Business

Even with the opening of Alpina and the ramp up of Muller Quaker in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, Genesee County lost 300 jobs year-over-year for April, according to data released by the NYS Department of Labor.

Even so, the unemployment rate for the county dropped to 7.1 percent, the lowest April since 2008, when the county's unemployment rate was 5.4 percent.

The April 2012 rate was 7.6 percent.

The total number of non-farm jobs in the county hit 21,900 for April 2013, compared to 22,200 in April 2012.

The data does show an increase in jobs from March 2013 when the job count was 21,700.

The unemployment rate in March 2013 was 8.0 percent.

The state's unemployment rate is 7.3 percent, which is an improvement over the previous month and as well as a year ago.

The national unemployment rate is 7.1 percent.

In Orleans County, the unemployment rate is 9.3 and it's 7.8 percent in Livingston and 8.3 percent in Wyoming.

Jim Rosenbeck, a member of the Genesee County Libertarian Committee who's planning a run for an at-large seat on the City Council, submitted this response to Steve Hawley's defense of the COR Development tax breaks:

I often agree with Steve Hawley, as Libertarians often do, when republicans champion fiscally responsible positions. But that wasn't the case on May 17th. That day, Mr. Hawley put out a press release lauding GCEDC's successful effort to offer abatement of taxes to COR Development. COR will in turn use those subsidies to offset costs of remodeling their property in the Batavia Towne Center in order to fit the needs of the next tenant, Dick's Sporting Goods. In exchange for tax abatements approaching 2 million dollars, we are promised new local jobs and additional sales tax revenue.

As I recall, we heard that same promise once before when COR received six million dollars in tax abatement to develop their property for among others, the long gone Lowes Corporation. So now, we double down on our bet, while we hope and pray that Dick's Sporting Goods delivers as COR has promised. But let's look a bit closer at these promises. Is COR or Dick's promising full-time jobs? Are they full-time jobs that also pay a living wage? No, of course they aren't. During their public hearing COR talked in terms of full-time job "equivalents." That is corporate double talk for part-time and low-wage jobs, the kind of jobs that are fine for students but don't work so well for single moms who need to pay the rent. That is the dirty little secret that COR won't tell you and Dick's won't tell you, and sadly on May 17th, Steve Hawley also neglected to tell you. To add insult to injury the most handsome job created by GCEDC goes to the guy with the greatest vested interest in perpetrating the illusion of quality jobs. Yes, the best job that GCEDC has created to date is the one that is held by its President and CEO Steve Hyde.

But let's not forget the promise of sales tax revenues. Are we significantly increasing the size of the sales tax pie by subsidizing the development of Dick's Sporting Goods? I wonder. I would like to know what portion of any sales tax revenue produced by Dick's would still have been realized from a similar sale at Olympia, T-Shirts Etc., Barrett's or perhaps Fisher Sports. No one knows. For COR to promise significant increases in tax revenues is at best speculative and certainly self-serving. We should remain skeptical whenever we are promised sales tax revenue and jobs with one hand while the other hand lobbies our County Legislature for nearly a quarter of a million dollars for its own funding next year.

Growing government through Economic Development Corporations (EDCs) in order to address the problems created by big government....high taxes, over regulation, cumbersome bureaucracy is simply counter intuitive. Our economic problems are systemic. They are symptomatic of a state government gone awry. I am unwilling to accept that the answer to big government is to create a whole new bureaucracy with a CEO making close to a quarter of a million dollars a year. We need to stop creating the good jobs on the backs of the taxpayers  while promising a small sliver of the pie to the people who pay the bills. I am not ready to pretend differently. I am not ready to concede hope that we can do better. What we need is more truth and transparency in our government, not more promises that may or may not be kept. I agree with Steve Hawley much of the time. This time, I don't.

Sweet Pea's Cupcakery Café, on Jackson Avenue, has something new just in time for summer: soft-serve ice cream.

It's very good.

Pictured are owners Lyndsey Oliver-Farewell and Travis Farewell.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) recently voiced his support for the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) and its successful efforts to attract a Dick’s Sporting Goods store to Towne Centre Mall in Batavia. The group was able to secure the store’s move through pro-business tax incentives, which will create local employment opportunities and increase sales tax revenue to support local programs and services. Hawley defended GCEDC against attacks from Buffalo-area Assemblyman Sean Ryan, who has publicly criticized the local economic development effort.

“Here in Batavia and across Genesee County, we deserve access to both consumer choice and employment opportunities. By attracting Dick’s to Towne Centre Mall, GCEDC has helped bolster both,” Hawley said. “Assemblyman Ryan’s attacks on our local economy are completely uncalled for. While he purports to be concerned with the use of state tax dollars, surely he would agree that one of the highest-taxed states in the nation has bigger fish to fry than Genesee County’s legal ability to strengthen its own economy. I believe it is in the best interests of all involved that assembly members focus on their own constituents and that he focuses on revitalizing Buffalo’s economy.”

“The GCEDC was created to help increase the tax base, create new jobs as well as bring new investment and revenues into our community. This project fulfills all of these criteria and without our assistance, these benefits would not be realized,” said Steve Hyde, president and CEO of the GCEDC. “The project will create jobs, increase sales tax revenue, bring new goods and services into the community, and reinvigorate what is currently a large, vacant space located at the gateway of our community off of I-90.”

Hawley noted the crucial role the GCEDC has played in attracting job creators to Genesee County and keeping them here long-term.

“Between the Genesee Valley Agri-business Park, Oakta Hills and countless other projects, GCEDC has long been at the forefront of job creation and economic development in our community,” Hawley said. “Throughout my time in the Assembly, we have worked diligently to revitalize our local economy, and GCEDC has my full support in its effort to bring jobs to our community.”

Local governments, including Genesee County, that participate in pooling a workers compensation insurance program have a chance to get help reducing workplace injuries using consultants for essentially no cost.

Bill Fritts, president of Lawley Genesee, explained what his company is prepared to do for local governments if Lawley becomes the worker compensation insurance broker.

The possibility came to Fritts's attention, he said, after receiving a request for proposal from the county for a new workers comp plan.

As a broker, Lawley can apply its commissions to provide a variety of services to members of the pool.

Genesee County, along with all of the local school districts and most towns and villages (but not the City of Batavia) are part of a self-insurance pool for workers compensation.

If a worker is injured on the job, the pool will pay the first $500,000 of coverage.

What the county has been shopping for is a new carrier for "excess coverage" -- an insurance company that pays any claims in excess of $500,000.

There are only three such carriers in the nation.

Under the plan presented by Fritts, Lawley will accept bids from the carriers, select one and manage the relationship.

With its commissions, Lawley will then use its own experts to identify areas where worker safety can be improved and look for other cost-saving opportunities.

Lawley's consultants will study claim history, look for departments that have safety records that can improve and then study work that's going on in those workplaces to see what safety improvements can be made.

"We'll look at what members are hurting and helping you," Fritt said. "We send in loss-prevention consultants to those areas first that hare hurting you and see what safety programs are needed. We might create incentive programs if they need to change their culture and help them change their culture."

There is no additional fee for the pool members for the extra services.

"I've seen the results and it's pretty amazing," Fritts said. "It makes you feel pretty good because you're preventing injuries."

At the next Ways and Means Committee meeting, legislators will have a chance to vote on the offer.

Batavia's Business Improvement District kicked off its promotional campaign, "More Feet Downtown," today.

Banners were hung at light poles downtown to help spread the word.

Pictured are Amy Worthington, left, Jeff Gillard, Don Burkel, Paul Marchese, Mary Valle, Beth Kemp and Lusanne Simard.

Tonisha Price has a growing little bakery business -- so much so that she needed to move Sweet Ecstasy out of her cramped shop in Stafford and find a space closer to her growing customer base in Batavia.

While going through the city's grant process, she had a meeting at Seymour Place, the former Batavia Club building at Main and Bank streets that is home to GO ART!

She'd already scouted several locations in Batavia, but immediately recognized Seymour Place as the perfect quaint locale for what she wanted to do -- expand her bakery business, but also provide a cozy setting for lunches and catered affairs.

"As we were going through the approval process, we ran across this place," Price said. "This wasn't our first choice, but once we saw it, we fell in love and here we are today."

Besides sweet treats, Sweet Ecstasy will offer grilled sandwiches, quiches and soup on a daily basis for lunch. Every Friday is "fresh bread Friday."

Price is also planning "supper clubs," where one night a month, there will be a special dinner served. The first one -- date to be announced -- will feature sushi.

The new location opened Friday and Price has already booked five special events that take advantage of the unique space at Seymour Place and she's looking to book more bridal showers, receptions, birthday parties, tea parties, office parties and other such events.

Sweet Ecstasy is also applying for a liquor license so they can serve wines and craft beers.

Photo: Price, Jean Robbins, and Tonisha's mother Carla Price, seated.

As promised, Paul Berardini opened his new pizza shop today, Big Pauly's. It's in the same location as the former Pauly's Pizza (314 Ellicott St., Batavia).

Darien Lake Theme Park is getting back to basics -- entertaining families and celebrating its Western New York roots.

Symbolic of that theme was the grand opening today of the 2013 season with a ceremony honoring Paul Snyder, the founder of Darien Lake Fun Country, which was primarily a campground until 1981, when Snyder opened an amusement park.

Snyder, now owner of Beaver Hollow in Java, said he wanted to create a family-oriented atmosphere and he's glad to see Darien's current owners, Herschend Family Entertainment, putting more emphasis on family rides and attractions.

"They've turned it back into a family-oriented resort," Snyder (top photo) said. "I think when Six Flags owned it, they made it kind of a hard-ride park for teenagers and young adults. It was different and harder and I think (the present ownership) has done of good job of turning it back into a family-oriented park. They've done a good job."

New this year is an area called Boardwalk, which features a renovated carousal and Blast Off, a brand new ride that General Manager Bob Montgomery called a "family thrill ride."  It simulates the feeling of "riding a rocket ship to the moon," generating four Gs of air-powered force.

Also new this year is an Anchor Bar food stand, which fits into a growing trend at Darien Lake to feature things that make WNY special. The original Anchor Bar in Buffalo, of course, is where buffalo wings were invented.

The park also serves two other WNY delicacies, Perry's ice cream and Sahlen's hot dogs.

Local music will also get a little extra attention this summer with local bands being invited in for a summer-long battle of the bands.

One of the upgrades to the carousal was decorating it with paintings of WNY scenes (two photographs by Howard Owens were turned into paintings for the carousel -- a picture of a barn in Stafford and a sunrise over Harlow Lake (pictures below).

All of Herschend's parks feature regional themes, Montgomery said, but it's also what the company's research showed people wanted as part of the Darien experience.

Even our Canadian visitors, they're coming to a different country and they wanted an experience that reflected that," Montgomery said. "That's why we began the relationship with Anchor Bar. That's going to be appreciated by our local visitors, but by the people that come from further away as well."

The park's light show has also been upgraded into a bigger laser and fireworks show called "Ignite the Night."

The creation of Broadwalk, installation of Blast Off and creation of "Ignite the Night" was a lot to take on over the off-season, Montgomery said, so the push toward more WNY touches is far from over. There's only so much that can be done during a single off-season.

"You'll see that more and more as we make our way around the park with renovations, bringing those things in," Montgomery said.

Snyder is clearly proud of what the park he started as become and said it's something Genesee County should treasure.

"Darien Lake is the largest privately owned attraction in the State of New York," Snyder said. "A lot of people don't know that, the fact that it employs thousands of young people every year and that employment probably helps keep those kids working and out of trouble -- there's just so many benefits that flow from the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars at this point, it's unique and special."

Press release:

Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) officials will hold a public information session on June 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the MedTech Center Building, located across from Genesee Community College (GCC) in Room 214. GCEDC officials are encouraging residents to attend the meeting to learn more about how the GCEDC fosters economic development in Genesee County.

Mark Masse, senior vice president of operations for GCEDC, will provide an overview of the organization, the incentives they offer, and how a potential company can be attracted to our community. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.

“This is a great opportunity for residents as well as local businesses to learn more about  how our organization enhances economic growth in Genesee County,” Masse said.

Because the seating capacity is limited to about 100 persons, GCEDC is requesting that those interested in attending to please contact Rachael Tabelski, marketing and communications manager at GCEDC by calling 585-343-4866, ext. 12, or sending an e-mail to rtabelski@gcedc.com.

Genesee County Economic Development Center is trying to get initial permitting completed on a proposed expansion of the Upstate Med-Tech Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive just in case a specific medical device technology company wants to lease the space.

Mark Masse, VP of operations for GCEDC, told the County Planning Board on Thursday that a contractor has a potential leasee and is in negotiations now. Getting certain regulatory hurdles cleared now would help the process.

"If they reach an agreement, the potential leasee is working on a tight time frame," Masse said.

Masse doesn't know yet how many new jobs could be created by the company.

"They haven't gone before the board yet for incentives from us," Masse said. "More information would be available at that point in time, if it gets to that point."

The planning board unanimously approved site plan review for proposed 60,000-square-foot facility.

The board also unanimously approved a site plan review for a proposed 60,000-square-foot cold storage facility at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.

Masse said GCEDC still owns the property the unnamed company is considering for the facility and sales negotiations are ongoing.

That company also has yet to come to the GCEDC board seeking incentives, so Masse doesn't know yet how many new jobs will be created by the facility.

In other board action:

• Did not approve variances for applicants to operate a gift and hobby shop on Knowlesville Road, Alabama, and a country store on Tesnow Road, Alabama. The board encouraged the applicants to seek a zoning change with the town rather than get a variance to existing zoning.
• Approved a special use permit for a home welding business at 7460 Alleghany Road, Alabama.
• Declared that a proposed boarding house at 316 E. Main St., Batavia, isn't subject to county planning review. Owner Terry Platt is looking to convert a single-family home into a 12-room boarding house.
• Approved subdivision and site plan review for 7,015-square-foot building to house a gun store, laser engraving business and indoor shooting range at 8240 Buffalo Road, Bergen.
• Approved site plan review to rebuild a fabrication business at 1606 Broadway Road, Darien.
• Approved, with modifications, a site plan review and area variance for a new Dollar General at 111 N. Main St., Oakfield.
• Approved a site plan review for conversion of a former restaurant and apartment complex at 6309 Clinton Street Road, Stafford, into a four two-bedroom apartment and a single one-bedroom apartment complex.

For the first time since 2005, Batavia's commercial property owners are getting their parcels re-assessed and the effort has been greeted with some decidedly mixed reviews.

With some property owners being told their initial re-assessment shows an increase in value of 55 percent to 400 percent -- adding $70,000 or $95,000 or $120,000 per parcel -- there is a bit of a sticker shock.

Re-assessing commercial property when it hasn't been done for eight years isn't an easy process, explained Rhonda Saulsbury, the city's assessor. There are a number of factors to consider and the initial re-assessment is sometimes based, admittedly, on incomplete information.

That makes it important for property owners to help fill in the blanks for the assessor's office.

"The goal here is to keep property values as fair as possible citywide," Saulsbury said in an e-mail. "Without going through this process (after 8 years) that wouldn’t be possible. I have also reduced a great number of assessments citywide resulting from the same methodologies. I do not hesitate to make an adjustment down when given reasonable information to substantiate the change in value.

"Until someone reaches out to me with an issue," she added, "I can’t fix it."

Local property owners have confirmed that after responding to the initial re-assessment letter to the city and providing more evidence about the status of their buildings, Saulsbury has adjusted, and even rescinded the increase in value.

One local businessman with at least two commercial properties downtown was actually notified that the value of one property was reduced. He didn't complain about that re-assessment.

Another property owner said his assessment only increased 10 percent.

So while some property owners are being hit hard, the impact isn't uniform.

The criteria for reassessment is almost an endless list, Saulsbury said, and includes location, property use, rentable space, income generated, building updates, additions, demolitions and deferred maintenance.

The assessor, from just looking at the building, can't know all of these details, which is why property owner feedback is an important part of the process.

If a property value increases substantially, she said, the assessor's office believes there's a reason for it -- such as a former warehouse being converted to office space, but it's still important for a property owner to clarify any concerns.

City Manager Jason Molino said the process is intended to be one in which property owners provide feedback on the assessment.

"Review procedure and phone numbers are included in the notices sent to property owners that receive a change in their assessment, as we encourage an open door policy to anyone with a question or concern," Molino said.

The Wellness Center at the YMCA is getting an equipment upgrade today with 14 new pieces of equipment, including stair steppers, virtual bikes and treadmills.

The cost of the new equipment is about $60,000.

Pictured with one of the new virtual bikes is John Becker, Wellness Center coordinator, and trainer Stacie Ewert.

Town of Batavia Highway Superintendent Tom Lichtenthal and engineer Joey Neth spent an hour on the rooftop of the Rite Aid overlooking Lewiston Road and videotaped the traffic flow, or lack of it.

The resulting highlight reel, played for the Town of Batavia Planning Board on Tuesday night, captured eight near-miss accidents, two dangerous maneuvers by drivers, five unsafe mid-road crossings by pedestrians and two bicycle crossings.

An hour observing West Main Street Road near Colonial Boulevard didn't yield much better results.

For the Lewiston Road side, the driveway for Rite Aid and the driveway for the Tops Plaza, essentially create an intersection, and over the past three years, there have been seven accidents at that intersection.

That's seven times the state DOT average, Lichtenthal said.

"What's going on here is we have so many conflict points, when you look at this intersection; you've got cars merging here; you've got a wide open driveway where one makes a right turn and one makes a left turn; you've got pedestrians trying to cross in the middle of traffic, plus cars coming off the Main Street intersection, and you're looking at all of these things coming together right here, and that's why you get so many of these types of accidents," Lichtenthal said.

The traffic study was conducted because Tim Horton's wants to build a new store behind the Rite Aid, that would connect, essentially, Lewiston with Main.

The overall traffic Tim Horton's is likely to generate isn't that significant by itself -- an average of 50 to 60 cars an hour, with 60 percent of Tim Horton's traffic occurring in a three-hour period in the morning.

Technically, the road capacity in the area, can handle the volume, Lichtenthal said, but the construction of the multiple turning lanes and intersections in the area make for very messy traffic patterns.

It's a situation that's only going to get worse with the expansion of Batavia Towne Center and Batavia Downs.

Lichtenthal said that, unfortunately, it's a classic case of the last one (in this case, Tim Horton's) getting stuck dealing with the problem.

Matthew J. Oates (photo), chief engineer for Benderson Development Co. took a different view.

The combined retail space for Tops Plaza, Rite Aid and the other retail in the area is more than 220,000 square feet, while the Benderson development is less than 20,000 square feet.

He said just as the DOT did when problems got too bad on Jefferson Road and Ridge Road in Rochester, the growing traffic problems on Lewiston and West Main are a DOT issue and shouldn't hold up development of Tim Horton's.

"I understand the town sees a large issue with the traffic, but without the traffic, we wouldn't have the interest in the development and without the traffic, Tim Horton's wouldn't be coming here, so one follows the other," Oates said.

Lichtenthal pointed out that the DOT is out of money and the Feds aren't sending highway grants down the pipeline any longer to help with local traffic issues.

"The DOT is now looking back and the towns and saying, 'you let this development happen without looking at the repercussions on the roadways. Now you expect us to fix it, ' " Lichtenthal said, "and they're telling the towns, 'you fix it.' "

The environmental review process was extended by consent of the planning board and Benderson in order to see if a solution can be found, or plan developed, to deal with the growing traffic issues.

Tim Horton's is just one step along the way, Lichtenthal said.

"These are baby steps," Lichtenthal said. "You take these baby steps and add them together and it's a big step and then what do you do?"

Last week, the Geness County Economic Development Center Board approved $1.7 million in tax breaks for COR Development to add four more retail spaces to the Batavia Towne Center in the location of the former Lowe's store.

It will be another summer of new commercial development in the Town of Batavia, with three  projects already up for Planning Board review, and that doesn't include the expansion project at Batavia Towne Center.

• GCEDC/GGLDC is planning a second two-story building at the Upstate Med-Tech Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive, across from GCC. The complex will be 60,000 square feet and be planned for industrial, research and office space.
• An as-yet-undisclosed company is planning a 60,000 square foot cold storage facility at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park. It will be on 10 acres adjacent Alpina's plant and serve Alpina's cold storage needs. The facility require a 42-foot high silo, which is seven feet higher than allowed under current code without a variance.
• A local man is planning a plant that will digest waste from yogurt production -- about 70 percent of the milk product from making yogurt becomes waste -- into products that can be used for other needs or converted into energy.

All three projects will be discussed at the planning board's meeting May 21.

Applications for COR's conversion of the former Lowe's location into four retail spaces hasn't reach the town yet.

There's also the housing development off Seven Springs Road that's still going through the planning process.