Hunt Engineering

If the first Batavia City Council meeting for the newly-appointed Rich Richmond seemed like it went by in a flash, that’s because it did.

At the outset of tonight’s meeting at the City Hall Council Board Room, Richmond was sworn in by City Clerk Heidi Parker to replace Jeremy Karas, who resigned his Council member at large seat (photo at right).

And 22 minutes later, the meeting was over as Council (guided by Assistant City Manage Jill Wiedrick, who was filling in for City Manager Rachael Tabelski) zipped through a number of agenda items, moving them to the board’s next Business Meeting on March 14.

Richmond, the City Republican chair, had several family members in attendance, including wife, Cindy; sons, Joe and Michael; Michael’s wife, Marjorie; daughter, Amber; grandson, Greydon, and granddaughter, Morgan.

Resolutions to adopt the 2022-23 budget and water rates/meter fees topped the list. Both provisions were forwarded with little discussion after a pair of public hearings failed to attract any speakers.

Council now is prepared to pass a $29.7 million All-Funds budget -- $17.8 million of it in the General Fund – that carries a property tax rate of $8.94 per $1,000 of assessed value. The rate is a decrease of 78 cents from 2021-22.

Water rates and meter fees are scheduled to go up by 1.5 percent.

Other forwarded resolutions were as follows:

• Contracting with HUNT E/A/S of Rochester for $99,317 for architectural and engineering services for the design of the City Centre/Mall $1 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative project.

• Authorizing work and contracts in connection with the city’s Water Treatment Plant and Waste Water Treatment plant.

• Accepting a $1 million grant for the Jackson Street water main project.

• Accepting a $5,000 grant from the GO Art! Statewide Community Regrant Program to fund the “Community Garden in Bloom” seasonal mural initiative at the Community Garden on MacArthur Drive.

Conservative Party Endorses Three

In other news involving local government, the Genesee County Conservative Party tonight endorsed Richmond and City Council colleague Tammy Schmidt as well as Richard Tetrault, who serves on the Le Roy Village Board.

Previously: City manager recommends HUNT engineering firm to oversee $1 million City Centre/Mall project

The City of Batavia apparently has concluded its “hunt” for the right engineering firm to handle the City Centre/Mall rehabilitation project.

According to a memo to City Council dated Feb. 16, City Manager Rachael Tabelski is recommending that the city contracts with HUNT E/A/S of Rochester for architectural and engineering services for the design of the project’s improvements. The total cost of the contract is $99,317.

Tabelski wrote that three companies responded to the city’s Request for Proposals in connection with the $1 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative and that two were selected as finalists. From there, Tabelski met with a panel of city staff and Batavia Development Corp. members to make the final selection.

Per the memo, HUNT’s work includes the Commissary at Sibley Square, Wegmans Food Markets re-use project and the Regal Cinema Complex repurposing project.

“They bring together a team of professionals dedicated to drive the public rebirth of the Batavia City Center Mall and reestablishing Main Street as a destination,” Tabelski wrote. “The HUNT team in conjunction with Vargas Associates has a long-established reputation for the creation of adaptive reuse projects and involves customized unique approach.”

The topic is part of the agenda of Monday night’s City Council Conference Meeting, scheduled for 7 o’clock at the City Hall Council Board Room.

Other agenda items of note include:

• Public hearings to adopt the 2022-23 city budget and to amend a local law to set new water rates, meter fees and a capital improvement fee. The $29,700,792 All-Funds budget ($17,853,892 general fund) calls for a tax levy of $5,986,000.  The property tax rate is $8.94 per $1,000 of assessed value – a 78-cent decrease from the 2021-22 rate. Water rates and meter fees will go up by 1.5 percent.

• Four measures dealing with work at the Water Treatment Plant and Waste Water Treatment Plant:

(1) Issuing a bid package for a licensed construction firm to replace six filters at the Water Treatment Plant to improve efficiency and capacity of the plant’s water output;

(2) Following a bid process, award contracts to six companies to supply the various chemicals used at the facilities – quicklime, ferric sulfate, fluosilicic acid, carbon dioxide, liquid alum and liquid phosphate;

(3) Contracting with Ron Hutcheson, lowest bidder, for the harvesting of fat head minnows at the WWTP. Hutcheson has agreed to pay the city $27,000 in 2022, $28,000 in 2023 and $29,000 in 2024.

(4) Using $60,000 from the city’s sewer fund sludge reserve to conduct Maximum Allowable Headworks Loadings evaluation as part of the headworks, capacity analysis and financial planning study at the WWTP. The plan is to sample different pollutants at multiple points in the system, including the influent, effluent and lift stations, Tabelski said.

• Acceptance of a $1 million Community Development Block Grant for the installation of 2,250 linear feet of 8-inch water main along Jackson Street and to commit $414,017 from the city’s water fund reserves to pay for the remaining cost of the project.

• Acceptance of a $5,000 grant from the GO Art! Statewide Community Regrant Program to fund “Community Garden in Bloom,” the creation of a seasonal mural of multiple painted panels at the Community Garden on MacArthur Drive. The project is set to run from June through October.