Town of Batavia residents may be receiving calls from a private company offering the opportunity to purchase water service line coverage.

The sales pitch from the company may be confusing and Town Clerk Teressa M. Morasco said residents should be aware that the company is in no way affiliated with the Town of Batavia.

Genesee ARC, which has provided trash service to the City of Batavia for nearly 30 years, is facing the possible loss of the contract with a city decision to put the trash collection contract out to bid.

Though Genesee ARC is welcome to be among the bidders, as many as three private firms are expect to place bids.

"I think it comes down to the efficiency and effectiveness of the service being provided to the residents," Molino said on WBTA's Main and Center program this morning. "Our approach moving forward with refuse collection -- and it has been -- is how do we continue to divert refuse tonnage from the refuse stream to the recycling stream, and ultimately lowering costs to the residents."

Genesee ARC employs 30 people, including 20 with developmental disabilities, for trash hauling and recycling pick up. The agency is paid $810,000 a year for the service.

The last contract was signed five years ago.

“This is a competitive bid, no different than any other bid for any other service,” Molino said. “If you can provide that service and you can support it and provide the services we’re requesting, then they can continue to provide it.”

Molino also told WBTA he has received virtually no complaints about the service provided by the ARC.

Donna Saskowski, executive director of the ARC, says the trash contract with the city is vital to the agency.

“Mostly because it goes to our mission of employing people with developmental disabilities here locally in our community and it would mean that 20 individuals with developmental disabilities would be unemployed, as well as the staff – all residents of Genesee County – who would become unemployed," Saskowski said.

Molino expects as many as three private companies will submit bids for the trash contract. Saskowski said the ARC is weighing its options.

Saskowski said that even if ARC no longer provides recycling pick up in the city, ARC will certainly try to keep operating its recycling center on West Main Street Road, Town of Batavia.

"Without the city contract it (recycling) would certainly be a diminishment," Saskowski said. "We are dedicated to recycling and we would certainly look for other opportunities."

'Tis the time of giving and Ken Mistler and his wife Andrea are in the spirit. The Mistlers' recently won $200 for winning the downtown window display contest. The display, located inside the former Carr's building was sponsored by both Next Level Fitness and City Slickers Bar & Grill.

"I want to thank the downtown (improvement) district and all the judges for choosing our window." Ken Mistler said. "We know there are families out there having a hard time and we want to be able to give back to them and give them a little something extra this holiday season."

If you know someone that is deserving please e-mail CitySlickersHolidayContest@gmail.com with the name of the person and a brief description of why you think they are deserving. Also be sure to include your contact info as well as their's. You can't nominate yourself.

All nominations must be submitted by Dec. 20th. Winnings will be donated in the form of a Save-A-Lot gift card.

"I'm going to review the nominations  and will decide on the most deserving family or families." Mistler said. "I may give one gift card for the full amount or I may give a few."

Kathy Willard thought her missing black swans were taken by a fox or a coyote when one turned up missing in October and then another on Thanksgiving. After a recent sighting on the Tonawanda Creek near Oliver' s Candies, Willard and her husband, Mark, decided to make the trip from Alexander to Batavia late yesterday to search the area.

Close to dark they spotted the one that had been missing since Thanksgiving.

In eight minutes Willard had it captured and in her car. 

She says the swan recognized her voice and came across the creek quickly to eat. Willard says they like people and will look to stay with other geese and ducks in ponds and creeks.

They don't do well on land and are not very good at walking. This has her nervous about finding two other swans that are still missing.

With winter approaching, many creeks and ponds will freeze over and the black swans will have nowhere safe to hide from predators.

Willard's husband gave her three black swans as an anniversary gift last November. They were purchased from a man in Oakfield who had been raising them. 

They are native to Australia and feed on grass and greens. She says if you spot one leave it alone and contact her at 585-591-2531. She will come by and capture it.

"They know me, and they know my voice," she says.       

Debra Jean Bastiano, 55, of South Main Street Road, Elba, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, speeding (55 in 40 mph zone) and possession or consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Bastiano was stopped at 9:31 p.m. Wednesday on Route 5, Pembroke, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Thomas Riley Munger, 18, of Glidden Circle, of Hamlin, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Munger was arrested following a report to College Village security of individuals smoking marijuana in a vehicle on College Village grounds.

Marijuana, both growing and harvested, was allegedly found in the home of two Corfu men Wednesday after members of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force executed a search warrant at the residence.

Two men were charged with criminal possession of marijuana, a Class D felony.

Jailed on $10,000 bail was Matthew T. Milleville, 26, of Main Road, Corfu, and bail was set at $2,500 for Andrew J. Marlinski, 26, of Main Road, Corfu.

Both men were also charged with a misdemeanor count of unlawful growing of cannabis and Milleville was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th.

Investigators report that they found LSD in the residence.

Allegedly found in the residence were more than 30 growing marijuana plants along with harvested marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia.

Most of you have already seen Billie's post from this morning about my taking some time off today for medical tests.

There was a health concern we thought it best to examine, and it turned out to be nothing.

I did have a minor surgical procedure performed and for that reason I can't leave the house tomorrow (Thursday) and need to take it slow for a few days, but the bottom line is the tests were negative and I'm fine.

I will start working again tomorrow, but for tomorrow, just on news I can cover from home.

I do want to say the staff at UMMC today was outstanding -- friendly, cheerful, caring and, most of all, professional.

Thank you for the notes of support from several readers.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman just announced that a $50,000 bail bond was posted today with the Genesee County Court on behalf of Jacquetta Simmons.

The 27-year-old Batavia resident was found guilty earlier this year of assaulting 70-year-old Wal Mart employee Grace Suozzi in the store last Christmas Eve.

On Nov. 30, New York Appellate Division Justice Rose Sconiers ordered that Simmons' sentence be stayed pending a hearing on her attorneys' appeal, which argues her sentence of five years in prison is overly harsh considering that Simmons is a first-time offender. This is what made it possible for Simmons' release this afternoon.

Judge Robert C. Noonan signed a release order and she'll be released from custody once it's received by Bedford Hills Correctional Facility where she is incarcerated.

Joshua William Cresswell, 20, of Janes Road, Rochester, was found passed out behind the wheel of his gray sedan around 7:30 this morning with the motor still running. He was in a cornfield, south of Little Falls Road, Pembroke. Cresswell was arrested and will appear in Pembroke Town Court on Jan. 10 on charges of driving while intoxicated and driving with a BAC of .08 or more. (Nothing about his being underage was noted in the report.)

Rozella Ann Smith, 76, of Colonial Boulevard, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. She was arrested for allegedly striking another person on the wrist and arraigned in Town of Batavia Court. The incident allegedly occurred on Nov. 29 at 10:43 p.m.

Gregory Stephen Hallifax, 46, of Diane Drive, Cheektowaga, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd, and arraigned in Stafford Town Court. Hallifax was arrested on suspicion of criminal contempt and failure to obey an order of protection on Nov. 29 at 11:32 p.m. at a location on East Main Street Road, Stafford. He was released and will appear in Stafford Town Court next month.

(Note: Temporary difficulties in receiving FAX transmissions delayed the publication of information on Smith and Hallifax.)

An adult male was struck by a tree limb at 6124 Quaker Hill Road in Elba. He is conscious and alert but on the ground. Mercy Medics and Elba Fire responding.

UPDATE 12:45 p.m.: Mercy Flight 6 out of Batavia responding to the scene.

UPDATE 1:08 p.m.: Mercy Flight 6 is off the ground.

Tyler F. Longhini, 21, was arrested by the Le Roy Police Department on Tuesday and charged with multiple felonies in connection with crimes reported on Lake, Bacon and Pleasant streets in the Village of Le Roy.

His arrest was the result of an ongoing investigation that started in mid-July. The crimes he is suspected of committing include: entering unlocked vehicles; damaging the interior of a vehicle; attempted forced entry burglary to a shed; and an actual burglary of a residential apartment while the tenant was sleeping.

The charges are: one count of burglary, 2nd, a Class C felony; one count of attempted burglary, 3rd, a Class E felony; one count of grand larceny, 4th, a Class E felony; and two counts of criminal mischief, 3rd, a Class E felony.

Longhini, who lives at 82 Gilbert St. in Le Roy, was arraigned in the Le Roy Town Court and released under the supervision of Genesee Justice.

CLARIFICATION 4:34 p.m.: Longhini was originally arrested on July 15 after being caught in the act of rifling through vehicles. But he was only charged with misdemeanors at that time, pending continuing investigation of the break-ins and forensic lab results. Then on Tuesday, Le Roy police were able to bring mulitple felony charges against Longhini, according to Det. John Condidorio.

Good morning, readers of The Batavian, posting will be light today because Howard is having medical tests done. Alecia Kaus will monitor the scanner for us. Regular posting will resume tommorrow.

WBTA's Debbie and Dan Fischer chaired this year's major fundraiser for the GCC Foundation, Encore 2012, the annual appearance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at the college. Besides the symphony, the event featured a dinner and art show and was attended by more than 300 people.

I spent some time this evening driving around Batavia and taking pictures of houses with Christmas lights. I've done this each of the past few years (a tradition of The Batavian started by Brian Hillabush). This slide show contains 18 photos. Hopefully, between now and Christmas I'll have time to take more pictures. Tonight I concentrated on trying to find houses I hadn't photographed in previous years. I probably have some duplicates, but hopefully we're featuring some homes that haven't been included in previous years.

A caller reports a suspicious condition to emergency dispatch: a car is parked off Ellicott Street, on "an extension road" by St. Joseph's Cemetery and it's been there for half an hour. It's "occupied and it's going up and down." Police are responding to investigate.

The three Batavia men arrested in February for running an illegal gambling operation, including two city firefighters, have entered guilty pleas in city court today to a Class A misdemeanor charge of promoting gambling, 2nd.

The pleas are a dramatically reduced from the Class B felony of enterprise corruption, which the case was elevated to in April.

Gregory Phillips and Brian Bordinaro, both veteran city firefighters, along with Lance Engel, a cook with the state's veterans home in Batavia, were originally arrested on a felony charge of criminal possession of gambling records in the first degree, a Class E felony. Philips was also accused of possessing a small amount of cocaine and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th.

The Class B felony carried a maximum penalty of 8 to 25 years in state prison.

City Court Judge Robert Balbick's sentencing options include everything from an unconditional discharge to a year in county jail, including a combination of a shorter jail term and a term of probation.

As part of the plea deal, all three men agreed to resign their government jobs.

Attorney Larry Andolina, representing Phillips, said the charge his clients pled guilty to was exactly what they should have been charged with in the first place.

"I just don’t think gambling is that serious of a crime considering all of the gambling that goes on by the state, various lottery tickets, horsing racing, casinos … times need to be changed," Andolina said.

When the case first became public, investigators said gambling records indicated the trio was running a wide-ranging bookmaking operation that covered a variety sports, had numerous clients and turned over about $1 million in wagers. The trio was alleged by investigators to have taken in $80,000 in profits.

Andolina said none of that was true.

"It's all nonsense," Andolina said. "This was little people, betting, gambling on football games. It was blown so out of proportion, which is why it ended up being a misdemeanor."

At the first court appearance that Andolina and his fellow attorneys made on behalf of their clients, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman turned over thousands of pages of "discovery" -- the evidence the government has supposedly gathered against the defendants.

Andolina said the discovery failed to substantiate the original charges.

Friedman was not in court today, was out of the office and has not responded to a request for comment.

Sheriff Gary Maha said his investigators felt they had a solid case that could substantiate the felony charges or they wouldn't have made the arrests.

"We have many cases in which we make an arrest and then the case is pled down," Maha said. "It's our job to make the arrest. It's the DA's job to decide what to do with the case."

The Class A misdemeanor of promoting gambling is the lowest level crime under Article 225, New York's gambling penal code.

Joseph LaTona, attorney for Engel, said there was nothing unusual at all about the plea bargain. He characterized it as a "garden variety" plea.

"I’ve practiced criminal defense law for almost 40 years in Western New York and for individuals without a prior criminal history, for a first-time gambling offense, this is par for the course," LaTona said. "I’ve had many dispositions identical to this throughout many counties in Western New York.  It’s not unusual. It’s typical."

Sentencing on all three defendants is set for March 5.

One decision Balbick will be asked to make in the case of Phillips is to declare what Andolina called a "release from liabilities." He said Phillips has an opportunity for another job and a release from liabilities allows a person convicted of a crime to still be licensed in New York for some types of jobs. Andolina said the job prospect for Phillips is in the private sector.

Phillips and Bordinaro had 17 and 18 years on the job and would have been eligible for a New York State pension if they had completed 20 years of employment.

Both, they said in court, have already resigned from their city jobs.

Photos: Top, Bordinaro, center, with Andolina, right and Greg Ireland, president of IAFF Local 896. Inset, Phillips.

We need snow. Ask any snomobiler. Without snow, there is a lot less winter fun.

But there's also an economic impact. There's a whole industry of bars, restaurants, repair shops, fireplace retailers and other businesses that depend on cold weather and snow.

The forecast for this winter is: We just don't know.

"There's an equal chance for above or below normal for both temperature and precipitation," said Jim Mitchell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

If the start of winter had seen the formation of an El Nino or a La Nina, then forecasters could make a longer range prediction on what kind of winter we might expect. Without either of those weather phenomena, the outlook is neutral.

The longest range prediction, Mitchell said is that outside of today, we'll see warmer and drier conditions for about a week and then some colder temperatures and some precipitation up to about 18 days out.

There is a chance, Mitchell said, of a white Christmas.

Kevin Fisher, president of Genesee Sno Packers, is keeping an eye on the weather.

Last year's dry winter resulted in fewer people -- about half of normal -- registering their snowmobiles.

Most of the state fee for registrations -- $35 of it -- went to local snowmobile clubs to help maintain the state's 10,000-mile trail system.

Without that money, many clubs may be hurting, Fisher said.

"In your household, a business, in any organization, getting half of your funding cut is pretty hard to swallow," Fisher said.

If that happens again this year, the impact could be devastating.

"My biggest fear is that snowmobile clubs, not necessarily right here in Genesee County, but statewide, are going to have difficulty staying afloat," Fisher said. "The trail system as we know it will start to come apart."

Right now, registrations statewide are down 17,000 from this time a year ago.

Fisher suggested that people at least join their local clubs, pay their local dues, that will at least help finance some trail grooming.

Guy Clark, owner of Cedar Street Sales and Rentals, said he always has a plan A, B, or C for his seasonable business.

In a normal winter, Clark said Cedar Street might sell 100 to 150 snowblowers and service twice that many.

That didn't happen last winter, but the winter was so mild, his service department kept busy getting lawn mowers ready for spring, and the early spring helped with other sales.

It actually would have been a worse winter if there had only been about a foot of snow and then the ground just stayed frozen for a month or two, Clark said.

When it's cold, said Rita Towner, co-owner of WNY Fireplace Outlet, and home heating oil bills are going through the roof, people start looking at less expensive alternatives for heat, such as wood or pellets.

"We're creatures of habit," Towner said. "When it's cold, we want to be warmer, but we don't want to pay extra money."

But while sales have been slow for wood and pellet systems, Towner said, it's been a weird winter so far. A lot of people are coming in looking for gas inserts, and those sales are balancing the books.

"There are a lot of people who are getting away from wood and looking for something more efficient," Towner said.

As for a longer term outlook -- the kind possibly related to climate change -- Mitchell said he isn't looking at the weather patterns that way. Everything balances out, he said, and while WNY had an unseasonably mild winter in 2012, Alaska had colder temperatures and more snow than average, as did much of northern Europe.

A lot depends, he said, on the jet stream. If it pushes cold Canadian air into the Northeast, we're more likely to get winter storms. When the jet stream stays to the north, we get warmer weather, but somebody else is colder.

For snowmobilers now is not the time to worry about a lack of snow, Fisher said. It's what comes later this month and January that matters.

"We could have a great winter yet and technically the trails don’t open until Dec. 19, so as present of a snowmobile club, I’m glad it’s not snowing right now," Fisher said. "I would like to see cold and get the ground frozen, but as far as snow, no, because there’s still hunters out there. It’s their time. It’s their season. If there’s snow people are tempted to go out and ride."

Riding now, he said, causes problems with property owners who donate land to trails -- and they are often are also hunters -- so Fisher is glad people are off the trails.

The weather and the economy definitely have a ripple effect, Clark said.

First, many of his customers do landscaping during the summer and spring, and if they're not plowing driveways in the winter, they're not making the money that will help pay for a new lawn mower in the spring.

Second, Clark noted, there are a lot of businesses, such as bars and restaurants and gas stations, that depend on snowmobilers to provide them with winter cash flow.

"Those business owners are the customers of everybody else," Clark said. "If they're not doing well, they're not going to spend."

Benjamin Authur Tribunella, 18, of Spencerport Road, Rochester, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, unlawful possession of alcohol by a person under age 21 and promoting prison contraband, 1st. Tribunella's vehicle was stopped at 4:28 p.m. Monday on Route 33, Stafford, for an alleged equipment violation by Deputy Joseph Corona. During the traffic stop, Tribunella was found to allegedly possess a controlled substance and alcohol. While being processed into the Genesee County Jail, Tribunella was reportedly found in possession of an additional controlled substance that he allegedly tried to conceal.

Randy Kevin Wilmet, 35, of Franklin St., Batavia, is charged with falsely reporting an incident. Wilmet is accused of providing false information regarding a vehicle accident at 5:18 a.m., Oct. 21, in the Town of Bergen. Wilmet reportedly was a passenger in the vehicle. Also charged was Matthew James Reed, 28, of State Street, Batavia.

Joshua David Kritz, 24, of Lyndale Court, West Seneca, turned himself in on a bench warrant out of the Village of Corfu Court for allegedly violating a conditional discharge on a DWI arrest. Kritz was jailed on $500 bail.

Gregory Stephen Halifax, 46, of Diane Drive, Cheektowaga, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Halifax is accused of violating an order of protection.

Rochel J. Johnson, 31, of Pembroke, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Johnson was arrested by State Police in connection with an alleged incident reported at 6:20 p.m., Oct. 26. No further details were released.