Two nights after unveiling its plan to the public to construct a $3.2 million station on Stringham Drive to replace Station 2 on Clinton Street Road, the Town of Batavia Fire Department presented the proposal to the Genesee County Planning Board.

Planners, on Thursday, recommended approval of the site plan as long as department officials obtain a state Department of Transportation permit pertaining to an entrance to the 10,000-square-foot substation from Clinton Street Road.

“It’s already (the application for the DOT permit) in the process; it’s already been filed,” Gary Diegelman, department building committee chairperson, said this morning.

Diegelman said he anticipated no problems getting DOT approval.

“The traffic study was done. There shouldn’t be any problem with it,” he said.

The new building will feature two drive-thru bays and entrances from both Stringham Drive and Clinton Street Road. With the drive-thru bays, the trucks will not have to back up to enter and exit the station

It also will have four dormitory-style rooms for firefighters wishing to stay there, a bunk-in program that has been gaining traction around the state.

The fire department’s site plan will be considered by the Batavia Town Planning Board for final approval on Feb. 20.

In other developments, the planning board:

-- Gave its go-ahead, with some modifications, to a proposal by Ronald Long of Springville to construct a 42-unit apartment complex to be marketed to seniors on West Main Street (Route 33) in the Village of Corfu.

Long appeared before the group for the second time in five months, this time presenting the entire plan after addressing a wetlands situation and getting clearance from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Stipulations of the board’s positive recommendation include creating a buffer between neighboring properties, installing lighting and landscaping per Village of Corfu guidelines, putting in a sidewalk from the street to the complex, and obtaining state Department of Transportation approval for the driveway.

“There was talk about a possible buffer,” Long said this morning. “I told them I would do whatever the neighbors wanted me to do.”

Long said his plan calls for the construction of seven buildings, each with six 1,155-square-foot apartments.

“It’s a cookie-cutter (design),” he said. “The biggest thing is that all are ranch style, with closed attached garages that enable the residents to get out of their cars and go right into their homes. They have private entrances and two bedrooms.”

Long, who has built large-scale apartment complexes in Clarence Center and Orchard Park, among others, said he picked up the engineer’s site drawings on Thursday and is prepared to go before the Village of Corfu Planning Board in the near future.

“The village has already given its strong endorsement,” he said, adding that he hopes to break ground this spring.

He said he already has enough (tenant) names to fill the first two buildings.

Currently, the site is being called Corfu Senior Apartments, but Long said that a permanent name has yet to be determined.

-- Recommended approval of an area variance requested by Zaremba Group Inc., to have 30 parking spaces (instead of the required 46) at a proposed Dollar General store in East Pembroke.

Sports continues to become a bigger part of Genesee County's tourism economy, Kelly Rapone, tourism marketing director for the Chamber of Commerce, told members of the Ways and Means Committee during an annual update on Wednesday.

For years, since the Batavia Sports Park opened, Batavia has been home of the Empire Cup soccer showcase and this year the two-weekend event will be supplemented by a third weekend of soccer for another tournament.

That additional tournament will mean an addition 4,000 room nights for local hotels and about $500,000 of local economic impact.

June is also booked solid with sports. In this case, baseball.

Genesee County has long been a top destination for Canadian golfers, though last season the number of golfers crossing the border dropped off because of an unfavorable exchange rate. The exchange rate still isn't good, Rapone said, but golfers started booking packages in January, which may be a sign that the Canadians have mentally adjusted to the new prices and are ready to make the trip anyway.

Music has also grown into a source of tourism dollars, Rapone said. The venues have grown from beyond just Darien Lake to include The Ridge, in Le Roy, entering its eighth season, and Batavia Downs.

The first concert series at the Downs last year was a success, so officials there are apparently planning on booking more shows this year.

It's not so much that the concerts sell out, Rapone said -- the concerts help increase casino traffic and lead to more room nights booked at the new hotel.

The hotel hit its first anniversary in October, Rapone said, and in the fourth quarter, as a result of the hotel being open, there was a bump in local tourism revenue in 2017.

Rapone said she believes Batavia Downs is looking to book more expo-type of events, which brings more people to town, more people into the casino, and leads to more nights booked at the hotel.

Students from Byron-Bergen Jr./Sr. High School who are participating in Sandy Auer's pottery classes traveled to Rochester today for the class's annual visit to the Flower City Arts Center, where they could experience throwing pottery for a first time on a pottery wheel. The students then work with Mrs. Auer one-on-one in class throwing their own pottery pieces. 

"It's a great experience for the students," Mrs. Auer said.

Photos and info provided by Byron-Bergen High School.

Photo and info submitted by Tobacco Free GLOW.

Press release:

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death and illness in New York State. Tobacco control representatives from Tobacco-Free GLOW Julie Calvert, Brittany Bozzer, Ben Streeter and Krysta Hansen, recently met with Assemblyman Steve Hawley at the Capitol in Albany to discuss the important tobacco control work being done in the GLOW region to save lives. 

Ben Streeter and Krysta Hansen are students at Notre Dame High School.

Genesee County has an oversupply of owner-occupied housing for the extremely low-income people and not enough for market-rate renters, according to a housing study released yesterday.

There's also a shortage -- to the point of being essentially nonexistent -- of single-family, owner-occupied housing for households with incomes of $100,000 to $150,000.

Ed Flynn, a consultant with LaBella Associates, and 24-year resident of Batavia, presented the findings of the county-commissioned housing needs assessment to a gathering of local officials and residents last night at the Old Courthouse.

Other problems facing the county are a slowly declining population and an aging population.

"The demographics and the economics are changing," Flynn said. "The community must recognize that the type of community that Batavia or Genesee County was 10 years ago has completely changed. The type of households have completely changed and we have to recognize and acknowledge that economic development does matter. So in order to avoid the current projections where there is continual population decline you really need to create jobs."

The flip side to shortages in housing is there is demand. 

There is demand for middle-income, owner-occupied, single-family housing. There is demand for smaller-unit, smaller-lot, single-family housing in the city. There is demand for market-rate rental properties.

And what people say they want in their housing of the future is housing that is ADA-accessible, with sidewalks and trails and access to alternate forms of transportation and connected to amenities and services.

"Based on the survey, we got a lot of feedback," Flynn said. "People said, 'we want more than just a house. We want a community.' 

"So let's look at some small lots, areas of compact development patterns where you can walk and where there are landscaping and smaller houses. Let's look at some downtown areas or some compact development where you can do some of these high-end houses or a mixed-income housing in the downtown areas or some strategic areas in other villages and towns."

As evidence of the demand for market-rate rentals, Flynn pointed to the new apartments that have been added to the downtown housing stock over the past few years. In each case, these apartments were snapped up immediately at rates of $1,000 to $1,500 a month.

Flynn said it will be interesting to see if that trend continues with the four new apartments in the former Newberry's building go on the market, but based on the survey data, it appears the demand for that kind of housing is still present in the City of Batavia.

According to the data gathered for the report, there are 2,070 households in the county with upper-level incomes and only 889 rental units suitable to that market.

There may be additional opportunities to rehabilitate other existing structures and housing units that meet market demands but with more than 80 percent of the housing in the county more than 50 years old, there is growing demand for new housing.

The problem in attracting new housing development, however, is the low cost of current housing.

The median single-family housing price has dropped from $115,192 in 2000 to $107,000 in 2015. Rental rates have risen only slightly, from $715 in 2000 to $724 in 2015.

The average cost of an existing housing unit is $83 per square foot. The average cost of new construction is $175 per square foot. That means an existing 1,650-square-foot house might sell for $136,950 but it would cost $288,750 (excluding developer profit and permitting fees) to build a new 1,650-square-foot house.

Without government-backed incentives, Flynn said, it will be difficult to attract developers to Genesee County to build new housing.

Those trends holding housing prices down also means owners are less likely to upgrade and improve their existing properties, whether owner-occupied or rental.

"If you have a house and you know the value is not going to change, you are probably not going to do as many updates," Flynn said.

Among the recommendations in the report is creating a countywide program to provide incentives for owners of single-family homes to rehabilitate and upgrade those units.

Over the next 20 years, there will be a demand for 4,804 additional housing units in Genesee County, according to the report.

There will be a need for 2,858 single-family units, with 1,699 on standard lots and 1,159 on small lots.  

Nearly 80 percent of the 4,804 new units will need to be rental properties, with 1,138 of those being part of multi-family complexes.

While most people, the survey found, want to live in single-family homes -- 78 percent -- there increasing interest in multi-family or small units, such as patio homes, townhouses, senior living apartments, duplexes, and apartments (89 percent).

Forty-two of the respondents said they want to move into smaller living units and 33 percent said they want lower cost housing in the future.

There is also a strong need for housing the meets the needs of people with disabilities, with 13.4 percent of the population having some sort of disability. With an aging population, that number will grow. Nearly 20 percent of the people in poverty are disabled.

For the poor, housing is often substandard or too expensive for their income levels. More than 6,800 households in the county are living with housing with problems. Examples include plumbing problems or substandard kitchen facilities. More than 20 percent of renters are paying more than one third of their income in rent and more than 20 percent are paying more than 50 percent of their income in rent.

For owner-occupied homes, there is an oversupply of extreme/very low-income units, with only 885 households qualifying at that income level and 3,355 such units in the county. 

Meanwhile, there are 15,050 households who could afford market-rate and higher owner-occupied properties but only 8,871 such units exist.

There is also demand in the low-income range -- between extremely low income and middle income -- for suitable housing.

For renters at the very low-income spectrum, there are 1,600 such households and only 565 such units available. 

Meanwhile, there is an oversupply of low-income and middle-income rental units.

"We need to consider economic development," Flynn said. "And I'm not just saying that because I like the folks at the EDC (county Economic Development Center) or other economic professionals, because if you create jobs and you create wealth you're going to create demand for housing."

Click here (PDF) for the written report.

Jaomi Delgado is indicted for the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony. It is alleged that on Dec. 20 in the City of Batavia that the defendant knowingly and unlawfully possessed a narcotic drug, cocaine, with intent to sell it. In count two, he is accused of same crime for allegedly knowingly and unlawfully possessing one or more preparations, compounds or mixtures or substances containing a narcotic drug, cocaine, and these were of an aggregate weight of one-half ounce or more. In count three, Delgado is accused of the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, also a Class B felony, for allegedly selling cocaine in the City of Batavia on Dec. 20.

Samuel R. Baudanza is accused of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony. It is alleged that on Aug. 22 in the Town of Pavilion that he knowingly and unlawfully possessed a narcotic drug -- cocaine -- with intent to sell it.

Isaac C. King is indicted for the crime of assault in the second degree, a Class D violent felony. It is alleged that on July 31, having been charged or convicted of a crime and while confined in a correctional facility -- the Genesee County Jail at 14 W. Main St., Batavia -- that he intentionally caused physical injury to another person. In count two, the District Attorney accused King of fourth-degree grand larceny and alleged that on that date he stole property from a person at the jail.

A big part of what makes Genesee Community College special are the 50 or more student clubs available to enrich any student's college experience.

On Tuesday, Feb. 13, each of the student clubs will be showcased at the annual Club Fair. Each club will have representatives at booths from 11:30 a.m. 'til 2 p.m. in the Batavia Campus Forum. All GCC students are encouraged to visit the club booths, ask questions, join the clubs and "Go for the Gold"!

Speaking of the Gold, this year, there will be something a little extra at the Club Fair. GCC's Multicultural Communications Club will host Olympic Gold Medalist Cathy Turner! Turner, in photo above, will be at the Club Fair to meet the students, sign autographs and pose for photos!

Turner is a two-time Gold Medalist in short track speed skating (1992 and 1994), and a Silver and Bronze Medalist as anchor of the 3000m Relay Team. She is one of only two people ever to win Gold Medals in consecutive Winter Olympic Games. With a total of four medals, she ranks fourth for the most medals ever won by a Winter Olympian.

Multi-talented and outgoing, Turner enjoys combining her Olympic success and her amazing story to motivate people of all ages whenever she has the opportunity. Nine years after retiring from her sport to pursue a professional singing career, Turner returned to speed skating and competed in the 1992 Olympic Games. Her childhood dream of winning an Olympic Gold Medal was now within her grasp.

Critics scoffed at the notion that a woman in her 20s could overcome such a tremendous setback, especially being away from the sport so long. Turner proved them wrong by making her dream a reality, winning both Gold and Silver medals in the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. Draped in the American flag, Turner took her much-deserved "Victory Lap" with the whole world watching.

She retired immediately after the 1992 Games, only to make a stunning comeback just seven months prior to the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Once again, her amazing determination and strong will prevailed as she added two more medals to her collection -- a Gold and Bronze. Once again, Turner challenged herself and came out of retirement in 1998 and earned fifth place in the 3000m Relay in her third Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Turner wrote a chapter in a book entitled, "Awaken the Olympian Within." Her chapter is entitled "See it, believe it, be it." To Turner, "See it, believe it, be it" were essential steps in fulfilling her lifelong dream.

Turner now works as a database administrator at PAYCHEX in Rochester and focuses on her two daughters Britney, 18 and Bayli, 17. Like their Mom, both are very athletic and have participated in many sports including Tae Kwon Do (with Mom), skiing, tennis, gymnastics and of course, speed skating. Bayli is currently a level-10 (out of 10) gymnast, which now has Turner traveling to meets on weekends just like her own parents did for her. Her daughter, Britney, was on the high school tennis team since middle school and is now a sophomore at Ithaca College with a double major, Film Production and German.

File photo from the April 29, 2017 ribbon-cutting event at Woodward Memorial Library in Le Roy, marking the opening of its new Children's Room.

Press release:

The Woodward Memorial Library in Le Roy is hosting its 21st annual Dessert In The Stacks fundraiser from 7 to 8:30 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 9. This is an adults-only event.

"This is the first year back since our Children's Room renovation and we're very excited!" says Samantha Bortle, senior library clerk at Woodward library.

Local restaurants, bakeries, caterers and stores are donating desserts and attendees will get to sample as many of them as they would like. This year there will be more savory treats to choose from -- including pizza! And, as always, they'll have coffee and hot tea available.

Tickets are $8 each and can be purchased at the front desk of the library through 5 p.m. on Friday! Hours until the event are: tonight, open until 8:30; Thursday, 9 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.; and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The library is located at 7 Wolcott St. in the Village of Le Roy. 

Here's a list of donors for the event:

• Gre’gry’s Bakery, Bergen
• Wegmans of Brockport
• The Divine Tree, Le Roy
• Oliver’s Candies, Batavia
• Mooney’s, Le Roy
• Dessert First, Corfu
• Buttercrumbs Bakery, Corfu 
• Gam’s Simply Sweet and Savory Bakery, Batavia 
• Weldon Service and Repair, Le Roy
• D & R Depot, Le Roy 
• Elegant Cakes, Le Roy 
• LB Grand, Le Roy 
• TOPS Market, Le Roy 
• Red Osier Landmark Restaurant, Stafford
• BJ’s Wholesale Club, Batavia
• Capish! Brick Oven Pizza & Ristorante, Le Roy
• Pastore’s Pizzeria, Le Roy
• Le Roy Country Club, Le Roy
• Farmer’s Creekside & Tavern Inn, Le Roy

Dealing with the state's new "Raise the Age" rule for handling 16- and 17-year-old criminal defendants is still a "work in progress," says County Manager Jay Gsell, both for the county and for the state.

And the fact that the state doesn't totally have its act together is one of the most frustrating things about the new law, Gsell said.

"This legislation has been in the works for about four or five years," Gsell said. "So why is the state so ill-prepared at this point? If this has been something that's been on their radar screen for the last four or five years, that to me is where the state, again, has has come up short."

The new law creates an "adolescent offender" (AO) class of defendant, putting 16- and 17-year-olds between youthful offenders and adult offenders. New York is one of the final two states to recognize that teenage brains -- really, human brains into the mid-20s, according to neuroscientists -- are not fully developed. Adolescents are more prone to rash and poor decisions, peer pressure, and more susceptible to not fully appreciating the consequences of their actions. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the new legislation into law in April. 

"By raising the age of criminal responsibility, this legislation will reduce crime, recidivism, and costs to the state, and help us deliver on the New York promise to advance social justice and affirm our core progressive values," Cuomo said at the time.

"Providing young people with age-appropriate facilities and rehabilitation will restore hope and promise and help them turn their lives around to build a better future for themselves, their families and for our great state."

What the law means for counties is that once a potential adolescent offender is arrested, the arresting officer must stay with the individual constantly until the youth is in an appropriate holding facility. The AO cannot come into even visual contact with an adult offender. This means special holding rooms at the courthouse.

But more significantly, the county will need a place to hold AO offenders who are sentenced to less than a year in jail. They cannot be placed with the general jail population. They also must be provided enhanced services and evidence-based programs. 

The county currently has no such facility.

Gsell said the county is in talks with the other GLOW counties about a possible joint facility. 

Where the state's guidelines breakdown is there is yet to be created a final document of requirements for such a facility, though New York's counties are expected to have these facilities open and running by October of this year.

"There are a lot of complications going around with this coming out, and the state itself has not done much on it in terms of draft regulations," Gsell said. "There are specialized secure detention regulations out now but we're in the month of February and they're still in the draft form."

Gsell said whether the county, or counties, build new or repurpose an existing building, it will take at least two years of planning, financing and construction to get such a facility open.

Supposedly, the state will reimburse 100 percent of the county's "eligible" expenses.

"Pardon my rampant skepticism, but I don't buy into the notion that the state will blanket cover 100 percent of all eligible expenses because they can keep changing that bar and keep moving it, which is what they've done in the past," Gsell said.

And at some point, reimbursements, based on the state's history, are likely to dry up.

"Every year this kind of funding is subject to appropriation, a.k.a., the state decides that they can't do this anymore because, as they're dealing with right now, a four billion dollar deficit in his proposed budget that in three years will grow to eight billion dollars a year. It is potentially likely that, as they have done in the past, they will tell us, 'well, you know, we had the funding at one time but we can't afford that, so counties you're back on your own again.' "

As for a potential location for a secure detention facility -- apparently, not called a juvenile hall -- Gsell threw out one possibility: the former armory on State Street in Batavia.

"It's already got that secured fencing," Gsell said. "It's already a building that is set up with a kitchen and has small living quarters, has an open area. Stranger things happen. But it's not owned by a public entity anymore. It's a private-sector building but the owner doesn't seem to have any plans."

There may also be facilities within the GLOW region that the state already owns that could be repurposed.

"The Albion Correctional Facility probably has a lot of space," Gsell said. "You know, you're the state. You're making up the rules. You're the ones that say you have the money. Spend it more wisely than just having all of us go out and start creating 57 of these little things all over the state."

The state is already repurposing a facility to house 16- and 17-year-old offenders who receive sentences longer than one year.

This demand for an AO facility comes at a time when the state is already leaning on the county about building a new jail, a project will cost as much as $52 million and the county will largely be on its own to fund.  

A new jail will cost about $285,000 per bed and will contain 125 to 175 beds.

"Our biggest consideration is, we've got to figure out what to do to pay for a new county jail, and how big it's going to be, sometime in the next four or five years," Gsell said.

The county has two committees currently working on AO-related issues, one involving several county department heads and staff members, and one involving the leaders in the county's criminal justice system.

These two committees, Gsell said, will help the county both realize what is possible, what is necessary, and, especially with the committee on the criminal justice side, guide the county away, hopefully, from potential pitfalls.

The judges can also help come up with guidelines so that some of the AOs -- an estimated seven to 10 a year -- who might otherwise get sentences of less than a year -- can be set up on programs similar to Genesee Justice or provided with electronic monitors. Such diversion programs will help save the county money.

Submitted photos and press release:

At the Batavia City School District Board of Education meeting on Feb. 6, several students and staff members were presented with achievement awards for their exemplary work and contributions.

Nathaniel Barber is an Outstanding Student!

In recognition of his demonstrated kindness, compassion, and respectfulness to all staff and fellow students, kindergartener Nathaniel Barber was presented with an Outstanding Student Award by Board of Education president Patrick Burk.

He was nominated by Kelly Heizmann, Lucille DiSanto, and Shannon Reiss who wrote, “At six years old, Nathaniel is a model of the core beliefs we hope to instill in our students at Batavia City Schools. Nathaniel comes to school every day with a smile on his face and ready to learn. No matter how challenging the task, Nathaniel approaches everything with a positive attitude and puts forth his best effort.

"During his busy days, there are times Nathaniel has to leave a task incomplete to attend one of his therapy sessions; when he returns to class, he is not only ready but wants to finish the work he left behind. This is just one example of his strong work ethic. Nathaniel takes newly learned skills from a therapy session and independently applies them to all areas of his school day.

"For example, it is not uncommon for him to independently use or correct his pencil grip in speech therapy to the correct way that he was shown in occupational therapy. Anyone who knows Nathaniel would tell you that he is respectful, compassionate, and kind to all. This is shown in his respect to our school and others by following directions and classroom rules.

"Often times Nathaniel will rub the shoulder or put his arm around a peer who may be struggling or having a difficult day. You can count on him to try to encourage or cheer up others. His kindness is seen by all who know him. His positive attitude, eagerness to learn, and happy state of mind are infectious to all of us who are lucky enough to know and work with him.”

Savahanna Vanderveer is an Outstanding Student!

In recognition of her kindness, compassion, and respectfulness to all staff and fellow students of the Batavia City School District, Savahanna Vanderveer was presented with an Outstanding Student Award by Board of Education president Patrick. She was nominated by Mary Kanaley and Eileen Peterson, who wrote, “Kindness and perseverance are just two character traits that come to mind when thinking about Savahanna. She brings a smile to everyone's face and a positive attitude to the class with her friendly, bubbly personality. She is always looking for more ways to help friends and teachers. Savahanna works hard in all areas and tries her best in everything she does. Mrs. Kanaley and Mrs. Peterson are so proud to nominate Savahanna for this award for all she has done to be a wonderful friend and student this year!”

Jeremy Mettler is an Outstanding Staff Member!

In recognition of his valuable contribution to the staff and students of the Batavia City School District, BHS Social Studies teacher Jeremy Mettler was presented with an Outstanding Staff Award by Board of Education president Patrick Burk.

He was nominated by Dr. Corey, who wrote, “Mr. Mettler is very passionate about at-risk students. He organized a poverty simulator exercise for Middle School and High School teachers so that they would learn more about how it feels to live life in poverty.

"The event was well-received by all and brings a new level of awareness about the needs of many of our students. He will help facilitate future events for teacher aides and all teachers.”

Jessica Levins is an Outstanding Staff Member!

In recognition of her valuable contribution to the community, staff, and students, Jessica Levins was presented with an Outstanding Staff Award by Board of Education president Patrick Burk.

She was nominated by Kelly Garner, who wrote, “Miss Levins works in the Counseling Center as a counseling assistant and also spends one day a week interning as she works toward her bachelor's in social work and eventually a master's in school counseling.

"In November, she was asked to help with the annual holiday donations at the High School. In addition to calling every family to procure wish lists, Miss Levins created all of the stars for our BHS Giving Tree, organized every donation that came in, and kept in constant communication with the families we helped this holiday season.

"She spent much of her own personal time to accomplish these tasks, made her own generous gift donations to the cause, and also helped deliver the gifts to families.
Miss Levins truly went above and beyond to make a difference for our families who were most in-need this holiday season.

"Because of her outstanding and selfless work, we were able to provide clothing, shoes, toys, and wrapping paper for 37 students from 13 different families this holiday season. From her outstanding connections with our students, to her work as a freshman class advisor, and now this incredible gift to our community -- Jess genuinely takes care of BCSD each and every day.

Jessica Levins and Kelly Garner are Outstanding Staff Members!

For going above and beyond to provide support to those in need, and for their compassion and leadership while serving others, Counseling Center assistant and intern Jessica Levins and BHS counselor Kelly Garner were presented with Outstanding Staff Awards by Board of Education president Patrick Burk.

They were nominated by Mark Warren, who wrote, “Kelly Garner and Jessica Levins stepped up to organize a Giving Tree for the High School staff to purchase gifts for District students in need. Their efforts allowed families in the District to help provide clothes and "wish" items to their children during the holiday season. The faculty and staff did an excellent job supporting the program, but without Mrs. Garner and Miss Levin’s compassion and leadership, it would not have been as successful.”

Ann Marie Wood is an Outstanding Staff Member!

In recognition of her valuable contribution to the staff, students, and community, Ann Marie Wood was presented with an Outstanding Staff Award by Board of Education president Patrick Burk.

She was nominated by Andrea Smith, who wrote, “Mrs. Wood serves as a substitute in many positions throughout the District. She willingly takes on the job with a smile and handles any position with dedication and enthusiasm, regardless of the challenges she may face.

"She comes to the Middle School to sub in the offices, as an aide, and even as a teacher. Mrs Wood recently served as a substitute for my Spanish classes at BMS and I could not have asked for a better person.

"Ann Marie is dedicated to the students and staff of BCSD and to the Batavia community. We are blessed to have her as part of our staff!”

Press release:

As part of our continued community partnership, the Batavia Police Department offers the following services to landlords in an effort to help them choose the best possible tenants and evaluate police responses to their properties.

These services were developed in direct response to feedback the department received from landlords and directly address the concerns they had. Below are the listed services and information on both programs.

Property Owner FOIL (Freedom Of Information Law) Request – This service will tell landlords how many times the Batavia Police Department has responded to a property within the time frame requested. After the initial request, we will provide a monthly contact summary every month on the second Tuesday of the month. Landlords can have the information emailed to them at no cost. For a hard copy, a charge of $.25 per page will be assessed. Copies of actual reports will not be provided.

Tenant Background Check – This service will show landlords the times a potential tenant has been arrested. This information will only show arrests and not how many times the potential tenant has had police contact. The information provided will include arrests from the Batavia Police Department ONLY and will cover the previous five years. The potential tenant will have to submit the background check form, in person, as we must verify their identity. Cost for this service is $10 which will need to be collected from the potential tenant at the time the form is turned in. The background form cannot be turned in by the landlord.

Copies of the above request forms can be found under the “Police Department” section on the City of Batavia’s website located at http://www.batavianewyork.com/Files. Forms can also be provided via email, U.S. Mail or by stopping at Batavia Police Headquarters located at 10 W. Main St., Batavia, NY 14020. Results can be sent via email, U.S. Mail or in person.

An accident has knocked down a utility pole on Cockram Road, Byron, west of Byron-Holley Road.

The pole is completely blocking the road.

No injuries are reported.

Byron and South Byron fire departments are responding.

There have been another 100 flu cases reported in Genesee County in the past two weeks, bringing the season total to 250.

At this point in the season last year, said Public Health Director Paul Pettit, there were 53 confirmed cases.

The flu season started Sept. 1.

The local increase in flu cases is consistent with reports of more flu cases all over the country.

Pettit encourages everybody who has not been vaccinated to get vaccinated. There are reports that this year's vaccine is less effective against the most common strain of flu this season, but it does work on other strains and health officials say the vaccination will lessen the severity of symptoms.

Press release:

“The New Tax Laws -- How It Affects You and Your Business” will be the subject of a small business workshop to be hosted by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

This is one of a series of business workshops held in conjunction with the United States Small Business Administration and the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

The workshops are open to all Chamber and non-Chamber businesses and their employees and will offer expert advice from experienced business professionals designed to help small businesses succeed and grow.

“2018 ushers in the most sweeping changes in our tax laws in recent history,” said Tom Turnbull, Chamber president. “What will that mean for you and your business?  Samantha Shafer and Jonathan Herdlein of The Bonadio Group will answer those questions and give an overview of these still evolving tax law changes.”

The workshops are held at the Chamber of Commerce office, 8276 Park Road, Batavia. The sessions will run from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and includes a question-and-answer period. Businesses may attend any one or all of the workshops.

Cost for non-Chamber members is $10 for each attendee. Chamber members and Batavia Business Improvement District members may attend all sessions free of charge but should make reservations to insure space.

To reserve a seat in any workshop or for more information, contact Kelly Bermingham at 585-343-7440 or by email at kbermingham@geneseeny.com.