Press release:

Purple Pony Therapeutic Horsemanship is holding a drive-thru parade event Saturday at its KD Ranch home in Le Roy to benefit Crossroads House.

Participants will get a gift bag as they enter the property and will stay in their vehicle as they drive thru and get to meet our COVID-19 masked therapy horses and handlers.

Riders, parents, volunteers and the public are invited.

At the end of the parade, each vehicle will drop off raffle tickets they have received and have a chance to donate to Crossroads House. This should be a very fun event.

What: Drive-thru parade meet the Purple Pony therapy horses and their handlers

Why: Benefit for Crossroads House

When: Saturday, May 9th from 10 a.m. to noon

Where: KD Ranch home of Purple Pony -- 8321 Lake Street Road, Le Roy

Press release:

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Congressman Antonio Delgado, and U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin announced Wednesday (May 6) new legislation, the Direct Support for Communities Act, which provides local governments with direct federal relief that can be used to pay for essential services and offset lost revenues and increased costs from the COVID-19 emergency.

This local assistance would complement critical relief that states also require in this crisis, which the representatives are simultaneously aggressively pursuing.

The representatives are concerned about the layoffs of public health care workers, firefighters, police, sanitation workers, teachers and other vital public servants in New York, and are fighting to ensure that all counties, cities, towns, and villages, regardless of size, have the financial resources necessary to continue to provide these necessary services and to avoid local tax and fee increases that will put more burden on already cash-strapped families and businesses in this crisis.

“Local governments are hamstrung trying to deal with lost revenue and mounting costs in the face of the pandemic,” Senator Schumer said. “Under our proposal, counties, cities, towns, and villages of all sizes could count on direct, guaranteed financial relief, instead of having to layoff vital workers, cut important services, or raise taxes and fees at absolutely the worst time.

"Local governments deserve nothing less than our strongest federal support, and I am doing everything I can to get significant and flexible federal aid to our states and local governments included in the next legislative package Congress considers.”

“Our local governments are facing unprecedented financial hardship, as the COVID-19 outbreak has caused costs to surge and revenue to dwindle," Senator Gillibrand said. "Direct federal relief for local governments is absolutely critical as they grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This smart and necessary proposal will ensure local governments have the resources to pay our first responders, health care workers, teachers, and public servants, and can continue serving our communities without raising taxes or fees. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this proposal is included in the next economic relief package.”

“Upstate New York is facing an urgent, immediate funding crisis," Congressman Delgado said. "Our counties and municipalities are laying off employees and the lack of funding going directly into local communities is jeopardizing the livelihood of our first responders, our emergency medical services, cops, teachers and more.

"We need to provide local government with funding expediently and I am glad to introduce a bipartisan, bicameral solution. This is one of many steps that must be taken to support our rural communities and to make sure that they are able to receive the essential services needed for sustainability during this public health emergency.”

“Our local governments have been on the frontlines in the battle against coronavirus, and they will be critical in finishing the fight on the ground,” Congressman Zeldin said. “In light of historic, enhanced budgetary shortfalls caused by this ongoing outbreak, we must ensure our local governments have the direct funding they need to recover fiscally.

"This bipartisan proposal helps deliver vital funding to counties, towns, cities and villages of all sizes so that we can ensure our communities emerge on the other side of this outbreak stronger than ever.”

“On behalf of the local governments, we commend Senate Leader Charles Schumer for standing up for the New York State and local taxpayers in the face of great adversity," said New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario. "Senator Schumer understands the severity of this public health crisis and the economic impact it is having on state and local government.

"County governments, as regional entities, are facing a potential loss of billions in revenue directly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales tax, tourism and hotel/motel occupancy tax, entertainment revenue from casinos, and numerous other local fees will all see dramatic decreases.

"Combined with looming state reimbursement cuts, local governments will be in dire straits and face an unprecedented fiscal storm, at the same time we are on the front lines battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Without critical federal assistance, the fiscal outlook for counties could become catastrophic. House Appropriations Chair Rep. Nita Lowey and the House Democrats will release their proposal to provide assistance to state, county and municipal governments.

"We also commend Senator Gillibrand, Rep. Antonio Delgado, and Rep. Lee Zeldin for introducing legislation providing direct aid to counties on the basis of population, with all counties receiving an award. This aid is necessary to establish a foundation for the reopening of our communities and county leaders are grateful for the historic leadership of the entire bipartisan NY Congressional Delegation speaking as one voice for the state of NY and all its local governments and we urge swift action by the Congress and the President.”

"The New York State Conference of Mayors thanks Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Representative Delgado, and Representative Zeldin for their support of a direct funding stream to all local governments,” said Peter A. Baynes, executive director, New York State Conference of Mayors.

“The allocation mechanism they have proposed will ensure that no community is left behind. Whether big or small, urban or rural, New York's cities, villages, counties and towns have collectively lost billions of dollars in revenue solely as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their local economies cannot restart, much less return to their previous condition, unless the federal government provides the funding necessary to offset local revenue lost by no fault of municipal leaders."

Under the "Direct Support for Communities Act," the local relief fund would be split 50/50, half committed to cities, towns and villages, and half committed to counties:

• Of the portion allocated for cities, towns, and villages, 70 percent would go to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement communities using the CDBG formula through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to allocate the funding.
• The remaining 30 percent for cities, towns, and villages would be send to states, which would be required to sub-allocate the entire amount within 30 days to all non-entitlement communities in the state based on population.
• The portion of emergency fiscal assistance for counties would be allocated across all counties based on population. The exception to that formula is that a current CDBG entitlement county would receive its entitlement amount if it is higher than what that county would receive under an allocation based on population.

Local governments would be able to use this federal relief to help address costs associated with lost revenues and response to the pandemic, in an effort to help avoid cuts to essential services and local tax and fee increases.

This proposed formula for local fiscal relief is intended to be incorporated into a larger legislative package that will also include significant fiscal relief for state, local, and tribal governments; retroactive availability to use the Coronavirus Relief Fund in the CARES Act for lost revenues; and other important matters.

Genesee County legislators are making it clear to their constituents that there is “no joy in Mudville” after having to strike out previously approved revenue distribution payments to towns and villages due to the financial devastation caused by COVID-19.

The Ways & Means Committee today, via Zoom videoconferencing, supported a new resolution that immediately rescinds measures passed in 2018 and 2019 that authorized the county treasurer to make annual payments – in quarterly amounts – to the towns and villages.

It will now be forwarded to the full legislature for voting, likely at its May 13^th meeting.

“The members of the legislature do not take this move lightly,” Committee Chair Marianne Clattenburg said. “These circumstances are really something that nobody could have foreseen. Hopefully, they’ll be limited in scope and we’ll get through this and we won’t have a go-around again, but we don’t even know if that’s the case right now.”

Clattenburg emphasized that legislators will stay in contact with town and village officials, adding that “when we are able to get back to them with some more revenue sharing, we will certainly have those conversations.”

The resolution refers to the sacrifices the county has had to make through this crisis, including: the elimination of multiple capital projects and asset acquisitions; instituting a hiring freeze; furloughing many (currently 48) employees; and cutting contracts and agreements with outside agencies.

Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein said they have no choice but to stop the payments until further notice in light of the uncertainty surrounding any aid from the federal or state government.

“Our responsibility is to stay abreast of the situation of where the revenue is coming from,” she said. “The county treasurer has been authorized to make these payments without any further action from the county legislature, and that is the purpose for rescinding these – to remove that authority from the treasurer. We understand that the COVID impact could be with us until 2024 and I think that we’re being generous with that timeframe right now.”

County Manager Jay Gsell cited a report released today by the New York State Association of Counties that, he says, points to “very severe and drastic prospects in the loss of sales tax and state aid.”

The report, Gsell said, predicts that Genesee County could lose from $4.2 million to $9.9 million in sales tax and from $3.3 million to $8.4 million in state aid depending upon the gravity of the economic condition at the state level.

“This is truly not a good 'new normal' but it is something we’re going to have to deal with,” Gsell said. “One of the small glimmers may or may not be federal stimulus 4.0. The U.S. Congress and the President effectuating what we know at the moment does include resources for state, counties, cities, towns and villages -- and that our state senators are solidly behind -- (would help to alleviate the local situation).”

Legislators John Hilchey and John Deleo agreed with the latest action.

“In light of the pandemic now, we can’t fulfill our obligations to those two resolutions of 2018 and 2019 and this gives us a chance to reset with us rescinding until further notice,” Hilchey said. “It’s something we have to do to get out from the obligations of those prior resolutions.”

Deleo said dealing with the potential cuts along with state mandates is discouraging.

“The thing is, we’ve always been very thrifty and frugal, and this is definitely unforeseen and this is going to hurt,” he said. “Now to have this thrusted upon us. With all the mandates that New York State kept throwing on us and now they’re going to cut even more, this is going to be one hell of a ride.”

Clattenburg said that municipalities have entered an “age of austerity … that needs to be across every level of government.”

“I think it needs to be in school districts, our towns and villages and in city budget. The recognition (must be realized) that for a lot of people life has changed dramatically. People are losing jobs and they might not get back those same jobs.”

For Stein, it’s a matter of the legislature living up to its obligations in the most effective fashion.

“We are sharing everything we that we know and being honest and transparent,” she said. “Our responsibility in the county is to provide public health and public safety and emergency operations here, and we are taking care of those responsibilities on behalf of the entire population and communities of Genesee County.”

Daily Briefing:

New Cases

• As of 2 p.m.
  • Genesee County received three new positive case of COVID-19, for a total of 157 positive cases.
    • Two of the positive cases reside in Pembroke and one resides in Batavia.
    • One individual is in their 20s and two of the individuals are in their 30s.
    • Two of the newly positive individuals were on quarantine prior to becoming symptomatic.
    • Zero of the previous positive cases have recovered and have been released from mandatory isolation.
    • Five of the total active positive cases are hospitalized.
    • We have removed a "positive / recovered" individual that was determined to be a false-positive result. Therefore, the total positive case number will be one less and has been adjusted in our data. No further information will be shared.
  • Orleans County received four new positive case of COVID-19, for a total of 109 positive cases.
    • Two of the new positive cases reside in Ridgeway and one of the new positive cases resides in Shelby.
    • One positive case resides at The Villages of Orleans Health & Rehabilitation Center.
    • The newly positive cases has one individual in their 40s, two individuals in their 50s and one individual in their 80s and older.
    • None of the community newly positive individuals were on quarantine prior to becoming symptomatic.
    • Eight of the total active positive cases are hospitalized.
    • We have also received word of another death of an individual who lived at The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center. Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of this individual at this very sad time.

Click here to view the Genesee and Orleans counties' online map of confirmed cases.

Looking to cut through the red tape, the New York State Department of Labor is starting what Commissioner Roberta Reardon terms a “streamlined process” to allow those who missed unemployment benefits because the certification process was not completed.

Reardon, addressing the news media by telephone this afternoon, said the agency is taking steps to get benefits to nearly a half million New York residents who failed to submit the federally mandated certifications along with the applications.

“Today, I am announcing that we will be launching a streamlined process for New Yorkers to submit previous week certifications online,” she said. “As part of this new process, we will directly email New Yorkers with missing certification from previous weeks to inform them of the situation and we will include in that email a secure form that they can use to submit their information – which we will verify, process and pay.”

The commissioner said the DOL has identified more than 470,000 New Yorkers with “completed, processed and payable unemployment benefit applications who did not submit certifications in previous weeks, effectively leaving their money on the table.”

This amounted to more than 697,000 missed certifications, she said, that, if received, would have totaled approximately $480 million in benefits.

“No one should miss out on their benefits because of red tape, including these federally mandated weekly certifications,” she said.

Reardon said the agency previously emailed 90,000 New Yorkers who had completed and processed claims but did not received funds due to an accompanying certification. Those with no email address would receive a phone call or, as a last resort, a letter in the mail.

She said that going forward, the fastest way to file is online by going to www.labor.ny.gov/signin.

Reardon also said the DOL will be releasing a “fact sheet” to inform people of their claim status.

“Many people have seen 'pending' as their status for far too long and I understand the anxiety that this can cause,” she said. “When you don’t know where you are in the process or why you are there, you feel powerless. This new resource will outline the main reasons why someone’s claim may be pending, so you can have a better sense of the work we are doing to process your application.”

Statistically, more than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance since the COVID-19 crisis began, including 1.6 million New Yorkers, Reardon said. As of today, the NYS DOL has paid $5.8 billion in unemployment benefits as a result of the pandemic.

“For context, we paid out $2.14 billion in unemployment benefits during the entirety of 2019,” she said. “That means in just two months we have paid out nearly three times the total level of benefits that we paid all last year.”

For nearly eight weeks, the nation’s economy has been ravaged by the coronavirus, making the phrase “business as usual” a thing of the past, at least for the foreseeable future.

Governmental leaders are facing momentous decisions pertaining to expenditures -- weighing what is absolutely necessary against what can wait until the smoke clears.

And business sectors such as furniture, gasoline, clothing, sporting goods, department stores and food service are experiencing sales decreases of 25 percent and more.

As New York State inches closer to the first of four phases to reopen the economy, The Batavian reached out to Genesee County Manager Jay Gsell today with five important questions – a “Q&A with Jay,” if you will – to provide readers with the current state of affairs at the local level.

What is Genesee County doing to prepare for town and village reopening?

The towns and villages and city and county are under the same general 50/50 essential workforce everybody else is pretty much either working from home or at home and so we've been working on that basis. Certain parts of our workforce and some of the other communities like the City and the Village of Le Roy, we have law enforcement and those kind of things, our health department and our EMS department. None of them have been, quote, unquote, not working.

Overall, the goal was to have the 50/50 proposition almost right out of the gate as far as the state was concerned. We've all been following that. Now, as we're starting to prepare for May 15th, every Saturday morning we have a conference call with all of the local elected officials, the City, towns and villages, county legislators and (Assistant Manager) Matt (Landers) and myself, (Health Director) Paul Pettit and (Emergency Management Services Coordinator) Tim Yaeger to just get a status report on what's going on. That's starting to focus on what kind of return to work guidance is there. It really doesn't seem to differ except for those of us who have highway departments because we can bring them back now anyway because they're considered both essential and also construction activity kind of projects.

Our county highway department came back full force this week, our facilities management people also -- half of them were staying home, week on week off -- the towns and villages and City are starting to look at changing that also and again following all the protocol. So that's why all of our conference calls on Saturday start with the public health director and with the emergency management people -- Do they need resources? Do they need masks and face coverings? Do they need PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and gloves and things like that? We try to do what we can to get that stuff in their hands -- distributing massive quantities of that kind of stuff to the extent that it's available.

And we also have to follow all the state guidelines with regard to social distancing, protective equipment, washing hands, not touching face. Even as we start to bring and plan for our office people and DSS (Department of Social Services) and Mental Health people, starting to bring them back in much greater numbers, we all have to have a plan to protect them and to deal with our clients and the customers.

At this point (furloughed employees) will not return for the first 30 days -- and that's presuming that May 15th is the date. Even the recovery restart, even in a region like Finger Lakes, could take upwards of a month just to get through the phases that they've outlined as to which businesses can or can't come back. We are putting together our internal plan ... for both our workforce and the public will deal with each other going forward.

How is Genesee County supporting the work of the City, neighboring counties?

I have daily conversations with (City Manager) Marty Moore and our department people communicate with each other – Human Resources, assistant county and assistant city manager, people like that -- and also with the counties and the whole statewide association, NYSAC (New York State Association of Counties), which has been very engaged. There's at least one or two or sometimes three phone calls a week with regard to what the rest of us are doing.

Sharing plans, sharing information -- we do that ad nauseum. It's not academia so plagiarism is not really a concern. If somebody's got a good plan, we just do it -- take from each other and those kind of things. So, we've been doing that consistently right from the get-go. Our friends from NYSAC from a statewide standpoint and us have interacted and interfaced with the governor's office and his executive staff that are out at this end of the state ... and in Albany, there's a daily COVID-19 conference call and it's been that way for the last five or six weeks.

That gives us information but also allows us to ask questions -- could you check this out and could you dispel this myth? -- things of that nature. When we get clarity, we pass that on to others of us who are of that (mindset) "inquiring minds want to know."

As specifically as possible, what is the fiscal impact of the pandemic upon Genesee County?

That's a really big unknown ... Right now, it has been suggested by our NYSAC colleagues that we can see anywhere from a 5 to a 25 percent reduction in sales tax, starting probably in the reporting period that covers the month of April going forward, but we don't know that yet. So, that could be anywhere from $3.6 million to $11 million in potential lost revenue just in 2020 in the county for sales tax.

Then we've lost DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) revenue -- already probably about $80,000 of what we get to keep from the hundreds of thousands of dollars that we normally process on a monthly basis just in the first three months since this started. Mental Health has lost about $96,000 in billable hours of service. Now, they're still doing tele-health and in some emergency cases, they're still dealing directly with clients, but there has been a significant loss as far as contact, in terms of therapies and other things that, again, has been quantified to the tune of about $96,000 year to date from March 1st.

Same thing, I know the county treasurer in regard to what he has invested. There have obviously been lost earning opportunities with our investment portfolio through the three+one program that (County Treasurer) Scott (German) has been using for the past couple years. And there are other fees and charges such as health department fees for events like the Rotary pancake breakfast where charges for permits are incurred. Events that have been cancelled will mean a loss of revenue there; we haven't quantified that yet because really the start hasn't happened.

Even park reservations -- that's a really big thing. We'd like to think that after May 15th we'll see some pick up there, but again with all the conditions and the protocols, it will not likely be what it's been in years past as far as the number of reservations and the finances that go with that.

How is Genesee County bracing for cuts in revenue and state reimbursement?

We have put on hold or rolled over to another year probably about a million dollars’ worth in the county highway department, basically capital projects and activities that (County Highway Director) Tim (Hens) and company were going to be engaged in during this 2020 calendar year.

The uncertainty there -- in addition to that and including some airport construction -- is how much of the CHIPS (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program) funding and the extreme weather funding that was in the New York State budget that was adopted on April 1^st, how much if any of that gets reduced when the governor and the budget director come out -- probably this week -- with their first hit. Loss of state revenue means loss of state aid to everybody else. That's a really big unknown.

Plus, we’ve got 48 people approximately on furlough and we have another 44 positions on the strategic hiring freeze; together those things represent about $200,000 a month in expenses we're not incurring. And we're also looking at what else we can do to rein in other expenses.

It's on multiple fronts and this is just to get through the next 30, 60, 90 days. Then when we start putting together a 2021 budget, things may carry on from here right into that process and throughout that year.

How important is the need for federal funding for Genesee and other counties in New York State?

That's for all local governments because there is a palpable loss of revenue. The way that the (federal stimulus) 4.0 is apparently being structured, there will be the opportunity for New York State county governments, city governments, and town and village governments who are not part of the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) entitlement program in this next round of stimulus funding to actually receive direct aid -- not going through the State of New York, but direct aid because of the fed stim 4.

So, what that could mean, obviously is, to a certain extent based on the figures we just talked about, some part of those would be potentially backdropped (to local governments) by virtue of this federal stimulus money. The problem is ... we have a range of options. You can go from just getting a crew cut in terms of revenue loss to a literal beheading -- and right now the beheading looks a lot more probable than the crew cut with regard to state aid, state reimbursement, loss of sales tax and what may or may not be coming out of the federal stimulus program. That's something that hopefully we will know by the end of the month of May.

But even today as you look at the back and forth between the federal government and the House versus the Senate, and in some cases, the governors, it's very partisan and quite ugly with regard as to where do we fit in to what is supposed to be a revenue replacement program coming out of fed stim 4.

To summarize, there are significant cautions and concerns out there, and there are a few opportunities and hopeful horizons. We are planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) Board of Directors will consider a proposal from Bright Oak Solar LLC for a 4-megawatt community solar project at the GCEDC’s May 7 board meeting.

The proposed $6 million project would be located on Galloway Road in the Town of Batavia.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be conducted via conference and online at www.gcedc.com. The meeting starts at 4 p.m.

Bright Oak Solar LLC is the sixth community solar project proposed to the GCEDC board in 2020. If the project is approved, the projects combined would generate approximately $28 million of capital investments in the County ultimately generating up to 26 megawatts of solar energy.

The proposed incentives would set PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) payments over the next 15 years, which are estimated to generate $122,610 in revenues to Genesee County and $257,845 in revenues to the Oakfield-Alabama Central Schools.

The total increase in PILOT payments and real property taxes for the project is estimated at $394,139 over 15 years.

If the project’s application is accepted, a public hearing would be held in advance of a final resolution for project incentives.

Lydia Geiger is the second winner of a 2020 John Mikulski Scholarship announced by the Genesee Wyoming Music Educators Association. 

Geiger is a senior at Batavia High School. Her primary interest is flute.

Press release:

When asked what her greatest HS memory was Lydia responded: 
College visits and auditions, masterclasses, lessons, and playing in orchestras.

Lydia's goal is to become a music educator and performer.

When asked what her favorite performance venue she had performed at she responded: 
The Musical Arts Center at The Jacobs School of Music in 2018 with the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic Orchestra. We performed Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5.

Lydia's main influences are her music teachers.

Lydia is undecided as to where she will be attending school for Music however she has these amazing colleges to choose from: 
Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Ithaca College, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, or SUNY Potsdam.

Lydia is very excited to be performing at the Wiener Musikverein in Vienna, Austria with the Honors Performance Series in 2021.

          Roy Watson

A 51-year-old Rochester man was arrested Monday on drug charges following a traffic stop on Route 98 in Batavia by members of the Local Drug Task Force.

Roy L. Watson is charged with:

• Criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd;
• Criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th;
• Driver's view obstructed;
• Unauthorized sticker;
• Possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Watson was allegedly found in possession of crack cocaine.

Following arraignment in Batavia City Court, Watson was released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

The Drug Task Force was assisted by State Police, the Sheriff's Office, Deputy Chris Erion and K-9 "Frankie," and the District Attorney's Office.

The Volunteers For Animals need to find barn homes for kitties Precious and George. There is no adoption fee for them.

Precious is a beautiful brindle tiger, sweet and friendly "on her own terms," but like all of us, she "has her moments." Doubtful? Just meet that unwincing deadeye stare of hers.

They say she has really made progress but would probably do best with some independent time on her own. 

George is rather pugilistic looking, a veteran of the strife of survival. He was rescued by some very nice and decent people and came in quite skinny, dirty and sick.

The champ is doing much better but is used to the outdoors and would be happier in that setting.

Both cats have been tested, vaccinated and spayed/neutured.

The volunteers aren't asking for the world, just good shelter, food, water and some human companionship.

If you can do right by these creatures of the good Earth, please call the Genesee County Animal Shelter at (585) 343-6410, option 7, or email:   info@vol4animals.org

The Genesee County Animal Shelter is located 3841 W. Main Street Road, Batavia.

Adoption Hours:
Sunday - Friday 1 - 3 p.m. (closed on Thursdays)
Wednesday 7 - 9 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

"When you adopt a shelter pet you help to save two lives: the one you bring home and the one who takes its place."

Press release:

A new television ad released by the Jacobs Campaign will highlight President Trump’s “complete endorsement” of Chris Jacobs for New York’s 27th Congressional District.

In his endorsement of Jacobs, the President stated, “Chris will be a great Congressman who will always fight for the people of New York. He supports our MAGA Agenda, will continue to secure our border, loves our military, vets, and is strong on the [Second Amendment].”

“I’m deeply grateful and proud to be the only candidate with his endorsement," Jacobs said. "The President is working tirelessly to defeat COVID-19 and the challenges it has created.

"While Democrats, like Nate McMurray and Nancy Pelosi, are abusing the situation to advance their radical socialist agenda -- I look forward to joining President Trump on June 23rd and getting right to work fighting for the people of Western New York and helping the President get tough on China, secure our borders, and rebuild our economy.” 

A caller reports smoke coming from the back of a residence in the area 6966 Swamp Road, Byron.

Byron and South Byron fire departments dispatched.

UPDATE 8:49 a.m.: Working trailer fire at 6966 Swamp Road. Second alarm sounded. Oakfield, Bergen, Elba, Stafford, and City of Batavia FAST team dispatched.

UPDATE 8:56 a.m.: Fire police requested to shut down traffic on Swamp Road between Hessenthaler Road and Pocock Road. The trailer is reportedly unoccupied.

UPDATE 9 a.m.: City fire's Fourth Platoon recalled to city headquarters.

UPDATE 9:16 a.m.: Fire is out.

The Batavia City School District Board of Education tonight postponed adopting the 2020-21 budget for two weeks in anticipation of receiving word from Albany on the amount of state aid it will receive.

Over the past few weeks, district officials have had to take drastic measures to close a $1.6 million budget gap, most notably the elimination of about 30 jobs across the district. They still were about $47,000 short of reaching what is a “negative” tax cap (minus .38 percent) before making some more changes earlier today.

Those adjustments determined the tenure status of five elementary teachers who also are certified to teach reading, at a cost of $130,382, and scaled back three BOCES programs – alternative education, Instructional Support Services and model schools -- resulting in a savings of $177,649.

This enabled the district to hit the desired target, which unfortunately has been a moving target. However, with the state aid situation in flux, further financial modifications may have to be made.

Subsequently, Business Administrator Scott Rozanski recommended that the board wait until news of additional state aid adjustments and call another meeting to adopt the $51.4 million budget on May 19, two days before the deadline.

Board President Patrick Burk, mindful that district residents and media were watching the proceedings, explained how the board has reached this point.

“The current budget shows the decrease in state aid … through the budget that has been proposed to the state, which is $453,327, on top of the flat expenditure from the governor’s budget, and we have had a couple of questions that can be explained a little bit further,” he said.

Burk said the board was informed that the district would be getting an increase of $800,000 in state aid, based on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s first abstract of the budget.

“Since then … state aid is actually minus $453,327 as opposed to a plus $800,000,” he said. “On top of that, we were working with an unknown tax cap that, rightly or wrongly, the assumption in the past has at least given us some leeway in letting us raise some increase in taxation, although in our past years, it’s been relatively modest.”

He added that by the time the district’s tax cap was determined, the board “realized we were at a negative tax cap, and there goes some revenue that could possibly have been raised through the tax cap – and we ended up with a minus between $7,500 and $8,000 tax cap.”

Burk said he expects further state aid reductions that will affect the 2019-20 district budget – the first of the state’s four specified “measurement periods” is set for this month – but has not received word if any current year reductions would carry over to 2020-21. Any cuts in 2019-20 state aid would have to be made up by tapping into reserves, he said.

After that, Burk recommended that the board push the budget adoption meeting to May 19 “so we can know what the reduction will be for the current year and whether or not that is going to impact the 2020-21 year.”

His suggestion was accepted by the board.

Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. said he agreed with the decision, adding that conversations are taking place with state education officials this week, which leads him to believe actual monetary amounts will be revealed soon.

He also mentioned the “political posturing” that is going on between the governor and President Trump in regard to the possibility of a federal stimulus bill to support states and localities.

“The hope is that we get something, but I just want everyone to be reminded that when the new budget was proposed, there was already a pandemic adjustment line in there that literally washed itself out … if we do get a bailout, I don’t necessarily think it will help us, I hope it will,” Soler said. “But I think they already have preplanned a lot of this stuff and we’re caught in some of that political posturing that goes on.”

In other developments:

-- The board tabled decisions on a $618,000 capital project to construct an age-appropriate playground at Jackson Primary School and a singular $100,000 capital outlay project at either Jackson, Batavia High School or Batavia Middle School.

Burk said that the current playground at Jackson is for intermediate or elementary pupils, not primary, and that capital project funds can't be transferred into the general fund.

Rozanski said that the capital outlay proposal comes with a 90 percent aid appropriation, reducing the district’s final cost to $10,000. He also noted that the capital outlay program, in its fifth year, identifies one location and is completed by a general contractor.

Eventually, the board will decide on one of these three options:

-- Jackson Primary: New restroom in the gymnasium;
-- Batavia High: New stage floor and new clocks;
-- Batavia Middle: Exterior doors and landscaping.

-- The board did approve taking $55,720 from the district’s repair reserve fund (which was at $173,782) to replace the gymnasium floor at the high school, a move that followed a public hearing at which no public comments were submitted.

Rozanski said the work will level the gym floor and eliminate the “dead spots.”

-- Burk said the budget vote and school board election will be done totally by a mail-in ballot, with postage paid envelopes to be mailed to district residents after May 19^th and before June 9^th.

Burk said it will cost $1.16 for every ballot – possibly as much as $32,000 total – since law prohibits electronic balloting. He said that the Richmond Memorial Library ballots will be included with the school’s ballots.

The board meeting took place via videoconference on the board’s website YouTube channel -- www.bataviacsd.org.

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Daily Briefing:

• As of 2 p.m.
  • Genesee County received one new positive case of COVID-19. for a total of 155 positive cases.
    • The positive case resides in Darien.
    • The positive case is in their 80s.
    • The newly positive individual was not on quarantine prior to becoming symptomatic.
    • Three of the previous positive cases have recovered and have been released from mandatory isolation.
    • Five of the total active positive cases are hospitalized.
• Orleans County received three new positive case of COVID-19, for a total of 105 positive cases.
  • The three positive cases reside at The Villages of Orleans Health & Rehabilitation Center.
  • The newly positive cases has one individual in their 70’s and one individual in their 80’s and one individual in their 90s and older.
  • Six of the total active positive cases are hospitalized.

Click here to view the Genesee and Orleans counties online map of confirmed cases.

Interview with James Kennedy, WNY U.S. Attorney.

Batavia Society of Artists produced this video for their annual spring art show, this time, as a virtual tour of submitted works.