Public Notice:
TAKE NOTICE that there will be a Special Meeting of the Pembroke Town Board, to be held at 6:45 p.m. on Monday, March 16, 2015 at Pembroke Town Hall, 1145 Main Road, Corfu, NY for the purpose of discussion of Village of Corfu Dissolution.
Press release:
“The Assembly’s one-house budget resolution all but ignores the needs of Upstate families,” Hawley said. “Unfortunately, a large portion of economic development funding was gutted from the budget proposal, funding that my district has used to upgrade its infrastructure, help struggling companies stay afloat, and expand and foster community projects. It includes a crippling minimum-wage hike, which will surely stifle business expansion, restrict the ability to hire new employees, and raise prices for groceries and other consumer items."
“I have been fighting tooth and nail to restore the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) education cuts that were unfairly taken from our school districts in 2010, and our House’s budget resolution repays $150 million less than it did last year toward restoration of these cuts. Furthermore, Assembly Majority members had yet another chance to pass meaningful ethics reform and adopt Gov. Cuomo’s proposals. They ignored many of the governor’s reforms and have left New York vulnerable to more abuses of power and taxpayer money. We can and should do better for Upstate families, and I will work with my legislative colleagues to make sure this does not stand.”
U.S. News & World Report: Raise Legal Smoking Age to 21, U.S. Expert Panel Says
Press release:
The New York State Senate has passed its one-house budget resolution. State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has issued the following statement:
“Today, the New York State Senate took the next step in getting a budget done on time. The Senate budget restores $15 million for Roswell Park Cancer Institute after the Governor proposed cutting state funding for the Institute by 15 percent. I remain committed to working with my colleagues in the Western New York Delegation to ensure this funding restoration is included in the final budget. The one-house resolution also proposes the most property tax relief in state history, a $200 million small business package and elimination of the energy tax surcharge. It ends the notorious Gap Elimination Adjustment and its devastating impact on our local school districts. Overall, the Senate budget is a responsible fiscal plan that makes investments for a brighter future for Western New Yorkers.”
Gerald Jacob Farrell, 21, of Southeast 170th Street, Weirsdale, Fla., was arrested on a warrant stemming from a third-degree criminal mischief charge. Farrell turned himself in, was arraigned in City Court and jailed without bail.
Erica M. Raphael, 30, of Oak Orchard Road, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a petit larceny charge. Raphael turned herself in and was released on her own recognizance.
Alex Patrick Brasky, 24, of Clifton Avenue, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and speeding. Brasky was stopped at 5:01 p.m. Wednesday on Route 33, Stafford, by Deputy Chad Minuto and allegedly found in possession of marijuana and a glass smoking pipe with marijuana residue.
Press release:
No one has yet claimed a wedding ring found amid money collected during the City of Batavia Fire Department fill the boot drive August 14, 2009 benefiting Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The ring, inscribed to "Robin," can be claimed by calling City fire headquarters at (585) 345-6375 or contacting Adam Palumbo at apalumbo@batavianewyork.com.
Press release:
State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has been named Deputy Majority Leader for Economic Development as part of the Senate Republican Majority’s Leadership Team. The new leadership position involves more responsibilities to develop economic development policies.
“As a member of the Senate Republican Conference, we have made some progress in strengthening our state’s financial health, and its economy, over the past few years. This new leadership position is an opportunity to advocate for creating more jobs and growing our economy, particularly in Upstate and Western New York,” Ranzenhofer said. “I look forward to working on policy issues, such as tax relief for businesses and repealing burdensome regulations, to attain these important goals.”
Senator Ranzenhofer also serves as Chairman of the Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee. He is a member of six Senate Standing Committees, including Agriculture, Education, Finance, Judiciary, Racing, Gaming & Wagering, and Transportation. Senator Ranzenhofer is a member of the Senate Joint Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction, as well as the Select Committee for Science, Technology, Incubation & Entrepreneurship.
The 61st Senate District encompasses the towns of Amherst, Clarence and Newstead and the villages of Akron and Williamsville in Erie County; all of Genesee County; and the towns of Chili and Riga, the Village of Churchville and part of the City of Rochester in Monroe County.
Press release:
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) announced today that he will sponsor a bill to provide tax credits against New York State Thruway tolls for farmers who travel the highway. Assembly Bill 2414 provides a tax credit of 75 percent of the Thruway tolls assumed by farmers in order to allow them more profits when selling their products across the state. Hawley said this is a vital piece of legislation that will help sustain the farms in his Western New York district and allow them to sell crops statewide.
“Growing up on our family’s farm, I know firsthand the struggles our farmers face every year,” Hawley said. “Profits are not guaranteed and much of the business relies not only on the ability to produce a high yield of crops, but also the ability to transport those products across the state and sell them at a variety of outlets. Thruway tolls are continuing to rise, and large-box trucks and farm vehicles are not allowed on smaller highways. Because of this, farmers are losing a large amount of their profits in tolls. This bill would allow greater intrastate commerce while also financially supporting those who feed our state.”
The legislation is a bipartisan effort currently awaiting action in the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee. Under the bill, to receive the tax credit, farm vehicles cannot exceed 26,000 pounds and must be controlled and operated by a farmer for the transport of agriculture products, farm supplies or farm machinery.
GCC is hosting the annual Tech Wars, an engineering competition for students from schools throughout the GLOW region.
The annual Mock Trial Competition is under way and a set of preliminary rounds were completed last night at the Genesee County Courthouse.
Scores last night: Attica over Elba, 49-44; Attica over Albion, 55-51; Pembroke over Alexander, 54-49; Batavia over Byron-Bergen, 59-56; Pembroke over Attica, 51-50; Attica over Alexander, 58-57; Batavia over Albion, 54-50; Byron-Bergen over Elba, 54-53
A preliminary round was held last week at the Wyoming County Courthouse, with another seven teams competing.
The standings after the two preliminary rounds (top eight teams move on to quarterfinals Monday and Wednesday at the Genesee County Courthouse and the Wyoming County Courthouse):
The semi-finals will be March 23 at the Orleans County Courthouse; the finals are March 25 at the Genesee County Courthouse.
Taken this evening at the Tonawanda spillway behind the County Courthouse.
There are four people who applied for the opening on the City Court bench and all four will be interviewed by the City Council tonight Monday, according to Council President Brooks Hawley.
The council will meet in executive session for the series of interviews.
Hawley said these four are the only candidates and no other city business will be conducted at that meeting.
The names of the candidates have not been released.
The city is looking for a candidate to assume the opening in City Court following the retirement from the job of Michael Del Plato.
Del Plato will concentrate his time on his private law practice.
CORRECTION: We originally said the meeting is tonight. It's Monday.
Amy E. D'Amico, 25, of Osterhout Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and following too closely. D'Amico was arrested by Officer Matthew Wojtaszczyk following a report of an accident on East Main Street, Batavia, at 11:05 p.m. on March 5.
Emily J. Smart, 32, of Akron, is charged with petit larceny. Smart is accused of stealing merchandise valued at $93 from Walmart.
Norman S. Malkimos-Gonzalez, 28, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Malkimos-Gonzalez is accused of shoving a person during an argument. He was jailed on $750 bail.
Tiffany A. Reed, 20, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Reed was arrested by Batavia PD after she was allegedly found in possession of marijuana during a home visit by probation officers.
Ronald J. Murray Jr., 20, of Wood Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant. Murray was arrested by State Police and turned over to Batavia PD. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.
Ronald Allan Roberson, 61, of Norwood Lane, Orchard Park, is charged with possession of more than 400 untaxed cigarettes and speeding. Roberson was stopped at 10:40 a.m. Monday on Route 77 by Deputy Patrick Reeves.
Press release:
The Crossroads House has received a $2,500 donation from Genesee County’s Harkins Dairy Farm and America’s Farmers Grow Communities, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. The donation will help the organization cover operational costs.
The mission of the house is to make the final days of their residents as comfortable, respectful and dignified as possible. Crossroads House is a two-bed comfort care home that provides 24-hour care to residents in the county who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and who have three months or less to live.
“Our organizational motto is ‘a gift to the community made possible by the community,’ ” said Director Jeff Allen. “Family farms such as the Harkins Dairy are integral community partners. When the community gives, it allows us to give back through our services.”
For five years, America’s Farmers Grow Communities has collaborated with farmers to donate more than $16.5 million to more than 7,300 community organizations across rural America. This year winning farmers will direct another $3.3 million to nonprofits to help fight rural hunger, purchase life-saving fire and EMS equipment, support ag youth leadership programs, buy much needed classroom resources, and so much more.
America’s Farmers Grow Communities is part of the America’s Farmers initiative. Since 2010, the America’s Farmers campaign and programs have advocated on behalf of farmers and their efforts to meet society’s needs through agriculture. Today, consumers are more interested than ever in agriculture and how food is grown. Consider joining the conversation and helping to raise awareness about agriculture. Learn more at FoodDialogues.com.
A sister program in the America’s Farmers effort, Grow Rural Education, is currently in its farmer nomination phase. Farmers interested in supporting math and science education in their communities should visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com from now through April 1 to learn how.
Photo: Jenny Harkins (winning farmer), Nate Holt (Monsanto Rep), Jeff Allen (Crossroads House, executive director) and Helen Whaley (Crossroads House volunteer).
Press release:
The Batavia Ramparts have placed all three of their Tier III Travel hockey teams in the New York State Championship ship tournament being held March 13th-15th in Amherst. This is a historical event for the 36-year-old organization.
Batavia’s PeeWee (12U), Bantam (14U) and Midget (16U) teams have all qualified as the first seeds for this event. PeeWee coach Jeff Bower, Bantam coach Mike Reich, and Midget coach Marc Staley have worked their teams hard this season and given their teams the tools they needed to succeed.
The Midget and Bantam teams finished their seasons in first place in League play with records of 12-1-1 for Midget, and Bantam 19-1-1. Although the PeeWee’s finished 3rd in League play with a record of 11-4-1 they qualified first for the state tournament by losing only one of their qualifying games.
The Ramparts Hockey organization has only two state titles since its inception, and has never placed three teams in the tournament, let alone three first seeds. Coaches, parents and the Batavia Ramparts organization are proud of their tremendous accomplishments. Thanks also to our team sponsors, Reed Eye Associates -- PeeWee III, Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep -- Bantam III, and Logo It -- Midget III.
Press release:
Two students from the Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center, Morgan Good, a senior and an Agri-Business Academy student from Pavilion Central Schools, and Emily Borkholder, a senior and an Animal Science student from Oakfield-Alabama Central Schools, recently attended the New York State Farm Bureau Taste of New York Lobby Day and Reception in Albany. Holly Partridge, Batavia CTE Animal Science instructor; Kerry Richardson, Batavia CTE Agri-Business Academy instructor; Catherine Bennett, Batavia CTE assistant principal, escorted the students.
During this event, members of the New York State Assembly and Senate met with businesses, farms and educational institutions that rely on New York state agriculture to run their business.
“We learned how much agriculture drives our economy in New York state. One of the most interesting experiences was when we attended two legislative meetings with Senator Michael Razenhofer and Assemblyman Michael DenDekker. We discussed what needs to be changed in our state to help farmers become more productive,” Emily said.
“We also spoke with other senators and assemblymen from throughout New York state and helped them to understand and increase awareness of the needs of farmers from our area,” Morgan added.
Throughout the conference exhibit time, the group showcased duck eggs versus chicken eggs in baking, the important collaboration between the Batavia CTE Animal Science and Culinary Arts programs and how the farm-to-table concept is incorporated into the curriculum of these two programs.
Press release:
The region’s largest seasonal employer is looking to fill 2,000 open positions across its operations, including amusement park, water park, lodging, entertainment, food, and retail departments.
Darien Lake has already begun accepting applications for the upcoming season with some positions starting as early as April. The park will open for the 2015 season on May 9 with full, daily operations beginning June 15.
“With two thrilling new rides being added to the park this season, we’re in need of more energetic, and fun-loving employees than ever before,” said Darien Lake General Manager Chris Thorpe. “Darien Lake is a great career-starting opportunity for all Western New Yorkers as our team members routinely develop experience in guest service, operational processes and small business entrepreneurship."
Immediate opportunities are available in food service, park services, ride operations, retail, accommodations and campground housekeeping. Other opportunities are available in games, gift shop sales, aquatic operations, skilled trades and park maintenance, entertainment, guest services, security, and safety. Darien Lake is seeking energetic, friendly applicants of all backgrounds who are interested in helping us create memorable experiences for our guests.
Interested applicants can apply online at www.DarienLake.com/jobs or call the Darien Lake Job Line at 585-599-5108.
Task force members have been asked to consider five options for the future headquarters of the Batavia Police Department. At Tuesday's meeting, none of those sites appeared to be entirely satisfactory and members asked consultants to give them data on two more locations.
Committee members are interested in taking a closer look at potential locations in the parking lot between Bank Street and City Centre and at the former Wiard Plow factory location on Swan Street.
A chief advantage of both locations is they are outside the floodplain, which means construction costs could be at least $1 million cheaper, and perhaps $1.5 million cheaper.
The discussion of the alternate locations arose after consultants went through a spreadsheet of potential costs of the original five options.
The five options and their potential costs:
Among the biggest variables in cost are associated with elevating locations within the floodplain (the top three locations) and mitigating for potential flooding.
The first two locations have higher costs associated with environmental testing, too.
City Manager Jason Molino also presented the committee with information on potential grants and an overview of debt service and municipal bonds.
If the city took on debt for $11 million, the debt service over a 30-year term would be $600,000, which is within the city's current debt load capacity.
The city is building a capital reserve fund to help pay for projects such as this, and with the pursuit of financing at least two years away, the amount of cash on hand to help pay for the building will likely increase, reducing the amount of money that would need to be borrowed.
The city could reduce the amount paid in the early years of the financing agreement to as little as $100,000 annually through the use of what's known as bond anticipation notes. These interest-only notes can last as much as five years in lieu of issuing municipal bonds.
BANs would be helpful while the city pays down existing bonds before taking on a heavier debt.
Reducing debt and growing the capital reserve would help reduce the amount of bonds the city would need to sell in order to fully finance the project.
Committee member Marc Staley noted that a growing local economy would also help make a project like this easier for the city to handle financially and expressed some frustration with obstructionists who attempt to block the city's growth efforts.
"'The whole thing gets a lot more tenable with sales tax growth or growth in property assessments, but the whole thing gets swatted down by some," Staley said. "Like Jason said, you can't cut your way to prosperity. You can't develop a community unless you have a viable economic environment. It goes hand-in-hand with what we're trying to do."
The amount the city needs to finance could also be reduced by state and federal grants.
There's up to $1 million in potential grants available for projects such as this and Molino said further research may yield other grant opportunities.
The grants are competitive, which is why there is no guarantee the city will receive one for the project.
Among the advantages of the Alva Place and Swan Street alternate locations are they can include basements, which would help reduce costs and allow for some police functions to be more secure.
Chief Shawn Heubusch expressed some concern about the traffic volume on Bank Street if the location was in the City Centre parking lot, which would also reduce available parking in the area.
There was some talk of placing the building where a potential intersection of an extended Jackson Street could meet Alva Place. (Extending Jackson Street to the north has been proposed previously in other economic development discussions.)
Swan Street would provide patrols with easy access to both Ellicott Street and Main Street though the location would lack the public visibility of the other proposed locations. The three-acre parcel would provide the department plenty of room for potential expansion if the city grows, however.
The project consultants will work up a cost analysis for each location and present it to the committee at its meeting next month.
The committee is supposed to have its recommendation ready by July 1, but some committee members expressed concern there is still a lot of work to do. There may be a request later to extend the deadline.
To keep a local ambulance service, and the perception, if not the reality, of quicker response times to medical calls, Le Roy residents may be asked to consider a tax increase.
The tax increase has become known, after a meeting Saturday where the issue was discussed, as the "price of a pizza" question.
The comparison comes from an observation by John Condidorio, who deduced that with the average assessed value of a property in Le Roy at $100,000, an increase of 17 cents per thousand comes to another $17 a year on local property tax bills.
That, he said, is the price of a pizza. A small price to pay, he suggested, for local service.
"Stuff happens," said Condidorio, a detective with Le Roy PD. "Stuff happens quick. It happens significantly and, believe it or not, it may happen to you, so that $17 a year may be the saving grace so you're not laying out on that ice for 20 minutes. You may only have to lay on that ice for five minutes, because you slip and fell and broke your hip or broke your ankle, or whatever. It's a long, long time waiting for that ambulance. I've been there, I've seen it, I've done it, and it sucks. Really."
His boss, Chief Chris Hayward recalled that 45 years ago the entire reason the Le Roy Ambulance Service was created was concern over response times.
The central question still hasn't changed, he said.
Back then, the two hospitals in Batavia maintained ambulance services and rigs were based in Batavia. It would take 15 to 20 minutes for an ambulance to reach Le Roy.
At least one person's death in 1970 was attributed to the slow response time, Hayward said.
These days, there are private ambulance services available, such as the nonprofit Mercy EMS and for-profit Rural Metro, among others, that could provide a lower cost alternative for the residents of Le Roy.
Bill Schutt, general manager for Mercy EMS, and Gene Chisholm, from Rural Metro, were at Saturday's meeting.
Both said if the Le Roy service went away, they would be able to base an ambulance at the Tountas Avenue LAS location and provide a similar level of service for Le Roy.
That sounded pretty good to Bryan Monacelli, who suggested the town open up a request-for-proposal process so companies could bid on a contract to be the ambulance provider for Le Roy.
"I sympathize that Le Roy Ambulance has a strong local history, but if private industry could come in and provide a better or comparable service for less money, as a taxpayer, as somebody with kids here, that's what I would do," Monacelli said.
There would be some nuances of difference between what LAS offers and what others might offer.
The current service owns two ambulances and a fly car. Except in rare circumstances, the ambulances respond only to calls within the town. There are transports to Rochester hospitals at times, and to UMMC, but usually one LAS ambulance is always in Le Roy.
Schutt said if Mercy were serving Le Roy, it would park an ambulance at Tountas Avenue, but that ambulance would respond to other calls on the eastern side of the county. If it did leave Le Roy, another ambulance would be dispatched from Batavia to backfill.
Le Roy Ambulance serves 8,500 residents and responded to 1,200 calls in 2014.
The cost of the service has increased over the years and currently the service operates at annual loss of $20,000 to $45,000 a year.
The town has been bridging some of the shortfall, but can't continue to pick up the slack without a tax increase. The suggested increase would raise $60,000 for the service.
There's no certainty, in the current healthcare climate, that costs won't continue to escalate, which would mean tax increases.
Lloyd Hogle pointed out that if local residents decided to eliminate the ambulance service, there would be no bringing it back if they later changed their minds.
Bill Kettle, who led the discussion, said community leaders are trying to collect as much input and feedback from Le Roy residents as possible before there's a decision on what to do about ambulance service in Le Roy.
John Deleo and Kathy Briggs had one word for those who think the City of Batavia should invest in its future: No.
On a pair of resolutions aimed at improving the quality of life and business climate in Batavia, Deleo and Briggs steadfast stalwarts in opposition, decried the expenditure of public money on the projects.
Each resolution passed by votes of 7-2.
The resolutions passed by the council extend the economic development services agreement for two years with Batavia Development Corp. and provide Vibrant Batavia with two years to become self-sustaining.
There was one growth-related measure that garnered yes votes from Deleo and Briggs. Deleo made a motion, seconded by Briggs, to eliminate the assistant city manager position.
The motion failed 2-7.
Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian, outspoken as always, extolled the virtues of economic development and the work of Vibrant Batavia.
"We need all the development we can get," Christian said. "We need all the revenue, we need the sales base, we need everything we can get. We need everything working this year at this time because if we don't go forward, we're going to go backwards. We're going to be in a hole and we're never going to get out."
Prior to the meeting, council members received a memo from City Manager Jason Molino called "Budget Sustainability," which made the case for the city investing in economic development and neighborhoods.
For the past several weeks, budget discussions have been dominated by voices advocating for slashing in the three areas of city spending intended to help the city grow: The assistant city manager position, the BDC and Vibrant Batavia.
Molino's memo argued that without investment in growth, Batavia will be doomed to decline.
"Public revenue needs an employed community, so the right question is not necessarily where should we be trimming the City workforce budget, but rather, the right question is: Are City resources optimally structured to reposition Batavia as a great place to raise a family, start and operate a profitable business, and in general, appeal to families," wrote Molino.
Pierluigi Cipollone, a small businessman, argued in favor of investment over retrenchment.
"We've got to make an investment," Cipollone said. "Mr. Molino sent out a memo talking to the revenue side of the profit and loss of the balance sheet. We need to invest to get what we want for Batavia. In the old days, we had civic groups that did a lot of what we want, but those civic groups have gone away for the most part. We need to get some of that back. When the pride returns, businesses will return."
Deleo said that he was both being responsive to his constituents and standing by the cost-cutting promises of his campaign by opposing the growth initiatives.
It's not the job of government, he said, to invest in economic development.
"We're going to be leaner," Deleo said. "We're not going to reach into the pockets of our poor senior residents."
Briggs said she attended last week's annual luncheon for Genesee County Economic Development Center and came away impressed by the economic development efforts of the local agency.
"They're bringing business into the county, and Batavia is part of Genesee County," Briggs said. "I'm like, OK, GCEDC seems to be on track. That's what I gathered from that meeting. We do have somebody who is going to do the job of economic development, GCEDC."
Other council members pointed out that the focus of GCEDC is something that is completely different from the BDC. The BDC is focused on the city, which includes mostly brownfield development demands. GCEDC handles the entire county and most of its developments are greenfields outside of city limits.
Briggs also mentioned that the city is served by the Business Improvement District, but Councilman John Canale pointed out that BID works strictly Downtown, whereas the BDC serves the entire city.
The funding approved for Vibrant Batavia -- $45,000 for one year and a smaller amount in year two -- also comes from a different pot of money than originally proposed. Rather than being drawn from reserve funding, a portion of the city's revenue share from Batavia Downs will be used to back the nascent community booster group.
The group will also be asked to pay for a new $10,000 slide in Austin Park by donating $5,000 back to the city and raising the remaining $5,000.
While the resolutions for the BDC and Vibrant Batavia assume two-year commitments for the city, Molino, upon questioning by council members, said the council will have the option to reduce or eliminate funding next year by passing another resolution.
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