council’s conference session at City Hall. 

Slocum already met with Councilwoman Tammy Schmidt, and they apparently reviewed various options for solutions and Schmidt suggested that the Columbia Avenue resident lead a committee to find the right one. 

“Why would I have to chair a committee?” Slocum said. “Why hasn’t anything been done without a committee?”

Schmidt thought that the resident had some good ideas, including asking others, possibly kids, to shovel sidewalks for those that couldn’t, the Sixth Ward council member said. 

“Because we have a lot of elderly people, a lot of senior citizens, and they can't shovel. We live next door to a disabled person, and we shovel his driveway … but sometimes, they don't have time to do their sidewalk. So I said, it's a great idea, maybe the schools, with the community service hours that the seniors have to do, or things like that,” she said. “I did suggest that the city isn't responsible. It probably doesn't have the money to buy a ton of sidewalk plows and hire more staff to plow them at this point in time. But I think she did have some good ideas.”

Councilman-at-large Bob Bialkowski, as he has said at past meetings, suggested that the city create a one-page flyer of various reminders that could be inserted with the water bill to prompt residents with regular policies, such as shoveling one’s sidewalk and driveway during winter. 

“A lot of times, new people move into the community. They don’t understand that we have rules. They don't even know what they are,” he said. “If we at least have a one-page handout that all realtors, put it in the water bills, all the landlords give it to their tenants: Welcome to Batavia, we have some rules and regulations and laws here. Don't leave your car parked over the sidewalk overnight. Try to keep the sidewalk clear. There are probably about a dozen things that pop up continuously. 

“I agree. There is a problem. We spend a lot of money on sidewalks. And we don't do that for people who have a parking place.”

Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. asked the public works department about the responsibility of snowplowing for apartment complexes, and it’s the landlord’s responsibility. 

Mowing lawns is a different scenario than shoveling snow, Jankowski said.

“And if you're elderly or you're unable to do it, that's going to put a serious risk on being out in the snow trying to do something you're not physically able to do. And I know, and you know, it's winter, and we have good winters and bad winters. It's unpredictable, it's the weather. Unlike grass, it grows at a specific rate. And it's not blocking sidewalks when it goes too high. So it's a little different. It's not really apples and apples, it's different,” he said. “So I think we take some suggestions, and I mean, we have a budget coming up, but I don't think that a committee is necessary. And I have problems with kids shoveling sidewalks. If someone got hurt or something like that, I mean, then the homeowner is responsible. 

“Give it some thought and let the city management and staff kind of give it some thought and see if maybe you can come up with something. Maybe we can budget for another sidewalk plow or something. I don't know. If we can, we can absolutely do that. It's worth looking at,” Jankowski said. 

City Manager Rachael Tabelski said that the city had planned to send out a reminder message and a press release last year, but then a storm hit with seven inches of snow, and “we didn’t want to add insult to injury” by telling folks they had to get out there and shovel their sidewalks. 

“So we absolutely will work to communicate that. It comes up every single year. We deal with it typically after snow occurs. We have complaints, and then, like Council President Jankowski said, some years there is no snow, and we don't have as many complaints, but completely understand it's very hard to get around walking when there is snow and reminding residents that it will snow and, just like you try to plan for your driveway to be plowed, do your best to try to plan to keep that sidewalk clear for all the residents that do walk in the wintertime, because there are a lot of them.”

Press Release:

Come to the Holland Land Office Museum to see the first in a series of mini-exhibits focusing on materials and objects of our collection that have suffered from neglect and time. The Decomposing Past series will begin with textiles from Tuesday, Oct. 3 until Tuesday, Oct. 31. 

The objective of this multipart exhibit series is to bring awareness to the importance of museum work and the preservation of the physical past. The first installment focuses on textiles and clothing across 180 years (1750-1930)!

Admission to the exhibit is included in regular museum admission. Along with the exhibit, our curator will be hosting a textile workshop on Oct. 21, discussing various preservation methods and various items housed in the HLOM Clothing Collection!

Join us at the Holland Land Office Museum for the first in our new series of "Decomposing Past" Workshops. The first will be on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m.

This workshop will focus on antique textiles, and discuss various preservation methods of items within the museum collection. Our Curator Tyler Angora will share these methods in the hope that you can use them and understand the textile conservation practices on your own pieces. 

Admission is $10 or $5 for museum members. This series of workshops is in conjunction with The Decomposing Past mini-exhibits at the museum.