Native American dancers were in the Genesee Community College Forum on Thursday afternoon for a dance demonstration and lecture by Wayne Abrams on the history and culture of the Six Nations.
The event is part of a monthlong celebration of Native American Heritage at GCC.
Press release:
START-UP Genesee will once again bring together entrepreneurs from throughout the region for another networking opportunity as part of its Think and Drink series.
The event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 22nd from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Innovation Zone at 99 MedTech Drive, Batavia. The event is free and open to entrepreneurs with ideas or business plans to incubate the next great product or service from the region.
Guest speakers include Don Warrant of Freed Maxick CPAs, Leslie Bamann of High Tech Rochester and assistant VP and Business Banking officer at Canandaigua Bank, and Georgann Carrubba, founder & CEO of TenCar Inc. There will also be a product showcase in drone technology, 3-D printing, and medical device product displays.
START-UP Genesee is intended to assist all types of businesses from early stage planning to site selection, access to capital and product development or diversification.
The series is being sponsored by various local businesses including Canandaigua National Bank, Tompkins Bank of Castile Insurance Agencies, Feed Maxick CPAs, Merrill Lynch of Batavia the University at Buffalo New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, Life Sciences and Material Informatics, and Del Plato Casey LLP.
Already a successful proprietor in the nail business -- he and his wife own L.J. Nail's on East Main Street, Batavia -- Johnny Dinh has opened a new, full-service salon at 5176 Clinton Street Road, Batavia.
The new business is called Livia Beauty & Spa.
Dinh has gone all out to make the new salon into a top-end place for not just nails, but hair styling, massages, and skin care.
"This is a place where people can come one-stop," Dinh said. "They can get everything done here. You don't have to stop somewhere else to get hair done or nails done, you know."
The impression Dinh wants customers to get from his new business is that it's high quality with great service.
In an effort to more effectively and efficiently deal with vacant and abandoned properties, the city, the county and the counties of Livingston and Orleans are considering the formation of land banks.
Land banks have been around for just this purpose since 1971 but didn't start to get traction for county and municipal governments until the early 2000s when Genesee County, Mich., started a successful land bank.
Land banks, which are nonprofit corporations formed by local governments, are able to acquire tax-foreclosed property on a streamlined basis and then more quickly get that property back into residential or commercial use.
Typically, land banks are self-funding, generating revenue from real estate sales that is reinvested in the process of moving more property from unproductive use to productive use.
They're particularly popular in rust-belt communities where populations have declined and industry has left hulks of buildings vacant.
The proposed agreement between the three counties and the city has a provision for the land bank to hire an executive director and potential staff members.
The board of directors would be appointed by the government bodies and those members would serve without compensation.
The corporation would be known as the GLO Regional Land Bank.
County Manager Jay Gsell introduced the potential agreement to members of the County Legislature on Wednesday evening. The Legislature has not yet been asked to take action on the proposal.
Currently, when a property owner allows a parcel to pass into tax foreclosure, the property is sold at auction. Each local government would have the option to let a property go up for auction or transfer that parcel to the land bank.
Batavia -- Joseph Richard Gerace, 80, proprietor of Gerace's Hair Care Center and along with his wife owned the former Bob Harris Realty Company, died on Thursday (Nov. 17, 2016) at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia.
Mr. Gerace was born March 15, 1936 in Batavia, a son of the late Joseph A. and Sarah (Gazzetta) Gerace.
A 1955 graduate of Batavia High School, he served with the Army from 1957 to 1959. Prior to the hair care center he operated the Trailways Diner.
He was an avid New York Yankees and Buffalo Bills fan. He proudly attended each Super Bowl the Bills appeared in and was on the Founders Wall at the New Era Stadium tunnel entrance, recognizing season ticket holders since the beginning of the Buffalo Bills in 1960. A favorite activity of his was the large selection of Christmas lights he displayed each year at his home.
Among the recognition and awards he received over the years included the two-time recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow Award, which is Rotary’s Club highest award, 2008 Humanitarian Award presented by the United Memorial Medical Center Foundation and the Jerome Foundation, 2006 Volunteer of the Year Award for the city of Batavia, Italian-American of the year awarded by the Batavia Downs and a similar award from the Paolo Busti Cultural Foundation, 1993 Geneseean of the Year and the Batavia Lions Club Italian American Award.
Surviving are his wife, Lois (Wagner) Gerace, of Batavia, whom he married July 16, 1960; two sons, Robert J. Gerace and John P. (Rhonda Saulsbury) Gerace, both of Batavia; one daughter, Karen A. (Scott) Rowland, of Perry; one brother, Alfred J. (Patricia) Gerace of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and one sister, Theresa (late Joseph) Irrera, of Batavia. He is the grandfather of Ashley Gerace, Chelsea (Josh) Smith, Justin Gerace and Kirsten Rowland, Lindsey Rowland and David Rowland. Several nieces, nephews and cousins also survive.
He is a brother of the late Louis Gerace and Sarah Bateman.
Family and friends may call on Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Bohm-Calarco-Smith Funeral Home, 308 E. Main St., Batavia. The Knights of Columbus #325 will hold a prayer service on Sunday at 5 p.m. His Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. on Monday at Resurrection Parish -- St. Joseph’s Church, 303 E. Main St., Batavia. Burial with full military honors will be at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Batavia.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Crossroads House, P.O. Box 403, Batavia, NY 14021 or online at http://crossroadshouse.com/donations, or to Genesee Cancer Assistance Inc., c/o United Memorial Medical Center, 127 North St., Batavia, NY 14020 or online at http://geneseecancerassistance.com/donate/or to the New York State Veterans Home, Attention: Activities Fund, 220 Richmond Ave., Batavia, NY 14020.
Please leave a condolence, share a story or light a candle at www.bataviafuneralhomes.com.
The Batavia HS choir plans on competing in a chorus competition in Washington, D.C., next year and they need to raise $50,000 to make the trip, so a novel fundraising idea they hit on is to sing Christmas carols for the community.
Local businesses can hire them to sing Christmas carols and other holiday songs on Dec. 19. The cost is $15 for two songs and $5 for each additional song.
The choir will also go to private homes on a date yet to be determined. The price is the same.
Director Jane Hagett said the group would also be happy to hear from service clubs, such as Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary or Zonta to sing at one of their gatherings in December.
The school's phone number is (585) 343-2480, ext. 2000.
Press release:
One of Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s (R,C,I-Batavia) signature legislative accomplishments this past Legislative Session, The Charitable Gaming Act of 2016, has finally hit Gov. Cuomo’s desk and is awaiting his signature, which would make the bill a law, or his veto. The bill was delivered to the governor on Wednesday and he has 10 days to decide whether to sign or veto the legislation.
The bill, which Hawley and Assemblyman Schimminger (D-Buffalo) ushered through the house and Sen. Gallivan (R,C,I-Elma) sponsored in the Senate along with support from Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer and Sen. Robert Ortt, would allow “raffles” to accept legal tender, credit and debit payment for their charitable auctions and games, and allow purchases toward the raffles to be made online. The new law would restore the Stafford Fire Department’s famous annual car raffle that ended last year after decades due to archaic provisions that restricted how the charity raffle could operate.
“I am excited that the ‘Charitable Gaming Act’ has finally hit the governor’s desk and is awaiting his approval,” Hawley said. “I worked diligently with colleagues in both houses to pass this legislation and it is crucial for fire departments, nonprofits and other charities that hold raffles and games to revise these archaic and outdated requirements, which hamper their ability to give back to the local community. I encourage all of my constituents and local charities to call or write Gov. Cuomo and urge him to sign this important bill. This will go a long way toward helping to restore the Stafford Fire Department’s annual car raffle.”
Hailey Kirkpatrick, one of the winners of City Fire's annual fire safety poster contest, got a special ride in a fire truck to Batavia Middle School today with firefighters Greg Ireland and Matt Pillsbury.
Yesterday, Xavian Cramer got a ride to John Kennedy School and tomorrow Lillian Clarke gets a ride to Jackson School.
Press release:
Tiffani Brown receives Outstanding Student Award. She was nominated by BMS teacher Sarah Gahagan, who wrote, Tiffani is an eighth-grade student who shows dedication, perseverance, dependability, and a positive attitude in everything she does. She is one of 19 original founders of the BMS Girls on the Run team, hasn’t missed a single session, and always arrives on time and prepared. She partakes in every race, volunteer activity, and community-sponsored Girls on the Run event. Tiffanie has become so much more confident over the course of three years and many of her teachers think it’s because of this club. She is a great role model to her peers for her positive attitude and has developed her natural talent of working with others.
Maria DiMartino receives Outstanding Employee Award. She was nominated by Assistant Principal Maureen Notaro, who wrote, Maria DiMartino is a very special person. She is a classroom aide, often helping some of our most difficult students, and she goes above and beyond to make every child successful in school. She develops close relationships with the students and also supports them emotionally. The Board and Middle School are very fortunate to have such a dedicated employee.
Muriel Burns receives Outstanding Community Member Award. She was nominated by Assistant Principal Maureen Notaro, who wrote, Recently, one of our students from BMS was walking in the rain, late to school, and with no coat. A woman pulled over and offered him her umbrella. She asked him where he went to school and he said Batavia Middle School. She called the school, spoke to Julie Tybor, and asked us to get his sizes. Ms. Tybor called her back after the counselor provided his sizes. The next day Mrs. Burns returned to school with a brand new coat, three pairs of gloves, a back pack, and a blanket. The next day she returned with boots, hats, and nearly a dozen pairs of socks for him. The smile on the child’s face was priceless. This child does not have it easy, and she truly made his day.
Superintendent of Schools Christopher Dailey was invited to become a member of the National Center for Education Research and Technology (NCERT), an organization comprised of a maximum of 85 prominent school district superintendents as well as select corporate leaders from education-related industries. NCERT’s goal is to network creative and innovative thinkers who are leaders in education with the leaders of the industries they depend upon for products and services, technology, and research. The group focuses on contemporary issues of interest to school districts.
School Board Recognition: In honor of NYS School Board Recognition Week (celebrated this year from Oct. 24-28), several District organizations made donations to local charities in the Board’s honor. The JK Parent Teacher Group made a $50 donation to the Michael Napoleone Foundation, the Jackson Home School Association made a $50 donation to United Way – Community Action, the Batavia Clerical Association made a $50 donation to the United Way for the BCSD Backpack Program for BCSD students, and the Batavia Teachers’ Association made a $200 donation to the Salvation Army’s Backpack Program for the BCSD students. The New York State School Boards Association sponsors School Board Recognition Week to recognize school board members for their commitment to New York public school children and the crucial role they have within a school district.
Photos by Kathy Scott.
Press release:
Batavia Middle School is hosting a Family and Community Night from 5-6:30 on Thursday, Nov. 17. This year’s theme is “Warm the Night” and FREE hats, mittens and scarves will be distributed. Enjoy a FREE light supper of soup and bread with Timbits and coffee, courtesy of Tim Hortons.
There will also be a FREE bicycle raffle and you’ll also receive a FREE basket raffle ticket at the door, one raffle ticket for EVERY family member!
Prepare to be dazzled by former Harlem Globetrotter, Corey “The Dribbler.” Plus, the Batavia Police Department will be on hand to license bikes in the gym and give you a coupon for a FREE bike helmet from Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle.
Gain insight into the opportunities to learn how to support your child this year and help your children succeed. See you there!
Event Date and Time: 5-6:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17.
A car has reportedly hit a pole in the area of 7136 Quinlan Road, Le Roy.
Le Roy fire and ambulance dispatched.
UPDATE 11:01 p.m.: Pole is down on north side of the road with wires across the road.
There seems to be no path county legislators can go down with the 2017 county budget that doesn't hurt taxpayers.
Nobody wants to see a tax increase, especially one that is higher than the state-mandated tax cap, but that's exactly what is under consideration by the nine-member body.
Legislators must also decide whether to spend tomorrow's money today or make drastic cuts in personnel that will leave taxpayers with curtailed essential services.
The hard choices discussed at a meeting Wednesday night left everybody a bit frustrated, Chairman Ray Cianfrini most of all, who said if the legislators can't reach a consensus and pass a budget by Dec. 14, the county will be left, by law, with the budget proposal originally drafted by County Manager Jay Gsell.
"If we're not careful, the budget we get will be Jay's budget, which is the budget we all like the least," Cianfrini said.
That budget doesn't raise taxes -- though it does increase the tax levy above the state-mandated level -- but it grabs two big buckets of money the county will need in future years and spends it in 2017.
Gsell's budget is balanced because it takes $1 million in sales tax revenue that would normally be rolled over into funding for future capital projects, such as roads and bridges, and it draws down the county's reserve funds by yet another $1 million.
The tax rate for local property owners would be $$9.76 per thousand of assessed value, which is slightly lower than 2016 rate, but because of an increase in assessed value for county properties, would actually raise more money.
Because of the state's tax-cap formula, which adjusts the cap based on changes to assessed value, the county can't approve a rate above $9.86 without overriding the tax cap.
That's something the legislators seem willing to do under the circumstances.
None of them like the idea of diverting sales tax revenue away from roads and bridges (and the likelihood the county will be forced to build a new jail within the next five years), so that proposal is no longer under consideration.
But legislators can't agree on whether to tap into reserve funds to balance the budget. There's no more than four votes for that option, even if the amount taken from reserves is reduced to $500,000.
"I'm much more concerned about what's going to happen long term," said Legislator Bob Bausch. "I'm not willing to have my kids and my grandkids paying our bills."
Legislator Andrew Young was adamant that the Legislature needs a plan to ensure the county's financial viability before he could agree to spend any more reserves.
"We're working on deficit budgets and eventually that's going to catch up with us." Young said. "We need to put a pencil to this budget and cut things."
Young noted that Treasurer Scott German has warned that if the county continues to spend down reserves, it's looking at insolvency within five years.
To that end, Young was ready to push for the Legislature to eliminate the two corrections officer positions requested by the Sheriff's Office, but also leave unfilled a road patrol vacancy that will open up at the beginning of the year.
That would save the county about $200,000 in 2017.
Cianfrini said if that was part of the final budget, he would have to vote no. The Legislature was split on whether to then eliminate just the two CO positions or just the deputy position.
The reason the Sheriff requested the CO positions is those new hires could start handling prisoner transports for female prisoners between Genesee County's courts and the county jails where they are housed (because Genesee County's jail can't house female prisoners). The county is facing rapidly rising overtime costs because of the transports and road patrol shifts are sometimes short of manpower.
Bausch and Legislator John Deleo were both opposed to any significant tax increase, especially the nearly $1 million increase needed to make up for not spending reserves and not diverting sales tax revenue.
Even when asked to consider spending only $500,000 of reserves, Deleo looked at the potential tax rate, shook his head and muttered, "that's just too much."
He said he was concerned about the burden on taxpayers in the city.
"People tell me all the time to hold the tax cap," Deleo said. "They stop me in the street. But even if we hold it to the 2016 rate, we can't make this work. It's just unreal."
Bausch said there is another constituency to seriously consider -- farmers, who own most of the land in the county.
"Even a 10-cent increase would have a big negative impact on our farmers and they're the number one industry in the county," Bausch said.
There will be some budget relief once the county closes on its deal to sell the County Nursing Home, but the impact will mostly be a one-time benefit and not help the longer term, growing fiscal crisis facing the county.
The legislature meets again on Monday evening to take up the budget discussion once again and see if they can come to an agreement on taxes and spending for 2017.
The total proposed buget for 2017 is $146,249,625, which includes all expenses covered by all funding sources, including revenue received from various other funding sources besides property and sales tax. A property tax of $9.76 per thousand would raise $27,844,499 (the tax levy). The county is also budgeting for about $18 million in sales tax revenue. A large proportion of the county's expenditures are mandated by state law and can't be eliminated.
It's full steam ahead for academics at John Kennedy School, according to Principal Paul Kesler, who delivered a progress report to the Batavia City Schools board at Tuesday night's meeting.
On standardized testing, John Kennedy students are outpacing their peers in other districts, Kesler said.
Kesler completed a comparison of third- and fourth-grade students among 16 similar-sized cities and JK's third-graders have the highest English Language Arts scores and second highest in math. For fourth-graders, they rank third and fourth in ELA and math.
"As you can see from the pattern," Kesler said standing in front of a bar chart, "there's really a straight line year after year in terms of small cities."
The third-grade class is the first to pass through the district since the realignment of schools before their kindergarten year.
Kesler also compared JK results with the 22 other districts in the region and JK students are in the 80th percentile in ELA and 90th in math.
On another math test, 35 percent of the students tested at level 4, which Kesler said was impressive.
"I'm really proud of that because now it's no longer just our top A students who performing at that high level," Kesler said. "It's really all of our students are moving along."
Kesler, who is in his 12th year at the school, praised the work of the school's staff and thanked the district board for helping him recruit and hire talented teachers.
The school also undertook an aggressive STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts/design and math) curriculum this year and Kesler said it's going well so far.
There have been three STEAM sessions for the students and STEAM topics are being worked into other parts of the curriculum.
For example, students are going to read "Charlotte's Web" this year, so there will be corresponding instruction on insects and how spiders build their webs, which gets into engineering.
"It's exciting," he said. "When the kids get excited, I get excited."
As for the future, with the district now supplying each student with Chromebooks, there's no longer a need for a computer lab. The plan, Kesler said, is to turn the former computer lab into a STEAM lab and a maker space. It will be a paperless space, he said. For example, the desktops will be white boards, which students can use for their calculations.
Frederich Welch, 57, and Doncella Loyd, 53, both of Rochester, are charged with criminal possession of stolen property, 5th. Welch and Loyd are accused of making several trips in and out of Kohl's, taking merchandise worth $719.91. Troopers stopped the vehicle in the Batavia Towne Center parking lot. Welch was jailed on $2,500 bail and Loyd was released under supervision of Genesee Justice.
Jonathan Dylan Jacob, 23, of Meadville Road, Alabama, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Jacob was arrested following a report of an incident in the Town of Alabama. During law enforcement contact, he was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.
James Rosie Thomas, 20, of 367 West St., Lake George, is charged with resisting arrest, escape and he was arrested on a warrant out of Elba. Thomas allegedly ran and resisted arrest when Deputy John Dehm attempted to take him into custody on a warrant at a location on South Main Street, Oakfield.
Tracy L. Miller, 32, of South Lake Road, Pembroke, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Miller is accused of stealing a purse, which contained several debit and credit cards.
Nicholas Price, 29, of Batavia, is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs. Price was stopped by a trooper after a report of an erratic driver, including a witness reporting seeing the vehicle hit a mailbox and continue down the road. Price was stopped and administered a field sobriety test before being arrested. He was also charged with leaving the scene of a property damage accident and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th.
Daniel Hinca, 21, of Alexander, is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and speeding. Hinca was stopped by State Police in Byron. A trooper administered a field sobriety test prior to his arrest.
Joshua Taro, 38, of Auburn, is charged with petit larceny. Taro is accused of shoplifting from a store in Pembroke. He was jailed on $500 bail.
Brandi Heidenreich, 26, of Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. Heidenreich was arrested by State Police for allegedly stealing items from Walmart worth $45.18.
The farm equipment of Massey-Harris, which ran a factory in Batavia for five decades, will be honored at the 51st Annual WNY Steam Show in Alexander next September and organizers are looking for information, photos and artifacts that help shed light on the work done at the Massey-Harris factory locally.
At the Harvester Center, the factory produced farm equipment for the Canada-based company, but there isn't easy-to-find information on what exactly was produced there.
Organizers are hoping there are local residents with direct knowledge or documentation about the work done at the factory.
The factory closed in 1958.
If you are able to help, email Kelly Rapone at the Genesee County Tourism Office, KRapone@GeneseeNY.com.
A Batavia man accused of threatening a police officer was supposed to be sentenced yesterday following his guilty plea last month, but when he appeared to before Interim Judge Micheal Pietruszka he confessed he really wasn't happy with his attorney or his plea deal.
He accused his attorney of withholding evidence from him prior to his plea, but as the discussion with Pietruszka went further, the main complaint of Bill Thomas was that Thomas heard his brother had told his attorney that he should take his case to trial.
There wasn't really new evidence, but Pietruszka went ahead and granted the 56-year-old Thomas a 10-day adjournment to find a new attorney.
Thomas was reportedly involved in a domestic dispute in March that resulted in several police officers and the emergency response team coming to his house on State Street where Thomas allegedly threatened a police officer with a knife. He was taken into custody without violence.
Our news partner WBTA contributed to this report.
A rollover accident with injuries is reported in the area of 2821 Batavia Oakfield Townline Road, Oakfield.
Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 7:28 a.m.: A patient is bleeding, but it's not severe, according to a first responder.
For the first time Monday, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman spoke at length publicly about the Governor's Office mandated pay raise for county district attorneys and made his case that the County Legislature should pass the resolution boosting his pay.
"I would like to think that after myself, being a district attorney for 20 years and in the office for 35 years, that if it was not for the mandated salary, I would think that the district attorney salary would be at least as much as the salary being paid to the new county attorney," Friedman said.
The statewide fight over DA salaries arose, Friedman said, because members of the legislature didn't want to give county judges raises without giving themselves raises, and if judges didn't get raises, then neither did DAs.
That went on for 13 years before Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed a commission to recommend a new salary structure.
The county benefitted all those years that there were no mandated raises, Friedman said.
Furthermore, even with the raises, the county is paying less for the DA than the county attorney because the state picks up $72,000 of the DA's salary.
Under the mandate, Friedman's salary will go from $152,500 to $183,350 and then up another $10,000 in April 2018.
Legislators, such as Mike Davis, said they have no problem with the job Friedman is doing, but they object to the mandate and Davis expressed concern that the salary is out of line with rural expenses.
Friedman said that one reason the wage increase is being pursued at a state level is that it was getting harder to retain DAs in their jobs, with many opting for higher paying county court judge positions.
The committee voted to advance the pay raise resolution on a unanimous vote.
"The ramifications of not doing this, however, would impact our budget even worse because we would not have the benefit of the New York State supplement for the DA's salary that we're getting now, so we would end up paying even more," said Committee Chair Marianne Clattenburg. "We are supposed to be a country of laws and whether we like this or not, this is a law and this is the Public Service Committee, so I vote to follow the law."
Local legislators are still grappling with whether solar power should be part of county government's energy future.
The topic has come up before, first when Solar City offered a proposal that legislators decided too heavily favored Solar City's interests, and then when consultants from Wendel Energy were interviewed for a possible consulting contract.
Wendel isn't a solar contractor, and wouldn't build any solar installation, but it can do the initial study to help the county determine the best potential location, the cost benefits and potential expense pitfalls.
Representatives from Wendel -- Adam Tabelski, Sam Marotta and Keith Krug -- met again with the Public Service Committee on Monday to discuss a possible contract for a feasibility study.
County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens, himself an engineer, said he thought hiring a consultant like Wendel made a lot of sense.
"There are so many pieces," Hens said. "You have a lot of pieces that are really complex and outside of our staff's expertise."
Whether a solar installation could save the county money and help reduce energy costs is something Wendel would have to figure out, based on the size and location of the installation and the county's energy needs.
The committee concluded the discussion with, basically, "we'll think about it."
Areas of concern raised by members of the Legislature include the cost of interconnection with National Grid, whether technology installed now will be outdated in a few years, and whether a solar farm is the best option compared to rooftop installations.
Legislator Bob Bausch said he heard that Orleans County started down the path of a solar installation, but found National Grid's interconnection fees too expensive.
Krug said the interconnection fees weren't really the issue in Orleans County. The decision to drop the project had more to do with tight deadlines for grants to help fund the project.
Marotta said one issue they've seen come up in other jurisdictions is that contractors bid for a solar project, but to help keep the bid low, underestimate the interconnection fees, but then when National Grid comes back later with the actual cost of interconnection, the contractor informs the local government the cost of the installation has gone up.
This can turn some projects from profitable to unprofitable.
Wendel's practice is to try and accurately estimate National Grid's fees, and since Wendel isn't the contractor for the project, has nothing to gain by underestimating that cost.
A potential location for a county-owned solar farm is just north of the airport and Legislator Shelly Stein wondered whether that's really a better option than rooftop installation.
Marotta said he generally recommends a solar farm approach because it's cheaper to install and cheaper to maintain, especially when older roofs are involved.
"For simplicity sake, if you have the land available, we recommend land," Marotta said. "It's easier to maintain. It's a weed wacker instead of a roofer."
Stein also noted that Solar City's Elon Musk recently announced plans to develop roof tiles that double as solar panels and wondering if that would be an option.
That technology isn't yet in the market and Hens noted that, yes technology is going to change, but waiting to do someting would be akin to not buying office computers in the 1990s because technology was going to change.
Exterior work on the refurbished Creekside Inn in Le Roy is very near completion.
The work has been extensive, including new decks on two levels, two new patios, a new bar on the first level, new drainage on Main Street and a restored entryway along with tiered landscaping at the back of the building.
Owner Bill Farmer said yesterday that work begins immediately on the interior remodeling, and that will take about three months.
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