batavia

Genesee County's ACORNS held a volunteer day today, welcoming folks to come out and help the group with some of their outdoor activities. For those who don't yet know of the ACORNS (that is: the Association for the Conservation of Recreation and Natural Spaces), they describe themselves in this way:

"ACORNS is a volunteer group formed to support Genesee County Parks ... by assisting with environmental programs and park maintenance, offering recreational opportunities and promoting the parks. ACORNS' membership dollars support the parks' programs and help with improvements in the parks and at the Genesee County Park & Forest Interpretive Nature Center."

Today, some volunteers got together to help with a couple of the group's projects: GPS mapping of the county's parks and their "made-from-nature" display at the Holland Land Office Museum's Wonderland of Trees.

ACORNS member Judy Spring told us a little about the GPS mapping. Essentially, surveyors walk the park trails with a receiver stuck out of a backpack and send up signals to satellites at certain waypoints. Those positions are then synced up with a computer program that marks all of the points on a general map of the area.

The group has already helped get this done at the Genesee County Park and Forest. Now they're making the rounds of the rest of the recreational parks.

Once the data has been synced up with the satellites, the waypoints are marked on traditional maps that can be given out to tourists or any area parkgoers. This helps, because locations are exact, not merely estimated, so trail walkers can know exactly where they are at each waypoint.

Waypoints can also be transposed onto topographical maps and used by programs such as Google Earth.

After a chilly, snowy morning of walking the trails, the volunteers then met up at the Holland Land Office Museum, where they set up their display. This year's theme is Frosty's Holiday, so the group put together a big snowman, made of painted leaves, corncob, stones and tree bark. Their display is impressive: a community of critters made of pine cones, twigs, bark, nut shells... whatever you might find in nature.

Julia Garver, president of ACORNS, told us that the group used the book on the Brandywine Critters for some inspiration, although most of what they made was dreamt up from their own active imaginations—such as the pine cone jamboree and the tree bark top hat up above.

If you're looking to find out more about ACORNS, or if you're interested in joining the group, give them a call at (585) 344-1122.

 Mark Hamilton did a great job of getting the Batavia girls basketball program back to respectability.

When he stepped down, the school looked for a coach that can take the program to another level. Bill Wade appears to be that man.

Wade coached Byron-Bergen to the state finals in 1984, won a state title in 1999 with Notre Dame and then retired, spending four years as an assistant coach at SUNY Brockport. Wade's career record is 215-52.

He looks to help the squad improve on last year's 16-5 record and be competitive in the Class A sectionals.

The veteran coach has a pair of returning senior stars that are expected to lead a young team this season.

Jaycee Shirk showed marked improvement as last season went on and the 6-foot-1 forward/center is expected to be a force in the paint. Shirk teamed with Alyssa Tretter for that role and now will be handling those duties on her own.

Shirk averaged 12 points with eight rebounds and two blocks per game last season.

The other returning starter is senior guard Brittany Mazurkiewicz, who poured in 10 points with five assists and three steals per game.

Every other player on the roster is a junior.

Stacy Hein is expected to run the point with Brittany Wormley, Alicia Emminger and Michelle Jordan also expected to be key players for the Blue Devils.

Batavia earned a fourth-seed in the Class A playoffs last year, but were knocked out by No. 5 School of the Arts in the quarterfinals, 62-44. Shirk had nine points in that game and Mazurkiewicz had eight.

Hi there,new to this site.I was wondering if anyone out there has any idea why the cross walk lights along Main St. in Batavia don't work? For well over a year now,I have not seen any of them work properly-they are all lit red and doesn't matter if anyone presses the button to cross.The ones they used to have before the Main St. construction a few years ago worked.

A Canadian restaurant chain is planning to expand into Western New York, and Batavia is part of the firm's plans, according to the Buffalo News.

Mississauga-based Coffee Culture Cafe & Eatery Is beginning its expansion in Buffalo. The article offers no specifics on the company's plans for Batavia, such as location or timing.

Coffee Culture President Peter Karamountzos said his company has been eyeing a U. S. launch for about 18 months and picked New York over Michigan and Illinois for a cross-border expansion.

“We’d like to open 10 to 12 location in and around Buffalo,” Karamountzos said. “We like to be in village settings or downtowns, where there’s strong neighborhood foot traffic. We also like being on corners where we can have a physical presence.”

...

The European-style eateries offer a range of fresh-baked goods, panini sandwiches, breakfast and lunch/dinner crepes and coffees. Coffee Culture eschews drive-up windows in favor of more personal walk-in and sit-down service.

“Our theme is ‘Come for a taste, Stay for a visit,’” Karamountzos said. “We know people are in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean they have to settle for a sterile fast-food experience.”

Well folks, we have another Mall fiasco (they just don't stop), the Mall Maiteniance Association (MMA) is creating massive shenangins over next to nothing again.  This time though, the basis of their decision is laughable.  They want to remove the City's representative, Mr. Tim Paine from the committee for being "disruptive" and "questioning the integrity of the minutes".  Excuse me while I nearly fall of my chair laughing, is this serious? 

This all must be a major joke that the MMA is playing on us via the media, I mean honestly, normally you have to have an actually legitamte reason to remove someone from a committee, such as assault or not showing up to meetings.  Truly they have creativity than this.

This action is both funny and an incredibly frightening misuse of power on behalf of Dr. Mitchell Chess, who has shown his intentions by attemtping to circumvent Jason Molino, the City Manager, in the past.   He now wants to have Tim Paine removed from the committee because he doesn't agree with them and wants accurate minutes, how on earth is this so terrible?  If the MMA had nothing to hide, then they would have no objection to the tape recordings of their meetings and if they really cared about City input, they wouldn't object to the representative from the commmittee, well, giving input. 

Mr. Paine is not the representative on behalf of those in power at the MMA, he is the City's representative, he exists in that capacity to give the input of the people, not the powerful.  He is also there to make sure that the MMA is telling the truth when it comes to its matters that involve the city.  Perhaps the MMA isn't being totally forthcoming?

The real question, to me at least, is this, what is the MMA hiding?  I have much respect for Dr. Chess, its chairman, because of his education and his running a great service for the community, but doesn't this make you wonder what exactly is really going on?  Could this be why he tried to enlist the city council to help him bypass negiotiating with Jason Molino?

Perhaps the MMA could attempt to remove him for a more credible reason, such as the color of his shirt or the brand of sneakers he wears.  I realize that no one is perfect and I don't want to sound like I'm questioning anyone's character....but I have to wonder if this group is living in the same world that the rest of us are.

About 16 people gathered in the town of Batavia last night for a meeting to discuss possibly formulating a farmland protection plan for the town, according to the Daily News.

The town has about 19,000 acres of agricultural land, which accounts for roughly 60 percent of total land in the town.

Roger Muehlig writes:

The goal is to create a land use policy on how to keep agricultural land in production and protect it from commercial and residential development.

In other news, the city of Batavia has hired a new code enforcement officer. Apparently, Ronald Panek has been working since last week. Panek, 41, is from Wyoming.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Often you hear people talk about how government should be run like a business, and it is a nice metaphor for reminding people that cost controls are important, and the books should be balanced, but the phrase masks a very important reality: Government is not a business.

In our talks with people around town about our belief in an open, transparent government, we are sometimes confronted with the idea that government should be run like a business.

Specifically, the City of Batavia should have only one spokes person, and that person is City Manager Jason Molino.

When we spoke to the City Council on this subject a couple of weeks ago, that was exactly the argument Councilman Bill Cox used in dismissing our request for more open access to the local government.

Earlier this week, when we did a post on this topic, John Roach left the following comment:

Jason is right not letting city employees speak with you or the other news media. He is dead right on that. There can be only one spokesman for an organization and all public agencies have that policy. In fact, most private companies have the same policy: one spokesman.

Both Philip Anselmo and I responded about how neither of us, in all of our journalistic experience, have ever dealt with a city government that prohibited employees from talking to the media.

It's just not normal.

But here's where the argument that government is like a business really breaks down:

A government can do things a business can't. A government can impose taxes; a government takes those taxes and decides how to spend those dollars in ways that can have profound impacts on citizens' lives; a government employs people who carry guns and can lock up citizens for reasons both great and small; a government can tell you where and how to hang a sign, what color to paint your house, what repairs must be made to your front porch, what new structures you can erect and where you can do it and what materials can be used; a government is responsible for running facilities -- such as parks -- for the public benefit.

In other words, a government has great power over, awesome responsibility for, and substantial accountability to every person within its jurisdiction.

Businesses, on the other hand, rely on competitive advantages and trade secrets to maintain profitability and ensure it can maintain and grow jobs for the people of a community. Without successful businesses, there would be no taxes to collect. That's why the freedom of information laws always enjoin government agencies to protect trade secrets when exposed during the transaction of business between a company and  a government agency. 

Can businesses be abusive? Sure, but there are also laws that regulate businesses (and though often changing or unevenly enforced for good or ill, they do exist), anti-trust laws to prevent any one business from becoming too powerful, and the free market to check and diminish a business's power.

So there really is no comparison between a government's obligation be open and transparent and a private (or even publicly held) company's right to keep some secrets.

In a well run government, free of malfeasance and derelictions, there should be no reason for any muzzles on any staff member, from the janitor on up to every department head.

We've also heard the argument -- "well, if you want to know something, just FOIL it."

FOIL stands for Freedom of Information Law (at the Federal level it's known as the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA). Go read the opening section of FOIL. It's a beautiful thing. It makes our case for us.

The fact is, if a government agency was operating under the principles of FOIL, living within the spirit of the legislation instead insisting on following the letter of the law, there would never, ever be any reason for a private citizen or media representative to EVER file a formal FOIL request.

A truly open government would just hand over documents with a simple verbal request.

Open governments have nothing to hide and no secrets to keep except those specifically and explicitly enjoined to it by state or federal law.

We shouldn't even need legislation such as FOIL to find out what our government is up to, but the Legislature found it necessary to stop abuses by overzealous government administrators.

But there are three primary problems with FOIL.

• A government agency has five days to respond to a FOIL request, and agencies that wish to delay release of information will take full advantage of this provision;
• FOIL requests must be written in such a way as to be very specific about the records reqeuested -- write the request too broad, and a government agency can use the lack of specificity as an excuse not to include some documents; write it too narrowly and you might miss the most important documents;
• FOIL doesn't cover human intelligence -- not everything you might want to find out about how your government is working is contained within a specific document. Some of it is only contained in the minds of the people who know what is going on. There is simply no substitute for talking with a person and asking questions.

With these liabilities, it is improper for a government agency to hide behind FOIL as a means of controlling the flow of information.

We don't think we're asking for much: We're just asking that the City of Batavia be run in an open, transparent manner so that taxpayers are well served. Until that happens, how can we trust that power isn't being abused and tax dollars are being well spent?

Today's opinion page in the Daily News features a letter to the editor on the topic of the city of Batavia plumbing inspector, who recently had her full-time position cut by the city to part-time and her hours dropped one half-hour below the threshold to qualify for health insurance.

This story was first reported in a great article by Joanne Beck a few weeks back.

In the letter today, authored by Beth Allen and Carol Grasso, the argument is made that Toal was treated unfairly by the city. In fact, the authors put it much more emphatically, when they write: "Someone very near and dear to the heart of this community is being treated with gross injustice." Here's some more:

Her salary was cut in half just two months before she would acheive 20 years of dedication and service to this community. Who made the decision to cut $25,000 at the expense of our public health in the first place? Barb spent her entire life in this county and we can't think of anyone else we know who cares more deeply for it. Then to top things off, she is cut to work only 19 1/2 hours a week instead of the 20 hours a week she would need to have her health insurance and other benefits covered.

Our county has a financial deficit to deal with, but what about the people who live here and make it what it is? Is this how our officials plan on rewarding all of its workers from now on?! Are we teaching our children that dedicating a lifetime of service and professional ability is to be rewarded in this fashion? Who the heck will want to stay in a community like that!!

It's obvious that Allen and Grasso feel very strongly about this. One needn't even consider the doubled-up exclamation points and the flourish of rhetorical questions to understand that. Yet there is much more to be gleaned from this letter than a simple and emphatic request for reinstatement. This letter and the circumstances that led to its being drafted make for a great time to have the conversation of how cities—especially small cities—ought to be run.

How much should municipalities be run like corporations? Because really, if we're to be honest with ourselves, this move of cutting Toal to half time just before she would qualify for pension and edging her hours just right so that the city doesn't have to pay for health insurance—that's a corporate tactic. It saves money. But at the same time, you better believe it carries the message: the individual is not important here. All that is done is done in the name of the greater good. This brings us to the seeming paradox that we, the people of Batavia—or whatever other community, however that community is defined—are the greater good. Yet, at the very same time, we, the people of Batavia, are the Barbara Toals of the community. So which do we favor? Which do we identify with? Because situations such as this, as that which is presented in this letter, make it clear that we have to choose a side.

Beth Allen and Carol Grasso make it quite clear which side they have chosen. At the end of their letter, they list the names, e-mails (where available), addresses and telephone numbers for the city leaders. So, will you send a letter?

In other new, if you're wondering what the municipal bosses and boards are doing in Albion, Shelby, Warsaw and Le Roy, today's Daily News is your kind of newspaper.

Out in Albion, that Village Board has decided to pursue a legal battle to "oust" Ron Vendetti, the village's current code enforcement officer. Vendetti has been accused of "rudeness with residents" and "incompetence on the job."

More such Albion news, along with what went on at the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors meeting, can be found inside the paper. Also, the town of Le Roy will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2009 budget tonight at 7:00pm at the town hall.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

We here at The Batavian heard from multiple sources over the past few days that the St Nicholas Social Club of Batavia had been closed down. We spoke this morning with Tim Walsh, a member who was on site at the Swan Street social club. Walsh is the current club manager.

When asked if the club was closed, Walsh replied: "No, not at all."

"It's mostly been rumors from disgruntled employees who were let go," said Walsh of all the talk that the club was shut down. The family that had been in charge of the place for the past ten to twenty years or so had been let go, he said. It's likely that they were responsible for spreading the rumors. Walsh figured it was a board decision to let them go. "It was time for a change."

St Nick's, as it's more commonly known, has been around since at least the 1950s, said Walsh. It's a membership-only Italian social club, in his description.

"We have 1,100 members," said Walsh. "We're trying to get most of them to come in and patronize the place. It's tough times right now."

"Friday nights we knock 'em dead here," he added. "We're open for lunch Monday through Friday, and for dinner on Wednesday or Friday. Lunch and dinner is not restricted to members. Friday nights are our busiest night each week."

Only members and their friends, however, can drink alcohol at the club because of state regulations. St Nick's also has a karaoke night once a month and hosts "a lot of benefits," he said.

"This is the best club in town," said Walsh. "Just about everyone in town knows we're here."

Last night, CBS News reported (watch the video above) that contrary to promises from Congress, that $700 billion bailout for the nation's biggest banks, the bailout intended to help banks get toxic loans off their books and to kick-start new borrowing and stimulate the economy -- well, nobody really knows how the banks are using the money.

Congress, in its rush to ram this legislation through, didn't require a stitch of regulatory oversight.  And the banks obstinately told CBS: "We don't have to tell you what we're doing with that money."

Meanwhile, it's been reported elsewhere -- as CBS refers to the reports -- that some of the banks are using taxpayer money to go on buying sprees, acquiring smaller banks and making themselves bigger.

That isn't what Congress promised us would happen with our money.

Meanwhile, one of our own businesses -- Pontillo's Pizzeria -- is clearly having its own financial struggles.  The venerable Main Street eatery is more than $112,000 behind in taxes. The family is involved in a messy lawsuit. It's currently shut down, reportedly for renovations, but the signs are clearly troubling.

We don't see Henry Paulson rushing to Batavia to help out John, Paul and Sam, but his fat-cat buddies on Wall Street are doing just fine.

The situation with Pontillo's is important, and as much as some people might like to see the news of the restaurant's struggles swept under the rug, it isn't going to help Pontillo's or the community to hide from these issues.

What's going on with Pontillo's has a ripple effect throughout Genesee County -- the restaurant employed local people who spent some portion of their revenue locally, and paid rent to local landlords, and the restaurant did business in some degree with local suppliers, and all of those people are affected, too.

Clearly, the situation is heartbreaking for all the people who grew up with Pontillo's, either as former employees or loyal customers.

Some people do what to know what's going on not merely for curiosity's sake, but because they care. This situation effects more than just one family. It effects the entire community.

Which brings us back to the bailout. 

Where is the bailout for Pontillo's?  Congress talked a lot about how what happens on Wall Street effects Main Street. So far, we're not seeing the connection.

Some of these banks that received cash from Congress have branches in Genesee County. Wouldn't it be appropriate for one of those branch managers to step forward and ask the Pontillos how they can help?

We're not holding our breath, but we are wishing the Pontillos well. We do want to see them pull out of this. When Pontillo's reopens, it should be a big community event.

From the Batavia Business Improvement District:

This is a contest for children, twelve years and younger, to make a holiday ornament and enter it into this contest. The ornaments will be displayed on a Christmas tree in the Batavia City Centre. The winners will be announced on Friday, December 5th. Winners will be announced at Christmas in the City, at 6:45pm, on the Main Stage in Batavia City Centre.

The Ornament Committee is looking to have prizes to give out to the various children whose ornament(s) win in the different categories.

If you are interested in donating a prize to this contest please contact Loretta Delpriore at 344-1283 by Wednesday, November 19th or fax the form below to: 815-4310. She will provide you with contest forms and other information.

Click here to download the donation form.

Last week, The Batavian reported that Pontillo's Pizzeria owed in excess of $112,000 in state taxes. That report came on the heels of an article in the Daily News in which Sam Pontillo claimed that he closed the restaurant in order to make renovations and officially purchase the property. A second article appeared in the Daily a couple days after our post that further confounded an already ambiguous story. Since then, more information has become available that may help us to ask some better questions in the hopes of getting some better answers.

On October 31, a civil suit was filed in Genesee County in which all three Pontillo brothers were named. That suit was brought by Buffalo attorneys Amigone, Sanchez, Mattrey & Marshall LLP on behalf of the plaintiff: John Pontillo. Listed as defendants in that case are: Sam, Paul and Salvatore Pontillo. No other details of the case were available at the Office of the Genesee County Clerk, and we have so far been unable to contact any of the brothers. We had left messages for Sam Pontillo last week that were never returned.

A week later, on November 7, a mechanic's lien was filed with the county by Roy H. Turnbull Inc. againt the estate of Elizabeth Pontillo and Pontillo's Batavia Pizzeria Inc. in the amount of $1,181.29. No specifics were listed in the record.

Those are the most recent facts. A search earlier today revealed no new filings with the county. Let us now take a moment to review the news as it was reported in the Daily. We feel that there are some contradictions and ambiguities that may help to shed some light on the situation.

From the first article, which appeared on November 4:

(Sam) Pontillo was advised that it would be better to just close the shop down and then re-open under new ownership. He regrets that he had to cancel a pre-election night party ... But he had no choice, Pontillo said. He was told that renovations were to happen now.

Firstly, who "advised" Sam Pontillo to close and "told" him that renovations had to "happen now"? In the same article, Beck writes that: "Sam has been on site running the Batavia and Le Roy operations the last several years." So if he's running the place, who is telling him to close it? Secondly, what are these renovations that they cannot be postponed even a single day so that the restaurant could cater a local party?

What's most confusing, however, is that in this first article, Sam Pontillo claims responsibility for both operations, in Le Roy and in Batavia. He would have to be running the place in order to make the decision to close it down, right? But in the article that appeared in the Daily on November 7—after The Batavian broke the news that the Batavia restaurant owed some $112,000 in unpaid taxes to the state—Sam Pontillo is quoted as saying: "I was locked out of the whole operation. John and Paul worked there (in Batavia). John was operations manager." Doesn't that contradict the claim in the previous article that Sam has been running the place for "years"?

Joanne Beck writes:

It was only after (Sam Pontillo) started the paperwork to buy the city property that Sam Pontillo became fully aware of the tax situation, he said. He doesn't dispute that tax warrants have been filed by the state Finance Department and Genesee County Clerk's office against the family business, which includes Pontillo's Batavia Pizzeria, Inc. and Sam's Tomato Pies, Inc.

But he doesn't claim them as his, either. The business is still owned by his mother and was not run by Sam, he said.

What!? Does Sam Pontillo run the business or not? What does it mean to be "fully aware"? Could he have been "partially" aware? What would that have signified? How can Sam not claim the tax warrants filed against Sam's Tomato Pies?

It is also reported in the most recent Daily News article that: "Genesee County records did not show any outstanding tax warrants on the Le Roy Pontillo's." That's true. As Sam Pontillo himself says of the Le Roy location: "I don't owe one cent for this place."

But Pontillo's Le Roy Pizzeria Inc. has been named in a civil suit filed by the Workers' Compensation Board of the State of New York that was filed on October 20. The Board also filed a money judgement in the amount of $1,250 against the Le Roy operation. As for any outstanding tax warrants, there are none. Pontillo's Le Roy Pizzeria Inc. was, however, served with a tax warrant by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance in the amount of $700.63 in November, 2007. That was paid.

All in all, there are more questions than answers at this point, and I have yet to see a single car parked at the Batavia Pontillo's, which is supposed to be undergoing renovations right now. I guess we ought to take Sam Pontillo at his word when he says: "The remodeling won't be an obvious change that patrons will notice."

Efforts by the Mancuso Business Development Group to redevelop aging industrial plants and turn them into business centers for new and fledgling firms is featured in a piece in the D&C this morning.

Mancuso projects include the High Falls facility in Rochester, a 475,000-square-foot business center in Lockport, and another large development center in Geneva, as well as the Harvester Center in Batavia.

For the four local business incubators, Mancuso Development acts as the managing agent, collecting rent and paying the bills, and as leasing agent. The firm also oversees building rehabilitation work at the Lockport and Geneva sites, B. Thomas Mancuso said.

The company particularly focuses on landing small-business tenants of fewer than 10 workers, Mancuso said. And even in the current economic contraction going on nationally, he said, there is constantly demand for affordable space for businesses of that size.

Notre Dame and Batavia High alums will be getting together to play some basketball and raise money for a good cause on Saturday, November 29 at Notre Dame.

The Hometown Hoops for Hope game will feature Batavia and Notre Dame grads battling each other on the court.

The game is going to be held to raise money for the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation, which is set up in honor of Michael Napoleone, who passed away from Burkitt's Lymphoma/Leukemia.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and admission is just $2 at the door.

On a few instances this morning and afternoon, I looked out the window of our Main Street office and spied an "Oversize Load" getting hauled through the city, heading east on Route 5. About an hour ago, I was in my car and spotted another such load. This time, I chased the sucker down, whipped out my camera and got a photo—and please forgive the quality: it was taken from inside my car while I was driving, er, stopped at a traffic light.

Now why would anybody take a photograph of some big... uhh, something... traveling down the street on the back of a hundred-foot flatbed? Well, mostly because I couldn't for the life of me guess what that something was. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm often intrigued by the unknown, especially when it's that large and in my face and unabashedly downtown.

Here's a shot:

This was taken near the intersection of Route 5 and Route 33 as the object in question was headed east toward the town of Stafford. What do you think it is? It looked like it could have been some part of a high-tech flying machine. Or maybe some billionaire mad scientist is constructing an underground lair.