batavia

Art and culture clashed with reality Thursday night at the Genesee County Planning Board meeting when two projects dealing with a bit of Batavia's past and a bit of its present were considered.

First up was a permit for demolition of the former Elks Lodge at 213 E. Main St. The board recommended approval of the permit with only one dissenting vote, from Lucine Kauffman.

Later in the meeting, the board was asked to consider a permit for sign painted on the back of a building on East Main Street.

While some might dispute that the sign is a work of art, it was painted by Batavia's renowned muralist Vinny DelPlato.

Main St. Pizza Company Owner Vic Marchese commissioned the work to provide DelPlato some extra work while the artist was in town this summer and he thought it would be a cool use of some blank space on the back of his building.

Only after the mural/sign was painted -- it depicts the top of Main St.'s pizza box -- did city officials let him know the painting constituted a sign for his business and he would need a sign permit.

The sign also allegedly violated city ordinances for size and location.

Last month, the county planning board recommended disapproval of an application for a variance to allow the sign. 

The board's votes are not binding. They're recommendations to the municipal planning and zoning boards.  

In the case of the Main St. sign, the application was resubmitted, according to board discussion, because the Batavia planning board agreed to consider it if a sign for Batavia Computer was added to the back of the building.

The Main St. painting isn't actually behind Main St. Pizza. It's behind Batavia Computer, and the owner of Batavia Computer said he thinks the location of the painting will confuse people about the location of his business, according to board discussion.

"It seems like this is a neighbor issue, but we're being asked to straighten it out," Kauffman said.

The revised plan leaves the painting in place, but ads door signs for both Main St. Pizza and Batavia Computer. The board seemed willing to consider a sign variance for Batavia Computer, but only as a separate application.

"We don't even know if the owner of Batavia Computer wants the sign," said board member Bob Bennett. "We have nothing with his signature on it."

Felipe Oltramari, senior planner for the county, said that part of the reason for the staff's recommendation to disapprove the application was that allowing such a large sign would set a precedent.

"How would the city say no to the next application?" Oltramari asked.

Kauffman noted that the point of a variance is to make an exception, not set a precedent.

The board held no discussion of the proposed demolition of the former Elks Lodge. A representative of UMMC and of the demolition company appeared at the meeting and were ready to answer questions, but no questions were asked.

In briefing Oltramari said there is no documented historical significance of the building.

County planning staff recommended approval of the demolition permit.

After the meeting, Oltramari shared a draft of a modification to the building that was approved in 1950. The modification added the current facade of the building. In our earlier report, we said that Frank Homelius designed the facade -- information that comes from a book about Frank and his father Henry Homelius. However, Frank died in 1941.

Photo: Taken the day DelPlato was finishing the Main St. painting.

The Holland Land Office Museum has acquired a painting by Richard Wright Ware that depicts a bit of West Main Street and the Tonawanda Creek that no longer exists.

Sometime in the late 1950s or '60s, the Batavia native painted the picture showing a view from the Walnut Street Bridge -- which was a traffic bridge then -- looking west down the Tonawanda with the former commercial buildings of West Main Street depicted on the right.

Those buildings would eventually be demolished, and the Walnut Street bridge converted for pedestrian use. That stretch of Main Street is now a grassy, tree-lined area.

County Clerk Don Read, at right, who serves on the HLOM board, acquired the picture at an auction and paid $600 for it.

Ware, known for his landscapes around Batavia and Naples, gained some regional acclaim and held shows locally in Rochester and the Finger Lakes.

"We like to have representative works of local artists," Read said.

The work, Read said, can be combined with photos HLOM has of that section of Batavia, to give museum visitors an idea of what the area was once like.

Executive Director Jeff Donahue said HLOM is always looking for artifacts that help tell the story of Genesee County and he said he would welcome tips from local residents on anything that might become available. It's important, he said, to ensure items of local historical importance are preserved.

The painting is already on display at HLOM.

Batavia, with its legacy of demolishing its own history, is about to lose another landmark building.

The former Batavia Elks Lodge at 213 E. Main St. was purchased in December by United Memorial Medical Center for $143,500.

Workers have already removed windows and completed asbestos abatement.

Colleen Flynn, spokeswoman for UMMC, said the hospital regularly tries to acquire property adjacent to its own facilities when possible.

"We're sort of landlocked," Flynn said. "When certain buildings come up for sale we buy them for future growth."

Her own office on North Street is in a house the hospital acquired to create more space for staff, she noted.

The building housed the Elks in Batavia for nearly 100 years. The current Art Deco facade was added in the 1920s and designed by Frank Homelius, a Batavia resident and one of the premier architects of Western New York in the early 20th Century. His father, Henry Homelius designed many of Batavia's grander homes of the 19th Century. (*see update below)

Flynn noted that the building does not have any historical designation.

Laurie Oltramari, president of the Genesee County Landmark Society, said given the current state of the north side of East Main Street, she doesn't thinking losing the building is going to detract too much from the character of the city.

"You've got to pick your battles, I guess, and this isn't one I would pick," she said.

Though, Oltramari, added, she hates to see such a building destroyed without a plan.

UMMC will landscape the property once the building is removed and has no immediate plans to construct another building at the location.

Jeffery Donahue, director of the Holland Land Office Museum, was saddened to hear the news the building would be torn down.

"It's always a shame to lose one of the landmark buildings of Batavia," Donahue said. "We lose a little bit of history every time."

UMMC won an award from the Landmark Society earlier this year for its restoration of the former St. Jerome's Hospital, turning it into senior housing.

"The building (Elks Lodge) was not in good condition for renovation," Flynn said. "We do everything we can to protect and preserve Batavia's history."

Later in the day, Flynn issued a press release with the following quote:

The former Elk’s Club required extensive updates and renovations for reuse and was not handicap accessible. Coupled with the costs associated with making it handicap accessible and meeting NYS Department of Health regulations for healthcare use, it was decided that the building should be razed and the site would be improved with appropriate landscaping.

Over the years, Batavia has seen the north side of his downtown district demolished and replaced by a characterless mall and lost such grand structures as the Trumbull Cary Mansion and the Dean Richmond Mansion (the location is now a parking lot).

Local author Bill Kauffman, who has lamented previous losses to Batavia's cultural heritage, most notably in his book Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette, was upset this morning to hear about the Elks Lodge demolition.

"It's a shame," Kauffman said. "The Elks Lodge is a landmark of working-class Batavia, designed by Batavia's great architectual family."

UPDATE: County documents show an application was made in 1950 to add the current facade to the building. Frank Homelius died in 1941.  The information we use in the story above comes from a book on Frank and his father.

The State Museum is setting up 30 displays of 9/11 artifacts around the state and one of them will be at Batavia City Hall from Aug. 29 through the end of September.

The display will be open on Sunday, Sept. 11.

"It's memorializing a tragedy, but I think it's good for the city to be able to host something like this," said City Manager Jason Molino. "It will give the community a chance to reflect on the events of 9/11."

While details are still being worked out, Molino said, there will likely be some sort of city-hosted ceremony on 9/11.

County Clerk Don Read said he was glad to see Batavia picked as one of the 30 host cities.

"I think it is an excellent opportunity for the public to put themselves in a frame of mind to reflect on tragedy," Read said. 

Read called 9/11 "one of those legacy events" -- such as the Kennedy assassination -- when everybody remembers what they were doing and where they were when they heard about it.

"It's a chance to learn more about 9/11 and pay tribute to those who lost their lives on that day," Read said.

The State Museum has acquired more than 2,000 objects from Ground Zero and many of the artifacts that will be on display throughout the state, many of which will be viewed by the public for the first time.

Eric Dibble dabbled in a couple of different careers, but in the end decided what he would be best at was the one career he grew up learning about -- law enforcement.

"I'd always been interested in police work with my father being in it while I was growing up," Dibble said. "I worked a few other jobs outside of college, but I just didn't feel any kind of satisfaction in the careers I had chosen. At one point, I stopped and started thinking again about law enforcement. I decided that working at a career I was interested in was probably the most important thing."

While Dibble is now an officer with the Batavia Police Department, his father remains in a senior position with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, and he had only one question about his son's career choice.

"To be honest, the biggest thing I said to him was are you sure you want to work shift work and have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off," said Deputy Chief Gordon Dibble. "That’s the first thing I said. I think everything I said to him was all about working holidays and working shift work and how that affects your family."

Dibble said being the son of a well-known cop in the community has its benefits, but the Dibble name in law enforcement also carries weight.

"I think some people give me the benefit of doubt because of it and they think I can do a good job, but I also have to live up to any kind of expectations," Eric said.

While some fathers in law enforcement might warn their sons away from such a career, Gordon said that never entered his mind.

"I've known police officers who have told their kids not to go into this career, but I think Eric is capable of doing a great job," said Gordon.

He also couldn't have picked a better community for a career in law enforcement, the chief said.

"I think the Batavia Police Department is a great department and I think the fact that he’s working there is great," Gordon said. "We all think it’s a nice area or we wouldn’t live here. I think it’s a good area to be a police officer in. I don’t know that I’d want him to be a police officer in an urban setting, but I think around here, I think it’s a great place to live and a great place to be a police officer."

WBTA's Geoff Redick conducted an in-depth interview with Gordon and Eric Dibble. Segments will air Thursday at 6, 7 and 8 a.m. The entire interview will air during Friday's Main and Center.

Photo below submitted by Gordon Dibble, taken at Eric's graduation from the police academy in Monroe County.

When you drive past the Pok-A-Dot today, you may notice a purple bench you've not seen before. It was installed today in honor of John Gardner, the world-famous novelist, poet and literary critic who grew up in Batavia and once considered the Pok-A-Dot his favorite eatery.

The bench, which cost a little less than $2,000, was bought and paid for by the John Gardner Society and installed by a city work crew.

"We wanted the bench to be in the spirit of both the Pok-A-Dot and John Gardner," said local author and Gardner Society member Bill Kauffman. "So, it is, ah, colorful (purple and yellow). Who knows -- maybe we'll paint polka dots on it later. Gardner once said,  'I think a writer who leaves his roots leaves any hope of writing importantly.' Well, his roots haven't forgotten him."

Kauffman said the group has talked for years about sponsoring a memorial for Gardner. Since the group holds its annual Gardner reading each October at the Pok-A-Dot and he included "the Dot" in one of his novels, it seemed like an appropriate spot for a memorial.

"We figured why not put a Gardner bench in front of this literary-culinary capital of Batavia?" Kauffman said.

Leona Pastore, whose family owns the Pok-A-Dot, was enthusiastic and helpful, Kauffman said. He also thanks City Manager Jason Molino for supporting the project and Ray Tourt and his staff for their assistance.

The plaque reads: JOHN C. GARDNER / Author, Teacher / 1933-1982 / Born in Batavia and raised on the family farm on Putnam Settlement Road, Gardner published more than 30 books of fiction, literary criticism, and advice for writers. The novel that brought him national recognition, The Sunlight Dialogues (1972), is set in Batavia and environs, including the Pok-a-Dot restaurant.

John P. Wittkopp, 28, of 24 Columbia Ave., Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and strangulation, 2nd. Wittkopp turned himself in at police headquarters Monday following an investigation into an alleged incident on Sunday. Wittkopp is accused of striking a woman in the head and pinning her to the ground with a shower curtain, obstructing her breathing.

A 16-year-old of East Main Road, Le Roy, is charged with harassment, 2nd. The youth is accused of shoving another person during an argument.

Christina M. Maynard, 30, 501 Third Ave., Dayton, Ky., is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure to keep right. Maynard was stopped at 8 p.m., Tuesday, on Jefferson Avenue by Officer Matthew Fleming. Maynard was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Paul M. Paradise, 31, of 9 W. Main St., Waterloo, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, and harassment, 2nd. Paradise is accused of sending numerous text messages to his estranged wife in violation of an order of protection.

Press release: 

BATAVIA, NY – Tonight’s game between the Batavia Muckdogs and Brooklyn Cyclones has been postponed due to rain and wet field conditions. This game will be made up as part of a double-header on Wednesday, Aug. 10. We will play two seven-inning games, with the first game starting at 5:05 p.m. Gates will open at 4 p.m. Any person with tickets to tonight’s game can exchange their tickets for any other regular season game, subject to availability.

The Rob Ray autograph appearance will be rescheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27. 

United Memorial Medical Center is contributing $50,000 toward the construction of a new veterans' memorial at the corner of Bank Street and Washington Avenue.

The total price of the project is about $500,000 and local veterans groups have been working diligently to raise the funds.

The former memorial was removed to make way for the new surgical wing at UMMC.

Pictured are Ron Konieczny, left, Dan Waterman, Beth Lapp, Hall Kreter, Marc Schoell, Paul Gaylord, Steve Hawley, Paul Sullivan, Assemblyman Steve Hawley and Clayton Fry.

Lt. Eugene Jankowski, left, was pretty amazed to find his police vehicle suffered no apparent damage after being struck at the intersection of Main and Center streets shortly after 1:30 p.m.

Officer Eric Dibble is handling the report on the accident.

The other vehicle suffered only a tweaked license plate. The other driver reportedly ran a red light.

Press release:

Batavia, NY – The 2011 New York-Penn League All-Star roster will include a league high of six players from Batavia. They will send catcher Juan Castillo, infielders Joey Bergman and David Medina, and pitchers Jonathan Cornelius, Seth Maness and Todd McInnis to the game to be held Tuesday, Aug. 16 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass.

Perez was an undrafted free agent signing in 2006 and has started 27 games as catcher for the Muckdogs this season. He is currently batting .327 with eight doubles and 15 RBI’s. Castillo has also been solid behind the plate this year and has helped guide the pitching staff to a team ERA of 3.85.

Bergman, a 33rd round pick in the 2010 draft, will be making his second consecutive all-star appearance and has been among the league leaders in hitting all season. Bergman currently ranks fifth in the league in hitting, with a .320 batting average, to go along with eight doubles and 17 RBIs.

David Medina was signed by the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and is enjoying a stellar first season with the Muckdogs. His seven home runs are tied for fourth in the league and his 33 runs scored are third in the league. Medina who plays a mixture of first base and outfield, was selected as a first baseman for this year’s squad.

A 24th round pick out of Florida Tech, Cornelius is 1-2 with 37 strikeouts in 11 outings for the Muckdogs. The left-hander’s ERA of 2.85 ranks him ninth in the league and hitters are only hitting .194 against him, good for second in the league.

St. Louis drafted Maness out of Eastern Carolina in the 11th round of the 2011 draft. He has appeared in nine games and has a 0-0 record with a 0.52 ERA. In 34.2 innings of work, he has struck out 27 batters and only allowed 20 hits.

McInnis, a 25th round pick out of Southern Mississippi, is third in the league with 2.12 ERA and a record of 3-2. His WHIP of just 0.92 leads the league and batters are hitting just .208 against him.

Batavia holds the fourth-place spot in the Pinckney Division with a record of 24-26. This marks the third time in four years that the Muckdogs have sent at least five players to the All-Star game. The Muckdogs sent five players to the 2008 All-Star game, three in 2009 and five in 2010.

Photo: Joey Bergman from earlier this season. By Howard Owens

If you're the guy who wants to walk down to your neighborhood park afterwork, kick back and drink a beer, Councilman Frank Ferrando has a message for you: Use your own backyard.

Ferrando was among five Batavia council members on Monday to vote in favor of a change in the local code banning adult beverage consumption, without a permit, in picnic areas in public parks.

Drinking was already banned on all publicly owned property in the city, with the exception of picnic areas.

"We keep having the example of the guy who wants to have a beer in the park," Ferrando said. "He can have the beer in his back yard if he wants to have a beer. We don't want to have somebody seriously injured because he drove to the park, got drunk and then got in his car. The guy doesn't need to have a beer in that park."

John Roach and Dan Jones (inset) both used the public comments section of the council's agenda to speak against the proposed ban.

"It has nothing to do with public safety and it has nothing to do with public health," Roach said. "There are plenty of laws in place to deal with disorderly conduct or throwing trash around, but this is unnecessary. It's just something to keep people you don't particularly like out of the parks."

Jones, a candidate for city council, called the change in the law an affront to personal liberty.

Roach said he found it ironic that it was the Republicans (supposedly the party of individual freedom) on the council pushing for the change in the law.

Ferrando said the decision had nothing to do with politics.

"Whether it's Republican or Democrat, I don't know what that means," Ferrando said. "I think we all vote our conscious and what's best for the community. I don't think any politics is involved."

Rosemary Christian was among the three Democrats -- along with Kathy Briggs and Sam Barone -- who voted against the change.

"It's a violation of my rights," Christian said. "I pay for the right to enjoy these parks. If I want to smoke, if I want to have a beer, without bothering anybody else, without hurting anybody, without destroying property, then it's a matter of rights."

Even before the change, it's not like the guy with the beer could go toss a line into the Tonawanda Creek and pop open a Miller High Life, nor could he take his girlfriend down to Ferrell Park and spread out a picnic blanket and uncork a bottle of pinot noir. Alcohol consumption outside of the picnic areas -- defined, it seems, as the pavilions, was already illegal.

Now the guy with the beer needs to apply in advance for a permit, which will cost him $25.

As part of a nationwide strike by 45,000 Verizon workers, there are pickets in place outside the Verizon office in Batavia that spans Jackson and Center streets.

Pictured above are Tom Pacia, of Rochester, Darrin Folger, of Akron, Kirk Myhill, of Medina, and Dave Martin, of Batavia.

A paving company suspected last year of doing substandard work is reportedly back in the area approaching local homeowners with the same "leftover asphalt" offer it's used before.

State Police Investigator Leo Hunter said the company, Stanley Paving, completed a paving job for a couple in Stafford on Friday. After the job was done, the couple remembered a media report from last summer about the company.

A Google search led them to contact Hunter, though they're not making any sort of criminal complaint.

The job, Hunter said, was more or less completed as promised, though there was reportedly a price increase in the middle of the job and the couple is unsure of the quality of the work.

Hunter said a representative of the company, which also goes under the name Bithumus, approached the husband on Friday. He said he had some asphalt left over from another job and could repave his driveway for $75 per square foot. The man agreed to the job.

When the job was half completed, the company rep claimed they didn't have enough asphalt to finish the job and would need to buy more at a higher price. It would take another $3,800 to complete the job. The price was negotiated down to $3,300.

The company rep was driving a new white pickup truck.

A CSX train is stopping at the Ellinwood crossing, Corfu, for a possible fire in a train car.

It's unconfirmed that there is a fire, but there was a report of heavy black smoke coming from car.

The train was originally going to stop at Wilkenson Road, so East Pembroke Fire Department was dispatched.

A deputy on scene says he sees the train, but nothing is showing.

UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: A passerby called in the smoke. CSX was contacted and is stopping the train as a precaution. No confirmed fire at this time. Corfu fire is staging in their district at Ellinwood. East Pembroke is staging at Wilkenson.

UPDATE 2:51 p.m.: Nothing found yet. An engineer indicates that one of the diesel engines was blowing some black smoke at some point, but no indication of a fire.

UPDATE 2:59 p.m.: The train is being sent on its way. All fire units back in service.

Roland J. Reed, 40, of Attica, was scheduled to appear in Genesee County Court this morning to be sentenced on a DWI conviction, but when his case was called, he wasn't in court.

None of the attorneys involved in the case were surprised.

A warrant was issued for Reed's arrest June 9 when he allegedly violated the terms of his release under the supervision contract with Genesee Justice.

On Oct. 11, Reed was arrested for driving drunk in the City of Batavia with two children in his car, a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old. He was jailed on $25,000 bail

Reed had two prior DWI convictions at the time of his arrest.

On Oct. 22, Reed entered a guilty plea to felony DWI with a possible sentence of from one to four years in prison. As part of the plea deal, Reed's bail was reduced and he was released under supervision.

Authorities are unaware of Reed's whereabouts and there remains an active warrant for his arrest.

The Batavia PD's confidential tip line number is 345-6370.

UPDATE: To clarify, Reed original plea agreement was for 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prision.  By not showing up today, Reed loses his negotiated sentence cap and faces 2 1/3 to 7 years, the maximum possible sentence for a Class D felony.

There are live electrical wires down at 8 Edwards St. in the City of Batavia. City firefighters are responding. They were possibly torn down by a passing semi truck.

UPDATE 12:37 p.m.: The lines involved are for cable services. Time-Warner and Verizon are being notified.

"No hazard here and we're going to be clearing," says the chief.

A Level 3 sex offender convicted by a jury in June of failure to register his proper address will serve one-and-a-quarter to four years in State Prison, the maximum sentence on the charge available to Judge Mark H. Dadd.

Meanwhile, Ronald A. Smith, 19, of Batavia, was given until Friday to decide whether to take a plea offer on three felony counts of sexual abuse in the first degree.

Smith is accused of sexual contact with children under age 11 within months of being released from state custody on a prior sex crime conviction.

Public Defender Gary Horton said Smith indicated that he wished to proceed to trial on sexual abuse charges, but by this morning had a change of heart and wanted time to discuss the plea offer with his family, particularly his mother.

If convicted at trial of all three counts, Smith faces up to 21 years in prison (maximum sentences of seven years each, and if imposed consecutively).

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman has offered a maximum five-year sentence -- the minimum sentence available for a second violent felony offender -- in exchange for a guilty plea.

Smith is scheduled to reappear in Genesee County Court at 9:45 a.m., Friday, to either plead guilty or request that his case go to trial.

Smith was arrested in January on the sexual abuse and failure to register charges, less than four months after being released on a similar sexual abuse conviction. Smith reportedly lived for a time on Thorpe Street, on East Main Street and in Oakfield. He only ever registered his address on Thorpe Street.

The failure to register charge was tried separately from the sexual abuse charges and a jury returned a verdict in less than two hours on June 22.

Judge Dadd, out of Wyoming County, presided over the trial because Judge Robert C. Noonan was presiding over a civil trial in Orleans County at the time.

Noonan was on the bench today for Smith's plea cut-off hearing, which followed the sentencing by Dadd on the failure to register charge.