batavia

County legislators OK'd a $1.659 million project to replace the Lyon Street Bridge over the Tonawanda Creek on Wednesday, with a majority of the funding coming from a federal grant.

The resolution passed by the Ways and Means Committee authorizes the county to accept reimbursement for 80 percent of the project, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2015.

The county's share of the project will be $331,800 and be paid for from anticipated sales-tax revenue.

The design phase of the project is expected to cost $95,000. The local share of that expense will be $19,000.

According to New York Bridges Are Falling Down, the steel deck bridge was built in 1910 and is rated at 4.875 (on a scale of 1-7), putting it in the "dangerous" category.

The City of Batavia's financial health is looking a lot better, according to Moody's Investor Services.

The bond-rating agency recently upgraded the city to A1, which not only makes it cheaper for the city to borrow money, if needed, but it's also a vote of confidence and affirmation that the city's financial outlook is improving, City Manager Jason Molino said.

"Moody's bond-rating agency downgraded the city in 2005 and the upgrade says we're on the right path," Molino said.

From the upgrade memo:

Moody's expects the city's financial position to improve as of the close of fiscal 2012 given the city's practice of conservative budgeting of both revenues and expenditures. In previous years, the city had failed to maintain a balanced budget and accumulated a General Fund balance deficit, topping $1 million at the close of fiscal 2007, necessitating several years of issuing revenue anticipation notes. A new management team came in and generated four consecutive years of operating surpluses through conservative budgeting, increasing revenues and controlling expenditures.

Last fall, Moody's issued a "positive outlook" report for the city, but did not upgrade the bond rating.

Moody's said the city's strengths are management's ability to restore fiscal health and Batavia's proximity to employment centers.

The city's weakness is "Limited tax base with below-average wealth levels."

In order for the city's rating to go up even further, the city must improve reserves and liquidity and increase the city's socio-economic profile.

The rating could be hurt if the fund balance declines and the city's socio-economic profile declines.

Batavia's median family income is 74.4 percent that of the rest of New York, a ranking Moody's believes needs to improve.

While the city currently carries $7.5 million in debt, Moody's found this amount modest compared to property value of $535.8 million and overall annual revenue.

Moody's anticipates the city's average direct debt burden of 2.0 percent of full valuation to remain stable given the absence of major borrowing plans. Debt service is modest, accounting for 5.1 percent of fiscal 2011 expenditures. No borrowing is expected over the next two years.

"This lays the foundation for us to earn some of the trust back from the public," Molino said. "What's happened over the past several years, because of the finances, that's been lost a little bit. This builds on what it's going to take to stabilize our local economy over the long term."

Batavia may have experienced yesterday what is known as a 100-year-flood event.

The data is still being evaluated, it appears that within a two-hour period 3 inches of rain fell on Batavia and parts of Le Roy and Darien.

The city's infrastructure held up pretty well under the circumstances, said City Manager Jason Molino.

"That's a small time frame for that amount of volume," Molino said. "You've got to understand that sanitary and sewer systems are not designed to handle that kind of volume."

He said everything worked as it should.

"There were no failures in the system," Molino said. "There were no collapses and no malfunctions. The water pretty much dissipated within 30 minutes (of the rain stopping)."

A couple of dozen property owners, at least, reported flooded basements or flood-related damage.

Residents who witnessed water cascading into their basements may not feel like the system worked as it should, and Molino sympathized and said when your's is the place being flooded "it's tough to understand" that a combination of location (in a flood plain) and heavy localized rain is something no municipal drainage system is designed to handle.

Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County, said that such relatively few reports of damage in Batavia may mean that the county can't qualify for an emergency designation that would free up funding for financial help for property owners. But perhaps if the storm damage is grouped in with damage to Elmira and other parts of the Southern Tier last week, an emergency designation might be possible, he said.

If you suffered property damage, Molino said, you should contact your insurance company, but you can also contact the city manager's office to ensure the damage is counted in any reports sent to the state or federal government.

Yaeger cautioned against "false hope" of an emergency designation because "it's a very high threshold to meet."

The map shows rain total estimates for the hours of 4 to 6 p.m. Pink is 2+ inches and blue is 3 inches.

With things winding down from the storm this evening, I drove down Harvester Avenue and spotted this long puddle next to the railroad tracks and thought "that might be pretty interesting come sunset time." So at dusk, I drove back and made this photo.

Patches of flooding were reported throughout Batavia this afternoon after a heavy thunderstorm passed through the area starting at about 3 p.m., with the heaviest rains falling between 5 and 6 p.m.

Cars got stuck in underpasses, basements were flooded, and children found the biggest puddles of their lives to splash around in.

No injuries were reported as a result of the strong storm.

Floodwaters receded quickly once the rain slowed to a drizzle.

Top photo, a car stuck under the train bridge on Cedar Street.

Liberty Street between Ellicott and Main.

Tree limb down on power lines on Harvester Avenue, early in the storm.

Close up of the vehicle on Cedar Street.

Vehicle under the train bridge on Ellicott Street.

Some children on Vine Street had a great time with the flooding. Their parents said earlier Vine was heavily flooded, as the waters receded the children stood next to what was left of the puddle and waited for cars to come past and splash water on them.

A resident on Tracy Avenue invited me to see their flooded backyard.

A vehicle on Tracy Avenue.

More photos after the jump (click on the headline):

The photo above and the next several of children playing on Hutchins Street.

The backyard of the Finn residence on Hutchins Street.

The basement of the Finn residence. The water streamed in from the street to the side of the house.

On Watson Street, the basement of this house was flooded and firefighters set up barriers to keep cars off the street because every vehicle that passed pushed more water into the basement.

The flooded basement on Watson.

After the floodwaters on Hutchins Street receded, firefighters were able to pump out the basement of the Finn residence.

Almost as soon as the first reports of flooding came in I started getting texts and emails from readers of pictures they were taking. Of course, by this time, I was out taking my own photos, which I'll post later.

We also requested photos in our breaking news post on the storm.

Here are the photos we received so far. If you have any, email them to howard at the batavian dot com (of course, turn that into a properly formatted email address). If you have video, upload it to YouTube and email me the URL of the published video and we can post that, too. Get your photos in soon because we won't keep adding them indefinitely.

Above, photo of the Lehigh Avenue underpass from Greg Emerson.

Route 5 underpass, Le Roy, from Mary Margaret Ripley.

From Matt Hendershott, vehicle stuck under the bridge on Cedar Street.

From Tina Heartgrove, Spencer Court.

From Frank Bellucci, vehicle stuck under train bridge on Ellicott Street.

From Kyle Couchman, Swan Street.

Video from Jamie.

More photos after the jump (click on the headline):

From a reader on Vine Street.

From Janet, Liberty Street

From Robyn Silliman, backyard off Ellicott Street.

From Rita Towner, backyard canoeing.

From Kim Williams, canoeing on Ganson Avenue.

From Jennifer, Vine Street.

Lori Brickwood-Coles, Liberty Street. She included this note, "My sons Alex and Owen had fun in the flood, my Great Aunt told us the story of when Liberty flooded before in the '70s and people had actual boats on the streets because the water was so high."

Photo from County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens of the maintenance yard on Cedar Street.

For the third straight year, City of Batavia firefighters are wearing special T-shirts for two weeks to promote breast cancer awareness.

Starting Friday, residents will be able to stop by the fire hall on Evans Street and purchase special T-shirts (not quite like the firefighters are wearing in the photo above, and with the logo in the inset photo) for $10 each. Proceeds benefit Genesee County Cancer Assistance.

Jeff Whitcombe, who is organizing the effort said he's had a sister-in-law who had breast cancer a year ago (and is cancer free now) and the annual event began two years ago when the wife of a firefighter developed breast cancer.

"It can strike anybody," Whitcombe said. "The guys here have mothers, wives or significant others, and it hits home when that happens."

Pictured are, from left, Jeff Whitcombe, Lt. Mark Mikolajczyk, Bob Fix, president of the Batavia Firefighters Association, which is the sponsor of the event, Chief Jim Maxwell, Chuck Harmmon, Ryan Hendershott, Mike Dorgan and Dave Green.

Stephen A. Lewis, 32, of 130 W. Main St., Apt. A, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and harassment, 2nd. Lewis was arrested following a report at 3:45 p.m., Friday, of two men arguing, with one of them possibly carrying a baseball bat, at East Main and Summit streets. According to Batavia PD, when a patrol officer attempted to interview Lewis, Lewis became irate and yelled obscenities. He continued, according to police, even after being warned to stop yelling and clean up his language. Lewis was placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct. Lewis struggled with officers. Once taken into custody by officers Eric Hill and Kevin DeFelice, Lewis was arraigned at city court and jailed on $1,000 bail. On the way to jail, Lewis allegedly threatened to kill Batavia PD officers, leading to the harassment, 2nd, charge. (Initial Report)

George M. Hodges, 22, of 9 Pringle Ave., lower, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. Batavia PD officers responded to 9 Pringle Ave. at 11:46 p.m., Saturday, to investigate the report of a property dispute. While Officer Frank Klimjack was on scene, Hodges was allegedly irate and yelled obscenities. Klimjack reportedly warned Hodges to calm down, but Hodges allegedly continued yelling obscenities.

Brodes J. Gibson, 51, of 13 Thorpe St., Batavia, is charged with two counts of petit larceny. Gibson is accused of entering the Kwik Fill at 99 Jackson St. on two occasions and stealing two 18 packs of beer.

Joel S. Shelhorse, 24, of 23 West Ave., Elba, is charged with DWI, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle, operating in violation of a restricted use license, aggravated unlicensed operation and opening a vehicle door interfering with traffic. Shelhorse was taken into custody following a report at 8:46 a.m., Sunday, of a male and female arguing on South Main Street.

David A. Kendall, 40, of 215 Bank St., Batavia, is charged with trespass. Kendall is accused of entering a neighbor's property at 4:45 p.m., July 21, without permission.

David M. Smith, 26, of Pavilion, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. Smith was arrested by State Police following an incident reported at 10:20 p.m., Sunday, in Darien. No further details released.

The River Street Bridge is closed today as part of an ongoing repair process. The bridge surface was already milled and today workers will do more work to prepare the bridge for resurfacing. Resurfacing will be completed next week, which will wrap up the repair work.

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported at Alexander and Rose roads. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. One person has a head injury, unknown severity. They are checking on the availability of Mercy Flight.

UPDATE 12:25 p.m.: Mercy Flight is not needed.

UPDATE 12:58 p.m.: Two vehicles were involved in this accident. I'm not sure about the status of patient(s), but I think one person was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 1:06 p.m.: Town of Batavia is back in service.

On Sunday afternoon, seven local churches and two local ministries came together in Austin Park to have a worship service, music and fellowship.

The idea came from several local pastors who think that churches in Batavia need to unite together. There was quite the crowd on hand.

Care-A-Van Ministries served 740 folks delicious hot dogs, and the churches provided free popcorn, snowcones, cotton candy and bottled water. The kids attending enjoyed the games and the bounce house.

Music was provided by Elmwood Drive, Care-A-Van Band and choirs of the local churches. The churches are hoping to make it an annual event with even more churches participating next year.

A suspect in a series of burglaries in Le Roy, Batavia and other parts of the county was taken into custody this morning after he allegedly broke into a home on Summit Street while being monitored by detectives.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said the suspect was identified thanks to alert citizens in the City of Batavia and detectives began to monitor the man's activities.

The name of the suspect, who is being questioned at Batavia PD headquarters, has not been released, but Brewster said he is on parole and had allegedly been out of contact with his parole officer.

After a couple of burglaries in Le Roy where a person entered homes during the day and stole jewelry and other small items such as coins, there were a couple of similar burglaries elsewhere in the county, and then similar burglaries in the City of Batavia.

"This is a suspect in those crimes and I’m fairly confident that we have him," Brewster said. "I think you’re going to see a sudden end to those (types of) crimes being reported."

Detectives from Le Roy, Batavia and the Sheriff's Office cooperated in the investigation.

"This would not have been possible without the cooperation of all agencies," Brewster said.

The suspect's truck was impounded and will be searched once a search warrant is secured.

His name and the charges against him will be released following his arraignment in the proper court or courts of jurisdiction.

In a week or two, attorneys in the Jacquetta Simmons case will find out from Judge Robert C. Noonan whether two felony counts against the 26-year-old Batavia woman will stand.

Simmons is accused of punching a 70-year-old Walmart employee on Christmas Eve.

A grand jury indicted Simmons on felony counts of assault in the second degree, for allegedly hitting the victim with intent to cause serious injury, and a second count of assault, 2nd, charging Simmons with hiitting a person more than 10 years older who is also 65 years old or older.

A hearing today was scheduled for Noonan to consider the constitutionality of the so-called "elder abuse" law, but Noonan also asked the defense and prosecution to address whether sufficient evidence was presented to the grand jury to support count one of the indictment, the basic second-degree assault charge.

On the assult charge, attorney Ann Nichols argued that there is no evidence presented to the grand jury that Simmons intended to cause serious or permanent injury to the victim, Grace Suozzi, nor that Suozzi suffered such an injury.

"In the grand jury minutes, Ms. Suozzi does not say she was punched," Nichols said. "She says she was hit. She doesn't say she was punched until after Mr. (District Attorney Lawrence) Friedman uses the word punched in a question. I don’t see intent to cause serious physical injury being reliant on one punch, if it was in fact a punch, and Ms. Suozzi said herself it was just a hit."

There's no doubt, argued Melissa Cianfrini, assistant district attorney, that the "roundhouse" swing by Simmons was a punch.

Cianfrini described a surveillance video which she said depicted Simmons bracing her leg, winding up and taking a full swing at the victim.

"The punch was so powerful that it knocked her off her feet," Cianfrini said.

Simmons's intent was also clear from statements the defendent allegedly made before and after the alleged assault.

According to Cianfrini, Simmons last statement before allegedly hitting Suozzi was, "I'm not showing the fucking white bitch the receipt."

After the confrontation, with her male companion dragging her away, Simmons allegedly told another witness "you going to get it, too."

Cianfrini said, "That’s not a statement of someone who is acting in self defense. It’s not the statement of someone who regrets what she did. It’s the statement of somebody who knows fully what she did."

Outside of court, Nichols said the defense clearly has a different interpretation of events than Cianfrini and that she believes a jury will be able to fairly weigh the facts, even if the case appears racially charged.

"We have the video," Nichols said. "You can see the video for yourself. It’s more an interpretation. Unfortunately there’s no sound, but we can all kind of see on our own and infer what it depicts."

Nichols added, "I don’t’ really it (see race being a factor with the jury). Once anyone sees the video, white, black, Asian, whatever, you’re going to get an interpretation leaving race out of it."

On the issue of whether count two of the indictment, the elder abuse law, is constitutional, Nichols argued that the way the statute is written would require a defendent to know the victim's age at the time of the assault. 

"I argue there's no way Ms. Simmons could have known, based on how the law is drafted, that this is a strict liability crime and the fact the legislature chose to draft it so poorly is a violation of the due process of this defendant and other defendents," Nichols said.

Cianfrini noted that another court -- though the decision is not binding on this court -- has already ruled the law is constitutional on the same grounds, but added that the court should not just look to the letter of the law, but the legislative intent. Cianfrini said legislative notes and history clearly indicates the legislature meant the law to apply any time a person more than 10 years younger hits a victim 65 years or older.

Noonan did not give a specific time when his written decision will be issued.

Simmons will go to trial Aug. 20. She turned down a plea offer that would have given Noonan the option of sentencing her to prison time up to three-and-a-half years in prison. If convicted at trial, Simmons could be sentenced up to eight years in prison.

At times this afternoon, Don Carroll was overcome with emotion as people showed up for a charity event in Jackson Square called DC in the Square.

The event is aimed at raising funds to help Carroll, who has cancer, pay his medical bills.

Throughout his life, Carroll has given all he has to the community, especially children who don't grow up with financial advantages. Most recently, Carroll has sponsored Toys for Kids, an annual event to provide gifts for children.

DC in the Square was organized, with the help of many volunteers, by Beth Kemp.

Beth's husband, Brian, said he benefited from Carroll's charitable work because Carroll's annual 5K run years ago paid for Brian to go to summer camp.

Beth said, "He does so much for the community and never asks for anything back," adding, "I just think he's a great guy. He sets the example for the kind of person I want to be, always giving, never expecting anything back."

Carroll, pictured above with his sister, Diane, and friend, Harriett Everett, said all he ever wanted to do was make kids happy and he was so grateful for the community support during his battle with cancer.

"It just means so much," Carroll said. "There are some things that happen that I forget sometimes, but this I'll remember for the rest of my life."

Today's event goes until 4 p.m.

The annual Harley Raffle and Wingding at the Town of Batavia Fire Hall on Lewiston Road once again was a big hit with area residents. Hundreds of people packed the lot and enjoyed the party, which featured music by 7th Heaven. Alex's provided ribs and pulled pork, and of course, there was a beer tent.

We're awaiting notification of who won the drawings.

UPDATE: The winner of the Harley Fatboy is Dewey Towner, Batavia. The $500 winners are Gerald Wolcott, Batavia, Wayne Cross, Versailles, Dan Hale, Batavia, and Michael Leone, Waterport.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

To purchase prints, click here.

The Genesee County Women’s Republican Club will host its annual Lucky Numbers Auction event on Aug. 2 at the Batavia Country Club, 7909 Batavia-Byron Road, Batavia.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30. Cost is $18 per person.

Reservations must be made ASAP by calling Melissa Gaebler at (585) 297-7948, or emailing her galaxie561@hotmail.com. Genesee Cancer Assistance is the club’s “Caring for America” charity this year. People attending are encouraged to bring a donation.

New members or anyone interested in joining the Women’s Republican Club are welcome to attend.

Once more emergency dispatchers have received a call about a pushy salesman wearing lime green sneakers. Not sure what he's peddling, but he has been described as rather aggressive in his door-to-door demeanor. He was last spotted on Dewey Avenue in the city. Police are trying to locate him.

(I think he came to our house a few weeks back offering an unbeatable deal on carpet shampooing. I declined it but asked for his business card and was told he didn't have any because the deal was only good for that day, a sort of take-it-or-leave-it thing. Then he reached for the screen door handle, just bursting with enthusiasm to show me more about this wonderful opportunity. But our giant dog, Pachuco, and his fearsome bark persuaded him to leave quickly.)

With rain threatening most of the afternoon, the turn out for the anti-bath salt rally at L&L Transmissions was less than organizers hoped, but still, more than 30 people joined in the event. People had a lot of fun taking whacks at the "your brain on bath salts" van.

The event was hosted by Affliction Ink, CPR (Computer and Phone Repair) and L&L Transmissions.