batavia

Not much to report on this yet, but a half dozen people spoke at the City Council meeting tonight, asking the city to seek new management for the Falleti Ice Arena in Batavia. They spoke in pretty condemning terms, claiming that the arena is no longer "a family-based skating wrink." One speaker went as far as to say that under the new management: "We've had our right to skate taken away."

The central issue among all the complainants was the allegedly unceremonious banishing of skate instructor Joan Disbrow from the arena. According to the mother of one young skater, a member of the management crew, Firland Management, vociferously dismissed Disbrow from the premises while she was on the ice with one of her students.

Councilwoman Marianne Clattenburg spoke up after all of the comments had been made. She said she has heard from several families that have made similar claims. "I think we may have made the wrong mistake with Firland Management," she said.

Council members Kathy Briggs, Rose Mary Christian and Bill Cox all agreed.

"I'm concerned with the volume of complaints—all one-sided," said Cox. "We need to give citizens the right to have a good skate and enjoy their sport."

A representative of Firland Management, Jim Cain, was scheduled to speak at the meeting. He cancelled. City Manager Jason Molino said that Cain called earlier in the day to say that he was not feeling well and could not attend.

There was some mention, as well, about the unsatisfactory budget report provided by Firland for the city's consideration.

We will look into this story and see what more we can find out.

(UPDATED: Tuesday, 12:03pm): A Daily News article by Joanne Beck features some more details on this issue. Worth checking out.

It's official. Batavia's out of the ambulance business. City Council voted unanimously tonight not to continue funding and operating the county-wide ambulance service. True to the word of Council President Charlie Mallow, there was no discussion to be had by the city leaders. Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian was the only member to speak.

"It's a shame that the county hasn't come to the aid here," she said. "They're always passing the buck."

Further, despite the packed house—at least a couple dozen residents filled the audience—only two citizens spoke.

Saturday was quite an experience for me.

I've taken a bus ride with the Batavia basketball team before, but this one with Notre Dame was completely different and was a ton of fun, even though the team lost to Prattsburgh 70-64.

I live less than 10 minutes walking from Notre Dame, so I decided to walk to the school. As soon as I got in the building, coach Mike Rapone was doing a walk-through with his squad.

Prattsburgh and Notre Dame make trips each year to play together and their home courts and it is always a great game, with the home team usually winning.

We then got on the bus and it took exactly two hours to get to Prattsburgh, which is a great town that is old time. The buildings on the main street are from the way-back and the people there are just good folks.

The ride there was a lot of fun.

The kids from Notre Dame know how to bust each other's chops. There was the ribbing of Tommy Rapone on his Pokeman fetish, the gum wrapper belt put on Rick Lair when he fell asleep and just a lot of goofing off.

But when the Fighting Irish arrived at Prattsburgh, it was all business. I had some business to attend to, visiting friends from Notre Dame and Section 5 Talksback that made the trip.

I watched the jayvee game with the varsity squad for the third quarter, then midway through the fourth I went down with coach Rapone to hear his pregame speech. 

Rapone is not a yeller and not a big ra-ra coach. He's one of those guys that has been around long enough to know everything the other team is going to do and he ran through it with his kids. He knew what players on the Vikings did and what to do if they pressed or went box-and-1 on Kevin Francis.

Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 15-6 lead  in the first quarter. But Francis picked up his second foul and had to sit down, and that's when the flow of the game changed. Prattsburgh took advantage of arguably the Genesee Region League's best player being on the bench and wound up leading 34-27 at the half.

There was nobody on ND that could rebound in the second half and Prattsburgh was dropping 3-pointers like crazy. Patrick Wightman scored 21 points and hit five 3-pointers and Ryan Caron scored a game-high 29 points.

The crowd was totally into the game, with fans from both sides cheering when big things happened.

When the game ended and Notre Dame took it on the chin, Rapone gave his post game speech and basically told his team what they did wrong and hopes that they learn from the mistakes made in this game and become a better team from the loss.

Then the two teams, coaching staffs and all of the media and some locals that were there got together to enjoy pizza, subs and cookies together. It is a tradition that when the two teams play that they get together afterwards and enjoy and meal.

This is not done with any other rivalries as far as I know. Very cool.

As we loaded the bus to go home, I was expecting a depressing ride and kids sleeping. Yes, some were depressed and yes some slept, but it wound up being as much fun as the two hour ride there.

It started with Greg Barr leading a chorus singing songs from cartoon movies of the past. I could not stop laughing. 

Then those that were not sleeping, gathered around my seat to talk and hang out. The conversation was good and everybody got a preview of the video, seeing the footage I took on the bus ride up.

There is a sad point that I must end on. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association is attempting to cut the amount of games that a team can play in a season.

That would mean Notre Dame would play it's regular season games and then have three open slots. They aren't going to back out of the Lions Club tournament, which only allows them to play one extra non-league game. This very well might be the end of a great rivalry and tradition that has lasted for many years. Rapone and Prattsburgh coach Jim Burke are both over 500 career wins and good friends.

The kids enjoy playing each other and making the long trips.

But it looks like a great tradition is over.

Sad news for local gastronomes: Sallome's Deli in Batavia is dark. The Oak Street eatery has been closed up since at least last week. A sign on the door simply reads: "Closed until further notice," and a number is given where customers are encouraged to leave a message. We called that number and left a message. Anyone with a gift certificate is encouraged to call the same number (201-7300) and leave an address where a refund can be mailed.

Sallome's opened up this past summer.

We will keep you informed of any updates.

Later tonight, Batavia's City Council will vote to cease its funding and operation of the county-wide ambulance service managed by the city fire department. Discussion among members of Council was had at a recent budget meeting, and Council President Charlie Mallow has assured us that they are essentially all in agreement and that tonight's vote is merely the formal act on what has already been decided.

Seventeen of the 18 other municipalities in the county that benefit from the ambulance service have expressed their desire to continue with the city-run service. So we may see a few speakers at tonight's meeting. The vote will follow the Council's conference meeting, which begins at 7:00pm at City Hall.

From the Batavia City Fire Department:

City of Batavia firefighters were kept very busy for hours with back-to-back house fires in the city, Saturday night beginning at 10:22 PM.

The first alarm came in for 12 Elm Street with report of a possible explosion and flames showing Within three minutes, city firefighters arrived on scene and quickly extinguished a fire that was found in the side stairwell of the three-story apartment house. Four residents were alerted by smoke detector and were safely outside the structure when the firefighters arrived. Firefighters performed a search and rescue for a fifth resident, thought to be on the third story. After searching the apartment, it was determined that the resident was gone for the evening. Damage was confined to the stairwell. The home was ventilated for smoke removal. The American Red Cross provided the residents with temporary accomodations. Total damage was estimated at $2,500. The cause is under investigation.

While still on scene at the Elm Street fire, a second fire alarm was called in for a house fire located at 45 Walnut Street. With a two-minute response time, the firefighters arrived to find flames coming from the windows of the two-apartment structure.

A general alarm of fire was made to all off duty city firefighters as well as a mutual aid request to the town of Batavia Fire Department. The town supplied an engine and a rescue truck to the scene and a second engine to stand by at City Fire Headquarters. The fire was declared under control in approximately 25 minutes.

The homeowner smelled smoke and discovered the fire in the ceiling above a wood stove. He alerted the other occupants and all escaped safely before firefighters arrived. The American Red Cross was also able to assist the occupants of this second fire of the night.

The home was completely gutted with a damage estimate of approximately $50,000.

Fortunately, there were no injuries to residents or firefighters in either fire with fire crews returning to quarters at 2:20 AM.

Firefighters were battling a blaze at 12 Elm St. Saturday night, when a second alarm was sounded for a fire at 45 Walnut St., according to a report in the Democrat & Chronicle.

The Elm St. fire caused an estimated $2,500 damage to a multil-family complex, 

The two-apartment building on Walnut was gutted, causing an estimated $50,000 in damage.

Off-duty firefighters and units from the Town of Batavia were called in to help Walnut St. blaze, which took 25 minutes to suppress.

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Whenever I drive down Route 5 into Batavia, I pass by the Pine Grove Inn, which always looks like an inviting roadside bar and grill.

But I've long been perplexed by the "Legal Beverages" on the sign.

I stopped in for a beer late this afternoon and chatted with owner Michele Klees.

She's friendly and quite willing to talk, but she doesn't know much about the sign either. It was there when she bought the place 10 years ago.

As far as she knows, the location has always been a bar, but she's heard that long, long ago, it was a filling station.

I'm far from the first person to stop and take a picture of the sign, she said. It generates a lot of curiosity from Route 5 travelers, but she's never been able to find anybody who can explain the history of it.

Apparently, such notification was required by the state of New York, but I didn't turn up any history in a quick Google search.

Anybody know anything about the sign?

One other curiosity about the Pine Grove Inn -- there are darn few pine trees around the location.  A friend of Michele's told me there was once a grove of pines there, but disease took all but one of them.

The bar, beautifully handcrafted by the man mentioned above and another friend of Michele's, is made of a thick piece of pine. I think I'll stop in there again some time. It was a friendly visit.

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce has announced its 2008 Chamber Awards winners. Awards honor individuals and businesses in Genesee County that have shown a commitment to community.

This year's recipients are:

Business of the Year

Roxy’s Music Store
Rose Caccamise
228 West Main Street
Batavia, NY  14020 

Special Service Recognition: Agriculture

Tom Rivers
c/o The Daily News
2 Apollo Drive
Batavia, NY  14020

Special Service Recognition: Business

The Mancuso Family
C/O Rick & Ben Mancuso
216 Main Street
Batavia, NY  14020

Geneseean of the Year

Betty Lapp
9464 Creek Road
Batavia, NY  14020

From the Chamber:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 37th Annual Awards Dinner which will be held on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at the Batavia Holiday Inn. This is the County’s premier event that honors businesses and individuals for their achievements in business, community service and volunteerism. Ticket prices are $55.00 per person or a table of 10 for $500.00. 
 
Come enjoy an evening of Awards, Fun, Friends & Food. This year’s theme is GROW-4U, Genesee Region Organizations Working For You.
 
If you are interested in Sponsorship Opportunities you can select from the below or contact Kelly J. Bermingham, Director of Membership & Special Events, to create a package specifically tailored to your requirements/needs. Call 585-343-7440, ext. 26 or email kbermingham@geneseeny.com.

The Batavian is spending the day in Le Roy today. In fact, I'm already sitting, sipping a coffee at Javas on Main—p.s., they make a fine breakfast sandwich: the bacon is crisp, the egg tasty and the bagel oozes buttery goodness. Plus the service is a dream. Of course, I'm working, too. Of course.

So if you've got any ideas for what we should do while we're here—places to see, people to talk to, shops to visit, restaurants to patronize—please let me know. I'm on the hunt for Le Roy stories. I'm sure they're out there.

Batavia is ready to get out of the ambulance business. City Council said last night that it would vote Monday to terminate its agreement with the rest of the county to provide ambulance service throughout the county, according to an article this morning in the Daily News. Joanne Beck writes: "That will mean no more city ambulance service for all residents of Genesee County, including the city."

"No more city ambulance." Flat out.

WBTA's Dan Fischer is quick to point, however, that the void will not remain empty for long. "If council votes to close down the ambulance service, expect a deal to be struck with a private ambulance service out of Rochester or Buffalo," he says.

Beck put together a fine article, replete with colorful quotes from Council, such as this one from Frank Ferrando:

“If we’re making money, none of us would want to give it up.... I think we want to provide this service, and it’s an excellent service, we just can’t foot the bill. We can’t foot the bill for the whole damn county.”

As for the rest of "the whole damn county"—they're not so willing to give up the service. Beck writes:

Seventeen of 18 Genesee County municipalities have indicated they’d like to extend the current ambulance service agreement another year, City Manager Jason Molino said. Pembroke opted out. The city must first “execute an extension and modification agreement” to continue offering the service before it can then notify those municipalities of the city’s termination clause, Molino said.

A woman reportedly suffered a head injury in a single-vehicle rollover accident on Griswold Road east of Warner Road.

We have no information on the seriousness of the injury at this time.

The woman was reportedly in a tan Jeep Grand Cherokee.

We will provide more details when and if they become available.

Yesterday, we ran a post about the push by some members of Batavia's City Council to cut down on the funding for downtown celebrations, such as Summer in the City and Christmas in the City. Councilman Bob Bialkowski explained that they only wanted to limit the amount of funding available to cut down on overtime costs, but that they would not eliminate the celebrations altogether. Bialkowski justifies the push for cuts as a measure to minimize the city's property tax rate. Opponents of the cuts, however, argue that any cut in funding would shift too much of a cost burden onto the Batavia Business Improvement District, sponsors of the events.

What do you think?

Many sports enthusiasts will tell you that cheerleading is not a sport. I disagree. 

These teams that you see on the sidelines at football games and at the ends of the court at basketball games, practice as much as those boys sports teams.

They don't have as many competitions, but so far Batavia is doing as well as possible, going 3-0 with just sectionals coming up on Feb. 22.

I showed up for a quick video shoot and some interviews and was able to see what a group of 20 cheerleaders together can be. Rookie coach Colleen Sullivan let them have fun, but when it was business time, it was business time.

Maybe that's why she's carrying on the tradition of Krista Shamp (used to be Glow), who turned Batavia cheerleading from an average squad into a county and sectional contender.

Heck, the squad won its fourth consecutive Monroe County League title on Sunday, beating second-place finisher East Irondequoit by a whopping 19 points. This comes after sectional championships in 2006 and 2007 and winning a first-ever fall title this year.

The squad has many personalities, ranging from some quiet girls to the boisterous senior Ana Spikes, who spent much of the end of last basketball season harassing me at games.

And then you have some true leaders, like Taylor Chmielowiec, whose brother Mike is one of the best basketball players in Batavia history. In chatting with her, I see a lot of similar personality traits. You can tell that a senior that has been on varsity for four years is a leader.

And then there is the new coach. 

Sullivan is a 2006 graduate of Batavia and was a football cheerleader for three years and basketball for four, all under Shamp, who is her neighbor, friend and mentor.

Sullivan also cheered for the Rochester Elite All Heat All-star team for two years.

She is currently in college and plans on running the program for as long as possible. 

She is 3-0 as a basketball cheerleading coach and can end up 4-0 if Batavia can win sectionals on Feb. 22 at RIT.

The entire roster is:Sasha Mruczek, Carissa Hyde, Madison Musilli, Taylor Chmielowiec, Jamie Turman, Sarah Stendts, Amanda Wormley, Kaley Falkowski, Jenna Sallome, Nikki Longhini, Petra Dietrich, Mari Geer, Alex Saraceni, Morgan SChlossel, Shawna Platt, Ana Spikes, Meghan Dwyer, Mikala Phillips, Leah Mruczek, Emily Sallome, Erika Bucci, Rachel Guppenberger, Natalie Tuites and Amy Schmitt.

Today, President Barack Obama made this statement:

Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.

On the same subject, the Washington Post reports:

The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears," Obama said in the FOIA memo, adding later that "In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public."

His memo on government transparency states that the Obama Administration "will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."

Follow the Post link for full text of President Obama's message.

The need for government transparency isn't just a federal thing. It applies to local government as well.  You know, governments like, oh, the City of Batavia.

Whenever a government agency fails to answer timely requests for information, to not ensure all relevant media receives ready and easy access to information, to stymie full disclosure of information by prohibiting government employees from speaking publicly about issues that effect taxpayers, then it isn't really serving citizens to its highest and best ability.