A proposed joint court facility for the Town of Batavia, Elba and Oakfield will move forward now that the Batavia City Council has approved the sale of a 19-acre parcel off Park Road to the town.
The purchase agreement was approved on a vote of 8-1, with Council President Marianne Clattenberg casting the lone no vote.
Clattenberg said she doesn't believe the building is needed. There's no reason, she said, that consolidation couldn't take place in the existing city court building or another existing government building. She said she didn't see the need to build any new government buildings.
Two years ago, Clattenberg voted against the court plan.
At the last council meeting, other council members proposed the sale and the matter was tabled, however members such as Rosemary Christian had a change of heart.
Previously, she didn't think the city was getting enough money -- $150,000 -- for the property, but after learning that the town will also spend $140,000 on a sidewalk that will stretch from Park Road and down Richmond Avenue, she decided to support the sale.
"It's fine by me," she said.
The Veteran's Administration had to grant a "release of restricted use" for the sale to go forward. The VA deeded the land to the city in 1968 and placed restrictions on how the land could be used. As part of the deal to allow sale of the land to the town, the town had to agree to put in the sidewalk.
The town must also revitalize the wetlands on the property.
The first time this issue
The first time this issue went before City Council I asked Mr. Mallow and Mr. Barone to consider the following statements before voting on this issue:
For the past 20 – 30 years, this section of the Town has been developed at the expense of city businesses. These developments enjoy the benefits of the city without the burden.
Over those 20 – 30 years, parcels have been individually developed with little or no regard to the mitigation of air, noise or light pollution. The lack of mitigation directly affects the 3rd, 4th and somewhat the 2nd wards of the City.
This parcel will most likely stay off the tax roll creating a burden to the tax payers of the city once the revenue from the sale is gone and additional services are needed.
The type of wetland on this parcel, freshwater forested/shrub wetland, is the most difficult type of wetland to reestablish.
The additional traffic volume a multi-municipal court and chamber of commerce facility would create at the city intersection of Oak Street and Park Road.
Can existing infrastructure, sold or turned over to the Towns, be used to accommodate this facility, potentially taking burden from the City?
I don't think the tradeoff for sidewalks the will never see a snow shovel is equitable.