batavia

Press Release:

The Genesee County Health Department is seeking information about the location of a cat and its owner following a cat bite incident on Thursday, May 8 around 6 p.m. The incident occurred in the Batavia Cemetery (65 Harvester Avenue in Batavia) directly across the street from The Harvester Center.

The cat involved in the incident was running free in the cemetery. It was described as a grey tiger cat of average size with medium-length hair, wearing a collar with two tags-one blue and one black.

The health department would like to locate the cat as soon as possible to confirm that it is healthy. This would indicate that the rabies virus would not have been transmitted at the time of the bite.

If you have information about the location of the cat and its owner, please contact the Genesee County Health Department at 585-344-2580 ext. 5555.

Batavia played in Class B individual sectionals on Saturday.

Saturday's results:

• Finn Halpin advanced to the State Qualifiers
• Halpin defeated Jack Stanton (Pal-Mac)-10-0
• Halpin defeated Nathaniel Chaffee (Penn Yan)-10-
• Halpin lost to Jack Currin (Leroy) in semis, 10- 6
• In a playback match, Halpin defeated Aidan Dallos 0-6, 6-0, 6-0. Halpin advances to state qualifiers
• Talyn Kennedy defeated Brenyn Shulla (Newark)-10-2
• Kennedy defeats Cole Snyder (Wayco)-10-7
• Kennedy lost to Jack McLean (HFL) in qtrs-10-5
• In playbacks, Kennedy lost to Aidan Dallos (Penn Yan)-10-4 (eliminated)

Sunday team results:

Batavia lost to Victor 7-0 to drop to 7-7 on the season.

Team sectionals on Monday. The team's final regular season match is on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at home vs. Greece Athena/Odyssey.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Being part of a nurses honor guard serves double duty for a Navy veteran still active as a registered nurse after 18 years, Maxine Fearrington says.

Not only is she able to honor any nurses who have died, but participating in the traditional ceremony connects Fearrington to her military experience—she proudly gave 20 years in areas of supply and finance.

“So being at an honor guard is especially important to me because I’m able to pay tribute to those who have done what I’ve done, walked in my shoes,” she said Monday outside of United Memorial Medical Center. “And, being in the military, what do you lean on? For a couple of years, when I was stationed in Wilmington, I was on the honor guard there. We represented the whole state of Delaware. So when a service member in Delaware passed away, we went and did a military funeral for them.”

Whether in Delaware or New York, Fearrington has pursued her ideals of providing service and comfort to fellow nurses as part of the GLOW Nurses Honor Guard, a local chapter of the New York State Nurses Association. 

The group conducted its first ceremony in front of UMMC as a symbolic memorial for all those nurses who have given aid, a smile, and a gentle touch and have since passed on.

On Monday, the group of Honor Guard members, dressed in traditional white uniforms and deep blue capes lined in red satin, formed a semicircle around the flagpole in front of the North Street hospital. With little fanfare and no marching band, they read a script of poetry, instructions and words for thought.

“We honor you this day and give you a white rose to symbolize your devotion to your profession, and to show honor and appreciation for being our nursing colleague,” they said in unison.

A small audience attended the event and was invited to answer the first half of “they were there.”

They were there:

• When a calming, quiet presence was all that was needed.
• In the excitement and miracle of birth, the mystery and loss of life.
• When a siren glance could uplift a patient, family member or friend.
• At those times when the unexplainable needed to be explained.
• When the situation demanded a swift foot and a sharp mind.
• To embrace the words of the world, willingly, and offer hope.
• To witness humanity, its beauty, in good times and bad, without judgment.

Michelle Moag of Pavilion has been a registered nurse for 11 years. She and Fearrington have been with the Honor Guard since it began in 2022.

As for becoming a nurse, “I just love helping people,” Moag said. “It’s like the foundation of it, helping people get through their darkest times, and I just love that.”

Following in her mother’s white-shoed footsteps, Moag remembers seeing her mom in action.

“I remember going to work with her when I was like, probably eight or nine, and be like, ‘I want to do that.’ So that’s what I did,” she said, sharing the Honor Guard’s ceremony schedule. “We had a few right off the bat, and then we didn’t have any for many months, and then we’ll have a few. And just now we’ve been getting more publicity with it, I guess people are realizing that this is a service that we offer, and now we’re getting more and more, and the people are telling their friends, and this is the first time we’ve done this ceremony. So hopefully this will be an annual thing.”

The ceremony was brief and solemn.

“I would like to invite any nurses present to stand as we do a final roll call,” a nurse said.

“Nurses, report for duty,” was said three times, with a triangle chime struck once after each sentence. “Nurses, we officially release you from your nursing duties. Your work on earth is done. You may now go home in peace.”

A candle, representing the Nightingale lamp that honors nurses from their nursing colleagues, was lit, then extinguished to represent a farewell.

Dan Ireland, who maintains his registered nursing license, celebrated his new title and place amongst the nurses as chief nursing executive and patient care officer while appreciating the moment before him.

“I think it's an honor to be able to recognize those who have come before us and who have left us. And so the ceremony today was just a wonderful chance for us to globally say to all the nurses who have passed and for all their years of dedication, a thank you and recognize their work and the work that they have done to shape the nursing profession,” Ireland said. “And so being asked to be a part of it was a huge honor for me. And these are a group of dedicated nurses who really want to make sure that even though there are people who aren't at the bedside, who eventually retire from nursing and eventually pass away, that they get recognized. Because once you're a nurse, you're always a nurse. And we never forget our nurses.”

Being in the role of nurse is humbling for Ireland, he said. It’s about serving at someone’s bedside and caring for a person “at their time of need, to give parts of yourself and helping them work through whatever life dilemma they’re going through.”

“It's just personally very fulfilling for me, and it's something that I'm humbled each time I have the opportunity to interact with the patient, and then away from the bedside, utilizing my nursing knowledge skills and the connections I've made with our staff helped me to really make decisions that will impact our patients better,” he said. “And when I think of it from a nurse's perspective, I'm able to really put that patient at the forefront of it and make sure that we're doing the very best we can for all our patients.”

Nurse’s Prayer

May I be a nurse, Lord, with gentle healing hands, who always speaks with kindness, who cares and understands.

And while I’m serving others, as you would have me do, please help me to remember that I’m truly serving you. Amen.

For prior coverage, go HERE.

A golden-colored Yorkie, nearly 16 years old, went missing from his home at the upper end of Ross Street in Batavia. Named Zach, this frail guy cannot hear and does not see very well. If anyone sees him, please call his owner at 585-409-4870.

UPDATED 6:21 p.m.: Zach has been found.

Press Release:

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has collected critical funds in the community since 1954 – one dollar at a time – as part of the Fill the Boot program for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 896 will continue this long-standing tradition as its members kick off the annual program, raising funds to support MDA’s vision to accelerate research, advance care, and advocate for the support of MDA families.

Dedicated firefighters from Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 896 will hit the streets with boots in hand, asking pedestrians, motorists, customers, and other passersby to donate to the MDA on June 6 from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Main and Court Street and Ellicott and Court Street in the City of Batavia.

The partnership between MDA and IAFF began in 1954, when the IAFF signed a proclamation designating MDA its charity of choice and vowing to continue raising awareness and funds until cures are found. To date, the nearly seven-decade partnership has raised more than $679 million, with involvement from over 300,000 firefighters nationwide. 

These funds have led in part to over a dozen FDA-approved drugs in as many years for those with neuromuscular disease. Those treatments were created from MDA’s vision to open a new field of medicine and push the boundaries of the medical frontier we call genetic medicine.

“What the IAFF has done for MDA over the past 68 years is unprecedented,” said Donald S. Wood, Ph.D., President and CEO of MDA. “With the support from our partners at the IAFF, MDA is doing the impossible in accelerating research, advancing care, and advocating for people living with neuromuscular disease. We have a mission to empower the people we serve to life longer, more independent lives and we will fulfill this mission together, with the IAFF.”

Press Release:

The Richmond Memorial Library will welcome local author JG Benedict for an author visit on Saturday, May 17, at 11 a.m. in the Reading Room.

JG is a native of Batavia and the author of paranormal fiction. He will discuss his book The Nightroad (Anthology One), which was published in November 2024 by Media Hatchery. The Nightroad takes readers on a voyage through the paranormal.

JG will share a talk followed by a book signing. Copies of the book will be for sale in paperback ($20) or hardcover ($30). Payment can be accepted in cash or Venmo. Copies are also available to borrow through the library!

JG Benedict is a paranormal fiction author and general essayist. He is a native of Batavia and a current resident. JG graduated from Batavia High School before attending college at St. Bonaventure University and SUNY Potsdam. Over the past forty-some years, he has lived and traveled throughout the United States; he is something of a Renaissance Man when it comes to his experience and skill set.

More information can be found at jgbenedict.com. For more about the Richmond Memorial Library and other programs, visit batavialibrary.org. RML is located at 19 Ross St in the City of Batavia.

Press Release:

Congratulations to the First Communicants from Resurrection Parish and Ascension Parish, who joyfully received their First Holy Communion during the 10 a.m. Mass on May 4 at St. Joseph’s Church.

My mother, Anna Newhouse Reilly, lived about 70 of her 79 years in Batavia. She is not famous. There is no display about her at the Holland Land Office Museum. There is no statue of her by the county courthouse. Ruth McEvoy did not mention her in her History Of The City of Batavia. Nonetheless, due to her gregarious personality and caring and benevolent nature, she was well known in the small city of 18,000 halfway between Rochester and Buffalo. In fact, one of my cousins, who marches to his own drummer, sent her a letter from California. It was addressed only to “Aunt Anna, Batavia, New York,” and one day, there it was in her mailbox.

Childhood

Anna Newhouse was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1918, the daughter of Danish immigrants Henry Newhouse (Americanized from Nyhuus) and Anna Bernth. Mom's parents married in 1917 and moved in with my grandmother's parents, Olle and Amalia Bernth, who had also emigrated from Denmark after adopting their daughter at the age of 5 and bringing her with them. The Bernths owned and operated a bakery.

Mom's dad, Henry, began an apprenticeship as a tool and die maker, and in 1919, another daughter, Alyce, was born. In 1925, the Newhouses had a third child, Marie, who died at 7 days of pneumonia. Unfortunately, Olle also died that year at age 55, and Amalia could not run the bakery alone. Henry applied for a tool and die making job at a business called Doehler-Jarvis in Batavia, so the family bought a house at 25 North Lyon Street and moved there. That house remained in the family until my grandmother died in 1986.

In 1925, a son, Walter, was born in Batavia, and then in 1930, another son, Robert. He just turned 95 and is the last remaining Newhouse of his generation. That same year, Amalia, who had moved with her daughter and grandchildren from Brooklyn, passed away and is buried in Batavia's Elmwood Cemetery.

When the family moved to Batavia, Mom was in the third grade. She attended Washington and West elementary schools, and when Robert Morris was built in 1929, she was in the inaugural class of the 6th grade. At some point, Doehler-Jarvis closed temporarily due to the Depression, and Henry had to transfer to another of their plants in Toledo, Ohio, so Anna attended school there briefly. The Newhouses kept their North Lyon Street home by renting it, and fortunately, they were able to return when Doehlers reopened.

Mom was bright and inquisitive, and when she entered Batavia High School on Ross Street in 1933, she took a lot of business classes and did very well. She acted in some school plays and was on the girls' basketball team. When she graduated in 1936, she had been elected to the National Honor Society and was always very proud of that. It probably embarrassed her that none of her three sons ever achieved that status, but she was pleased that we all graduated from college.

Young Adult Life
After high school, Anna really wanted to attend college. However, when she brought up the topic with her father (called “Pop” by the children), he said he couldn't let her because he had two sons to think about. She was very disappointed, and there is no doubt that she would have done well. As it turned out, both her younger brothers followed their father as tool and die makers and never went to college.

There were no student loan programs back then, so Mom must have thought that “if you can't beat 'em, join 'em” because she became employed in the Doehler-Jarvis office for a number of years. During these times in her 20s, she had lots of close girlfriends to do things with, such as horseback riding and going on day trips to Letchworth Park and Niagara Falls. Before World War II, Anna went on a date with a guy who had a friend named Jim Reilly. The young man introduced Mom to Jim, and the rest is history. They dated for several years and kept in close touch when Jim joined the Army Air Corps.

On April 10, 1944, Anna Newhouse and Lieutenant James F. Reilly were married at St. Joseph's Church in Batavia by the Reverend T. Bernard Kelly. It always bothered Mom, though, that they had to be married in the sacristy rather than on the altar because she had converted to Catholicism.

Dad was stationed at Mitchell Field in Long Island when they first married, so Mom went there to live. While there, she organized a daycare to help tend to the children of other airmen assigned to the base. After the War ended, Dad was sent to the Pacific for “mop-up” duties, and Mom went back to Batavia to live with her parents. When Jim was discharged and returned home, the couple rented an old mill building at Seven Springs outside of town, which today is a Zen Buddhist retreat.

Kids Arrive
In January 1947, I was born, and mom and dad bought a house at 26 Thomas Ave. in central Batavia off West Main Street. Then, in December 1949, my brother Dan came along. During these years, Anna devoted herself to being a good stay-at-home mom and enjoyed caring for and being a part of her children's lives. Dan and I went to Saint Mary's School, and Mom was involved with the “Mothers Club,” which was similar to today's PTA, but apparently minus the dads. She also worked in the school lunchroom.

In 1955, when I was eight and Dan was five, my mom began cajoling Dad to get a house with a bigger yard where we kids could play and for her to have gardens. Our house on Thomas was sold, but the home with the big yard had yet to be found,, so for two years, we moved one block away and rented the upstairs of a huge house at 20 Ellicott Avenue.

In 1957, the Reillys found their big yard, and we moved to the east end of town to 122 North Spruce St. We were the last house on the street at that time, and it was surrounded by woods. We started playing, and Mom started planting. A family room (always called the “back room”) and a garage were added onto the house. In April 1958, the last of the Reilly brothers, Jim Junior, was born, and the family was complete. Mom continued in her role at home, but started taking some part-time jobs such as doing some bookkeeping for the Steak House Restaurant on West Main Road a couple of evenings a week.

Mom's Work Years
Around the time Jim Jr. was born, my father switched jobs, and the new one proved to be not so successful. Therefore, it was decided that Mom would get a job to assist with the family finances. Her previous experience at Doehlers and the restaurant, along with her outgoing personality, led to a long string of office jobs at which she became increasingly successful.

Anna's first position was as a teller at The M&T Bank on Main Street. It was a well-known institution, and she got to know a lot of customers, which led to her next job, which was as the office manager of a downtown travel agency known as the North American Automobile Association. This company was the Canadian version of AAA, and they expanded into the American market for a time. For a number of years, she was fortunate to work at NAA with her longtime friend Henrietta (mom called her “Hank” ) Starrett.

From NAA, Mom moved on to work in the office of prominent Batavia clothiers McAlpine-Barton on the corner of Main and Center Streets. Mr. LaRay Barton had been a long-time neighbor on North Lyon and knew Mom well. She worked with LaRay's wife, Eva.

Finally, Anna took a job as the office manager for the reputable Western New York theater chain Dipson's, which until “urban renewal” had a well-utilized theater on Main Street near State Street. The chain was also a partner in the Mancuso Theater on the southeast end of Main and owned other theaters, mostly in small cities in the area. The owner was William “Bill” Dipson, and Anna was his trusted “right-hand woman” for many years.

In the mid-1970s, Dipson split the Mancuso Theater from one 1,500-seat entity into two smaller theaters so they could show more movies. As part of the renovation, Dipson's offices relocated to a spot in the back of the theater, which is where Mom mostly worked.

Health Issues
In her later years, Mom was plagued by health issues. However, she fought through them with courage and determination because she had people she loved and things she wanted to accomplish.

In 1979, Anna, a long-time smoker, was diagnosed with oat cell carcinoma in her lung, which at that time had about a 5% survival rate. She was convinced she was going to die, but when the doctors offered the relatively new treatments of chemotherapy and radiation, she was willing to try. She became a virtual guinea pig for experiments and was the subject of many medical discussions. Fortunately, she survived, but those treatments took a toll, and mom was never the same after that.

In 1987, while she had a cast on her arm from a fall, Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and again made it through, but going forward, had two hip replacements, a broken wrist, and had her gall bladder removed. Some of this interrupted her work, but Mom was tough and bravely kept on until she finally retired.

Anna lived long enough to welcome three grandchildren whom she adored and spent as much time with as possible. She even went to their schools to work with their classes. One of her great-grandchildren is named after her.

Wanderlust
After Mom's cancer treatments, she decided to do some of the traveling she had always yearned for. She loved Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, so she and my dad had gone there a number of times.

Then she joined a group called Elderhostel, which, through universities, sponsored classes and trips for senior citizens. Her first trip was to the Grand Canyon, where she went all the way to the bottom and, at one point, sat in a relaxing mud spa.

In 1989, Anna was part of a very special Elderhostel trip to China. She was so excited to go, and preparation was made for months. Just her bad luck though (and for the citizens of China), just as her group arrived and was billeted at a Beijing hotel, student protests, which had been going on against the Chinese government for some time, were escalated by the army, and the now famous “Tiananmen Square Massacre” took place. Hundreds or possibly thousands of protesters were killed and wounded.

The day before, Mom had gotten to go to the Square and took a photo of the Statue of Liberty replica that the students had erected there. But on June 4th, Mom and her fellow travelers heard gunfire and were quickly escorted to a bus and out of Beijing via back roads. The Elderhostel trip was cut short, and the Americans, much to Mom's dismay, had to return home.

Of course, Dad had been frantic, worrying about his wife. The story was covered in the Batavia newspaper, and a photo of them reuniting at the Buffalo airport was published.

After arriving home, Mom wrote an article about her China experience, which was printed in the paper.

Interests, Accomplishments and Friends
Mom had the proverbial “green thumb” and was a wonder with plants. When we moved to North Spruce Street, she planted many flowers, bushes and trees. The maple trees she put as saplings are now tall and fully grown. The side of the property bordering North Street still has forsythia and spirea bushes that she planted there. When her children were grown, married, and bought homes, Mom went there and helped with planting, too. In the early 80s, Mom and Dad sold their house and moved to a senior citizen apartment complex on West Main Street. Their back door looked out on Tonawanda Creek, and Anna and her neighbor built trellises and created beautiful flower gardens.

Anna also enjoyed writing, and, along with her interest in plants, she submitted an article on gardening to the New York Times Magazine, which, to her great pride, they printed. I have it framed and hanging in my apartment.

Mom made friends easily and a couple were well known in Batavia circles. Through her job at Dipson Theaters, she met Dianna (pronounced DEE-anna) Dipson, Bill Dipson's sister and a classically trained violinist. Diana lived in the family mansion on East Main Street and was somewhat eccentric, but Mom would stop by, and they would chat about gardening.

Anna was also good friends with Nan Meyer, who wrote for the local newspaper. When Mom passed away, Nan wrote an admiring eulogy, which was printed in the newspaper.

Mom was accepting of all sorts of folks and eventually became acquainted with a guy who claimed to be a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang named Geno. He fancied himself a poet, and Mom would help him with spelling and editing.

Anna was very giving of her time. Along with my father, she volunteered many hours at the Veterans Hospital. She also befriended a woman who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and would assist her with getting to doctor's appointments, shopping, etc.

Learning from her Danish mother, Mom became an excellent cook. Most holiday meals for the family were held at our house, and mom's turkey, ham, or whatever she served never disappointed.

Anna was known for her baking, and rarely did an occasion go by when she didn't make a scrumptious apple, cherry, peach, or some kind of pie. For a time, she made wedding cakes for pay, and our house would be taken over by cake pans, mixers, bowls, layers laid out for assembly, and containers and pastry bags for decorating. Mom made many birthday cakes and wedding cakes for two of her sons and at least one niece.

Anyone who knew Mom would agree that she was “one tough cookie' as the saying goes. But, as is true for any parent who outlives their child, she was devastated by the loss of her son Dan at age 41 in a scuba diving accident at Lake George, where he lived. She bravely tried to soldier on through her grief, but in 1997, she suffered two heart attacks in a week and died on September 7th at the age of 79 in Genesee Memorial Hospital in Batavia. Per her wishes, Anna was cremated, but her ashes were buried at St. Paul Of The Cross Cemetery in Honeoye Falls with my dad, who passed away in 2007.

I think it can safely be said that Batavia, New York, was a better place for having Anna Newhouse Reilly as one of its citizens for so many years. I think she would be proud that her biography was written by her son and printed in the publication named for her city.

If you have thoughts or ideas about the prospective development of land along Tonawanda Creek near Evans Street on the city’s south side, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has opened the window for comments during the next month.

Known as Batavia Creekside Park Development, located at 26 and 60 Evans St., Batavia, the property, under the direction of the city, Batavia Development Corp., and Director of Economic Development Tammy Hathaway, has been submitted for a Brownfield Cleanup Program application to the state agency.

Part of DEC’s protocol is to allow the public to weigh in on any potential project that may take place on the property. Hathaway said several links are available to review history, research and maps for the site as BDC pursues what is believed to be a future valuable housing asset.

“A key aspect of the BDC’s mission is to identify underutilized real estate within the city for potential redevelopment. Moving a piece of potentially contaminated land through the cleanup program ultimately improves its condition and unlocks its potential for safe use,” she said Friday. “As shared in previous months, the Brownfield Opportunity Area steering committee brainstormed potential uses for the Creek Park property and concluded that its highest and best use would be for housing, a critical need in our community.”

When asked if she recommended certain reading material for folks, Hathaway found that hard to answer, “because I find all of it interesting.”

“The real estate reports date back to when I was a teenager, and give a 450-page history of the property,” she said. “Reading through these and seeing what once occupied the property verifies the reason why the parcel requires attention to improve its condition for reuse.”

Before diving in, a reminder about what a Brownfield Cleanup Program is:

• Designed to encourage private-sector cleanups of brownfields and to promote their redevelopment as a means to revitalize economically blighted communities.
• This is an alternative to “greenfield” (land not previously developed or contaminated) development. It is intended to remove some of the barriers to and provide tax incentives for the redevelopment of brownfields.
• An incentive and catalyst for the cleanup and redevelopment of more than 500 contaminated sites statewide since 2003. There are more than 550 active sites in the program.

Research dates back to 1990, when a walking inspection of the site found the topography flat except for an alluvial terrace and steep slope near Tonawanda Creek; few, if any, buildings that have ever been constructed on the site had a lower floor or basement. The railroad roundhouse on the southern-most parcel apparently had a recessed area from which railroad personnel could inspect the steam-powered locomotives.

Several site sections have exposed concrete structures where buildings or other structures were once located. Compared to local terrain, the northwestern-most portion of the site appears slightly lower in elevation and is likely subject to periodic flooding.

Existing above- and below-grade utility lines are present on-site. Trees and shrubs cover the lower terrace area north of the existing railroad grade.

Because the study was completed during winter, no distressed vegetation was observed on site.

A potentially contaminated discharge was observed flowing out of the pipe located just north of the main storm sewer on Tonawanda Creek just downstream of Dam 2. Though this pipe is north of the site, its source has not been determined.

This pipe could be an old outfall acting as a discharge conduit for local groundwater. This is feasible since the soils in this area are very permeable.

Nearly 40 interviews were conducted with neighbors and past employees — 14 former Doehler-Jarvis employees, one engineer presently working for NL industries, four former employees of the railroad companies, and 20 others, city historian, neighbors, a member of the Democratic Committee, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hazardous Waste Remediation Division of DEC, Genesee County Legislature, IDA, Planning Department, Batavia Town Supervisor, City of Batavia Water and Sewer Department, engineering, zoning, inspection and fire departments.

Not one was observed or familiar with any on-site dumping by Doehler Die Cast Company or Doehler-Jarvis. A few were familiar with on-site dumping of cinders/ash from coal-fired locomotives used by railroad companies prior to the use of diesel-powered engines along railroad spurs and near the creek.

A few were familiar with neighbors dumping household waste on-site several years ago, evidenced by local collectors acquiring bottles in that area. No one was familiar with on-site spills, explosions, fires, or emergencies related to petroleum, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes used by the railroads or Doehler companies.

All that information is in a Phase I real estate investigation, followed by a Phase II investigation. In 1992, there was a quantitative environmental analysis and supplemental remedial investigation of remedial work.

Work continued in 2014 with a Phase I environmental site assessment when City Manager Jason Molino was here. The assessment reviewed unanticipated hazardous materials, external observations, and an executive summary about the aftermath of various manufacturing and industrial operations on site between 1919 and 1980, including Batavia Steel Products Corp., Doehler Die Casting Co., Adria Motor Car Corp., and Gray Machine & Parts Corp.

The parcel at 60 Evans St. had also been listed as a DEC State Superfund site; however, “no information was available from the DEC or other sources regarding that listing, it stated.

Investigative methods included advancing test pits, test trenches, soil borings, and groundwater monitoring wells. Soil, groundwater, and surface water samples from the site and creek were collected and submitted for laboratory analysis.

Contaminants identified included metals, petroleum constituents, and chlorinated solvents, prompting remedial work associated with the former Doehler-Jarvis, including:

Remove one 500-gallon underground storage tank, two 10,200-gallon underground storage tanks, and two in-ground hydraulic lifts.

Excavation and off-site disposal of lead-impacted soil.

Excavation, stockpiling, and bio-remediation of approximately 1,700 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted soil.

That work was completed as of April 5, 1995 as other concerns were identified, such as chlorinated solvents being detected in groundwater samples and fill materials consisting of ciders, ash, glass, brick, metal fragments and concrete located throughout the site seven feet down, with additional assessment of fill materials being warranted for redevelopment purposes.

Yet another Phase I and II environmental investigation report, 10 years later in 2024, now under City Manager Rachael Tabelski, shows updated findings of petroleum impacts, product globules on the groundwater entering test pits, and a heavy sheen coming out of the ground at a boring.

The company Roux Environmental Engineering and Geology recommended the site as a candidate for the Brownfield Cleanup Program and to apply “if the city of Batavia or other entity is interested in pursuing redevelopment of the site.”

A final link is the completed 2025 application, which includes history, maps, environmental assessments, and a project description—six three-story, 16-unit multi-family residential complexes with a first-floor garage, private drive, stormwater management areas, a walking path, a natural park, landscaping and green space.

To view all of the application links, go HERE. 

The documents are also available at the document repository located at Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St., Batavia.

There are various ways to comment:

• Submit them to the site Project Manager Mackenzie Rees at NYSDEC, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY, 14414
• Email Mackenzie.rees@dec.ny.gov
• Call 585-226-5409

All comments must be submitted by June 6.

Diana Prinzi seems like a no-nonsense type of person, someone with a shy smile backed up by a passion for law enforcement and keeping the protocols in check.

So, it may come as no surprise to those who know her best that her latest role falls right in line with her goal to continue being a central point of the organization. She worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement for 22 years before retiring in 2019, and then two years later, she worked part-time for Genesee County, becoming program coordinator for Genesee Justice in 2022.

She began as Genesee County Jail superintendent on Jan. 1.

“This job was a continuation of a path that I had with ICE, as far as with an open facility. I worked on policies and procedures and the accreditation. So this is sort of a branch off of that. It's the administrative portion of that now, and having oversight of a new facility, bringing that to fruition, and getting everything in place,” Prinzi said during an interview Wednesday at the West Main Street Road jail. “Obviously, this new jail has been open and things were up and running, but there's still a lot of growing to do, and getting everything in tune with a much larger facility, all different aspects of how it operates compared to what it was at 14 West Main. I enjoy the administration oversight of it, trying to get all those different parameters in place. And everything that comes to mind, whether it’s policies and procedures, whether it's training, whether it's security oversight, whether it's just daily operations staffing, there's a lot to it. And I like that aspect of bringing all those pieces together.”

Those pieces include 106 inmates, of whom 86 are men and 20 are women. There are approximately 50 correctional officers and a dozen vacancies; three kitchen staff; and medical, religious, and financial service providers, including Genesee County Mental Health. There is a Bible study and Sunday church service, and Genesee Valley BOCES provides lessons for a General Education Diploma program. As she said, there are a lot of working pieces.

Prinzi also noted her deputy superintendent, Jason Queal, aka “my right hand.”

“He’s invaluable,” she said.

Backing up a bit, what led Prinzi, who was born and raised in Le Roy, to follow a criminal justice path? She figured it was some of her college classes, such as research methods and a criminal justice course.

“I got drawn in at the time I graduated from college. They were just building the immigration facility (in Batavia). So that’s really where my path went, that’s really what led my pathway,” she said, bringing it to her current position. “It’s the care and custody of the inmates inside, and what we provide to them, the services that they need, whether it's medical care or food, outside providers for religious services or classes instruction, making sure that we meet the compliance with the Commission of Corrections and what their standards are. So all those types of things tied together, you know? So, sort of it's like a direct oversight of all those things, and I like seeing how all those inner workings come together.”

What else is part of the job?
Certainly, paperwork is part of the job, she said, because “if you didn’t like paperwork, you wouldn’t do the job.” There is a lot of documentation involved when someone is brought into custody, she said.

“You have to make sure that everything's being done properly, everything's being documented properly, and that you can show that the things are being done. So that's a very important aspect,” she said. “So definitely, there's a lot of aspects to this position. It's very fluid. Every minute, there's something new. Being a county jail, arrests come fresh off the street, so there are all different aspects of what people bring in with them. Whatever their care needs are, their backgrounds, they could have immediate needs that need to be attended to.

“Whether it's their situation, where they just came from, their home life, drug use, things like that. Little bit different than somebody that's going into city department corrections, that’s already been through a county jail and spent some time here in terms of just transitioning to basically a new facility,” she said. “So that has been a little bit eye-opening, because I didn't have the county jail aspect under me before, I had more of a controlled environment, I should say, from what we had when working with Genesee Justice.”

She wanted to take special note of National Correction Officers’ Week, thanking them all for their work and stating that they “should be very highly respected.”

“I don’t think people understand the job that they do and the sacrifices that they make and what they deserve for all the work that they put into it, but they see things every day that they come in here that most people never imagine seeing,” she said. “And everything that they do is obviously to support the criminal justice system, but it’s to keep our community safe, too. So it’s definitely a whole different world when they walk in those doors, and what they take every day when they go in the back and they leave.”

Prinzi and other personnel were put to the test a week ago when a fire erupted at nearby Hodgins Engraving, causing chemical explosions and billowing smoke to create potentially toxic air quality for the jail and other building occupants.

"It was a little bit chaotic. You have to understand that, working in the jail, there's different safety and security procedures. I worked with my supervisory staff and with emergency management and our facilities team, just checking to make sure that things were where they needed to be. I mean, we had air quality checks going on. We obviously had smoke everywhere. The wind was blowing in our direction; we couldn't avoid it. We kept an eye on things like that,” she said. “There was talk about whether or not we would have to evacuate. There was a very close eye kept on that. So we were reviewing how we would handle that, and we made close contact with other facilities that we would utilize as resources for that. So we had things in place. Fortunately, we did not have to go that route, because that's a significant undertaking to have to move 100 inmates out.

“I was here long hours that day, as everybody was, making sure people were safe. And unfortunately, people do get affected by it. They can't stop what happens on the outside in the environment. But everybody took their roles. We had the air quality testing coming in … the sheriff was here,” she said. “We had a lot of people, my deputy was here, my deputy superintendent, everybody was trying to do their part to figure it out, besides the staff and the supervisors and the people that are normally here, medical here, we had some extra medical staff evaluate the inmates and stuff. So we just took the precautions that we needed to. Being in a jail, you can’t just pack up and walk out.”

What has been the most challenging part of the job so far?
“There’s a lot of daily challenges, and that’s just part because it is a county jail and we deal with a lot of different things every single day, part of it is generally our staffing. We have a lot of staffing still we're catching up on. There isn't one challenge that stands out above everything else. I think that if you're working in a jail and you're not being challenged, then something's not right, and you should be aware, or be cautious, because you're missing something,” she said. “If those challenges aren't there, challenges make us better, because we have to address them. And we find things every day. You can find something that you've been doing, and you can look at it a different way, and realize, oh, well, we should have been doing this a little bit differently, and we would have been doing it better. And to me, that's just a way of progressing, and improving upon who we are and what we do.”

Prinzi and husband Sam have five children and three grandchildren and when she has any free time, they enjoy traveling or doing projects around the house and spending time outdoors.

As for her free time, she smiled when asked if she had a daytime shift or not. Her hours are during the day, but “it’s a 24-hour shift,” she said. She and Queal are often catching up on busy work — computer, emails, and she is on call — after hours. That means 24/7, 365 days a year, she said. It’s just part of the job.

“It’s part of what the job is, and you need to know that going into it,” she said. “Any law enforcement job has that type of connection to it.”

Prinzi has no qualms about being a female leader of primarily male employees at the jail. She exudes controlled confidence when stating her open-door leadership style and goals for the facility, which was completed and opened toward the end of 2024.

She values input from the most experienced, veteran officers to newer ones just starting out, she said, and understands that all of them "bring something to the table."

“There's a lot of potential in this building, as far as what the staff can bring to the table, what we can do with the physical plant, as far as what the classroom is, what we can offer. And just make it a good place to work and get the staffing where we want it to be. So we have a lot of goals when it comes to that,” she said. “I have my thoughts on things that I want to see based on my experience, and those things are important, and they will definitely trickle into what I'm doing. But I also am very open to the fact that I have not worked in this county jail for all these years. I am very open to what they have to say and to the knowledge that they have, because they work back there every day.

“I will never discount an idea or suggestion. I can't implement all of them. They're not all going to be feasible for what we have, but I'm going to listen to them all and know what they say,” she said. “We have oversight, but we can make it into the best place possible.”

Everyone is positive about the growth and direction of GLOW YMCA as a search to replace CEO Rob Walker nears completion, Board President Dean Bellack says.

Walker retired on Jan. 31, and a search committee was formed shortly after to sift through an initial 40 applicants from throughout the country, Bellack said this week. Those were carved down a couple of times for the three finalists.

“We did a very large search. We had a large number of initial applicants, which we whittled down to a smaller number of applicants. Then we whittled it down again in terms of the people that we wanted to do preliminary interviews with, and a lot of those happened this week,” he said to The Batavian Wednesday. “And then we've narrowed that down to, again, a very small group of applicants that we're going to be doing personal interviews with here in about a week and a half, and then we'll be making an announcement.”

Applicants were from New York State and other areas, including Virginia, Indiana and Florida, he said. Two of the finalists are local, and one is from out of state. YMCA national assisted with the process and advertising the position, and Bellack is “confident in the candidates that we have,” he said

Membership at the Genesee YMCA began at 1,100 and is now around 2,400 to 2,500.

“It’s significant growth, but we still have growth to do,” he said. We’re planning to be at 3,000. We have some ways to go, and we’re confident we’re going to be there. Typically in the summer season, the amount of people searching for new memberships at YMCAs tend to level off a little bit. We're not predicting any decline in terms of where we are. The growth could slow a little bit during the summertime, and then I'm sure we'll be at the numbers that we need to be at once we get back into the fall.”

He acknowledged that “obviously, Rob was CEO during that time” of fundraising and planning for the new downtown Batavia facility, which was completed for a New Year’s opening. He also credited the strength and dedication of “a lot of volunteers” who supported the cause.

John Riter and Paul Battaglia were integral project leaders, he said. There are also high levels of expertise on staff, including treasurer Mike Grover and Chief Financial Officer Greg Watson, who is serving as interim CEO, he said.

“It was a tremendous effort; they deserve tremendous congratulations,” Bellack said. “We’re very positive on the growth of the new facility and where we’re going to be with the association. We’re planning big things ahead.”

Walker declined to comment. An email announcing his retirement was sent out to members in the GLOW region at the time, Bellack said.