batavia

The first round of reports on the proposed consolidation of the town and city are now available:

• First Report to the Community — A Vision for One Batavia
• PP Presentation to City Council & Town Board 6-1-09
• Public Forums to be Held June 18 & June 30
• Press Release 6-1-09 — A Vision for One Batavia

Ward 2 City Council represenative Marianne Clattenburg is getting the GOP nod for a Batavia at-large council position in the November election.

The GOP met tonight and endorsed Clattenburg, as well as incumbents Frank Ferrando and Tim Buckley.

If Clattenburg won the at-large seat, under council rules, a Republican would be selected to assume the remainder of her Ward 2 term.

Tune in to WBTA in the morning for more coverage of the endorsements.

City Manager Jason Molino submitted two letters detailing the hiring process that led to the appointment of Tom Dillon as interim fire chief last year, as well as how Dillon would be replaced, but the NYS Civil Service Commission still denied the city's request for a 211 waiver because of insufficient detail, according to documents obtained by The Batavian today.

"The Municipal Service Division recommends that the State Civil Service Commission disapprove this request for lack of details on the results of the interviewing process," writes state staff in its recommendation to the commission.

The recommendation contradicts the detail on recruitment efforts and interviewing contained in two letters, with attachments, provided by Molino to the commission. One letter was submitted Oct. 8, 2008 and another on Jan. 16, 2009, four days before the commission notified Molino the city had not responded to its request for more information.

"We sent them everything they asked for," Molino said in an interview this afternoon.

Dillon resigned as fire chief last month after the state ruled that he could not continue to receive his pension from his 29 years with the Rochester Fire Department and draw a full-time salary in Batavia.  The city sought what is known as a 211 waiver, which is designed to help local governments fill vacant positions, especially on an interim basis, with retirees.

Molino attributed the denial of the waiver more (as we covered in a previous post) to a change in the state's willingness to grant 211 waivers.

"The whole point of the 211 process, it was created for interim positions for temporary periods of time and what's happened over the years is people have taken interim positions and turned them into permanent ones," Molino said.

The commission was told, Molino noted, that Dillon's appointment was intended to be temporary because at the beginning of the process, there was still some thought that the charter review process might led to a unified chief executive for police and fire (it turns out that isn't permissible under state law).

The city wanted to keep Dillon on until either a unified position was created or a civil service test for the position could be administered in January 2010.

"The other part of it was we weren't going to fill it permanently until this charter review was completed, and if there was a change in direction, we would change with it, otherwise, we would move forward with the test in January," Molino said.

The documents also reveal that prior the appointment of Dillon, all four Batavia Fire captains were considered for the position, but none were eligible for promotion.

The Batavian made its initial FOIL request the documents related to the city's waiver request a month ago. The FOIL request was fulfilled today.  Here are the documents (large PDF file).

A driver who's car slammed into a tree on Fargo Road says he was run off the road by another vehicle.

The call just came in.

Another driver picked up the driver involved in the accident and took him or her to a nearby residence. The driver reportedly suffered a minor injury, but an ambulance is not required.

There were two arrests at the Coldplay concert last night at Darien Lake, according to a report released by the Sheriff's Office.

Matthew J. Norstrand, 24, of Le Roy, was arrested for allegedly possessing marijuana and smoking a pipe containing marijuana. Norstrand was ejected from the concert and told not to return. Later, Norstrand was reportedly spotted back inside the concert venue. He was arrested again and charged with trespass.

Daniel Norstrand, 53, of Le Roy, was charged with criminal trespass after allegedly jumping a fence and entering the backstage area.

Also from the Sheriff's Office:

Christopher Stewart, 40, of Avon, is charged with criminal contempt. He allegedly called and spoke with a person he has been ordered not to contact.

A united Batavia will clearly lead to cost savings now and in the future consultant Charles Zettek, Jr. told a join meeting of the Batavia City Council and Batavia Town Board this evening.

The immediate savings, conservatively speaking is $943,000, with additional annual savings in future years, said Zettek, VP of Government Management Services.

"There will be no negative impact on the property tax burdens (for residents of both the town and the city)," Zettek said.

Tonight's meeting was designed to present the consolidation committee's report, titled "A Vision of One Batavia," to elected officials from both agencies.

While the meeting was open to the public, questions and discussion were restricted to elected officials and committee members.

The 15 page report will be released on the Web to the public tomorrow along with all the supporting documents, such as spreadsheets comparing city and town expenses and revenues.

A large portion of the "cost savings" actually comes in the form of additional revenue from the state to reward government agencies consolidating services.

That $790,000 per year is would be a perpetual grant annual grant to the new consolidated government. 

There would be additional savings from efficiencies gained by the consolidation, even though no current jobs would be eliminated.  Work force would be reduced over the first five years of the new government through attrition and retirement.

Insuring there is no negative impact on taxpayers is achieved by creating a three-tiered system of taxes and spending that would prevent the town, for example, from being burdened by city debt or the expense of fully funded police and fire operations.

In the new system, Tier 1 would cover the consolidated region, both city and town. Tier 2 would be the current city and Tier 3 would be the current town.

Tier 1 would pay for and receive services and government agencies that serve both parts of the new jurisdiction equally, such as public works and city/town administration.

Tier 2 would pay for and receive the services currently received by city residents, such as police and fire protection and garbage collection. Tier 2 taxpayers would also shoulder the burden of the city's existing debt until it was paid off.

Tier 3 would continue to receive fire protection from the volunteer fire departments and police protection from the Sheriff's Office.  Taxes would not be increased in Tier 3 to pay for Tier 2 services or debt.

As for whether the new jurisdiction would be a city or a town, that's yet to be decided, but Lynn Freeaman said the committee saw more advantages, both in cost savings and grants from the state, in forming a new city government rather than a town.

Audio:

• Frank Ferrando praises work of committee.
• Beverly Mancuso on pioneering effort
• Lynn Freeman on benefits of city form of government
• Post meeting interview with Charles Zettek
• Post meeting interview with Jason Molino

UPDATE: I forgot to include: There will be two public meetings where residents can weigh in and ask questions. One June 18 and one June 30, both at 7 p.m.  One will be at Town Hall, one at City Hall, though which one on which date has yet to be determined. Also if it looks like turn out will be sufficient, one will be at Batavia High School.  Since there are many details to flesh out, and options to be considered, public input is an important part of the process.

Townline Rd (CR 26) between Rt 63 and Pekin Rd in the Towns of Batavia, Oakfield and Elba will be closed Tuesday, June 2nd to Thursday, June 4th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM each day for culvert replacements.

Tonight the City and Town of Batavia Consolidation Committee releases a report to the community summarizing its work so far.

We'll get to find out what the committee thinks of the idea, but given the title, "A Vision for One Batavia," we can deduce the outlook is rosy.

We'll probably be presented with spreadsheets and pie charts and improved work flows that tell us it all makes dollars and sense.  Somehow it's going to save taxpayers money and lead to a more responsive and efficient government.

But when you strip away the columns of numbers and rows categories, I wonder if anybody will have taken the time to ask one basic question: What unintended consequences might we face as a consolidated government?

Bringing the city and town together is a monumental move. It's going to have impacts beyond what any facts and figures can show us. How do we think through how things might change, and are those changes we want? (I'm not, btw, afraid of change nor necessarily consolidation -- just asking the question.)

What are the intangibles that can't be measured and how will they be different?  Will the new government be able to quickly mobilize along the lines of a single vision, and will that vision be good for local business and people who cherish small town values, or will there be an aim to just get bigger?

Which vision of Batavia will be stronger, the one of a locally owned downtown or a chain-driven Veteran's Memorial Drive?

What values do the two governments embody now and how are they different and how are they the same and how will they change?

Will some segments of either the city or town feel like its needs aren't being met?

How will land use change, government services, support of civic life?

There's no doubt that the committee is full of people with the best of intentions, but what about the unintentions? Will these be studied, too?

Nobody thought about the law of unintended consequences when the north side of Main Street was demolished to make way for a mall that people don't use much.  Let's not just consider consolidation as a matter of pure fiscal responsibility -- because it may turn out to be very responsible -- let's consider, too, its social and civic impacts.

The meeting is tonight at 7 p.m. at Batavia Town Hall, 3833 W. Main Street Road.

The study committee presenting the report: Lynn Freeman, Sally Kuzon, Steven Lockwood, Beverly Mancuso, Jason Molino, Steven Mountain and Jeffrey Scott.

Elijah, E. Albano, 28, of Darien Center (pictured), is accused of befriending a 15-year-old male, with the relationship turning sexual from October 2008 to May 2009. Albano is also suspected of providing alcohol and cigarettes to the minor. He is charged with a felony criminal sexual act in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child and unlawfully dealing with a child, both misdemeanors. Albano was arraigned in Clarence and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center on $25,000 bail.

Brandon Rindell, of Corfu, allegedly called his girlfriend on a phone while she was at Daddio's Pub and threatened to go to the bar and stab her.  A short time later, the woman reportedly saw Rindell walking toward the bar and called Corfu Police.  Officer Daniel Zlotek responded and encountered Rindell outside the bar. Zlotek reported that Rindell appeared drunk and he had a knife in his pocket. Rindell is charged with menacing, aggravated harassment and resisting arrest.

Travis Johnson, 22, of Darien, is accused of hosting an under-age drinking party last night. He is charged with unlawfully dealing with a child.

Eric C. Garrett, 29, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt and trespass for allegedly entering the porch area of a female acquaintance's residence that he was barred from going near. He is being held on $2,500 bail.

This morning: A bonanza of two $25 gift certificates $12.50 each and two $20 gift certificates fro $10 each from local businesses (plus $1 PayPal service fee on each).

Leading off: The Mane Attraction Spa & Salon at 99 E. Main St.  The Mane Attraction is a charming business full of friendly staff ready to provide hair styling, pedicures, manicures and massages. This is a $20 gift certificate for $10 (plus $10 service fee).

Next, the always popular Adam Miller Toy & Bicycles, 8 Center St.  Adam Miller is just fun and well worth a visit any time. This is a $25 gift certificate for $12.50 (plus $1 service fee).

Then, Herbly Wonderful, 3701 Pearl Street Road (Route 33). Herbly Wonderful is as wonderful as the name implies, with a great selection of herbs, teas and other natural wonders. This is a $25 gift certificate for $12.50 (plus $1 service fee).

Finally, for today, South Main Country Gifts, 3356 S. Main Street Road.  South Main is one of the most charming country gift stores you will come across. Located in a quite country setting, the store is open on Saturday's and Sundays and makes for a nice outing for shopping. This is a $20 gift certificate for $10 (plus $1 service fee).

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. (today or tomorrow) to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

The Mane Attraction

sold

Adam Miller

SOLD

Herbly Wonderful

SOLD

South Main

SOLD

Howard's explanation of how he and Billie ended up settling in Batavia reminded me of the first time I moved away for a job and came back for a visit.

I was living on the Main Line near Philadelphia.  The daily commute was by train, then a corporate sponsored shuttle to the office.  The office was located in a huge complex  constructed on farmland serviced by a two lane county road.  If you are familiar with the area, King of Prussia Mall was about 3 miles from my home, but it took almost 1/2 hour to get to it because of the traffic.  

Coming home, my first instinct was to run down Main St. and wave to the buildings that were left,  "Hello Building and Loan", seemed to ring in my head.  I learned, that day, that Batavia was my Bedford Falls.   I hope that Howard and Billie eventually will feel the same way.

You seem to look past the problems facing the city; you look past the mall; you look past the ever growing commercial district west of the city (that makes entering the city look like entering any other city in the country).  What you seem to focus on are the tree lined streets; the cozy little restaurants; and the friendly people.  Coming home gives one a warm feeling.  I hope that never changes.

There is much good to say about our area.  Yes, it has problems, but the naysayers never seem to see the positive.  Without the positive there is no hope of improvement.  The saying, "if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem" is so true.  If you see something that needs to be fixed, talk about it but offer a suggestion or two on how it can be made better. 

The City of Batavia and the county of Genesee offer so much.  Marketing our area to attract businesses seems to fall short of the mark.  Hopefully, this is turning around.  I for one would applaud the effort.

Here's how I found Batavia:

My first week on the job with my previous employer was September 2006. I was living in a hotel in Fairport. Billie was in Bakersfield getting our household ready for packing and shipping 3,000 miles north east. As a Californian, I grew roses. One of my biggest worries when we decided to move to the Rochester area was whether I could grow roses in a much colder climate.

Somehow, I found out about a master gardener event and plant sale at the Cornell Extension in Batavia. I had no idea, really, how far Batavia was from Fairport, but I thought I would drive out so I could talk with a few gardeners in the region, and maybe find a rosarian or two.

I faithfully followed the GPS-provided route down the Thruway onto Oak Street and left onto Main.

As soon as I hit downtown, I was charmed by the city. It would be hard to explain why.  I'd lived most of my life in metropolitian areas, but was always most attracted to their smaller communities.  I once published a weekly newspaper in San Diego's Ocean Beach, and loved the small town vibe of those few dozen city blocks.  I like towns with a sense of place

To me, Batavia seemed like a town with a real community behind it. Batavia wasn't overrun by chains (I didn't make it out to the Veteran's Memorial Drive that day). There were plenty of small businesses downtown and the old buildings, especially the churches and Masonic Temple, told me there was some history to Batavia.

Of course, I didn't know all about the Mall (to the degree I noticed it, I remember thinking, 'that's unfortunate'), I hadn't read Bill Kauffman's Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette, I didn't know about the Holland Land Office, or John Gardner, or the Muckdogs or Mancuso's business incubator. I just liked the town.

I headed back to Fairport after my visit at the extension -- where I learned it would be a bit more work to grow roses in WNY, though not impossible -- but I didn't forget Batavia.

On the long drive back, I thought, too bad it's so far from our office. I would like to live there.

When we started discussions at my company about 18 months later about incubating an online-only community news site, the first place that came to mind was Batavia.  It was about the right size of town, had a strong local business base and was close enough that I could be directly involved in the Web site.

So, I put the plan together and got approval to launch The Batavian.

The more time I spent here, the more I learned about the community, the more I got to know people, the more I wanted to live here.

I kept trying to think through scenarios where my job could evolve into something that would allow me to live in Batavia and run The Batavian full time, but none of the options seemed particularly realistic.

Then, one day, in late February, quite unexpectedly, it all fell in my lap.  The Batavian was mine, if I wanted it. Billie and I talked it over, and we decided to take the leap.

So, here we are. We have our furniture and our clothes as well as our dog and three cats in a small townhouse on Maple Street.

It's a quite morning. We can hear the birds and quiet ruffle of the wind through the trees. And Billie and I are both struck by what we can't hear: the persistent hum of freeway traffic. It's been at least 20 years since either of us lived out of ear shot of a major highway.

We think we will like it here.

Always popular, always good: Alex's Place and Larry's Steakhouse.

We have one gift certificate for each fine restaurant worth $50 each, on sale for HALF OFF -- that's $25 each. (plus a $1 PayPal service fee)

Alex's Place, of course, is a legendary restaurant in these parts. It's on Park Road, just down the street from Batavia Downs. The ribs are famous and of course Alex's always gets high marks for its seafood.

Larry's is on Main Street, right downtown, and with the patio now open, you can relax with a beer or cocktail in the sunshine before enjoying one of the best steaks around.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. (today or tomorrow) to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

Larry's Steakhouse

SOLD

Alex's Place

SOLD

Paul G. Grazioplene, 43, of Batavia, faces charges of a felony DWI, resisting arrest and leaving the scene of a property damage accident following an alleged incident on Cedar Street about 9:25 last night. Grazioplene allegedly stuck a vehicle on Cedar and then drove off. A resident followed his car and notified police. Grazioplene was apparently still in his vehicle parked outside of his home when he was found by police. Grazioplene allegedly refused to take a breath test. He reportedly has a prior DWI arrest within the past 10 years. He was jailed without bail.

Jill L. Briska, 20, of Batavia faces a DWI charge following a minor traffic accident this morning about 1 at 100 W. Main St. Briska was issued an appearance ticket and released.

Already in jail on unspecified chargers, Christopher J. Wiegman, 20, of Bergen, was arrested today for allegedly dealing drugs.

Wiegman reportedly sold crack cocaine and prescription pills to under cover agents of the Local Drug Task force in late 2008.

The alleged sale came while agents were investigating the sale of crack cocaine and pills in both the City of Batavia and Bergen.

Wiegman was charged with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance. He is being held without bail.

Pastor Rod Klinzing of Medina doesn't want anybody making a big deal over his heroics Tuesday when his efforts may have helped saved the lives of two people trapped inside of a car being pushed sideways by a tractor down Main Street.

He's slightly embarrassed that his wife Janice contacted The Batavian Wednesday afternoon, saying, "I am  so terribly proud of my husband who did what seemed right.  And it was right.."  (Because of my travels, I had no time to interview Rod until this evening).

Klinzing was the first to jump on the tractor and try smashing his way through the window.

"We heard a terrible noise with car horns going off and we had no idea what was going on until the tractor drove right in front of us pushing the car along and we could see inside two people still in the car and they were just panic stricken and absolutely helpless," Klinzing said.

(LISTEN: Full audio interview)

The pastor said he then ran up to the to get the attention of the driver, Neil Phelps, saying, "I thought perhaps he just didn't know."

"I came to realize he wasn't responding," Klinzing said. "He wasn't responding to me and he wasn't responding to anybody else who was yelling and screaming."

When he realized that eventually the trapped car would either be turned over or pushed into a stopped car ahead, Klinzing said he had to act. The tractor wasn't moving that fast, so he decided he could jump aboard.

"Pounding on the window didn't seem to do anything," Klinzing said. "The door was secured from the inside and I couldn't open it, and I just tried to get his attention. He looked at me in kind of a very dazed state. No emotion whatsoever and just kept on driving."

That went on for what seemed like a while, Klinzing said, so he decided to try and make eye contact to get the driver's attention.

"He did and that's when I made a motion pointing at the key, 'turn it off, turn it off,'" Klinzing said. "I was pleased that he actually responded to that. My pounding on the window, he didn't respond to at all.  I made that motion. He turned it off. He sat back, and that was basically the end of the story"

Klingzing said another man did jump on the tractor and start pounding on the window, probably Jerry Newell, but Klinzing said he told the man the pounding was ineffective.

"He probably has a pretty sore hand at this point because he smacked it pretty hard," Klinzing said.

Klinzing said at the end two police officers did jump on the vehicle and managed to gain entry from the other side of the tractor cab.

While people worked to extract Gene Laney and his passenger from the car stuck in front of the tractor, Klinzing said he said next to the cab and made sure the driver didn't turn the tractor back on, and then he left the scene.

Batavia Police Chief Randy Baker told WBTA yesterday that the two officers who assisted at the scene were Chris Camp and Matthew Baldwin.