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City residents and those who work in the city are asked to provide input to the Batavia City Council through a Citizen Survey posted on the city’s website at <www.batavianewyork.com> through Friday, July 30.

The survey of eight questions takes about eight minutes and is designed to gauge how citizens perceive the quality of several city services. The survey also inquires as to whether citizens plan to remain in Batavia in five years, and provides an area for general comments.

The data received from the survey can be broken down by ward, age group and/or gender.

The results will provide the city with information for its strategic planning process for fiscal 2010 – 2011.

“We have spent a significant amount of time gathering data from the hard work done by our citizens in the past,” said City Manager Jason Molino. “It is important that we supplement the information we have with data that outlines how our citizens perceive the job we are doing today.”

The online survey can be accessed by any computer with Internet capability.

To find the survey, an individual will need to go to www.batavianewyork.com and click on the “8 Minutes till Eight” logo for the citizen survey.

This link will take the participant directly to the survey which can be filled out online and submitted by the click of a button upon completion. All residents, and those working in the city, can take the survey, and the survey can be accessed more than once by eligible members of the same household.

“We need citizen input in order to make informed decisions that will impact the future for us all” said City Council President Marianne Clattenburg.

For individuals without computers, the Richmond Memorial Library is encouraging Batavia residents to use its free Internet service to take the survey.

The library offers several computer terminals from which the survey can be taken. The service is free; however individuals must sign up to become a library member first.

Membership is free and simply requires a few minutes to provide some basic information. Summer library hours are: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday – Thursday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Judge Robert C. Noonan sentenced three men to prison Tuesday afternoon and gave an inmate in county jail one more time to consider a plea offer or prepare for trial.

Kirby S. Wall, 33, of Rochester, was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance. It was his second felony conviction; the first one was in 1995.

"He has been abusing substances and he desperately needs help," attorney David Morabito told the judge, adding that he disputes the People's contention that Wall told probation workers that he didn't have a drug problem.

"He accepts responsibility," Morabito said.

Wall was arrested in April 2009 for selling crack cocaine and illegal possession of marijuana. He had $1,000 worth of crack on him when arrested and had previously sold crack to two undercover agents, according to law enforcement.

But the judge didn't grant his attorney's request to send Wall to "shock camp," wherein those incarcerated also get substance-abuse treatment.

"Maybe this is a way of paying his debt to society and also get the help he desperately needs," Morabito said.

Instead, Noonan sentenced Wall to the maximum allowable, a determinate sentence of three-and-a-half years in the penitentiary, plus five years of post-release supervision. He has to pay $200 restitution. Noonan also issued two orders of protection, barring Wall from contacting two individuals for 11.5 years.

The next case heard was that of Thomas A. Culver Jr., 31, of 13 Wood St., Batavia, who pled guilty to grand larceny, 4th, his second felony offense. He was one of three people arrested for attempting to cash in checks from a closed account at a local bank.

"He desperately needs help," attorney Marabito said. "He wants to participate in a number of programs he's qualified for, so he can also get credit (toward his sentence)."

Morabito filed a motion to have Culver's guilty plea vacated because of the advice given by his previous attorney.

Noonan refused to vacate the plea, citing an insufficient basis on which to do so, and asked Culver if he had anything to say before sentencing.

Culver said the attorney he had, before Morabito took on the case, "pushed" him into taking a one-and-a-half to three-year plea deal, saying failure to do so would result in "excessive time." That attorney, he said, also told him he had to admit guilt in taking the plea and when he tried to discuss his case, the attorney would repeatedly hang up the phone on him.

Noonan listened and then promptly sentenced Culver to an indeterminate sentence of one-and-a-half to three years in state prision, and authorized him to be enrolled in a substance-abuse treatment program. He was ordered to pay a total of $1,897.35, "to be collected in DOCs (the Department of Corrections)," while in prison.

Also sentenced to prison Tuesday, was Malik I. Ayala, 18, of 44 Walnut St., Batavia, who was convicted of burglary, 3rd.

The conviction stemmed from his role in stealing an MP3 player on March 10 from a 15-year-old in the parking lot of MacArthur Park.

On July 2, he was re-arrested on a petit larceny charge, violating his probation.

Regarding the petit larceny charge, Ayala's attorney, Frederick Rarick, told Judge Noonan that Ayala had gone to Corfu "to line up lawns to mow." He was unsuccessful. Then some young women picked him up and they all went to a liquor store. The women went in first, and he went in afterward.

"My client had no involvement in an attempt to steal liquor," Rarick said, adding that Ayala "has major drug issues. To send him to prison would be wrong. This boy needs some help with drugs. He is a young man with many issues."

Regardless, since his burglary conviction, Ayala missed four or five appointments with the probation department, plus a 1 p.m. drug test yesterday. When he did show up for testing, he reportedly attempted to alter the results, prompting a second test in which he was positive for marijuana.

When given a chance to speak, Ayala told the judge in a rambling statement that he was thankful for the judge's patience and consideration, that he loved everybody, that he wanted to do better and had even tried to join the Army. He got emotional and asked the judge for another chance.

But Noonan was exasperated by Rarick's client.

"You've been a very big frustration for me," Noonan told Ayala, noting that he has tried to help him, his family has tried and so has his probation officer. "There is only one person in this room that can help you and that is you.

"You wouldn't last 10 minutes in the military. I have no alternative but to send you to prison. Your probation is revoked. I'm sentencing you to one-and-a-third to four years in state prison. It's not just the drugs. You can't obey rules. You don't show up for appointments. You don't do what you're told to do."

Ayala hung his head and cried. A half dozen family members and friends appeared very sad, and one woman sobbed. He asked if he could tell his family goodbye. No, like the others, he was taken into custody there and then.

Wearing orange jail garb, Brandon C. Dodd, 22, was also in court yesterday. He is charged with burglary, 2nd, for allegedly taking part in a home-invasion robbery March 18. He allegedly forced his way into a home on Vine Street wearing a bandanna over his face. The residents allegedly fought back.

Dodd has at least five arrests for various crimes.

As of Tuesday, he had not responded to the district attorney's offer of a guilty plea to a Class D violent felony as a first-time felony offender, which would permit the possibility of probation.

His attorney told Noonan he needs more time to prepare for trial, which is estimated to take four days. The judge set a new trial date for Nov. 8 and set a court time of 10:15 a.m., Sept. 2, as the last opportunity to accept the plea offer. If found guilty at trial, Dodd would face a mandatory prison term.

Dodd returned to jail.

A 3-year-old with a partially amputated finger is reported at a day care facility located at 4007 Pearl Street Road, just west of the Bethany-City of Batavia Townline Road. Bethany ambulance is called to respond mutual aid to the incident.

UPDATE (3:50 p.m.): An emergency responder reports that the 3-year-old was "slammed into a door" partially amputating a finger.

UPDATE (4:12 p.m.): A medic on scene says the victim is a girl boy whose left middle finger was injured. The young patient is too upset and in pain to give any details to emergency workers. She He is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE (5:45 p.m.): Like many of our reports, the particulars of this item came from the scanner. The operator of the day care facility called afterward to say the medic at the scene incorrectly stated that the victim was a girl.

"It's obvious he's a boy," she said.

Furthermore, she took issue with the statement that the child was "slammed into a door," stating that the incident was purely accidental and that a door was inadvertantly shut on the tot's hand, injuring his finger.

A motor-vehicle rollover accident is reported on the Thruway, westbound at mile marker 403.5.

The vehicle is in the median. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are responding along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE (2:58 p.m.): Mercy Flight is called. An engine from East Pembroke is called to stage the landing zone. More medics are called. There are serious injuries. Two young children are involved but are "walking around and seem to be OK."

UPDATE (3:02 p.m.): The westbound lanes are blocked to through traffic. Authorities are setting up the landing zone on the roadway. More manpower requested.

UPDATE (3:05 p.m.): Mercy Flight #6 is en route with a five-minute ETA. Mercy Flight #7 is on standby in Buffalo.

UPDATE (3:08 p.m.): Both Mercy Flights are traveling to the scene. The landing zone is ready.

UPDATE (3:23 p.m.): Both Mercy Flights are on the ground. Additional ambulance requested to proceed in emergency mode, and another from Erie County. Three children, ages 1, 6 and 7 are backboarded and collared, with cuts and bruises, and will be transported to the hospital by ambulance.

UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): Pembroke Fire command asks for hydration for the firefighters and others at the scene.

UPDATE (3:42 p.m.): The children are en route to Children's Hospital. The last ambulance requested was cancelled. Mercy Flights are in air. Roadway is to be opened back up ASAP.

Reader submitted photo.

This morning, United Memorial Medical Center announced that it opened Genesee County's first Urgent Care center at its Le Roy site July 1, right on schedule.

The first patient was seen two hours before our "official" start time of 11 a.m., when a woman visiting the area felt ill and needed to see a healthcare provider. Amy Ireland, FNP, was already on site to prepare for the opening and was able to provide great customer service and treat the patient.

Urgent Care provides cost-effective and convenient treatments for patients when their primary care physician is unavailable or they do not want to spend time waiting in an emergency room for a non-life-threatening injury or illness.

Le Roy is a 15-minute drive from Batavia.

Urgent Care is available seven days a week to treat children, adults and seniors from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (with variations in hours for major holidays).

The new facility is located at 3 Tountas Ave. in the same building as United Memorial’s Diagnostic Lab and X-Ray services, next to the Family Care Center. The Urgent Care center's phone number is 768-4220, #1.

The Le Roy site will now be called United Memorial Community Care -- providing Urgent Care, Diagnostic Laboratory and X-Ray Services and Family Care.

“The addition of Urgent Care in Le Roy continues the strong tradition of service that United Memorial has offered the residents of Le Roy and those in the eastern portion of Genesee County. It shows our commitment to improving the accessibility of appropriate and affordable medical care to our community,” said Mark Schoell, president and CEO of United Memorial, in a new release.

Patient volumes have shown a steady increase each day since the opening.

United Memorial Medical Center is a 131-bed not-for-profit community hospital located in Batavia. With nearly 750 employees, UMMC is the largest private employer in Genesee County and serves a region of 90,000 residents.

Last year, United Memorial cared for more than 5,000 inpatients, 22,000 Emergency Room visitors and 500 newborns.

A teenage male reportedly suffered a head injury riding a motocross bike at Area 51 race track on Harloff Road. East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding.

Another racer is also being treated for an injury. No other information on this earlier incident, but the paramedics are still on scene.

A tree fire is reported at 9362 Putman Road, about 150 yards off the roadway, down a long driveway. The area is northeast of Transit Road. Town of Batavia Fire Department has been notified.

UPDATE (8:29 p.m.): The tree fire is not near any structures, but it is not yet known whether it is near other trees.

UPDATE (8:33 p.m.): The fire is in the brush underneath some trees, apparently from a controlled burn that got out of control.

A vehicle crashed into a utility pole at 8005 North Road in Le Roy, breaking the pole in half. Minor injuries are reported. Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance are responding.

The location is between Conlon and Hebbard roads, but closer to Conlon.

The roadway is completely blocked. Fire police are called to halt traffic at North Road and Route 19 and also at Conlon Road and Oatka Trail.

UPDATE (12:28 p.m.): The driver is out of the vehicle and walking around.

UPDATE (12:32 p.m.): National Grid has been notified about the damage. No ETA given.

UPDATE (12:45 p.m.): Before fire police could handle the traffic flow, a vehicle mowed down a stop sign somewhere in the vicinity and the county highway department is being notified. The authorities are determining whether there is a power outage. A pair of German shephards are in a nearby yard and if there is no power there, the dogs will need to be restrained, presumably because an electrical fence would not be working and the residents aren't home. National Grid is on scene.

UPDATE (1:05 p.m.): There is no phone service east of Conlon Road. The dispatcher says the downed line is reportedly for one of the largest service areas.

UPDATE (2:54 p.m.): National Grids says it will be four to five hours to complete repairs. More hazard cones to block traffic are requested from the county highway department, enough to block off three different traffic areas.

Democrat Marc Coppola of Townawanda kicked off his senate campaign on Wednesday. He plans to run against Republican Mike Ranzenhofer for the senate seat in the 61st District.

He says it's time for a change in Albany and he knows how to do it.

He said New York needs to simplify the process for starting a small business. He also wants to set a constitutional deadline to eliminate overdue budgets in the future.

This information was provided by WBTA.