A 31-year-old South Byron man died in a crash this morning in Erie County, according to the Buffalo News.
Jason Jewett and 28-year-old Hamburg resident Steven Webb died in an accident on East Eden Road, Eden, when Jewett apparently lost control of the car he was driving. The car struck a tree and flipped on its side.
Speed is a likely factor in the crash, police said.
Ricky A. Leach Jr., 33, and Jessica M. Ring, 28, both of 1605 Green Circle, Goodletsville, Tenn., are charged with criminal possession of the precursors for methamphetamine and making methamphetamine. State Police responded to the wooded area near Target after receiving a report of suspicious activity. Leach and Ring were allegedly caught in the act of making meth. Both were jailed on $10,000 bail each.
Kiernan William Kinney, 24, of Woodstock Gardens, Batavia, is charged with sexual abuse, 1st. Kinney is accused of subjecting a 21-year-old woman to forced sexual contact.
Juan A. Roman, 36, of 17 Elm St., Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Roman is accused of head butting another person during an alleged incident at 2 p.m. Wednesday on Walnut Street, Batavia.
Michael D. Snyder, 41, of 13 1/2 Union St., Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Also charged, Edward T. Lette Jr., 43, of 3827 W. Main St., Batavia. Snyder and Lette are accused of stealing two 30-packs of beer from Tops. The suspects reportedly fled the store on bicycles and were apprehended minutes later by state troopers and Batavia PD officers.
Rachell Onie Soggs, 25, of West Main Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Soggs is accused of stealing $28.74 in merchandise from Walmart on Aug. 17. Soggs reportedly left the store before she could be located by authorities. Soggs was also arrested on charges of falsifying business records and criminal possession of stolen property. Soggs allegedly tried to sell stolen property at a local business.
Harold Laverne Howard, 41, of Alleghany Road, Basom, is charged with DWI, refusal to take breath test, speeding (73 mph in a 45 mph zone), failure to stop for stop sign and no plate lamp. Howard was stopped at 2:37 a.m. on Route 77, Basom, by Deputy Joseph Corona.
Latoya D. Jackson, 27, of 209 Liberty St., Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use a weapon and harassment, 2nd. These are additional charges stemming from an alleged incident Aug. 19 in which Jackson allegedly cut two people with a knife.
He was allegedly drunk, in a big truck and packing a hand gun.
Now he's in trouble with the law.
Police arrested 49-year-old Kevin E. Conners, of 206 Richmond Ave., Batavia, after initially receiving a report of an erratic driver in the city at 11:30 p.m., Tuesday.
A witness told police they saw a black Chevrolet Silverado heading north on Oak Street and then turn east onto Richmond Avenue.
The truck proceeded east driving over the grass parkway on the south side of Richmond and just as it tried to pull back into the roadway, it struck a parked car.
The truck then headed down Richmond at a high rate of speed, according to the witness statement, the truck blew through stop signs on North Street at Bank and at Summit. It turned right onto Ross and allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign at Ellsworth.
When the truck reached Washington, it turned right and proceeded west before the driver reportedly tried to pull into a driveway. It over shot the driveway so the driver reportedly backed up and tried again. It missed again.
The witness statement indicates the driver gunned it, jumped the curb and ran into the porch of a house at 303 Washington Ave. The truck's tires spun on the pavement and the truck ran further up the porch.
When Officer Arick Perkins arrived on scene, he approached the driver's side of the truck and said he saw the driver removing a gun from his waist area. More officers arrived on scene and Conners was ordered from the truck.
He was taken into custody without incident.
A gun was recovered from under the driver's seat. It was registered and legal, according to Officer Eric Hill.
Conners was transported to Batavia PD headquarters where he allegedly failed a field sobriety test and registered a .13 BAC on a breath test.
He was issued citations for DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or higher, reckless driving, moving from the lane unsafely (three citations), failure to keep right, passed on right and following too closely. He was arraigned in City Court and remanded to jail.
Conners' vehicle was towed from the scene.
But the story doesn't end there.
At around noon, Wednesday, Conners was released from jail under supervision of Genesee Justice. He retrieved his truck from impound.
At 12:11 p.m., police received a report of a truck striking a telephone poll near 204 W. Main St.
Conners was reportedly the driver. He was injured and transported to UMMC.
No charges have been filed related to the second accident, but the investigation is continuing.
Perhaps it was self-defense. That's the argument William Tedford tried to make in a felony hearing in City Court this morning on behalf of his client, Shane M. Bell.
Bell is accused of punching 52-year-old Scott Baker on Sunday night shortly after the two men left a party at The Harvester on Harvester Avenue.
The purpose of a felony hearing is to determine if there's enough evidence to sustain the key elements of the crime as charged.
Tedford tried hard to expand the scope of the hearing to draw out more possible facts of the case, but Judge Robert Balbick sustained each of District Attorney Lawrence Friedman's objections as Tedford asked questions about Baker's prior criminal history, who other witnesses may be and whether his client was properly given his Miranda warnings.
All of those issues are interesting, Balbick said, but not relevant to a felony hearing. The defense will have every opportunity to raise those and other issues as the case moves forward.
The only two issues before the court were whether Bell hit Baker -- and Tedford acknowleged there was contact -- and whether Bell intended to cause serious physical injury when he allegedly swung his fist at Baker's head.
Tedford aimed to base a self-defense claim on testimony by Det. Pat Corona that Bell said Baker followed Bell out of the bar and across the street, that on the way, Baker chest bumped Bell at least once and possibly twice, and then Baker tapped Bell on the neck just before the punch was thrown.
"I submit your honor that there is sufficient information before the court today that while certainly my client had alleged involvement, the individual Scott Baker also has a role in this matter and the court should revisit that issue," Tedford said. "With assault in the second degree it's necessary to prove intentional injury and in this case the intent element is not so clear."
Friedman quickly rose from his chair when it was his turn to refute Tedford's argument.
"Mr. Tedford is right that his client was involved," Friedman said. "He's the one responsible for the serious physical injuries to Scott Baker. He's right that Scott Baker had a role. His role is that of the victim of this assault ...
"He said he was chest bumped before he punched him and he was touched on the back of the neck," Friedman added. "Your honor, this would not be a reasonable response even if you believe that is what happened. It does not in any way justify what happened to Scott Baker. (Bell is) not claiming his life was threatened or that he feared serious physical injury or even injury. He was bumped by Scott Baker and he turned and punched him."
Balbick upheld the felony charge of assault in the second degree and ordered Hill's no-bail status be continued.
During the hearing, Tedford asked whether Corona knew that The Harvester had been serving free beer from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Corona did not.
Corona said that Bell told him Baker and Hill had been in the bar hours prior to the incident and that they had exchanged a number of "drunken hugs."
In the courtroom during the hearing were the families for both Baker and Bell.
Baker remains in the trauma unit at ECMC unconscious with a serious head injury. One reason Bell is held without bail is that there's concern Baker will not survive, in which case Bell will be facing upgraded charges. Bell also has a prior felony conviction and 18 prior arrests, according to Balbick.
With only 19 varsity players this year, Alexander's Head Coach Tim Sawyer hopes what the team lacks in quantity it will make up in quality.
"We don't have a lot of kids, but they're definitely a tight-knit group," Sawyer said. "They care about each other and they work hard together.
"We've got a chance every week and it's nice for a small school like us to be able to say that," he added.
The offensive and defensive lines will be anchored by Johnny George and Kelsey Patton, a pair of three-year starters now in their senior year.
"They're both about 250 pounds," Sawyer said. "They're pretty strong. Those guys love the weight room. It's nice to have some size there."
At tailback, Dylan Scharlau brings 205 pounds of strength to the job and Tyler Laird isn't far behind him in ability or strength.
Sawyer said he would like 24 or 25 varsity players, he also sees hope going forward in the JV team, which has 30 players this year.
Last year, the Trojans were 2-6. Sawyer thinks his team this year can improve on that record.
"We had a lot of growing pains last year," Sawyer said. "I think I have 12 seniors on this year's team. They're excited. They've worked hard. We've got quality kids."
The top three pictures are from the watermelon relay, a drill Sawyer said is also designed to keep practice fun. The drill came right before the dinner break and watermelon was the dessert. Drop the watermelon and your team will have to deal with grass blades mixed in with the melon. Despite some coaches best efforts to jar the melons loose, not one broke.
In the past few weeks, we've had four people hospitalized with serious injuries. Here's what we know about them today.
UPDATE 5:05 p.m.: We were contacted by State Police and told Stillwell remains a patient at Strong, regardless of Strong's patient record which does not list her.
UPDATE: Since the last update, I had another conversation with Trooper Victor Morales, Troop A's PIO. He said Stillwell is doing well. She's listed in good condition at Strong and could be released from the hospital soon. She suffered a broken pelvis, broken back and fractured knee cap. The accident reconstruction is not complete, but investigators believe that speed was not a factor. Stillwell does not remember them speeding prior to the accident, but even if they were, the other driver had clear visability for at least a mile down the road. At this point in time, no citations have been issued.
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Lifting a 255 ton bridge is just as much work as it sounds.
A team of workers put in more than 12 hours yesterday lifting the Genesee Valley Transportation bridge that runs over the south end of Cedar Street -- the ones the trucks always hit -- exactly 36 inches.
Lifting the bridge took a mere 20 minutes. All of the other hours went into getting the hydraulic lifts -- called gantry lifts -- precisely into the their proper locations.
Raising the bridge is part of the Cedar Street reconstruction project. When the project is done, the bridge will provide a clearance of 14' 3" for trucks to pass under.
That's a foot higher than the former height and two feet higher than the sign on the bridge indicated.
The iron bridge was built some time around 1918 for the Lehigh Valley Railroad (the same rail line involved in that train derailment in Le Roy in 1970). It's the last of Lehigh's old line that's still operational. It's just a spur off the main CSX line and is used by GVT to move freight for Chapin Industries.
Rail cars are moved on the line only once every three weeks, meaning the window for lifting the bridge and putting it back in its new place is three weeks.
Yesterday, a crew of five men lifted the bridge.
Watching them do the bulk of the actual labor over a four-hour period was much like watching a well-practiced basketball team weave in and out of a triangle offense.
Few words were spoken and even fewer commands given. Each member of the team knew where he was supposed to be and when and what he was supposed to do.
You would think these men had worked together for years.
That isn't even close to the case said Kevin Seely, project manager for Tonawanda-based Hohl Industrial. It's quite possible this is the first time all five men worked together on the same project at the same time. Only two of the team members had much actual experience together.
That's one advantage, Seely said, of union labor. The workers who are hired for a job already know exactly what they're supposed to do.
All the men -- Seely, Carl Larson, Adam Swanson, Chris Wells and Fred Howry -- told stories of working on bridge lifts all over Western New York, including bigger bridges in Buffalo, bridges that had to be lifted half at a time in Corning, and a bridge in Lockport that was lifted, floated down the canal, turned around and put back in place.
It's not exceptionally dangerous work -- no more so than another other construction work -- but it is work, the kind of work that leaves a man tired, sweaty and grease-and-grime-covered.
It's also precision work.
When you're talking about lifting 255 tons of old iron (weighing a bit less than two jumbo jets), you better make sure the load balances properly. There's little margin for error.
Work started in the morning with laying the rail bed for the gantry lifts. Those had to be perfectly level. Then the lifts were rolled into place. Each of the four lifts -- which are rated for 113 tons each -- had to be measured and placed precisely under the bridge's beams.
Next, two steel beams weighing a few tons each had to be swung into place. Well, swung is too strong of a word. It took an hour for each beam to be meticulously moved onto the lifts, measured, moved, and bolted down exactly where engineers determined they should be placed.
Once in place, hydraulic lines were connected to the lifts and to a control panel so an operator could guide each lift up simultaneously. One lift going up too fast could throw off the load balance.
Before the lift, Howry cut off the dozen or so bolts that were tightened in place more than 100 years ago to anchor the bridge to its rock and cement base.
When workers were ready to start the lift, each jack only went up one inch while other members of the team checked to make sure each of the four corners of the bridge were clearing the base and lined up evenly. Howry thought the second jack needed to come up another half inch, so it was raised to keep everything level.
In looking for a quote about how carefully the operation proceeded, we asked Seely about the process and it put it in pretty obvious terms: "We don't want to drop it or have anything catastrophic happen."
Larson operated the control panel. He then lifted the bridge another 11 inches. It didn't make a sound. No dust or sparks flew. The movement of the bridge was almost imperceptible.
Workers again checked measurements. The bridge had come up with no more than a 1/4-inch variance on any lift.
Larson then started the to lift again, bringing up the bridge to its final 36 inches above its previous location.
The extra space will give construction crews room to operate to build the new seat for the bridge.
Dick Kraft, resident engineer for Erdman Anthony, said high-capacity concrete -- rated for 3,000 psi -- will be poured for a new bridge seat, allowed to cure, and then more concrete will be poured as a new back wall. Once that's cured, the bridge can be lowered to its new seat. And then Chapin can start moving shipments again.
If any of the workers wish to obtain prints of these photos, they can be purchased by following this link.
A few of the people involved in Wednesday's operation left before we could do a group picture, but pictured are, from left, Craig Stachowiak, Zoladz Construction, Tom Langiewicz, also with Zoladz, Kevin Seely of Hohl Industrial, Carl Larson, a resident of Boston, Adam Swanson, from Greece and with Iron Workers Local #33, Chris Wells, from Cattaraugus, and Fred Howry, Local #6 and from West Valley.
There's a couple of dozen more photos in the slide show and you can expand them to full screen.
Six-year-old Emily Lokken of Le Roy has spent a lot of time in hospitals over the course of her young life. She's had 12 major surgeries at Golisano Children's Hospital, at Strong and at Boston Children's Hospital. She is currently awaiting a kidney transplant.
With all of that time in children's hospitals, Emily has made friends with other children being treated in the hospitals. Those children often have cancer.
Emily's mother Sarah said one evening about a year ago, Emily said she wanted to grow her hair long.
"One night sitting in her hospital room Emily out of the clear blue said, 'Mom you know what?,'" Sarah recalled. "I said, 'No, Emily, what?' She responded, 'I know that I have broken kidneys and a lot of my friends have broken blood (meaning in her world cancer) and they have to take medicine and lose their hair. I have hair and my medicine does not make it fall out. So I want to grow mine long like Rapunzel and give them some of mine. This way they can wear happy hair bows and being sick won't be so bad.' "
Yesterday, a year after she started growing her hair like Rapunzel, she had it cut so her locks could be donated to another little girl who might like bows in her hair.
Information and photos submitted by Sarah Lokken.
Rep. Chris Collins stopped in Oliver's Candies today, but it wasn't for the famed Molly Pops. He was making one of his regular visits to small local businesses in his district.
Oliver's is also famed for -- among other things -- sponge candy, which Collins discussed at some length with Deborah Palmer, left, and Jeremy Liles. Sponge candy is another of WNY's unique foods that is little known in other parts of the country. Liles said it's probably a candy that was brought to WNY by Polish immigrants.
Anita Strollo submitted this photo of Collins at the lunch at the Senior Center today. Her mother, Serena Strollo, celebrated her 91st birthday today and Collins presented her with a Congressional certificate.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand stopped for a tour of Liberty Pumps in Bergen today to promote Genesee County's "Foreign Trade Zone" designation.
Liberty is the first company in Genesee County to apply for the benefits of an FTZ.
Charlie Cook, president and CEO of Liberty Pumps, said the designation will help his company grow and create more jobs.
"It's certainly going to help reduce our costs," Cook said. "We are initially limited to three companies because it's crucial to monitor everything and control the inventory on the floor, so our most expensive components are duty free and there's an advantage there. It's our intent to flow the savings to the bottom line and generate more profits, which fuels future growth."
Profits, Cook, explained, means more research and development and more funds to bring new products to market, which means expansion.
Liberty Pumps is surrounded by three parcels of land that are suitable for expansion and Cook mentioned that the company is considering it options and will almost certainly expand in the next couple of years.
The FTZ allows Liberty Pumps to buy some of the parts it needs to build products without paying tariffs, but then it can also avoid tariffs on its exports.
Cook wanted to note, however, that not every component it could buy overseas is imported.
"We really try to limit our foreign purchases of components," Cook said. "If we can buy it domestically, we always prefer domestic components, but the fact is, these particular motors you can't get from a U.S. manufacturer anymore. They've all closed down these lines. Other components, like castings, we could do that, but we're trying to contain that business, a lot of it, to domestic sources rather than foreign."
Gillibrand said FTZs are important to help New York's economy grow.
"I encourage all manufacturers who can benefit to apply," Gillibrand said. "We make some of the most amazing things in the world right here in New York. We produce some of the greatest agricultural products of anywhere in the world. We want to be able to increase the world markets for our goods and services. We want to keep local busineses in a position of strength."
Robert Hinett apparently picked the wrong time and the wrong place for some flirting Friday night in Le Roy.
A passing police officer reports that at 11:30 p.m. he observed Hinett inside a convenience store on Lake Street staggering around and then go behind the counter toward the female clerk.
The officer entered the store and the clerk informed him that the man in the store seemed to be intoxicated and had tried to kiss her even as she tried to thwart his advances.
Upon further investigation, the officer determined that that 25-year-old resident of Montclair Avenue, Batavia, allegedly drove to Le Roy intoxicated.
Hinett was charged with one count of felony drunken driving and refusal to take a breath test. He was arraigned and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.
Press release:
Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) released the following statement today on potential military action in Syria:
“Today I signed a letter from Representative Scott Rigell (VA-2) to President Obama urging the President to consult and receive authorization from Congress before ordering the use of U.S. military force in Syria.
The images coming out of Syria are deeply troubling. There is also no question that the circumstances on the ground are complex and any military response by the United States will not only impact the ongoing civil war within Syria but possibly have ramifications throughout the region. For those reasons alone, I believe the President has an obligation to consult Congress and communicate with the American people about what our response should be.
President Obama himself wrote that 'the President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation' in a 2007 response to a Boston Globe questionnaire.
It is my hope that President Obama will remember these words and call for Congress to reconvene for discussion should he deem military action in Syria necessary.”
Press release:
The Le Roy Democratic Committee held its nominating caucus on Monday Aug. 26 at the Le Roy Town Hall for the Nov. 5 general election.
The Party is proud to announce a diverse and dynamic ticket leading into the November elections.
Michael Welsh is the Party's choice for Le Roy Town Justice. Mike is married to Gail Rudgers and is a local attorney and community activist, who most recently has devoted his time and talent to the Le Roy Community Pool. He served the people of Le Roy for 21 years on the Genesee County Legislature.
Incumbent Town Councilman Tom Stella was nominated for his second full term. Tom has served the community well on the board for six years. In addition to being the past Deputy Town Supervisor, he serves as the liaison for the Fire Commission and the liaison for the Farmland Protection Commission. He is married to wife, Deborah, and is a proud father and grandfather.
The caucus also nominated newcomer Kelly Carlie who is running for the second Town Board seat. Kelly, married to George and mother of three grown children with one grandchild and another on the way, is employed as a counselor at Elba Central School. She is also a small business owner and has served on the Holy Family School Board, was a former 4-H Leader and former Girl Scout leader.
Earlier in the summer Earl Funderburk garnered the Democratic endorsement for County Legislature through the petition process.
Press release:
Club Championships were held on Saturday, Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 25. The Championship Flight winner was Bob Chmielowiec. Runner-up was Matt Lee, who made a dramatic charge on Sunday to shoot a 76, but fell one shot short. “B” Flight winner was Jim Dommer, followed by Ray Valtin. Congratulations to all the golfers.
The Ladies Championship was also held. This year’s Club Champion is Danielle Rotondo. This is a repeat Championship for Danielle. Runner-up is Jean Berry, followed by Nancy Bachulak and Terry Starowitz. Congratulations to all the golfers who took part in this year’s Club Championship. Thank you for a great season.
The Fall Golf League begins Wednesday, Sept. 4.
This weekend, MMA fighters from Hands Up Gym on Harvester Avenue had a strong showing at a tournament in Jamestown.
Josh McCarthy won his first bout.
From left are, William Rupp, who also won his first kickboxing bout, and fifth from the left on the top row is Shariff Vascianne who won his first boxing bout.
Gym owner Joe Bailey is holding up the Hands Up shirt.
This tournament was an exhibition so it does not count toward their record.
Also pictured, on the right, Alexander Colon Colon, who won a traditional boxing bout. Also pictured is Colon Colon's instructor, Mr. Platt. At the far right is Gaffar Adams who is the owner of the gym in Jamestown.
Press release:
Representatives from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, City of Batavia Fire Department and Le Roy Police Department assisted with Senator Mike Ranzenhofer's safety check for child car seats on Saturday morning. More than 20 car seats were inspected during the two-hour event.
Pictured from right: Deputy John Baiocco of Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, Thomas Douglas of City of Batavia Fire Department, Ranzenhofer, Detective John Condidorio of Le Roy Police Department, Nathan Kinne of City of Batavia Fire Department, Chuck Hammon of City of Batavia Fire Department, Sergeant Michael Hare of Le Roy Police Department, and Mark Sacheli of City of Batavia Fire Department.
Press release:
Students in grades six through eight, who are new to Batavia Middle School, or transferring from a private or parochial school, are invited to attend an Orientation program on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. in the Middle School Auditorium. The program will include an overview of our Middle School and will be followed by a building tour. School counselors will be available for students and parents.
There's also this:
On Thursday, Sept. 5, Batavia Middle School will be holding their Orientation Day for fifth-grade students. Students will be participating in the “Connect Day” program throughout the day.
Fifth graders will spend the morning participating in team building activities, finding their lockers and meeting their teachers. During the afternoon, students will be experiencing traveling to their classes and meeting their counselors.
Fifth-grade students need to arrive to school by 8 a.m. and will report to homeroom by 8:07. All students will be dismissed at 2:45 pm.
Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students will not report on Sept. 5. The first day of school for all Middle School students (grades five through eight) will be Friday, Sept. 6.
The BMS “Connect Day’s” purpose is to help fifth-graders feel more comfortable as well as help them achieve success in their first year at the Middle School. The program is designed to both welcome and support the fifth-graders by assigning them a Mentor (an eighth-grade student who has met the qualifications of being a good role model and a positive leader). Along with supporting House students, the “Connect Day” program helps Mentors develop leadership skills, responsibility and team work as they begin their transition process to the High School.
Anyone with questions is asked to contact Miss Rogers, fifth- and sixth-grade House Administrator, 343-2480, ext. 3001, or Mr. Eric Knapp, Interventions Counselor, 343-2480, ext. 3002.
Peter McQuillen can keep his barn.
That's the upshot of a decision by the Town of Le Roy Zoning Appeals Board, which met Tuesday night to consider whether construction of the barn violated the Village of Le Roy building code.
The question was rendered moot by McQuillen's decision this week to pull a permit to build a single-family residence on his 13-acre lot off Robbins Road.
"I was prepared to debate the interpretation of the code regarding accessory structures," McQuillen said. "I was also prepared to show precedent from around town of different areas were accessory structures were allowed ... but my wife and I have been thinking about this for a better part of a year ... This was something we were going to do in the future, but we decided a few days ago to go ahead now, so I pulled an application for a permit to start building a house."
Village code says you can't build an accessory structure prior to building a primary structure.
McQuillen was initially granted a permit in July to build the barn even though he did not request a permit to build a house.
That permit, all officials agree, was issued in error. A stop-work order was issued, but McQuillen could keep building while the stop-work order was appealed.
Since McQuillen has now filed the necessary paperwork to build a house, the board found that the barn is no longer out of compliance with the code.
There's nothing in the code, said Dan Lang, who is helping with Le Roy code enforcement issues while training a new code enforcement officer, that requires construction of the primary structure start before an accessory structure.
"The only issue is that there needs to be a single-family home with a driveway from Robbins Road to the accessory structure," Lang said. "If there is, the lot is in 100-percent compliance.
The barn in question sits just feet behind a house in Presidential Acres owned by Town of Le Roy Supervisor Steve Barbeau.
Barbeau and some of his neighbors believe McQuillen decided to build the barn out of spite because Barbeau, along with his neighbor, David Boyce, opposed a patio-home development McQuillen wanted to build on his 13 acres.
Barbeau and Boyce filed a lawsuit that eventually led to McQuillen abandoning the project.
The feuding between McQuillen and Barbeau came to a head earlier this month when a tree -- Barbeau said it's the third such tree -- fell from McQuillen's property onto Barbeau's property. Words were exchanged and Barbeau allegedly pushed McQuillen down and was subsequently arrested on a harassment, 2nd, charge.
Boyce and two neighbors filed an appeal of the building permit for the barn and Attorney Alan Knauf spoke at Tuesday's meeting, even though the appeal wasn't officially considered.
"The question here is there was a permit issued in July and was it a valid permit?" Knauf said. "It was not."
Knauf said the other issue with the barn is that he believes it's a commercial structure, and therefore out of compliance with the zoning of the neighborhood. Citing an article in The Batavian, Knauf said McQuillen gave a description of his planned use for the barn that makes it a commercial structure.
McQuillen said he was misquoted.
"It is in no way a commercial structure," McQuillen said. "I live on Robbins Road. I have a barn. This is a similar situation. I will have a home and a barn on the parcel that I bought. I don't understand why I'm being grilled under such a microscope here when I'm the applicant. I don't think I'm doing anything other than apply for a permit and now I've had lawyers coming after me for 18 months."
Besides the lawsuit filed by Barbeau and Boyce, McQuillen is being sued by Carol Durney, the woman who sold McQuillen the 13-acre parcel for $13,000.
Durney claims McQuillen misrepresented some aspects of the property to convince her to lower the price, and he didn't reveal his intention to subdivide the property.
Between the lawsuits and the lost money on engineering studies for the subdivision, McQuillen said he is out tens of thousands of dollars.
Ask how much, and McQuillan said, "Honestly, I've never sat down to add it up. It would be too depressing."
NOTE: This story would have been published this morning, but just as I was finishing writing it, my computer ate it. At that point, I had to leave to cover something so I couldn't rewrite it then. I've been running around all day since then (hence no posts until now, but they're coming ... )
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