On a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the Batavia City Council agreed to move ahead with the formation of a citizen task force to study the future of the headquarters for the Batavia Police Department.
The task force will be asked to look at options that include building a new station at one of five different locations or remodeling the existing headquarters, which is currently in the former Brisbane Mansion on West Main Street.
The commission will be comprised of one appointee from each of the city council wards, one business owner within the Business Improvement District, one business owner outside the BID and one city resident with a financial background, for a total of nine members.
Police Chief Shawn Heubusch will be a non-voting member and attend meetings to provide feedback and guidance on local law enforcement needs and limitations related to a police station.
Interested residents can apply through the city's Web site or the city clerk's office. Council members representing wards will receive copies of the applications from residents within their wards and can provide feedback and recommendations on the candidates. The final selection will be up to council members Patti Pacino, John Deleo and Kathy Briggs.
The BID member will be selected by the director of the district, and the non-bid member will be selected by the Chamber of Commerce president.
The appointments are expected to be final by the council's November meeting.
On Tuesday, the council also approved, on a 6-3 vote, the expenditure of $100,000 for a consultant to update the city's master plan.
A master plan is a community's primary development document and sets both strategy and guidelines for growth. The city last updated its master plan in 1996.
Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian expressed concern that not all of the items in the 1996 plan were completed and that this isn't a good economic time to spend money.
"People are moving out of our community," she said. "We need to be careful what we're spending our money on."
Joining Christian in voting no were Kathy Briggs and John Deleo.
The selection method for the
The selection method for the task force sure sounds unbiased... ???
After hiring an Assistant
After hiring an Assistant City Manager less than 6 months ago, we have to still spend $100,000 on another consultant. At least three members tried to stop this waste.