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Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) pushed the Main Street Revival Act (H.R. 952) in Batavia today. The bipartisan legislation will help promote economic growth and fill vacancies along America’s main streets. Collins is the lead Republican cosponsor of the legislation in the House.

“If Washington is serious about getting our economy back on track, we need to get serious about supporting American small business,” Collins said. “Encouraging and incentivizing new small businesses, particularly in struggling areas, will be critical to rebuilding our economy and this legislation does just that.”

The Main Street Revival Act would allow a small business to defer payment of payroll taxes for one year after it hires its first employee. The taxes will be paid back in equal installments over the subsequent four years. The deferment would hopefully provide meaningful relief to a new small business, or one which is just at the beginning stages of growth, which is traditionally a hard time for my small business owners.

“The ability to defer payroll taxes for one year may be just enough of a break to help a new small business owner hire one more person or purchase a new piece of equipment,” said Collins. “This legislation represents the practical, commonsense solutions Washington needs to take to nurture small business development, create jobs, and spur real economic development in our communities.”

To encourage growth in hard-hit areas, the legislation provides the tax deferral incentive to businesses located in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZones) as defined by the Small Business Administration. In NY-27, sections of Batavia, Depew, Lancaster, Lockport, Medina, and Livingston County are designated as HUBZones.

The bill is also limited to true small businesses, those which expect to hire no more than 25 people during the year period for which payroll taxes can be deferred. Lastly, the H.R. 952 makes clear that nothing in the bill will reduce the Social Security or Medicare trust funds.

Collins was joined by Genesee County Chamber of Commerce President Lynn Freeman who praised the legislation.

Collins is partnering with Congressman Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, on the legislation. “Good ideas that help our small businesses know no political party,” Swalwell said. “I welcome Rep. Collins of New York as the lead Republican cosponsor of the Main Street Revival Act. This bill was inspired by walking the Main Streets of my district and talking with business owners – Republicans and Democrats – about ways the federal government can help them get off the ground, hire employees and succeed. This is sensible legislation to speed up local economic development in the neighborhoods that need it most.”

After the Genesee County Economic Development Center meeting yesterday evening, I had two choices: Go home and write some stories that I gathered information on during the day, or take advantage of a great spring day and drive around and take some pictures.

I chose pictures taking. I would have time, I reasoned, to write later in the evening.

Near the end of my loop through Le Roy, Pavilion, Bethany and Batavia, I stopped by a friend's house for a chat. Near the end of my visit, Billie called and told me about the teen in the gorge at Indian Falls.

So rather, than writing my stories last night and posting these pictures last night, I spent four hours on the Indian Falls story. 

Here's the photos from yesterday evening and those stories I need to write are coming.

The barn above is on Main Road in Stafford. Two more shots of it below.

Route 19, Town of Le Roy.

Cook Road and Route 20, Pavilion.

Transit Road and Ellicott Street Road, Bethany.

Two East Pembroke volunteer firefighters risked their lives Thursday night to rescue a 17-year-old boy from East Seneca who fell from a cliff face at Indian Falls.

The youth landed on a rock ledge 10 feet above the water's surface and was stuck and hurting.

With the Tonawanda River swollen with springtime runoff the water was deep and moving fast.

Don Newton, East Pembroke's chief, and Stephen Smelski, an assistant chief, and both members of the department's water rescue team, acted quickly to reach the teen.

"We were fighting the water the whole way to just even get to him," Smelski said. "The undertow in that area is tremendous. We had to fight just to get to the area where we could get to him and talk with him."

When Newton and Smelski got close to the boy they could see his legs were shaking from exposure to the cold water.

"We didn't know how much longer he could hold on," Smelski said.

Ideally, the rescue should have been a four-man operation, but Newton and Smelski decided there was no time to wait for additional rescuers to enter the water.

"Don made decision to swim to him," Smelski added. "He had one path to him. One chance to make it. He pushed off. I pushed off with him. He was able to swim to the rock ledge to get to the patient and I stayed back in case he lost it or if the patient were to come out of his arms, then I could catch him and bring him back."

Newton told the boy the he would need to make his own way from the 10-foot high ledge he was on down to a second ledge, and from there, slide down into Newton's arms and relax.

"I told him that with the swiftness of the water, if he struggled with me, we would both be dead," Newton said. "At that point, I've got to have all the control of him and my line tender has got to have control of me."

Both Newton and Smelski praised the work of the rope team, who helped keep the two rescuers safe and then safely pulled the teen to safety.

In all, more than 60 emergency responders, including other volunteers, assisted in the rescue of Matthew J. Kwiatkowski, of Pinewood Drive, East Senaca.

It was a major operation, said Bill Schutt, a coordinator with Emergency Management, because the high water and swift current of the Tonawanda this time of year.

Kwiatkowski suffered as yet undetermined injuries and was flown by Mercy Flight to ECMC.

He was at the Falls with friends Brandon T. Briley, 18, of Center Road, West Seneca, William D. Fowler, 18, of Pheasant Lane, Cheektowaga, and Adam Hawco, 17, of Center Road, West Seneca.

The four other youths were able to climb to safety after the accident.

Charges may be pending against one or more of the individuals.

Schutt said the youth's adventure tied up a lot of the county's resources for about two hours and put other people's lives at risk.

"It's extremely dangerous," Schutt said. "It looks like it's fun and it's fun when everything goes well. When something goes bad then obviously it's not fun, but it puts everybody at risk."

Responding to the scene were the Sheriff's Office, Emergency Management, Indian Falls, Pembroke, East Pembroke and Alabama fire departments. Alden's rescue team and Mercy EMS also assisted at the scene.

All five members of the Genesee County Economic Development Center Board present for today's meeting voted yes on $1.8 million in tax breaks for COR Development to help the Syracuse-based company bring national retailers, such as Dick's Sporting Goods, to Batavia.

Legislator Shelly Stein, who sits on the GCEDC board, praised COR for all it's done for local schools and the community by generating new tax revenue.

While she said she agrees with much of what speakers said at Tuesday's public hearing on the proposed abatements, particularly about the current state of affairs in New York, she considered the proposed development a "great win for the county, the town and the city." 

New York's high tax rates, she said, makes such incentives necessary.

"I thank you for bringing this project forward," she said to COR VP Joseph B. Gerardi. "That 18 million of investment, and not asking for that PILOT to restart at zero and start at 40 percent, makes a lot of sense for us."

Board Member Jim Vincent said that clearly the public doesn't understand what GCEDC does.

"The public comments signify that we've still got a way to go to convince the populace of Genesee County about what we do and why we do it," Vincent said. "I appreciate projects like this coming forward because in my opinion just the sales-tax factor alone adds an annuity to reduce the tax burden on every business, farm and family that resides in Genesee County."

No other board members spoke.

After the vote, GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde thanked the board for approving the project.

"Just to remind everybody that inside the resolution, the predominate finding was that this was a unique facility project to meet the retail restrictions under the law," Hyde said. "This is the only 36-acre major shopping center inside this entire county. As the law states, this is the opportunity to bring more, varied shopping offerings and services to the community and without this particular project, as the law states, the availability of these broader services and offerings would not be readily accessible to the residents of the community.

"Hence, that was really the underlying basis of the retail restriction and the request for the board to consider, because at the end of the day, we're trying to attract large-scale, tech-driven manufacturing here. ... The last thing you want to do is have a large, empty building while we're showing our community."

John L. Rizzo and Mary Ann E. Wiater were not present at today's meeting.

Voting yes were Stein, Vincent, Charlie Cook, Wolcott T. Hinchey and John F. Andrews.

COR estimates that the four possible tenants -- which COR has previously confirmed includes Dick's Sporting Goods -- will generate more than $16 million in annual gross sales and the four tenants will likely invest $11 million to get their stores open.

After the meeting, walking down the hall, we tried to ask Gerardi why $1.7 million in tax breaks are necessary when the revenue estimates and total capital investment indicates there is market demand for the project. He said questions needed to be directed tomorrow to the company's CEO, Steve Aiello, and made a sharp left turn into the men's room.

Aiello has not previously returned calls nor answered e-mails from The Batavian.

The Town of Pavilion has begun enforcement action against property owners that have for years been storing apparently broken down vehicles on their parcels.

At the beginning of the year the town entered into a shared services agreement with the Town of Batavia and Dan Lang is now code enforcement officer in Pavilion.

He said the first order of business was to go after the most obvious alleged code violations, and the properties at 11076 Lake Road and 11256 Perry Road certainly met that criteria.

In letters to Jacob Weber and Steven Weber, the town asserts they have 47 and 12 broken down vehicles on their properties, respectively.

The Webers appeared in town court Monday and asked for more time to work with an attorney on resolving the issue. They are scheduled back in court June 4.

The state's property maintenance code states:

Except as otherwise provided for in statute or other regulations, two or more inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicles shall not be parked, kept or stored on any premises, and no vehicle shall at any time be in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or in the process of being stripped or dismantled. Painting of vehicles is prohibited unless conducted inside an approved spray booth.

The town is demanding that the inoperative vehicles be removed from the property. The Webers, if the issue isn't resolved and they are convicted, could be fined $350 or spend six months in jail for each code violation.

Lang said he won't be looking for every little code violation in Pavilion, but property owners with obvious code violations will be contacted and he will also respond to complaints from residents.

The photo of the Perry Road location was taken in October.

Yesterday, May 1, was The Batavian's fifth anniversary. Over the first five years of The Batavian, here are the 10 most viewed posts:

• Le Roy Legion hosting event to honor WWII vets
• State health officials discuss outbreak of tics in Le Roy, but say they can't share the cause
• Notorious woman allegedly trashes buffet at South Beach, by Billie Owens
• Brad Paisley fans get themselves arrested in droves during Darien Lake concert
• Sex in the City: Batavia 'adultery' case getting wider media attention
• Manhunt in progress near Townline and 63
• Teenage Bergen bow hunter takes down 17-point buck
• South Beach owner "was forced to close" restaurant, says sister-in-law, by Philip Anselmo
• Walmart greeter, age 70, seriously injured after allegedly being punched by 26-year-old woman
• Suzanne Corona accused of shoplifting from Batavia florist

Falling just outside of the top 10 was a post by Brian Hillabush, Christmas lights 12-13-08: DiSalvo's always best in show.

And to catch you up on the monthly most viewed posts ...

Most viewed posts for February:

• Darien man killed in early morning crash on Route 238
• Robber of Sally's appears to have executed a plan to avoid identification
• BREAKING: trash proposal fails on 7-2 vote
• Legislature poised to call for repeal of Cuomo's gun control law
• Tom Houseknecht asserts new trash plan an attempt to skirt property tax cap
• Attica man charged with DWI in Pembroke crashes vehicle in Darien a few hours later
• Possible suspect in Sally Beauty robbery hospitalized after arrest in Owego
• Alabama man accused of raping woman during argument
• Woman accused of stealing money from charity raising money for cancer patient
• Batavia Middle School student in trouble for packing a BB gun

Most viewed posts for March:

• The vote is final: The Wiss Hotel building will come down
• Law and Order: Man accused of installing illegal water line
• Oakfield Fire Department issues statement regarding water dispute with Village
• Judge tells bookies they will serve in a weekend-work program
• Law and Order: Mother accused of not being at home when children were dropped off by school bus
• Sheriff responds to allegation that investigator placed bets with bookie working in fire department
• Ken Mistler buys downtown theater with hope of keeping more entertainment dollars in Batavia
• Woman robbed in parking lot of Save-A-Lot in Batavia, by Billie Owens
• Two women get their hair done at salon, then stiff the stylists, by Billie Owens
• Caller says car parked across the street is harassment, by Billie Owens

Most viewed posts for April:

• Le Roy Legion hosting event to honor WWII vets
• Apparent blow-up between Corfu mayor and employees has village administration in jeopardy
• The story of a stolen thermometer and the police officer who made a gift of it
• Young 'inconsolable' woman resists arrest in Oakfield, is pepper-sprayed, by Billie Owens
• VP at GCC reportedly arrested in Rochester on public lewdness charge
• Trustee asks Corfu mayor to resign
• New pizza shop will have a familiar sounding name and familiar looking face
• Pero brothers entering trash business in Batavia
• Corfu sewer contractor reacts to anonymous letter threatening his business with the village
• Village of Corfu office remains closed this morning

April -- even with the ad server trouble -- set traffic records with 128,425 unique visitors, 512,095 visits and 852,965 page views.

The previous records were set the month before, with 108,490 unique visitors (the first time had more than 100K unique visitors), 493,303 visits and 834,797 page views.

On May 1, 2008, we received 125 visits to the site.

A construction accident at 6612 Tufts Road, Pavilion, has caused an electrical wire to come down, which has sparked a small grass fire.

Pavilion fire is responding.

National Grid is also in route.

No citations were issued to either the driver or pedestrian involved in an accident Monday morning at Main and Oak streets.

Batavia PD investigators determined neither people were at fault because a third vehicle blocked the views of both the driver and the pedestrian.

Amber M. Richmond, of 20 Washington Ave., Batavia, suffered a broken leg in the accident.

The driver is identified as Mallory P. Frew, of 322 E. Main St., Attica.

The State Police assisted in the investigation.

Investigating officers were Chad Richards, Sgt. Eric Bolles, Thad Mart, Arick Perkins and Eric Hill.

Daniel T. Gannon, 52, of 215 Liberty St., Batavia, and Deborah A. Monte, 48, of 210 Liberty St., Batavia, are both charged with disorderly conduct. Batavia PD responded to a report of two people fighting on Liberty Street at 11:30 p.m., Wednesday. After officers arrived, Gannon and Monte allegedly continued to threaten each other.

Terrell D. Bloom, 22, of West State Street, Albion, is charged with petit larceny. Bloom was arrested on a Town of Batavia warrant by Albion PD and handed over to the Sheriff's Office. He was arraigned and jailed on $500 bail.

Dakota M. Smith-Neal, 21, of 20 S. Main St., Batavia, is charged with arson, 5th. During an alleged domestic incident, Smith-Neal allegedly tore pages from a personal journal belonging to his girlfriend and set them on fire while in front of the residence. Smith-Neal was jailed on $1,000 bail.

County Republicans have announced their slate for the 2013 County Legislature election in November.

There are six incumbents endorsed for the nine seats.

Also nominated were newcomers Bob Bialkowski, Andrew Young and Greg Torrey.

Mary Pat Hancock, longtime chair of the legislature, will not seek reelection and Young was nominated to fill her District 4 seat.

Torrey beat out incumbent Esther Leadley for the District 6 nomination. District 6 covers Alexander, Bethany and Pavilion.

After years of allowing Democrat Ed DeJaneiro run unopposed, the GOP has nominated former Batavia City Councilman Bialkowski to run for the seat.

Members of the City GOP are reportedly upset with DeJaneiro for supporting funding for Genesee County Economic Development Center.

Lawrence Friedman was endorsed for reelection as District Attorney and Don Read received the nod for reelection to County Clerk.

The incumbents endorsed were: Ray Cianfrini, District 1 (Alabama and Oakfield); Robert Bausch, District 2 (Elba, Byron and Bergen); Annie Lawrence, District 3 (Pembroke and Darien); Frank Ferrando, District 7 (wards 1 and 6, City of Batavia) and Marianne Clattenburg, District 8 (wards 2 and 3, City of Batavia).

Photo and press release submitted by Jerry Diskin:

On Sunday, April 21st, the Botts-Fiorito American Legion Post # 576 hosted a remembrance ceremony honoring all veterans of World War II. The program began at 1 p.m. at the Post's home on West Main Street in the Village of Le Roy with opening remarks by Past Commander Gary Gavenda welcoming all honored guests, family members and friends.

An invocation was delivered by Genesee County Chaplain Don Nagle followed by the POW-MIA Ceremony remembering all POWs (Prisoners of War) and MIAs (Missing in Action) from all wars. This was followed by a welcome address by Botts-Fiorito Commander Donald Schafer.  

An introduction of distinguished guests included representatives from the offices of: Congressman Christopher Collins; Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer (Jay Grasso); Assemblyman Steve Hawley (Greg Torrey); the Genesee County Legislature (Legislator Shelley Stein -- District #6); and Genesee County Veterans Service Officer William Joyce.

The New York State Department and American Legion Commander Timothy S. Van Patten were also on hand along with 8th District Vice Commander John Lang and Genesee County American Legion Commander Dave Henry.

The main portion of the program was opened by remarks and a brief overview by Dick Ladd, whose idea to hold such an event fostered this program. Dick addressed the “Special Guests of Honor” and set the stage for the remainder of the event. 

Post Adjutant Don Vescovi then read off the roll call of the World War II veterans in attendance. We were very pleased and felt fortunate to have 23 WW II veterans in attendance. Veterans from Batavia, Pavilion, Stafford and Bergen along with Le Roy made up this distinguished contingent. 

A short presentation was given by “Honor Flight-Rochester” outlining the details for WW II veterans to travel to Washington, D.C, to visit the WWII memorials and other attractions. This was followed by a social hour.

The group then reconvened for the presentation of acknowledgements including proclamations from the offices of the distinguished guests.

The closing ceremony included a ”Remembrance of those no longer with us…” by Post Chaplain Gary Bassett followed by a very moving playing of “Taps” by Samantha Platek. All joined in to the “Salute to the Colors,” which was followed by the singing of “God Bless America."

Back row: Franklin Smith, Donald I. Miller, Donald Nagle, Jack Fay, New York State Commander Nick Pascucci, Dick Ladd, Albert Strobel, Sherman Booten, Timothy S. VanPatten.

Front row: Richard Doktar, Raymond Mancuso, Oliver Cooper, Pat Palotti, Carl Seaburg, Kermit Arrington, Louis Cinquino.

Convicted burglary Benjamin William Muntz, 24, of Maltby Road, Oakfield, who allegedly failed to appear in County Court for a sentencing a year ago has been charged with bail jumping in the second degree.

When Muntz was sentenced on the burglary charge last week, the District Attorney's Office was undecided at that point on whether to charge Muntz with bail jumping.

Judge Robert C. Noonan was did not want to sentence Muntz on both of his felony convictions with the possibility of a bail jumping charge pending.

If convicted of bail jumping, Noonan will have the option, or not, of giving Muntz three consecutive prison terms -- for burglary, grand larceny and bail jumping.

Muntz was arrested in October in Fayetteville, Ark., where he served a short prison term on burglary-related charges. When he was released last week, he was immediately taken into custody by the Sheriff's Office and returned to Genesee County.

Muntz is scheduled to appear in court again June 4.

Roger Parkhurst provided Rep. Chris Collins with a tour of the Alpina Foods plant in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park today.

Parkhurst, left, gave Collins, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, an overview of Alpina's history, the Greek yogurt market in the United States and the process Alpina uses to make yogurt locally.

The plant started production in October and Parkhurst said the operation has already grown to what it projected for its second year of business. There are 55 permanent employees with Alpina locally, and to help meet production demands, the plant uses up to 100 temporary employees at times.

There are already plans on the drawing board to expand the plant.

Goodwill Industries opened its first thrift store in Genesee County this morning, and the store was immediately a big hit with long lines of bargain hunters at the cash registers.

The location is 4152 W. Main St., Batavia, in the Valu Plaza.

"We hope to further our mission in the Genesee County community by adding more variety to the retail landscape," said Lisa Churakos (pictured), director of donated goods/retail. "Goodwill has quality, affordable selections for every shopper."

The store is open Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

The new store also serves as a donation center.

Elba's senior class was given a dramatic look at what it's like at a fatal crash scene during the Elba Volunteer Fire Department's annual prom night exercise at the school.

The scenario involved a youth accused of drinking and driving becoming involved in an accident in which his passenger was seriously injured and the driver of the other vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cindy Morgan played the mother of the fatal victim who wouldn't accept that her daughter was dead. Above she has uncovered her daughter's body and is yelling for medics to give her CPR.

Anna Dorman played the part of the dead teenager. Her passenger was Missy Engel.

The DWI driver was played by Aaron Dart and his passenger -- who was loaded into a waiting Mercy Flight helicopter and considered seriously injured -- was Austin Hynesfisher.

Austin's father, Steven Hynesfisher, explained to the students each step of the process at the accident scene. 

Coroner Barry Miller and Deputy Chris Parker were also on scene.

A dryer fire is reported in a laundromat at 1 Corfu Plaza, Corfu.

A chief on scene reports flames showing from a dryer.

Corfu Fire with mutual aid from Pembroke, East Pembroke and Darien dispatched along with the City's Fast Team.

The City is requesting the Fourth Platoon to headquarters.

UPDATE: A first responder reports the fire is knocked down.

UPDATE 9:07 a.m.: City of Batavia can stand down.

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Should the U.S. close detention facility at Guantanamo?

Washington Post: Why hasn’t Obama closed Guantanamo Bay?

Syracuse-based COR Development is planning four retail spaces for the south end of Batavia Towne Center, VP Joseph B. Gerardi said at a public hearing Tuesday night, and to fill those spaces, COR needs more than $1 million in tax abatements.

Filling those spaces is "better for all the tenants in the center," Gerardi said.

"It would provide a diverse shopping experience so tenants can help attract other tenants to the shopping center," Gerardi said.

Without the tax incentives, the four potential companies -- which Gerardi said could generate $1 million in local sales tax revenue -- may not come to Batavia.

Even though the four businesses would generate $16 million in gross sales, going by Gerardi's sales tax estimate, Batavia isn't an attractive enough market without the tax breaks.

And even though the four potential businesses would spend, on top of the $7 million COR would invest in the project, $11 million before the first cash register recorded the first sale, Batavia is too marginal a market to attract these retailers, Gerardi said.

Gerardi (top photo) refused to talk with reporters to clarify these points following the public hearing.

COR's plan is to convert the former Lowe's location from 138,000 square feet of retail space into 170,000 square feet of retail space.

In previous media reports, COR CEO Steven F. Aiello has said COR doesn't need to lease out the Lowe's space because Lowe's is obligated to another 15 years of rental payments, but Gerardi argued Tuesday that the proposed expansion is critical to Batavia Towne Center's viability.

"The dark store is not, in our opinion, a good reflection on the center and it's not a good reflection on the community," Gerardi said.

The one retailer COR has confirmed as a potential tenant is Dick's Sporting Goods.

In 2012, according to the company's annual report, Dick's generated $5.8 billion in annual sales and achieved a net profit of $291 million, or an average of $405,000 in net profit for each of its 518 locations. On average, gross sales of $11.2 million per store.

Two of Dick's locations are in shopping centers in Webster and Clay developed by COR without the kind of tax breaks COR is seeking in Genesee County.

A group of about a half dozen local Libertarians spoke at the public hearing, arguing that tax breaks for COR would benefit national chains at the expense of existing competitors.

"I believe your intentions are good, but I find fault in your logic," Jim Rosenbeck said (second inset photo). "The reality is you can't give money to one business without disadvantaging its competitors. You are picking winners and losers and that is simply wrong."

Current state law prohibits tax incentives to develop retail outlets, unless the local IDA -- in this case Genesee County Economic Development Center -- can find that the retail center will attract tourists (defined in the law as people who travel from outside the IDA's jurisdiction) and the stores will fill a need not yet met by existing retail.

Gerardi said Batavia Towne Center does attract shoppers from outside Genesee County and the stores in the center do offer goods and services not previously available in Batavia.

Phill Ricci (top inset photo) took issue with the idea that Batavia Towne Center could be considered a tourist destination.

"Hotels are not filling to the rafters because we have a Target," Ricci said. "Little Jimmy doesn't dream about seeing his favorite animi characters in the halls of Bed Bath & Beyond. To attempt to justify it as a tourist destination is hollow at best and laughable at worst."

COR initially received a promise of $4.6 million in tax abatements to build Batavia Towne Center with the promise of creating 297 full-time equivalent jobs. Gerardi said the development peaked in at 277 FTEs before Lowe's closed.

Rosenbeck said it was as if GCEDC helped COR build a new house and now COR wants more money to remodel it.

Gerardi said the four new stores would create 100 FTE jobs.

Elba resident Fred Read said that's just what they are -- FTEs, not real full-time jobs, but jobs with low pay and few benefits.

"They're not the kind of jobs that are going to keep young people here," Read said.

None of the speakers supported COR receiving another round of tax incentives for the project.

A letter from local business owner Jerry Arena was read into the record. Arena, who owns Jerry Arena's Pizza and Ten Cent Millionaire Tavern, said he opposes tax incentives for national retailers.

"Independent small businesses in Batavia are an endangered species and offer much more quality of life and stability to a community that many of us will ever realize," Arena wrote.

The GCEDC board will vote on the proposed tax incentive package for COR at its regular meeting Thursday. The public portion of the meeting is expected to begin at 4:40 p.m.. The board meets at the Med-Tech Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive, Batavia.