Letter to the Editor by Donald Weyer:
I note that the Batavia City Council approved a $4,000 grant to the Muckdogs for fireworks on July 3 at Dwyer Stadium. Apparently, that money was from the canceled Picnic in the Park on July 4. This is from an article Joanne Beck posted on The Batavian.
Three questions and comments:
1. I applaud the Muckdogs for pledging some of this money windfall for needy residents' tickets to the game and, thus, their enjoyment of the fireworks.
However, I have resided on Denio Street, contiguous to the stadium, since 1992, and every year since anyone who wanted to view the fireworks could do so freely and with a great view outside the stadium in MacArthur Park. That's just the nature of fireworks! So I question the $4000 grant as something that was not necessary for needy residents' enjoyment. (Yeah, they might be interested in the baseball game too, but then again, they may have no interest in the game, just the fireworks show). Anyway, and additionally, if the Muckdogs intend to use the grant for a bigger display of fireworks, well, you know, a fireworks display is a fireworks display, bright lights and booms, and the incremental size of that display doesn't mean a whole lot. I'm trying to say that the grant was not necessary and could be better used for other purposes: attacking potholes in the streets, damaged portions of sidewalks, improving the Little League facilities at self-same MacArthur Park, making the streets safer for Bicyclists, stepping up police enforcement of TRAFFIC LAWS, providing some type of Sun-Shading for the Farmer's Market on the Mall parking-lot, many other projects, too numerous to mention in our great city of Batavia NY, etc.
2. If the $4,000 was meant for the canceled Picnic in the Park, that event attracted a diverse range of any and all, Batavia residents. Muckdogs games have a much smaller and less diverse range of residents that are attracted to said games. And we all know how important "diverse" is in 2023! Was this budget transfer made simplistically because both events involved the Fourth of July? Is that any way to manage our money?
3. Heck, the $4,000 could have been used to reduce Batavia City property taxes proportionally. You know, "every little bit helps!"
While we're on the topic of the July 12 Council meeting, just one more question (again, from an article by Joanne Beck) about the "open containers" in Jackson Square: how much extra will the bars have to pay to secure the $1 million liability insurance, if they don't actually already have it? (I know I can pay $80 per year for an excess $1 million personal liability policy).
Maybe we can get Assemblyman Hawley in on this with his expertise! Then we would have two of the three "big hitters" involved in this issue.
All we need is a federal presence to decide and manage our existence!
One factual correction worth…
One factual correction worth mentioning, though perhaps unimportant to the points made -- Picnic in the Park was never canceled because it was never scheduled in the first place.