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City Council takes a stand against 'sanctuary state, city'; approves mall settlement agreement

By Mike Pettinella

Although senators in Albany may not be inclined to consider the idea of New York becoming a “sanctuary state,” City Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian wants to make sure they know where she stands on the matter.

“I want us to draft a resolution and send it to (Assemblyman Steven) Hawley, (Senator Michael) Ranzenhofer, (U.S. Senator Charles) Schumer and (Gov. Andrew) Cuomo, letting them know that the City of Batavia is opposed to this bill,” Christian said toward the end of Monday night’s City Council meeting. “I want no sanctuary city or state.”

Christian spoke out against a bill – known as the New York State Liberty Act -- that was passed by the state Assembly on Feb. 6. The bill is under review in the Senate.

The bill provides certain protections and rights for immigrants, including standards governing law enforcement’s ability to question a person’s immigration status and/or start deportation proceedings.

Council President Eugene Jankowski said that he was under the impression that the Senate was not going to call for a vote on the measure, but Christian wasn’t deterred.

“I still would like to see if my colleagues agree with me,” she said. “It might not do anything but we are willing to try.”

After a brief discussion, Council voted to have City Manager Jason Molino draft a resolution against any measures to create a sanctuary state or city, referencing both the Assembly and Senate bills, and have it ready for an official vote at the board’s next Business meeting on March 13. (It then would be forwarded to the elected representatives, including U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand).

Jankowski added that he was on board with Christian’s motion, but noted that “it might be putting the cart before the horse.”

“I don’t think the Senate wants to oppose the federal government and a new president so early in his tenure,” he said.

It also was noted that Assemblyman Hawley did not support the bill, labeled A3049B.

In other developments, Council:

-- As expected, approved a resolution authorizing Jankowski to sign a settlement between the City and the Batavia City Centre Mall Merchants Association to resolve longstanding litigation over the City Centre Mall.

The vote came after Council went into executive session for about 30 minutes to go over details of the agreement.

All council members voted yes except Robert Bialkowski, who abstained because his wife is an employee of the Mall Merchants Association. The agreement now goes to the merchants, who also must sign it.

Two weeks ago, Molino announced that the City and the Mall Merchants Association crafted an 11-point “settlement framework” that calls for the City to retain ownership of the downtown facility's concourse, pay 100 percent of capital improvements and take care of mall maintenance and operations.

Additionally, the City will spend an estimated $650,000 to fix the roof, silos and skylights. Moving forward, the City would impose a user fee based on each merchant’s property square footage.

Bialkowski said he had his doubts about the deal, citing the history of the mall and the series of lawsuits filed by the City and the Merchants.

“I hope that this resolution works this time but when it was first built, it was a disaster,” he said. “The city tried running it itself, but then tried to unload it. I hope it doesn’t become an anchor around the taxpayers’ neck.”

Bialkowski added that he believes that “business should be best left in the private sector; it’s definitely more efficient.”

-- Held public hearings on the 2017-18 budget; cwater/sewer rates and capital improvement fee; amending the Batavia Business Improvement District plan, and a Community Development Block Grant. No one from the public spoke.

Thus, Council members likely will vote in two weeks on the City's proposed $23.9 million spending plan that calls for a 0.9 percent tax increase.

-- Moved forward to the March 13th meeting several resolutions, including one that retains Freed Maxick for financial auditing services for another five years, and another that approves a $90,000 increase in the final cost of the Summit Street reconstruction project (which still came in $250,000 under budget).

Brian Graz

City Council takes a stand ??? Wow "draft a resolution and pass it on to Hawley and Ranzenhofer, Schumer, Cuomo" [ooooops you forgot Gillibrand]... FOR WHAT???

Do you remember when both the City Council and the Genesee County Legislature passed resolutions against the NYSAFE Act [as did 52 of the 62 jurisdictions in NYS]? And what did that accomplish?

Pass all the resolutions you can imagine... the power elite don't GAS!

We are out numbered by downstate 3 to 1... Yes we should have clout in the Senate, but it hasn't showed up yet.

Feb 28, 2017, 12:18am Permalink
Mike Pettinella

Gillibrand was mentioned later on, and Bialkowski did make a "three men in a dark room in the middle of the night" comment regarding the way the gun control measure came into being.

Feb 28, 2017, 6:44am Permalink
david spaulding

the mall..... I've been a homeowner in genesee co since '00, I like to shop, eat, dmv in Batavia. a nice little city especially like the bourbon and burger. anyways I have a question, what is in the mall? I've shopped at penny's, are they connected? with pennys being an anchor store. am I missing out on something by not knowing who is in the mall ?

Feb 28, 2017, 2:30pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

C'mon, David! Where's your sense of adventure (I'm assuming you were named after Mr. Crockett, weren't you?).

Next time you're in JCPenney's, purchase a Disney Minnie Mouse Umbrella, a pair of Wolverine Steel-Toe Boots (in case a chunk of ceiling falls), and wander into the bowels of the "mall". You'd be surprised what you might find there - probably no bears, though.

Feb 28, 2017, 3:22pm Permalink
david spaulding

ok I hear you loud and clear, do not go in there alone eh? I have some city camo i'm dieing to try out and a hard hat with an attached flashlight..... sob, the mrs said no mall adventures till I clean out the garage....

Feb 28, 2017, 3:37pm Permalink
david spaulding

quick report here..... I went by the mall today. drove around the whole mall till I found an entrance. I entered to the strong smell of freebreeze, so there is a smell someone is trying to cover. as Alvin stated above, there were 5 gallon buckets all over the place. the place is in terrible shape, would probably make a good shoot for the walking dead tv show.
the city owns this place? if they do, something is wrong for they have no business owning it and no idea how to maintain it. the mall is deplorable. if the city owns it they must sell it, if they don't own it then condemn it and tear it down. tear it down and plant some trees, it'll make a nice park.

Mar 1, 2017, 1:59pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

David Spaulding. So, you did venture into the mall, huh? Maybe, along with the umbrella and steel-toed shoes, I should have suggested that you wear an OSHA-approved "spore-resistant" face mask.

Excerpt below (in brackets) is from http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn01/molino-mold-in-the-mall-not-a-c…

[ In any case, Molino said that the issue would not fall within the duties of the city code enforcement office.“The code enforcement officers enforce the New York State Building and Fire prevention code,” he said. “There’s nothing that references mold in any of (the code violations).”

An official with the Department of State confirmed that issues of mold and mold remediation do not full under the state’s building and fire codes. ]

Sorry, David! I didn't know.

Mar 3, 2017, 3:10am Permalink
John Roach

David (comment #7). Since the City only owns the concourse, and not the rest except for City Hall, are you saying the government should take away people's personal by Eminent Domain? And raises property taxes to pay for the government to seize the private property.

Mar 3, 2017, 5:59am Permalink
david spaulding

john, let me take you by the hand and scroll back to comment # 7. I take it you want to argue but that's your business.......c&p....the city owns this place? if they do, something is wrong for they have no business owning it and no idea how to maintain it. the mall is deplorable. if the city owns it they must sell it, ...... see john? I asked a question and I followed up with a response.... and to answer your question about eminent domain, yes.... the city does condemn property and yes the city does take ownership of property...and from what I witnessed after touring the facility, IF the property is owned by the city then the city has to do something with it...

Mar 3, 2017, 9:41am Permalink
John Roach

Dave, the City owns the City Hall and the concourse. The rest is privately owned. That being the case, and you stating they should condemn it and tear it down, I wanted to know if you support the idea of the government taking property away from their owners. Many people do, and many do not. I wondered where you came down on this, and it is that you're ok with Eminent Domain in this case.

Mar 3, 2017, 10:56am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Put more directly, is it OK for the government to seize private property for its own purposes, which may include turning around and selling it to a private developer so that developer may then turn a profit on it?

Mar 3, 2017, 11:07am Permalink
david spaulding

correct me if i'm wrong, is not the city of Batavia involved in seizing so called zombie homes? I believe I read somewhere that the city could take a house and sell it to someone who must live in it for 5 years..... zombie home zombie mall ... I dunno... that mall is deplorable..... there is going to be more lawsuits due to people who work there breathing in the mold which will be tied into all kinds of permanent physical disabilities...... i saw people mall walking in there... anyone who is reading this, take a few minutes and walk the mall, check it out. the place is dee-plor-able.

Mar 3, 2017, 1:33pm Permalink
david spaulding

howard, no i don't believe it's ok for uncle sam to seize private assets, but you know how it goes, the government does exactly what you describe everyday. they also do a lot worse, seize your assets and force you to prove you are innocent .

Mar 3, 2017, 1:39pm Permalink
John Roach

David, the City does not take Zombie homes. They can however now fine the banks if they do not take care of them. But, there is also a program for people who buy a Zombie home and fix it up.

Mar 3, 2017, 2:04pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

Maybe it's time OSHA was called in to take air samples (in the mall concourse).

Through the years, there's been multiple articles about people owning quarter-million dollar (or more) homes, who couldn't even enter their houses, because of the presence of mold in the air.

You want to see the mall concourse "problem" get resolved? See how fast things happen IF the federal ""gov't" shuts the doors on it! Imagine if they had stepped in 10 years ago. It would either be open and safe, today, or, destroyed and replaced.

I haven't been in that mall since the mid-90's, and, there were "buckets" strategically located throughout the concourse back then.

Twenty-plus years of "he said/she said", "we own/you own", "we're responsible for/you're responsible for", doesn't seem to be working very well. It's time for an end to it.

Mar 4, 2017, 12:17pm Permalink
david spaulding

ed, you may be on to something.osha.... i am amazed that with all these elected officials that control almost every aspect of our lives can allow this situation to continue. not only continue but from what i understand, it's been going on for a generation. sad very sad, true so true not fake.

Mar 4, 2017, 8:04pm Permalink

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