The Genesee County Economic Development Center Board has approved 2012 incentive bonuses for staff members of $120,000 and given CEO Steve Hyde a raise on his base salary from $160,000 to $195,000.

He'll also receive approximately $10,000 in deferred compensation for 2013, for a total salary of $210,000.

Incoming Board President Charlie Cook said both the bonuses and Hyde's deferred compensation are part of the existing contract.

The board voted on the matters this afternoon and Cook promised a press release later today with more information.

At the board meeting there was no discussion of how the $120,000 in bonus money will be distributed among staff members, but in past years Hyde has received the bulk of bonuses paid. Last year, Hyde received $75,000 of the $120,000 bonus.

The 2012 bonus package is the final year that incentive compensation will be part of the salary structure for GCEDC employees, Cook said.

The board also approved a 2013 salary schedule for Hyde's staff that includes 10 percent in deferred compensation. The salary schedule has not yet been released.

The agency's compensation committee offered two recommendations for the 2012 bonus pool, either $100,000 and $120,000. Today's motion was to approve $120,000 and Mary Ann E. Wiater and John Andrews voted no in the 5-2 vote, preferring the $100,000 recommendation.

UPDATE: Here's the press release:

"After listening to the concerns of the community, including the Genesee County Legislature, the Board of Directors of the Genesee County Economic Development Center recently voted to move to a salary-only based compensation system, which eliminates the current incentive compensation program. No incentive compensation will be paid in 2013 and going forward.

“In the meantime, the board reviewed individual and organizational performance of the agency staff and approved the final, contractually established and measured, incentive compensation payments for 2012 to the GCEDC staff at our December 20th board meeting.

"In light of our community experiencing the greatest growth in manufacturing in over 50 years including attracting Muller Quaker Dairy and Alpina to our community along with the staff leading the way in securing $224.65M in investments along with pledged job creation of 427 this year – the GCEDC board believes the incentive compensation earned by the staff for 2012 is well deserved based on their excellent performance and in-place employment contract.

“We as a board would prefer to move forward and focus on all of the positive developments that the GCEDC has brought to the area, and because 2012 performance goals were met this year we will follow through with our contractually based incentive compensation plan.

“The bottom line is that the GCEDC staff continues to perform at a very high level and over the last several years has transformed this agency into a regional player successfully developing regional assets, attracting international companies and helping our existing base of business continue their growth that is benefitting our county and region in incredible ways. Their commitment, energy and hard work on behalf of Genesee County and the taxpayers is well documented."

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at West Main Street and Redfield Parkway in the City of Batavia. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a winter weather advisory for snow and blowing snow in Batavia and Northern Genesee County, and other nearby areas, effective at 4 p.m. Friday through 4 p.m. Saturday.

Accumulations of two to three inches snow are expected Friday night, and again on Saturday, leading to storm totals of four to six inches, with the greatest amounts expected inland from the lakeshores.

Winds will blow westerly at 20 to 30 mph, with gusts up to 35 mph producing blowing and drifting snow late Friday night through Saturday. Visibility will get down to a half mile at times. This will result in difficult travel at times. Expect snow-covered roads and reduced visability.

A winter weather advisory is normally issued for a variety of winter weather conditions such as light snow and blowing snow. While the weather will be significant, the word advisory implies that severe winter weather is not anticipated.

It seemed like a good arrangement. Genesee County's mental health director, Ellery Reeves, landed the position of mental health commissioner in Erie County, but was willing to continue as mental health director for Genesee County.

Once the state found out about the arrangement, it turned out things weren't quite so simple. The county still needs the state's blessing for an agreement that really isn't covered by current state law.

The new contract with Reeves made him a "less than full-time" contract worker -- no benefits, on-call, he would invoice the county for his services like any contract worker.

Reeves told the county legislature in a special meeting Wednesday that such consolidated services are the wave of the future. He expects some day there will be only one mental health director for the entire eight-county Western New York Region, but current law hasn't quite caught up with the concept.

Though this isn't a "shared services" arrangement with Erie County, Erie County has given Reeves the OK to also serve as Genesee County's mental health director. There are other counties in the state that share mental health directors.

State law makes provisions for a full-time mental health director in a county, or part-time (which a county must have), but not "less than full time" nor for a contracted consultant.

Legislators discussed Wednesday the difficulty of finding director candidates who will accept the pay level of a small county and still meet state requirements, which is part of the reason the arrangement with Reeves seemed to be a good fit for the county's needs.

There are no other employees in the county who have the state-sanctioned qualifications to be director, and the County Services Board (which oversees the mental health department) and the legislature want to keep Reeves in the job.

To do that, the county will need to write a letter to the state's Inter Office Coordinating Council, which much approve all mental health directors, and seek a waiver so that Reeves can be a "less than full time" contracted mental health director.

The budget or the contracted position is $48,000 to $50,000. Reeves salary in 2011 was $74,652.

Holly L. Gambino, 47, of 7273 Morrow Road, Covington, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Gambino was located and arrested on a warrant. She is accused of refusing to return a car to its proper owner, who is an acquaintance of Gambino's. Gambino was held pending a court appearance today.

Leonard Charles Millard, 55, of Highland Park, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant for an alleged failure to pay a court-imposed fine. Millard turned himself into the Sheriff's Office. He was arraigned in Genesee County Court and released pending further court proceedings.

Jon Hoyt Bush, 29, of Oak Orchard Road, Elba, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. Bush turned himself in on a warrant out of Batavia City Court.

David Allen Draper, 32, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, speeding (84 in a 55 mph zone) and uninspected motor vehicle. Draper was stopped at 10:04 p.m. Monday on Route 5 in Batavia by Deputy Tim Wescott.

About 100 people gathered in Pembroke tonight for a prayer walk and candlelight vigil in remembrance of Kelsey Milks.

The 19-year-old graduate of Pembroke High School died Sunday night following an automobile accident on Route 63, Town of Shelby.

The walk started at the Pembroke Fire Hall and headed west to the Milks' residence where Rev. Karen Grinnell, of the Indian Falls United Methodist Church, said a few words and led a short prayer. A group of high school students sang "Noel" and at the end of the vigil, the group raised their candles and flashlights to the sky and sang "Silent Night."

The DiSalvos have been bringing Christmastime merriment to children and adults alike for three quarters of a score, and counting. The Fargo Road Lights are a staple on the holiday itinerary of many for miles around. Over a mile of underground cabling and hundreds of heavy-duty extension cords come together to power a plethora of recognizable characters from every holiday book and jingle imaginable. Not to mention, a million multicolored lights dot the landscape in every direction.

We are reminded by such communal generosity – that there may be no greater gift to our little ones than all those many moments we can go out and find with them, that instill a snowballing sense of wonder, splendor, and amazement in their eyes with the world around them. There is comfort in the knowledge that kindness can be genuine and compassion abundant. It's not far – in this case, it's down the road, and over the hill.

As always, Jim, Connie, and Annabella encourage you to come and explore. You are more than free to get out of your car and roam around. And this Christmas weekend, maybe – just maybe – we'll even get a bit of snow to go with all those pretty lights.

Top Photo: Jim, Connie, and Annabella DiSalvo in front of their home on Fargo Road.

Visitors are warmly encouraged to get out of their cars to really take it all in.

The Genesee County Sheriff's Office is warning about a computer scam that has apparently hit at least one person locally and prompted a call to law enforcement.

The scam apparently involves a computer virus or Trojan horse of some type that locks up a user's computer while surfing a questionable site on the Web.

A red screen flashes and a verbal message activates informing the user that the FBI has frozen the user's computer due to some supposed violation and demands $300 be paid to the "FBI" via "money pac" before the computer will be unfrozen.

"This appears to be some sort of scam/virus that would probably require a professional to fix as the FBI doesn't not conduct investigations this way," said Deputy Chief Gordon Dibble.

There is information about the scam and how to deal with it that can be found in a Google search.

Dibble questioned whether some of solutions found online might also be a scam and suggested that inexperienced, or non-expert users contact a computer professional for assistance if they suspect such a problem.

Users should have good virus protection installed, Dibble noted, and said users should be careful about their Web travel.

My take: I get a lot of e-mails from people around the community who have added me to their address book with what to me are dangerous attachments or bogus links. This means that people who downloaded such an attachment or opened such a link got their computer infected.

Unless you're on guard against such malware, and especially if you use Windows, it's pretty much inevitiable you will get some sort of virus on your machine.

The best computer security is: never open attachments or click on links that you're not sure about. I never open attachments of any kind that are part of a chain e-mail (forwarded from one person to another) or click on links that look like they will take me to a Web site I'm not confident is legitimate. 

If you're not sure of an e-mail communication ... even from your mother ... don't open it, don't download the attachment, don't click the link. If necessary, call and verify that the person meant to send that e-mail to you.

Press release:

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer today announced that seven job-creation projects in the 61st Senate District will receive state funding as part of the second round of Regional Economic Development Council awards.

“These strategic projects take advantage of the many valuable resources, skills and talents of our region, in an effort to strengthen our economy and help create and retain jobs in our backyard,” Ranzenhofer said. “As a member of the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council, I have seen firsthand the hard work and dedication of our community leaders to do what it takes to deliver critical state funding for job-creation projects in Western New York.”

"For the second year in a row, the regional councils have been on the forefront of rebuilding New York State's economy. For too many years, top-down economic development policies have failed communities across the state and not truly invested in the unique resources and strengths of each of New York's regions. Now a new, bottom-up approach is in place that brings local communities together to chart their own economic destiny. The second round of Regional Economic Development Council awards will deliver funding for critical projects and investments in communities across our state, helping put New Yorkers back to work and rebuilding our economy,” said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

The following job creation projects in the 61st Senate District will receive almost $2.4 million in funding from the second round of the Regional Economic Development Council program:

Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation - STAMP Project - $500,000
Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation will undertake engineering and infrastructure work for a thousand-acre advanced manufacturing campus being developed in Western Genesee County.

Jiffy-Tite Co, Inc. - Facility Expansion and Equipment Purchase - $633,200
Jiffy-Tite will expand its manufacturing facility and purchase new equipment. Jiffy-Tite will invest $12.5 million and create 100 jobs.

CNG One Source of New York, Inc. - Genesee County Expansion Project - $300,000
CNG One Source, a business involved in converting the use of gasoline or diesel as a choice of fuel for vehicles to compressed natural gas, will purchase land and construct new facilities.

Farm Credit East, ACA - Growing the New York Dairy Industry - $500,000
Farm Credit East, ACA will enhance its current ability to address capital needs of dairy farmers who are interested in expansion but face significant financial challenges in doing so. The primary focus will be to provide assistance for new investments to comply with Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation or other environmental requirements.

Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. – Lean Manufacturing Training - $26,425
Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. of Williamsville in Erie County will train 30 workers in Windows Server 2008, lean manufacturing, the 5S organization process, Six Sigma White Belt process improvement, leadership, lithography, and lithographic relationships and variables.

Genesee County Industrial Development Agency - New York Craft Malt - $117,330
The Genesee County Economic Development Corporation will assist New York Craft Malt. New York Craft Malt will operate a commercial malting facility that will use locally grown food-grade barley. An existing 2,400-square-foot building will be renovated to serve as the malting facility.

Ceramic Technology Partners - Expand Ceramic Manufacturing Capacity - $300,000
Calix Ceramic Solutions, LLC (Calix), GNP Ceramics, LLC (GNP), and Ceramic Technology Partnership, LLC (CTP) will undertake a joint development project to expand their ceramic manufacturing processes to include the manufacturing and supply of sintered silicon carbide. Ceramic Technology Partners will invest $9.5 million and create 42 new jobs.

“It has been an honor to work together with so many of our community leaders – in business, education, economic development, local governments and others – to develop a list of first-rate initiatives that achieves our objectives of creating jobs and building a strong foundation for future growth. I applaud Governor Cuomo and Lieutenant Governor Duffy for their continued leadership and implementation of the Regional Economic Development Councils,” Ranzenhofer said.

Statewide, a total of $738 million was awarded for 725 economic development projects in every region of New York State.

Press release:

Due to an unexpected plumbing issue, Urgent Care at 8745 Lake St., Le Roy will be closed tonight, Dec. 19. They will reopen tomorrow, Dec. 20 at their regular time, 11 a.m. Patients who require urgent care services are encouraged to use the Batavia location at 16 Bank St.

The smell of burning plastic is coming from an oven at 10268 Smithley Road and the Darien Fire Department is responding. Smoke is showing but no flames.

UPDATE 6:25 p.m.: The problem is a malfunctioning stove. Darien fire will be leaving shortly.

Press release from Det. Sgt. Patrick J. Corona:

The Batavia Police Department has received, and is investigating, reports of fraudulent individuals posing as legitimate collection agencies, making telephone contact with persons and attempting to acquire cash payments.

Residents should be on guard for this activity and never give out personal information over the telephone.

The individuals involved in this activity are potentially committing offenses of larceny by fraud, identity theft, and criminal impersonation. Individuals involved in this activity could be subject to federal prosecution.

Anyone having questions in regards to the legitimacy of persons making such contact with them over the telephone should contact their local police

A comptroller's audit in the Town of Oakfield uncovered what appears to be an accounting error with garbage punch cards.

Some 1,519 cards, with a value of $30,380, are missing.

It doesn't appear that any funds are missing or have been misappropriated, said Town Supervisor Mike Cianfrini, and the comptroller's report doesn't accuse anybody of wrongdoing.

The town has already taken measures to improve controls, according to the report and Cianfrini.

"When we went to the ticket process, it was kind of a work in progress," Cianfrini said. "I don't think proper controls were put in place, and those have since been implemented."

Going forward,

• the town clerk will maintain an inventory record for cards when obtained, distributed to other entities for sale then sold, and will periodically reconcile the card records;
• the board will require waste facility attendants to retain completely used cards to assist in future audits; and,
• the board will audit the punch card records on an annual basis.

The town received 5,000 press-numbered cards for sale to the public in February 2011. The cards sell for $20 each at the town hall, village hall and three local businesses.

At the time of the audit, 1,446 cards had been sold and 2,035 were unsold with 1,519 missing.

Cianfrini said there doesn't appear, however, to be any missing funds.

"Due to the lack of sufficient record keeping, we could not determine the reasons for these gaps," the auditors state.

While there's no accusation of wrongdoing, the auditors do state, "there is no assurance that the unaccounted cards were not sold, lost or stolen."

The discrepancies were found, Cianfrini said, during an audit of the town's entire recording keeping and financial systems.

"When I met with them after this report came out -- they looked at the entire town's financial transactions -- and this was the only issue noted," Cianfrini said. "They were actually impressed with the financial controls in the town."

ICYMI: The Batavian: Proposed city waste program would mean totes, encourage recycling, institute fee structure

With the help of dozens of volunteers and dozens more donations, T.F. Brown's and Batavia Lions will host their annual Christmas Day dinner with two seatings available, noon and 1 p.m.

Tonight, there were free drinks at T.F. Brown's for community members who came in with a new, unwrapped gift for Santa to give to the children who attend the dinners.

The dinners are open to anybody in the community who wishes to attend and are absolutely free. For reservations, call Maud at 345-1000. Maud will want to know which time you will attend along with the gender, age and names of any children in your company.

Please RSVP by the close of business Friday.

Pictured, Pete Arras, Mary Beth Teresi and Rick Mancuso.

The Rotary Club of Batavia hosted its annual lunch kicking off its basketball tournament.

The 24th annual tournament will be Jan. 8 and 10 at GCC, game times of 6 and 7 p.m.

Photo above: Riley Norton, Notre Dame, senior, forward; Kaleigh Cicero, Perry, senior, guard; Tatyana Wayne, Batavia, senior, guard; and, Sarah Loranty, Alexander, senior, guard.

Below, Santa asks attendees to applaud for the coach with the best "do-rag." From left, Brent Gillette, Perry, Marcia Hirsch, Alexander, Dave Pero, Notre Dame, and Bill Wade, Batavia.

A two-car accident with possibly one minor injury is reported at 100 W. Main St., Batavia, by the Upton Monument. City fire, police and a medic are responding.

UPDATE 5:59 p.m.: Three cars were involved in this accident. Two patients are being taken to UMMC, both complaining of back and neck pain. They were buckled in the rear passenger seats of the same vehicle. One is an 8 year-old boy, the other is a 10 year-old girl.

UPDATE 6:07 p.m.: A third patient is being taken to UMMC -- a male with complaints of head and back pain. He was wearing a seat belt.

Frankly Design offers -- Graphic Design/ Product Design/ Laser Engraving. Pet tag offer valid through Jan. 15, 2013. We're located at 440 Ellicott St. (corner of Otis) in Batavia. Call (585) 343-6336 | e-mail: franklydesign@hotmail.com or visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/franklydesigncreativesolutions

Press release:

During her year and a half in Congress, Representative Kathy Hochul (NY-26) worked with members of both parties on behalf of Western New York’s small businesses, middle class families, veterans, students and seniors.

“It has been an honor and privilege to represent and fight for the people of Western New York,” Hochul said.

Thanks to Hochul’s efforts, the temporary guest worker program has been streamlined and is now available electronically, saving farmers across the country time and money.

Under Hochul’s Clothe a Homeless Hero Act, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and local charities to distribute unclaimed clothing left at airport security checkpoints to homeless and needy veterans and their families. This bill passed House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by the President.

Rep. Hochul is known for working closely with constituents to answer questions, solve problems, or cut through bureaucratic red tape. Hochul secured over $1.3 million dollars for her constituents.

Hochul made it a top priority to ensure the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (NFARS) would remain in Western New York for the foreseeable future. At Hochul's invitation, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta visited the air base in August and promised to preserve the base.

Additionally, Hochul worked to ensure that American manufacturers continue to grow, create jobs at home, and outperform foreign competition. In her manufacturing jobs plan, she advocated for investing in American workers by closing the skills gap, bringing jobs home from overseas, cracking down on unfair Chinese trade practices, spurring production of America-made energy and resources, and keeping tax dollars in America. Rep Hochul introduced a bill to create incentives for local companies to partner with colleges and universities to match education and job training with the needs of our local businesses.

Please click here to see accompanying document for further information on Rep. Hochul’s accomplishments.