batavia

Emergency crews on are scene of a two-car, roll over accident at Ellicott and Jackson in Batavia. No word on injuries at this time.

UPDATE: There were actually three vehicles involved in the accident. The overturned Toyota was reportedly driven by Janet Douglas, 47, of Wyoming. The other vehiclesere a 2003 Jeep driven by E.A. Geandreau, 16, of Highland Park, and a 2002 Chevy pick up driven by Charles Baxter, 64, of Akron. 

Matthew Kyle Johnson, 21, of 2509 E. Main Road, Pembroke, is charged with petit larceny. Johnson is accused of stealing a mobile phone while employed at Darien Lake Theme Park.

Kenneth R. MacGreagor, 23, of Cheektowaga, is charged with false personation and having no motor vehicle license. MacGreagor was stopped at 1:30 p.m. Thursday by State Police on Stephen Hawley Drive in the Town of Batavia.

Yesterday’s poll showed that most people approve of the School’s plan to fix up their fields at North Street Extension.  A similar poll conducted less than a month ago seemed to indicate that the majority did not favor the improvement plan.  As I considered the drastic change in public opinion regarding the use of those fields, I couldn’t help but wonder what was different now compared to a few weeks ago.  Could it be that the information previously provided by City Council members (Bill Cox and Rose Mary Christian) failed to reflect the facts as presented on 10/6/09 by the School Board?

Many people have expressed the desire for a developer to build more houses in the City in order to increase the tax base and help relieve the burden on the rest of us.  That, of course, would require additional home owners to come to Batavia.  Right now, developers have the opportunity to extend streets in the First Ward such as Carolwood, Garden, Harold Square and North Street yet they have not.  One reason may be the high cost of the infrastructure which makes a new building lot so expensive.  Of course, basic economics tells us that when the customer wants the product bad enough, he will pay more.  The prospective homeowner would have to want to come to Batavia.

So you have to ask yourself, what’s wrong with Batavia?  It’s a 30 minute commute to most of Rochester and some of Buffalo.  Crime is low, the schools are good, shopping is plentiful, restaurants are nice and Main Street actually looks good.  We have programs for adults and kids interested in sports and theater.  Could it be a lack of parks for our kids?  Hmmmm. 

The City published a report several years ago that said there were not enough parks in Batavia.  Since then, Dewitt Park was developed in the Sixth Ward and it serves the community well as a partial remedy to the shortage.  The First Ward lacks a City park but does have John Kennedy School on the Western border.  The Eastern side of the Ward is ripe for development but lacks a park.  I have heard that the City’s master plan calls for a park on the Eastern side of the First Ward to serve residents in the area.

If we ever expect to attract homeowners to Batavia, we need to provide the services they want.  We should follow the City’s existing plan and extend the streets (North and Garden), create the park (that the School District has planned) and enable our current developers to more affordably build those new houses that will increase our tax base.

I submit that one of the few things wrong with Batavia is a hesitancy to look forward and make decisions that will grow the community.

In a year in which New York has seen growth in lottery revenue, Batavia Downs is among the most successful video gaming facilities in the state, reports the Ithica Journal:

The largest was a 10 percent revenue increase at Batavia Downs Race Track, which is owned by Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Western OTB was criticized when it bought the track in the late 1990s, but the success of the terminals has offset losses on the racing side, allowing Western OTB in recent years to return profits to the counties it serves.

Western OTB has had about $250,000 in losses at its betting branches this year, but has had a profit of about $1.5 million at the video-lottery facility, which has 605 machines, officials said.

Overall in New York, video lottery terminal sales grew 3.3 percent in the first half of the fiscal year. Mega Millions sales were up 37 percent.

The trend across most of the rest of the nation for state-run lotteries has been downward.

The Genesee Country Farmer’s Market is celebrating fall on October 9 with a visit from the Volunteers for Animals adoption van and Upstate Niagara Milk. Visitors to the market can stop by the VFA booth from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. for information about adopting a pet.

Applications will be available for pet adoptions. If anyone is interested in adopting a pet, “they can complete the application and then follow up at the shelter,” according to Volunteers for Animals’ Wendy Castleman.

Weather will be a deciding factor in what type of animals will be at the market. “If the weather is bad or too cold, cats will not be crazy about an outdoor event,” Castleman said.

Since the number of pets changes daily, Castleman hopes to bring several kittens and a few dogs. Photos of all shelter animals will be posted so visitors can see every pet that is available for adoption. Additionally, raffle tickets to the Volunteers for Animals annual Fur Ball will be for sale as well as VFA t-shirts.  

The Upstate Farms events truck will be handing out free samples of their newest flavor,  Buffalo Bills Birthday Cake, in celebration of the Bills' 50th Season. Dubbed “cake in a bottle”, there is a limited supply of this specialty milk.

Other samples that will be available at the market include their popular line of “Intense” milks in chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. The Intense chocolate variety is made with imported cocoas, real sugar, and fresh milk. Vanilla and Strawberry use “the finest vanilla and strawberry flavors to provide a delicious and nutritious beverage with an intense taste,” according to Upstate Farms representatives. Samples will be available from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

As always, visitors to the market can stop by the Niagara Wine Trail for free samples of local wine. MarJim Manor and Niagara Landing Winery will have offer taste-tests of their popular labels.

According to farmer’s market manager, Patty Hawley, “Now is the perfect time to stock up for holiday celebrations or gift-giving by picking up a few bottles of local wine.” Other vendors at the market include Christ Farms (produce), Renko Meats (handmade sausage/jerky), Flower Fields (fresh & dried flowers), Perl’s Maple Farms (Maple Syrup products), Schwab’s Bakery (baked goods), S & T Christ Farms, (produce), Fenton Farms (produce), Schwab Farms (produce), Librock Meats (all-natural beef), Partyka Farms (produce), Sanger Farms (produce), Genesee Valley Coffee (specialty coffe & tea), and Halat Farms (produce).

The Genesee Country Farmer’s Market is open from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays until October 30. For more information contact Paul Fenton at 585.356.2358 or Patty Hawley at 585.343.3329.

A Food 4 Less delivery truck apparently became stuck in Batavia's Oak Street roundabout this morning.

The police officer who responded reported back to dispatch about 20 minutes later, "Clear CAD. No report. If they drive over the stamped portion of the concrete, they should be OK."

Timothy K. Bump, 39, of 3207 Pratt Road, Lot #23, Batavia, is charged with a felony count of DWI, aggravated DWI with a BAC of .08 or greater, and failure to reduce speed for hazard. Bump was allegedly driving on Slusser Road in Pembroke yesterday at 5:10 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle and hit a guard rail. No injuries were reported in the accident and no other vehicles were apparently involved. Deputy Patrick Reeves investigated the incident.

Michael Baldwin, 41, of 15 Maple St., Batavia, is charged with assault. Baldwin was arrested for an alleged incident Monday at 5:50 a.m. in which Baldwin is accused of throwing items from a shelf and recklessly causing injury to another person. That person was initially treated at UMMC and then transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital. Baldwin was jailed without bail. Officer E.E. Bolles investigated the alleged incident.

Lindsey Goins, 53, of 131 State St., Batavia, is charged with menacing, endangering the welfare of a child and disorderly conduct. Goins is accused of causing a disturbance on State Street at 3:40 p.m. on Tuesda. Goins allegedly shouted obscene language in the presence of children and threatened others with a pocketknife. Goins was jailed without bail. The alleged incident was investigated by Officer Matthew Baldwin.

Chad D. Crawford, 31, of 3 Cedar St., Batavia, is charged with menacing and harassment. Crawford allegedly had physical contact with another person and threatened that person with a knife. Crawford was jailed on $1,500 bail. The alleged incident was investigated by Officer K.M. DeFelice.

Jenna Marie Hattaway, 22, 113 Jackson St., Apt. 2, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt and harassment. Hattaway is accused of throwing a radio antenna at another person. The court had previously issued an order of protection instructing Hattaway to have no offensive conduct toward that person. Hattaway was jailed on $500 bail. Deputy James Diehl investigated the incident.

A tree limb has fallen and knocked down a poll and transformer in the area of 4 Jackson Ave., Batavia. There is a report of a potential fire.

At the same time, there was a report of wires are down in the area of 18 Evans St., Batavia, but Ladder 15 responded and reports the street is clear.

Engine 12 has responded to Jackson Avenue and reports "sparks are flying."

UPDATE: Jackson and Kibbe avenues are being blocked. The fire captain on scene has asked that Jackson School prevent kids from coming down Jackson Avenue.

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You could say it's a tale of two cities -- the city that says there are not enough athletic fields for our youths interested in organized sports, and the city that says there's plenty of fields and what's really needed is to preserve the peace and quite of at least one neighborhood.

It's doubtful either side heard the other at tonight's special school board meeting on the proposed North Street Extension athletic fields, but at least the conversation was civil for the more than two hours as board members sat and listened to residents on both sides make their points and ask their questions.

"(The meeting) was pretty much what we expected," said Superintendent Margaret Puzio after the meeting. "We hoped to give people an opportunity to come out and express their opinion, to get the facts, to see what we were planning to do and what our proposal looked like and to comment on it, and that’s what we got."

Some 80 to 100 people showed up for the meeting in the Batavia High School auditorium and it would be hard to say that one side was better represented than the other.

For the most part, you had residents of the North Street area looking to preserve the neighborhood as they know it and on the other you had youth sport coaches and a few concerned parents who don't live in the neighborhood decrying the lack of adequate sports fields in Batavia.

Though there were surprises, such as the high school coach who lives on North Street and opposes the idea of putting new athletic fields in his back yard, and the North Street resident who supports the concept.

"What we’re talking about here is a quality of life issue," said Mike Freeman. "My house is immediately adjacent to this property. I’m one of only 13 residents who look out their back yard into this property. I would gladly see this fixed up and made into a park and into athletic fields so that the people who currently use it do not have to park along people’s driveways and in front of their houses and on their grass."

More typical of the area residents was Jerry Reinhardt, who said with the limited use of the area for athletics now, he's constantly picking up trash and dealing with too much traffic in the neighborhood. He said he tried to purchase the land for development 15 years ago, but his offer was rejected.

“If the school board has listened to me then, they would have gotten more than $1.2 million in taxes so far,”  Reinhardt said.

For the coaches, more than a dozen spoke about an increase in youth sports activity and the need for better facilities.

“I keep hearing of decline, but this season, we had the most kids register for soccer ever," said Jeremy Havens, president of the Genesee Amateur Soccer Association. "We had 483 to be exact. That’s 38 teams playing at five different place in Batavia."

Havens said the number of youths participating would be even higher, but "parents can only be in one place at one time." Since kids of different age brackets play on different fields, parents have to choose which child gets to play, or not, or maybe neither child can participate since the parent would have to choose.

One centralized large facility would help, he suggested.

For Lacrosse coach Will Mulcahy, the problem is the only place his team has to practice in early March isn't really suitable for athletic activity at that time of year.

"As many of you know, our school was built on a marsh, basically," said Mulcahy. "In early march, even the area that we’ve been allotted --  I won’t even call a field -- is a swamp. The kids are some times two- or three-inches deep in mud. It’s not a practical place to practice. Then we’re driven into the gym where a little warmer-weather sports -- like tennis and baseball -- are practicing, so we compete for space with them.

"Lacrosse really needs to be outdoors. We need a field that is well drained where we can get on it really in the first of March so we can prepare properly to play the teams that have fields that are adequate."

Before the public comment portion of the meeting, Puzio presented several slides that provided details of the district's proposal, or what she said is really only a concept at this stage.

The facility would include a playground, restrooms with lockers and showers, 152 parking spaces, a concession area, walking paths and it would immediately open up adjacent lots for development, she said. Contrary to a persistent rumor, there are no plans for lighted fields, she said.

She also pointed out that over the past several years, participation in school sports has risen from 40 percent of the eligible students (499) to 55 percent (596). Part of that increase is the addition of more sports, such as Lacrosse in 2005, and Title IV requirements that both boys and girls be afforded the opportunity to play the same sports.

Ward 1 Councilman Bill Cox, who has taken up the mantle of champion for the residents who oppose the athetic fields, spoke first.He presented a petition signed by 180 residents in his ward.

"Your study is badly flawed and illogical," Cox said, citing declining enrollment at a time when the district says it needs more athletic facilties.

Council members Rose Mary Christian and Bob Bialkowski also spoke in opposition to the proposal. Bialkowski said the proposal will likely be a further burden on taxpayers when the property is already a financial drain on the city.

“We’re already paying for this now," Bialkowski said. "This property has been off the tax roles for many years and it’s been costing the taxpayers of this community quite a bit of money. Too many properties not paying taxes -- it’s really starting to strangle the community."

The idea that the property should be sold and developed into taxable housing was raised more than once during the evening, which eventually prompted Board Member Patrick Burk to point out that the district has already tried to sell the property to developers twice. Once when voters rejected the proposed sale in a referendum, and once when all the bids came in much to low to accept any of them.

The point was also made that such a construction project would carry with it a greater tax burden for construction of infrastructure, plus -- just how much demand for new housing is there in Batavia?

During the presentation, Puzio noted that if the project is fully funded by grants, the district need not bring the project before voters for approval, but after the meeting Puzio acknowledged that full-grant funding is unlikely.

"Given the unknown nature of the funding, it’s very likely that we would have to fund it with some public funding," Puzio said. "It’s not out of the realm of possibility that we might ask for a vote."

A CO2 detector has activated in an apartment at Woodstock Gardens, 219 N. Spruce St., Batavia, and a resident is complaining of a headache.

Engine 12 and Mercy EMS have been dispatched.

UPDATE: Engine 12 clear the scene. "It was a smoke detector with a dead battery," is the report.

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Since Councilman Bob Bialkowski has not returned phone calls nor answered our email, I've been waiting for a chance to talk to him in public.

Tonight, he was outside the Batavia High School auditorium waiting for the meeting on the proposed North Street Extension athletic fields.

I asked him first if he knew who leaked the letter? "What letter?" He said.

I clarified and he said, "Our attorney instructed us not to discuss it." I pointed out that the instruction is not to discuss what happened in closed session, not after. I asked three times, "What happened outside of closed session?" and Bob tried moving away from me saying, "Excuse me,"  "Excuse me."

I asked him if he would release Daily News reporter Joanne Beck from any promise of confidentiality, and Bialkowski said, "I'm not going to discuss it."

Audio: "Interview" with Bob Bialkowski (mp3).

Previously:

• Most council members answer straightforward questions about leak of personnel information
  
• Fellow council members say Bialkowski brought in complaint letter, threatened to release it
• Council members say Bialkowski used his own printer to provide copies of complaint

It's pretty unusual in Batavia, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer, for local politicians to buy media time and space for "issue advertising," but such advocacy is common in other media markets.

Fischer, who has a long history in WNY media said, "Public employee labor unions have often used paid ads to pressure elected officials to adopt their position on issues."

Ward 1 Councilman Bill Cox's purchase of air time on WBTA and a first-ever center-column fixed-position daily ad on The Batavian has certainly gotten a lot of people talking.

Some applaud Cox for standing up for his ward, others find it unorthodox and suspect that a small group of "well-heeled" residents are pushing him on the issue.

Cox says he's just doing what he thinks is right for his constituents.

"The people I represent expect me to lead the way when they have a serious problem," Cox said.

While Cox is pushing opposition to a possible athletic field expansion in open space owned by Batavia City Schools, he said that wasn't the impetus for his advocacy ads. He advertized to get people's attention so more would show up at the 7 o'clock meeting tonight when the school district unveils additional details of its North Street Extension plan.

Council President Charlie Mallow:

Whether I would agree or not with the position, I have to applaud the determination. Council people should act as neighborhood organizers and that is exactly what Bill is doing in this case. He is fighting for what he believes is in the best interests of his neighbors and it should be applauded. This isn't an election year for Bill, if he chooses to run again it won't be for two years. So, this is far from a political stunt. This is the person I knew Bill was when I supported him for his run for Council.  

Others haven't been so kind. While we have no on-the-record comments, some people do see his advocacy on this single issue as a little unorthodox.

But for Cox, he said his neighbors and the people of his ward are greatly concerned about an upheaval in their neighborhood, including more traffic, noise, higher taxes, greater parking problems and garbage in the streets.

"They are up in arms and I'm their representative," Cox said. "I'm doing my best to protect their well being."

As for the scuttlebutt that this issue is being driven by "10 well-heeled residents," as I've heard a few times over the past week, Cox said the facts speak for themselves. Tonight he will present a petition signed by more than a 150 local residents living on 10 different blocks who all oppose the new fields. He said the petitions will be made available to any media outlet that wants to verify the authenticity of the signatures.

"If they're well-heeled and so concerned, nobody has donated a dime to help me," Cox said. "The well-heeled are usually people who donate money for their own causes. That hasn't happened here."

After the interview, Cox e-mailed the following additional statement:

A community is not houses on streets. It is the people in them. What effects some of us effects all of us.
 
The school district charges huge amounts of taxes and then historically ignores local issues like this one.
 
They appear immune to serious self examination of if they should do something. They look for free grant money and ignore the costs that occur later and the wishes of the people most of the time.
 
It is difficult to do anything by yourself when the school district does something that you feel is wrong. This effort is about a grass roots movement to stop unnecessary spending that will increase our taxes, lower our property values, and change the very character of a wonderful neighborhood. 

A 16-year-old Batavia boy suffered hurt his arm and shoulder and was transported to UMMC yesterday following an ATV accident on Maple Road in Oakfield.

Arnold M. Cody, of 2879 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road, was reportedly traveling too fast when his ATV hit a puddle of water, causing the ATV to overturn.

No other vehicles were involved in the 4:30 p.m. accident.

Jeffrey Michael Johnson, 21, of 26 Farnsworth Ave., Oakfield, is charged with harassment. Johnson is accused of slamming his girlfriend to the ground and repeatedly punching her. The alleged incident occurred Sunday at 4 p.m. Johnson was released on his own recognizance with an order of protection for the woman.

Brandon M. Riordan, 23, of Rochester, was charged for unlawful possession of marijuana. Riordan was arrested by State Police while in Batavia at 12:35 a.m. today.

There has been a lot of "bad" information floating around regarding the city school districts desire to develop North St. Extension. Tonight the Board of Education is having a meeting a 7:00 in the HS Auditorium to present the facts to the community. The plan clearly points out that our district is in dire need for more athletic fields. This project will be funded by grants!

A city councilman has been fueling the fire and rallied several people to attend tonight and speak against it. He has gone as far as to take out paid ads on the radio and the Batavian to rally support against this... We are asking for your support to come tonight and speak in favor of the proposed project if you indeed feel that the project is good for our school.

All it would take is to step up to the microphone and state that you are in favor of it. Unfortunately these events bring out all the nay-sayers and not the ones that support it - that's why we need your help! I hope to see you tonight!

All of the police sirens screaming through town were heading to Aldi's after a person reportedly called the Dispatch Center to report a black male had brandished a gun before entering the store.

A Sheriff's Deputy was already in the parking lot, so he was first on scene. He contacted a man inside the store who fit the description of the subject. He had no gun on his belt, only a cell phone.

Police are on scene now sorting out what's going on.  The original caller is apparently no longer in the parking lot.

A washing machine is reportedly smoking at the laundry mat at 4152 W. Main St., Batavia (the Valu Plaza).

City fire has been dispatched.

UPDATE 1:53 p.m.: Engine 12 and Ladder 15 returning to station.

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