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Women in recovery who are seeking reunification with their children can be encouraged by the networking that exists among provider agencies in Western New York.

That was the message conveyed Thursday at the quarterly meeting of the GOW Opioid Task Force at The Recovery Station on Clinton Street Road in the Town of Batavia.

About 35 people attended the meeting – titled “Parent and Family Resources in Our Communities" -- which was the first in-person gathering for the three-county group since January 2020.

Professionals representing Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming, Erie and Niagara counties spoke about the services offered by their agencies.

“A lot of women who find out that they're pregnant while in medically assisted treatment or in active use are afraid to ask for help because of the stigma that surrounds them,” said Jessica Budzinack, case manager at Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. “So, we decided to develop a plan that has case management, parent/family support, childcare supports and other services to provide a continuum of care for these people.”

Budzinack specializes in services for pregnant and post-partum women, and for those who have had children born with exposure to substances.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

She said that GCASA has connected with Dr. Davina Moss-King of Positive Direction & Associates in Buffalo, who works with patients and babies suffering from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.

“We have seen that she (Dr. King) was making a difference in Erie County, and we wanted to know what we can do to meet the need in our rural counties,” Budzinack said. “She has trained our team and we implement the positive direction model here at GCASA.”

The positive direction model focuses on accountability and education – giving women the tools to be successful in their recovery and, ultimately, as parents.

Budzinack said she has worked with dozens of women, including many that have an active Child Protective Services case.

“If someone has an open CPS case while pregnant and it is still active when she gives birth, that child also becomes part of that investigation,” she said. “This is to protect the child from the possibility of ‘derivative neglect’ or abuse. The Office of Children and Family Services has a form that I complete with the participants that outlines a plan of safe care – showing all of the programs and services being offered to the parents.”

She said GCASA has provided such services to nine women over the past 10 months, with only one infant having to stay past the five days that New York State requires for observation. None of those babies had to go to the NICU.

“So, we believe we are making a difference by implementing this model here at GCASA,” she added. “A lot of women – and men – are learning how to be a parent all over again, with some having young children who also have experienced the life of addiction and now are recovering themselves.”

CHILDCARE SERVICES AVAILABLE

GCASA offers family relationship peer coaches who provide support in various areas (such as transportation and assistance with the legal system and Department of Social Services) and teach ways for parents and children to communicate with each other, she said.

Additionally, Budzinack mentioned GCASA’s childcare center in Batavia, which operates Monday through Friday, and allows parents to drop off their young children – 8 weeks to 12 years old – up to three hours per day.

“The children are trained in cognitive play – which means that they learn while they play,” she said. “It’s not just a drop-off site where people sit there and stare at the kids until they're ready to get picked up. They actually have a lot of fun.”

The childcare program also offers special activities, such as trips to the zoo or family game nights, through The Recovery Station.

“We all work closely together; we all talk to each other all the time. And we all just look at each individual and see what their needs are, and talk with each other to see how they can be met,” she advised. “It’s all about rebuilding relationships and becoming effective parents while sober.”

Dawn Stone of Spectrum Health & Human Services, a peer specialist providing mentoring services to those in recovery in Wyoming County, said she works across systems to identify effective treatment plans for mothers, fathers and children.

“We work with Hillside Children’s Center, which deals with families with developmental issues, and we also have what’s called Lighthouse Station, where pregnant moms who don’t have a place to stay – and would otherwise be in jail – can deliver their babies in a non-jail setting,” she said. “We also work with other counties to learn about their programs and refer families to when they come to us.”

THRIVING NETWORK IN BUFFALO AREA

One of those agencies is Buffalo-based Caz Recovery, which was represented at the meeting by Angela Angora, director of Reintegration Services, and Morgan King, program manager at Madonna House, a 17-bed rehabilitation facility for women and women with children in Lockport.

Angora, a Genesee County resident, shared that her mother became addicted to crack cocaine in the early 1990s, a time when there weren’t many treatment and recovery programs.

She said things have changed dramatically over the years, noting that Caz Recovery offers Casa Di Vita, a 19-bed reintegration program for women in Buffalo and Somerset House, a 17-bed reintegration program in Appleton.

“We do accept women that are pregnant, however, they would have to come back with the baby here,” she said. “With this program, the women have more autonomy, they're able to go out into the community and they have community time for visits with their family.”

At each location, Caz Recovery staff provide specialized services to help women get their lives back in order and reach the point of reuniting with their children and learning parenting skills, she said.

“After individuals complete our rehabilitation program, our community residences – congregate settings – focus on volunteering, job placement and outpatient counseling, and they receive their services off site,” Angora added. “This is where you will see a greater focus on that family involvement.”

Caz Recovery also offers supportive living, with 40 beds in Erie County and 14 beds in Niagara County, serving women and men with children, as well as a housing program for families ready for that important step, she said.

BIG PLANS FOR ORLEANS COUNTY

Shannon Ford, GCASA’s director of Communications & Development, shared that the local agency will be opening a women’s residence in Orleans County next year.

“We’re hoping to have a lot of those same kind of services available for women in our rural communities,” she said. “Currently, we work with Spectrum to help those in Wyoming County coming into our residential programs, but we have not been able to offer anything specifically for women and children to this kind of level.

“So, we’re extremely excited to model our programs after that. And I'm very grateful that GCASA has been able to make referrals over many years to Madonna House.”

For more about programs for women and children in this area, contact Budzinack at 585-813-8583 or at jbudzinack@gcasa.org.

Photo: Speakers at the recent meeting of the GOW Opioid Task Force are, from left, Christen Foley, task force coordinator; Dawn Stone of Spectrum Health & Human Services, Jessica Budzinack of GCASA, and Morgan King and Angela Angora of Caz Recovery.

Disclosure: Mike Pettinella is the publicist for GCASA.

Gary Graber seems like the kind of guy who’d fit in most anywhere.

The longtime Darien judge is also comfortable driving a commercial truck, teaching across the country, embracing the role of grandpa, serving on a variety of boards, charming honey bees, and mowing the enormous greens at Terry Hills.

Though he has already retired, his friends and colleagues want to wish him well with a retirement party next month.

He shared a piece of advice he received that seems to have worked well in his many endeavors.

“I had a fire chief one time, he told me when you're looking at that burning building, and you’ve got to figure out what kind of help you need as far as mutual aid, he always used to say, turn your back when you make the decision. Don't ever make the decision when you're looking at the fire,” Graber said during an interview with The Batavian. “I never forget that because, you know, it's just one of those things where it gives you a chance to take a breath and, you don't make that snap decision. So more than once during something, I just had to make sure that I did that.”

A Critical Move to Small and Rural 
A native of Lancaster, Graber moved to Darien in 1970. He remembers watching the nearby missile sites and hearing hydraulics lifting missiles into an upright position. He was interested in the fire department and joined Darien Fire Company at 16, moving swiftly to assistant fire chief by the time he was 21. His mom moved him and five siblings to Darien after a divorce, shifting his school experience from being in a class of 365 kids to less than a quarter of that.

“For me, this town was something special, because I really question you know, when I lived in Lancaster, whether I would even make it through high school. When I came out here I went to a school that had 74 in our class, so it was really a big difference,” he said. “Folks took me under their wing, got me involved in the fire company. I did well with that.”

At the still-tender age of 24, he became a town justice when another justice also ran for town board, and that was a conflict of interest to hold both roles. So the other justice went on the board, Graber was asked to run for justice, and he jumped in with both feet, campaigned hard and won the justice seat by 150 votes. That job and the fire company position gave him valuable experience beyond his actual duties, he said.

“My heart is for this community; it gave me opportunities I don’t think I ever would’ve had,” he said. “People were good to me, they taught me things. I learned to be an early riser … how to just work hard.”

Training, and Adjustment
Hands-on training was a main factor in learning the ropes, he said, and there were yearly mandatory training courses to keep up-to-date on legal matters. Darien was more of a sleepy little town before Darien became a Six Flags theme park. The community really began to change then, he said.

“When the park exploded, I handled everything,” he said. “There were plenty of jury trials.”

He stepped back in time to when Pantera, a famous rock band led by Phil Anselmo, had a court case that stemmed from performing at the amphitheater. Every time there was a court hearing, “every kid in the world knew who he was, and they were looking through the windows,” he said. Anselmo came up from New Orleans and fully participated in the case, Graber said. Apparently, a guard had gotten hit by a microphone during a show.

How to prevail amidst the commotion of celebrity? As with any other case, “make sure you stay up on your education,” Graber said.

“Stop and look it up, review procedure,” he said. “As time went on, it changed. I just had an active interest in what we were doing. I just had a job you have to work at.”

Of all of the legal training he had taken, it was Leadership Genesee that possibly taught him the most. He never saw himself as a teacher, and the leadership class — he’s a 2005 graduate — brought out some hidden talents that had been under wraps, he said.

“It helped me to dig in there more to teach,” he said. “It was such a life-changer; it pulled out things I never thought I had in me.”

A year later he was nominated for Outstanding Alumnus, sort of “fell into being a commercial truck driver,” and become a truck terminal manager in 2008. That hands-on work certainly equipped him to teach about commercial truck driving law, ensuring that convictions were being properly recorded.

That all culminated in teaching for National Judicial College, which took Graber to 15 states. As time went on, he said that it became apparent that the Court Clerks Association could also benefit from his lessons. As a member of the state Magistrate’s Association since 2003, Graber was appointed as vice president, president and director during his four-plus decades with the group.

“We did a lot of legislative work for the benefit of our courts,” he said. For 11 years, he had an issue in particular — focusing on underage drinking — that was never successful in a legal sense.

“All we wanted to do was to get those involved to take alcohol awareness classes,” he said. “I learned a lot with that; we wanted to be more restorative than punitive.”

One year there were 800 people cited for underage drinking, he said. Restorative justice, through Genesee Justice, and Drug Court evolved out of those efforts. Those underage kids weren’t put in jail, but had to pay a $50 fine and take the class, he said. Most of the time, “their parents would make sure it got done,” he said.

In his 42-year career, Graber never lost an appeal, and his decisions were always upheld. That is something he is proud of, he said. His constant objectives were to be open-minded, remain current on the law and keep up with related education, especially regarding commercial truck licenses and accidents.

A Busy Retirement
“I’m proud to serve my community. And I’m going to do that as an ambassador of the University of Nebraska. I just enjoy it, to go out and talk to these judges and clerks, I just absolutely love it,” he said. “This is all about reducing crashes and saving lives. Last year crashes were up by 13 percent. It gives us a chance to look at things a little differently. We want the public’s trust and confidence.”

"Education, education, education" is the most important thing to keep in mind, he said. Don’t try to take shortcuts.

“We’re the folks that people see more than anyone else; they’re going to remember that,” he said of town justices. “Just handle each case individually. Look at each defendant and decide their case individually, and not to be appealed in criminal cases.”

Graber, who has a partner, Kathy, lives on seven acres of property that blooms “lots of sunflowers,” zinnias and the like — anything that might keep his honey bees and butterflies happy. He has two sons, Matthew, a retired sergeant of the U.S. Army, and Jason, a battalion fire chief. There’s likely to be travel in the future, to visit Graber’s two grandchildren in Tennessee.

His hobby of mowing at Terry Hills golf course puts that early riser in him to good use: from 3 to 7 a.m. three days a week, and periodically with a couple of baby foxes keeping him company; a new role as a board member of GCASA, plus remaining on the County Parks Advisory and Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union boards ought to occupy some of his remaining free time.

He doesn’t consider any of it work: it’s just “giving back.” Graber’s philosophy, as an elected official, has been to remember “who we’re doing these jobs for.” “We’re public servants,” he said.

He enjoys his community and has appreciated working in Genesee County with “a good group of criminal justice agencies like Genesee Justice,” he said.

“Because of the options, maybe someone could take a plea when otherwise they would have gone to court. I was just happy to be in this county,” he said. “Tomorrow, I’m going fishing for the first time since I was a kid.”

File photos of Gary Graber in his Darien Town Justice role being sworn in with the state Magistrates Association and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

Snippets from Gary Graber's Bio ...
Justice Gary Graber has served as the town justice for the Town of Darien, New York, since January 1980. He is a past member of the Town and Village Court Education Curriculum Committee and has taught criminal and administrative courses for the New York State Judicial Institute and the New York State Office of Court Administration.

Justice Graber continues to be very active in the development and training of topics relating to commercial driver’s licenses and commercial motor vehicles, including the development of sentencing charts that assist the New York courts in properly disposing of cases that involve commercial motor vehicles equipment violations. As an alumnus and faculty member of the National Judicial College since 2008, he continually instructs judicial personnel both in their home states and virtually on all matters related to the commercial driver’s license.

He is an honorary member of the New York State Magistrates Court Clerks Association. He has received many awards, including the Leadership Award from the Genesee County Magistrates, the 2005 Magistrate of the Year Award, the 2006 Criminal Justice Award from Genesee County Alcohol and Substance Abuse, the 2006 Leadership Genesee Outstanding Alumnus Award, and the 2013 Kevin E. Quinlan Award for Excellence in Traffic Safety.

One person was killed and another seriously injured when a motorcycle struck a deer at 8:16 p.m. Sunday on Cockram Road, Byron.

Daylin Fagundo-Rodriguez, 28, of Byron, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Leland L. Fuller IV, 30, of Byron, was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

According to State Police, Fuller was driving a 1998 Harley Davidson eastbound on Cockram Road, with Fagundo-Rodriguez as a passenger, when a deer entered the roadway and was struck by the motorcycle. 

Both occupants were ejected.

The deer was also killed by the collision.

The New York State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating, and this is an ongoing investigation.

Photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service.

A talent show at Genesee County Fair seemed like good entertainment for Webster resident Paul Wallach and his date, Jackie.

It was their third time together, as they sat watching various age groups of children to adults take to the stage for some instrumental, dance, comedy and aerial acts.

Wallach didn’t need to see any more after the aerial act, performed by 13-year-old Corinne Rhoads of Le Roy on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s the best act of the day,” he said, after quietly yet audibly judging each performer. “Hard to top that.”

Corinne began with ballet and tap classes around 5, she said, followed by freestyling and hip-hop, finally onto aerial arts — her rest stop for now. She enjoys the movement and believes it’s good exercise.

“It’s something people don’t typically see; I get to teach people new things,” she said just after her performance. “My mom’s a massage therapist and she knows about muscles. She’s told me everything I need to do.”

Her time to shine wasn’t actually on the stage, but on a large hoop suspended in the air by a metal support structure alongside of it. She moved within the circular showpiece, doing a combination of ballet and gymnastics moves. She has won this talent show once before with aerial arts. It’s something the teen wants to continue, she said.

“I would like to pursue a circus camp that goes around the world,” she said.

During her performance, Wallach gave high marks for her flow of movements. He also critiqued one young pianist who jumped off the bench once the song was finished — “She should have held that note” — and complimented another one who held that last note and sat still for a moment before getting up to leave.

The Webster couple wasn’t the only one to travel for the talent show, some fair treats, animal shows, rides and exhibits. Lisa Oberer of Oakfield was with her daughter and granddaughter Natalie, 3, from North Chili, and a mom and son duo in the talent show drove an hour from Buffalo.

Natalie seemed to be enjoying the show — especially the music — as she smiled and clapped to the beat. Valeria Owens had been looking forward to the competition, which featured her son Avantae playing “Cuckoo” as a solo on piano, and later “Lightly Row” as a duet with his mom.

Avantae, 9, has been taking lessons from “Miss Laura” Kauppi of Corfu, the main organizer of the talent show. After performing in some of his teacher’s recitals and scoring a "perfect" during a graded event, mom was encouraged to enter him in the fair show.

“She’s been an amazing teacher for him,” Valeria said. Avantae added that he practices “probably almost every day.”

The show went well, and they walked away with prizes (more on that in a minute), but mom was looking forward to other entertainment as well.

“I want to get on some rides, I want food, I’m a thousand percent excited,” she said with a big smile while pointing east of the yellow-and-white big tent. “I want to get on that Ferris wheel, and the upside-down ride.

“I wanted to support Miss Laura,” she said. “We’ve never been to Genesee County Fair, I’m so excited.”

Fair Committee co-organizer Norm Pimm didn’t have exact numbers just yet but reported good news as of Sunday evening.

“Saturday was our best opening day in years,” he said. “Sunday was very strong as well.”

The fair continues every day through Saturday. Here's the schedule 

And the winners were …

Tiny Tot (6 and under): 

1st Place was a tie for

• Maisie Kho - piano
• Azalea Sieczkarski - piano

Mini (7-12):

3rd Place was a tie for

• Hiba Waqas - piano
• Kataleaya Slaughter - piano

2nd Place was also a tie for

• Avantae Owens - piano 
• Kataleaya Slaughter and Azalea Sieczkarski - dance 

1st Place

• Chelsie Kho- piano

Maxi category

3rd Place was a tie for

• Haris Waqas -piano
• Shane Coast- piano

2nd Place

• Corinne Rhoads - aerial arts

1st Place

• Gabriella Zocco - dance

Adult category

1st Place

• C.M. Waide - comedy 

2nd Place

• Valeria and Avantae Owens - piano duet

Top photo: Comedian C.M. Waide of Batavia delivers some laughs during the talent show  Saturday at Genesee County Fair. Le Roy teen Corinne Rhoads performs aerial arts; Valeria and Avantae Owens of Buffalo perform a duet; Natalie Oberer of North Chili claps to the music with Lisa Oberer of Oakfield; other participants in the show, with piano teacher and event organizer Laura Kauppi behind in black. Photos by Joanne Beck.

A group of protesters displaying signs lined both sides of the road in front of Cornerstone Church Sunday morning on Bank Street Road.

The protesters expressed their distaste for a group of people that are scheduled to speak at the location next month. The ReAwaken America Tour was recently cancelled in Rochester due to pressure on the venue operator from musical acts that canceled their appearances and pressure from the public. For prior coverage, go here for protest and here for the tour.

The tour has since relocated to Batavia at Cornerstone Church in the Town of Batavia. Many Christian leaders issued a message that they were against the event due to the controversial content talked about during the event. That reportedly has included unproven conspiracy theories and racist themes.

Jim Burns, organizer of the Batavia protest, said the protest group was created with the help of local pastors in the GLOW region, and they are hoping to reach members of the Cornerstone Church as they arrive for their Sunday morning sermon at 10 a.m.

"This group was put together and spearheaded by them," Burns said. "They were very upset and moved emotionally. Some were brought to tears saying they could not believe a church was hosting (the ReAwaken tour) to come in and talk like they are going to talk."

Burns says he wanted to be involved and organize the protest because of the division he is seeing along with the devaluation of human life.

"It's unbelievable to me, the people that are coming to this church in a couple weeks are sowing division. We need to stop this as a country," he said. "The Democratic party does it, the Republican party does it. It's time for it to stop, and as American citizens, we need to stop it. This is all about division and the hatred that comes with it. We are all Americans and shouldn't be enemies to ourselves."

Burns said he has no political or religious affiliations. He believes people have the right to assemble.

"Most people here are not going to like my view with that. We have the right to be here and the church has the right to host them, we all have the right to be heard, and that's the way America should work; it's not one side or the other saying the other side can't do that," he said. "I am out here protesting the people who are coming and their beliefs, absolutely one hundred percent. I am absolutely a nobody. I am just a citizen. Everybody here has their own personal reasons to be here, some are affiliated with other groups. They are here because of the racism; they are here because they think Batavia is a better town and shouldn't be hosting this."

Many protesters had their own reasons to show up to the Sunday protest.

"We've been here holding our signs spreading a message of love and tolerance. It's very encouraging because there are a lot of people in Batavia who don't stand for these terrible fascist, racist ideas, it's really good to see," said protester Logan Cole.

The protest started about 9:30 a.m. on Sunday as members of the Cornerstone Church were arriving for a 10 a.m. sermon. The church had security on hand and did have to intervene after a woman from the Cornerstone property crossed the road and attempted to pull a sign down from another woman’s face and take her photo. A member of the church with a radio responded across the street and collected the woman, telling her to not engage with protesters. She was escorted back onto the church property, which was roped off with yellow tape. The protest ended at about 10:15 a.m.

Top photo: Protesters displaying messages to members of Cornerstone Church as they arrived for service Sunday morning. A short time later a church member tried to pull down one woman's sign and take her photo (on the left). Otherwise, it was a fairly uneventful, peaceful protest for about 45 minutes at the Bank Street Road, Batavia church. Church security escorted the member back to the church as protesters continued on with their mission. Photos by Alecia Kaus.

There was one part about an upcoming boxcar race that especially appealed to Mason Dominiak, he said.

The 13-year-old likes speed.

“I like racing,” he said Saturday at Jackson Square in Batavia. “The adrenaline of going fast, I like going really fast.”

He and Adrian Tabelski were watching Adrian’s dad work to gradually put together a boxcar for them. The boys are participants of a first-ever Batavia Business Improvement District Boxcar Derby. Handmade creations will take off down the Ellicott Avenue hill at 9:30 a.m. sharp on Aug. 27.

Saturday was “Build Day,” and about 10 kids and their parents picked up their car kits and took them home to work on while the remaining 20 stopped by throughout the day to put their cars together with hands-on support from many BID committee members and community volunteers.

In between sounds of construction equipment, Adrian, 10, said that his participation was sort of a surprise.

“My mom signed me up,” he said.

Adrian in turn invited Mason to come along. They are sharing the initial duties of assembling and decorating a car, and both agreed that Adrian would be taking the wheel on race day. He has never been in a boxcar, but has “learned a lot about construction” during the day, he said.

Mason didn’t think he’d know as much as he did. Then again, he has worked on vehicles — four-wheeling is his favorite ride — and once had to take an entire engine out for a piston issue, he said. He will be there on race day to root on his friend. They began to brainstorm their car's exterior: how about black and gold with flames for a design, they agreed.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Mason said.

Committee member Lydia Schauf had telltale signs of sawdust on her black outfit. Using a saw, perhaps? No, drilling into wood.

“So we found out that they're doing the boxcar thing, and they were doing a build day. So we all came out and said that we’ll volunteer and help cut out templates, like my dad said, and just help build wherever we can with these kids,” she said. “It was fun to get out and try my hand at it.”

Lydia gave her dad, Rich Schauf, a nudge to join her in the effort. She also brought friend Marianne Pautler with her.

When asked if there had been any mishaps yet, Pautler smiled and nodded yes.

“I might have added a couple extra pieces here and there,” she said. “Those two extra pieces slid in. But hopefully it's been rectified. We went back through and pulled them out,” she said. “So yeah, just putting the kits together so that they're ready for the people to pick up or build here.”

Looking like he was ready to hunker down for some work, Rich Schauf, wearing a thick gray headband, happily obliged his daughter’s request, he said. He saw lots of enthusiasm during his time there.

“I thought it was a very worthwhile project,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of kids. And it's been really great to see these young kids and their excitement. I don't know if memory is still serving people about it, or if this will be new to people, but it's pretty exciting. And if you remember back in the day, it was quite good.”

There were stations with various tools and materials set up for the project, and several committee members and volunteers on hand to help. Participants each received a car kit, and BID merchants have been supportive of the idea, Executive Director Shannon Maute said. The race will be double elimination, which means several — about 50 — races on event day.

She and the others encourage spectators to join the fun and root for the kids. There will be tents set up and pizza and beverages for sale afterward as a “picnic in the park” BID style at Centennial Park, she said.

“We would like to make this a really large event. I mean, how fun cheering on these kids going down the hill, because what a feeling of a park filled with people cheering you on when you're going down this ramp,” she said. “I have challenged every child that I've come in contact with, because I built a car and I have challenged them to race me, so it's gonna be fun.”

She joked that she threw the gauntlet down to committee member Chris Suozzi, but believes that “he’s afraid to race me.”

The actual race is not in the downtown business district, she said, but merchants were OK with that. Ellicott Avenue has not only a nice hill that’s in the city but also was used years ago for similar races, she said.

“We had talked at length if anyone minded us doing (this) actually outside of the downtown area, but everyone was all for it because it's really more about the kids and not the district,” she said.

Other members Saturday included Jim Krencik, Lauren Becht, Gail Tenney, John Roche, and volunteers Don Cunningham, Jay Steinbrenner, Ron Galdun, Derek Ells, and TJ Henderson. Genesee Lumber cut and delivered the wood needed for the car kits.

The adults have taken care of all of the “logistics,” Krencik said, so that “the kids can focus on the hands-on skills that they’re learning by building the boxcars.”

“And then having a lot of fun racing them,” he said. “Our goal really was, for Build Day, to see the kids, their smiles as they’re walking away with these projects that they’re gonna dive into. And it’s going to be several hours of memories that I think are gonna really inspire them as they go through middle school, high school and, for my hat with GCEDC, to integrate into careers.”

As for the fun of it, someone suggested to him to think of the Little Rascals movie, in which the impish kids race boxcars. That sealed it for Krencik, he said, and that movie has fueled his zeal for the grand finale next month.

“It's really gonna be fun on August 27, to see these kids take off … it’s right at the corner of Centennial Park. But I liked that the race kind of goes towards the heart of the BID,” he said. “Because I think that's the energy that's right there. And it's getting more memories for those kids coming downtown like they are today.”

Parents, committee members, volunteers, and kids got together to build some boxcars Saturday at Jackson Square. Photos by Jim Krencik.

You may not like baseball, or have been to a Muckdogs game here in Batavia, but, from all appearances, the Muckdogs seem to make Batavia a better place when they interact with the community, and today was no exception.

Batavia Muckdogs and GLOW YMCA volunteers held the Challenger Baseball Series Saturday at Dwyer Stadium. The event was for children with developmental or other disabilities between the ages of 5 and 21. Even though YMCA has had this event before, again, by all appearances, it seemed as though the Muckdogs players enjoyed the event as much, if not more than, the kids did. 

In case you missed the event this afternoon, you can still see the kids at 7 p.m. tonight. Each child that participated received four free tickets to the game, a team hat, and will be on the field with the team for the National Anthem.

Photos by Jim Burns.

Several local Christian and nonprofit leaders heard the news loud and clear Thursday that the ReAwaken America Tour has booked a gig here in Batavia. Their response has been swift and direct: not in our back yard.

Those leaders met Thursday evening with a goal to stop the event from happening at Cornerstone Church in August.

“We do not deny their right to free speech. We just don’t want their kind of speech here,” the group said collectively via the Rev. Roula Alkhouri. “Their organizers and speakers use deceit, lies, and fear to divide, and we don’t want that for our community. They use hate-filled language for people who represent the diversity of our nation and use ‘enemy’ for people with different political and social views.”

Pastor Paul Doyle confirmed with The Batavian Thursday that he agreed to host the tour at his Bank Street Road church in mid-August. The meeting of local leaders, who are speaking only for themselves and not on behalf of their organizations, Alkhouri said, immediately became concerned about the “fear- and hate-based ideology” that these events have been spreading around the country.

Such ideology has also served as the basis for much violence, including the mass shooting at Tops in Buffalo, Alkhouri said.

“Our goal is to raise the awareness of the people of the church at Cornerstone that this event can be a dangerous breeding ground for fear, hate, and violence,” she said. “We also want to alert the community and tell the ReAwaken America Tour that their message of hate and fear is not welcome here.”

They have planned to protest the ReAwaken America tour at 9:30 a.m. Sunday outside of Cornerstone Church, 8020 Bank Street Road, Batavia. Everyone is welcome to join the effort and encouraged to bring signs of thoughtful protest.

“Please bring signs and messages of nonviolent love, compassion, inclusion, and care,” Alkhouri said. “Please, no name-calling or demonizing messages. We want to respond with care and nonviolence. We want to build community instead of spreading fear.”

ReAwaken America is promoted as a “faith, family and freedom” initiative. The tour has made at least a dozen visits nationwide, with a booked calendar throughout this year for more. Speakers have included:

• Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador and encouraged President Donald Trump to declare martial law to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
• Roger Stone, found guilty of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
• My Pillow founder and on-air salesman Mike Lindell, who has made unsubstantiated claims about political conspiracy theories.

The tour, many believe, also draws white supremacists and others with intent to inflame the talk with bigotry, racism and false claims about political matters, COVID, and the vaccine.

Doyle told The Batavian that white supremacists or anyone prone to violence and mismanaged anger aren’t welcome to attend, however, the tour carries a track record, Alkhouri said, and the other leaders agreed.

“The tour shows us that it has promoted white supremacy ideas. Christian leaders around the country have denounced this tour as hate-filled and a toxic event,” Alkhouri said, pointing to a link for a national petition. “We believe that as Western New Yorkers, we need to bring people together and to stop the madness of division and hate in our country. Unfortunately, white supremacists have found a home in many Christian churches, and they have exploited people's faith to promote their agenda.”

The group also found it interesting, she said, that the date for the Batavia event is the same as when the destructive and deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va. happened. That tragic event on Aug. 12 ended up with a 32-year-old woman being killed when a car rammed into a group of anti-white supremacist protesters.

These local leaders are concerned that, just as that rally was allegedly to be peaceful and escalated into a dangerous situation, the upcoming tour could have a similar effect. The materials and speeches from prior tours are all on record, Alkhouri said, and “there is no speculation.” Doyle had told The Batavian that he believed any worries are just that: speculation, along with assumptions and “fear of a narrative.”

Alkhouri and the others hope to communicate directly with Doyle at some point.

“We would love to have open and caring conversations with Pastor Doyle,” she said. ‘We reached out to him and hope that we can build some bridges of cooperation and connection.

“Our group includes people with diverse political, spiritual, and social views, but we are united in our deep concern for the future of our democracy. Event organizers publicly call for America to be their version of a Christian nation,” she said.

Rev. Dr. Shiela McCullough, one of the Christian leaders opposing the Batavia event, sat down to collect her thoughts about the tour and its meaning. She wrote the following:

As I continue to process the slaughter of ten innocent African American lives that occurred in Buffalo, New York. I find myself wrestling with a certain theory of suspicion and realize that its very thought causes me to tremble. I am certain that I am experiencing a type of fear that must be explored because I am afraid.

I am afraid the organizers of The Great Awakening vs The Greatest Reset Tour have been bamboozled, hoodwinked, and duped by Russian propaganda. I am afraid the tour is a strategic ploy on the part of Russia to erase America's potential to be the greatest example of the "Kingdom of God," the paragon of justice, mercy, and compassion for all of humanity.

I am afraid the Russian political philosopher, analyst, and strategist Alexander Dugin, who authored the book titled The Great Awakening vs The Great Reset, published for the first time in 2021, is the legitimate leader of this anti-America tour.

Dugin is maligning America's growing pains as its wounds lay raw and bleeding for the world to behold. America is in the process of expanding its horizons. It is stumbling and reaching toward the stairway that leads to a higher moral ground: equality for all.

I am afraid that America's role and enduring aspiration to be the world leader in justice, mercy and love may be too intimidating for those who serve the demagogue of selfishness, greed, and self-centeredness. I am afraid that if my theory of suspicion proves grounded in truth, Dugin is weaponizing this anti-America tour as the delivery system for the notoriously efficient method of defeat: divide and conquer.

Dugin has cleverly chosen this moment in America's evolution to attack its freedom fabric by couching his war strategy within the language of religious rhetoric, fervor, and evangelism — using them to form a trojan horse. I am afraid that this tour may be at the vanguard of the intended onslaught: that is, it is the first salvo in a long-range assault that resolves in Russian occupation and colonization of our nation. This would certainly be a "Great Reset," a rude "awakening" we will all regret.

Some people online have wondered aloud about the financing of the tour. Doyle said that the church is not charging anything, including rent to the ReAwaken organizers. Admission fees are paid directly to the organizers of the event on a "pay what you can" scale, with VIP seating from $250 to $500, Doyle said. 

The national petition mentioned above has been created by Faithful America. According to the organization’s website, “each ReAwaken America event is a toxic, two-day parade of right-wing preachers, MAGA celebrities and QAnon conspiracy theorists spreading Donald Trump’s Big Lie and COVID-19 misinformation to thousands in Jesus’ name.”

To view and/or sign the petition, go to Faithful America.

2022 File Photo of the Rev. Roula Alkhouri during an Easter blessing for first responders at City Hall. Alkhouri, an active church leader for peace, love, and equal justice for all, says that she is speaking out as a Christian and concerned community member. Photo by Howard Owens.

The Town of Batavia engineer says he has cleared up miscommunication with the Lewiston Road businessman who has been speaking out against the proposed construction of a pair of restaurants with drive-thru lanes on the south side of the former Kmart parking lot near Park Road.

Steve Mountain today addressed comments made by pizzeria owner Jerry Arena earlier in the week. Appearing at the Batavia Town Board meeting, Arena said that it was his impression that the town was requesting Benderson Development Corp. to resubmit its plans.

Arena has charged Benderson with submitting what he calls a “falsified application,” primarily referring to the company checking boxes on its documentation that there are adequate bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways along the Lewiston Road corridor extending to Veterans Memorial Drive.

During the meeting, Arena said that Mountain indicated, in a phone call to him, that the town was looking for a revised application from Benderson. Town Supervisor Gregory Post responded by saying that he wasn’t aware of that.

“… the town engineer told me that Benderson was going to have to resubmit their application. And I was going to ask you guys about starting that process all over again,” Arena said.

He went on to say that he was very disappointed that town officials don't grasp that traffic is going to be much worse.

“I'm kind of in shock here. I was really happy that maybe …you're coming to a realization that it's a safety issue – a severe safety issue,” Arena said, reiterating that he continues to consider filing a temporary injunction to block the proposed development.

Contacted today, Mountain said he told Arena that Benderson needs to submit its engineering plans to him.

“The Town Planning Board approves the project contingent on my final review and approval, which is typical for every project,” Mountain said. “We'll go back and forth with the plans – review them and have some minor comments. All that engineering stuff – water and sewer and all those things.”

But as far as Benderson having to submit a new project application, Mountain said that is not the case.

He said he spoke with Arena a couple days ago and “better explained to him” that no new application was coming – just a revision of the engineering comments on the plans.

When asked if he thought there was a safety issue with the traffic in that area, Mountain said a traffic study consultant and state Department of Transportation officials had no concerns.

“We did note, in my comments back to them, however, that we need to look at – with the DOT – the southbound lane on Lewiston, where there’s only left turn arrows to the old Kmart,” he said. “We feel that should be left and right turn arrows, similar to what is near Tim Hortons and Tops. That’s the only thing, traffic-wise, that we’re looking at.”

Mountain said that the Park Road Reconstruction Project has resulted in more vehicle congestion, but he sees traffic flowing better once that is completed.

“The DOT will be going around the county, updating things, but we feel the Lewiston Road/Route 5 section is still acceptable,” he said.

He did mention that the town’s future projections include a new road from Lewiston Road to West Main Street Road (Route 5), north of the current intersection.

“That’s in our Comprehensive Master Plan,” Mountain said.

It seems fair to say that Daniel Calkins was persistent when it came to applying for a job with Genesee County.

The former Marine Reservist, pastor and residential coordinator had wanted to be executive director of the Youth Bureau, and he applied once before attempting it again this year. The position has been temporarily filled by Interim Director Chelsea Elliott, and county officials wanted to permanently fill it.

As someone who has enjoyed working with and encouraging youth, Calkins finally snagged what perhaps he’d call the perfect position.

“I think it's a dream job for me being able to work with the youth and influence their development and their lives,” he said by phone while driving to his home in Attica. “Also, it's a great move for my family. It's a stable position and I think it's something I could do for quite a while.”

The 2007 Batavia High School graduate had grown up on Batavia’s south side, attending Genesee Community College before enlisting in a six-year leg with the U.S. Marine Reserves. After that, he completed his studies at GCC and obtained his bachelor's degree in Community and Human Services at Empire State College.

Calkins has always wanted to be a social worker, he said, but slightly strayed with a Master’s of Divinity Degree from North Eastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College. It was either go for a Master's in Social Work or Divinity, and he chose the latter, still with a heart to work with youth, he said.

“But then I just decided to do a Master's in Divinity at the time because I was working at the church with the option of going back and actually getting my bachelor's in social work,” he said. “I was just really open to how I felt, the world was leading me and God was leading me into what you want to be working on at that time. So I didn't really have a plan per se.”

Calkins was pastor of the Next Generation program at Northgate Church in Batavia for four years, and more recently worked at Arc GLOW as residential coordinator for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He begins his new job as Youth Bureau executive director August 1.

“So I took a job when it became available at Arc; I had applied for the Youth Bureau position in the past, and I didn't get it. But, you know, I always had my eyes on it because I love working with the youth,” he said. “I think it's important that people are intentional about the development of the young people in the world. Rather than letting the world shape them, we have to take an active approach in making sure that their development is meaningful, and that it's on the right path.”

He doesn’t believe that enough emphasis is put on the amount of development that takes place during one’s childhood and adolescence. That’s the crucial time that “you become the person that you're going to be,” he said.

Calkins, whose Facebook page has a backdrop of a cheese-and-pepperoni pizza, married his high school sweetheart, Deanna. They have two boys, with another one on the way, and are expected to have a birthday in early September.

The pizza, you might wonder, is significant as part of the many hats that Calkins wears, he said. He and a buddy make pizzas for wedding receptions as a “little side hobby.” That’s due to his appreciation for “learning how to do new things.”

There might just be a pizza activity once he’s on board at the Youth Bureau, he said, along with many other recreational ideas he has in store. The 34-year-old's leadership style may seem a bit more peer than the boss.

“I like to lead next to people, I like to walk beside people in life. Rather than tell people what to do, I like to help them figure out what they want to do,” he said. “And I love humor and use humor quite a bit. I can be very silly and childlike myself. But I also have a passion for justice and just making sure there's a relative fairness in life and helping the people that may feel behind or put behind by society or whatever, to have an opportunity as well to be the best person that they can be called to be.”

There were four candidates for the position, County Manager Matt Landers said. Dan stood out with his enthusiasm, energy, noticeable preparation for the interview and experience, Landers said.

“(Those) were all factors in the search committee unanimously recommending Dan for the position. The search committee was made up of representatives from the County Legislature, Human Resources, DSS, the Manager’s Office and the Genesee County Youth Advisory Board,” Landers said. “Dan has a good amount of experience working directly with youth and developing youth programming that reaches kids, especially at-risk youth. Dan has spent his professional career working with youth and people with disabilities, striving to make meaningful improvements in the quality of their lives.”

Landers also acknowledged the two veteran employees and Chelseas — Chelsea Elliott and Chelsea Green — who have “stepped up big time during this period of transition, none bigger than Interim Executive Director Elliott,” he said. 

“I look forward to Dan working with our two Chelseas to learn the ropes and put his stamp on the department,” Landers said. 

That’s exactly what Calkins plans to do, in an effort to build relationships, and allow people to learn who he is and about his intentions, so they can see “that I'm safe, and I'm here to help them.”

“And I'm there to provide more meaningful experiences for the youth in the county, and the families as well. I think the best way to reach youth is for their parents to trust you,” Calkins said. “I have a passion for working with people. So we're not going to duplicate any services that are already happening in the community, we’ll work in partnership with them, and help them make what they're doing better.

“I feel ecstatic. I'm so excited. I feel like I am bursting with ideas,” he said. “And I don't have a particular agenda. It's just to be helpful. And make sure that people's lives in the community are meaningful and that they have the opportunity for education.”

Submitted photo of Daniel Calkins.

 

Local business owner Brandon Lewis was at a campaign rally today live streaming governor candidate Lee Zeldin's speech, when a man grabbed Zeldin and apparently attacked him during the event in Fairport.

In another post on social media, Lewis characterized the attack as an "assassination," but in an interview with The Batavian he said that post was kind of "heat of the moment."  He doesn't know for sure that the person intended to kill Zeldin.

Lewis, who owns The Firing Pin in Bergen, said that at one point, after the man was wrestled to the ground, somebody yelled "He has a knife. He has a knife."  But Lewis said he never saw a knife.

The man yelled at Zeldin before grabbing him, claiming "You're done, Lee. You're done, Lee."  Lewis said the man sounded drunk.

"It seemed when he grabbed him he wasn't letting go," Lewis said. "He wasn't going in for a hug, let's put it that way.  He didn't have good intentions."

Shortly after the attack, somebody asked for a first-aid kit, and Lewis went to his truck to retrieve his kit.  He shot the picture above when he returned a minute or so later, he said.  He said the first-aid kit was apparently to assist Alison Esposito, Zeldin's running mate, for her scraped knuckles from the incident.

Top Photo: By Brandon Lewis of a man on the ground after a man apparently grabbed Lee Zeldin during a campaign rally in Fairport.

It didn’t take long for word to spread that Batavia’s Cornerstone Church was hosting the enormous and controversial Reawaken America Tour.

Pastor Paul Doyle spoke to organizers a few days ago after a planned event was cancelled in Rochester. Doyle was asked if Cornerstone could do it as they investigated various options, and he said that it could be an option. 

“They got ahold of me yesterday … and I said yes, we can do that. I think it’s a patriotic, Godly event with reputable people that love the Lord,” Doyle said Thursday to The Batavian. “I’ve been inundated by speculation … people are arriving at conclusions. This isn’t just a secular event. These are Godly men and women … there’s going to be prayer, repentance, and because of that, the baptisms.

He expects there to be 500 to 1,000 baptisms during the two-day event.  It has been set for August 12 and 13 at the church on Bank Street Road.

“As far as the backlash, to be quite honest with you, I really didn't follow what was happening in Rochester. I mean, basically, from a distance. I caught wind that there was some opposition to the event, but I can't say I really followed it,” he said. “And I certainly didn't know the extent of it to the point where they would actually cancel the event at the venue.”

Reawaken America was initially a Health and Freedom event that began during the pandemic. It was renamed the Reawaken America Tour in 2021, and has visited several venues across the country. Led by Clay Clark, the event has featured dozens of speakers, including Roger Stone, General Michael Flynn and Mike Lindell, of the My Pillow fame. It purportedly began as an anti-vaccination and pro-freedom rally, although Doyle sees it as a patriotic event that focuses on God and Jesus Christ. As for claims that white supremacist groups, including the Proud Boys, show up at these events, he believes that’s an assumption about what could happen.

“We have no affiliation with the Proud Boys; I don’t even know who they are. Anybody could show up, the KKK could show up. I feel like it’s being overdramatized. We’re not promoting violence,” he said. “I don’t know why people are so fearful of a narrative. If anyone is disruptive or hostile, they will not be welcome. I sure hope white supremacists don’t come.”

He would like people to not be persuaded by reports of other events and hearsay, and instead go by Cornerstone’s good works. For example, church members took “truckloads of food and clothing” to people affected by the mass shooting at Tops in Buffalo.

“We supported an African American community … bringing truckloads to people that are hurting.  It broke our hearts to see what was happening there. We’re not doing a bad thing, we’re doing a good thing. We look and see what the word of God says,” he said.

He can’t read people’s minds and hearts, he said, and won’t necessarily know if someone has ill intent if they attend. The church has seasoned law enforcement professionals to help with security, and he plans to connect with local law enforcement before the tour arrives.

Doyle expects the event to be a “civil, peaceful Godly event.” It will be on private property and the concerns are merely speculation and assumption at this point, he said.

“We’re gonna talk about Jesus Christ, we're gonna talk about salvations. And, to me, it's an upright, Godly event, if somebody wants to paint it something different than that, that's not coming from me.”

Photo of Pastor Paul and Lee Doyle from cornerstone.org.

A lithium battery is the likely cause of a small fire in a hotel room at the Red Roof Inn on Park Road in Batavia, according to a release from the Town of Batavia Fire Department.

The town was dispatched on an alarm of fire at 9:30 p.m., Wednesday, and hotel staff confirmed a short time later that there was a fire in a guest room.

The hotel was evacuated.

The fire, contained to a small corner of the room, was put out with an extinguisher and the structure was ventilated. Guests were allowed to return to their rooms a short time later.

A hotel guest sustained a minor burn on a foot and was transported by Mercy EMS to an area hospital for treatment.

According to the Department, the cause of the fire was a lithium-ion battery from a remote control car that overheated while being charged.

The Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene.

The Batavia Town Board on Wednesday night voted to enter into agreements with Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. and Genesee Park Place Associates to install approximately 700 feet of new 12-inch sewer main as part of the Park Road Reconstruction Project.

According to two separate resolutions, WROTB and Genesee Park Place have agreed to cover up to $260,000 for the installation of the sanitary sewer line that will connect to their existing sewer systems.

The town would be responsible for expenses greater than that figure and, toward that end, the board passed a resolution calling for the issuance of serial bonds of up to $340,000, with financing over a seven-year period.

Town Supervisor Gregory Post said the bonding process, initiated months ago, is necessary in case the town decides to pay off the debt in that manner.

In a related development, the board approved a change order with Concrete Applied Technologies Corp., the Park Road project general contractor, to install the sewer main. The approved increase of $294,425 brings the total amount of the contract with CATCO to $4,495,001.

Additionally, the board passed a resolution approving an increase of up to $275,000 in a contract with Ravi Engineering and Land Surveying of Rochester for construction inspection services for the Park Road project.

In other action, the board:

• Authorized the transfer of a 4.66-acre parcel behind the David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena on Evans Street to the Batavia Development Corp. for future development. Post said the town had acquired the land at no cost and that no money will change hands for the transfer, which he said will help facilitate the creation of the City of Batavia’s Creek Park project.

• Adopted Local Law No. 3 of 2022 that amends the town’s vehicle and traffic law to establish 10- or 5-ton weight limits for trucks, tractors and tractor-trailer combinations on streets in the Oakwood Estates development off East Main Street Road and on Seven Springs Road from Route 33 to the Batavia-Stafford town line.

• Granted a permit to Skylighters of New York, LLC, to put on a fireworks show on July 29 at the Genesee County Fair. The pyrotechnics display is scheduled to take place following the Demolition Derby, which gets underway at 7 p.m.

• Reported that Assemblyman Steve Hawley will conduct a “town hall” session from 11:45 to 12:30 p.m. this Saturday at the Batavia City Centre (City Hall).

Editor's note: This is a continuation of a series about what's happening in the city of Batavia

An attractive, modern entrance; sturdy and leak-free roof; thriving retail shops alongside well-established medical practices, and an onslaught of patrons wanting to visit, shop, eat and enjoy a welcoming space.

Not exactly what many locals envision with the current City Centre. An Urban Renewal nightmare. A property that’s co-owned and managed by the city of Batavia and individual merchants. City Centre hasn’t gained a reputation in recent years as a place to enjoy. Not in the concourse, with buckets catching drips from a roof and a deadened atmosphere from vacated properties and decreased foot traffic.

But that can — and will — change, city officials say. With a fair amount of work done so far — Phase I of a roof replacement, with Phase II in the works — there’s more to be done, Public Works Director Brett Frank said.

Each of the four silos that serve as entry and exit ways into the Centre are to be redesigned. He doesn’t have a definite timeline but said the process begins with design, and once that comes back and it all gets approved, the city will go out for bid on the project. He is also making sure that the cost is within the city’s construction budget, he said.

“Basically, the design of the silos is that it’s just your entryway into the City Centre … those are supposed to be architectural features that draw people in. The design is kind of up in the air right now. If it's something that, maybe, could possibly be more in line with the redesign that's taking place with the brickwork of City Hall — the hallways, Insurance Center to Islands Hawaiian Grill,” he said during a group interview with The Batavian. “But that's all kind of up in the air. So we're not exactly sure what we will get back from engineers; I'm sure either way, it's gonna look improved from what we have now. It will make it more inviting.”

Called silos because they are cylindrical in shape and stand separated from the mall with a set of doors to trap the outdoor air, these points of entry for visitors have been less than welcoming. Buckets stationed just inside the doors, and then throughout the mall, have made for jokes rather than an impressive image.

Time for a Rewind
After years of being embroiled in litigation, both the merchants and the City of Batavia agreed to a settlement in October 2017. The city agreed to repair, maintain and pay for items within the 46,000-square-foot public concourse and the merchants agreed to pay a yearly property maintenance user fee to the city.

Fees are $2.06 per square foot of each merchant’s individual property, which means different totals for each merchant, depending on the size of the business. Tabelski likens it to a condo or neighborhood association fee.

Part of the city’s agreement has meant employing one full- and two part-time employees to make the necessary repairs and maintain the concourse. These city positions are paid for with the user fees, Water and Wastewater Superintendent Michael Ficarella said.

“They do anything from mopping floors to changing lightbulbs to taking care of ceiling tiles,” he said.

It may not have been what everyone wanted, but it’s now about making the best of the situation, City Manager Rachael Tabelski said.

“So the agreement, as of the effective date (Oct. 24, 2017), affecting the mall, including the development and operating agreement, and the common facilities agreement of 1987:The city shall, for purposes of mall redevelopment and repairs, retain ownership of the mall concourse … the members of the Mall Merchants Association, their guests, customers, invitees shall continue to enjoy the rights to access the mall concourse, as has been customarily provided to each merchant. The mall concourse will be open to the public at reasonable times,” Tabelski said.

“So that's kind of the obvious portions of it. And then this section of the settlement agreement is called capital improvement. The city needed to develop a scope of work and bid specification to repair and improve the existing roof silos and skylights at the mall concourse collectively called the roof repairs," she said. "In the agreement, it was noted that they would keep the merchants apprised through the development of the scope of work, provide copies of these specifications and provide the proposal to the merchants for review.”

The Here and Now 
According to the agreement, roof repairs were supposed to be completed by March 31, 2021. One large roof project had to be broken into two parts so that the city could pay for and finance it. The first chunk cost more than $763,000 and Phase II will be approximately $218,000, Frank said. 

“So far, it's been rooftop unit number nine, that's been the biggest one,” Frank said.

He and Ficarella promised there would be no more buckets dotting the internal mall landscape. 

Pre-COVID, the city had been awarded $1 million from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, and had plans to repair/replace the concourse roof, redesign and construct new silos, and paint the floor and walls, thereby improving the entire interior look of the concourse, Tabelskis said.

But after COVID and the ensuing pandemic hit, a lot happened in the construction world.

“As we had gotten into the project and COVID occurred, and these crazy construction price overages and inflation had occurred, we kind of settled to the point where we probably were only going to be able to do the first phase,” she said.

“That's how we ended up with phase two of the mall roof replacement. Because it was originally, like 2019, and then the second phase was (scheduled to be) from 2020 to 2021,” she said.

Aside from those repair expenses, it takes about $225,000 to operate the mall and concourse space, Tabelski said. That pays for anything needed, and the general fund “does not in the traditional sense have to support the mall, because we're able to operate it by using the user fees,” she said.

The concourse stage has been used for seasonal and impromptu concerts when the weather turns bad, and Batavia Players have occasionally performed or run their acting lines while standing on it, Ficarella said.

The stage still is still useful, he said, as a concert venue during inclement weather, Christmas in the City, and other prospective special events.

Funding for the first phase is from a funding reserve, and about $120,000 is being taken from that $1 million for the silo design process. The remaining money will go for actually redesigning those silos. The city also has received a National Grid Urban Corridor Grant to help with economic development projects in the city, Tabelski said.

“We can apply some of those funds to the project as long as we're doing exterior work, and improving what we call the kind of the urban corridor of a City Centre as well. The budget was going to go a lot further four years ago, when the grant was awarded. But as we got into COVID, and changes in leadership at the city, we're finally getting back to getting the project moving. It's just the season we live in now that the money's not going to go as far as it used to.”

That doesn’t mean that an interior facelift can’t happen, she said, as “there's definitely the ability to start to look at budgeting for flooring and painting improvements.”

Moving Forward
There have certainly been the naysayers suggesting that the mall just be torn down. So how do city officials get people excited about a structure described as wasteful, an eyesore and dead?

Perhaps some perspective steeped in reality would help. The mall has a Merchants Association with individual property owners who run their businesses, medical practices and personal services out of that space. The city has no claim to those properties and therefore cannot just go in and tear it all down.

Tabelski also wants to remind folks that these are viable businesses that have invested money, time and effort into their mall properties. At one time, several years ago, there was talk of slicing off a portion of the mall and restructuring some of that building. That was then, this is now, Tabelski said.

“I would say those are definitely plans that are out there. But because of the nature of the condo-ized situation at the mall right now, the city's trying to make the best use of the property we have, and bring people down to this corridor and work with what we have,” she said. “So the taking down any portions of the mall is not on the table right now.”

Up next: Moving Forward, continued

Go here for prior coverage about the city and mall settlement 

Photo of mall silo in Batavia; Valentine-themed buckets in 2020. Photos by Howard Owens. Dare to dream? These front entrances of Gemdale Plaza and Castle Mall are showy with lots of light and windows. Photos of "Mall Entries" by Sruthy Sukumaran.

There are 13 students participating in the third annual week-long Genesee County Sheriff’s Office Teen Academy at Genesee Community College this week. The program was started by Deputy Matthew Butler in 2018 while he was a School Resource Officer at Byron-Bergen High School. Butler retired in 2019, and the academy was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

This is the first year the program has been at Genesee Community College, which organizers chose for its central location in Genesee County.

“Byron-Bergen was a great host, but we received feedback that the location was a long haul for some. GCC is a central location, and it is readily available for kids from every school district in Genesee County,” says Deputy/SRO Rich Schildwaster, who is now Lead Deputy of the Teen Academy.

GCC also offers virtual technology, which is new to the program this year.

“We did not have this option a couple of years ago and its one of the things we have been able to add because GCC has a simulator here as part of their criminal justice program,” Schildwaster said.

Students walk into a virtual reality and have a scenario going on in front of them where they interact with people on the screen.

“The scenario can go in different directions. They may be presented with a deadly force encounter, or they may not. They have to make that judgement. It gives them that perspective. Scenarios range from a traffic stop where you walk up to a car and deal with a person to maybe an active shooter situation where you show up in front of the building and people are running out, and you go in and you have to appropriately handle that or try and make decisions like a law enforcement officer would.”

The VirTra Training simulator at GCC has also been used by local law enforcement agencies over the past few years to help prepare law enforcement officers for real-life incidents and different scenarios.

The goal of the Teen Academy is to attract good candidates to the law enforcement field. The academy is run like an actual police academy. Each day begins with physical training like CrossFit, which Deputy Chad Cummings and Investigator Chad Minuto organize.

Students have attended instructional classes on investigations, penal law, traffic stops, defensive tactics and a Stop the Bleed class where students can recognize life-threatening bleeding and intervene effectively.

On the last day of the academy, students will tour the jail, the courthouse, the Sheriff’s Office, dispatch center, view an ERT demonstration and attend communications and jail staff presentations. Students will take a final PT test, final exam, and attend a review followed by an afternoon graduation ceremony.

Schildwaster says his first year organizing the academy has been a great experience and the local community has stepped up to assist.

“We have a great community here, not all of our instructors are from the Sheriff’s Office. Everyone in the community has jumped on this whole-heartedly and embraced us. Everybody’s dedication makes all this come together because everyone believes in it and is excited to do this. It’s a good program for the kids.”

Top photo: Paramedic Wade Schwab talks with students of the Teen Academy Wednesday morning at GCC. Students participate in the Stop the Bleed class; Investigator Joe Loftus teaches Defensive Tactics class on Wednesday afternoon; Investigator Kevin Forsyth also teaches Defensive Tactics class on Wednesday afternoon; Deputy SRO Jeremy McClellan with students on Wednesday morning; and Deputy Morgan Ewert, left, Paramedic Wade Schwab, center, and Deputy Jordan Alejandro, right, with students on Wednesday. Photos by Alecia Kaus.

A proposal to expand the Country Meadows Manufactured Homes Community on Clinton Street Road in the Town of Batavia is not sitting well with the residents of nearby Stringham Road.

About 35 people -- the overwhelming majority of them owners of homes on Stringham Drive – turned out for a public hearing conducted by the Batavia Town Planning Board on Tuesday night at the Town of Batavia Fire Station No. 2 on Stringham Drive.

Following a brief presentation by Glenn Thornton, an engineer representing Country Meadows’ owner Jeffery Cook, attendees peppered the planning board with several questions, focusing on the following issues:

• The width of a buffer zone between the expansion and Stringham Drive;

• The possibility of an emergency access road into the mobile park expansion from Stringham Drive;

• The expansion’s effect on home property values;

• Stormwater runoff mitigation;

• The impact of the expansion on the environment and wildlife;

• Increased traffic in the area.

SEVENTY-SIX MORE LOTS

Thornton, making his second appearance in front of the planning board in the past four weeks, said the plan is to take a 30-acre portion in the northwest quadrant of the park’s 75 acres and develop 76 more mobile home lots.

Currently, the park consists of 174 mobile homes with about four lots per acre, Thornton said. The proposal calls for two and a half lots per acre, and would include extensions to existing roads in the mobile home park that, according to Thornton, would be “privately owned and maintained – total compliant, private roads.”

“We propose to extend water mains and sanitary sewers so every lot will be served with municipal sewer and water,” he said, adding that lighting would be installed at the new intersections and at the end of the road.

Thornton also said that the expansion would include three stormwater ponds to capture and treat all stormwater runoff from the development area to satisfy state Department of Environmental Conservation regulations.

Property owner Cook said that the new mobile homes for sale would cost in the $80,000 to $120,000 range and that about 80 percent of those would be “double-wide” with paved driveways.

PARK RESIDENT: FIX EXISTING AREA

Judy Schildwaster, a longtime resident of the mobile home park, opened the public hearing by expressing her dismay with the lack of upkeep of the roads and tree trimming.

“This is the ninth owner since 1990 … and I see no improvement,” she said, adding that she doesn’t know the name of the property manager. “I’d like to see them come down and fix what they already own before they put in something new.”

Her statement drew a round of applause and opened the door for the Stringham Drive residents to pose their questions to the board and the developers. Planning Board Chair Kathleen Jasinski indicated that the questions would be addressed after everyone had a chance to speak.

Jeff Anders asked if they would be putting a berm up “to hide your eyesore from the rest of the neighbors” and also if there was a plan in place to address the decrease in Stringham Drive homeowners’ property values (prompting more applause).

He then asked those in attendance if they were in favor of this and received a resounding “No.”

James Myers said he heard there would be an access road from the mobile home park to Stringham Drive for emergency vehicles and wanted to know what would prevent people from using it to get into the park?

Roger Bickle said there is an open field behind his house and asked what “would be put in there so we don’t have to look at that?”

Daniel Edwards sought to find out how many feet the expansion will come within the Stringham Drive back yards, and if the woods would remain or be taken down. He also asked questions about water and sewer drainage, wildlife and home values.

NOT IN OUR BACKYARD 

“Respectfully, homeowners don’t want to live next to a mobile home park,” he said. “This will disrupt the beauty of living out in the town, on a dead-end street, with woods behind me. I have privacy – and now, I will be staring at mobile homes when I look out my back windows.”

David Sprung, who said his lot is the “lowest on the road,” said he was concerned about flooding, noting that he bought his lot with the understanding that it was wetlands and would never be developed.”

He said he figures this expansion is a “done deal” but asked the developer to consider the drainage issues.

Sprung also said he would oppose an emergency access road next to his house since it would likely be used by bicyclists and others looking for a short cut through the park or onto Clinton Street Road.

“It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood right now and I’d like to keep it that way,” he said.

Jasinski, responding to questions about starting date of the project, said, “We can’t tell you that now because we just started looking at the project.”

“It’s not approved (yet) … we’re going to work on it to make it the best project for everybody.”

Robert Rindo said he opposed an access road and believed that the increase in the number of cars would be a major problem.

Town Building Inspector Dan Lang said his department conducts annual inspections and additional inspections when receiving complaints. He did say that Country Meadows was “the best kept (mobile home) park in the Town of Batavia right now.”

THORNTON: ACCESS ROAD NOT IN PLAN

When given a chance to respond, Thornton emphasized that there are no plans to add an access road from Stringham Drive into the expansion.

“That’s not on our agenda right now,” he said, but added that they may be forced to put one in for emergency purposes (per a recommendation from the Genesee County Planning Board).

Thornton said his plan includes a 50-foot buffer zone from the Stringham Drive lots – up from the current 35-foot setback – and will maintain existing drainage patterns and existing vegetation.

“We’re listening to you,” he said, noting that an extension of Briarwood Terrace would run over two 36-inch culverts to facilitate proper drainage. He also said traffic studies have been completed and he doesn’t see that there will be an overload to the current roads in the mobile park.

Jasinski said the planning board has many questions as well, and will perform a State Environmental Quality Review during a meeting in August. She invited residents to attend future meetings and to send her emails with additional questions or concerns to kjasinski@townofbatavia.com.

In another development, the board set a public hearing for Aug. 16 at the Batavia Town Hall on West Main Street Road to consider a pair of ground-mounted solar farms on Alexander Road.

Renewable Properties, working with Bergmann Associates engineering firm of Rochester, is seeking approval of special use permits to install a 14-acre, 3-megawatt solar farm on a 29-acre parcel at 9183 Alexander Rd. and a 10-acre, 1.6-megawatt system at 9071 Alexander Rd.

Previously: Stringham Drive residents can weigh in on expansion of Country Meadows, though public hearing not required

Sometimes no action can be a good thing, especially when it comes to construction sites.

Project Executive Mark Bollin, of The Pike Company, shared that during his Genesee County Jail progress report to the county’s Public Service Committee this week.

“As it relates to safety, there have been no lost-time accidents at all. And all the contractors continue to abide by the OSHA requirements and their own safety plans, contracts, bonds and insurances,” he said. “All prime contracts have been fully executed, the contract for the special inspections and testing has been finalized and executed. With the stormwater prevention plan, there's been no issues.”

Those housekeeping details have helped to ensure a good flow of communication, he said.

“Communication is going really well, with the county, engineers and contractors.”

Foundation work has included stockpiling and stabilizing topsoil, creating an infiltration test pond, underground utilities and fire and water infrastructure is a little over half complete, at 55 percent, he said.

Senior Project Manager Carl York said that backfills were to begin this week, and all contractors are working on a three-dimensional model of the building to make sure everything fits according to plan.

In addition to the actual physical work, however, there has been that critical element of open communication and cooperation, York said.

“Ever since we started the job, and quite intensely the last month, all the contractors have been working on the final baseline schedule. The general contractor has been meeting with each of the contractors to get their information, and we've had separate meetings where everybody's together and everybody goes through the schedule and agrees on the logic in there. That same schedule has been sent to Pike scheduling department for review and comment and is now finally been finalized,” York said. “This is going extremely well. The meetings are very well attended, it’s very positive. We’re getting a lot done. It’s a very positive process right now.”

Rainy weather — though needed for brown lawns and thirsty crops — caused contractors to lose three and a half days of work. It’s “nothing out of the ordinary,” Bollin said.

Construction trailers are all in place, and remaining contractors are to bring in their trailers over the next couple of months, usually around August, York said. National Grid has yet to provide its design for getting power out to the site, he said.

“It's still in design and up in Albany, so we're still facing that. National Fuel did come out and walk the site. But they have not provided us anything for their design yet for the gas coming over to the proper foundation,” he said.  “All of the contractors and the design team are all working on the 3D model of the building, looking for clash infections and making sure that everything's going to fit. We're about a third of the way through that whole process.”

“If we didn't include that in the original bids, we didn't know what we're going to be encountering. Once we saw what the site was going to be like this was the best thing to do to create a stable work area so that the site's not muddy and progress would not be delayed by rain like this,” he said.

County Legislator Shelley Stein asked him what the greatest challenge has been. With little pause, he said “material availabilities.” Obtaining necessary materials has been difficult, and at times “we can’t even get sample kits,” he said.

“I’m most concerned about the National Grid and getting power to the site. Our switchgear getting here, and then the rooftop, those are our biggest worries. I mean right now that we've got time budgeted in the schedule for this, but if they start slipping, then those are all critical items that will directly impact the schedule.”

The new jail, adjacent to County Building 2 and Genesee County Animal Shelter on Route 5 in Batavia, is still on track for a March 2024 completion, Bollin said.

Photo: Mark Bollin, left, and Carl York discuss the progress of Genesee County Jail during the Public Services meeting this week. Photo by Joanne Beck.

Scott Francis McColl, 51, of Black Street Road, Pavilion, is charged with Felony DWI (alcohol or drugs), moving from lane unsafely, and operating an unregistered motorcycle. McColl was reportedly involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident at 8:56 p.m., July 14, on Summit Street Road Pavilion. McColl was arrested by Deputy Zachary Hoy following the accident and released on appearance tickets.

Ryan Austin Maxwell, 19, of Pratt Road, Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd. Maxwell is accused of harassment 2nd at 1:11 p.m., July 18.  No details were released on his alleged actions. He was arrested by Deputy Carlos Ortiz Speed and issued an appearance ticket.

This past year’s 4-H livestock auction contained some pretty lucrative creatures, Jocelyn Sikorski says.

The event raised “a quarter million dollars,” and included a pair of pricey foul.

“Two chickens sold for $752. I said, ‘how big are these chickens?’” she said during her report to Genesee County’s Public Service Committee Monday. “I’m excited and looking forward to next week.”

That auction was at the end of the 2021 Genesee County Fair, and, as a result of the pandemic, organizers had opted to go another way with a hybrid model. Sikorski, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension Genesee, believes that was key to offering bidders more flexibility to view the animals and bid on them, versus only being able to attend in person at a particular time and date.

“When COVID hit … in 2020 we had to go completely online for the auction, and our auctioneers were able to work with us and do that. So last year, we did a hybrid. Bidding started and people could actually see the livestock online prior, and start putting in their bids,” she said. “And (the auctioneer) actually operated it both live and virtual last year during the event, and I think that really boosted us.”

There was no fair in 2019, and Sikorski also believes that “people wanted to be back out in the community and supporting what was going on in Genesee County, and, really, the county fair last year was the first really big event.”

Before the pandemic, the auction was done in person at the fairgrounds on Route 5. After the success of this past one, the auction will once again be offered in hybrid form, Sikorski said.

The 4-H Market Animal Auction Program allows youth to raise poultry, beef steers, dairy steers, hogs, lambs, and goats for the purpose of selling in the auction at the fair, her report states. Youth gain hands-on experience raising animals while learning important life skills, and the program is “highly supported by local businesses and families,” it states.

Gross sales were “record-breaking,” with a total of $256,723.50 that came from the sale of 35 beef steers, four dairy steers, 16 goats, 52 hogs, 12 lambs and 36 pairs of meat chickens. A 4 percent commission is kept by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee to cover costs incurred with the program, and the remainder goes to the youth participants, she said.

Organizers are anticipating strong participation in 4-H during this year’s fair, and a new cycle will begin on Oct. 1.

The participation of kids with hogs, dairy steers and goats has increased from 2021, and the program is expanding to include rabbits this year. Entries include 79 hogs from 39 youth, which is the largest category of animals in 2022. Participation numbers for hogs, dairy steers and goats are increased from 2021, with beef, lambs and chickens remaining level. The program is expanding to include market rabbits this year, according to Sikorski’s report.

The live auction is to begin at 6:30 p.m. July 28 at the main show ring. To check it out online, go to 4-H Auction   

The fair, hosted by Genesee County Agricultural Society, runs from Saturday through July 30, with pre-event horse shows from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and fair queen pageant at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 22. Daily offerings include a balloon display and demonstration, pig racing, pony rides, Niagara Down Under, chain saw carving, radio-controlled car races and Johnny Muttville Comix.

Music entertainment includes Savage Cabbage on July 23, Wail-On Tribute to Waylon Jennings on July 24, karaoke on July 25 and 26, and Audibull on July 30. Many other attractions include a small fry tractor pull, racing at Genesee Speedway, a midway of rides, and many 4-H animal shows.

For the schedule and other details, go to Genesee County Fair or call the "Fair Phone" at (585) 344-2424.

In other news, Sikorski said that the Ag in the Classroom is becoming a “strong and powerful program,” with four public — Batavia, Elba, Byron-Bergen and Oakfield-Alabama — and one parochial -- St. Joe’s — school districts participating.

“I’m glad to hear it’s coming back,” Legislator Marianne Clattenburg said. “The kids really liked that program.”

File photos by Howard Owens.