batavia

Batavia will finally get to see what a roundabout is all about starting Friday when construction of the Walnut Street project is finally finished.

No more construction cones or workers holding up traffic. Drivers will be able to navigate through the circle in real time and see if they like how traffic flows.

The roundabout will be closed Friday Thursday from 5 to 7 a.m. for a final repaving, and then the route will open Friday morning with no fanfare -- no ribbon-cutting, no speeches, no coffeecake and donuts -- you can just drive on it.

A police officer is being dispatched to Tops Market where a woman says she spotted a possibly rabid fox.

The caller said the fox came up to her car snarling and drooling at the mouth and looked very skinny.

The woman is staying on scene to point out the location of the fox.

UPDATE 11:28 p.m.: The police officer who responded reports that the animal is gone, but he's checking the area.

There's going to be an open house from 2:30 to 4:30 and again at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28 to discuss the pavement rehab project planned for Route 63/Ellicott Street. It takes place on the second floor of Batavia City Hall, located at One Batavia City Center.

Representatives from the state Department of Transportation will provide the following information about the project, which spans from Ellicott and Main streets to Cedar Street:

• Pavement repairs, milling and asphalt resurfacing, new pavement markings
• Re-striping lanes from the four now there, down to three
• Expanding parking on both sides of the street
• Construction work planned for summer 2010
• Traffic maintenance on Ellicott during construction operations using daily lane closures
• Having both nighttime and daytime construction

For questions or comments, call Dan Farrelly at (585) 272-4875 or e-mail him at dfarrelly@dot.state.ny.us

Here's the official project description:

The DOT is preparing plans to repair and resurface 1.7 miles of Route 63 (Ellicott Street) in the City of Batavia.

The scope of the work includes asphalt pavement repairs, pavement milling 2.5 inches in depth, a 2-inch-thick asphalt overlay, new pavement markings and cleaning of drainage structures.

The pavement markings are planned to change the traffic pattern from four lanes to three lanes, with parking on both sides of the road.

This work will restore a smooth ride, as well as preserve and extend the service life of the Ellicott Street pavement.

Regarding traffic control, traffic on Route 63 (Ellicott Street) will be reduced to a single lane in each direction during pavement repairs and resurfacing operations. Day and nigh time lane closures are planned.

No Route 63 traffic detours are proposed.

Neighbors need to start talking with each other more, said City Manager Jason Molino during Monday night's City Council meeting.

Molino was giving the council an update on the work of the Neighborhood Improvement Committee, which previously brought forward programs for additional enforcement of yard clean up and property improvements.

There's a three-pronged approach to neighborhood improvement the city should pursue, Molino said:

• Compliance with property standards use and regulations
• Community Development Block Grants to help low-income property owners fix up and maintain their houses
• And community engagement.

Here's Molino's full comment from last night on the community aspect of neighborhood improvement:

We’ve had some preliminary talks about how we can also facilitate the possibility, facilitate neighbors getting out and communicating more with each other, whether through national night out types of events, where you’re getting neighborhoods, blocks, streets out so that they’re socializing and communicating with their neighbors.

A good question to ask is, "Do we know 50 percent of the neighbors around us?” If you don’t, why not?

Those types of things are really going to be the crux of improving what you want to improve in terms of neighborhoods. You want to get neighbors communicating with each other, creating a dependent neighborhood where people look out for each other, they communicate, they talk, because if you’ve got undesirables that want to relocate into the area, they’re not going to want to come to a neighborhood or a street where neighbors are looking out for each other, neighbors are talking, neighbors have good relationships with law enforcement in the city to be able to report problems. That’s going to deter them from coming to that neighborhood, if  they’re non-desirables, so to speak.

It’s going to help with a little bit more pride, a little more esprit de corps. People are going to want to talk with each other, to communicate, to bring a little more of that sense of community back.

We’ve seen a little bit of a down spiral, and I don’t think Batavia is uncommon. It’s like a lot of communities. People are not volunteering as much, people are not familiar with their neighborhoods anymore. I think we want to try and bring that back. The way we want to do that is working with some of the departments, getting into select neighborhoods -- each is going to be different -- getting the people on the streets communicating with each other and talking with each other. Those are the types of things that I think are really going to make a difference in the long term.

I told Jason after the meeting that his little speech sounded a lot like something I might say on The Batavian. So many community problems can be solved just through a higher ratio of social connectedness. Communities with higher connectedness have less crime, better graduation rates, higher average income, less disparity between high- and low-income wage earners, better physical health, lower infant-mortality rates and lower teen-pregnancy rates. 

I recommended to Jason a book you've seen me mention before: Bowling Alone, by Robert Putnam. Putnam's work (Putnam is a sociologist) pretty much backs up everything Molino said.

More chatter about trash in council chambers last night.

The city continues to wrestle with garbage. Who should pay for its removal and how much?

City Manager Jason Molino, responding to a council request a few weeks ago, presented a report on what 11 other municipalities do, ranging from no garbage pick up to pay-per-bag formulas.

In the end, the council decided, more or less, to have Molino come back with more information. Molino said staff is working on presenting information on models like the one currently employed in Orleans County (per parcel) and a unit-by-unit fee model.

Council President Charlie Mallow asked what's wrong with the current system. Currently, the cost of garbage collection is wrapped into the city's property-tax rate and accounts for about 7 percent of the bill.

One concern, raised by Councilman Sam Barone and others, is that tax-exempt properties (possibly up to 24 percent of parcels in the city) aren't paying for garbage collection, though they benefit from the service.

"I’d like to expand it. I’d like to see leaves picked up," Mallow said. "It seems like a good service now, I don’t see why you would change it. If anything, I hear from elderly people who can’t get rid of their leaves and twigs now. They don’t have a car and have no way to get rid of it."

Mallow also pointed out that by including garbage collection as part of property taxes, the money can be deducted from the homeowner's Federal incomes taxes. Going to a fee-based system would end the tax deduction.

Councilwoman Marriane Clattenburg said she thought the payment method currently in use is fine, but asked Molino to look further into the new system in Auburn. It's like Batavia's, but that city recently added an opt-out/fee system for tax-exempt properties. In Auburn, nonprofits can opt-out of the service, but if they continue to use it, they must pay for it.

She said she was concerned about changes that might lead to higher garbage costs for lower-income families.

“It’s not just the $200,000 house, you also have to think about the million-dollar piece of property," Clattenburg said. "Now you cut their taxes 7 percent, where do you distribute that cost to? Back to the person that’s living in $50,000 house. So to me, that’s the problem with this kind of thing and that’s what I’d be looking at – how that adjusts and how it makes everyone’s cost go up.”

Molino will report back to the council with a narrowed list of alternatives at a future council meeting.

Fire Chief Ralph Hyde will get his light-rescue vehicle, and it's the one he's requested during at least three City Council meetings now.

After a 20-minute discussion at last night's council meeting, the council sort of collectively shrugged and said, "go ahead."

At the end of the discussion, after saying Hyde has "our blessing," Council President Charlie Mallow motioned his hands like a priest, which drew a laugh.

Hyde has sought permission to convert one of the former ambulances -- the newest one, bought within the past year with a state grant -- into a vehicle that could carry additional rescue equipment that doesn't fit on either Ladder 15 or Engine 12.

Council members dithered, asking him to justify the need for the ambulance as a rescue vehicle. Then they asked him to research the option of selling the ambulance and purchasing a new truck, since the ambulance already has 50,000 miles on it.

Hyde's report Monday night put the cost at a new vehicle at between $65,000 and $189,000.

"It would take a $1,000 to convert it, so it’s far cheaper than going out and getting a new vehicle," Hyde said. "And It’s something that we’ve needed for many years."

Previously, Hyde's argument for the ambulance didn't include using some space inside the vehicle to give people displaced from their homes by fire a place to stay warm.

"In the past, we've had people have to wait outside for 30 minutes to an hour, and had to send firefighters in to retrieve shoes and jackets," Hyde said.

The table and benches inside could also serve as a convenient place to interview fire witnesses.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski complained that he thought the purpose of getting rid of the ambulance service was to save money and he expected all six of the city's ambulances to be sold. Mallow pointed out that previously, the council resolution only authorized the sale of the five older ambulances.

A vote was not required on the decision to convert the ambulance into a light-rescue vehicle since the city owns it and it's already assigned to the Fire Department.

Kyle Christopher Monroe, 20, of 4036 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the 4th degree and criminal possession of stolen property in the 5th degree. Deputy Sanfratello stopped Monroe for allegedly operating his car without headlights on Route 63 in front of Tops Market at 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 24. The vehicle was a 1997 Dodge Caravan, which had been reported stolen in the City of Batavia on Oct. 21. The license plates were reportedly stolen from another vehicle parked at GCC on Oct. 22. Monroe was jailed on $5,000 bail. He was also charged with unlicensed operation, switched plates, unregistered motor vehicle, uninspected motor vehicle and operating without insurance.

Matthew Ryan Smith, 18, of 1705 Lewiston Road, Alabama, is charged with unlawful dealing with a child. Smith is accused of hosting an underage drinking party on Oct. 12 at his residence. He was arrested at 12:04 a.m. today.

A 16-year-old from Byron has been charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. She was arrested after a K-9 alert on her car while it was on Byron-Bergen High School property during a narcotic sniff sweep of the western parking lot. The arrest was made by K-9 Deputy Brian Thompson.

Pastor Werk of St Paul Lutheran with local kids

Honoring the Troops on Treat Day

This past Saturday Morning Care-A-Van Ministries was on State Street for their weekly grocery distribution. Groceries were given to 52 families with 174 family members. It was one of our busiest days at this location.

St. Paul Lutheran Church partners with the ministry on the last Saturday of the month and always provides for the families as well. The church held Trunk or Treat for the kids. While the moms and dads were busy getting groceries and prayers, the kids were busy getting treats from the trunks of the cars.  A special thanks to St. Paul Lutheran for an awesome morning on State Street!

What a beautiful Mermaid!

Jesus Saves!

Treats for all

Invitations were extended to all Council at Large candidates and those running for County Legislature.  No speeches but just the opportunity to listen to the concerns of seniors and to offer suggestions or promises of help.

Paul Ryan Tenney, 39, who admitted to embezzling more than $106,000 from his employer, Elcon, Inc., will avoid jail time for a bit longer.

Judge Robert Noonan postponed Tenney's sentencing, scheduled for this morning, at the request of Tenney's attorney Gary Horton because of inaccuracies in Tenney's pre-sentencing report.

Tenney is currently out of jail on released supervision, but he allegedly has violated the terms of his release and Noonan was inclined to put Tenney back in jail today. The owner of Elcon, however, asked that Tenney not be locked up just yet.

Edmend Leising says Tenney is currently the only person who knows how the computerized accounting system works. Right now, Leising said, he can't even bill customers without Tenney's help.

"I've taken a lot of grief for keeping Ryan around since we found out about the theft, but only Ryan knows how to run it," Leising told court.

Noonan is allowing Tenney to stay out of jail to help Leising learn the computer system, but there won't be any leeway for Tenney to do much else.

"We'll briefly adjourn sentencing for that purpose, but if the defendant isn’t making a good effort in that regard, or he violates any other terms of his ROS, a warrant will be issued for his arrest," Noonan said.

Tenney promised to follow through and help Leising immediately.

Leising had asked to address the court prior to Tenney's sentencing. He said the theft did a lot of damage to his business and Elcon is barely hanging on.

He said he had to raise $70,000 to keep the business afloat, from taking money from his retirement account, to taking out a second mortgage on his house and borrowing $14,000 from his mother-in-law.

"Elcon is in horrible shape right now -- the only reason we’re still in business is because I’m not bright enough to pull the plug," Leising said. "It's the only thing I know how to do."

Tenney reportedly has failed to keep appointments for interviews with Genesee Justice and has allegedly not secured a substance-abuse evaluation.

Leising told Noonan that he was surprised to learn that Tenney wasn't keeping his appointments, and hopes Tenney gets the drug treatment he needs.

"I know he has a drug problem, so it's important he's tested on regular basis," Leising said. "If that problem isn’t solved with this guy, nothing will ever be solved. He’ll be a burden on humanity forever."

Tenney was arrested in early June for reportedly forging checks and falsifying business records.

An exhaust-system alarm is sounding on the sixth floor of the Jerome Center, 16 Bank St. and City Fire is responding.

Engine 12 and Ladder 15 are on scene.

An eight-point buck dropped dead in the parking lot of Jackson Street this morning.

I was in court and didn't hear the scanner (or see it), but Dan Fischer of WBTA said he was sitting in his studio when he saw a deer trot past Main & Center. 

The buck headed west, turned left on Jackson and then collapsed.

Apparently, it had been struck by a car previously.

It was one of two deer spotted in the city this morning.

Fisher said a hunter came by, tagged it and hauled the buck away.

You see Pauly Berardini everyplace. His face is on the side of his ubiquitous delivery cars, on the outfield wall at Dwyer Stadium and various youth sports facilities around town.

It’s been that way in Batavia for five years now.

It’s an audacious bit of promotion, but when Berardini and his partner Dave Stupp decided to open up a pizza joint, they knew they would need strong marketing to stand out in a very competitive town for pizzerias.

“I thought about that (the competitive environment),” Berardini said while slathering tomato sauce on a pepperoni pie destined for a youth sporting event. “I thought about the demographic. I just decided to use my face, my talent and go from there.”

He's done other things with his life – from baking to selling cars – but to hear him talk, it’s clear: 40-year-old Pauly Berardini was destined to be a pizza man.

“I went to food service at BOCES and I learned how to frost cakes and make pancakes,” Berardini said. “That wasn’t exciting to me. Ever since I was a little boy, just watching that guy throw a pizza in the air – you know, like a kid wants to be a fireman, he sees the fire trucks, I saw a couple of gentlemen who ended up being good friends of mine kind of teaching me the business, and I just decided it was something I wanted to do.”

Pauly was inspired by the pizza men he saw at the legendary Gino’s Pizza. Gino’s was a mainstay at 102 Liberty St. through the 1960s and 1970s. Then the location became Ficarella’s, where Pauly worked for seven years. And that was the location Pauly chose for his own pizzeria when he and Stupp opened for business Oct. 24, 2004.

By all accounts, the original Pauly’s was a successful, growing company, and then tragedy struck – the kind of turn of events that has put many people out of business – fire.

An early morning blaze on March 21, 2007 destroyed Pauly’s on Liberty. The cause of the fire was never determined, but it meant that three businesses lost their locations. The old place -- behind the former Mother’s Chicken ‘n’ Fish building  -- is now a parking lot. 

Apparently, the two other businesses in that building – Room for Dessert Cafe and Batavia Framing and Design – never reopened.

Berardini and Stupp weren’t going to be kept down, though. Eighty-eight days later, the doors opened at 314 Ellicott St., and this time Pauly's featured seating and a waitress, a level of service the partners had wanted to add all along.

“I had a lot of phone calls and messages that were left on my answering machine from customers and friends encouraging me to get going again,” Pauly said. “Yeah, it was traumatic at first, but when one door closes, another one opens.

"Now we have a great sit-down place here and the parking on the weekends is great. (People can) bring the family, have a party – we have a party of 20 today – sit down is the key.”

Pauly was excited Saturday morning -- not just to be celebrating five years in business – he and Stupp had just received word that they’ve been approved for a beer and wine license and will start serving them within a week.

“Now you can come and enjoy pizza or pasta with beer or wine, and that’s always a plus,” Berardini said.

On a night when he missed two field goals and saw one punt travel only five yards, kicker and defensive back Matt Thompson may have been the hero of Notre Dame’s Section V playoff victory over York.

A stiff breeze gave Thompson fits for most of the night. But with a minute left in the game, and the score set at 14-7 since the middle of the second quarter and his team backed up  nearly to its own goal line, Thompson was once again called on to kick into that monster wind.

Another kick that gets blown back, or any other mistake, and York is given great field position in a must-score situation. But a good kick well down field puts York in the tough position of trying to move the ball on a Notre Dame defense that has kept even York's big pass game largely in check all night.

This time, in a pressure situation, Thompson found a way to power the ball through the wind, setting the Golden Knights back to nearly the 50-yard line. From there, the Fighting Irish defense took over and shut down York on four successive plays, cementing a berth for Notre Dame in the Class D finals on Thursday.

Thompson also had two interceptions, including a big one with less than three minutes to play in the game, to squelch a York drive, but it was his punt that probably saved the game for Notre Dame.

Coach Rick Mancuso saw it that way, too.

“He’s a weapon and he works really hard at it,” Mancuso said. “We take special teams pretty seriously. We had a great snap from Tommy Whelehan and a great punt by Matty.”

The semi-final game was a tough battle through all four quarters, and two teams that came in a 6-1 found themselves pretty evenly matched.

Going into the game, Mancuso said he knew York’s passing game would be tough, and quarterback Jesse Galvin and receiver Adam Illerbrun kept Notre Dame’s defense on its toes all night.

The big-play duo showed just how quickly they can strike with 1:22 left in the second quarter -- only 22 seconds after Notre Dame grabbed a 14-0 lead -- when Galvin hit Illerbrun on an 80-yard pass play for York’s only touchdown of the night.

"We came in knowing they were going to throw the ball, and they did throw the ball and were successful to an extent,” Mancuso said. “We made a couple of mistakes where we let them get behind us. We did clean it up though, because Matty Thompson came in and made two interceptions. He hasn’t been out there all year long, but toward the end of the game, I thought he really got his legs underneath him and really looked very good out there.”

Illerbrun, one of the section's top receivers, had four catches for 121 yards. Galvin was 6  for 18 in pass attemps for 142 yards.

“It was a tight ballgame,” Mancuso said. “I thought York played phenomenal. I think they did a really nice job. They’re a good team. I think Eric does a great job with the kids. They’ve got nothing to hang their heads about. I thought they played very tough.”

Notre Dame put its first scoring drive together early in the second quarter, finishing it off with a 38-yard run by Mike Pratt at the 11:20 mark.

Pratt scored again with 1:44 left in the half on a three-yard run.

In all, Pratt carried the ball 36 times for 202 yards. He averaged 5.6 yards a carry.

After the game, Pratt gave all praise to his offensive line for opening holes and making key blocks.

Pratt also noted the defense made several key tackles.

Quarterback Nick Nochicchio completed six passes on 14 attempts, including one interception, for 47 yards. His leading receiver was Gianni Zambito, who had two catches for 26 yards.

Beau Richter carried the ball six times for 24 yards and R.J. Marchese carried the ball six times for 22 yards. Tom Whelehan had two catches for 12 yards.

All in all, Notre Dame amassed 304 yards, while holding York to 188 yards and only eight first downs. Notre Dame rushed the ball for 257 yards while York gained only 62 yards.  York had two turnovers, the Irish had three.

Notre Dame next faces Dundee on Thursday. Dundee comes into the game with a record of 8-0, including a 27-7 victory this evening over Cuba-Rushford.

“Dundee is phenomenal,” Mancuso said. “They’re the best team in D, there’s no doubt about that. We’re hoping we can come out and play a clean game and maybe we get it into the fourth quarter and we’re close. That’s kind of what you’re looking for. They’re fantastic. We’re defiantly playing up. It’s a huge challenge for us.”

Dundee is said to have a powerful run game, and Notre Dame features a stout run defense, but Mancuso said Dundee can also pass the ball effectively and they’ll put the ball down field if that’s what it takes to win.

“That Pratt kid who is their quarterback, he can really throw the ball,” Mancuso said. “I think they do whatever they need to do. They’re well coached, they’ve got a great group of kids, so I mean, it's going to be a battle. Hopefully, we will be up to the challenge.”

COVERAGE NOTE: One of the Notre Dame supporters who regularly takes pictures from the sidelines said he'll send us some pictures from the game. We'll post those as soon as we get them. Ethan Thompson videotaped the game for us and we'll post that highlight reel Sunday.

Last year, I couldn't make the John Gardner reading at the Pok-A-Dot because my parents were visiting. This year, I had to cover the Notre Dame game. As I told Bill Kauffman, "Like they say in baseball, maybe next year."

Thanks to Charley Boyd for posting this video of Kauffman opening the 13th annual event.

A suspected 20-year-old drug dealer from Rochester was nabbed in the Batavia Downs parking lot at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

At the time of his arrest, Steven Anthony Bertolone, of 28 Sand Pebble Drive, Rochester, was allegedly found to possess a wide array of drugs and cash.

Bertolone was identified as a suspect in local ketamine distribution by the Genesee County Local Drug Enforcement Task Force. Bertolone allegedly sold ketamine to an undercover agent.

At the time of his arrest, Bertolone was allegedly found holding four packages of ketamine, 10 packages of dimethyltryptamine, 20 packages of LSD, as well as cocaine and marijuana, along with $1,200 in cash.

The charges against Bertolone: Criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree (misdemeanors), and unlawful possession of marijuana.

The suspected drug dealer was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Uninformed deputies as well as the District Attorney's office assisted in the investigation and arrest.

Town of Batavia Engine 24 and Mercy EMS are responding to reported vehicle accident at 5210 Ellicott Street Road, Batavia.

There are reportedly injuries, but EMS was just told to respond non-emergency.

UPDATE: Engine 24 being called back. Only Rescue 20 responding at this time.

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City Fire is being dispatched to UMMC for a reported hazardous material situation in an operating room.

Reportedly, approximately four to eight ounces of a noxious material has spilled.

The area has been evacuated and cordoned off.

Engine 12 and Ladder 15 are responding to evaluate the situation.

UPDATE 10:13 a.m.: Fire officials are saying it's a minor spill and can be cleaned up with soap and water.  I believe it is Chief Ralph Hyde who just said, "This is a minor spill that we can handle with no problem."

Robin Lee Buckman, 40, 7 Otis Street, Batavia Rochester, is charged with petit larceny. Buckman is accused of shoplifting four DVDs from the TA Travel Center in Pembroke.