batavia

City Council President Tim Buckley doesn't think the city should levy fines against residents who don't remove snow from the sidewalks in front of their homes, and that's pretty much how the discussion ended Monday night.

"I don't want to be fingering residents for not shoveling sidewalks because we don't know what the situation is a lot of the time," Buckley said.

As council members discussed, the residents could be elderly, away on vacation or sick.

The discussion about snow removal was placed on the agenda because the issue had been raised at a prior council meeting and City Manager Jason Molino provided council members with a copy of the municipal code.

The code states that each resident is responsible for snow removal within a reasonable amount of time following a snowstorm. Failure to remove snow could result in a fine, under the language of the law.

The city has not typically enforced the law, Molino said, because it would need to be enforced uniformly and sometimes there are circumstances that prevent a resident from removing snow.

He said it's a "tricky" law to enforce.

Earlier in the meeting, during the trash discussion, Batavia resident Kyle Couchman mentioned a comment he said he'd read on The Batavian about a council member's response to someone who complained about a neighbor's plow driver piling snow on his sidewalk. The council member reportedly told the constituent to contact the neighbor.

Couchman said he found the suggestion arrogant. It should be up to the city to enforce its laws, Couchman said, not residents.

Kris Doeringer said that he figures he was the "arrogant" council member.

The point he said he was trying to make to the resident was to try contacting a neighbor first to resolve a conflict rather than getting the government involved.

"I would just like to see issues resolved in an amiable manner without the city involved and fining people," Doeringer said.

Only Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian came out strongly in favor of cracking down on people who don't shovel their walks.

"If people weren't so damn lazy and get off their seats and doing things like start shoveling snow, we might have a better community," Christian said.

An effort by Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian at Monday's city council meeting to garner support for an assault weapon's ban got a mixed response.

Christian, along with members Patti Pacino and Pierluigi Cipollone both questioned why anybody would need to own an "assault weapon," while all three said they support the Second Amendment.

Members Kathy Briggs, Brooks Hawley and Jim Russell all said supporting the Second Amendment meant not going after anybody's weapons.

Nobody questioned whether it was really the place for the Batavia City Council to take up the issue.

"Only police departments and the military should have assault weapons," Christian said.

She also said the council should encourage schools to install bulletproof glass in doors and windows.

Briggs followed Christian and said she completely disagreed with Christian on the issue.

An effort to ban one kind of gun opens to the door for other bans and undermines the Second Amendment, Briggs said.

For Russell, banning assault rifles is just a "Band-Aid" approach.

"I don't think the solution is to ban guns," Russell said. "It doesn't address the real issue."

Answering the suggestion that while hunters may not need "assault rifles," competitive shooters do, Cipollone said that even competitive shooters shouldn't own such guns. The venue that hosts the competition should own the guns and loan them to the competitors, he said, and collect guns at the end of the competition.

No vote was taken by the council on the issue.

James L. Little Jr., 41, formerly of Batavia, had three and-a-half more years added onto his 15-year prison term today after Judge Robert Noonan sentenced him in Genesee County Court.

Little entered a guilty plea to molesting a second child under the age of 11 in November. He will now serve 18 1/2 years in state prison.

Appearing with his attorney, William Harper, in Genesee County Court for sentencing this morning, Little told the court he was "sorry for the family."  

Little appeared unkept and had a scruffy beard. He was escorted by state correction officers.

Noonan told Little he needs to go away for a long time.

Little is currently serving a 15-year prison term for sexually abusing a toddler last March.

After he was sentenced on that charge, Batavia Police were made aware of a second sexual-abuse victim who is under the age of 11.

Just last week, a 56-year old Pembroke woman, Beverly Hensel was sentenced to 10 years probation and intermittent jail time for possession of sexual performance of a child. Hensel reportedly supplied Little with six DVD's full of child pornography.

Little and Hensel met in a Corfu bar in 2008.

District Attorney Larry Friedman said, "The main concern here is recidivism --  the concern that when he gets out other children will be at risk. That's why the judge felt the need to incarcerate as long as possible."

Tickets are now on sale for HomeCare & Hospice’s Second Annual Mardi Gras celebration Feb. 16 at Batavia Downs Clubhouse. Proceeds from the event will benefit the HomeCare & Hospice Foundation.

“Join us for the best night of the year," said Linda Cummings, development manager for HomeCare & Hospice. "You will be supporting one of our community’s most needed services. Hospice has touched the lives of so many in our community. Your support will help us to continue providing outstanding services."

Tickets are $35, which includes $15 in free casino play and a New Orleans-style sit-down dinner. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. A cash bar will be available all evening. The evening will also include live entertainment by M.A.C. and -1, as well as a Chinese auction.

To order tickets visit <http://www.homecare-hospice.org> or call Ms. Cummings at 1-877-277-2615.

HomeCare & Hospice, a nonprofit United Way agency, provides specialized medical care and social/emotional support for patients and families coping with life-limiting illness in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Genesee and Wyoming counties. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Supporters of Genesee ARC packed city council chambers Monday night and encouraged the council to keep jobs local, support workers with disabilities and consider whether a proposed new garbage collection system would really save residents money.

Of the 16 people who spoke, all but about three of them encouraged the council to stick with ARC for garbage collection, whether under the tote system or not. Of the Genesee ARC supporters, about half of them opposed the totes for one reason or another.

"If a business expressed an interest to locate to this area and create 30 new jobs, most areas would offer some kind of incentive to promote them to come to this area and I would hope you would, too," Dave O'Geen said. "Well, we have the opportunity to keep a business with the 30 jobs that the trash and recycling center currently employs."

O'Geen, like every Genesee ARC supporter, received a big round of applause from most of those in attendance. Those who spoke in favor of going to the new system and awarding the bid to the lowest bidder were met with silence.

"Most people I know don’t care who gets the contract as long as it’s the best contract at the lowest price," John Roach said.

The council set a Feb. 11 date for a public hearing on proposed changes to city ordinances to make the new system possible.

Several speakers appealed to the council not to hire an out-of-state contractor.

"Let’s talk about the $450,000 in lost revenue from the people at ARC who will lose their jobs," Carol Grasso said. "Did you ever stop to think that their money is spent right here in our area? Yup, $450,000, I checked it out, that’s their paychecks. They spend it here in the city. It’s like having free trash pick up as far as I’m concerned.

"Some small cities need to stay small," Grasso added. "Let’s do what’s good for Batavia, not some other state."

Tom Houseknecht, a generous financial supporter of Genesee ARC, questioned the dollar-and-cents value of the proposed change in trash collection.

While Houseknecht, who owns commercial property in the city, welcomes a decrease in property tax, he considers the switch to a fee-based system for trash pick-up a "regressive" tax on the city's less well-to-do residents.

"The minimum size tote that will be issued by the city is currently projected to cost a resident $169," Houseknecht said. "With tax rates decreasing $1.56 per thousand, anyone with an assessed value of less than $108,000 will actually be paying more. ...

"If my conclusion is correct," Houseknecht added, "I would ask council to focus on the greater good for the majority of their constituents and not succumb to the lure of lower tax rates that result when refuse is removed from the operating budget."

Paula Fisher (top inset photo) thinks any decrease in the tax rate will be short-lived.

"The levy for trash pick-up in previous budgets was approximately 20 percent," Fisher said. "Our tax rate is going down 14 percent. This tells me our tax rate is going up six. In five years, our tax rate will be right back up there, ARC will be out of the trash business and the bids for trash collection, since they know we don’t have (a) preferred vendor available, will go up."

John Mortollaro said he doesn't really understand the financial implications.

"I still don’t understand how much we’re going to save and how much it’s going to cost," Mortollaro said. "I think this needs to be brought out and explained to the people so they can understand it better."

Kyle Couchman said he's dealt with the kind of proposed plastic totes before, and they don't hold up to Western New York's harsh winters.

Several speakers said older residents will struggle with the totes, Batavia's homes are really too close together to store the totes in a way that isn't unsightly, and that they will be difficult to put by the curb when snow is heavy.

Roach said he has friends and relatives in the garbage collection business in other cities and such concerns are overblown, he said.

"These totes last forever," Roach said. "As for parking and the driveway situation, it's much worse in Kenmore than in Batavia and they don't really have a problem getting them to the end of the driveway. I don’t have a garage and storing them in my backyard isn’t something I’m looking forward to, but it’s not going to be insurmountable either."

Ed DeJaneiro (top photo) said he likes the totes and thinks the new system will encourage recycling. He would just like to see ARC get the contract.

"ARC has always been there for us," DeJaneiro said. "They will continue to be there. I know it’s more money, as proposed, but we’re not sure how much recycling response we’re going to get."

Bottom inset photo: City Historian Larry Barnes listens to the discussion.

At the end of a more than three-hour council session, just as members were shuffling paper to prepare to leave, Council President Tim Buckley had a request for City Manager Jason Molino:

"We have a request," Buckley said. "Do you think you could find a way to reduce the budget by another 1 or 2 percent?"

Another council member said, "2 percent," followed by another council member who said, "3 percent."

Buckley said they didn't want to go over the budget line by line, but maybe Molino could squeeze out some more savings.

"If it's possible or doable, we would like to do it," Buckley said.

Molino said he would take a look at the budget, which already calls for a 14.5-percent reduction in property taxes if a plan is approved to move the city to a tote-based, "pay as you throw," trash collection system.

Earlier in the evening the council voted to set a public hearing on the budget for Feb. 11.

Tonight, the council covered several topics:

• More than a dozen people spoke out on the proposed changes to garbage collection in Batavia, mostly in support of Genesee ARC retaining the contract;
• Heard a presentation on progress in 2012 by the Batavia Development Corp. from Economic Development Coordinator Julie Pacatte;
• Heard a presentation from Brian Kemp and Marty McDonald on a proposal from Vibrant Batavia;
• Discussed Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian's request for council members to support an assault weapons ban;
• And discussed snow removal from residential sidewalks.

That will be a lot to write about in the morning, but I'll get to each story as soon as possible.

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported on Stephen R. Hawley Drive. The location is midway between Bank Street Road and Batavia-Stafford Town Line Road. Mercy medics, Town of Batavia Fire Department and Sheriff's deputies are responding.

UPDATE 6:42 p.m. : A second ambulance is requested. There are three patients.

UPDATE 6:45 p.m.: Traffic flow will be handled alternately, with one direction at a time being allowed to proceed.

UPDATE 7:01 p.m.: An 18-year-old female is being transported to UMMC with complaints of neck pain.

UPDATE 7:05 p.m.: The two remaining patients just arrived at UMMC via Mercy BLS #2. The driver says they were involved "in a minor fender-bender." No other details provided.

UPDATE 7:11 p.m.: Town of Batavia fire is back in service.

Batavia Police responded to Washington Avenue and Summit Street about 3 p.m. this afternoon for a 7-year-old found wandering down Washington Avenue without shoes or a jacket.

A Batavia Police officer covered the child with his jacket and held the frightened boy before putting him in the police car to warm up.

The boy's young adult sister, who was watching the child, showed up on scene 15 minutes after police got there. She brought him a jacket and a pair of shoes.

The boy's sister told police their mother was not home, she was working. She says her little brother had just come home from school when he went missing. The young adult sister said she was responsible for the child.

The boy was found just down the street from his residence on Washington Avenue. He was only wearing a short-sleeve shirt and jeans, with no shoes, and walking down an icy, slush-covered sidewalk.

Batavia Police are investigating and charges may be filed.

Richard David Farley, 64, of New Bethehem, Pa., is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th, unlawful possession of marijuana and possession alcohol in a motor vehicle. Farley was a passenger in a vehicle stopped on Route 77 in the Village of Corfu at 11:58 p.m. on Friday. During the traffic stop, Farley was allegedly found in possession of an open container of alcohol, a marijuana cigarette and a loaded, unregistered semi-automatic .22-caliber pistol. Farley was jailed on $2,000 bail.

Brandon P. Stagg, 20, and Oscar J. Familia, 21, of 25 Trumbull Parkway, Batavia, are charged with possession of alcohol under age 21 and unnecessary noise. Stagg and Familia were arrested following a complaint of an underage drinking party at their home. Stagg was charged with possession of alcohol and Familia was charged with unnecessary noise.

Caroline B. Robinson, 31, of 38 Gilbert St., Le Roy, is charged with trespass. Robinson is accused of remaining at a hotel on Oak Street after being told to leave by hotel staff and a Batavia PD officer.

William G. Raschi, 62, of 5630 W. Lake Road, Conesus, is charged with felony DWI, unlicensed operation, unsafe lane change, failure to stop for traffic signal and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Raschi was stopped on East Main Street, Batavia, at 5:57 p.m. Saturday, by Officer Matt Lutey. The charge is a felony because of an alleged prior DWI conviction in the previous 10 years. Raschi was jailed without bail pending a court appearance today.

Steven J. Raimondi, 19, of 679 E. Main St., is charged with possession of alcohol under age 21. Raimondi allegedly hosted a large underage drinking party at his residence, which was reported at 1:12 a.m., Sunday. A 16-year-old female was also charged.

Paul B. Heale, 58, of 234 Ellicott St., lower, Batavia, is charged with DWAI. Heale was stopped following a complaint of a possibly intoxicated driver at 2:30 p.m. Thursday on Pearl Street by Officer Eric Hill.

Robert D. Griffin Sr., 34, of 319 E. Main St., Batavia, is charged with two counts of criminal mischief, 4th. Griffin is accused of breaking a window by throwing a boot at it during an argument and then preventing a female from calling police by taking her mobile phone.

Frank J. Falcone, 27, of 10599 Main St., upper, Alexander, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th, and harassment, 2nd. Falcone was charged following a lengthy investigation by Batavia PD into an incident in the parking lot of Billy Goats on Oct. 20. Falcone is accused of kicking a vehicle, causing damage, and of punching and slapping the owner of the vehicle.

Tharon Joseph Kunkle, 52, of Read Road, Pembroke, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, operating an ATV on a public highway and unregistered ATV. Kunkle was charged after allegedly being observed driving his ATV on Route 5, Batavia at 2:32 a.m. Sunday by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Samantha Nicole Frear, 25, of Hempstead Avenue, Buffalo, was arrested on a bench warrant out of Town of Darien Court by Buffalo PD following a traffic stop.  The warrant stems from a harassment, 2nd, charge in November, 2009. 

John J. Maroni, 50, of Clay, is charged with possession of unstamped cigarettes, DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, failure to use/improper use of four-way flashers, and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Maroni was arrested following a report of a vehicle parked along the roadway on Oakfield-Elba Townline Road, Oakfield at 7:13 p.m., Friday.

Vincent Donald Henning, 35, of Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with BAC of .18 or greater, improper right turn and unlicensed operator. Henning was stopped on Seven Springs Road, Batavia, at 10:47 p.m. Friday by Deputy James Diehl.

Andrew Garry Anderson, 28, of Basom, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding in zone (65 in a 40 mph zone). Anderson was stopped on Route 77, Basom, at 12:25 a.m. Friday by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Danielle R. Dixon, 29, of Batavia, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Dixon was stopped at 2:30 a.m. Sunday on Hutton Road, Oakfield, by State Police.

An electrical fire is reported at Denny's Restaurant, 364 W. Main St., Batavia.

City fire is responding.

UPDATE 7:43 a.m.: City fire on scene, nothing showing. National Grid requested to the scene.

UPDATE 7:45 a.m.: City command: "We still have fire box, we're going to need them here as quick as they can." National Grid's been advised.

UPDATE 7:51 a.m.: Health Department requested to the scene.

UPDATE 7:59 a.m.: National Grid on scene.

UPDATE 8:11 a.m.: City code enforcement requested to the scene.

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A motor-vehicle accident with unknown injuries is reported in front of Godwin Pumps, located at 8039 Oak Orchard Road (Route 98), and West Saile Drive. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: A responder on scene says "traffic's a mess" and calls for back up for traffic control. She also calls for medics to expedite and says she has two people injured, one of whom "is about to pass out." Two flatbed tows are called ASAP, both are blocking the roadway.

UPDATE 1:54 p.m.: One vehicle is on the west shoulder of the road, the other is in the middle of the road. State Police have southbound Route 98 shut down and Fire Police are going to shut down westbound West Saile Drive. "Looks like everybody's out" says a responder of the vehicles' occupants.

UPDATE 1:58 p.m.: A second Mercy rig is called, emergency mode.

UPDATE 2:10 p.m.: One person is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 2:29 p.m.: A 5-year-old boy is the patient being taken to Strong, reportedly for simply evaluation. It is possible his mother, the driver, is being transported there as well, but that was not confirmed. The two people in the other vehicle were taken to UMMC, one is a female and the other is a 21-year-old male. The roadways are reopened and the Town of Batavia Fire Department is back in service.

UPDATE (by Howard): According to Trooper Frank Velletta, the silver vehicle, driven by a woman from Medina, was pulled over to the side of the road for some reason and then pulled out into traffic to execute a U-turn. The silver car was T-boned by the SUV. 

Batavia PD has requested city fire to respond to the Jackson Street side of the Verizon building, 22 Center St., for possible smoke coming from the building.

UPDATE 12:11 p.m.: Broken water line on the roof.

UPDATE 1:10 p.m.: A Verizon rep has arrived to secure the building and the city assignment is back in service.

UPDATE: There was concern about how long it would take for a Verizon rep to respond so a DPW crew repaired the leak. The water was spraying onto the former Mortellaro building.

A reader alerted us Saturday that she had seen a swan on the Tonawanda Creek earlier behind Settler's. Sure enough, we found this big white bird hanging out with the geese.

A transformer is reportedly on fire and electrical wires are arcing at 11 Pine Hollow Drive. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 6:58 p.m.: The chief says Engine 24 can return in service and he asks that National Grid be contacted. The pole number is 5201 and there is presently "nothing showing" and the residences of 10 and 11 Pine Hollow Drive have no power outage.

UPDATE 7:03 p.m.: The Town of Batavia assignment is back in service. National Grid was notified but provided no ETA.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a program that would help local governments save on near-term pension costs, potentially relieving local administrations of a major budgeting challenge, but both County Manager Jay Gsell and City Manager Jason Molino are reacting to the news with some caution.

Molino said until he can fully study the budget bill, assuming this provision even moves forward, he can't really comment on it.

He isn't yet ready to agree with the governor that the city will realize $3.1 million in pension savings over the next five years.

In a press release yesterday, Cuomo isn't promising local governments that they will completely avoid the pension expense, just some relief from near-term pension cost instability.

From the press release:

Under the plan, localities are given the option for a stable pension contribution rate that significantly reduces near-term payments but still keeps the pension systems fully funded over the long term. Local governments which opt in would avoid significant volatility in contribution rates and be better able to plan for the future. Though the locality receives short-term relief, because the contribution rate remains fixed, the total amount paid into the fund by the locality would not be diminished over the life of agreement, thereby maintaining the fiscal stability of the pension fund.

While over the next five years, Genesee County could receive a $11.5 million benefit over five years under the plan, Gsell is also keeping the proposal at arm's length.

Here's his e-mail response:

On the surface it is intriguing, but there are concerns as to the back-end balloon escalators in 10 to 25 years and what Comptroller Dinapoli will do every 5 years to "protect" the retirement system dollars is a major note of caution. This could be the NYS version of the Titanic iceberg, only it involves our budgets and employees retirement assets. Once the full details and not just the second-floor spin are revealed we will look at our pay-as-you-go options.

A year ago, Albany enacted a Tier VI retirement plan, which covers only new hires by government agencies. The plan will supposedly greatly reduce local government pension costs, but not for decades from now. What Cuomo is proposing now is to shift those savings so local governments can realize some benefit from Tier VI in the near term.

In the press release, Cuomo hails the plan as a major step toward helping local governments.

"The difficult financial pressures facing localities are well-known here in Albany, and my administration from day one has been committed to helping local governments meet their budgetary obligations as well as continue to provide critical services to their residents," Governor Cuomo said. "While the Tier VI reforms were a major step toward helping local governments deal with the pension crisis, we understand that more help is needed. For this reason, the Executive Budget proposed the Stable Rate option to offer local governments and schools a bridge to the long-term savings of Tier VI, as well as greater predictability."

Heather M. Ground, 27, of Meadville Road, Tonawanda Indian Reservation, and Casey A. Jonathan, 35, of Skye Road, Tonawanda Indian Reservation, are charged with harassment, 2nd. Ground and Jonathan allegedly became involved in a dispute during a ceremony at the Longhouse on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. Ground allegedly pushed and then punched Jonathan. A few minutes later, Jonathan allegedly punched Ground in the mouth.

Shawn C. Wetmore, 40, of 38 Maple St., Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, harassment, 2nd, and criminal mischief, 4th. During a fight, Wetmore allegedly kicked a door open, which was close to an infant. He allegedly threw an item at another person. Wetmore was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Carrie Q. Blunt, 20, of 24 Thomas Ave., Batavia, is charged with false personation. Blunt was arrested on a bench warrant during an unrelated investigation.

Keith Joseph Jackson, 18, of Slusser Road, Batavia, is charged with possession/consumption of alcohol under age 21. Also charged, Corey Jarome Mooney, 19, of Lockport Road, Oakfield, and a 17-year-old female resident of State Street, Batavia. The trio was allegedly at an underage drinking party at 12:04 a.m., Saturday, on Orchard Street in Oakfield. The case was investigated by Deputy Patrick Reeves and Deputy Matthew Fleming.

Devine Raheem Worthy, 28, of Congress Street, Buffalo, was arrested on a bench warrant for alleged failure to pay restitution.