Stories from

Two branches of Erie County-based OLV Human Services have chosen to widen their scope and settle into Genesee County under one roof to offer counseling, evaluation and treatment for children and adults.

One is the OLV Outpatient Counseling Clinic with each a part-time and a full-time clinical therapist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, Chief Program Officer Sheila Hunt said.

“We wanted to expand into five different counties; we’re already in Erie and Niagara County. Genesee just made the most sense. So when we saw that this facility was for rent, we came out and took a look at it, and it just made the most sense for us to start here first, because it was perfect. It had this perfect setup for our operation clinic, and then it had the perfect setup for our evaluation and treatment clinic,” she said of the site at 5762 Route 5 in Stafford. “This is the first time we ventured out to a county outside of Erie County. So this is the first one, but we're not stopping here. Once we get this up and running, our strategic plan is to be known as a behavioral health provider, so we're going to keep forging ahead. There's a need, and we just want to help be a resource.”

Therapists will provide services for individuals and families for a variety of issues, including addiction, ADHD, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, domestic violence, grief, and psychosis, and are open to group sessions if there are appropriate numbers of individuals to form a group, Hunt said.

The nurse practitioner is licensed to do medication management, and most insurances are accepted, she said. All it takes is for the person, or a parent or teacher for a child, to refer for services, Hunt said. If someone doesn’t have transportation, OLV has a contract with a social care network and may be able to arrange for an Uber, she said.

“We support, prepare and empower the individuals that we work with,” she said. “We're not trying to come and take over, we just want to be an added resource to the providers that are currently out here.”

OLV has four brick-and-mortar offices and six satellite locations in Buffalo public schools, with plans to expand — possibly into Wyoming County next — as part of its strategic plan, she said.

Counseling services will begin on April 15. Hours for appointments will be 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays, with 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays up for consideration if there’s a need for a weekend day. Eventually, the site will have Open Access, which will be available for walk-in appointments.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 716-828-7456 or go to Outpatient Counseling Clinic.

A second practice is the Evaluation and Treatment Center for kids aged 2 to 21 with any type of intellectual, developmental or learning disability. A staff of eight includes a medical director/pediatrician, psychologist, nurse practitioner, licensed behavioral analyst, behavioral technician, and occupational and speech therapists, Clinical Services Supervisor Chris Nalbach said.

“This is our first site branch. We just opened in Lackawanna in April 2024, so we’re already looking to kind of expand since then. We got a great opportunity to utilize this space in a different region that we haven’t been able to reach before,” Nalbach said. “We talked to some people at University of Rochester and (other practices), that stated that services were needed in this area as well.”

Hospitals and medical facilities across Western New York can have waiting lists up to two years long, he said, which is time that a child could be receiving treatment. Anyone suspecting his/her child of having any type of learning/developmental disability can fill out the center’s intake form and have the child evaluated and/or tested, he said.

“We look for autism, ADHD, or other types of disorders that we can evaluate and treat, and once we have a good diagnosis completed, we can move on to the therapy from there and whatever it takes to get the kids the services they need to provide it, and if not, we can refer to other places that would be able to.”

They will recommend a course for treatment, including an intense Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. There seems to be more autism, but it’s not so much that there are more cases of autism, he said, as there are more diagnoses of it — and more quickly and correctly than in the past.

There used to be about one in 150 diagnosed 20 years ago, he said, and now it’s one out of 36, according to ETC’s website. Staff is committed to “providing another option for families to help reduce these wait times and allow children to get the help they need as soon as possible.”

When working with children, no one is usually looking for those huge leaps and bounds, he said, but instead for incremental steps.

“There’s no cure for autism; it’s an improvement in functioning, things of that nature,” he said. “We’re really not looking at the massive success rate. We’re looking at the tiny little successes. If you look at the parents, when they look at their child and see that their child can talk back and say ‘Hi mom,’ that’s a huge success.”

The Stafford location will be opening later this summer on Mondays, and possibly also on the first and third Saturdays. For more information, call 716-828-7586 or go to Evaluation and Treatment Center.

It was no wonder why Tricia Davis had some tears while talking about her Twilight Meadows restaurant — a hotdog stand-turned-diner operated as a family business for the last 36 years in Alexander.

First owned and operated by her mom, Brenda Jarvis, in August 1988, Davis worked there from the beginning and took it over seven years ago. She is now, sadly and excitedly, handing over the keys to new owners at the end of March.

“When my mom took over, this was a hotdog stand. So this place has been here since the 50s. My grandmother went to Alexander school. My mother did. I did, and all my kids did. So I have a lot of deep connections around here,” she said during an interview at the Route 98 site. “So my mom was only 36 when she took over here. And I was 17, so it's been a great place, but the people before us, this was called the hotdog stand, but it was always Twilight Meadows. It's got a lot of neat little history. And people always come back here when they come into town or from the cemetery, you know, people go to the cemetery plots, and they always seem to come here to have their lunch or whatever it might be.”

While packing up to prepare for the new owners, she was reviewing some photos of her teenage self and thought, “No wonder the counter was full of guys,” she said with a smile. She said that her mother was “a pretty good-looking chick,” which didn’t hurt to attract male customers.

The restaurant was an idea of her grandfather, Harold Walton, a milk trucker who happened upon the nicknamed hotdog stand and thought it might be a viable pursuit for his daughter Brenda. Art and Elaine Kendall owned it from 1955 to 1988, served drinks in frozen cold root beer mugs and gave pretzel sticks to kids. 

Grandpa Walton put a down payment on the place, buying it for $115, and his daughter paid it off. She poured her hard-earned experience of having waitressed throughout the area, often in Batavia's The Hideaway, into successful entrepreneurship. Davis soaked up mom's early career as a young girl who worked on a coloring book at a table until mom's shift was over.

When Davis took over, the interior had been converted to enlarge the kitchen and dining space, and the menu gradually expanded to include more entrees — homemade soups, meatloaf, spaghetti, salads, home fries — and breakfast favorites, with omelets being the most popular, she said. Her daughter Sarah, 19, works there part-time and said she spends a good six hours a week peeling and cutting up potatoes for the home fries that customers seem to love.

There was a lot of crying at the start while trying to figure it all out, said Davis, a 1989 Alexander High School grad. She remembered her wise grandpa’s advice to “plan on doing it yourself,” which she has taken to heart — throughout the pandemic and while learning how to be a boss and an employee.

“Since Covid, that’s how I do it. I do all the shopping … I run the restaurant like it’s the 50s, I am not computer literate,” she said. “When my mom left I had to learn how to do everything; the stress of it all, I had to learn sales tax — you’ve got to save for sales tax. I just learned it and was careful. I just figured it out. I’m proud of that.”

She also learned not to order too much inventory ahead of time and not to schedule more staff than she could keep busy. Davis established a routine for where to shop and for what to save the most money and get the right food deliveries. She mowed the lawn. Tended to an outdoor garden. Cooked and washed dishes. Waitressed and did bookkeeping. Cleaned and supervised employees.

During the pandemic shutdown, she had days when orders soared upwards of more than 100.

“It was hellish,” she admitted. “I had 120 take-outs at any given time on any given Friday. I was overwhelmed. People just came; they wanted to be out.”

People were also gracious with their tips and generosity, she said. During any downtime, she kept busy painting the walls and ceiling. There were no lazy Covid days, she said.

“I worked hard. Every day, I had a task,” she said. “I got this place right cleaned up. My son would deliver food. I survived it, and I’m exceptionally proud of it.”

In addition to food, she has also served up plenty of smiles and conversation. Davis described herself as “goofy and an entertainer.” She is someone who loves people and good customer service and has observed that most people like a side of chit-chat with their burgers. The walls are decorated with large framed collages of photos she has taken of customers over the years — many of whom have passed away from a client base of the 20s through 40s, and others that she knows will miss her just as much as she will miss them.

Something must have worked through her intentions to provide a homey atmosphere. A gentleman said to her one day that if she ever wanted to sell, he was interested. They eventually had a more serious talk and struck a deal. At 53, Davis believes it’s time for her to take a break from the constant busyness of business.

Part of the deal with the new owners includes Sarah's current restaurant staff, Davis’s sister Michelle, and three others. Davis agreed to work for the first two days as Twilight Meadows changed hands.

She gave credit to her husband Mike for supporting her all these years, to Aunt Clara for helping out her mom as a cook and waitress the first 20 years, and for “being part of the reason it succeeded,” and to Dawn Meyers, a “very good cook” who worked full- and part-time throughout the years and has always been around to help out.

You might not want to ask Tricia what she will do next. She may not know or want to do anything in particular. For any of the good, there have also been exhaustion and sacrifice, she said.

For now, “I just want to be,” she said.

Observant visitors of DeWitt Recreation Area and the adjacent pond have noticed an unusually large number of fish this year; however, instead of swimming around, they were dead.

One person, who labeled herself “a concerned citizen,” said that while walking around the trail, “I saw a massive amount of dead fish, more than I have ever seen in the spring (well over 60),” she said. “And the DEC was there testing. I am worried something is wrong with the water. I know it’s a run-off for quite a bit, and people eat the fish.”

Another reader of The Batavian submitted photos of the finned creatures that were spotted floating on top of the edge of DeWitt Pond on Cedar Street in Batavia.

The Batavian reached out to Department of Public Works Commissioner Tim Hens for answers as to why fish are dying and the possible connection to the water quality and the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s recent visit.

“Genesee County Parks Staff is aware of the dead fish at DeWitt Pond. Most appear to be carp. This appears to be a normal winter die-off. The low lake levels and extreme ice thickness likely contributed to the higher seasonal die-off from low oxygen levels in the water,” Hens said. “The DEC is currently getting ready to stock the pond with Brown Trout on April 1. In an abundance of caution, we have reached out to them regarding the fish die-off. We have not heard back from them yet.”

An article on "Winterkill in Ponds" at Penn State University's Extension website, explains it this way:

Winterkill refers to the loss of fish in winter because oxygen is lacking in the pond. Submerged vegetation and algae create oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. During the winter, oxygen production is often reduced because ice and snow on the lake limit sunlight reaching vegetation. In small, shallow lakes, the available oxygen can quickly be used up by live plants and fish that consume oxygen in the evening, and by bacteria that feed on dead and decaying vegetation. When the oxygen level declines, less tolerant fish species (such as carp) and fish in poor condition overall can begin to suffocate.

Oxygen enters ponds by moving from the air into the water aided by the wind, or from photosynthesis by the plants in the pond. Ice cover blocks oxygen movement from the air into the water, and oxygen produced by algae and plants become the only source. Thin, clear ice allows oxygen production by plants and algae since enough sunlight can filter through the ice to allow photosynthesis. If the ice remains into mid-winter or thickens slightly, oxygen levels will begin to decrease because each day, pond plants and animals use oxygen, even in winter, as the animals breathe and dead plant material decays.

Conversely, the more water volume there is in a pond, the less likely the pond will experience winterkill.

Updates from the DEC will be reported by The Batavian about any water or other issues related to the dying fish other than what Hens suspects is the reason.

As they begin their first new year working together as election commissioners, the duo of Scott German and Lorie Longhany had some crucial business to take care of right off the bat during Wednesday’s Ways & Means meeting.

They recently discovered a pricey need for the Board of Elections and recommended the purchase of 24 new Dominion voting machines for $254,700 plus $11,040 annual maintenance after year five to replace 28 scanners no longer supported by outdated equipment. German was hired for the Republican commissioner position to fill a vacancy left by Dick Siebert when he retired in December.

“I did not know this was coming when I first got there, and I'm not sure Lori was aware of that either, simply because my predecessor basically took care of the equipment that we had out there, and just something that really should have happened a few years ago,” German said. “We are currently leasing 29 machines, and that goes until 2030. So, at that point, we will probably be coming back and asking to either lease more or buy more.”

Longhany, the Democrat commissioner, added that the board was gifted two machines from Orleans County that went to another vendor, which brings the total up to 55.

“And that's really what we need. We need two scanners for each poll site, and we have 48. We have 24 poll sites that leaves us with two to three machines for early voting, and then we have eight scanners in reserve that we could bring out in case we have any malfunctions,” she said. “They're just scanners. They are not ICE machines.”

ICE is ImageCast Evolution, a hybrid voting device that combines optical scanning, ballot printing and vote-casting functions in one integrated machine.

Legislator Marianne Clattenburg asked if there are any grants available for this equipment. One would think that voting is such an important cause these days that there might be financial help, she said.

No, German said. But there is a silver lining, sort of.

“We will be coming to you in hopefully a few weeks to buy new iPads, the poll pads,” he said. “We do have grant funds for those, yes, but not for this.”

There doesn’t seem to be much of a choice because when the machines are no longer compatible, “then we get into trouble with the technologies,” Longhany said. German said that two of them went down last November on Election Day. Clattenburg then asked if that would require additional training.

“No, because we currently are releasing the exact machines that we'll be buying; it's actually going to be easier because now they only need to train the inspectors and coordinators on one machine instead of two,” he said.

All of the machines will be accessible to everyone, and technicians have said they’re easier to operate and to get into for maintenance, Longhany said.

The purchase was less expensive than to lease the new machines — $417,024. The cost will be paid for using 1% of county sales tax.

German and Longhany also reviewed IRS regulations requiring the Board of Elections to classify Election Day workers as county employees. To comply with this, the commissioners asked to add 100 coordinator and 200 election inspector positions to include alternates and amend the 2025 management salary schedule.

"This is something that should have been done, I'm guessing seven years ago, but my predecessor wouldn't let it happen. So it was manually taken care of in the treasurer's office," German said. "But now that I'm there, we need to be IRS compliant. We have sent letters out to all of our inspectors and coordinators so they understand that they'll be employees."

Coordinators will be at a rate of $360 for a 16-hour shift on Election Day and $171 for an Early Voting Day schedule, and election inspectors will have a rate of $320 for a 16-hour Election Day shift and $152 for Early Voting Day, with a rate of $60 for training.

Since funds were budgeted for 152 positions, there may need to be a budget amendment to cover training beyond the 152 positions.

A final recommendation was to create two senior clerks/machine technicians to provide proper supervision to other clerks/machine technicians. These two positions will be for 22 hours per week at $23 an hour, and two clerk/machine technician positions are to be deleted.

Committee members agreed to these measures, and a vote will go before the full Legislature on March 26.

After Donald Trump made diversity, equity and inclusion dirty words via an executive order as far as business and government are concerned, Victoria’s Secret, Pepsi, Goldman Sachs, Paramount, Bank of America, Citigroup, Disney, Chipotle, Google, and many other companies and organizations have pared down or changed their language to correspond to the new directive.

Add Genesee County to the list. The federal administration cast a very wide net, apparently, in a search for those words, County Manager Matt Landers says.

"We had one program in particular at Office for the Aging that there was a request for us to change the wording on the program description narrative," Landers said to The Batavian Monday. "This is a program that was already near the end of its three-year cycle of funding, and we were requested to change the wording, and we made the change in the wording because we did not want to lose the funding.

"It didn't change, in our opinion, the content of the program whatsoever. But there was a request made to change the narrative, and it was basically -- we had the option of giving the money back or changing the narrative -- so we changed the narrative," he said. "The program, I believe, was an annual allocation of about $50,000."

The program was in the final year of a three-year agreement, ending March 31. County officials didn’t consider it “a big deal” since the funding had already been received; however, it was a renewable RSVP AmeriCorps senior program on a three-year grant cycle, and they intended to request a renewal, he said.

“We do have upwards of $6 or $7 million, I believe, in federal funding. So that is the only instance that we've been made aware of where they dove deep enough to try to see where there was anything that was DEI-related,” he said. “So I'm glad that's all that they've found — the federal government — but it definitely is eye-opening, and that's something that we'll keep an eye on going forward, and there is real proof, a real example, that they are looking at wording.”

Again, he wanted to emphasize that the wording changes “in no way changed how we run the RSVP program.”

Pamela LaGrou, the county’s compliance officer, provided some of the language that was changed, as per below:

Specific and targeted language pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion was changed to broader descriptive phrases or simply removed, she said.

For example, “…we recruit members with a wide range of skills and experiences including geography (urban/rural), economic (upper/lower income) and work experience (factory worker/teacher, secretary),” rather than  “…we recruit members to ensure diversity of geography (urban/rural), economic (upper/lower income) and work experience (factory worker/teacher), secretary, etc. while also seeking to represent diversity in race, ethnicity, sex and veteran status."

Reference to specific groups was removed: “RSVP has connected with the Pride Center of Buffalo, an LGTBQ advocacy center.” Also, the following was removed “Genesee RSVP in inclusive of older adults, or all races, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, political and religious affiliations and we ensure the same of our stations via conversations at the time the MOU is signed.”

All language changes were made to ensure compliance with the President’s Executive Order, LaGrou said.

Although the air outside may be getting gradually warmer, a plan to provide that warmth all year long is still in the works, and musician Bart Dentino has been lined up to get toes tapping for the first Warming Center Benefit Concert this week.

So everybody Come Together, Let It Be and Help while enjoying a set of songs from the Beatles,  James Taylor, Garth Brooks, Gordon Lightfoot, and some of Dentino’s original pieces.

“It’s a very important cause that can slip a person’s mind on those frigid nights when you’re sitting comfortably in a warm home with dinner and snacks available to you.  As you well know, that’s not the case for everyone," Dentino said. "Pastor Roula Alkhouri has a very tender heart coupled with a drive to get important things done.  She brought the need for a warming center to my attention.  I offered my musical services in hopes that we could raise awareness and funds to help create that warming center, which would offer services to those people and families in need at those critical times."  

The concert is set for 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Batavia First Presbyterian Church, 300 E. Main St., Batavia. This event is free and open to the public as an evening of music and of coming together to raise awareness and funds for a Genesee County Warming Center during the cold winter nights, organizers say. Donations will be welcomed.

Through the work that he’s done over the years, Dentino has come to realize that the homeless population of individuals and families with children right here in Genesee County “is much greater than one might think,” he said.

“Families that live in a motel room with children going to school each morning hungry, suffering from poor sleep habits, and having an uphill fight to function in the school and classroom,” he said. “Anything that can be done to help them not only survive their situation but thrive in their ability to overcome it is worth doing.”

This initiative began by members of Oak Orchard Health and Batavia First Presbyterian Church in November 2024 with a meeting to gauge the interest and hear ideas and issues about a potential need for this center. 

There was a “heartening display of community spirit” at that time, said Alkhouri, one of the organizers, and concerned citizens and stakeholders gathered together out of concern for those in need and to participate in a solution.

A dedicated steering committee was formed to focus on five key areas, including funding, finding suitable space, staffing, community resources, and marketing. 

“We are excited to begin this effort with the invaluable experience and planning resources of Oak Orchard Health,” Alkhouri had said. “However, we are still looking for more community partners to join this initiative." 

If you are interested in joining any of these teams, please call the church office at 585-343-0505.

“Together, we can make a significant impact and provide a warm, safe space for those in need during the cold months,” she said. “Your support and involvement are crucial to the success of this project.”

About 50 people from several organizations and nonprofits attended, including Community Action of Orleans Genesee, Genesee County Mental Health, Department of Social Services and Sheriff’s Office, City of Batavia Police, Genesee ACE, St. James Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, Community Services Board, and Crossroads House.

What is a warming center?
This center is to be set up as an evening and overnight safe space for people in need of shelter from the cold on days when the temperature falls below 32-degrees. Organizers also want to provide an opportunity for this space to be a place of connection with helpful resources.

An executive order drafted by Gov. Kathy Hochul banning the hiring of Department of Corrections employees, in tandem with the difficulties Genesee County has already experienced in filling corrections officer vacancies for the new, larger county jail, has made the going anything but smooth, Legislator Gary Maha says.

“This executive order that she issued back on March 10 certainly creates a bump in the road, so to speak,” Maha said during Monday’s Public Service meeting. “The executive order does, right now, expire April 9, but she could extend that. I think she can make that permanent, too, if she desires … so I think we should go ahead and establish this resolution. There are a number of counties jumping on board with this issue and expressing concern with the governor as to the executive order.

What we feel is it’s a violation of our home rule telling us what we can do, what we can’t do, and in addition to that, it creates issues with us hiring county CO’s when we need them.”

Hochul’s order was in response to the recent three-week, unsanctioned strike by New York State corrections officers to protest conditions they claimed were harmful to their safety. The state fired some 2,000 of the officers, and the governor issued an order blocking them from obtaining jobs at other state agencies.

During Monday’s meeting, Maha — who drafted a resolution with Legislative Chairwoman Shelley Stein — introduced the statement for consideration and vote by the full Legislature at its next meeting on March 26. Stein said that, in talking to state Assemblyman Steve Hawley, he suggested that a speedier measure would be to also send a similarly worded letter now and follow up with the official resolution next week.

Public Service Committee members agreed. The resolution states that Hochul’s order “suspends various laws, preventing local authorities from hiring or promoting correctional officers involved in the strike, despite local discretion in such matters” and has raised concerns about state overreach, undermining local control.

There has been “significant opposition from local officials, including members of the Genesee County Legislature, who believe it unfairly penalizes officers and their families without proper consideration of individual cases,” the resolution states.

The goal is to urge Hochul to “reconsider the impact of this order on local control and fairness in employment decisions.”

“I think it’s well done, and her overreaching power is terrible,” Legislator John Deleo said. “And to your point, there’s a lot of good people there, and they’re already well-trained; they know how to deescalate problems, and I think we could use these people, and to handcuff us so that we can’t, it’s just appalling.”

Legislator Christian Yunker agreed, emphasizing that “this is absolutely an overreach.”

“It's vindictive. We have a lot of residents here in this county, there are corrections officers that are state corrections officers that are hurting, and it's twofold for us, because we're also trying to hire corrections officers,” Yunker said. “So we absolutely need to support this opposition. Thank you for the work.”

Chad Klotzbach added that they, as legislators, are “supposed to keep the heat on” to let Hochul know what their position is and not let up.

Hochul needs to know “we don’t appreciate this type of interference,” Legislator Marianne Clattenburg said.

After the meeting, Maha said the resolution was reviewed and approved by County Attorney Mark Boylan. While it’s speculated to be potentially unlawful, county officials certainly believe it’s “an overreach on her part,” Maha said.

“She has no authority to supersede home rule. We don't know what's going to happen on April 9, but several counties are threatening a lawsuit because they feel it's illegal … if we get to that point, and hopefully, maybe it'll be a class action suit if all counties will get involved with it,” he said. “We don't know yet. It's just in the infancy stages, but right now, we want to start with a letter and a resolution of objecting to her executive order, that part of it dealing with, you know, preventing counties and hiring these fired COs.”

He spoke with the jail superintendent, who said that a couple of state COs had applied for jobs, but Maha isn’t sure what happened with them. The need is there — with at least 10 additional positions added with the new jail opening in late 2024 and a continuous “fluid” status of vacancies, County Manager Matt Landers said.

“I feel like they’re interviewing every day over there for positions now, between the road patrol and the COs, and then there’s usually always an opening over in the dispatch center as well. It fluctuates daily,” Landers said. “Corrections officer is a high-stress job, plus when we’re in the midst of, we had 10 new positions that were created in the 2025 budget, you throw that on top of it, it’s definitely a lot of interviewing going on right now.”

In the face of unknown repercussions from possible cuts to, or the total elimination of, the U.S. Education Department, Batavia City School District leaders are pushing forward with a $63.3 million budget calling for a $3 million increase and a 2.22% tax levy increase, Superintendent Jason Smith says.

This proposed 2025-26 budget would replace six teachers, one secretarial and one administrative position, move two social workers over from a grant to the general fund, and pay for necessary expenses, Smith said.

“The majority of increases are coming from essential instructional programming that directly benefits classroom learning and the overall student experience — athletics, music, arts, extracurriculars, etc.,” he said to The Batavian this week after the board had its first budget workshop. “The majority of this increase is related to salary and benefits. Benefits alone, including health insurance, retirement contributions, and social security, are increasing by approximately $883,000 budget to budget. The instructional area of the budget is increasing over $1.7 million, with the majority of that increase attributed to increases in teaching salaries and budgeting federal salaries in the general fund.”

The estimated property tax rate would be $16.05 per $1,000 assessed value, subject to change once assessment rolls and equalization rates are finalized, he said. That would be approximately 34 cents more per $1,000 than the current rate, or a $34 annual increase on a home assessed at $100,000, with no assessment changes.

The total proposed school tax levy is $20,790,870, an increase of $451,534 from this year. The levy falls within the allowable levy cap of $452,506, Smith said.

The district has retirements coming up, and all positions are being replaced, including:

• Two physical education teachers at the BHS
• One Spanish teacher and one English teacher at BHS
• One elementary teacher at Jackson
• One elementary teacher to be shared at Jackson and John Kennedy schools
• One executive director of operations and staff development

These positions are not new hires — “but rather, are replacements that are dictated by class size and student needs,” Smith said, and are not definite at this time.

“We are currently assessing the need to fill these positions prior to the adoption of the budget by the board in April,” he said. “The savings come in terms of ‘breakage’ between the salary and benefits of staff personnel retiring and the possible replacement at a lesser cost.”

An executive director position has been reconfigured to become a director of Human Resources, which is a Civil Service position and will mean a reduced salary, he said.

There is an added position of IT operations analyst. Why was that deemed necessary after adding an IT director? What are the duties and salary/benefits costs?
“Three full-time technology employees resigned or retired between February and June 2023.  A decision was made to hold on replacing these positions until a director was hired and had sufficient time to assess the needs of the department. During this transition, the district contracted with Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES to provide per diem, part-time support,” Smith said. “At this time, the district needs full-time technical support to ensure network systems are consistently monitored, evaluated, and upgraded to be in compliance with various NYS mandates.  The salary/benefits cost is between $55,000-60,000.”

The Batavian asked Smith about potential funding and program cuts with more recent announcements of slashing half the federal Education Department staff and readying it for future elimination. He referred to a message he had sent out to district families Friday to address that issue.

Do you believe that you and the board are considering any and all cuts to make with this budget?
The Board and I always consider every possible item for reduction. For example, we have proposed a Director of Human Resources position to replace the current Executive Director position,” he said. “This proposed budget is highly consistent with our mission and vision of providing high-quality programming and instruction for our students.”

Do you believe this will be the budget going forward, and if so, how do you sell it during a time of upheaval with the stock market and downturned economy?
“The board, leadership team, and our staff believe strongly in the value of sound public education.  This budget represents those values and beliefs and preserves programming that is both essential and expected from our community,” he said.  “Due to the increase in state aid, we are able to preserve important programs for our students and, combined with retirements and using reserves in a wise and conservative manner, this proposed budget meets and exceeds the needs of our students while respecting the tax levy limit for our community.”

The public budget hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 12, and budget vote is May 20.

Laying off nearly half the staff en route to an eventual goal to dismantle the U.S. Education Department has not left school officials with much certainty about the future of their district funding or even rudimentary items such as school lunches, Pat Burk says.

The department, which oversees $1.6 trillion in college loans, enforces civil rights laws, and provides federal funding for needy districts, announced on Tuesday the plan for the second round of mass layoffs to meet President Trump’s apparent goal to eliminate the department altogether, according to Reuters. 

As executive director of the Genesee Valley School Board Association, Burk has been hearing from school superintendents that it’s the not knowing that’s creating the most angst.

“The big concerns that are happening, from an educational standpoint with the Department of Education and other areas that deal with it, including the Department of Agriculture and other areas that the federal government, that deal with our local schools, is that the uncertainty is causing just as much of a problem as the certainty,” Burk said, offering an example. “The Department of Agriculture processes payments for school lunch, and part of that money is because of the Department of Agriculture to make sure that American agricultural products are processed through the school lunch program and used through school lunch programs. Now, what happens if they determine that those products are still going to be ‘used’ for the Agricultural Department and through school lunches, but they get rid of the 600 people that process the payments for that to happen?”

“That's the biggest uncertainty right now is that they can do things, and things can happen that do not necessarily change the ‘laws of the land,’ but can deter the process from being economical for school districts. And you look at some of our districts that have such a huge amount of money involved in federal school lunch programs and other areas like special education, what if the processes, the dollar process, is slowed down?” he said. “I think that's the big thing about the uncertainty. And I think that our local superintendents in my 26 schools that I represent, and the superintendents that are involved in this, are really very much on top of that, and we did have a really good session with Senator Schumer's office at our legislative event that we held, and we're in constant contact with people, but again, there's just no way that the uncertainty, which is really all it is, there's no way that the uncertainty is not going to have some impact.”

If this latest cut happens, the U.S. Education Department will have 2,183 workers left from a total of 4,133 when Trump took office in January.

Batavia City Schools Superintendent Jason Smith addressed district concerns by sending a question-and-answer message home to families Friday about the impending actions to be taken with the federal Education Department.

What will happen if they eliminate the Department of Education by Executive Order?
“At this time, we do not have a definitive answer. However, eliminating a department established by Congress requires congressional approval,” Smith said. “Even if such an action were approved, the executive branch would need to reassign the Department of Education’s responsibilities, as federal law mandates certain functions currently overseen by the department.

“For example, just in the past few weeks, the executive branch directed the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to open several investigations,” he said. “If the Department of Education were eliminated, another federal agency would have to oversee these responsibilities.”

What about all of the grants we receive from the Federal Government? 
“BCSD receives several significant federal grants, including Title I, II, and IV grants under ESSA, as well as 611 and 619 grants under IDEA. The total annual allocation of these grants is currently around $1,736,838. While $1,736,838 is a significant amount, it represents only about 2.9% of our annual revenue,” he said. “Like other responsibilities of the Department of Education, these grants are mandated by congressional acts. If the department were eliminated, the executive branch would have to decide which agency would oversee and distribute these funds.”

What is the impact of the elimination of USDA (Dept. of Agriculture) programs for school meals?
“The recent termination of two USDA programs — the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) —could significantly impact districts nationwide,” Smith said. “The full impact remains unclear, as these programs are interconnected with other federal and state initiatives.

“Additionally, New York State plays a role in funding school meal programs, though some state programs rely on federal funding,” he said. “We are closely monitoring this situation, and I anticipate that the New York State budget may include provisions to maintain school meal funding if federal support is reduced or eliminated.”

Will all of this impact staffing or programming at BCSD?
“At this time, we do not anticipate any immediate changes to staffing or programming as a result of these federal actions, but we will continue to monitor developments,” he said. “As with school meal funding, we expect the New York State budget and legislative actions to address some of these concerns and provide further clarity.”

Burk said he thinks the uncertainty isn’t necessarily that the impact will be felt “sooner rather than later.”

“I was in a meeting with what's called the Coalition of Local School Boards Association yesterday, and we had a long conversation about the fact that we don't have anything to ‘worry about from the law side,’ because they haven't gone against the laws,” Burk said. “But when you have a commissioner secretary of education who admits her job is to close the department down without having the answers of how are the services going to be handled, that uncertainty is going to drive us into another whole realm.

“I mean, it's just unbearable for many people to think about it. Think about schools who have a high level of Title I kids, actual poor kids that, for whatever reason, have major economic difficulties who are in Title I schools who have a tremendous amount of need for additional funding,” he said. “Even they all want kids to succeed, but they don't want to pay for the extra reading or whatever. Where's that Title I funding going to come from if the Department of Education is closed down? We're finding that it's more and more of a, I don't even want to say it's a delicate balance. It's just like a ridiculous balance of what is being considered.”

You could say that Bailey Groth has had a fluid career so far.

At the age of 27, she has already worked for Genesee County, New York State and now the city of Batavia, and all in ways having to do with that substance none of us can live without: water. Groth began her city career as superintendent of Batavia Water and Wastewater in December.

“I was really excited about the opportunity to work in my community again. I had known and worked well with and befriended multiple people at the city before this, so it just felt like a natural thing to go work with people that I already know and like and work well with, the 2015 Pembroke High School grad said. “I think it's in the field that I'm super interested in, that's always changing. I feel very supported here. I guess I'm just grateful for the opportunity and happy to work and do good work for a place that I'm so comfortable in, like growing up here.”

Her path began after high school when she attended Nazareth College (now University) with her original intention of studying something in the medical field as a biochemistry major. She fairly quickly scrapped that in lieu of a toxicology course as a sophomore, “and it kind of changed my whole perspective,” she said.

“This is what I want to do,” she said. “I just found it really interesting. And I think it was kind of the time period, I was realizing I didn’t want to go into the medical field, and this was a lot of environmental science space, and so that kind of shifted things for me — oh, this is an option where I can do things I’m interested in, stuff like biochemistry and those courses, but I don’t have to do the medical aspects of how I could do more of an environmental science side.”

A high achiever—driven was one of the five words she came up with to describe herself. Groth graduated with not one but two bachelor’s degrees in toxicology and biology. That seemed to complement her personal interests of walking and hiking in nature, having grown up in more rural country of Pembroke, “it was easy to spend time outside.”

“And I ski in the winter, so I’ve always been kind of an outdoor activity kind of person, and so I think it felt a little like kind of natural to go into the sciences in that way,” she said.

Her first job was as an environmental health specialist at Genesee County Health Department, performing health inspections and running the drinking water enhancement program — her favorite part of the job because, one might guess, “the water aspect of it.”

Groth worked with and got to know people at the water plant because they would run the county’s bacteriological samples, “and we had a really good working relationship, and we became friends,” she said.

“So when I became the drinking water program coordinator, it was even easier. We were already friends. So, I worked with the city in a couple of different capacities before I worked here. So then from there, I went to the State Department of Health … my title was environmental analyst, and I wrote drinking water source protection plans,” she said. “So then I got assigned to the city of Batavia to write their drinking water source protection plan. And so then I got to work with even more people at the city … I just found once I had left the county and went to state, I realized that I like working in my own community and doing stuff like that was also a passion of mine.”

She oversees three groups of staff, including chief water operator and chief wastewater operator, supervisor for building maintenance crew, seven water operators, three wastewater operators and a dozen maintenance workers, so 25 total. There is one other woman on staff in building maintenance, and Groth has no problem leading her team or being outnumbered by men, she said.

“I think sometimes women have to work harder than men for recognition than their male colleagues. I haven’t had any issues here,” she said. “I just want to reiterate how awesome everyone is here because they really, really are, and I learn so much every single day from them, and I'm very grateful to work with them.”

For anyone wanting to jump into a field that may be more heavily occupied by men, she encourages you to “go for it” and advocate for yourself.

While she may have to be on-site at the water and wastewater plants many times per week — her office holds a charm all its own. A small pink fridge, just big enough to hold six cans of seltzer, and a string of white lights around the window and over her desk are the beginnings of her decor. Plus, her prized photo of Tuna B. Salad, a handsome, light green-eyed, black cat.

A quick tour of the wastewater facility serves as a reminder of what her staff deals with each day. Chief Operator John Senko, who’s been there since 2009, talked about the 3.5 to 4 million gallons that are processed during the wet season versus 2.5 million gallons in the dryer summer months. The very back room, with blowers running, is where it’s especially aromatic. Similar to a large manure field.

Workers have to manually dump carts, and a ridged track that catches the material hauls it on a conveyor belt, allowing sand and rocks to fall in the water beneath. Small toys will sneak in from household incidents, Senko said.

The facility serves the 15,600 city residents, about 5,000 people outside the city and some 14 industries. The waste is carefully processed through a 24 million gallon per day central pump station, three aerated treatment lagoons, two secondary lagoons that are fed alum to assist in phosphorus removal, four tertiary treatment lagoons and three polishing wetlands.

Once all of the processing and breakdown has happened, with the final phase of screening, settling, and nutrient uptake in the wetlands, the remaining material is ready to discharge into Tonawanda Creek after several months.

There are lab readings and monitoring at every step, similar to at the water plant, to ensure that the water is of consumable quality, Groth said.

“I think as children, I was always taught water is a renewable resource, you know, like the natural cycle of things, but it's not renewable if it's polluted beyond repair kind of thing. So it's definitely a precious resource. And I do think we take it for granted. I think we're very lucky to be in Western New York, where we have the Great Lakes, and we're not in the desert,” she said. “But I do think, as time progresses and we face things like droughts and whatnot, I hope people see more of it as a precious resource, because I do.

“The people that work to produce clean water for drinking water, clean potable water, there's so much work that goes into it. And I don't think people know that or realize how expensive it is and how hard-working these people are that do it. They're not just pushing a button; they're doing hard, manual labor,” Groth said. “And I know from working with people here they really genuinely care and are passionate about it and do everything they can to produce good, clean water. So I also want people to know that and recognize that, too. And the people that do the wastewater too, it's like they want to put out good, effluent … the pond system is kind of a more environmentally friendly treatment system, and so I think that's very cool to have here in a small city like Batavia. I want people to be appreciative of their public works because I think the people do so much work, and that's why they don't think about it is because it's just you turn your tap on and you have water there and it's clean, or you flush your toilet and it goes somewhere, and you don't ever have to think about it again, thank God.”

There will be plenty to keep her busy, with a long-awaited Cohocton water main replacement coming up this year, working on a wastewater discharge permit, and the lead service line inventory throughout the city to identify and replace lead pipes.

When she’s not working on water issues, Groth, who lives in Alden, enjoys spending time with her boyfriend Adam, walking, hiking, traveling — she’s gone to Peru and captured Machu Picchu and to Utah’s national parks — and spending time with lots of local family. They include mom Peg, sister Camryn, brother Ben, his daughters Elena and Leona, and grandparents. Roger and Carol Richardson, nephew Callan, and not-so-local older sister Meghan in Vermont.

In the middle of a shaky stock market and uncertain economic future, there’s one thing that has been able to ride out even the worst financial storms, Patrick Burk says.

And that’s show business, in its many forms, including the one most dear to him, live theater by Batavia Players.

“Keep in mind, during the Great Depression, the only industry that excelled was entertainment,” Burk said to The Batavian during an interview about the Players’ new lease and determination to forge ahead. “We're ecstatic with how it ended up. We're very happy with the confidence the city manager and the city has shown us. We knew that we were on the right track.”

The nonprofit group has faced its share of hurdles so far, going from an expensive construction of Main St. 56 Theater to an even more costly project due to pandemic shutdowns in 2020-21, supply chain and labor delays, and the final nail in the production season’s coffin: not being able to continue with plays and musicals and collect revenue from ticket sales.

While in arrears with back rent adding up to more than $25,000, the group rallied to begin paying it back, and with assistance from attorney Ed Graney, negotiated with city officials for a new lease this year.

“When all of this came up, it was just a matter of making sure that it was presented in a way that was acceptable for everybody. We've had some very positive things happen, including, we have back rent down to $18,000, we've been able to pay our rent on time, on a monthly basis since December,” Burk said. “We kind of knew that that's where we were going. It's just we wanted to make sure that we could get there. We're ahead on where we originally where the agreement says we should be, so we're maintaining that."

City Council approved the deal during its business meeting on Monday.

“It's important for the public to know that we have been able to accomplish and do what we really said we were going to, and I think it's important for them to know that we're very healthy and we're doing well and we're producing 12 to 13 shows a year,” Burk said. “And everything is moving along. It's a very successful venture, it’s just been a very positive result, and we're just very happy that it ended up, through negotiations, everything that we all went through, we enjoy the fact that we have the confidence of the city and the city manager, and here we go.”

The lease is for five years. Burk doesn’t know if any kind of negative economic longevity will affect the theater since that industry as a whole has been strong throughout the decades, he said. Batavia Players has “some major work of fundraising” to do, which is happening on a regular basis, and a recent spaghetti dinner event went very well, he said.

Memberships are on the rise, along with everyone’s hopes for another successful season. Up next is Shakespeare in Springtime: the Winter’s Tale, set for 7:30 p.m. March 21 and 22 and 2 p.m. March 23.

“So all we can do is just keep working the work and keep doing the work,” Burk said. “And hoping for positive outcomes.”

Western New York National Cemetery Council will host the final Vietnam Veteran Memorial ceremony at the end of this month, per a proclamation signed by then-President Donald Trump in 2017, William Joyce says.

The proclamation was to “confirm the commitment of this nation to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, which began on Memorial Day 2012 and will continue through Veterans Day 2025.”

Joyce, director for Genesee County Veterans Service Agency, is not certain why the final date was earmarked for March and not in November on Veterans Day, he said, however, it has been set.

The last ceremony will be at 11 a.m. March 29 at the Garrison flag pole of the cemetery, 1254 Indian Falls Road, Corfu. Joyce said that the public is welcome and encouraged to attend this last rite of honor for Vietnam veterans at this location.

Elected now as the 47th president, Trump and his administration have put the Department of Veterans Affairs up for mass layoffs “as early as June,” according to a memo reviewed by Reuters.

Healthcare and other services for veterans could be compromised by planned reductions at the Department of Veterans Affairs as it apparently seeks to cut more than 80,000 workers, Reuters said in a March 9 news article.

Joyce didn’t believe it would affect his position or his office locally in Batavia.

“It won’t affect me because I’m a county employee doing VA claims and making sure veterans are taken care of, and their spouses. So it won’t affect me or this office,” he said, adding that he didn’t want to speculate about potential cuts to the VA Hospital and related veterans programs. “I haven’t heard anything about that. It’s still green.”

Fathead minnows as a source of municipal revenue.

Who knew? Well, those at the city of Batavia’s wastewater treatment facility apparently did, and a request for bids to harvest the little guys was reeled in by two takers.

The highest bid submitted by Ray Daniels, however, required a non-collusive bidding certification and that was not signed, City Attorney George Van Nest said Monday.

“Mr. Daniels wrote a letter complaining about not being awarded the bid. However, I corresponded with him and identified that two pages were required for the bid. First Page was the financial offer … The second was the non-collusive bidding form, which is required under General Municipal Law Section 103 P. He did not complete that when he submitted his bid; therefore, his bid cannot be considered," Van Nest said during City Council’s business meeting at City Hall. “Just want to make that clear for council.”

Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. reiterated the attorney’s point that it’s “very important … to make sure that all paperwork is complete.”

“And maybe check with someone who knows how to do it to make sure you get it right because it’s unfortunate,” he said. “But technically, we can’t allow this.”

The next highest bidder was a A-1 Bait Supply of Niagara Falls, with a bid of $28,000 and the option of two additional years: years two at $30,000 and year three at $40,000.

Harvesting will occur at the wastewater treatment facility at 5 Treadeasy Ave. in Batavia.

Jankowski and Council member Bob Bialkowski lauded the sale. Bialkowski said the city invests a lot of money into the facility, including chemicals, treatments, and lime sludge removal.

“And we do get some return on the money,” he said. “I mean, this contract works just under $100,000 over three years. So it is a substantial amount of money to sell these.”

The minnows can end up as bait for sportsmen in the area, so “it gets recycled into recreation and various other activities for people even in the area,” Jankowski added. “So it’s kind of a nice cycle of events that take place to allow us to get some of the money back.”

City Council approved it with a unanimous yes vote from members Bob Bialkowski, Rich Richmond, Eugene Jankowski, Derek Geib, Kathy Briggs, David Twichell, Al McGinnis, and Tammy Schmidt. Council member Paul Viele was absent.

Previously: Batavia Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of city's hidden treasures

There was just one question before City Council voted on a lease agreement with Batavia Players Monday evening.

Has the group made any more payments since the last meeting, Councilman Bob Bialkowski said.

“Not that I’m aware of, no, but they’re working hard to make those catch-up payments,” City Manager Rachael Tabelski said during council’s meeting at City Hall. “I don’t have the exact balance but I believe they were down to $19,000.”

The lease renewal due in January was on hold due to back rent owed to the city by the nonprofit from Covid days when its Main St. 56 Theater was shut down. A newly drafted lease has been put in place and was up for a vote during the council’s business meeting.

This agreement is for Batavia Players to pay $4 per square foot plus back rent of at least $500 per month in an effort to move forward from an original lease in December 2019.

The commercial lease is for city properties 2, 35 and 39 in Batavia City Centre, including 11,052 square feet of “improved commercial space that was renovated by Batavia Players through a Downtown Revitalization Initiative and Anchor grant,” Tabelski had said in a memo to council. “Base rent will remain $4 per square foot to be paid $3,684 monthly. Back rent will be paid $500 per month or more until the balance is satisfied. 

"The lease also recognizes the city’s capital projects for the roof and HVAC units previously approved by City Council and clarifies how the Batavia Players shall submit requests for maintenance to the property,” she said.

A Lucky Paws Vendor Show & Basket Raffle is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Batavia City Centre in downtown Batavia. This event will feature more than 40 baskets and 65 vendors, with proceeds to benefit Vanessa’s Lasting Legacy Ltd.

There will also be pet photos taken for $10 each from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants are asked to please bring only pet-friendly dogs and cats, as organizers are not responsible for your pets or anything that might happen while on site.

Vanessa’s Lasting Legacy’s mission is to help keep dogs and cats from being separated from their local veterans, people with disabilities, the elderly and homeless.

“We focus on how animals protect our mental health and to keep the animals out of shelters and with their families,” co-organizer Kerry Dudek said.

Receive five free basket raffle tickets with a donation of unopened cat or dog food. Winners for the baskets to be drawn at 3:30 p.m.

Donations are also being accepted for new socks, hats, gloves, or other winter wear by Independent Living of the Genesee Region.

Most of us live consciously or unconsciously with the illusion that we’re going to live forever, as we push away the fact that this life is going to end sooner or later, Dale Goldstein says.

Even with aging bodies and minds, it can be difficult to accept that reality, yet living in denial means “we don’t realize how precious every moment is because we never know if it’s our last moment,” says Goldstein, director of the Heartwork Institute in Rochester.

“We don't value the mystery of why these branches are blowing outside my window. You know, we don't really appreciate the moment. Most of the time, we're living in the future. Okay, what do I have to do when I get this done? I'm looking forward to the football game on Saturday,” he said during an interview with The Batavian. “So when you really love something, you're really paying close attention to it. 

"Here’s a thought: if we paid close attention to everything, we would love everything, and we would live in a state of love and appreciation and gratitude," he said. "So I want people to appreciate their lives.”

Batavia First Presbyterian Church invites all to attend Goldstein’s workshop, “If I Had But One Year to Live.” He plans to take participants through a series of experiential exercises to find their own answers to the question, “If my life is getting cut short, in what ways might I change how I am living right now?”

Goldstein will help people explore what is truly meaningful in their lives, what is in the way of them getting to what they truly want, and how to move through those barriers, he said.

The workshop is free and runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon March 15 at the church, 300 E. Main St., Batavia.

“Human beings tend to not want to face our mortality, and because we avoid dealing with this existential issue, we miss much of our actual life in the moment,” he said. “There is a fear deep in our unconscious that prevents us from being fully present in our lives, so we don’t live completely, we don’t love completely, we don’t enjoy completely.

“We can't experience the depth and breadth of being a real human being," he said. "In this workshop, we will come to grips with this ultimate truth of our existence and realize that, knowing when that final moment will come. We need to live each moment fully so we have no regrets when we die.”

He suggests that folks bring a loved one with them to experience the workshop together if possible. Goldstein, who has a master's in social work, will provide guidance along the way as he prompts participants with “some very important questions,” which they will write down to ensure their privacy. The questions are somewhat deep, such as, do you feel fulfilled, and by how much in life? Do you feel alive? There will also be a bit of meditation.

“By facing death, you come to life in a new way,” he said. “And most importantly, for most people, actually, it really helps you get your priorities straight. What's really important is how much of your time you spend doing things that are just a waste of time.”

He didn’t want to give the whole workshop away but hinted that “something beautiful happens at the end.” After more than two dozen of these sessions, people haven’t felt it was a downer of any kind, but instead, “it’s really about seeing clearly what is important to you,” he said.

“It opens your heart to yourself and to life and to others. I call it heart work because it gets to the heart of the matter, and birth and death gets to the heart of the matter,” he said. “It’s beautiful, it really is. That’s why I’ve done it 26 times. It’s really a beautiful little workshop that has a punch to it.”

Who may be an ideal candidate for this workshop? Anyone who wants to enjoy life more, he said.

Goldstein has been doing what he calls heart work since 1980 and has 55 years of experience as a practicing therapist. He is also a teacher of personal-spiritual growth and a nationally known workshop facilitator. 

After recognizing the potential limitations of strictly one or the other—cognitive, spiritual, or meditative forms of therapy—he discovered the process of using a combination of tools to open the heart and mind.

For more information, call 585-343-0505 or go HERE 

Similar to many women in the workplace, Laura Wadhams keeps different pairs of shoes in her office, but not because she may need a wardrobe change throughout the day or for an evening out.

She never knows when she might need a pair of steel-toed work boots to check out a project.

Wadhams will be the newly promoted commissioner of Genesee County’s Public Works Department to fill the vacancy left by retiring Commissioner Tim Hens in June.

"I’m very much a Type A, technical person. I loved math and science, so I always kind of knew that engineering or healthcare was in my future. My mom (Jean Lichtenthal) was a healthcare professional, but when I got a little deeper into healthcare, I was like, nope, this is not my calling. So engineering it was, and I love civil engineering,” Wadhams said during an interview at the county highway department on Cedar Street. “I definitely was drawn to civil engineering because I just love being outside … I’m definitely drawn to civil engineering because of that, just building things and being outside and all of that, which not all engineering disciplines get to do.”

This is the first in a series for Women's History Month, which recognizes and honors "the societal, cultural, and historical influences women have made (and continue to make) in the United States," especially in our own backyard. 

Wadhams has worked as a civil, staff, and transportation engineer and transportation construction inspector for the New York State Department of Transportation. She was working in the private sector for LaBella Associates when she got a call from Commissioner Tim Hens who was looking to fill the assistant county engineer job in late 2018.

A native of Batavia who graduated from Batavia High School in 2008 and watched her dad, Tom Lichtenthal, work his way to town highway superintendent, Wadhams had a nostalgic tug to her hometown: “If I'm gonna go back to the public sector, I'd rather be at home, and bring all these talents back here to Genesee County and do this work here in Genesee County,” she said.

And Hens was ready to take her.

“She was a perfect candidate to replace me,” said Hens, who is planning his retirement this June after 27 years. “She has done an amazing job in so many different areas, from award-winning bridge projects to airport work, facilities projects and managing the construction of the new county jail. She is an excellent communicator and has the demeanor to work with different agencies, contractors, community leaders, and people.”

A younger Wadhams remembers playing with Matchbox cars on her dad’s Interchange plans to spread out at home, giving her an early head start on her future career. She went on to Clarkson University for a bachelor’s in civil engineering, surrounded by about 80% of the men in the class.

Once out in the consulting world, that split between men and women was more around 60-40, she said, and in Genesee County, there have been “a handful of women” doing this type of work. People ask her about it all the time, and it’s all part of the job, she said.

“That’s not something that phases me anymore. I think, especially civil engineering, it seems like the women in civil engineering can’t be afraid to take up space or own their seat at the table because you've got civil engineers that work with architects on architecture projects, but then civil engineers sometimes are the project manager standalone. So you have to be able to hold your own in that sense. And I learned to do that definitely early on, I did internships at the DOT, I was out by myself on sign crews and striping crews and setting up work zones, dealing with the public who didn’t want the work zone set up on Route 104 during the day."

As Hens mentioned, she’s taken on big projects, with the $70 million new county jail being her largest one so far. Wadhams was on site working alongside contractors and a team of corrections officers learning the inner and outer details of how a jail operates.

“Paul (Osborn) and I spent hours and hours and hours out there; that was a big project for the county, and it was a very public project for the county,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that the county’s interests were protected, as well as getting the things done and moved along in order to get inmates in there, because at the end of the day, that's what the end goal was,” she said.

What did you learn that you maybe didn’t expect of the experience?
“I’ve done a lot of schools and lots of other higher education projects and bridge projects and things like that, but the security aspect and the jail perspective of that was way more than I ever thought it was going to be. But we were super lucky to have a jail transition team that we worked with every single day to be able to get through those things,” she said. “There were four corrections officers out there full time. So we got to learn a lot from each other, we were teaching them how to read plans, and they were teaching me how to do keys for jail. So we learned a lot from each other. It was a really great team.”

The jail process took her throughout her whole time with the county, beginning in her first two months of hire in 2018 with the design phase, a break during the Covid pandemic period in 2021, and construction for two years, with completion in 2024.

Her other biggest project was the South Lyon Street bridge, which earned an award and was a collaboration with the city of Batavia, where the bridge is located.

“I was a project manager for that one; that was a lot of time out in the field. We're lucky to be able to work with great consultants and engineers and contractors,” she said. “So for us, it's more making sure the county's goals are achieved. It was a big one, definitely the biggest bridge project the county had ever done.”

What did you do?
“So my role as a project manager was basically to oversee the contractors and consultants and make sure we're keeping things on time and on schedule and on budget, for sure. So, if they had issues out in the field, I'd go out in the field and be like, ‘okay, how do we come up with a plan to solve them?’” she said. “Or, let's figure out a solution to this situation that we're running into, or there's a power line that needs to get moved. Let's coordinate with National Grid, things like that, day to day.”

She understands that her role, especially as commissioner, evolves into “some level of a diplomat” because this position serves as a go-between for the highly technical folks drafting plans and county legislators giving approvals. Many times throughout both projects, either Hens or Wadhams presented updates during legislator committee meetings and answered questions.

“You have to be a decent people person at the end of the day and have conversations,” she said.

She and her husband Andy are parents to “amazing” 4-year-old Emma, born in the thick of Covid in May 2020, and Wadhams loves spending time with her family. This totally unbiased mom said that her daughter is “super fun” and apparently a chip off the block — enjoying building tasks already with Magnetiles and Legos —  and will be entering kindergarten this fall.

Her family also includes her sister Jennifer, an emergency room physician’s assistant in Pennsylvania, and her brother Andrew, an aeronautical engineer in Colorado.

When not changing her heels for heavy-duty boots, Wadhams spends her free time reading, using her mad engineering skills on DIY home projects, and spending time at a family member’s Conesus Lake cottage during warmer weather.

That doesn’t mean she’ll have all downtime during the summer, as the Engine House is about 60% complete and is on the chores list, with three bridges, roads and culverts. Up next will be the county’s Animal Shelter and Holland Land Office Museum for summer 2026.

She has spoken at career days and will ask kids what they think an engineer looks like, surmising they probably imagine a man with white hair and a pocket protector, she said.

“But my daughter sees me, so to me, that says a lot right there, you know? And if I go to St Joe's and do the Career Day or things like that, I think it's just kind of showing people that it's not one size fits all,” she said. “And that's important to me for people to see, because everyone has different interests, little girls and little boys all play with Legos and … (they might think) I don't know if I could do that for a career. Yeah, you can. You totally can.”

The commissioner’s role oversees seven divisions, 57 full-time and 11 seasonal or part-time employees within the department, including highways and bridges; fleet management; engineering; facility management; parks and forestry; Genesee County Airport; countywide water; and environmental health, which means engineering reviews for water, septic, campgrounds and pools. Her predecessor has built a “great group” here, and Wadhams is excited for this next step, she said.

“He’s the last 27 years. The stuff that he's done and provided for the county has been amazing. I think we did the math once, and 30 to 40% of the structures, the culverts and bridges, have been replaced since he's been here. Like that alone is huge,” she said. “Even the work that he's done for the public water supply and environmental health and things like that, I mean, it's been amazing, so just getting to continue that on is going to be exciting. And then whatever challenges come our way for the next 20 years, we'll take them in stride. I'm excited to do that and kind of leave my mark on our community too, just like he has the last 20 years.”

Walking into the former JCPenney department store == only now without all the clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories -- the 38,000 square-foot space seems even more expansive and pliable for a ripe imagination.

Batavia businessman Matt Gray, who purchased and recently closed on the downtown building with partner Matthew Boyd, sees it as an opportunity for a number of different possibilities, from what it was previously as a mid-size department store or smaller shops subdivided within the main showroom and adjacent storage room and beauty salon to one large venue for some type of entertainment or activity. Or perhaps, on the more costly side, going the route of second and/or third-floor market-rate apartments above with an interior courtyard to provide windows for all tenants.

“We’re investigating right now whether or not this building would support upper floors. As you know, the zoning for C3 requires any residential would be by special use permit upstairs,” Gray said Wednesday during a tour of the site with The Batavian.

City officials had an open house last fall with renderings illustrating how the building could potentially look as a mixed-use site with housing. Gray saw those sketches, and “it all plays into the larger picture that everyone seems to be supporting, from a municipal standpoint,” he said.

That may be a longer-range plan as the partners have begun the process of entering a broker agreement with Mancuso Commercial Realty to list the property for lease. They acquired the site, which was assessed for $400,000 according to county online records, at a bank mortgage foreclosure auction in January for $175,000.

What’s your primary goal, to lease it out versus developing, or all of it?
“We are open to any and all ideas with the property. As somebody who works right across the street, it’s something that we want to see full and vibrant and brings people into the area,” he said. “You know, to us and everyone else, that's downtown. It's sat vacant for a long time. So we'd like to see something in here that brings people in.”

Along those lines, they’ve had “a couple of very casual conversations” with people with possible interest in the space, but nothing concrete at this time, he said. The agreement with Mancuso will begin the formal way for folks to inquire about the property, he said.

Given the amount of time that the building has been sitting unoccupied — Penney closed in October 2020 and was purchased in February 2021 by California developer Yong Guang Ye, but nothing materialized from that, and Ye defaulted on payments — Gray was surprised that it was in as good condition that it was, he said.

“There are a couple of leaks that we knew, we expected that there would be a couple of leaks, given the age of the structure, and we did see the satellite photos from Google, so we knew that there was a potential there. There are a number of leaks. None of them seem to be all that serious, and there doesn't appear to be any structural damage,” Gray said. “We have a local roofing company coming out next week to take a look. We're under the impression that with some repair work, we can get a few more years out of it before we need to do the whole roof, which will buy us some time in order to get some income coming in to support it.”

There are spots on the ceiling tiles with rusty brown areas showing water damage, and there were a couple of more active leaks, he said, but nothing terribly alarming. Everything, including ceiling tiles and walls, would be replaced anyway before anyone moved in to use the space, he said.

Sections of the partially carpeted floor, set off by tile, are filled with empty store fixtures used to hang clothing, jewelry and accessories. Those are for sale, Gray said, either individually or in lots, and will likely go up for auction at some point. Anyone interested can contact him at Eli Fish.

One of the more interesting things discovered on the premises was a safe room, which contained another safe. The only items left behind were 1970s papers from when the original store was built. There were letters, memos and construction guidelines from corporate in copies of what looked to be typed on an old-fashioned clickety-clack typewriter. Gray noted that the men’s and women’s bathrooms were left in good condition, and the beauty salon has a sink, shelving, and mirrors.

A back stock room has fabulously huge shelves to store one’s business or home goods, maybe? Or the space is also large enough for another entire shop or enterprise.

Because it's kind of divided right now, are you thinking walls could come down, or are you looking at pretty much the showroom as far as the space for development?
“We’re working with Olive Architecture out of Raleigh to determine what walls could come down and what would need to stay. We're under the impression right now that with the 16 columns that you see here, and we believe there's another four inside the walls, that those are holding most of the weight. So, outside of those columns, it seems like almost everything else could come out. And it's pretty modular,” he said.

How do you feel about owning a piece of City Centre?
“Now that the entrances are fixed and the concourse no longer has any leaking issues, and the city has told us that they are working towards concourse improvements, it all seems to be going in the right direction,” he said. “We would love to find a potential tenant that would have some synergy with a Game of Throws and a Sim, something that is an entertainment area that we think that's a great use for the space. “There's a lot of good ideas of things that could go downtown that would be a benefit.

“We had long conversations, Matt Boyd and I, and one of the overarching concerns is this piece seems to be kind of the key piece in a lot of this block’s development. And if this piece were to have not gone to a local user, and if it were to have gone back to the bank, we were afraid that it would be tied up in real estate owned by the bank for another three, five years,” he said. “You have no idea how long they would keep it dark without potentially not even marketing it. So at the price that it went for, we thought there was enough opportunity there for us to be okay with what it is and to take the risk on it ourselves and to ensure that it just didn't sit here.”

This isn’t Gray’s first rodeo: he and his partners have gone through renovations with Eli Fish Brewing Company on Main Street, the former Newberry’s, and he also owns Alex’s Place on the west side of town and the McCarthy ice arena. His resume boosted the confidence of city officials and Batavia Development Corp. Executive Director Tammy Hathaway when he walked away with the top bid earlier this year.

“I mean, Matty is successful in his endeavors; he’s proven that. So I could not even find a complaint if I wanted to,” Hathaway had said at the courthouse while Gray was wrapping up the deal.

Photos by Howard Owens

Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council staff continues to get a good return for its efforts at extracting as much state funding as possible for local arts projects, Executive Director Gregory Hallock says.

And for nothing short of a fairly simple reason.

"Last year, we were the second highest in the state, only behind Manhattan. So that was pretty awesome that we were that high up there in the amount of funding we're giving out. Our argument that seems to be working is that, unlike these other big regions, if we don't have this funding, arts will not happen,” Hallock said during this week’s Genesee County Human Services meeting. “These other places, they have multiple arts organizations that exist with multiple different forms of funding, whereas we, if we don't have this funding, it's not there. We need this funding to make arts happen. So that is working, that has worked for us, and we will continue to use that.”

Hallock gave a summary of his 2024 annual report before the committee considered his request for county funding.

Known as GO ART!, the nonprofit doled out $336,000 in the form of Reach, Ripple and Spark grants to individuals and groups for various art projects and activities, including:

• Batavia Concert Band during the summer at Centennial Park
• Batavia Players during its 2024 season
• Bergen Park Festival and Genesee Symphony Orchestra
• Gillam-Grant Community Center’s A Spectrum of Art
• Haxton Memorial Library’s Talented Thursdays
• Opera on the Oatka by Heather Kathleen Davis with St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Le Roy and Holland Land Office Museum’s guest speaker and concert series
• Oakfield Betterment Committee’s Labor Daze
• Corfu Farmers Market 2024 Music Series
• Elba Betterment Committee’s EBC Presents
• Brian Kemp with BID’s 2024 TableTop Art Show
• Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Artful Observation
• Chris Hamel with Office For the Aging’s Youth Music Program
• Eric Zwieg’s The Family Model
• Linda Fix with Batavia City School District Foundation’s It Takes a Village and David Burke’s Extension to Harvester Center Hallway murals

“So we gave out a big chunk. It did go down this year, but we are still pretty high up there. I don’t want to use the word anger, but close to it with other arts councils and other organizations that are giving out funding because they don't like that we're getting that much money, but it's a grant, and we wrote the best grant. So we are getting the money to get out, and we will continue to do that,” he said. “Also, we have a $3.1 million project that we are working on for here in this county, with the building that we are in, we are expanding below and out with a cultural garden and an elevator that will be going through the whole building. We have $1.6 million towards that project currently. So we have $1.5 to go for that. We are in a little bit of a rush. We have until June 30, 2026 to not only raise the rest, but to spend the money as well. So we are searching for funds, trying to raise funds, coming up with ideas, left and right, to work on that.”

GO ART! received a grant through AmeriCorps VISTA to hire a fundraising development employee who will be working with staff specifically for this project, he said, and the agency’s gold barn project in Orleans County.

“So we are excited to have them. We are slightly nervous because it is completely federally funded, so we don't know at any point if we won't have that position, but currently, we do have that position,” he said. “I would say those are our major things. Our programming will continue to grow as we get more stuff. We are looking into this year expanding our creative arts program so that it is now beyond our actual footprint in Batavia.”

Staff is working with Alexander school district to be able to provide an arts camp there, with the possibility of reaching out to Pembroke next, and alleviate potential “hefty” transportation costs by bringing students in to Batavia, he said.

“So our solution is to run one camp, but at different locations. So we'll be doing that during the summer, and we'll be having six weeks of programming during the summer, but it'll be located at all different places,” Hallock said. “This past summer, in review, it was all held in Batavia. So this summer, we'll be spreading it out throughout all of them.”

Building on the foundation laid out in the last annual report, GO ART! has expanded programming and services to "further engage and inspire our diverse community," Hallock said.

"In collaboration with our valued partners and supporters, GO ART! has continued to secure vital funding, enabling us to sustain our operations, maintain our historic landmarked building, and deliver exceptional arts programming amidst challenging economic conditions," he said. "This year, I am particularly proud to share that GO ART! brought opera and ballet to the region, introducing our community to these celebrated art forms and expanding our cultural landscape in new and inspiring ways."

New endeavors include the Erie Canal Arts Festival, a cultural plan for the GLOW region, and the two capital campaigns previously mentioned: the installation of an elevator and the expansion of programming space into the foundation of the Batavia site at 201 E. Main St., as well as the development of a new space at the Orleans County Fairgrounds in collaboration with Orleans Cornell Cooperative Extension. 

GO ART! has and is in the midst of installing an elevator within its three story historical building and making renovations that include roofing, water management, masonry, carpentry, doors and windows, finishes, mechanical, plumbing and electrical. 

The hopes are to complete the projects by June 2025, Hallock said. The building and property that includes a music garden, art garden and horticultural garden is owned and operated by GO ART!, and staff has been in discussions with the county to purchase a larger garden/outdoor space that is directly behind the East Main Street building, to be used for programming, he said.

GO ART! has applied for grants to expand to add a foundation to include a pottery studio, darkroom, woodshop, art gallery, and two large art studios. 

In the past year, the site has expanded two murals with the assistance of Batavia High School students and teachers, and community artists who painted murals in the kitchen and back corridor. The Mason Gallery was expanded to take over the entire second-floor hallway.

The handicapped bathroom on the first floor was turned into a permanent gallery space known as the Bethany Antique and Arts Gallery, and a colored glass mosaic was added to the third-floor bathroom by artist Christy Valsente.

Explore Art for youth includes a Kids’ Club, creative arts camps, teen animation classes, Do Re Mi: Music & Movement, preschool pop-up parties; and more geared for adults, there are murder mystery nights, open mic nights, jam labs, crochet club, comedy nights, karaoke nights, pillow-sewing class, haunted history tours and investigations, Ukrainian egg-decorating class; and Tarot Reading 101.

GLOW Creatives, a New York artist employment program, was a group of artists taking on a two-year residency that began in June 2022. Artists worked on independent projects and group collaborations to audiences in Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming, Livingston and Monroe counties.

The budget breakdown for revenue was:

• Events and earned income - $70,782
• Foundation support - $214,680
• Individual and corporate funding - $27,326
• Public support - $622,350

Organization expenses were:

• 1.9%, or $17,278, for fundraising
• 28.3%, $254,482, for programs and events
• 32.4%, $291,247, for administration
• $336,000, or 37.4%, was awarded as grants

After Hallock’s annual report presentation, County Manager Matt Landers recommended the agency’s funding request for $7,500, which matches the amount given since 2022. Committee legislators agreed, and a final vote will be taken by the full Legislature on March 12.

Something seems to be happening in downtown Batavia, at City Centre in particular, as properties are either bought or leased and business owners are taking a chance on investing in what city officials are hoping is becoming an economic revival of the former mall.

One of the latest merchants to be entering the scene in the near future is another moveover from Harvester Complex. Eric and Sarah Jones, owners of Game of Throws, are planning to initially build two escape rooms and eventually have three, plus axe-throwing in the space formerly occupied by Gentleman Jim’s, Palace of Sweets, Shortstop and The Hiding Place.

“We're hoping by June or July we'll be able to move in and be ready to open for business, at least with our lanes and our axe throwing. We're hoping that at least one, if not two, of the Escape Rooms, will be ready to go,” Sarah said during an interview with The Batavian. “But Escape Rooms are a lot; they're a lot of work, a lot of planning. There are a lot of their prop-making props.

The Jones couple of Oakfield had wanted to have escape rooms at the Harvester location, but the physical set-up, with high ceilings and poor acoustics, didn’t allow for what was needed to make it work well, Sarah said. Game of Throws survived the pandemic since opening in early 2021, and now it’s time to push past those limitations and get into the fun creativity — albeit more expensive — work of pulling together an hour’s worth of brain-teasing props, clues and puzzles that stretch one’s imagination and prompt teamwork to meet the objective: escape.

Sarah offered a hint that the first room being assembled is a pirate theme, and visitors will have to free themselves from a ship jail before time is up for them to walk the plank. If you think this might be a lame Monopoly-type board game, these rooms come at great expense ($10,000 to $20,000 and up) and endless hours of labor to craft the related lifelike props and clues — perhaps keys and maps and items that hint at the next needed steps to take.

“Basically, we take you in, we literally lock you in prison. So there's a jail cell in the very beginning that you're all in. You have to figure out how to get out of the prison to get into the other part of the room, where there's all kinds of pirate stuff, and there's maps, and there's clues, and there's things that you're going to find, you're going to figure out, you're going to put together locks and keys, and then eventually you will find the final key to escape,” she said. “And there's a big clock counting down for 60 minutes, so you'll know how long you're taking. And we always have someone watching you and working with you. So if it takes you too long to get out of the first part of it, we'll start to talk to you and say, ‘Okay, you guys are on the right track, but look for, you know, whatever, keep your eyes open for this,’ so that we can sort of walk you through better ways to figure out and get out of certain things.

“We want everyone to be able to get out, but we also don't want to be like, the whole time telling you hints and clues. You have to see for yourself,” she said. “So with that being said, there's a lot of interesting things, like different riddles that you have to sort of figure out different combinations of things you have to do in order for a door to unlock with a mag lock, which means there's a lot of wiring, and there's a lot of mechanical things that we have to put in there to trigger things. So it's a lot, but it's fun.”

Why escape rooms? Sarah and her husband seek out and do escape rooms “all the time,” she said.

“Every time we go somewhere or go on a trip or wherever we’re somewhere, we always look for escape rooms. We’ve gone to basically all the escape rooms in Buffalo and Rochester that we have been able to find; we love escape rooms,” she said. “We go with friends. We go with different people that do an escape room. We do it with our kids; they love them too.”

Why, what is it about escape rooms that you like so much?

“They're all different. You never know what's gonna happen, what's gonna be in them. Some of them are amazing, some of them are terrible. And we're like, well, that was just stupid. But even just getting together, and all of you working together as a group, it's really interesting to see the dynamics even of the way people think, the way people figure things out,” she said. “Some people that are really good at noncommon sense things, really smart things, figure out the stuff that I would never be able to figure out. I'm more of a think-outside-the-box: look, I found this, how does this work? Where other people are like, oh, there's numbers. They see combinations of things because they get numbers, where I don't get numbers.

She talked about how she usually butts heads with her daughter Marissa, so it would seem natural that when the family goes to an escape room, Marissa would pair off with her dad, and Mom would go with her son Ryan. But that’s not how it works when solving these types of reality puzzles, she said.

Ryan and Eric work super well together, and the way their minds work, and Marissa and I tend to work super well together. So it's really neat to do escape rooms with people because it's a whole different experience,” she said. “When I first heard about escape rooms, I was like, I want to do one of those. It sounds so cool. So we've done them years and years and years ago. And I had said to my husband, I want to open up escape rooms. That would be the funnest job ever. I love everything about them. And then my brother-in-law in Pennsylvania, years later, had opened up the escape rooms, and I'm like, you understand, that's my dream come true.”

Sarah has been able to, at least in part, experience the operational side of these rooms by helping out her in-laws when possible, from building props such as a full-blown monkey body, face, and limbs, down to its fingernails to offering hints to misguided participants. As she puts it, “It's not like we're coming into this with no experience, but we also are coming into this with no experience.”

“And we're just like, we got this, but it's something super new,” she said. “And so it's gonna be so much fun. I'm super excited about it.”

The market is hot for this too, she said, as they are extremely popular and exist all over the country. She and Eric have done several in Florida and even found them in the Dominican Republic, she said.

The glitch may be that this business doesn’t often get repeat customers unless it’s people bringing others to experience the escape room. One solution the Jones’ have that others may not be so fortunate to have is that connection with the in-laws in Pennsylvania. They know that their customers aren’t likely to have seen the escape rooms here, and vice versa, so they plan to swap with each other at some point and continue a rotation with fresh themes the next time around.

It will still mean a major investment of thousands of dollars but it saves them at least a couple of times before they need to invest in brand-new themes again. For customers, it will be an updated adventure. There’s a Facebook marketplace, sort of a co-op for escape room goods, and these used packages can still cost $20,000 to $30,000, she said. And it’s not like once you’ve purchased it, you’re done: these rooms have to be refreshed to keep customers coming back.

Being a small business owner has come with its share of frustrations, including a lack of funding options that are more often available to large developers and corporate businesses, she said. She credited Batavia Development Corporation and Executive Director Tammy Hathaway for pursuing avenues for small grants or low-interest loans, but so far, nothing has been available or suitable for their situation, Sarah said.

The Jones couple is grateful that the property owners and city have allowed them to begin working on the space before officially moving in — with flashlights and lanterns in tow since there’s no electricity or HVAC hook-up yet and a leaky roof is to be repaired. That gives them some time to get set up while still being at their current location at 56 Harvester Ave., Sarah said.

“So that when they do say, ‘ok, it’s time,’ we can have basic stuff that we need done so we can actually get in there as soon as possible. Because once they say it’s ready, then we have to start paying rent,” she said. “And we’re willing to pay rent to both places until we can get into the other one, so we’re hoping that by the time we can get in there and have to start paying rent, we’ll have it so much done that we can literally just move our lanes from Games of Throws into Gentleman Jim’s and get it up and running, that’s what we’re hoping for.”

How does she feel about the big move? "Excited and terrified."

She asks if she’s crazy. Well, yes. Then again, former Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

The Jones’ vision goes beyond the walls of their future business and spills (hopefully) onto the outer concourse in the form of community events, such as square dancing, cornhole tournaments, karaoke nights, and other fun events. In other words, they may do a little world-changing in downtown Batavia.

“I feel like that is going to bring so many people out because there is nothing to do in Batavia. So what we’re hoping is that we will bring more business to Batavia, too. We have a lot of people who come throw axes at our place from Buffalo and Rochester. They literally drive by the places in Buffalo to get to us. So we’re hoping that we can bring business to the other businesses,” she said. “A lot of times, people are like, we’re not from around here, but where is there to go eat? And we definitely try to tell them of locally owned businesses as opposed to chains. So I hope that we’ll all work together to bring more business to Batavia.”

For more information, go HERE.