batavia

A possible shed fire is reported on Porter Avenue. City fire is responding.

UPDATE 7:15 p.m.: A firefighter on scene reports it's "a charcoal grill just getting started." The city is back in service.

Nina Kelso certainly has her supporters -- friends and family members who have argued passionately on Facebook and on The Batavian that those who judge her and heap insults upon her and even threaten her don't know the full story.

She would never abuse an animal and her dog was ill not from mistreatment, they say, but because he unintentionally ate something toxic.

Darren Dewitt:

Don't judge this one too soon. I've known Nina for years and something is off with this whole deal. My understanding is that the dog was dying and instead of having the vet put it down she let it live out its days at home with the family. The court has the final word.

Lynda Kelso:

Can't help it when a DOG does what DOGS do and gets into something and it makes them sick. ... He got sick and was vomiting. How do u loose weight when u get sick? He was weak from what he ate. They were trying to get food in there right down to baby formula.

Nina Kelso's case began at 6:08 p.m., Feb. 4, when Sgt. Chris Camp and Officer Jamie Givens responded to a report on Hutchins Street of a malnourished dog.

When they arrived they spotted a canine inside that, according to the officers, was emaciated and couldn't stand on its own.

Dr. Fran Woodworth of State Street Animal Hospital was contacted to assist with the health care of the animal.

Woodworth said she arrived at the aninmal hospital around 7:30 and found a dog that was severally malnourished.

"He was emaciated and mentally he was dull and disoriented," Woodworth said. "I don't know how much of that was starvation or, the officers told me that his owner said he had gotten into potentially toxic substances, cigarette butts and incense oil or something along those lines, and that was why he was in shape in that he was in and had lost all that weight in just a couple of days. I don't know if he had gotten into some toxic substances, but he was definitely mentally not normal. He was just very depressed."

The dog had an intestinal infection, pressure-point sores and was blind.

Animal Control Officer James Sheflin began his investigation into the case the morning after the dog was brought to State Street. He took pictures and examined the dog and consulted with the District Attorney's Office on possible appropriate charges against Kelso (she was charged with torturing or injuring an animal, failure to provide sustenance, and owning/harboring an unlicensed dog).

"Honestly, he's the worst shape I've ever seen," Sheflin said. "The sores were over all his entire body. His feet were swollen two or three times what they should have been. His nails were overgrown. He literally didn't have enough strength to stand up. All he could do was lay down."

State Street staff monitored the dog's progress, unsure during those first 12 hours or so if the dog was going to make it.

But after 12 hours, the dog showed enough progress to warrant continued treatment.

Soon, he gained enough strength to stand up and he showed an interest again in eating.

The dog was brought in on a Tuesday and by Saturday it was in good enough health to be transferred to a foster family through Volunteers for Animals.

It's impossible to tell for sure, Woodsworth said, whether the dog ate anything toxic.

"Toxins are typically very short-lived," Woodsworth said. "They do their damage and then there is no sign of them in any blood test. They are gone. There was nothing in the blood work that was tagged as a sign of a toxin."

There's no indication the dog was brought to a vet for treatment prior to Camp and Givens picking them up, Woodworth said.

"He was overloaded with intestinal worms," Woodworth said. "There were pressure sores on all contact points, particularly his elbows and hind legs from being recumbent for so long. He hadn't eaten in weeks and was weak. That kind of emaciation doesn't just happen overnight.

"As far as I know," Woodworth added, "the owner never sought out veterinary help. What the dog needed was better nutritional care and parasite control and better health maintenance."

Woodworth isn't sure why the dog is blind or if the blindness will last. It's a problem in the dog's brain, not with the dog's eyes, she said.

That could be caused by a toxin, she said.

His mental state, depression, could also be the result of a "toxic insult," Woodworth said.

If the dog did ingest something toxic, veterinary treatment sooner would have been advised, she said.

"In fairness to her, the problems that I saw in the dog were primarily starvation and being recumbent too long," Woodworth said. "I didn't find any injuries inflicted by being kicked or being abused violently in that manner."

Woodworth is hopeful about the dog's improving health even if the prognosis isn't yet settled. The dog is in a good place now and that can only help him recover.

"It's too early to say if he will recover his sight," Woodworth said. "He retained his blindness after getting back on his feet, but he's acting normal otherwise. It was a joyful thing for us to see him on his feet and be interested in food by the next morning. He became rather attached to one of our technicians and began begging her for treats. He really showed some dramatic improvement in a short amount of time."

The Batavian tried to contact Nina Kelso through Facebook earlier today so she could tell her side of the story and have not received a response.

UPDATE: Nina Kelso contacted me about an hour after this story was published and said she prefers not to comment while her legal case is pending.

PHOTO: Batavia PD.

An accident involving two or three vehicles is reported at 24 Ross St. and it's blocking traffic. Unknown injuries. City police are responding. Arguments are reported. "It's that time of day," says the dispatcher.

Batavia PD is looking for the public's assistance in identifying the driver of a hit-and-run vehicle that struck a 17-year-old Batavia resident Feb. 5 on State Street.

The youth was transported to UMMC with non-life-threatening injuries.

The vehicle is described as a black, two-door sedan with a white license plate and the letter "D" at the start of the plate number.

The vehicle was occupied by two white individuals.

The accident was reported at 7:45 a.m. on State near Fairmont Avenue.

Anyone with information that may assist in the investigation can contact Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350 or through the City’s Web site located at http://www.batavianewyork.com/police-
department/webforms/report-suspicious-drug-or-criminal-activity.

A two three-vehicle accident is reported at Oak Street and Richmond Avenue and it is blocking traffic. A female is complaining of chest pain. City fire is responding along with Mercy medics and traffic control is needed.

UPDATE 1:12 p.m.: A female driver with complaints of chest pain is being taken to UMMC for evaluation. City Engine 11 is back in service.

Jason M. Babbitt, 40, of Pavilion, is charged with two counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd. Babbitt was arrested following a complaint investigated by State Police of a possible stolen vehicle from a location in Covington. At about the same time the initial complaint was reported, a vehicle was found in a ditch on Taylor Road, near the location of the reported stolen vehicle. Following further investigation by troopers and Wyoming County Sheriff's deputies, Babbitt was identified as the suspect and they allege he drove another vehicle without that owner's permission. Babbitt was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Robert W. Plantiko Jr., 39, of Thorpe Street, Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Plantiko is accused of not providing proper care to a child in his custody. Plantiko was jailed on $100 bail.

Christina M. Cadieux, 53, of Pearl Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation, and no or inadequate headlamps. Cadieux was stopped at 7:18 p.m. Feb. 4 on Pearl Street by Officer Felicia DeGroot.

Norman E. Bastedo II, 39, of Pringle Avenue, Batavia, is charged with unlawful operation of an ATV on a public highway and depositing snow on a public street. Bastedo was charged following an investigation into an accident reported in February on Pringle Avenue, Batavia.

Kimberly A. Beagle, 45, of Park Place, Perry, is charged with petit larceny. Beagle is accused of shoplifting from Tops.

Joseph C. Parnell, 19, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal nuisance, 2nd. Parnell is accused of allowing an underage drinking party to gather at a residence. Also charged, Benjamin D. Polk, 21, of East Main Street, Batavia. Bradley L. Rodda, 19, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with maintaining a premises for unlawful conduct. Joshua J. May, 19, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and criminal nuisance.

Chercal Arieal Smith, 18, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property, 5th. Smith is accused of possessing a stolen mobile phone and using that phone for several days.

Brian Lee Smith, 52, of Colonial Boulevard, Batavia, is charged with three counts of criminal contempt, 1st, and 65 counts of criminal contempt, 2nd. Smith is accused of violating a stay away order of protection by sending numerous e-mails, leaving several voice mails and visiting the residence of the protected person.

Christopher Patrick Abdella Sr., 45, of Galloway Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Abdella is accused of sending several text messages to a person he was barred by court order from contacting.

William John Dale, 40, of Franklin Street, Dansville, was arrested on a warrant related to a petit larceny charge. Dale was a passenger in a vehicle stopped in by a deputy in Livingston County and turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office after being identified as a warrant suspect. Dale was jailed on $200 bail.

Of the past half decade, vacant and abandoned homes have become problem in Batavia, according to City Manager Jason Molino.

Vacant and abandoned homes bring down residential home values in the immediate area, attract crime, suck up city resources with code enforcement and police responses and eventually the city ends up paying for property clean-up.

On the other hand, a vacant home filled with a family adds $20,000 in retail buying power to the city's economy.

"Vacant homes are a burden on any municipality," Molino said. "Whether it's the resources we have to use to address them, the lack of buying power because of the vacancy, the deterioration of the home itself or the deterioration of the neighborhood around it, there's a lot of studies, a lot of data on the impact of vacant and abandoned homes and they have a negative impact."

Over the past two years, the City of Batavia has taken properties taken in foreclosure for lack of property tax payments and deeded the properties to Habitat for Humanity.

The program has proven a resounding success, Molino said. Properties restored by Habitat have increased in assessed value by 30 to 40 percent and are occupied by families that take care of the properties.

"You've got owner-occupants who take pride in their home," Molino said. "It's a good program. I wish we could do more of it."

One of the tasks for the yet-to-be-hired assistant city manager will be to look at ways to get more vacant and abandoned houses into the hands of responsible homeowners.

"With continued focus and leadership the city could make an aggressive effort to target four or five properties annually with more partnerships similar to that with Habitat for Humanity," Molino wrote in a report to City Council. "This includes several initiatives such as attempting taking title of abandoned properties quicker, greater accountability of mortgage holders and partnering with not-for-profits for rehabilitation and investment in these properties."

Monday night, the council approved the sale of four house seized for back taxes (six properties total). The houses are at 5-7 Buell St., 6 Madison Ave., 3 Manhattan Ave., and 11 S. Spruce St.

So far, there's no deal in place to deed one or more of the homes to Habitat, but Molino said such an arrangement is still possible. If an agreement is reached, the council would have to approve the transfer.

No date has been announced for auction of the seized properties.

While on Harvester Avenue today I spotted these milkweed pods popping out of a snow bank next to the Batavia Cemetery.

Press release:

The Water Department will be making a repair to a water main on Chestnut Street near Jackson Street on Thursday, Feb. 13. This will result in Chestnut Street and Law Street being closed to thru traffic beginning at approximately 8:30 a.m.

Repairs may result in temporary water service interruption or discoloration in the vicinity of the intersection of Jackson and Chestnut.

John Deleo made an impassioned plea to his fellow City Council members Monday night to support a resolution calling for a ban on further expansion of gambling facilities in Western New York.

But he couldn't convince Rose Mary Christian.

Christian was the lone council member voting against the resolution because she didn't see it as necessary.

"It's important we share in this opposition," Deleo said. "We need to be opposed to any more casinos because we're already at a point of over saturation, so this is very important."

According to the resolution, the Seneca Nation is planning to buy land in Henrietta in order to build a Vegas-style casino near Rochester.

Batavia Downs draws a lot of customers from Monroe County, Deleo said.

“The Seneca Nation is looking at building a casino in Henrietta,” Deleo said. “It would definitely hurt us. The barbarians are at the gate.”

Batavia Downs generates income for local governments in 11 WNY counties, including $3.5 million for Genesee County, on gross annual revenue of $215 million. It employs 460 people in Batavia with an annual payroll of $5 million.

Members of the New York Legislature and the governor's office will receive copies of the resolution passed on a 8-1 vote by the council.

The city and the union representing city firefighters have come to an agreement on a new contract that won't have much near-term impact on city spending, but should mean cost savings in the future.

The contract will allow the city to eventually eliminate two firefighter positions and will save the city the expense of providing health insurance in retirement to firefighters hired after the contract was implemented.

"We've been getting every union to agree to that moving forward," Molino said.

Firefighters will get a 2.75-percent pay increase for the current year.

The contract also calls for: an increase in qualifications in order to serve as acting lieutenant; new hires' participation in the wellness program provided for other city employees; random drug testing; and changes to paid leave.

The fire department currently has four vacancies. Instead of being required to fill all four vacancies this year, the city will be able to fill one vacancy a year for the next four years.

Currently, there are 36 union positions in the department -- 28 firefighters and eight supervisors. Under terms of the new contract, which runs for five years, the city will be able to eliminate two firefighter positions in 2018.

The City Council found $54,000 to trim from the proposed 2014-15 city budget Monday night, reducing the proposed tax rate to $9.17.

There will be no free Wi-Fi Downtown and no electric car charging station.

There will be a new assistant city manager, and Jason Molino said that may be the most strategically critical component of the budget.

"For the first five or six years I was here, we focused on creating a good financial foundation and establishing good financial practices," Molino said. "That doesn't go by the wayside, but now we're broadening our horizon and saying what are the issues we want to focus on and that comes down to quality of life, economic development and community development. I think having another executive in the manager's office to help contribute to bring some of those goals to fruition will be a benefit."

The council rejected a proposal to remove the new position from the budget by a 4-5 vote.

Voting to remove the position were John Deleo, Brooks Hawley, Gene Jankowski and Kathy Briggs.

Voting to keep the position in the budget were Kris Doeringer, Patti Pacino, John Canale, Pierluigi Cipollone and Rose Mary Christian.

Deleo said he didn't think the position was necessary, that any additional duties falling into the city manager's lap could be outsourced or handled by part-timers. Hawley and Jankowski said they favored waiting at least a year to see if the position was really needed.

Jankowski also argued that the list of duties for the new manager will take somebody of super human knowledge and training.

The new duties of the new job will include:

• Assist with the police facility needs assessment;
• Prepare for negotiations with Genesee County regarding the water and sewer maintenance agreement and sales tax agreement;
• Negotiate a new CSEA contract;
• Work with Vibrant Batavia and Batavia PD on community and neighborhood engagement efforts;
• Assist in infrastructure planning;
• Support HR in reviewing and analyzing healthcare and workers compensation programs;
• Act as the city's network administrator;
• Monitor the city's insurance program and act as a risk manager;
• Assist in preparing for the bond rating review; and,
• Assist in coordinating the neighborhood engagement effort (the project formerly known as neighborhood sweeps), including overseeing the collection of data, interpretation of date from multiple city departments and outside agencies, establish priorities, milestones and performance metrics for determining the success of the program.

"When I read over the list, it paints a picture of so many talents and duties that will take so much time that the person won't have time to do much of anything," Jankowski said.

He then read through several of the times of the list and added, "I think this person is going to be so overworked with just the duties in the first year that next year he's going to need an assistant to help him."

The long list of duties that Jankowski read off, countered Cipollone, is exactly why the position is needed. The hard working city staff has been stretched thin by seven years of budget restraints, but for the city to move forward the staff -- and particularly Molino -- is going to need some help pursuing some of these initiatives.

"The city has come out of a dark place where we were in a hole and we were able to fight our way back," Cipollone said. "We want to make this place a city where people want to live and want to do business and to do that we need to focus on the things we want to get done to provide the quality of life we want here."

Jankowski argued that some of the duties slated for the new position are best handled by existing staff. The project formerly known as "neighborhood sweeps," Jankowski said, is the police chief's job, not some staffer in City Hall.

"As a former police officer I can say nothing aggravated me more than somebody coming in who doesn't know anything about police work and trying to tell me how to do my job," Jankowski said.

In an interview after the meeting, Molino used the neighborhood program as an example of an initiative that needs high-level supervision. It's not just a single-function job, but moves across departments and disciplines to coordinate the effort.

The project will require somebody who can crunch data, marshal resources, communicate with all department heads and help guide a team of city staff to effective decisions.

"That doesn't happen from just a police chief's perspective," Molino said. "It doesn't happen from a fire chief's perspective. It doesn't happen from a director of public works perspective. It happens with a team of people working together, critical thinkers who have the ability to understand these issues from a complex perspective and say 'how do we work together as a group, as a team?' "

From a community development stance, one of the most strategically important jobs of the new assistant city manager will be working on a FEMA program that should lower the cost of flood insurance for homeowners in designated floodplains.

That was the issue Christian zeroed in on and said that's why the residents of her district support creating the position.

"I really need somebody to come in and help with the flood insurance issue," Christian said. "Flood insurance is already so high and now they say it could go 25 percent higher. We have people who aren't able to sell their homes, they won't invest in their homes because the cost of flood insurance is so high. If they have to pay 25 percent more, who is going to buy a home there?"

Reversing the trend on the Southside of declining home values, Molino said, is critical to community development. It's not good for anybody in Batavia when homes go into disrepair and become hard to sell. That brings down everybody's property values.

"I think it has a real negative impact on real estate values on the Southside," Molino said. "I think any realtor would probably agree that it's a hindrance to selling a home in the floodplain because people see that they've got this other bill, really it's like another tax bill, and at times it's a larger-than-your-tax-bill payment on a home that's assessed at less than others averaged out through the rest of the city, and when you look at the census tracks, these are the lowest moderate income houses. That's a recipe I think we want to change."

The city's $16.6 million spending plan was originally proposed with a 3-cent property tax cut from the current $9.30. With the items removed from the budget proposal last night, another 10 cents will come off the tax rate.

A public hearing will be held on the budget proposal at 7 p.m., Feb. 24. The council will vote on the budget at its following business meeting.

If you've been Downtown in the past day or so, you may have noticed pink markings spray painted on the snow.

A city official explained that the Department of Public Works has a few new employees and a new supervisor. They may not know what's buried under the snow, such as plants and streetscape. Rather than have them plow in a way that might damage the streetscape, workers will see the markings and know what snow to remove.

The Downtown snow removal will likely take place today.

So if you wondered, now you know.

They call it "The Big Ask."

The Big Ask is the third leg of a fund-raising effort developed by Vibrant Batavia to support it's community improvement efforts and putting together a centennial celebration for the city in 2015.

Fundraising efforts so far involve selling advertising to local businesses for a quarterly magazine and a discount card program to residents, but Vibrant Batavia also needs to raise big money from big donors.

Corporate sponsors are being sought to contribute as much as $5,000 or $10,000 each.

Monday night, members had another kind of Big Ask for City Council members: $45,000 for a second year of funding.

It's part of the plan -- Vibrant Batavia's plan has always included at least $45,000 in funding annually for three years -- but the request needs to be put before the City Council each year.

Council President Brooks Hawley said he's inclined to support the request.

"They've been doing a great job, being put together as many volunteers," Hawley said. "It's been a great effort."

Since the Spring of 2013, Vibrant Batavia has:

• Developed a logo and marketing plan;
• Entered into an agreement with Rochester-based nonprofit Neighborhood Works and hired a coordinator for Vibrant Batavia through Neighborhood Works;
• Conducted neighborhood surveys;
• Introduced Coffee Talks, a Fall Frolic, an advertiser-supported quarterly publication and discount program;
• Started planning the community's centennial celebration.

The second year of city funding is needed, City Manager Jason Molino said, to help continue and expand Vibrant Batavia's neighborhood organization efforts and planning for the centennial celebration.

"It's an energized group," Molino said after the meeting. "They want to do with good things in the community. I think they want to continue that momentum."

For 2013, Vibrant projected $67,000 in revenue, with $45,000 coming from the city. The actual fundraising effort garnered $60,790.

Expenses were $10,000 lower than projected.

Vibrant Batavia spent $31,000 with Neighborhood Works, $500 on logo design, $7,500 on developing a sponsorship plan with Buffalo Block Club, $10,902 on printing expenses and $7,500 on the centennial celebration.

For 2014, Vibrant Batavia's revenue plan projects another $45,000 from the city and $42,000 in revenue from local businesses, with expenses of $31,500 on Neighborhood Works, $35,500 on programming and $20,000 on centennial planning.

"All of us have come together, community members and volunteers, because we believe in our community," said Vibrant Batavia Board Member Marty McDonald.

Kathy and Jim Owen were honored by the City Council on Monday night homeowners of the year.

Karen Reisdorf, owner of Blue Pearl Yoga, received the City Council's Business of the Year award.

The T.F. Brown's Squirt III Batavia Ramparts Hockey Team garnered silver medals at the Empire State Winter Games held Olympic Center in Lake Placid this weekend.

Batavia was the #1 seed going into the final rounds after winning their first three games. They lost the gold medal round to the Rye Rangers.

Pictured are Head Coach Jeff Bower, Assistant Coach Brian Frieday and players Drew Bower, Vincent DiRizio, Matthew Frieday, Levi Grimm, Zachary Howard, Austin Hunt, Collin Kratz, Chase Pangrazio, Dominic Peracciny, Connor Peterson, Eric Pfalzer, Sean Pies, Jace Rademacker, and Max Tenney.

Photo and information submitted by Robert Grimm.

Following a week-long trial that ended Friday, a Batavia resident was found not guilty on three felony counts stemming from an allegation he forced a victim to engage in sexual acts.

Kyle H. Morse, 17 at the time of his arrest a year ago, was, however, found guilty on a single misdemeanor count of sexual misconduct.

The grand jury indictment on that count accused Morse of engaging in oral sexual conduct with another person without that person's consent, and the person was deemed incapable of consent by virtue of being less than 17 years old.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree and criminal sexual act in the third degree.

Morse is scheduled to appear for sentencing on the misdemeanor conviction April 10.