City Fire

WBTA's Dan Fischer broke the story: the city of Batavia has a new fire chief. Thomas Dillon was appointed to the position Tuesday morning. Dillon has been retired from the city of Rochester Fire Department for eight years. He was a deputy fire chief there.

City Manager Jason Molino told Fischer that Dillon was picked among a candidate pool of 15, and he will start work on September 17 at a salary of $75,192. Molino also spoke of Dillon's experience at a larger department.

Batavia's town fire crew is raffling off one mean, chrome chopper this Saturday, and tickets were only $20 a pop — they sold out this morning! For a couple of sawbucks some lucky duck will take home a 105th Anniversary Limited Edition Harley Davidson Fatboy — and for those who know, that's one sweet bike.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will benefit the town of Batavia Fire Department. This is their 9th annual Harley Davidson drawing, and the event Saturday marks their only fundraiser for the year.

But wait, that's not all!

The raffle is really only the icing on the cake for an event that kicks off at 7:00pm under the tent at the town fire department's Rec Hall at 8380 Lewiston Road (across from K-Mart and just down the road from Batavia Downs). They'll also be serving up hotdogs, burgers and grilled sausage (for a few bucks). Beer and pop will also be available, plus a 50/50 raffle, plus pull-tabs, plus... music: 7th Heaven will take the stage around 8:00pm and rock out the evening.

Admission to the event is free. You don't need to buy a raffle ticket to attend. But anyone under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

From the Daily News (Tuesday):

• Genesee County Emergency Management is hosting a firefighter boot camp at its office on State Street Road over the next few weeks. The camp that started Monday and continues through to graduation on July 11 is an intensive 90-hour course designed for students to get all the requirements they need for level one firefighter training. Emergency Management Coordinator Timothy Yaeger told reporter Scott DeSmit that the camp is the "first of its kind in New York state."
• Joanne Beck put together a pair of comprehensive articles about last night's City Council meeting. The Batavian featured a post last night on the debate over youth football. Beck has a good summary of Council's business on the front page. Check that out, if you're interested.

As a footnote here, I must admit I'm confused by Beck's lede in the article titled: "Some are hoping for a greener city." She writes: "City Council's review of tree removal companies turned into a desire to go green Monday evening."

That really isn't true.

Nobody on Council talked about going green. Rather, the discussion was about some on Council not wanting to see too many trees cut down in the city. Marianne Clattenburg put it pretty literally when she said that tree removal in the city seems to be decided by which streets have power lines underground and which have them above ground, the latter losing their trees because of it.

I've seen this often lately that when people talk about anything associated with plant life or anything that's pro-environment, other people slap on the rubric 'going green' when it really isn't correct. Not wanting to cut down trees is not the same as wanting to go green. A 'greener city' meant literally that last night: more green. 'Going green,' on the other hand, is more of a conservation movement that at its core means a push toward more natural living and the purging of harmful synthetics — you know, bringing your own reusable cloth bags to the supermarket instead of getting plastic bags every time and then throwing them out. It means reducing or eliminating pollution and being more waste conscious.

Unfortunately, what started as the slogan for a conservation movement has turned into a catch phrase. It's becoming more and more clichéd and senseless and is being used as exactly that, a phrase intended to catch people's attention. It's a marketing tool.

I wouldn't mind hearing Council talk about going green for real. But in the meantime, can't we just let the conversation about not cutting down trees be about the trees?

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Reports have come in this morning that county fire crews are containing a gas leak at a home near Genesee Community College. A representative at the Genesee County Sheriff's Office confirmed the reports.

Drivers should be aware that some stretches of the roads around the intersection of Assemblyman R. Stephen Hawley Drive and Batavia-Stafford Townline Road will be temporarily closed while crews resolve the situation.

No word yet on how long the road closures will last, but if you're heading that way this morning drive cautiously and expect detours.

Another day of sun and blue skies. Another day of running all over the city plugging in connections.

First stop: the Batavia Fire Department. Chief Larry Smith was kind enough to come out for a curt yet pleasant introduction. He passed me off to Sally Hilchey — officially the "senior typist" of the department, though it seems like she does a lot more than type. She'll be passing on any department updates to us, so expect instant communication from that side of the public safety duo. As for the other half...

Second stop: the Batavia Police Department (third time). Unfortunately, Lt. Eugene Jankowski was out on SWAT training this morning and couldn't yet green light my hopeful connection with the department. He should be back to me by late afternoon (I hope).

Third stop: back to City Hall. I'm still waiting to hear back from City Manager Jason Molino. In the meantime, I thought to stop by the Public Works department and see if we could get updates from them on construction and maintenance projects around the city. We'll have to get Jason's approval for that. So I tried to catch him in person, but he was tied up on a call.

Fourth stop: I couldn't drive by this sculpture another time without stopping by and getting the story. No one was home. Maybe we'll hear from the artist another time.

Fifth stop: Richmond Memorial Library. I met with Library Director Diana Wyrwa who was kind and helpful. Looks like we'll be getting regular updates from their corner. Plus, we will have the results of the library budget vote as soon as the ballots are counted. Look for that post tomorrow evening.

The title of the video says it's from 2007, but it was uploaded just yesterday. It looks like it's coverage of a training exercise.