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The Town of Batavia Planning Board will hold a public hearing Jan. 7 to consider an application for a subdivision of property in Batavia Towne Center.

The subdivision would make it possible for Kohl's Department Store to own its own property inside the shopping center, much like Target does now.

Kohl's would be purchasing the parcel from COR Development.

In June, the Genesee County Economic Development Center Board approved $1.8 million in new tax abatements for COR (on top of the $4.6 million in tax breaks COR received from GCEDC in 2006), ostensibly to attract new businesses that provide goods or services not readily available in Genesee County.

Kohl's is a department store chain that sells furniture, clothing, bed and bath items and other general merchandise.

The store will be located where Lowe's once had its garden center, just south of the new Dick's Sporting Goods.

To the north of Dick's will be a Five Below and possibly Marshall's; both are discount retailers.

In order for Kohl's to own its own parcel, the property currently owned by COR must be subdivided.

All subdivisions must go through a public hearing, which is a chance for the public to learn the facts of the project relevant to the subdivision and comment on the issue.

The same process was used to subdivide Batavia Towne Center for Target. A portion of the tax breaks secured by COR in 2006 are now applied to the Target property.

While it's possible for Kohl's to apply to transfer tax abatements received by COR to the new parcel, Rachael Tabelski, director of marketing and communications for GCEDC, said the agency has yet to receive an application for the tax abatements from Kohl's.

The hearing will be held at Batavia Town Hall, 3833 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 7. Written comments will be accepted prior to that date.

Dylan Brew sent in this picture he took of some of the Christmas lights on display at the DiSalvo residence on Fargo Road, Stafford.

Batavia PD is investigating a possible attempted larceny inside City Centre.

A person, possibly white male wearing a hoodie, grabbed something from a stand inside City Centre. A woman yelled for somebody to call the cops.

The suspect was last seen heading toward State Street.

The property, whatever it was, was recovered.

The victim is declining prosecution, so officers are advised that if the suspect is located, he's to be advised he's no longer allowed in the business.

There are still nine locations in Genesee County where homes are without power, but no major outages. At any one location, no more than five National Grid customers are without power.

Over the weekend, according to National Grid spokesman Steve Brady, at one time or another, 5,000 customers in Genesee County were without power.

Most power outages were resolved within less than 10 hours, often much less.

"Yes, Mother Nature's Christmas surprise has kept us hopping," Brady said.

National Grid is offering dry ice and bottled water to any customers who are still without power until 6 p.m. today at the Orleans County Emergency Management Office, 14064 W. County House Road, Albion.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) recently applauded the enactment of a bill he multi-sponsored to increase property tax assistance for veterans. Assembly Bill 565, recently signed into law by Gov. Cuomo, expands existing property tax exemptions by authorizing localities to exclude veterans from school taxes. Hawley, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee throughout his time in the Assembly, noted that the exemption is one of many ways for New York to thank its veterans.

“The sacrifices of our courageous veterans must be recognized, and this bill will express our gratitude by providing well-deserved property tax relief to these brave men and women,” Hawley said. “This legislation is an example of how our commitment to supporting our veterans must be a year-round focus, and I am hopeful that these savings will serve as a token of New York’s thanks to our heroes in the armed services.”

When the Tonawanda Creek crested at 11.94 feet at 6:30 p.m. yesterday, it wasn't anywhere near its historical high.

In March, 1942, the river overflowed at 14.5, making the resulting flood the worst in Batavia history.

It caused an estimated $500,000 damage and put many people out of their homes for days.

Greg Brockway, of Pembroke, brought in these two pictures this morning from the 1942 flood.  They were taken on the Southside in the area of the Jackson School showing Hutchings, Otis and Swan.

The last time the Tonawanda crested over 12 feet (considered the major flood level) was 1998 when it hit 12.44. It hit 11.71 in December 2008, and twice in 2009 it exceeded 10.5 feet, once in February and again in March.

The creek has crested at more than 10 feet on 24 ocassions in the more than 60 years the National Weather Service has been measuring creek levels.

Amy Lynn Showler, 38, of South Manhattan Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny and trespass. Showler is accused of stealing $7.76 in merchandise from Walmart.

A 17-year-old resident of Main Street, Corfu, is charged with trespass. The youth allegedly entered a residence on Lovers Lane Road without the owner's permission.

Dimetrious Trudell Williams, 24, of Pearl Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawfully dealing with a child. Williams allegedly supplied alcohol to a person under age 21.

Molly Ann Kirsch, 24, of Bonnie Brea Drive, Darien, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, driving left of pavement markings in a no passing zone and failure to keep right. Kirsh was stopped at 12:08 a.m. Saturday on Sumner Road, Darien, by Deputy Jason Saile.

Aaron Matthew Zastrocky, 29, of Mill Street, Le Roy, is charged with felony DWI, moving from lane unsafely, speed unreasonable for conditions and no seat belt. Zastrocky was allegedly the driver involved in a motor-vehicle accident reported at 11:18 p.m. Dec. 20 on Lake Road, Le Roy. The accident was investigated by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Joshua David Quaintance, 25, of Byron Road, Bryon, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Quaintance is accused of punching the window out of a vehicle on Townline Road, Byron.

Andrei Karpovich, 42, of Ibis Club Drive, Naples, Fla., is charged with harassment, 2nd. Karpovich allegedly slamming the hand of another person in a truck door during an argument at the Flying J at 5:54 p.m. Dec. 18.

Wendy J. Nelson, 44, of Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Nelson is accused of stealing from Walmart.

Scott F. McColl, 42, of Pavilion, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and unlawful possession of marijuana. McColl was stopped at 10:05 p.m. Thursday by State Police on Black Road, Pavilion.

Law Street (above, from the western end), and Route 98 (below, from the northern end) remain closed, though the floodwaters have receded significantly since last night.

City fire is assisting the occupants of a house on Law Street that is being evacuated because of high flood waters.

They're assessing whether to pull the electrical meter on the house.

The house is surrounded by two feet of water.

While on scene, the commander reports that a vehicle is now on Law Street and seems to be floating in the water.

Meanwhile, on Watson, the sewer supervisor is requested to the scene because there is apparently a sewer back-up.

UPDATE 12:18 a.m.: The residents who requested to be evacuated were. All of the other households on Law were checked by firefighters. Residents either didn't have basements and all of their utility connections were above water, or they had already shut off their utilities. A firefighter confirmed the car in the top photo did float a bit. The driver was cited and a family member picked her up.

Here are more flood pictures from this afternoon. The first three I took and the rest are from readers.

Above, the Tonawanda Creek at the bend off South Main Street. 

This is the back of Nate Fix's property, which 18 months ago the DEC carved up a bit to build new flood control.

Peaviner Road. The roadway is to the right side of the picture.

Photo submitted by Steve Ognibene. The vehicle stalled on Jackson Avenue. According to Steve, the driver was cited and the car was towed.

Ron Burroughs kayaking on Ganson Avenue. Submitted by Diane Burroughs.

Maria Casper submitted these two pictures of Philip, Kayla and Andrew kayaking in Kibbe Park.

Flooding in Pavilion submitted by Brittany Hart.

Batavia PD officers were kept busy this afternoon just trying to keep drivers from boating through an obviously flooded Oak Street.

Even once the street was closed by authorities, drivers still wanted to head either north or south.

Shawn Hargrave, who lives across from Hackett TV on Walnut, watched the cars go by and the police try to deal with it.

For awhile, there was an officer parked in front of her house, blocking traffic before the signs went up.

"There were a lot of people pulling up, walking to his window and complaining that they couldn't drive through," she said.

Once the signs went up, that still wasn't a deterrent to drivers who took "street closed" as merely a suggestion.

"We watched a newer Jeep come down and the driver stopped and he got out and moved the barriers," Hargrave said. "Unfortunately, he left the barricade open and some cars almost got stuck in the floodwaters."

Once the signs were up on the south side of the flooded section of street, a police officer still needed to be stationed on the north side to keep drivers from trying to go around the barricades.

Hargrave watched northbound driver after driver roll up to the barricades in front of her house and seemingly contemplate whether to go through before deciding to turn around.

Perhaps the most frustrated drivers to come up to the barricade were truck drivers.

The drivers were likely trying to make their way toward Pavilion, but hit the road closed sign on Route 20 at the bridge over the Tonawanda just west of Brookville Road, Alexander.

They got off Route 20 and headed north.

When they hit the road closed sign on Route 98, they had to back up all the way to First Student's parking lot in order to turn around.

Hargrave said she called NYS DOT to suggest truckers be redirected, but the DOT never responded with its own sign.

Tim Yaeger, emergency coordinator for Genesee County, and Jim Bouton, also a coordinator with the Office of Emergency Management, set up a message board sign at Route 98 and Route 20 trying to warn truckers that the road was close ahead.

But even after the sign was up, truckers still headed north. Yaeger said he was going to try to get a "local traffic only" sign posted either at Pike Road or Rose Road to encourage truckers to turn left onto those roads. The detour would lead them to Route 5 so they could resume their eastward travels.

Emergency Management acquired the $1,500 sign 18 months ago with Homeland Security grant money to use for volunteer recruitment but this was the second time it's been pressed into service an emergency.

Flooding on the Tonawanda is expected to peak at 12 feet at 7 tonight.

Yaeger and Bouton setting up road closed sign.

Below are photos submitted by Walnut Street resident Krystle Robinson of activity on Walnut Street this afternoon. Cars going through the water may have been going through at times when barriers were not in place.

Kiwanis Park, Batavia. Submitted by Keira Stehlar.

Law and Walnut, Batavia. Submitted by Phil Adamski.

Berries and ice. Submitted by Jason Smith.

National Grid replacing a fallen utility pole in East Bethany. Submitted by Doug Yeomans.

Fog and ice. Submitted by Scott Ogle.

Jackson Avenue. Submitted by Steve Ognibene.

Kibbe Park. Submitted by Steve Ognibene.

Tonawanda Creek, behind the Courthouse. Submitted by Kyle Couchman.

Tonawanda Creek, behind the courthouse.

The location of the manmade falls/dam on the Tonawanda behind the courthouse.

The Upton Monument and the Old Courthouse, Ellicott and Main.

Law Street, Batavia.

Kibbe Park, Batavia.

Kibbe Park, Batavia.

National Grid crews on Trumbull Parkway.

Centennial Park, Batavia.

Centennial Park, Batavia.

Centennial Park, Batavia.

Outside City Church, East Main Street, Batavia.

The following roads and streets are closed because of flooding:

• Railroad Avenue, Alexander
• Peaviner Road, Alexander
• Old Creek Road, between Brookville and Creek Road, Alexander
• Cookson Road, Alexander
• Dorman Road, Alexander
• Route 20 at Brookville Road (truck traffic being rerouted to Route 98 and Route 63)
• Bloomingdale Road at Griffin Road, Alabama
• Stegman Road between Route 5 and Powers Road, Pembroke
• Route 98 (Walnut Street), by city DPW
• Law Street, Batavia
• Ganson Avenue, Batavia
• Jackson Avenue, Batavia

Weather radar shows more rain coming.

If you know of a road closed because of flooding that isn't on this list, e-mail howard@thebatavian.com.

More than 2,100 National Grid customers are without power and have been since about 2 a.m.

Freezing rain apparently caused some transformer issues.

The outage area is triangle-shaped with the western tip near Clinton Street Road just north of East Main Street and spreading east nearly to Le Roy with the northern boundary just north of the Thruway and southern edge running along Route 63 to East Bethany.

National Grid expects power to be restored by 5:30 a.m.

UPDATE 5:17 a.m.: Earlier this morning, the power outage affected 4,538 customers. And, emergency dispatchers are aware there are people in the county without power. No, they can't help you get your power restored. It's best to restrict calls to dispatchers in situations like this to actual emergencies or others calls for service.

UPDATE 5:50 a.m.: There are multiple reports throughout the county of wires down, wires arcing and flooded basements. Town of Batavia's chief has requested all available manpower to the two fire halls to be ready for new incoming calls.

UPDATE 10:35 a.m.: There are at least a dozen power outage areas in Genesee County. The two largest at the moment are in the Elba area, with 317 customers without power. Power has been out since 4:49 a.m. and a repair crew is not yet assigned to the outage. In Bergen, 1,060 customers are without power. The outage started at 7:04 a.m. and there's no ETA for repairs. Fire departments from throughout the county are still handling calls for power lines down, trees down and cellar pump details.

UPDATE 12:19 p.m.: The largest power outage reported in the county now is in the Byron area, 838 customers. Power reported out at 5:01 a.m. A repair crew is assigned. No ETA for repairs.

One person was killed early this morning when a passenger vehicle and semi-truck hit head on on Route 63, just south of Shepard Road, Town of Batavia.

The location is just yards south of the former Rosie's Diner.

Town of Batavia fire is on scene. The accident is being investigated by the Sheriff's Office Crash Management Team. A coroner is in route.

Route 63 is closed in both directions.

UPDATE: John P. Dow, of Pavilion, was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Donald Coleman. Dow was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Envoy southbound on Route 63. Truck driver Iqbal S. Dhadda, 35, of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, said Dow's vehicle crossed completely into the northbound lane. The SUV and truck hit head-on. According to a Sheriff's Office press release, impairment may have been a factor in the crash. The accident was reported at 1:42 a.m. Dhadda was not seriously injured.

The accident investigation is being conducted by Deputy Joseph Corona, Deputy Frank Bordonaro, Deputy Jason Saile, Deputy John Duyssen and investigator Roger Stone. Assisting at the scene were Batavia PD, State Police, Town of Batavia fire and Bethany fire.

Kendall proved to be just a bit much for Alexander to handle Friday night as the Eagles took command of the game in the first period and were never in danger of losing their lead.

The final, 63-41.

Alexander is now 3-2 on the year.

"We definitely had Kendall marked on our calendar," said Head Coach Josh Bender. "I think they're one of the best teams in the GR. They've got all the right pieces. They've got a big guy, athletic guards, shooters, size. It's tough when you don't have a 6'5" guy to battle their center. They're a pretty experienced bunch. Good coach. They run a good system."

The Tigers did a good job of getting good looks for themselves throughout the first half, and a lot of those shots dropped for points.

By the half, the Trojans were already down 37-18.

Kendall almost let Alexander sneak back into the game in the third quarter, scoring only eight points, but the Trojans found their own little scoring slump late in the period and only added 13 points for the eight minutes.

"I told the guys if we want to make a real run at it, we can't trade baskets," Bender said. "We were getting good looks. The high post area was open all night. We had cutters slashing, but at the end of the day, if you're trading baskets with a team like this, you're going to come up short."

Bender, in his first year as varsity coach after three years leading the JV squad, said his team is young yet. Even though it includes seven seniors, none of his starters got many minutes last year, he said.

"I think you'll see down the road, the more games we get in, the more cohesive we'll be and the more effective we'll be in game situations," Bender said.

Nelson Burke led the Trojans with 10 points.

For Kendall, four players were in double digits scoring. D'Andre Nauden, 12, Devin Appleton, 11, Garret Love, 14, and Isaiah Brown, 11.

In other Genesee County hoops action, Friday:

• Batavia beat Hilton in Hilton, 62-49. Jeff Redband scored 19 points and had 14 rebounds.
• Wheatland-Chili 56, Batavia Notre Dame 42. The loss ended ND's 70-game league winning streak. Tim McCulley had 18 points.
• Byron-Bergen 53, Pembroke 48. Dajuandrick Gardner scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Collin Lewis, 17 points. Nick Magin, 18 and Steele Truax 10.

To purchase prints, click here.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center, the only acute care hospital in Genesee County, has been excluded as an “in network” provider by the insurance company MVP for its Healthcare Exchange insurance products following several attempts by United Memorial to negotiate a reimbursement rate structure. It is important to note that this only pertains to the MVP plans available on the Exchange. United Memorial does have contractual agreements with MVP for all of their other commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid insurance products.

Adding to the confusion for individuals when selecting a plan, is that many Genesee County physicians are listed as part of the MVP network; including several United Memorial Medical Center employed physicians, while the hospital is not included as a facility.

“We are disappointed that our efforts to be included in the MVP network of providers have not been successful,” said Mark C. Schoell, CEO of United Memorial. “We will continue to work with MVP to bring this situation to positive conclusion.”

As part of the Affordable Care Act, people who do not have health insurance through their job, or cannot afford the plan offered by their employer, can use the “Healthcare Exchange” or “Marketplace” to compare plans and sign up. In New York State, residents are provided a list of insurance companies and plans to select from, based on their county of residence. There are several companies and a range of options available on the Web site: nystateofhealth.ny.gov. With the exception of MVP, United Memorial has contractual agreements with all insurance companies listed on the site for Genesee County. Those contracts include: Fidelis, Independent Health, Blue Cross of Western New York, and Univera. People have until December 23rd to purchase a plan through the exchange in order to have seamless healthcare coverage beginning January 1st.

Individuals in Genesee County, who are purchasing their healthcare insurance through the exchange, should make sure that their physicians and hospital facility are both included in the insurance company’s network. If not, their care may be viewed as out-of-network, and most of the exchange plans do not cover out-of-network care. Application counsellors are available at United Memorial to assist with process of signing up for healthcare insurance coverage and to answer questions. Please call (585) 344-5428 with any concerns.

United Memorial has never turned anyone away from receiving the care they need based on their ability to pay and remains committed to providing quality care to the residents of our region.

Previously: Individuals who buy MVP health plans through new exchange reportedly not covered in Genesee County

NOTE: If you purchased MVP through the exchange (and only through the exchange), we might want to talk with you about your experience. E-mail howard@thebatavian.com