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There's a $50 reward for the safe return of this very sweet cat named Princess, an 11-year-old who went missing recently from her family's Raymond Avenue area home in Batavia.

Princess was adopted from a family member about a month ago and is not very familiar with the area, and does not like dogs or unfamiliar cats. She is fixed and is not wearing a collar. She began missing last Thursday night.

If you see her or know anything about her whereabouts, please call 585-297-9080.

For the second time on Monday, Bob Bialkowski took the opportunity to not only acknowledge the sacrifices of others given on Sept. 11 22 years ago, but to also pray that those first responders “inspire us to live bravely and courageously and to selflessly protect others in need.”

The City Councilman-at-large gave the opening prayer for the group’s monthly conference session Monday at City Hall. It was the only acknowledgment of 9/11 during the brief meeting, though it was followed by the pledge of allegiance, a longstanding city tradition. 

A veteran having served in the U.S. Army Aviation Reserves for 30 years, Bialkowski also spoke during a remembrance ceremony at the VA Medical Center in Batavia earlier Monday. 

He and other speakers emphasized the need for such memorials as key to preserving the history of 9/11 and the bravery displayed by countless first responders, fire and police personnel, military members, and ordinary citizens who rallied on an airplane to help divert further disaster. 

As a prelude to the council meeting, Bialkowski’s words seemed contradictory to a time when many questioned the presence of outsiders on American soil.

“May we look to those who opened up their homes to the stranded and displaced that day to stir us to be more hospitable,” he said. “Having seen the face of evil and darkness, may we be steadfast and faithful, pursuing you as our perpetual light.”

A man has been reportedly struck by a vehicle on Clinton Street Road near Pine Hollow Drive. 

Possible serious injuries. 

Checking on the availability of Mercy Flight. 

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS responding. 

Press Release:

The Town of Batavia was awarded a $730,000 Green Innovation Grant from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation for a water meter replacement project that will occur at various locations throughout the Town of Batavia beginning the week of September 17, 2023. 

This project will replace older water meters with new advanced metering infrastructure technology water meters which will increase water-use efficiency, reduce operational costs, and promote sustainable green infrastructure practices.

Residents and businesses with water meters that are required to be replaced will receive letters in the mail detailing what to expect and how to schedule your water meter replacement appointment.

 In preparation for this project, the Town of Batavia Water Department will be locating and operating water curb-stop boxes near the road with blue flags at those locations. The Town kindly asks residents to leave the blue flags in place until the Town removes them. 

For more information on this project, please visit the Town of Batavia’s website, or contact the Town’s Water Department by calling 585-343-1729, then select option 5.

J. Randolf "Randy" Starr, 73, a fifth-generation farmer in Pavilion with an affection for running his family farm in some old-time ways, using older equipment, passed away on Sunday.

The Batavian wrote about Starr in 2011, and he explained his preference for older equipment (not that he rejected everything new) and taking a common-sense approach to farming.

"I always thought the old-timers knew what they were doing, Starr said. "Work hard, keep your nose clean, and you’ll be all right. This is just the way we go. It’s the way we do it. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody else in the world, but it seems to work for us all right.”

Starr was born in Batavia in 1949, the son of George and Isabelle Rudgers Starr.

The Starr Farm on Starr Road in Pavilion celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018.

The farm was started by Noah Starr, Randy's great-great-great grandfather, a Dutch immigrant who bought 270 acres in Pavilion from the Holland Land Office in 1818.  He built a log cabin on the property when he first settled it.  His son started construction on the first part of the current Starr home in 1890.

Randy was born to be a farmer.  

After graduating from Pavilion High School, as did his wife, Cindy, he attended Alfred College in order to earn a degree in agriculture.

"For some foolish reason, I wanted to be a farmer all my life, and now here I am." Starr said in 2011. "I’m 61 years old. Was that the right move or not? Who knows?"

At the time of the article in 2011, Starr farmed 125 acres, growing wheat, barley, hay, oats and black beans. He also raised about 80 head of cattle.

Starr said he found the older equipment less of a hassle than a lot of modern equipment farmers use.

"My tractor breaks down, and their tractor breaks down; theirs is maybe a $50,000 fix, and mine is a piece of baling wire and something I can keep it going with."

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Cindy Wellman Starr; his children, Christopher Starr and Sarah (Timothy) Kingdon; grandchildren, Evan and Collin Kingdon; sisters-in-law, Debbie Starr, Ann (Duane) Stehlar; special friends, Judd (Janet) Ewell, along with many nieces, nephews and dear friends.

For his full obituary, click here.

While many people went about their usual routines Monday, there were events happening across the country, including in Genesee County, to acknowledge and memorialize the date of Sept. 11 that has become so sacred to Americans.

And veteran John McCune attended one such ceremony, believing it is something to appreciate.

“There's nothing more important and special than the ceremonies that should take place across the country for each and every school child coming up so that they can remember and absolutely understand the impact that it had on our nation,” McCune said while at the Batavia VA Medical Center flagpole during a 9/11 ceremony. “How we were all, as Americans, were drawn together based on the fact that it was a need, and they followed up with that need for those heroes that lost their lives in those buildings, attempting to save those from the building fires and eventually lost their lives by the buildings toppling down on them.”

McCune was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, having served eight years. He believes that participating in such events is a “must-do” every year, “especially for our younger generation that’s up and coming so that they too will know and have the knowledge of the events that took more than 3,000 lives in New York City.”

The driveway into the VA was lined with people for the ceremony, and the front lawn was adorned with U.S. flags to represent the shape of the Twin Towers. 

Lest anyone forget, from 911memorial.org: on Sept. 11, 2001, 19 terrorists associated with al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, hijacked four commercial airplanes scheduled to fly from the East Coast to California.

In a coordinated attack that turned the planes into weapons, the terrorists intentionally flew two of the planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, a global business complex in New York City, causing the towers to collapse. They also flew a third plane into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, in Arlington, Va.

Passengers and crew members on the fourth plane launched a counterattack, forcing the hijacker pilot—who was flying the airplane toward Washington, D.C.—to crash the plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, near the town of Shanksville.

The 9/11 attacks killed 2,977 people. This was the single largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil. The attacks caused the deaths of 441 first responders, the greatest loss of emergency responders on a single day in American history.

McCune commended state Senator George Borrello, who represents the 57th senate district, for also being at the ceremony, and for being “genuine” with his heartfelt remarks. 

The Batavia VA federal facility was first on his to-do list for the day, Borrello said. 

“It ties everything together — the sacrifices that had been made, literally for centuries by our military, with the attack on our nation, and the sacrifices that were made that day by people who just were going to work and not realizing that they were going to be part of what would be the war on terror,” he said. 

So for him, it just seemed like the ideal opportunity to remind everyone of that sacrifice, he said, while at the VA, where veterans who served their country reside and receive services and treatment. 

Those veterans, and Sept. 11, truly changed this nation, Borrello said.

“My fear is that our children are understanding that and understanding that the threat is still there, but the diligence is still required. And I have a lot of concerns about how the narrative has been twisted against our law enforcement,  first responders and military, that they are no longer the heroes, the ones that are on the watch, guarding us, but they have somehow been, it has been twisted to them being the enemy,” he said. “And that’s what I spoke about today, because I look at someone who might be 25 - 30 years old who may have no memory of 9/11, but is now being told that somehow the police are racist, and this and that, and all these other negative things that are said about law enforcement, when the fact is, that it didn’t matter: race, creed, color, we were united, that the politics stopped at the water’s edge, that we all bleed the same color. 

And that is what makes America great, is that diversity and the unity in that diversity.”

As a representative of the City of Batavia, Councilman-at-Large Bob Bialkowski praised the VA Medical Center, staffed by a “superb group of dedicated professionals and caring volunteers.” 

The U.S. Army Aviation Reserves veteran turned to that fateful day, when a “vile act of terror was a stain on the heart to all of us.”

“Our country is hated by half of the world because we are free people. Freedom is the enemy of evil. And the evil people of the world will always be plotting against us to enslave us to their will. We are Americans, and history shows that we're the greatest protectors of freedom in the world,” Bialkowski said. “Today, let us remember all those brave and heroic Americans who lost their lives on 9/11, 2001. Service members, police, firefighters, medical and ordinary citizens. All Americans, first and foremost.

“In closing, the entrance to the main entrance going up the stairs, there's a garden, and there's figurines representing each member of each armed force. They’re all standing there saluting. They're looking down at the grass, and I'll picture 3,000 people on the lawn, where each flag is, picture a person standing there,” he said. “So on the way out, please remember this. We will never forget, and must always remain vigilant and fight evil. We are all Americans.”

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Press Release:

The week of August 28th started and ended with gratitude and generosity as Byron-Bergen Elementary School accepted donations of school supplies from two local organizations. On Tuesday, representatives from the Bergen Business and Civic Association (BBCA) delivered storage bins of supplies ranging from highlighters and headphones to tissues and cleaning supplies. On Thursday, the Brockport Elks Lodge #2110 delivered new backpacks, filled with folders, notebooks, pencils, pens, and tissues, all packed and ready for the first day of school. 

“I’m overwhelmed by the support the BBCA and the Elks Lodge have shown our community,” said Elementary Principal Kristin Loftus. “All of these supplies go directly to our students and classrooms. We are so grateful to receive such an outpouring of generosity.” 

The Bergen Business and Civic Association, founded in 1896, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth and enrichment of local businesses and residents within our community. This is the first year they collected school supplies to donate. BBCA member Nicky Russell came up with the idea. “We were feeling there were families who could use a little extra help, and here we are.” 

It is an annual community service project for the Brockport Elks Lodge #2110 to donate school supplies, though this is the first year that Byron-Bergen has been the recipient. Every year the Elkettes, the women’s auxiliary group within the lodge, collect school supplies and monetary donations which they use to fill backpacks with standard back-to-school needs. “Every year I put out a box for donations,” said lodge member and Elkette Linda Woodworth. “People want to help the kids.”

All of the donated school supplies will be distributed directly to families or to Byron-Bergen Elementary School teachers for use in their classrooms.

Press Release:

Join us on Friday, September 29, and Thursday, October 19 at 7 p.m. as Connie Boyd shares the spooky, sinister, and weird documented stories from the West Side of Batavia's past. Come and listen to tales of murder, ghosts, body-snatching hangings, and abandoned cemeteries. 

This presentation is the same as our Ghost Walk, perfect for those who don't want to or aren't able to go on our guided Ghost Walks. Tickets are $5/$3 for museum members. If you would like to attend please contact the museum at 585-343-4727.

“This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by
GO ART!”

Please join the Holland Land Office Museum for a West Side Ghost Walk on Fridays in October. The walks led by Connie Boyd will take place on October 6, 13, 20, and 27 at 7 p.m. We will also be adding second walks beginning at 7:30 on October 6, 13, and 20.

Take a walk on the west side and hear tales of murders, hangings, grave robbing, ghosts, and other eerie happenings from Batavia's past. Hear stories of Joseph Ellicott, E. N. Rowell, and other famous and infamous Batavians.

Admission is $15.00 or $10.00 for museum members and reservations are required with purchase. Tours are limited to 20 people each. The tour begins and ends at the museum and is approximately 1 1/2 to two hours in length.

For tickets or more information, please call (585) 343-4727, email at hollandlandoffice@gmail.com, or stop by at 131 W. Main St. Batavia.

Press Release:

Byron Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary is very happy to announce that thanks to Morgan Leaton, our treasurer, and her mom, Debra Leaton along with other members of the Byron Fire Department, the Genesee County Dances for Adults with Developmental Disabilities that ended in 2016 are coming back to the Byron Fire Hall at 6467 Townline Road (Rt. 262), Byron. 

Pat Iamon first organized the dances in 2002 and the dances continued for 14 years until her retirement as she lives in FL half the year. However, she will be helping Morgan and other volunteers get the dances up and running.

The first dance will be a Halloween Dance on Thursday, October 19, almost exactly 7 years from the date of the last dance. The dances are from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Folks are encouraged to wear their costumes and prepare for a fun-filled evening!

Unfortunately, Tom Mazerbo our fun-loving DJ passed away several years ago, but Uncle Joe, who was the photographer for many years, will now be acting as DJ. He will queue up some great dance tunes for the evening.

There will be a $5 cover charge (no charge for staff/parents/chaperones). Snacks and beverages will be available. We are asking each staff/parent/chaperone to sign in with their name and the names of the consumers they are bringing as they enter. Individual and group receipts will be available. Proper staffing is required!

The date for November’s dance has not been finalized yet but will be announced at the Halloween Dance. Iamon said, “I’m so happy that Morgan and her mom decided to head up this much-loved, multi-agency community event and I’m looking forward to seeing many familiar faces!”

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help please email Pat Iamon at: piamon@gmail.com.

Press Release:

The main number to the Genesee County Jail  -- 585-343-0838 -- is temporarily out of service. Please dial 585-343-0839.

Press release: 

Campers at Lei Ti Campground in Bethany held their annual auction fundraiser on Sept. 2 in support of One Soldier at a Time, and on Saturday, presented a check for $9,283 to Lauren Coe.

Coe said One Soldier at a time runs three primary programs.  One provides gifts for wives and mothers of military members deployed overseas for Christmas, Valentine's and Mother's Day.  Another provides care packages for soldiers on deployment.  The third, which this donation benefits, assists veterans who are homeless, impoverished, in PTSD housing or in similar hardships with care products to take care of them from head to toe, from hair-care products to socks and shirts and ties, and for veterans who have passed, suits "so they can be buried with dignity." 

Press Release:

Notre Dame will host our 2nd annual 5K Run on September 30. This will coincide with our ND’s Homecoming Football game vs. Geneseo/MM at 1 p.m. Alumni are welcome! 

There will be a kid’s fun run starting at 10 a.m., with the 5K Run/Walk following at 11 a.m. Food and ice cream trucks will be available after the run.  

Long-sleeve T-shirts are guaranteed to participants who sign up before September 22. Proceeds to benefit Notre Dame High School Athletics Department. For more information and to sign up visit https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/Batavia/NotreDamesRunningwiththeIrish5KRunWalkNopay.

Press Release:

The Elba Onion Queen Crowning ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, September 23 at Elba Park. A short "caravan" will take the four contestants down Main Street, ending at the park for the Queen's crowning.

Adison Norton is the daughter of Chirs and Sarah Norton and has a younger brother and sister. She is involved in volleyball, basketball, and softball. Adison participates in Multicultural Club, Yearbook Club, Student Athletic Association, and Pageturners at school. She has been the Treasurer of her class since Freshman year. She has also participated in the 4H Dairy Club for nine years. Adison enjoys reading and spending time with her family and friends. After graduation, Adison plans to attend a four-year school to study journalism and communications and pursue a career in sports journalism.

Emma Pangrazio is the daughter of Scott and Gail Pangrazio. She lives in Elba with her parents and brother David. She has participated in volleyball, JV softball and danced with Center Stage for 13 years. Emma has held the title of class President for several years. She is also involved in Student Council, Multicultural Club, National Honor Society and has been a high honor student. Her hobbies include reading, cooking, and spending time with family while traveling to different racetracks to cheer on her brother as he races. Emma would like to pursue becoming a professional photographer.

Halie Scouten is the daughter of Joseph and Nicole Scouten and has four brothers and two sisters, Owen, Caleb, Kyle, Liam, Morgan and Maddy. She is a part of National Honor Society, Student Athletic Assocation, Student Counsel, and has been a class officer. Halie also plays volleyball and basketball. She enjoys hiking, exploring new places, fishing, crafts, vacations with family, working at Starbucks, hanging out with her little brother, and shopping with her best friend. After high school Halie plans to attend college to study physical education and coaching while playing collegiate volleyball. 

Madison Thompson is the daughter of Jeremy and Kim Thompson. She has participated in soccer and softball. Madison is also a member of Student Athletic Association, National Honor Society, and Multicultural Club. Outside of school she enjoys cooking, baking, photography, water sports, fishing and four wheeling. Madison is considering going into the field of business or becoming a radiologist/sonographer after graduation.

Submitted photos

Press Release:

UR Medicine Imaging care is now available at UR Medicine’s Batavia Medical Campus, and a community open house will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12. The event will be held at 7995 Call Parkway. 

Services include CT scans and walk-in X-rays, and ultrasound imaging will be available beginning this winter. The practice is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. 

The new UR Medicine Medical Campus, which opened in May 2022, is also home to adult and pediatric allergy and immunology, neurosurgery, otolaryngology and audiology, oncology, urology clinics, and a primary care practice. Adding imaging services along with the specialty clinics brings comprehensive care into one convenient location for residents of Genesee, Wyoming, and Orleans counties.

Press Release:

The major fundraiser for the Batavia Rotary Club is underway, and once again a Corvette or $50,000 is the prize. 

The first winner was announced on September 5 since an early bird component has been added. Early bird prizes are $500 each and will be drawn the first Tuesday of the month now through January. Early bird winners' tickets will be placed back into the drawing for the grand prize.

"This is the major fundraiser that allows our club to make so many contributions to the community, such as $18,000 in college scholarships to area students each year," said President Susie Ott.

Rotary is also contributing $250,000 toward the Healthy Living Campus under construction on Main Street, a joint project for the YMCA and United Memorial Medical Center.

Most recently, Rotary offered a $150,000 matching pledge for the renovation of the local hospital's Intensive Care Unit, Ott said.
Rotary's motto is Service Above Self, she explained. Rotarians actively engage in projects to improve the local community. All proceeds from this fundraiser go toward community service projects.

"Fundraisers like this Corvette event are critical for helping us help others," said Lisa Ormsbee, who co-chairs the event with Laurie Mastin. 

The winner may choose between a 2024 Corvette made available through Joe Basil Chevrolet or $50,000. In addition to the grand prize, there are 10 additional prizes of $500 each, Mastin explained. The early bird winners will be drawn monthly, then five $500 winners will be selected the night of the grand prize drawing on Jan. 19, and will be live on Facebook.

"Your odds of being an early bird winner are great because fewer tickets will have been sold early on," she observed. "So we encourage folks to go online and buy early." 

Persons interested in purchasing tickets may go to www.bataviarotaryraffle.com or contact any Rotarian. Only 4,500 tickets are sold. For more information, go to www.bataviarotary.com

Press Release:

Brick Builder Club - GO ART! is running a free 4-week Brick Builders Club. The Club will take place starting Saturday, September 9, and run through September 30. This Club meets at GO ART! from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Building bricks are provided by GO ART! Brick Builders is open to ages 5 - 100+. 

Each week there will be a planned activity but it is fine if club members would like to free build. Because Club members will have to leave their creations at GO ART! each week's creations will be photographed and put up on our website (with parental permission).

Pillow Making Sewing Class - GO ART! is offering a Pillow Making Sewing Class with local quilter and sewing extraordinaire Peg Berhorn. The class will be held on Friday, September 15, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at GO ART!, 201 East Main St., Batavia. Open to participants age 12 and older, those who sign up should expect to attend both classes to complete the project. 

The cost is $20/person for non-GO ART! members and $18/per person for members, total, and all materials and tools will be provided. Contact GO ART! at 585-343-9313, email jfisher@goart.org, or sign up online at goart.org. Registration is requested by September 14. Participants will learn some of the basics of sewing if they do not already know how to sew and also complete a pillow to bring home!

Poetry and Prose Club - Starting Thursday, September 28 from 6-7 p.m. at GO ART! come and learn some of the basics of creative writing and participate in some fun creative writing activities (blackout poetry, object poetry, short stories and more) to get your creativity flowing or you can just come and network with other creative writers. There is no cost to participate in this program. Please bring a notebook with you (or a computer) to keep your work on.

Free Teen Animation Workshop - GO ART! is offering a 4-week Teen Animation Workshop for children 12-16 at the Hoag Library (134 S Main St, Albion, NY). This workshop will run on Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. September 30, October 7, 21, and 28. 

This workshop is FREE but registration is required. To register your teen please contact GO ART! at 585-343-9313 or email jfisher@goart.org. Registration is requested by September 27. This workshop will be instructed by Jess Moffet, a recent graduate of RIT.

The WNY Gas and Steam Engine Association is hosting its 56th annual Rally, better known as the Steam Show, at his property off Gillate Road in Alexander this weekend.

Friday night, there was a tractor pull.

Photos by Philip Casper.

Public comments about a remediation project on the city’s east side will be taken up to Sept. 21, state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials say.

The project, first outlined in an April 21, 2023 article on The Batavian, is part of the Clean Water Act for Basket Place LLC, located at 34-40 Clinton St., Batavia. 

Action on the privately owned Basket Place parcel was to begin in May to address contamination, with a site-specific health and safety plan and a Community Air Monitoring Plan to be implemented during remediation activities. 

These plans were to establish procedures to protect on-site workers and residents and include required air monitoring as well as dust and odor suppression measures.

The applicant’s project description is "to remediate the soil and groundwater at the Ex-Eaton Site located in Batavia, NY. The remediation will be done by soil mixing using a zero-valent iron-based reducing agent to clean up current volatile organic compounds. Soil mixing will be done using large-diameter mixing augers and a small backhoe. No excavation is proposed. The project will impact 0.099 acres of Federal Wetlands which will be restored after remediation and proper erosion control measures will be implemented."

According to the state DEC, the State Environmental Quality Review determination found that the project is an "Unlisted Action and will not have a significant impact on the environment. A Negative Declaration is on file. A coordinated review was performed."

The state Historic Preservation Act (SHPA) Determination was that: 

"A cultural resources survey has been completed and cultural resources were identified. Based on information provided in the survey report, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) has determined that the proposed activity will have no adverse impact on registered or eligible archaeological sites or historic structures. No further review in accordance with SHPA is required."

From Coastal Management:

"This project is not located in a Coastal Management area and is not subject to the Waterfront Revitalization and Coastal Resources Act."

Opportunity for Public Comment:

Comments on this project must be submitted in writing to the Contact Person no later than Sept. 21, 2023.

Contact: Courtney M Scoles, NYSDEC Region 8 Headquarters, 6274 E Avon-Lima Rd, Avon, NY, 14414, or call (585) 226-2466 or email DEP.R8@dec.ny.gov 

City and Town of Batavia officials and the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) announced the creation of the Batavia Home Fund (BHF), an incentive-styled program designed to improve and grow the area’s housing stock on Friday. 

The fund was created to address shared housing goals and establish methods to fund beneficial activities to enhance the area’s housing stock, including investments to rehabilitate vacant and blighted buildings as well as the conversion of rental properties into single-family homes.

Seed funding for the fund has been provided through a grant of $100,000 that was recently approved by the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation, a GCEDC affiliate.

“Maintaining a vibrant, strong residential housing stock within the City helps to eliminate blight and encourage smart, sustainable growth,” Batavia City Council President Eugene (Geno) Jankowski Jr. said.  “The creation of such a fund furthers the City's strategic goal of enhancing our housing stock, as we have recently experienced through investments to create residential units at City View Residences and Liberty Square.

“The Batavia Home Fund compliments the Town's focus on agricultural, commercial, and industrial growth,” said Town of Batavia Supervisor Greg Post.  “It’s important that as we continue to generate investment from these sectors with our economic development and public sector partners, we will have quality housing stock for the people who are pursuing these careers.”

The Batavia Home Fund will be supported by host benefit agreements with developers and homebuilders for future multi-family housing projects in the City and Town. Projects will be considered by a committee of City, Town and GCEDC officials to determine how funds raised will be utilized.

The new program mimics the successful Batavia Pathway to Prosperity (B2P) program, which enables brownfield remediation projects with funding from projects with a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement (PILOTs) in the City of Batavia.

It was also this program philosophy that fueled the creation of the Ellicott Station development, a four-story apartment complex at 50 Ellicott St. in downtown Batavia. The project has since been stalled after the announcement that Savarino Companies closed down operations, and the construction trailer was recently spotted being removed from the premises.

The Batavian reached out to City Manager Rachael Tabelski late Friday for an update on any progress with Ellicott Station and will provide that when a response is received. The latest update was that company CEO Sam Savarino had not communicated with city officials, and they had planned to meet with the state Office of Homes and Community Renewal this month about the situation. 

As for this latest initiative, Tabelski said that “with the successful remediation of brownfield sites in the City, we believe the next step in Batavia’s growth is to provide a more robust offering of housing options.” 

“The intent of the Batavia Home Fund is to encourage and incent developers and homebuilders to view Batavia as a market opportunity and, in turn, work with community stakeholders to identify areas where housing options can be developed.”

GCEDC President and CEO Steve Hyde said the City and Town-led effort supports public demand for housing investments and the capacity for a growing manufacturing workforce to contribute to the economy and community. GCEDC had fully supported the Ellicott Station project as a workforce housing complex, which ended up landing as a very low to low-income complex once ready for tenant applications.

From 2015-2020, Genesee County’s private sector employment increased 4.4 percent, along with Batavia’s food and beverage sector growing to almost 1,000 employees, the press release stated. These statistics and data support the county’s need for approximately 4,800 units over the next 20 years, as determined in a housing study conducted by Labella Associates in 2018.

“Improving Batavia and Genesee County’s housing stock will only enhance manufacturing growth opportunities,” Hyde said in the release. “With our food and beverage cluster nearing 1,000 workers at the Agri-Business Park and Plug Power and Edwards Vacuum set to hire hundreds of engineers, technicians, and operators at STAMP, this fund is ideally suited to attract and retain talented professionals so they can live in close proximity to their places of employment and contribute meaningfully to our community.”

A motorcyclist has reportedly suffered injuries after a collision with a car in the parking lot of the Pembroke Service Center off the Thruway.

East Pembroke Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.