Le Roy

A motor-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported at West Main Street Road and Keeney Road, Town of Le Roy. Le Roy fire and Mercy medics are responding.

There was a time, Jerry Diskin remembers, when there were seven volunteer firefighters working right in the Village of Le Roy. 

That was a time, many years ago, when getting volunteers to turn out for daytime alarms was never a problem, but times have changed.

Lapp Industries has downsized, no new industrial employers have sprung up, businesses are smaller in the village, and more people work in Monroe County or elsewhere, making it hard for them to respond to daytime alarms.

That has Le Roy Fire District looking at any and all potential solutions for ensuring daytime alarms bring out sufficient manpower to cover the call, said Diskin who is chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

It's not that the department doesn't have enough volunteers -- there are 67 on the rolls, said 1st Assistant Chief Tom Wood.

"We’re not hurting for manpower," Wood said. "We’re hurting for guys available in a certain time frame. If you look at our roster, we have the manpower, but like everybody else, it’s just a time frame during the day time where people are in Rochester or wherever."

There was some confusion earlier this week over a report in a fire service newsletter, based on minutes from an East Battalion meeting, that the City of Batavia Fire Department would start to "cover" for Le Roy on structure fire calls in the Le Roy District.

That was never the plan, Diskin said. There was merely a discussion at the meeting about this issue and the city's changing role on structure fire calls.

"As a district, we’re directly accountable to the taxpayers," Diskin said. "To that end, if there is something out there that’s available to us to use or pursue we have a responsibility to do that."

The city has always sent what's known as a Fast Team (a group of firefighters tasked with being ready to rescue firefighters who might be trapped or having difficulty exiting a burning building) to structure fires in Le Roy.

There have been a total of 11 such calls in Le Roy over the past 18 months, Wood said.

In the future, the city will be asked to send a responding engine and another volunteer company will be asked to respond as the Fast Team, on daytime calls, Wood said.

"This is just change to an engine company," Wood said. "They’re not coming here to answer our alarms, they’re coming on structure fire only. ... This has been blown way, way, way out of proportion. This is just a change in assignment for them."

The county's fire response is broken into battalions and mutual aid companies and dispatchers use what are known as run cards to dispatch the right companies in the right order to the right location.

For Le Roy, the typical structure fire has Bergen sending its ladder truck almost right away, with another ladder truck (Le Roy also has its own) if needed from either Caledonia or Town of Batavia.  

The city would not likely be requested to send anything more than the Fast Team, or, now, an engine company.

"The system is designed so we don't deplete any one area," Wood said. 

Both Diskin and Wood emphasized that the issue Le Roy is facing with daytime calls is a countywide problem.

Last month, for example, there were back-to-back fires in Pavilion and Le Roy on a hot day. At the Pavilion fire, it was the third time recently that Wood became scene commander, even though it was Pavilion's district, because Pavilion didn't have a chief available to respond. An Alexander firefighter responded because he worked in Pavilion, even though his department hadn't been dispatched at that point (Alexander's Fast Team was dispatched that day). Le Roy was supposed to have a mutual aid company as a fill-in at its hall, and that company did send an engine but didn't have enough manpower available when the alarm sounded for the fire on Lent Avenue.

At that call, the city's Fast Team was pressed into firefighting duty to give the hot and tired volunteers a rest.

That's all a result of diminished manpower throughout the area for daytime calls, Wood said.

"This whole daytime thing is a countywide issue," Wood said. "It’s just being brought to the foreground by us because we’re being proactive about making sure things are covered."

Diskin said it's important to note that while getting enough people out on daytime calls is a struggle, calls are still getting covered in the district.

Like the Lent Avenue fire, calls sometimes pile up and over. And for the past couple of years, there seem to be more calls for service during the day, Diskin said.

"But that happens (the rare back-to-back call)," Diskin said. "It’s just like, 'it’s only a CO alarm,' 'it’s only a smoke detector alarm,' but somebody has got to answer that. That’s all it is, but somebody has got to go and handle it."

While manpower isn't an issue, recruiting more people is one obvious answer to boost the numbers with the hope that some greater percentage of recruits increases the number of daytime responders.

It's a challenge, and part of the challenge is that firefighting training has gone from a week to now you're into 79 hours of training, and 129 if you want to be an interior firefighter.

“It’s all good training," Diskin said. "I’ve been in training all my life. The issue is, it’s a big time commitment. So you’re trying to ramp that person up to be a valuable member of your department, you’re talking 18 months."

Because of the changing landscape of employment in Le Roy, Wood said, people's lifestyles have changed. A young firefighter probably has a family and kids today and they're signed up for more activities, making parents less available to respond to fire calls.

"Parents are just traveling all the time," Wood said. "I take my brother as an example. He’s got his daughter on a travel volleyball team. He’s gone most of the summer every weekend. So there’s a guy gone. I don’t fault anybody for doing that, but that’s the way it is."

To find out more about volunteering for your area department, visit ReadyGenesee.com.

All available manpower is requested to the Le Roy Fire Hall after dispatchers received multiple calls reporting the odor of natural gas in the Village of Le Roy.

Callers are from multiple locations.

UPDATE 9:59 p.m.: Pavilion and Bergen departments requested to stand by in their halls.

The arrest came after Lane allegedly followed a family throughout local stores.

Lane was arraigned in the Town of Batavia Court and put in Genesee County Jail pending a future court date.



 

On Oct. 1, 2016 SP Batavia Troopers arrested Nathan Constantino, 20, of Batavia, for driving while ability impaired by drugs and for possession of marijuana. Following a traffic stop on Route 33 in the Town of Stafford, Constantino was allegedly found to be in possession of marijuana and failed field sobriety tests; he was subsequently arrested. Constantino was processed and released on appearance tickets returnable to the Town of Stafford Court.

Zachary M. Bower, 19, of Shady Lane, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The defendant was allegedly found in possession of marijuana while a deputy was investigating a suspicious vehicle near the Village of Bergen Park at 2:36 p.m. on Sept. 29. He was issued an appearance ticket returnable to Bergen Town Court on Nov. 2. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Erion.

Michael Robert Simcick, 22, of Keeney Road, Le Roy, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. He was arrested after the strong odor of marijuana was allegedly detected emanating from his vehicle during a traffic stop at 5:44 p.m. on Oct. 3 on West Main Street in Le Roy. He is due in Le Roy Town Court on Oct. 20. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan DeLong.

Press release:

The Genesee County Democratic Committee has opened its new headquarters at 43 Main St. in the Village of Le Roy.

On Saturday, Oct.1, the headquarters will be open for the Fall for Le Roy event and an official open house will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4.

The public is invited to stop by and learn about local candidates, register to vote and enjoy light refreshments.

The office will be operated entirely by volunteers and will operate phone banking and canvassing events. Literature and yard signs for various campaigns will be available as well.

They welcome anyone who is interested in helping or learning about their local government to contact them through their website at GeneseeDemocrats.net

Press release:

Located at 20 Main St., in the Village of Le Roy, this two story former bank building at the corner of Main and Bacon streets, will be auctioned online only, bidding closes on Thursday, Oct. 6^th at 2 p.m.  ET.

The brick and masonry building is 5,352+/- square feet with two drive-through lanes and basement. The building was built in 1929 with additions in 1969 and occupies .4 +/- acres and is zoned C-2 Commercial.

There will be a property inspection at noon on Monday, Oct. 3. This is an absolute auction, the property will sell to the highest bidder, regardless of price.

Auction Management Corp. conducts this auction in conjunction and cooperation with local affiliate William David Kent, NY Broker Lic. #31KE0298344.

http://www.amc.bid/auctions/detail/

It was supposed to be Le Roy's night -- new stadium facility at Hartwood Park, crowning a homecoming queen, a new half-time show from the marching band -- but there were some long faces after Hornell's Jack Henby stole the show.

The Red Raiders' back carried the ball 16 times for 229 yards and four touchdowns as the visitors quashed any high spirits with a 42-0 win.

Henby, fast and strong, hit holes quick and carried tacklers five and 10 yards at a time.

The first quarter looked like it might be a tighter game than some might have predicted, but with the score only 7-0 near the end of the quarter, the Oatkan Knights squandered a scoring opportunity with a couple of penalties. It was all Red Raiders the rest of the way.

Le Roy's OB Josh Laurie was 9-22 on the night for 98 yards. Ryan Boyce caught three passes for 36 yards and Reece Tresco, Canyon Roster and Gaven Cassidy each had two receptions. 

As a team, the offense managed only one yard on 20 rushing attempts.

Gaven Cassidy had six tackles, and with five each were Justin DiFalco, Luke Hogle, Josh Laurie and David Privatera.

In other local football news from Friday Night:

• Ray Leach rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries as Batavia notched another win, 32-7 over Attica. It's the fourth win for the Blue Devils. Jerry Reinhart was 10-17 passing for 107 yards and a touchdown. Antwan Odom caught six of those passes for 91 yards and a TD. Anthony Ray came up big on defense with eight tackles and a sack.
• Bath over Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen, 42-0​
• Perry/Mount Morris over York/Pavilion, 38-14.

To purchase prints, click here.

The Landmark Society of Genesee County has announced the honorees for this year's annual Preservation Awards.

They will be feted at a dinner and awards ceremony starting a 6 p.m. on Oct. 15 at the First Presbyterian Church of Le Roy, located at the corner of routes 5 and 19.

The honorees are:

• The First Presbyterian Church of Le Roy -- 7 Clay St., Le Roy
• Gregg and Debbie McAllister -- 21 Ross St., Batavia
• David and Robyn Tufts -- 438 E. Main St., Batavia
• Garth and Amy Swanson -- 6209 Main Road, Stafford
• Chris and Michelle Krtanik -- 4835 Linden Road, East Bethany
• Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant -- 1227 Gilmore Road, Corfu

Cost for the dinner is $18 per person. Please RSVP by Oct. 7 to: Landmark.Genesee@gmail.com or by phoning 585-757-2455.

Press release from Village of Le Roy Police Department:

A call from an alert citizen Monday morning (Sept.19) assisted police in catching two subjects who allegedly went on a crime spree in the Village, allegedly damaging numerous vehicles.

Robert W. Devos, 28, of 66 Lake St. in Le Roy, and 27-year old Katrina M. Klaich, of 47 Spring St. in Lackawanna, are each charged with one count of felony criminal mischief in the second degree.

It is alleged that Devos and Klaich did damage to the rear windows of three vehicles and damage to the trunk of another vehicle that were parked on village streets.  In addition, Klaich was charged with DWI, DWI -- BAC .08 percent or more, and driving an uninspected vehicle. 

Both subjects were arraigned in the Town of Le Roy Court by the Hon. Darryl Sehm. Klaich was put in Genesee County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail and Devos was  jailed without bail. Both subjects are due back in Court at 1 p.m. on Oct.27^th.

Also assisting with the investigation was the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department.

William Glenn Walters, 37, of Wolcott Street, Le Roy, is charged with disobeying a court mandate. Walters was arrested at 6:37 p.m. on Sept. 19 following a domestic incident on Warsaw Road in the Town of Le Roy. Walters allegedly violated a Family Court stay away order of protection. He was released on an appearance ticket returnable to Town of Le Roy Court on Oct. 17. The case was handled by Sheriff's Deputy Michael Lute.

Amber Meadows, 25, of Canandaigua, was arrested on Sept. 16 by SP Batavia Troopers on a warrant issued by the Town of Batavia Court for petit larceny. She is accused of stealing $638 worth of merchandise from the Target store in Batavia on Aug. 8. Meadows was arraigned in the Town of Batavia Court and released with a return court date. Troopers then turned Meadows over to the Ontario County Sheriffs Office where she was wanted on another warrant.

When the county implemented a new, all-digital emergency communication system two years ago, it wasn't long before first responders in Le Roy discovered there were dead spots in their community.

There were also buildings in Le Roy that the radio signals wouldn't penetrate.

Consultants were consulted and they did their studies and came to the conclusion that Le Roy needed its own repeater transmission tower.

The county has reached an agreement with the Town of Le Roy to obtain an easement on town property on Asbury Road to build a new communications tower.

 Steven Sharpe, director of Emergency Communications, said the new tower should solve Le Roy's reception problems.

The tower, the seventh in the $11-million system, is covered as part of a $3 million state grant for improvements to the system.

Construction should begin this fall, with testing to start in the spring or summer. It must be operational by December 2017.

Special teams play put Le Roy on the road to victory with two quick scores in the first quarter in a game that was unique in a couple of ways.

First, it was a home game played on the road. Second, it was played on a Sunday.

Regardless of the strange circumstances, the Le Roy team displayed vintage Oatkan Knights' dominance as it cruised to a 52-7 victory over Wellsville.

The game was played in Perry because Le Roy's home field won't be ready for players and fans after a major upgrade until this coming Friday's homecoming game, and the game was delayed until Sunday because of a massive thunderstorm that passed through Wyoming County right at game time Saturday night.

The game started early, about 10 minutes before the scheduled 3 p.m. time, and Le Roy scored before the official kickoff time when Jason Doemling scampered 39 yards on a punt return.

Later in the first quarter, Le Roy scored its second touchdown, to take a 14-0 lead, when Josh Laurie blocked a field goal attempt and returned it 75 yards.

Wellsville never again mounted a serious offensive challenge, until the team scored late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.

Laurie had quite the game. Besides the blocked field goal, he had two interceptions. He rushed for 96 yards on seven carries and scored two TDs in the process. He also was 7-13 passing for 148 yards and a TD.

Nate Flint also had an impact, going 85 yards on 11 carries with a TD. Dom Filio carried the ball nine times for 54 yards and two TDs. Luke Stella added 61 yards on six rushes.

Pass catchers included Reece Tresco, two for 87 yards, Filio, three for 34 yards and a TD, and Ryan Boyce, two for 27 yards.

Luke Hogle had five tackles and a sack, Canyon Roster, five tackles and Cole Biggins, five tackles.

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Michael J. Eula, Ph.D., Genesee County historian, will be giving a talk entitled "Emory Upton and the Formation of Modern America" at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21st.

It will take place at the Le Roy United Methodist Church, 10 Trigon Park, in Le Roy. It is sponsored by the Genesee Valley Civil War Roundtable.

Thomas Wood, 1st assistant chief for Le Roy Fire Department, a former chief and longtime volunteer with the company, can't remember a time when his department was called on to respond to back-to-back fires.

It didn't help that it was a fairly hot day and the second fire was fought from atop a metal roof.

His brother, Bill Wood, also a former chief, described the rooftop as "unbearably hot."

"That's why we called in Brockport and Avon and used the City's Fast Team as a regular fire unit," Wood said. "Most of our guys had already fought one fire. We were calling in extra units. Our guys were dropping from the heat."

The first fire was reported on Starr Road, Pavilion, at about 1:50 p.m. It involved a six-unit apartment complex and a quick response by Pavilion and Le Roy firefighters helped contain the fire to a single apartment.

The fire appears to have started in the kitchen area, according to Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger. The cause remains under investigation.

Nobody was home at the time the fire was reported and residents in two other units were evacuated, including one who was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom and awoken by Deputy Chris Parker.

A dog may have perished in the fire, though several other pets were rescued.

The second fire, at a plastics factory on Lent Avenue, Le Roy, was reported about 3:10 p.m.

Most of Le Roy's equipment hadn't even cleared the Pavilion scene yet.

The Lent Avenue fire was sparked by a welder making repairs to the roof of the factory.

The fire burned about 40 feet down, Wood said. It produced quite a bit of smoke, but little flame.

"It's just an odd to have two, like hit that quick, and have to use so many people," Wood said.

There's no damage estimate available yet for either fire.

Bergen, Stafford and Caledonia also responded to the Lent Avenue fire.

The response to Pavilion also included Stafford, Bethany and Alexander along with the Office of Emergency Management.

Town of Batavia was asked to stand in at Stafford's fire hall.

Previously: 

• Smoke coming from roof of Le Roy Plastics on Lent Avenue
• Apartment complex ablaze on Starr Road in Pavilion

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