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Tonight's Batavia City Council meeting was a conference meeting. The following items were discussed (no votes were taken):

Cedar Street reconstruction

In September 2009, the City Council authorized the Cedar Street reconstruction project. It is being paid for by federal highway money and will cost $2.8 million.

A total of 15 engineering firms were considered for a contract to provide engineering services for the project. A committee is recommending that Buffalo-based Erdman Anthony get the contract for $220,000 in engineering services.

Redevelopment

The Batavia Planning and Development Committee approved a residential redevelopment plan previously recommended by the City Council. At its next business meeting, the council will be asked to pass a resolution authorizing the plan.

It calls for foreclosed properties to be transferred to the Batavia Housing Authority so that the property can be deeded, under specific conditions, to qualified low-income families.

City budget

In keeping with Batavia's budget audit consultant, the City Council will need to adopt a resolution at its next business meeting to set up several reserve funds. These include: employee benefit accrued liability; self-insurance health benefit plan; workers' compensation; retirement contribution; and reserves for Dwyer Stadium repair.

The city has $3.5 million in compensated absence liability, with $1.3 million potentially due immediately, if the high number of employees eligible to retire actually did so. The resolution would authorize a transfer of $150,000 to the benefit accrued liability fund.

Another resolution would authorize the transfer of $100,000 to the self-insurance fund.

With $284,000 in potential workers' comp liability, another resolution would transfer $200,000 from the general reserve fund to the workers' comp liability fund.

Another resolution would transfer $150,000 for public works equipment and $50,000 for fire department equipment for future purchases.

The council is also being asked to transfer $200,000 to the retirement reserve fund.

Finally, the council is being asked to transfer $60,000 to the Dwyer Stadium repair reserve fund.

Ron Wendt's truck was likely traveling at 11 mph when it was struck by a Toyota Camry on Aug. 14, 2009 as Wendt attempted to make a left-hand turn into the parking lot of My Saloon on Broadway in Darien.

The Camry, driven by Rachel Enderle, 27, of Dansville, was likely going at 46 mph at the point of impact.

This is the testimony of accident scene investigator Deputy Ron Meides.

Meides said he had no ability to calculate the speed of the Camry in the second prior to impact.

Defense Attorney Thomas Burns asked a number of questions about the relative speed of the Camry and how much distance it would have traveled at those speeds.

Previously, Enderle and another witness have put the possible speeds in a range from 50 to 60 mph.

Witness Amanda McClellan estimated in earlier testimony that Wendt's truck was traveling at 30 to 40 mph as he attempted to make the turn.

Meides said his calculations were based on the distance the vehicles moved from the point of impact to where they came to rest. Because Wendt's truck hit a parked truck, therefore stopping motion, Meides had to begin his calculations on the distance that the stationary truck moved.

The starting point of the calculations was a gouge in the roadway. He estimated that the Camry traveled 10 feet from the point of impact and the Wendt's Dodge Ram moved 15 feet.

The weights of the vehicles with their respective passengers are also a factor in the calculation, as is the condition of the roadway. 

The type of roadway -- in this case "polished asphalt" (because of heavy use and age) -- adds "drag" to the motion of the vehicles (as does the condition of the tires, but not as much as the road surface).

Because the Sheriff's Office doesn't have the necessary device, Meides did not test for roadway drag to get a precise measurement. He testified that the number he used (called a co-efficient) was .5, which he said is standard under those conditions.

Other testimony today:

Sgt. Steve Mullen of the Sheriff's Office was called back to the stand to narrate a nighttime video he and other investigators made of driving past My Saloon. The video included two vehicles -- a truck stopped with its turn signal on in front of My Saloon and a sedan driving through Darien Center at 45 mph.

The only defense witness called today was Benjamin Bonarigo, an intern at his father's law firm, Bonarigo & McCutcheon. Bonarigo took additional pictures of the accident scene area on behalf of the defense.

Both attorneys rested their cases today and the jury was dismissed for the evening. Closing arguments begin around 9 a.m., Tuesday.

Once the jury was out of the courtroom, Burns resumed his motions for dismissal of all 11 counts against Wendt, saying that the People have failed to make its case that Wendt was driving under the influence and that he drove in a reckless manner.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman was critical of Burns' motion, saying that Burns offered no proof that the People had failed to make its case. In fact, Friedman argued, there was sufficient evidence of DWI and that Wendt's actions were reckless.

"Obviously it’s our position, and I think that viewing the evidence in the most favorable light to the people, we have established reckless driving," Friedman said. "The defendant turned (left) right in front of a car that is so close. It’s not just his intoxication. It’s not just his traffic violation. It’s that he made the turn with the other vehicle in such close proximity."

The issue of recklessness -- and how to instruct the jury on the charges involving recklessness -- were also a big point of contention between Burns and Friedman when discussing how Noonan will instruct the jury on the charges.

Burns wants a charge that would require the jury to find that Wendt's behavior was clearly reckless, that he acted in a way that showed careless disregard for other people on a public highway. Friedman said under the law, the People don't even need to prove criminal negligence to get a reckless driving conviction -- just that the defendant took an action and it led to the death of another person.

Noonan will issue his rulings on how to instruct the jury on the charges in the morning, but he set no specific time on when he might rule on Burns' dismissal motions.

The prosecution in the Ronald J. Wendt manslaughter trial will not be allowed to submit evidence from a computer program that calculates and reaches conclusions on what happened in the Aug. 14, 2009 accident that killed a Dansville girl.

However, maps generated by the program that depict the accident scene without interpretation can be used, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled in Genesee County Court today.

The combination of measuring devices and computer programs are known as Nikon Total Station, Vista FX (6th Edition) and Crashnet.

Noonan concluded that there are no precedents for using these programs for the purpose of accident-scene reconstruction and one of the tests of admissibility would be establishing general acceptance for that purpose by the scientific community. That has not been established, Noonan ruled.

In another matter, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman objected to photos brought into court today by defense attorney Thomas Burns, saying he hadn't been properly notified and questioning their evidentiary value.

Noonan ruled that Friedman could challenge the value of the photos as evidence at the time Burns attempts to enter them as evidence.

The photos were taken recently of the accident scene area. Burns said some of the photos show views that have not been offered into evidence by the prosecution.

As I've read our coverage of the Ron Wendt manslaughter trial, I've thought a couple of times it would be useful to see the scene of the accident, what the roadway is like, where buildings are located. 

To help with some perspective are four pictures from the scene. Note, to avoid any visual warping of perspective, I did not use telephoto settings on my lens. I did use a wide-angle setting from the porch of My Saloon.

Top picture is looking east on Route 20/Broadway from the low point of the road, less than 100 yards from the driveway of My Saloon (just past the Route 354 turn sign on the right).

For a bigger version of this picture, click here.

The trial resumes this afternoon.

More pictures after the jump:

Still looking east, but further up the road, where the speed limit changes to 40 mph.  Bigger picture.

The view looking west, the direction Ron Wendt was traveling. Bigger version.

The view from the front porch of My Saloon -- the vantage point of Amanda McClellan, who said she observed Wendt's truck going from 30 mph to 40 mph, and didn't apparently slow before trying to make the turn into the driveway.  The driveway is about four feet to the left of this picture. While McClellan couldn't have seen far up the road, to stand on the porch and watch cars go by gives a different perspective on just how much she could have seen.

New York Times story: U.S. Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet

Michael Richenberg, 20, from Elba, won the Genesee ARC 5K in Elba on Saturday. His 18:44 time beat Batavia High basketball player Collin Mulcahy, 16, by 12 seconds.

The other top 10 finishers were:

Kimberly Mills, 19, Basom, 19:08
Kevin Lavare, 30, New York, 19:14
Judy Arlington, 44, Lockport, 20:38
Chad Minuto, 34, Batavia, 21:04
Justin Carlson, 13, Le Roy, 21:07
Tom Moran, 57, Batavia, 21:17
Michael Skowronski, 13, Lewiston, 21:21
Patrick Miller, 45, Spencerport, 21:32

The top two women walkers were Kayla Russo, 16, of Williamsville, at 27:06 and Laura Felice, 74, of Jamestown at 40:37.

The top two men walkers were Paul Spiotta, 52, at 42:17 and Clarice Parrag-Graney, 68, at 44:07.

For complete results, click here.

Fumbles proved costly for the Lancers on Saturday, as more than one drive was snuffed by a lost ball.

The final score: Elba/Byron-Bergen 12 - Holley 24.

The Lancers held Holley's powerful offense scoreless in the first half, but blew a chance to take a lead in the second quarter on a fumble deep in Holley territory.

And that's pretty much how it would go the next couple of times Elba/BB took possession of the ball.

Holley finally broke the deadlock in the third quarter on a Chad Barhydt four-yard run. On the next drive, Holley made it 16-0 (with two-point conversions) on a two-yard run by Cadizsh Norford.

A 25-yard run by Spencer Greean would seal the deal for Holley, despite two touchdown passes from Eric Kowalik in the fourth quarter.

Kowalik hit Matt Ramsey on a 22-yard strike, and Ramsey also took a pass from Kowalik 65 yards for a score.

On both scores, Elba/BB failed on two-point conversion attempts.

For Elba/BB, Kowalik completed 10 of 12 passes for 178 yards and he rushed for 43 yards. Ramsey had five catches for 141 yards.

The Lancers are now 2-2 and Holley is 3-1.

In other Genesee County football action on Friday, Oakfield-Alabama (0-4) fell to Barker (2-2), 28-7; Attica (3-1) dropped Pembroke (3-1), 38-12; Notre Dame (3-1) beat Alexander (0-4), 33-12; and Batavia (1-3) won over Penfield (0-4), 20-14.

In the Genesee Region division, four teams now have 3-1 records: Holley, Attica, Pembroke and Notre Dame.

Also, interesting story from the D&C about how players in Section V are getting bigger.

More pictures from the Elba/BB game after the jump:

Passing through Corfu today, I stopped for mums and ended up taking pictures and meeting John Preisach, who came out to greet me.

Preisach's family has owned the greenhouses on Route 77 for 100 years and Preisach's been growing mums for 40 years. The greenhouses were heavily damaged in the tornado last year, but Preisach continues produce beautiful plants.

The body of Jeffrey Fredericks, missing since Sept. 15, was found late this afternoon in a wooded area not far from his home on Sumner Road.

The location is just a few houses to the west of Fredericks' house, with a field of a couple hundred yards deep between the roadway and the wooded area. The location is inside Darien Lake State Park.

Fredericks was the victim of an apparent self-inflected gunshot wound, according to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble.

Genesee County Coroner Kristine Flanagain pronounced him dead at 4:44 p.m. His body was located at 3:56 p.m.

Fredericks was 66 years old.

Dibble said the body was found at the end of a long day of searching this particular wooded area.

Dibble said teams had continued to traverse the area in a grid search pattern and that searches were conducted Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and today.

The exact circumstances of his death remain under investigation.

The following agencies and organizations worked cooperatively over this 10-day period to locate Fredericks: Genesee County Sheriff's Office; New York State Park Police; New York State Police; New York State Forest Rangers; Erie County Sheriff's Office; Corfu Police Dept.; Genesee County Office of Emergency Management; Darien Volunteer Fire Dept.; Bennington Fire Dept.; Corfu Fire Dept.; the Massasauga, Niagara Frontier, Livingston and Oswego Search & Rescue teams; Genesee County Planning Dept.; and Darien Lake Theme Park Security. The Salvation Army also assisted.

For previous coverage, click here.

Batavia PD is asking for help in identifying the man in this picture. Investigators wish to speak to him related to a possible larceny at Tops Market. No further details were released.

A Covington man is being accused of trying to convince Walmart employees that he was a federal law enforcement agent.

Why isn't clear, but Nikko C. Gambino allegedly entered the Batavia Walmart on two occasions wearing clothing with law enforcement markings, displaying a badge and saying, the first time, that he was looking for robbery suspects, and a second time saying he was looking for a fugitives.

Following an investigation, members of the Genesee County Local Drug Task Force along with officers from the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office, conducted a search of Gambino's Covington home and reportedly found articles of clothing with law enforcement markings and a metal badge.

Gambino was charged with two counts of criminal impersonation, 2nd, and one count of falsely reporting an incident.

He was jailed on $5,000 bail and additional charges may be pending.

Tonight, as part of its home coming game at VanDetta Stadium, the Batavia Blue Devils will honor its 2010 Hall of Fame inductees.

The ninth annual inductees are:

• Don Cerefin, 1947
• Bruce Beswick, 1970
• Sharon Leising, 1964
• Ernest Found Jr., 1970
• Barry Sheldon, 1967
• Matthew Doward, 1986
• James Briggs, 1969
• Teal Fowler, 1989
• James Dzierzanowski, 1969

Tonight's game is at 7 against Penfield.

The inductees will be recognized during a half-time ceremony.

Following the game, there will be a reception at Ri-Dan's Sports Park, 3755 West Main St. Road, Batavia.

The induction dinner is Saturday at Terry Hills. A social hour begins at 5 p.m., and dinner is served at 6 p.m., with the ceremony immediately after dinner.

Tickets are available at the Batavia High athletic director's office, or call 343-2480, ext. 2003.

More inductee pictures after the jump:

I will be leaving shortly for Buffalo to catch a plane to Chicago. I'm attending a conference called "Block by Block: Community News Summit 2010."

The one-day event is perhaps the first time all of the publishers of the top local online-only news sites in the U.S. have gathered in one location. In all, about 40 independent publishers will be attending, plus some editors from larger companies.

I'll be leading one session on advertising sales.

In the meantime, Tim Walton is helping with Ron Wendt trial coverage and Ethan Thompson will cover Attica at Pembroke football for us on Friday night. Of course, Billie will be around to monitor the scanner and handle anything breaking that comes up, and WBTA is available to pitch in as needed, as well -- so there should still be news coverage while I'm gone.

Not to mention, of course, I'll have my laptop with me and stay on top of things as much as possible.

Contractors began milling Ellicott Street this morning in preparation for repaving next week.

Over the next three days, the milling tractors -- which cost $750,000 each -- will remove 750,000 tons of top asphalt.

The milling begins down the center of Ellicott today, with traffic being diverted to the outside lanes from Main to Cedar. Once the center of the roadway is milled, traffic will be routed to the center and workers will mill to the curbs.

A test strip of paving will be laid on Wednesday, with actual paving scheduled to begin on Friday.

Two bus loads of area residents departed from the Batavia Downs parking lot this morning for "Patriot Trip III," the annual trek to Washington, D.C., organized by Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

The trip includes tours of the WWII, Vietnam, Korean and FDR Memorials as well as the Nation’s Capitol, Arlington Cemetery, and Udvar Hazy Aerospace
Museum. Each traveler paid $325 to join the group and they will stay at Fort Belvior Army Base in Virginia.

For many of the people joining the tour this year, it is their third time making the trip to D.C., and some first-timers said they were excited to be going in this year.

David Timothy Neuhaus, 23, of North Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Neuhaus is accused of stealing property from another person in Bergen. The time of the alleged incident was 5:20 a.m., Tuesday.

Randy Lawrence Sanfratello, 40, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Sanfratello allegedly remained on the property of another person whom he was ordered not to be near.

William J. Christner, 55, of Batavia, is charged with DWI and aggravated DWI. Christner was stopped by State Police at 9:07 p.m., Tuesday, on Route 5 in the Town of Batavia.

A three-car accident with injuries has been reported at Daws Corners.

UPDATE 6 p.m.: Northbound traffic at Saile Drive is being closed.

UPDATE 6:32 p.m.: The Elba fire chief has told fire police to reopen the road.