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The 90th season of the Batavia Concert Band got off to a soggy start Wednesday evening, forcing musicians and audience members to seek the warmth and comfort of the Stuart Steiner Theatre at GCC.

Here's the schedule for the remainder of the season:

• July 4th at noon, Guest Conductor David Keller. Picnic in the Park sponsored by GoArt!
• July 8 at 7 p.m., Conducted by John Bailey
• July 15 at 7 p.m., Conducted by John Bailey
• July 22 at 7 p.m., Conducted by John Bailey
• July 29 at 7 p.m., Conducted by John Bailey, Annual Chicken Barbecue

All concerts are at Centennial Park, unless weather forces a relocation to GCC.

A 26-year-old Batavia resident is accused of driving drunk and speeding leading to an accident on East Saile Drive, according to State Police.

Police said Jeffrey M. Burdett also resisted arrest when troopers tried to place him in custody.

He is charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest, drinking alcohol in a motor vehicle and imprudent speed.

Burdett was reportedly driving a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu when it struck a sign while making a right turn from Route 98 onto East Saile Drive.

When troopers arrived on scene, they observed two males walking southbound on Route 98, away from a car with hazard lights on.  When the troopers attempted to interview the subjects, Burdett reportedly refused to cooperate and became belligerent.  The troopers observed the odor of alcohol, slurred speech and poor coordination, they said. 

Mercy EMS treated Burdett and Matthew J. Burdett, 23, for minor injuries at the scene. Both men signed off on any further treatment.

While being processed at the Batavia barracks, Jeffrey Burdett allegedly registered a .21 BAC.  

He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

A possible criminal case is still pending in the fatal crash in Bethany in February, according to District Attorney Lawrence Friedman.

Friedman said the Sheriff's Office is "diligent" in conducting its investigation, but there is one more aspect of the case that needs to be addressed before criminal proceedings can advance.

Once all the facts are in, Friedman said, a presentation will be made to a grand jury.

Alyson D. Krzanak, a Genesee Community College student, died in the Feb. 21 accident at the intersection of Route 20 and Molasses Hill Road, Bethany. A friend, Hannah Dibble, was the driver of a 1997 Geo with five passengers when the car crossed onto Route 20 and was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Sources have previously confirmed that the Sheriff's Office has received the results of a toxicology report on Dibble and that investigators have met with attorneys in the D.A.'s Office to discuss possible charges.

The estate of Krzanak has filed a civil suit against Dibble, Leonard L. Odums, the truck driver, Celadon Trucking Services, Celadon Group and Frank's Garage of Akron.

Driving along Bank Street Road, you might notice "Blasting Zone Ahead" signs.  

Workers are removing bedrock to create a channel for the Town of Batavia's new water main being installed along Bank Street Road and Batavia Elba Townline Road.

You can find out more about the project on the Town of Batavia's Web site.

The town is installing 26 miles of water main this summer, according to Tom Lichtenthal, assistant engineer for the town.

Lichtenthal said there is bedrock along the pipeline's path that is from one foot to three or four feet below the surface. The channel for the pipe needs to be six feet deep and about three feet wide.

The blasts, Lichtenthal said, really aren't too severe. An observer wouldn't see much happening above ground and residents might feel a slight vibration.

Blasting is expected to take place along the two roadways for at least a month, perhaps longer.

Press release:

Batavia Business Improvement District (BID), sponsor of the Centennial Arts, an outdoor arts display that took place on Tuesday, June 16^th announces the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

More than 20 artists set up their works of art for display and for sale in Jackson Square. Those who attended the event were able to vote for their favorite artist or display as a People’s Choice Award. The winner of Centennial Arts was Susan Hoak, of Batavia, whose up-cycled furniture was considered “unique and creative” by several customers.

The Centennial Arts event was an effort to celebrate the City’s Centennial year as well as bring about awareness of the talented artists that are within the local region. Most artists were from Genesee County and one was from Warsaw. Pictures of the event can be see on the Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District Facebook page.

“Shop Local, Shop Downtown.” Sponsored by: Batavia Business Improvement District.   or more info  contact the B.I.D. Office at 585-344-0900 / visit  us at www.DowntownBataviaNY.com. or  like us on Facebook at DowntownBataviaBusinessImprovementDistrict.

Press release:

For many families who have children diagnosed with developmental and intellectual disabilities, including autism, Project Lifesaver is viewed as exactly that – a LIFESAVER!

Genesee ARC has partnered with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department in support of their effort to bring the Project Lifesaver program to Genesee County. 

The program is part of Project Lifesaver International, a nonprofit organization that bridges the technological gap for “at risk” populations and public safety agencies. It provides police, fire/rescue and other first responders with a comprehensive program including equipment and training to quickly locate and rescue individuals with cognitive disorders who are at risk due to behaviors of wandering and other safety concerns. 

Project Lifesaver has more than 1,400 participating member agencies throughout 48 states in the United States, six provinces in Canada, and Australia, and has performed 3,016 searches over the last 16 years with no serious injuries or fatalities ever reported.

The Genesee County’s Sheriff’s Office has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse for the implementation of the Project Lifesaver program, which provides equipment, training, certification and support to law enforcement, public safety organizations and community groups.

Children identified and their families will participate in training and receive their Project Lifesaver bracelets at the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office in July. The program is overseen by Sheriff’s deputies trained in the Project Lifesaver program.

For more information on Project Lifesaver, visit www.projectlifesaver.org.

A car has struck a house at 1993 Genesee St. (Route 33), near the intersection of Angling Road, in Corfu.

The house has been evacuated.

Unknown injuries. No word yet on the scope of the damage to the house.

Corfu fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 7:46 a.m.: One minor injury reported.

UPDATE 7:54 a.m.: A zoning officer is in route.

I stopped in the office of Ed Arnold Scrap Processors this afternoon to drop something off and found I'd arrived just in time to see Daniel Orr, of East Pembroke, pick up his new Vizio 48-inch smart TV, which he won in a drawing held Saturday.

It was pretty easy, Orr said, "all I had to do was fill out a piece of paper."

Pictured: Brent Arnold, Ed Arnold Sr., Orr, and Ed Arnold Jr.

Nateeka M. Gibson, 26, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Gibson is accused of stealing a bottle of liquor from West Main Wine and Spirits at 4:31 p.m., May 17. Gibson was identified as the suspect after a surveillance photo appeared on The Batavian.

Wendy Sue Pritchard, 39, of MacArthur Drive, Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Pritchard allegedly committed thefts from Walmart twice in one day, Thursday, totalling $1,343 in value. She was jailed on $1,000 bail. Also arrested and jailed on $1,000 bail on the same charge was Warren Thomas Cotton, 38, of Minneck Road, Lockport.

Heidi Lynn Harder, 40, of Montclair Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Harder allegedly stole property from Walmart with a value of $695 on Thursday.

Jocelyn T. Carson, 24, of Rodney Avenue, Buffalo, is charged with confinement of a companion animal in a vehicle during extreme temperature. Carson allegedly left a dog in a vehicle for at least an hour with no water around 6 p.m., June 20, at 9993 Alleghany Road, Darien.

Jonathan David Knauss, 21, of Depot Street, Corfu, is charged with petit larceny, operation of an unregistered motor vehicle, no front license plate, unlawful removal of registration plate and driving without insurance. Knauss allegedly stole a license plate from a vehicle and affixed it to another vehicle. He was stopped at 2:41 a.m. Sunday on West Main Street Road, Batavia, by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Andrew Ziemba Perdock, 28, of Dowd Road, Fillmore, is charged with petit larceny. Perdock is accused of shoplifting from Kohl's Department Store. Also arrested was Scott Logan Marsh, 19, of Main Street, Mount Morris. Perdock was also charged with petit larceny for allegedly stealing from Dick's Sporting Goods.

A 17-year-old of Holland Avenue (name withheld by Batavia PD) was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear and to abide by a release under supervision contract. He was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Scout A. Marble, 20, of Birchwood Drive, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on an aggravated unlicensed operation 3rd chage.

Christopher G. Landry, 41, of Howell Road, Fairport, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Landry alleged violated a complete stay away order by sending text messages to the protected party.

James A. Mitchell, 37, of Center Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Mitchell is accused of stealing cash from his employer, The Little Ridge Restaurant.

Darrell Smith, 48, of La Salle Avenue, Buffalo, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal possession of stolen property. Smith was arrested on a warrant and jailed on $10,000 bail or $20,000 bond.

Nina M. Kelso, 31, of Columbia Avenue, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a failure to care for an animal case.

Joseph Antwon Fletcher, 18, of South Main Street, Mount Morris, is charged with violation of probation. Fletcher was arrested on warrants.

Tonya L. Buzzell, 32, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass, 2nd, and disorderly conduct. Buzzell allegedly refused to leave a residence on Ellicott Street at 11:28 p.m., Friday.

Jesse A. Russell, 25, of Basom, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, operating while registration suspended, unlicensed operator, inadequate muffler and unlawful possession of marijuana. Russell was stopped by a trooper on Route 33, Batavia.

The Sheriff's Office made the following arrests during the Brad Paisley concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

Dalton Matiasz, 19, Cambridge Road East, Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada, is charged with false personation after allegedly providing false identification information. Dalton was arraigned in Darien Court and put jail in lieu of $250 bail.

Antho M. Ilacqua, 23, Cary Avenue, Oakfield, is charged with unlawfully dealing with a child after allegedly providing alcohol to a minor.

Matthew J. Wiza, 30, Lordan Drive, Cheektowaga, is charged with harassment, 2nd, after allegedly grabbing another person and placing them in a choke hold.

Brandon J. Kuklewicz, 21, Frederick Street, Cheektowaga, is charged with trespass after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected by Live Nation staff.

Nathan D. Addenbrooke, 21, Willow Drive, Niagara Falls, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of a quantity of marijuana.

Joseph G. Melcher, 22, Ridge Road, Ransomville, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of a quantity of marijuana.

Danielle Stolfa, 20, Lightwood Lane, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of a quantity of marijuana.

Nicholas J. Jones, 24, Hawkins Road, Selden, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of a quantity of marijuana.

Bailey A. Dawson, 18, Pennsylvania Avenue, Lockport, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of a quantity of marijuana.

Silver Shoe Farm, on Pratt Road, Batavia, hosted today its 8th annual carriage driving competition, drawing drivers from throughout the region.

Medics is being dispatched to an address on Lewis Place, Batavia, for a male who has been sprayed in the eyes by a skunk.  

A motor-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported at 1278 Broadway Road, Darien.

Darien fire and ambulance responding.

When offered a ride in a Polaris Slingshot this evening, I accepted of course, as a matter of journalist obligation, a reportorial call of duty. 

The report: What a blast.

John G. (he didn't want to give his last name for publication) picked up his new trike in Rochester yesterday. He was parked near Tops talking with a friend when I happened by.

He took me for a spin down Main Street.

The three-wheeler is 1,500 pounds with a 180 hp engine, so it really moves. Like a mullet (business up front, party in the back), the Slingshot has the look of a sports car (if your car is a Starfighter) ahead of you as it zooms down the road with the feel of a motorcycle pushing from behind. On turns and acceleration (and, man, can it accelerate) it reminds you of a top-end sports car, but with the rumble and heft of a powerful bike pushing you along.

"It's just as much fun to drive slow as drive fast," John said.

We turned a lot of heads -- including a couple of police officers on patrol -- going down Main Street.

When we parked back at Tops he said, "If you wait around 20 minutes, we'll have 20 people here, about one arriving a minute."

The words were barely out of his mouth when two people on motorcycles pulled up beside us, and a minute later, two more people walked up, as I pulled away, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw more people walking up.

A truck bearing a wide load caused a traffic snarl on Ellicott Street shortly after 6 p.m. when the driver found it more difficult than anticipated to maneuver his rig onto Harvester Avenue. The cargo was apparently intended for a business on Harvester. The driver eventually got the load moved enough to allow traffic to pass, but no word on whether the puzzle of how to get it down Harvester was eventually solved.

Dealing just with hard numbers -- setting aside speculation on hoped-for new revenue and "the multiplier effect" of jobs created -- the tax abatement plan approved Thursday by the Genesee County Economic Development Center Board for a new hotel at Batavia Downs should be profitable for taxpayers, according to data obtained by The Batavian from a GCEDC staffer.

The abatements will save developers about 11.5 percent on their $5.49 million investment, and the new taxes the project generates will be about a 100-percent return to taxpayers, if you accept the notion that the project doesn't get built at all without the tax incentives. If not, it's at least 42-percent return.

By law, the developer must certify that the project requires a tax break to be feasible, according to Rachael J. Tabelski, marketing and communications director. That is a requirement for all projects considered by the GCEDC.

"We have to trust the applicant that when they say this project won't be a viable project without the tax incentives," Tabelski said.

ADK Hospitality, the hotel's developer, will save $638,000 in taxes over the next 10 years, but it won't be getting off totally free. The hotel's owners, over the next 10 years, will pay $1.1 million in various taxes.

Tabelski was quick to point out that the $638,000 in tax breaks is not money taken from taxpayers. It's just money that isn't paid to the government; money that doesn't exist if the project isn't built. Thus, the $1.1 million in taxes ADK will pay over the next decade is all new revenue for schools, the county and the state (but not the Town of Batavia, which doesn't have its own tax on property).

That figure doesn't include sales tax generated by the hotel, or any anticipated increase in sales tax generated by the hoped-for increase in business at Batavia Downs. It also doesn't include employment taxes generated by the anticipated $600,000 in payroll for 25 full-time equivalent new hires at the hotel. 

The developers told the GCEDC Board that the project would generate a total of $2.8 million in tax revenue between now and 2025, but there isn't a breakdown available on what categories of taxes comprise that total. It likely covers fire district, property, bed tax, sales tax and payroll tax.

The $1.1 million in hard numbers we have includes:

• $56,000 paid to the Town of Batavia Fire District;
• $550,000 paid in county bed taxes;
• $500,000 paid in property taxes over the life of the PILOT.

A PILOT is a tax break given to developers of projects that industrial development agencies, such as GCEDC, believe will create or retain jobs. It is a reduction in taxes on the increase in assessed value of a property.

Let's say a property is valued at $100,000. A business ads a new wing to its building and increases the assessed value to $150,000. The business continues to pay all property taxes on the initial $100,000 in assessed value, but gets a reduction in taxes on that additional $50,000. PILOT agreements vary, but typically, there would be no taxes due the first two years of the increase, and then taxes would be incrementally increased every two years until the 10th year, when the property owner is paying the full tax bill on the increase in assessed value.

In the case of the hotel property, the developers are buying land from Western OTB, which is currently tax-exempt and has no assessed value. It will be assessed next year, and its assessed value will go from zero to whatever that assessed value is, and the PILOT will be calculated based on that increase, unless the project is not yet completed, in which case there will be only a partial assessment with a full assessment to come during the next annual assessment period after the project's completion.

The PILOT on this project is worth $300,000. The remaining abatements are for the mortgage tax on the purchase and on the sales taxes due on material purchased during construction.

As for the multiplier effect, that's a controversial notion to some, but the idea is that if you create a new job and pay that person money, they will spend some amount of that money locally, and the churn of that money will help pay other people's wages, lifting everyone's boats. That $600,000 in new payroll could be worth millions in economic growth locally.

These figures also don't include wages paid to construction workers and purchases made from local vendors -- if any -- during construction.

Area dairy farmers were invited to a pasture walk today at the farm of John and Sue Mikel, on East Bethany Le Roy Road, Stafford, by the Cornell Cooperative Extension. John and Sue own and operate Mikelholm Holsteins, a small grazing dairy they started on a 30-acre field they purchased seven years ago. They built a house and barn with a milking parlor.

They graze their 35 cows plus youngstock on the remaining land and supplement their diet with purchased feed. They also knew grazing would provide health benefits to the cows and reduce demands on labor. An added benefit was the reduced bedding costs while the cows are out to pasture.

The discussion included how John and Sue got started, fence and laneway layout, nutrition balance and summer rations as well has how to control parasites. 

It was a big day for the students at Jackson School. They moved up a grade, receiving certificates of continuation from administrators during a ceremony in the Batavia High School auditorium.

Press release:

Genesee County STOP-DWI Coordinator Matt Landers announced today that the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, City of Batavia Police Department and the Village of Le Roy Police Department will participate in a special enforcement effort to crackdown on impaired driving.

The statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown efforts start on July 3rd and will end on July 6th. The 4th of July extended weekend is historically a deadly period for impaired driving. This year the 4th of July falls on a Saturday so we expect heavy traveling to begin on Thursday July 2nd and festivities to begin on Friday July 3rd and run through Monday July 6th.

Americans love to celebrate Independence Day with family, friends, food and fireworks, but all too often the festivities turn tragic on the nation's roads. The fact is, this iconic American holiday is also one of the deadliest holidays of the year due to drunk-driving crashes.

According to data from NHTSA, during July 4th holiday period over the last five years (from 2009 to 2013), 750 people lost their lives in crashes involving drivers with a BAC of .08 or more. These fatalities account for 39 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities over this same five-year period. The New York State Police, County Sheriff and municipal law enforcement agencies will collaborate across the state and will be out in force in this coordinated effort to aggressively target those who put lives in danger.

Undersheriff William Sheron said, “The traffic volume will increase on and around the 4th of July. All drivers will need to take extra precautions and drive defensively. Drivers who are impaired by alcohol or drugs add to the danger on our highways. That is why the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office will have extra patrols out, dedicated to DWI enforcement, over this holiday weekend.”

The 4th of July Weekend Crackdown is one of many statewide enforcement initiatives promoted by the New York State STOP-DWI Association. The Statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign also targets Labor Day Weekend, Halloween and the national Holiday Season in December.

While STOP-DWI efforts across New York have led to significant reductions in the numbers of alcohol- and drug-related fatalities, still too many lives are being lost because of crashes caused by drunk or impaired drivers. Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving.