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Update: 9:00 p.m., Sept. 28

Sean Downing, chief of the Oakfield Volunteer Fire Department, left a phone message stating that he is "hopeful that both parties can come and resolve their differences before the November 30th deadline."

"If not, then by written order of the mayor or the board of trustees of the Village of Oakfield, we will not be able to respond into the town, which includes the elementary and the high school -- and that is per consulting with our attorney, Mark Butler."

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Update: 5:50 p.m., Sept. 28

Oakfield Town Supervisor Matt Martin called back to The Batavian, but didn't not want to elaborate other to say that the matter is in the hands of the town's attorney.

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The Village of Oakfield is preparing to take legal action against the Town of Oakfield – as well as threatening to withhold fire protection – if the town does not pay the nearly $80,000 it owes to the village as directed by a longstanding joint municipal agreement for such services.

That’s the message conveyed by Village Mayor David Boyle during an interview on Monday with The Batavian.

Boyle said a letter articulating the village’s position is being included in residents’ water/sewer bills this week.

The mayor said the dispute centers upon the town’s refusal to pay $78,648 owed to the village for the 2020-21 fiscal year ending May 31.

Contending that the town is “holding the village hostage” in hope of renegotiating the shared services arrangement, Boyle said the village board has instructed its attorney to file a lawsuit to recover the 2020-21 payment. He also said the town has yet to pay for the first three months of the 2021-22 fiscal year.

The letter, which also is signed by Deputy Mayor John Igoe and Trustees Michael Cianfrini, Michele Graham and John Mullen, states, in part:

“The Village Board is united in recognizing that the village cannot burden village residents and businesses with providing fire protection to the town without reimbursement. Therefore, the board has directed a letter be sent to the Town stating that effective Nov. 30, 2021, the Village will no longer be able to provide fire protection to the Town with the exception of the Oakfield-Alabama Central School.”

Boyle said the village owns fire trucks and equipment, and runs the fire service through the Oakfield Volunteer Fire Department, which owns the building on Albert Street.

“The town buys services (coverage) from us,” he said. “For years and years, we’ve had an agreement with the town about purchasing fire protection from the village. For as long as I remember, there have been contracts in place that basically are the same structure year after year after year.”

The current structure has the village paying 42 percent of the cost and the town paying 58 percent. Boyle said that the town is looking for a 50/50 split.

While that may seem equitable on paper, Boyle said, when broken down by assessed valuation, village residents pay $1.62 per $1,000 of assessed value in taxes while the town residents pay 60 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation in taxes.

“Our village residents have to work twice as hard to pay their bill, yet the town is saying we don’t find what you’re charging acceptable and we want to move some of that cost over to the village,” Boyle said. “They’ve held back the payment to force us to make an agreement that we don’t believe we can do in the best interest of the village residents and providing a sustainable fire service.”

Per the 2020 census, the Town of Oakfield has 3,145 residents, with 1,812 of those people residing in the village.

Boyle said the fire department budget is around $175,000 including Workers’ Compensation premiums that the town traditionally has paid and liability insurance that the village traditionally has paid. The fire protection agreement is based on $135,600, with the village responsible for $56,952.

He also said this hasn’t been an issue in the past.

“Two years ago, committees got together for budgeting the fire department – looking at the long range plan and controlling costs as much as we could while also being able to sustain it over the years,” he said.

Boyle said both municipalities are required by law to provide fire protection to its businesses and its residences.

“They (the town) knew what their bill was going to be and they’ve gone out and collected tax money for that, but they haven’t signed a contract for the fiscal year that passed, even though they have collected money from the taxpayers,” he advised. “It’s escalated as it has gone on the past 15 months, but what they are saying is that it’s too expensive and they have to drive their costs down.”

He did say that there is no signed contract for 2020-21.

As far as legal action, Boyle said one of the trustees contacted the state Comptroller’s office, and the village board feels good about its chances of winning a lawsuit.

“We feel the town knew what the bill was going to be, they collected taxes on it and we provided a service in good faith. Plus, they never contacted us, saying we shouldn’t be doing that because we don’t have a contract. We’re confident that we would prevail in a lawsuit because of those reasons.”

Boyle mentioned that five fire calls over the past year or so have been structure fires in the town and, as required, the village fire department volunteers responded.

A call this morning seeking comment from Oakfield Fire Chief Sean Downing has yet to be returned.

Oakfield Town Supervisor Matt Martin has yet to respond to email and phone requests for comment.

Meeting minutes from the June 8^th Town Board meeting indicate the agreement with the village is “not a contract, but a service agreement” and that a counteroffer to the village has been proposed:

“For years, but recently the past few months Supervisor Martin and Councilperson (Carol) Glor have been trying to negotiate with the Village a service contract that is equal. Currently, the Town pays 58% of the fire budget. Supervisor Martin requested that the number become a 50/50 split over a three year period, which the Mayor and Village Board refuse to entertain.

At this time the Town has not paid the village for the last village budget year. Supervisor Martin says this is not a contract it is a service agreement and should be treated as such. A proposal to the Village of $63,000.00 per year for three years on a service contract appears to be rejected as there has not been any communication from the Mayor.”

Boyle, after hearing what was communicated, said, “We’ve always been willing to talk with the town, maybe not in their time frame.”

“I got the sense that they’re not paying the contract and using that as hostage money. We want to treat it as two matters: They clear up what they owe us and then we’ll talk about going forward. We provided a service to them in good faith, so we believe that they’re being disingenuous.”

While water and sewer improvements certainly aren’t as intriguing as the construction of a playground designed for children of all levels of ability, they are vital to a municipality's health and well-being.

With that in mind, five of the seven projects that would utilize $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding -- as recommended by City of Batavia Manager Rachael Tabelski -- have to do with upgrades of water and wastewater systems or purchases of related equipment.

Tabelski, in a presentation at Monday night's City Council Conference Meeting at the City Hall Council Board Room, provided details of the water/wastewater proposals.

She was supported by Stephen Waldvogel, P.E., technical director with GHD Group of Buffalo, the company in line to contract with the city for water system planning assistance, and wastewater system headworks and capacity analysis.

The one “public facing project,” Tabelski said, is spending $800,000 – equally split between ARPA money and anticipated grant funding – on upgrading Austin Park (which is located behind the current City Police Department) to an "inclusive destination playground."

Tabelski said that residents have told her they don’t feel safe in that park, compared to other city parks.

“But if we have a really nice playground and really nice space, hopefully, we’d have really great families visiting there so everyone could feel safe at that park,” she said, adding that the project would include enhancement of the water splash pad there.

“I think this is a good opportunity,” she said. “Most of these other projects are water and sewer line utilities. This would be something, obviously, the public could see and enjoy, not that they don’t enjoy clean water – you just don’t see it every day. It just comes to your house, right?”

CITY GETS $1.4 MILLION IN ARPA FUNDING

As reported first on The Batavian on Saturday, Tabelski put together the list of priority expenditures that qualify under ARPA’s rules and regulations. The city received $1,474,764.79 from the federal stimulus action (and, as reported last night, already has half of that in its bank account). The remainder is scheduled to be allocated after the first of the year.

Tabelski made a convincing case for engineering studies, analysis and upgrades of the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant and assistance as it moves toward the phasing out of its water plant.

Two of the projects on the list call for contracting with GHD Group – one for engineering services for water system planning ($248,000 in ARPA money) and the other for wastewater treatment plant headworks and capacity analysis ($250,000 in ARPA money).

“(The engineering services contract) is something the city needs to start immediately, whether we decided to use ARPA funding or not,” Tabelski said of an anticipated two- to two and a half-year contract with GHD.

The gist of that project is to address and replace lead services lines throughout the city according to new federal regulations, she said, mentioning the additional requirement of an online map to show residents the location of lead lines or suspected lead lines.

Tabelski also said that engineering expertise is needed as the city prepares to close its water plant in conjunction with Genesee County’s plan to provide Monroe County Water Authority water to city residents.

After outlining the scope of services of the water system planning resolution, Tabelski turned it over to Waldvogel, who said he has worked with the city “in the background” for the past 10 or 15 years.

ENGINEER: GENERATIONAL CHANGES IN STORE

“The revised lead and copper rule is probably one of the most substantial changes to the water regulations in a generation,” he said. “It will have a substantial impact on your water department and that’s one of the reasons why Rachel is looking to tackle some of these big things.”

As far as the wastewater treatment plant headworks and capacity analysis is concerned, Tabelski said the city just completed a $1 million project to replace the main air system that goes along the ponds.

She said analysis is needed of the pipes that go into the ponds to bubble and diffuse air to allow the ponds to digest waste efficiently and to “understand what our capacity is today so we’re able to make future decisions.”

Waldvogel added that the air system at the wastewater treatment plant is aging and deteriorated.

“There needs to be, as requested by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation), a headworks analysis of the facility,” he said. “And what that is, is essentially an analysis to determine the flow and contaminant loading that the plant can properly manage while you still meet your permit.”

He said the plan is to collect data for 12 months – determining the different “loadings” for all four seasons – “and from that you’ll determine how the facility removes a long list of contaminants, and from that you develop your own local permits which you issue to all the local industries that discharge to your system.”

Waldvogel said this will have an effect on the Town of Batavia, which is a minority owner and also discharges to the plant, and positions the city for long-term growth and future investment.

He also indicated that by understanding its capacity, the city would have to renew its wholesale sewer and meter reading agreements with the Town of Batavia “which are predicated on certain flows and certain loadings.”

Three other projects relating to water and sewer are replacement of the Cohocton water transmission line that supplies water to the southwest quadrant of the city ($400,000 in ARPA funds and $400,000 in Water Reserve funds), replacement of an aging sewer camera ($50,000 in ARPA funds and $50,000 in Wastewater Reserve Funds), and replacement of meter reading equipment ($26,764.70 in ARPA funds and $1,718.79 from Water Reserve funds).

AUSTIN PARK: AN OPPORTUNITY ZONE

Tabelski said Austin Park is about 25 years old and that area qualifies as an Opportunity Zone due to 2019 figures that show 12.9 percent poverty and 4.9 percent unemployment.

“This fits into addressing negative economic impacts and public health in a neighborhood,” she said. “We want to continue to provide those outdoor, healthy living, recreation opportunities, but also doing something a little more significant.

“We don’t have anything that is like, ‘Wow, that is a cool playground.”

She called it an inclusive destination playground, one designed for children of all different abilities and for those in wheelchairs, for example.

City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. sought to clarify the meaning of “inclusive” – requesting the term “universal access” be included going forward.

He said that Council passed a resolution several years ago that authorizes the board “to think in that realm whenever we designed anything new.”

The other project (using $100,000 in ARPA funds and $440,000 from the Facility Reserve Fund) would make necessary improvements at the city’s Bureau of Maintenance and Fire Department -- the purchase of a new generator to fully run fire headquarters on Evans Street and to make the facility compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

City Council voted to forward all of the recommendations to the Oct. 12 meeting.

DIVIDE NY, OTHER RESOLUTIONS

On another front, Council, at the request of Sixth Ward Council member Rose Mary Christian, briefly discussed a bill in the New York State Assembly that provides for a referendum on the question “Do you support the division of New York into two separate states?”

Christian was looking for Council’s support of this bill, and seeking guidance on the best way to proceed. City Attorney George Van Nest said that it was a state referendum, not a local one, and, if passed, would be placed on a ballot for statewide voting.

The bill calls for a general election -- posing that question to state voters -- to be held on or before Dec. 31, 2022. The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Stephen Hawley. The Senate version is S7314. Currently, there are no votes for this bill scheduled in state legislative session.

In other action, Council forwarded to the Oct. 12 Business Meeting resolutions:

• Spending $38,800 from the Facility Ice Rink Reserves account for purchase and installation of a new compressor that is part of the ice making equipment at the Batavia Ice Rink on Evans Street. Tabelski said one of the two compressors has failed and to rebuild it would not be cost effective.

• Spending $84,000 from the Water Reserves account as a local match to the $334,000 the city received in a grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission to fully fund the installation of 950 linear feet of 8-inch water main along Bank Street – from Washington Avenue to Main Street. The project will replace 90-plus-year-old pipe, thus increasing water supply and flow in that area, which is designated as the site of the new police headquarters.

Previously: City manager suggests using ARPA funds to build 'inclusive destination playground' at Austin Park

Labeling them ARPA-1 through ARPA-7, City of Batavia Manager Rachel Tabelski has put together a list of priority spending items – including an “inclusive destination playground" at Austin Park – to be funded in whole or in part by the $1.4 million the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act.

In a memo dated Sept. 20 to City Council, Tabelski wrote that she is recommending these expenditures as part of her Batavia Investment 2021 report, which is on the agenda for discussion at Monday night’s Conference Meeting.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 o’clock at City Hall Council Board Room.

Should City Council forward any proposed resolutions on Monday, voting would take place at the board’s next Business Meeting, which is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 12.

The federal government, acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on municipal economies, allocated $19.53 billion from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund to support non-entitlement units of localities with populations under 50,000, Tabelski wrote.

With that, the city received $1,474,764.79 from the ARPA (getting half this year and half next year).

The money can be used for public health costs, lost public sector revenue, essential worker pay and investment in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, but comes with restrictions.

Those restrictions, as outlined in Tabelski’s report, include the inability to use the money to lower the tax rate, to offset retirement/pension funds, to pay off current debt, for sidewalks and roads (unless documented proof of being related to COVID-19) and to support current operations in the majority of cases.

Tabelski’s report indicates the recommended projects were derived through multiple means:

• Conversations with department heads and staff, and citizen input;
• Review of capital plans, current needs and current reserve accounts;
• Analyzing the ARPA regulations to create projects that will be most beneficial to the city and/or to advance future ventures, with consideration of social and economic factors;
• Allocating ARPA money to projects that could receive alternate funding, such as matching funds from other sources to increase the total investment;
• Ability of city staff to complete, monitor and report on the projects.

Brief descriptions of the seven projects recommended by Tabelski are as follows:

ARPA-1: Engineering Services for Water System Planning

A resolution to contract with GHD Group of Buffalo to “map, inventory and plan to address lead service lines in the city related to the new Lead and Copper Rule” and “to prepare for the closure of the city water treatment plant in connection to Genesee County’s Phase 3 Water Project that would bring Monroe County Water Authority water to the city.

Cost: $248,000, using all ARPA funds.

ARPA-2: Cohocton Water Transmission Line

Replacement of 3,700 linear feet of a 12-inch water transmission line that supplies water to the southwest quadrant of the city – with the connection being made to the existing 12-inch main near the intersection of Industrial Boulevard and Treadeasy Avenue, and continuing to the existing 12-inch main near Walnut Street. The main has incurred 11 breaks in the past 30 years.

Cost: $800,000, equally split between ARPA and reserve funds.

ARPA-3: Inclusive Destination Playground at Austin Park

Located in the city’s Opportunity Zone, Tabelski writes that now is the opportunity to upgrade Austin Park (see photo above), believing that the expenditure will benefit local families, attract visitors from outside the city, assist in public safety in the park and surrounding areas through appropriate environmental design.

Recreation websites describe inclusive playgrounds as activity areas that remove barriers to exclusion, both physical and social, providing a “sensory rich” experience for all. They are designed to be a safe place where children of all abilities can play together, and are developmentally appropriate for children with and without disabilities.

Cost: $800,000, using $400,000 in ARPA funds and seeking grants to double the investment.

ARPA-4: Modify Facility Capital Plan Project

“Critical” improvements are necessary at the city’s Bureau of Maintenance and Fire Department, Tabelski writes, recommending the purchase of a new generator to run fire headquarters on Evans Street and spending to make access into the facility compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cost: $540,000, using $100,000 in ARPA funds, with the remainder committed to the project in the Facility Reserve Fund.

ARPA-5: Wastewater Treatment Plant Headworks Analysis

Tabelski is seeking another contract with GHD Group (via a resolution) for engineering services to solve problems being caused by an aging aeration and blower system. The last headworks study took place in 1983, and since them the WWTP’s aeration system had deteriorated due to leaks in the main header. “While this problem has been remediated, it highlighted the need to complete a more thorough analysis …,” she wrote.

Cost: $250,000, using all ARPA funds.

ARPA-6: Replace Aging Sewer Camera

Scheduled to be replaced next year, the city’s sewer main line camera – purchased in 2012 -- is at the end of its useful life and has malfunctioned on several occasions, resulting in repair costs. Tabelski recommends buying an Envirosight Rover X camera from Joe Johnson Equipment of Rochester, which can be bought at a discount through a cooperative purchase program.

Cost: $100,000, equally split between ARPA funds and wastewater reserve funds.

ARPA-7: Replace Aging Water Meter Readers

As in the case of the sewer camera, the city’s meter reading equipment is about 10 years old and need of replacement. The recommendation is a resolution to purchase new handheld and data recorders from Ti-Sales, Inc., of Sudbury, Mass., along with utilizing a cloud-based data storage system.

Cost: $26,765, using $26,764.70 of ARPA funds and $1,718.79 from water reserves.

When talking to the ladies who direct activities at the All Babies Cherished Family Assistance Center, it quickly becomes clear that the nonprofit, pro-life agency could easily be called “All People Cherished.”

“We advocate for people,” said Program Coordinator Mona Doyon, during an interview with The Batavian at the ABC home at 445 Ellicott St. “We give them the resources they need and help them to realize that they can keep their child. A lot of them come here really scared and overwhelmed, and then they realize that they can do it.

“They make a choice for life and we do our best to work with other agencies in the county to get them the help that they need. Sometimes it involves healing with other members of their family, and getting some family support going.”

In existence in Batavia for 25 years, ABC is a Christian organization and, moreover, a ministry that focuses on assisting women and their families with “life choices” from pregnancy to birth and beyond, Executive Director Sue Sherman said.

ABC staff and volunteers also have been involved in the process of adoption, she said, primarily working with Bethany House in Rochester.

The agency receives a small amount of funding from the United Way, but overwhelmingly is supported through donations, church sponsorships and its fundraising efforts.

Currently, Sherman and Doyon are working with volunteer Lucille DiSanto on ABC’s major fundraiser – its Fall Vendor Festival on Saturday, Oct. 23 at the City Centre Mall concourse. Nearly 80 vendors have signed up thus far to participate in the agency’s 25^th anniversary celebration.

‘A CHRIST-CENTERED NO JUDGMENT ZONE’

Calling ABC “a Christ-centered no judgment zone,” Sherman said their main focus is to conduct a wide variety of parenting classes for moms, dads, grandparents and, in some cases, extended family members.

Those who take the classes – they’re held on the second floor of the facility – receive credits that enable them to receive free necessities for their babies, toddlers and young children.

Class topics include information about pregnancy, caring for newborns, post-partum symptoms, how to make out a budget, how to save and successful parenting techniques. Regular Bible study classes are offered as well.

“Usually, our program has been set up to benefit parents with children 3 and under,” explained Sherman, who has been executive director for five years. “We’ve expanded that – we’ve got older children, 4, 5, 6 years old. We can help you with clothing or items that you need.

“Additionally, we help parents that come in here with troubled teens, and that presents different issues. They don’t receive material goods, but they come to us because they need help.”

Sherman said some women are mandated to come to ABC through the Probation Department or Child Protective Services or Department of Social Services, and are required to take parenting classes.

Thus far, more than 540 classes have been conducted over the past 12 months, Doyon said.

Assistance also is provided when ABC gets a call from the hospital requesting help for women who have just given birth.

“And many times, we get involved to help mothers get their children back,” Doyon advised. “They may have a child or a couple children at age 2 or 3, and now we’re helping them to get their children back due to their mother’s addiction, for example.”

In any event and in all situations, Doyon emphasized that “whoever comes through our door, we’re going to help them.”

‘WE WANT THEM TO FEEL THE DIFFERENCE’

“We want them to feel the difference. When they come through the door … we want them to feel the Lord’s presence and we want them to feel loved and respected, and feel that compassion.”

Sherman said all races and religions are welcome.

“We’re here to help you and encourage you. We are not here to judge you. Often we hear from the girls that this is the only place they’ve heard anything encouraging in their entire lives,” she said.

She also pointed out that many clients have not graduated from high school, are in recovery from substance use or were victims of domestic violence. She indicated that about a third of their clients at any given time are homeless – or “couch hopping -- not knowing where they’re going to lay their head tomorrow.”

“And some of them are in every category,” she said.

Toward that end, Sherman said she is pleased to report that ABC just closed on a house that will be used as temporary living quarters for the homeless women being served.

“I have spoken to our donor base for years, letting them know that we need housing,” she said. “We had a donor give us a house nearby, and we just closed earlier this month. No programming is in place yet, but sometime next year, we’ll be able to have half of that house for up to three women – with their child or children.”

SPECIAL EVENTS SET FOR NEXT MONTH

DiSanto, who is coordinating the Fall Vendor Festival on Oct. 23 at the downtown mall, said it is shaping up to be a huge event.

“We now have 76 vendors -- artists, artisans, crafters, quilters, direct sales, woodworkers and more, as well as games for children and a visit from Santa Claus,” she said.

Sandy Chappius, owner of Chap’s Diner in Elba, will be catering the festival, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The public is invited at no charge.

The agency will be hosting a free online fundraiser at 7 p.m. Oct. 28, also commemorating its 25^th year.

Le Roy resident Alexandra Andrews will tell her story as an abortion survivor.

A wife and mother of three, she said her testimony centers upon the ways God revealed His plan for her life, bringing her out of an orphanage in Russia to share a message of mercy, healing and forgiveness.

A registered nurse, Andrews is an active member at her church and serves on the ABC board of directors.

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Doyon and Sherman are the only full-time employees at ABC. They are assisted by a five-hour-per-week bookkeeper and about a half-dozen volunteers who organize donations, help with fundraising and provide other support.

They said they would welcome an experienced grant writer willing to provide volunteer assistance. Agency oversight is provided by a volunteer board of directors.

ABC is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday.

For more information about programming or the special fundraising events, call 344-5660, go to www.allbabiescherished.com or www.facebook.com/AllBabiesCherishedPregnancyCenter/

Photo at top: Executive Director Sue Sherman, left; Program Coordinator Mona Doyon and Fall Festival Coordinator Lucille DiSanto. Photo at bottom: Mural on a wall at the ABC office at 445 Ellicott St. Photos by Mike Pettinella.

Notre Dame staged a herculean defensive effort that included several “red zone” stops, two fumble recoveries and an interception but had little offensive success en route to a 14-0 loss to Bolivar Richburg in varsity football action Thursday night at Van Detta Stadium.

The visiting Wolverines, 3-1, scored on consecutive long drives in the first half and, despite running 63 plays to ND’s 34, failed to score after that as the Irish defense came through time and again with big plays deep in their own territory.

Powered by the senior foursome of quarterback Brayden Ellis and running backs Landon Danaher, Jarrod Polk and Kadin Tompkins, the Allegany County squad ran the ball 56 times for 258 yards.

Polk capped a five-play, 52-yard drive with an 11-yard burst off right tackle with 6:06 left in the opening quarter and, after a Notre Dame punt, Danaher put the finishing touches on a 10-play, 55-yard march with a 21-yard sweep to the left side on the first play of the second quarter.

Senior kicker Hunter Stuck converted both point after touchdown attempts.

The Irish, 1-3, could not run the ball against the Wolverines, with 14 rushing attempts netting minus 11 yards.

Quarterback Jimmy Fanara completed eight of 20 passes for 67 yards – with the biggest gains of 18 and 19 yards to Ryan Fitzpatrick and 22 yards to Evan Cummings. He was intercepted twice in the second half.

Bolivar Richburg’s offense featured a variety of formations. Mixing in misdirection plays and reverses with runs into the middle of the line, the Wolverines chewed up yardage and the clock all night long. The Irish defense, however, did not break as it made big plays to halt otherwise impressive drives.

Linebackers Vin DiRisio (who was named T.F. Brown’s Player of the Game by WBTA Radio (news partner of The Batavian), Andrew Edwards and Cummings, lineman Bryceton Berry and defensive back Hayden Groff led the charge for the Irish. Edwards went to the sidelines after suffering a leg injury late in the third quarter.

Berry recovered a fumble to thwart the visitors’ opening drive, DiRisio was credited with 21 tackles, including many behind the line of scrimmage and also to prevent long gains, while Cummings intercepted a pass on a fourth-and-9 play at the ND 39 in the third quarter and recovered a fumble on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Early in the third quarter, the Irish tackled Danaher for a 12-yard loss on a third-and-1 from the 6-yard line adding to Bolivar Richburg’s futility inside the Notre Dame 20 – which included a pair of missed field goal attempts by Stuck.

In the final minute, with the Irish not trying to stop the clock, Ellis threw two passes into the end zone from the ND 31. The first one was dropped by Polk and the second one was incomplete.

Statistically, Danaher rushed for 112 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown and Polk carried 13 times for 59 yards and a touchdown. Tompkins gained 56 yards on 11 carries. QB Ellis ran seven times for 16 yards and was 3-for-7 passing for 12 yards.

Notre Dame’s next game is at 7 p.m. Oct. 1 at Geneseo.

Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. and the Town of Batavia have come to an agreement concerning enhanced aesthetics and maintenance on and around Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel on Park Road.

WROTB President Henry Wojtaszek and Town Supervisor Gregory Post both reported that a productive discussion took place Wednesday as both entities prepare for the start of the Park Road Improvement Project later this fall.

Reconstruction of the street -- from Lewiston Road to Oak Street – is a $4.3 million project, with the bulk of the cost covered by federal and state aid.

Negotiations have been taking place in recent weeks over contracts covering WROTB’s financial contribution for requesting additional trees and lighting and details of the town’s cost for having Batavia Downs’ employees to maintain trees, street lights and sidewalks and for snowplowing once the project is complete.

“We met with the town yesterday and we’re good to go,” Wojtaszek said. “We just had to work out some details of the agreement.”

Post concurred, stating that an attorney review of the language in the agreement has been completed.

“It really wasn’t about the money, it was more about getting the proper wording,” he said. “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Batavia Downs.”

Last week, the Batavia Town Board tabled a resolution that set WROTB’s payment for aesthetics at $486,870, with Post indicating that they were close to finalizing the contract. He and Wojtaszek today said that they have agreed on that figure.

In other developments from today’s WROTB directors’ meeting:

• The board received an update on the armed robbery that took place on Aug. 28 at the Wehrle Drive OTB parlor. According to Amherst Police, a male suspect entered the building, fired a gun shot and fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash. WROTB employees installed a full security door afterwards.

• Batavia Downs’ revenue in August resulted in a distribution of $73,637 to the corporation’s municipalities.

E-Z bet handle this year, through August, is up $2.3 million compared to 2020 and up $765,000 compared to 2019.

Batavia Bets’ handle in August was $1.8 million, down $337,000 compared to August 2020, and was $966,000 through Sept. 19, down $376,000 compared to September 2020. For the year, handle is $13 million, an increase of almost $1.6 million from 2020.

• The board approved contracts with two Batavia-based companies: a one-year agreement with Applied Business Systems in the amount of $82,434 for marketing mailers and a pact through the end of the year for $22,500 with Extreme Streetwear for Buffalo Mafia apparel to be sold at Batavia Downs Gaming’s Lucky Treasures store.

The president and chief executive officer of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. this morning said that stronger policies and procedures have been put into place in light of audits by the New York State Comptroller’s Office that revealed the public benefit company failed in its oversight of perks distributed and in prompt reimbursement for personal use of an official vehicle.

The audit findings were released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who said WROT “needs to clean up its operations.”

“Revenues from the OTB are supposed to go to participating municipalities, not to give board members and employees generous perks and other benefits,” he stated in the report. “The board said they are acting on our recommendations and I urge them to continue to tighten oversight and eliminate questionable spending.”

WROTB President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek, speaking after the organization’s board meeting today, said new controls and record keeping policies have been made.

“We have issued a policy that is a very good policy,” he said. “We welcome the Comptroller’s input and we will continue to improve upon our protocols.”

Wojtaszek said the WROTB board has provided an answer to the Comptroller’s Office, which is included in the audit report.

According to the first audit, WROTB (the parent company of Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel) spent at least $121,000 on tickets to sporting events, concerts, food and alcohol for board members, employees and other individuals without the oversight required by state rules. A second audit released found that Wojtaszek did not reimburse the organization for his personal use of an official vehicle in a timely manner.

DiNapoli reported that both audits “found lax oversight of operations by the board of directors, a troubling tone at the top of the organization for establishing and following the rules, and poor documentation.”

He also urged WROTB to seek reimbursement for tickets and other expenses that were distributed improperly.

The first audit examined the corporation’s marketing and promotional operations from September 2017 through December 2019 which featured giving free tickets to Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans games and to area concerts.

While this is permitted by the state Gaming Commission, this practice also requires WROTB to “submit an annual marketing plan identifying who may receive promotions and keep information on who received the complimentary items.”

The audit states that the corporation’s board approved almost $1.3 million on leases for suites at sporting venues, concert tickets and food and beverages, but failed to keep accurate records of at least $121,000 worth of these perks given to board members, employees and others.

Specific mention was made of a hockey game on Nov. 23, 2018 when the board chairman (Richard Bianchi) received six tickets and the vice president of operations (Scott Kiedrowski) received nine tickets, and another hockey game on Dec. 29, 2018, when the board chairman received four tickets, and five tickets were given to another board member and five other tickets were recorded as given to “host.”

As a result, auditors recommended that WROTB do the following:

• Develop and adopt a written policy and procedures for the distribution of tickets and who is eligible to get them.
• Seek reimbursement for tickets and food and beverages if not appropriately given.
• Define in the marketing plan what groups or categories of complimentary items, including tickets, will be given out as required by state regulations.
• Develop a system to maintain a complete, detailed, and accurate record of tickets distributed.

The second audit, covering a period of four years to April 2020, found that Wojtaszek did not track his personal use of his official vehicle and keep mileage logs, as all employees were required to do. He also did not pay the annual fee of $260 paid by other employees.

He later reimbursed the OTB $3,484 after an internal auditor found that he was not following the OTB’s policy.

Key recommendations in this case are as follows:

• Ensure all employees who are assigned take-home vehicles complete and file accurate weekly mileage logs.
• Require employees to reimburse the OTB for personal use in a timely manner.

In response to the audits, Bianchi wrote two letters to the Comptroller’s Office, outlining plans of action.

Summarizing, he wrote that the WROTB board has implemented a new procedure to provide for better tracking of “charitable tickets,” with continued updates “in respect to ticket distribution” for the board’s review and adoption, and will conduct a review of the prior ticket distribution to see if any tickets were given “to a non-eligible person,” and, if so, will seek reimbursement.

Also, the annual marketing plan will be expanded to specify “groups and categories of eligible complimentary items, including tickets, and the basis for such distribution,” with all tickets to be logged into a “dual recording system to ensure accuracy and proper distribution.”

As far as reporting of the use of personal vehicles, Bianchi wrote that the board is reviewing its motor vehicle use policy to “include the elimination of take-home vehicles for assigned WROTB employees” but, in the meantime, “a procedure has been established to ensure that a supervisor or officer is assigned the responsibility to review the vehicle logs monthly to determine and collect any reimbursement from the assigned employee for personal use of the vehicle.”

He also reported to the Comptroller’s Office that Wojtaszek, in April 2019, reimbursed the company $3,484 for personal use of an assigned vehicle for the period of July 2016 through April 2019 and, after further review by an internal auditor, another $528 last month for vehicle use from June 2016 through January 2017.

Genesee County Sheriff William Sheron Jr. was a man of few words on Wednesday afternoon as he accepted a proclamation from the Genesee County Legislature designating the week of Sept. 19-25, 2021 as Sheriffs’ Week in Genesee County.

Those words were well placed, however, as the county’s top law enforcement official gave all the credit to his staff who are on the front lines each and every day.

“I consider it a privilege to serve as sheriff in Genesee County and to be associated with such tremendous people before me (acknowledging Maha, the former sheriff, and Legislator Gordon Dibble, retired chief deputy),” Sheron said.

“I take this on behalf of all the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office. They’re the ones that are out there daily, providing service to the public, and they do it in such a professional manner.”

Maha, chair of the Public Service Committee, read the proclamation, which recognizes the Sheriff’s Office as “an integral part of the criminal justice system in New York State and in Genesee County since its inception in 1777, and establishment as one of the original constitutional offices of Genesee County in 1802.”

The proclamation states that the “Office of Sheriff has evolved into a modern, professionally accredited, full-service law enforcement and public safety agency, manned by fully trained police and peace officers, as well as civilians, using state-of-the-art technology and applying the latest and most-advanced theories and practices in the criminal justice field.”

Photo by Mike Pettinella.

As someone who has felt the pain inflicted by suicide and addiction, Lynda Battaglia was filled with emotion as she accepted a proclamation Wednesday from the Genesee County Legislature designating Sept. 5-11, 2021 as National Suicide Prevention Week and September 2021 as National Recovery Month.

Battaglia, the county’s director of Mental Health & Community Services, said she spoke as a “survivor” of suicide and substance use disorder, having someone close to her who attempted suicide and survived and also losing someone to addiction.

“When someone dies by suicide, the attack ripples through the community and leaves an everlasting effect,” she said, urging society to do more to promote wellness and decrease the stigma associated with mental health disease.

She said that suicide is the 10^th-leading cause of death in the United States.

“Every 11 minutes, someone dies by suicide … around 48,000 per year, and every single number represents a person,” she said.

With a group of mental health and social work professionals in attendance, Battaglia commended service providers for their “tough love commitment to improving education and awareness on suicide prevention and commitment to acknowledging recovery – and how you decrease the stigma of both.”

“You’ve seen them at their worst and their best, and everything in between … and you provide treatment and care without judgment.”

Accepting the proclamation on behalf of service providers, she concluded, “All of you are lifelines for Genesee County residents and I thank you for your dedication.”

The proclamation, presented by Legislator Gregg Torrey, Human Services Committee chair, states, in part, that “in these challenging times messages of hope and healing are more needed than ever; and the benefits of preventing and overcoming mental health challenges, suicide attempts and loss, and substance abuse are significant and valuable to individuals, families, and our community at large.”

“The Genesee County Legislature proclaims the month of September 2021 as Suicide Prevention and Recovery Month: Finding Hope, Building Resiliency, and Supporting Recovery."

Photo: Accepting the proclamation are, from left, John Bennett, Lisa Clattenburg, Bob Riccobono, Lynnell Schreiber, Lynda Battaglia, Julie Brinkman, Kate Hawks, Rachel Mieney, Sue Gagne, Lisa Glow, Cheryl Netter, Gregg Torrey. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  Comments are closed.  It's become too much of a battle, taking too much time, to deal with all of the misinformation being posted in comments.

Several Genesee County residents exercised their right to peacefully assemble this afternoon, gathering in front of the Upton Monument at the Route 5 and 63 fork to protest governmental COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“We’ve been rallying to help the cause of healthcare workers,” Roxie Winegar said. “I’m a DSP (Direct Support Professional) for ARC (The Arc of Genesee Orleans) and I don’t want to lose my job; I don’t want anybody to lose their job over being forced to be vaccinated when it’s a choice to put something into your body.”

Winegar said she believes vaccines cause death and impairment, “and long-term effects that you can not get out of your body – you cannot reverse.”

“They are not a vaccine. They are an mRNA (messenger RNA) genetic changer, and once you have that, you don’t have the human genetic makeup anymore – it’s totally changed,” she stated.

She said she has done much research into the vaccine, and doesn’t buy most of mainstream media’s reporting on the matter.

“They are so very evidently biased … they all say the same thing. It’s the same script. They’re all given a script and they all say it,” she said.

Sue Wlazlak, an employee (analyst) of United Memorial Medical Center, said the mandate is violating people’s freedoms.

“They’ve taken away our freedom of choice and it’s completely against the Constitution. I don’t understand any of this,” she said.

When asked if she thought natural immunity for those who have had COVID should be considered, she replied, “That’s the other piece that is huge. They’re not testing for the immunity. I had to get tested for the chicken pox and that proved that I had immunity, so they didn’t offer me a vaccine. They should be doing that.”

Wlazlak said she sees the vaccines as experimental and full of risks.

“So, if you have reasons why (you don’t want it), you shouldn't be forced to infect your body to go to work,” she offered.

Another protester said the issue goes beyond just the vaccine mandate.

“Vladimir Putin said it best: The United States is heading toward communism with breathtaking speed,” Gary DiSanto said. “We’re becoming a totalitarian, one-party state.”

Thousands of healthcare workers at hospitals run by New York State could face suspension or loss of jobs beginning on Monday as a result of the mandate originally ordered by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and kept in force by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The directive does not allow for regular testing instead of being vaccinated. Hochul’s administration and numerous labor unions are in negotiations to see if an agreement could be reached. Mass firings or resignations would cripple the state’s healthcare system.

In a related development, as first reported by The Batavian, the Genesee County Legislature yesterday passed a resolution adopted by the Ways & Means Committee to modify the COVID-19 mandate by providing options such as regular testing for those opting to not take the vaccine at this time.

Copies of the resolution are being sent to Hochul, Health Commissioner Ann Marie T. Sullivan, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt.

Photo: Among those protesting vaccine mandates today are, from left, Gary DiSanto, Roxie Winegar, Bob Hoskins, Sue Wlazlak, Jo Coburn, Theresa Wlazlak and Evelyn Aubrey. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

He has worked in kitchens throughout the United States as well as Australia and Indonesia.

He has prepared dishes for four presidents and, for a while, was the personal chef for Michael Jackson.

Now, he is back in Western New York, spreading his culinary joy in the form of authentic Texas-style beef and Kansas City-style pork barbecue to patrons of Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel.

And, if all goes according to plan, his edible creations will be available soon at 10 East Main St. in his hometown of Corfu.

“He” is Nick Rada, a 1999 Pembroke Central School graduate, who has lived out his lifelong dream of preparing delicious meals at a variety of establishments – from prestigious hotel restaurants to neighborhood bistros and taverns.

Currently, Rada (pictured above) is the manager at Burnin’ Barrell BBQ, located at the Homestretch Grill area of Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel. He’s been working in that capacity since May.

“One day I made some barbecue for Henry (Wojtaszek, Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. president) and Scott (Kiedrowski, vice president of operations), and they fell in love with it,” Rada said during an interview Tuesday at the Park Road facility. “They mentioned that they wanted to do something new with the Homestretch (Grill) and asked me if I wanted to do barbecue.”

Rada jumped at the chance, coming up with the name, concept and menu that offers numerous choices in the form of sandwiches, snacks, salads, sides, small bites and big bites.

He said he caught the cooking bug as a teenager, growing up as the oldest of eight children.

“Ever since I was 13 or 14 years old, I knew that I wanted to be a chef,” he said. “My great aunt and uncle (the late Leo and Marge Brumsted) were butchers. Everybody in my family were hunters; everybody in my family cooks. My father, Don, cooks, and so does my grandfather, Al Lang.”

There always was plenty of food on the table, he said, adding that he is the oldest of 68 grandkids – and that’s just on the side of his mother, Claire, who is one of nine Lang children.

After graduating from high school -- where he was a lineman on the Dragons’ football squad and competed in the shot put and discus on the track and field team -- the 6-foot-1, 300-pounder went to culinary school in Pittsburgh. Not long after that, he found himself working in Milwaukee, Wis., for a brief time.

“The chef that I worked for in Milwaukee told me that I have to work at two places in my career – Ritz-Carlton and the Bellagio in Las Vegas (to get ahead),” he recalled.

Rada did just that, working for the Ritz-Carlton in Detroit before transferring with the same company when they opened a hotel in Las Vegas in 2000.

“I transferred out there and worked for them as a cook for a few years and then went to the Bellagio Resort & Casino on the strip there. At the age of 24, I became the youngest chef – a sous chef -- at that hotel’s restaurant, Sensi.”

Having established himself as a top chef, Rada stayed there for about five years before traveling across the country to the Carolinas, where he worked as an executive chef for a country club. After that, it was on to jobs in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Australia and then to Indonesia.

“I learned a lot of different techniques, flavors and styles of cooking by traveling all over,” he said.

When asked if he ever cooked for any celebrities, he quickly rattled off the Obamas, the Clintons, and both Bushes while he was employed as part of a catering company when in Milwaukee and Boston.

“I also was a private chef for a short period time for Michael Jackson at the Ritz-Carlton in Las Vegas in 2001 or 2002,” he said.

Over the past five or six years, Rada was a chef at several restaurants in the Buffalo area. In January of this year, he and his wife, Fanchonya (call her Fan), and 5-year-old son, Ronin, came back to Corfu when Rada began work as a cook at the Downs’ Homestretch Grill.

He said the establishment’s transition to barbecue has been a hit with customers.

With a huge smoker outside, he whips up signature plates, including a new one called Wild Wild Weck (pictured below) – a combination of sliced smoked brisket and shaved beef knuckle, horseradish and Alabama white sauce on a brioche kummelweck roll.

He said the brisket is the most popular of the many choices on the menu – “it gets sold out almost every day,” he noted – with other favorites being the St. Louis-style spare ribs, the Texas-size baked potato that is big enough for three, and fried green beans.

Another coming attraction, Rada said, is the Notorious PIG, which he called “a heart attack in one sandwich.”

It consists of stuffed and smoked pork loin, Italian sausage, bacon and cheese on a brioche bun and topped with pulled pork, more cheese and a bourbon sauce.

Rada’s plan is to continue working full time at Batavia Downs while, with assistance from his dad, leasing space in the Village of Corfu for barbecue catering and (after the first of the year) takeout. The Corfu location also will be called Burnin’ Barrell BBQ.

The business site plan is scheduled for review by the Corfu Village Board next week, followed by a referral to the Genesee County Planning Board.

He said he will offer “more traditional” barbecue in Corfu along with another of his specialties: whole hog roasts.

“I do a ton of whole hog roasts for people. That’s one of my main wheels that people call me up for when I cater,” he said, noting that he gets the pigs from Always Something Farm in Darien. “Anything from the small suckling pigs that are 15 to 20 pounds to the whole hugs that are dressed at 220 to 240 pounds. That’s one of the first things I learned to cook in the smoker.”

Rada said to watch for “Whole Hog Saturdays” in Corfu during the summer months and, possibly on the first three Saturdays of this November, for a three-part whole hog cooking class at Batavia Downs.

Perfecting the smoking of beef and pork took quite a bit of trial and error, Rada said, mentioning that his wife, a native of Dallas, Texas – the home of genuine barbecue -- was a key part of the process.

“Before I got to start serving any of my barbecue, I had to get it approved by her – especially the brisket,” he explained. “I had to make a lot of brisket before I got the blessing to start serving it. She’s my biggest critic and my biggest fan.”

For more about Rada’s barbecue service, send him an email at burninbarrelbbq@gmail.com.

Photos by Mike Pettinella.

Not looking to branch out into the landscaping business, the Town of Batavia is taking steps to put the onus on solar companies to make sure their community solar projects are maintained and screened according to signed agreements with the town.

“We want to be green friendly but also want those who we do approve to stand up for exactly what they told us and informed us they would do,” said Town Building Inspector Daniel Lang at Tuesday night’s Town of Batavia Planning Board meeting at the Town Hall on West Main Street Road.

After hearing about modifications being made to the proposed Trousdale Solar twin 5-megawatt and 4-megawatt projects on Ellicott Street Road, one of them which addressed buffering the site from neighbors’ views, the board heard an update from Lang about issues at current solar farms.

Lang brought up the possibility of requiring solar companies to sign a landscaping bond, which would make them legally responsible for initial planting and regular maintenance of trees, berms and plants to ensure proper screening.

“It’s a code enforcement nightmare to maintain and ride around and figure out how many trees, what trees are dead, what trees are dying, when the best time to plant is,” he said, advising that the town’s solar committee will be meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Town Hall to address these and other topics as it moves toward adopting a new solar ordinance.

He said a landscaping bond could be a way to solve the problem of unscreened solar sites by giving the town the necessary leverage.

“Right now, we don’t have the teeth other than letting them (solar companies) know that we’re going to pull their certificate of occupancy, certificate of compliance or shut them down,” he said.

Lang said Thursday’s meeting, which is open to the public, is expected to include representatives of the Wendel engineering firm, New York State Soil and Water Conservation and, possibly via Zoom, Ian Latimer, project manager for NYS Energy Research and Development Authority.

Currently, town employees have been dealing with plantings and stone issues at a few solar farms, Lang said.

Planning Board member Steve Tanner suggested requiring a special use permit for future projects, with Lang noting that could be an option.

ELLICOTT STREET CHANGES ADVANCED

Mark Sweeney of Albany, attorney for the Trousdale Solar venture on property owned by Planning Board member Don Partridge on Ellicott Street Road, provided an update on changes in two areas: the number of poles on the site and what he called “enhanced landscaping” measures.

Partridge recused himself from the conversation; no voting was conducted.

“We’re here basically to talk about how we’re trying to satisfy the conditions of approval for the project that you gave previously … in March or April 2020,” Sweeney said.

On the first modification, Sweeney (photo at right) said the goal is to ground mount as much equipment as possible. After meeting with and obtaining approval from National Grid, he proposed a plan showing a total of four poles.

Originally, the design had seven poles, he said, three to handle solar company Cypress Creek (Renewable’s) equipment and four for National Grid’s equipment.

Since then, developers were able to ground mount “both of the mutes – one for Cypress Creek and one for the utility company – and eliminate one pole altogether,” Sweeney said.

As far as screening is concerned, he said landscaping is proposed at the entrances and across any current gaps between trees, and a one-foot berm will be used to elevate the plants. He said the revision includes a “specific planting plan” outlining the types of species, sizes and numbers – with the company obligated to replace plants as needed.

Sweeney also said the solar company is willing to agree to a decommissioning bond (to be in force at the end of the project’s cycle). Lang advised him to work with Town Attorney Andrew Meier on completing the proper form.

Tanner said he supported decreasing the number of poles to four, although planners were hoping that number to drop to three.

“It’s definitely a good reduction,” he said. “Much better than it was.”

NY BUS SALES PRESENTS ITS PLAN

Lauren Rodriguez, civil engineer with LaBella Associates, and John Johnston, vice president of New York Bus Sales, opened the meeting with a brief presentation of the school bus company’s plan to place a 20,000-plus-square foot facility at the corner of West Saile Drive and Call Parkway.

The operation is set to be built on two parcels, covering 6.9 acres, in an area currently zoned both Industrial and Commercial. Rodriguez said they wish to combine the parcels into one Commercial zone, which does fit into the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

Details of the site plan are as follows:

• Three entrances – two off of West Saile Drive and one off of Call Parkway, with passenger vehicles (employees and others) to use the eastern entrance off West Saile Drive; bus deliveries and tractor-trailers heading for the loading dock would use the other entrances.

• The area around the building will be paved; the area used for parking of the buses will be gravel.

• The site will accommodate 20 passenger vehicles and 180 buses.

• Security lighting will be installed, along with a fence around the property and gates at the entrances. The stormwater facility will be located at the south end of the lot.

Johnston, who gave a more extensive report to the Genesee County Economic Development Center on Sept. 9, said NY Bus Sales receives school buses from the factory, prepares them, adds options if required and then – after inspection by the state Department of Transportation – delivers them to local school districts.

Planning Board Chair Kathleen Jasinski advised them the board will take up the matter again next month to review the site plan and conduct the State Environmental Quality Review.

Prior to that, the proposal will be heard by the Genesee County Planning Board and be the subject of a public hearing held by the GCEDC, which is offering $430,120 in tax abatements.

The company’s total capital investment is estimated at $4.5 million. The project is expected to create 24 additional full-time equivalent jobs paying $30,000 to $75,000 annually by year three.

Previously: GCEDC board of directors accepts application for New York Bus Sales facility in Town of Batavia

Photo at top: Town Building Inspector Daniel Lang at Tuesday night's Town Planning Board meeting. Photo by Alecia Kaus.

Updated: 7 a.m.:

The City of Batavia Planning & Development Committee tonight approved the site plan of the Healthy Living campus, a $30 million joint venture of United Memorial Medical Center (Rochester Regional Health) and the GLOW YMCA on East Main Street.

The tally was 3-1 in favor of the layout, with Ed Flynn, Rebecca Cohen and John Ognibene casting “yes” votes and David Beatty voting “no.” The committee’s monthly meeting took place at the City Hall Council Board Room.

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Related story: Planning committee member sees Healthy Living campus site plan as 'missed opportunity'

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“We’re extremely satisfied. We listened to what the concerns were and we made adjustments. I think they were fair and we were fair,” said GLOW YMCA Chief Executive Officer Rob Walker.

Project Consultant David Ciurzynski and representatives of the Clark Patterson Lee architectural/engineering firm had appeared before the PDC two times prior to tonight’s meeting.

Over the course of lengthy deliberations, a few changes requested by the committee were made, most notably the removal of an entrance/exit on Summit Street and removal of parking spaces in the area just east of Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, on a parcel where the YMCA currently sits.

Walker said developers surrendered about 30 parking spots to create more green space.

“When you’re in business, we want those spots, but out of respect for the process, we negotiated,” he said.

On the Summit Street issue, he said, “We met with the Summit Street (Neighborhood) Association and with a number of residents and we listened and we said, OK.”

“The traffic flow is going to work just fine as we have an exit on Washington (Avenue) and an exit on Bank (Street).”

Ciurzynski said the updated site plan shows the Summit Street exit removal and parking space adjustment, adding that there are no plans to build a wall or put up additional trees in the space between GO Art! and the new YMCA building.

PDC member Ed Flynn said the board received a letter from GO Art! stating its support of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative project as long as there was no wall.

Beatty then mentioned a site plan presented by Clark Patterson Lee and sent to Gregory Hallock, GO Art! executive director, was different from the final plan. He said he had hoped the PDC would have been able to see that document.

Ciurzynski said that was a previous drawing, calling it “much more elaborate than what we have and we’re not moving forward with that because of budget reasons.”

“The plan that you have (now) is the plan that we’re moving forward with,” he said, adding that the current plan has appropriate buffering on that back side (of GO Art!). “I understand that he (Hallock) may desire something more (but) technically it’s not his property. We have to be as good neighbors as possible, but we have to also manage our budget.”

The PDC reviewed the State Environmental Quality Review paperwork and determined no adverse impact. It did advise Ciurzynski, however, to make sure the GO Art! building is protected during construction as it is an historic structure. Ciurzynski said he would send the final site plan to the State Historic Preservation Office.

With the committee’s approval in hand, the timeline becomes much clearer.

Ciurzynski said construction documents should be complete by the late fall or early winter, and then bids will be solicited.

“Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll start seeing some (activity), with Cary Hall coming down. And start getting the site prepped and ready for construction in earnest starting in the spring,” he said, noting that the entire project will take about 20 months, including 14 to 16 months on the main two-story, 69,420-square-foot building.

“We’re trying to get everything done as quickly as possible so we can move in and take down the (existing) YMCA,” he said. “Start construction in the spring when the weather breaks, get the building up, get everything moved over into there from the existing Y to the new Y – get that operational – and then we can start looking at taking down the old Y and developing that site.”

He acknowledged the PDC’s opposition to the amount of parking on Main Street.

“They didn’t like the look of it (and) they wanted more of an urban park environment, so we sort of split the difference,” he said. “We gave up some very significant parking for our membership but we will find ways to work around that because it was important to the Planning & Development Committee.

“They’re looking out for the city; trying to make sure they can strike a balance. We’re a partner with the city, so we want to make sure that we can strike that balance that works for everybody.”

Even with the reduction of parking spots, the campus will accommodate about 200 cars. Walker said that hospital staff would be able to continue to park in the City Centre Mall parking lot.

As previously reported on The Batavian, the Healthy Living Campus will replace the current YMCA, and will feature YMCA amenities such as gymnasium, pool, locker rooms, multipurpose rooms, exercise rooms and a community living (common) area.

It also will have 10,000 square feet for the hospital’s Healthy Living (diabetes awareness and education) program as well as a medical clinic on the second floor as a teaching unit for medical residents, and space for RRH’s Baby Café, a breastfeeding program run by lactation specialists who offer education and support to any pregnant woman or breastfeeding mom in the community at no charge.

Graham to Build 'Infill' Addition

In other action, the PDC approved a site plan submitted by Graham Mfg. to construct a 2,500-square foot one-story infill addition on the south side of the industrial complex at 4-12 Howard St.

Chris Howell, facilities manager at Graham Mfg., said the company wishes to put in a metrology lab in the new space for non-destructive testing and a stockroom -- “and to do those things well we need a separate area, which is temperature controlled and where it is clean.”

Currently, the firm’s welding and grinding operations are integrated with this kind of testing, he said, and separating those processes will improve the metrology and non-destructive testing.

The plan also is subject to review by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals due to the entire building’s coverage area on the lot being more than the permitted 40 percent.

Previously: City of Batavia Planning & Development Committee says 'no' to Summit Street access for Healthy Living Campus

Updated: 7 a.m.:

In voting against the site plan of the Healthy Living campus project, City Planning & Development Committee member David Beatty called it a “missed opportunity” to fully take advantage of the several parcels of land along East Main Street in downtown Batavia.

“I think, for me, it’s such a key project here for Batavia, a key to Main Street,” Beatty said following tonight’s meeting. “We’ve been trying to develop Main Street for decades. So, I think they missed an opportunity to really develop the site – and by site, I mean the entire site that goes all the way back to Washington (Avenue) because they own all of that property.”

Beatty (photo at right) said developers (and, in the end, his colleagues) submitted and approved, respectively, a site plan where they’re “basically adding more parking by taking the steam plant (that sits back from Main Street, west of Wiard Street) out.”

“I’m looking for more green space and a planned public space that could sort of feed off GO Art!” he said. “GO Art! is right there on Main Street and the idea of developing a large public space on Main … and feeding that into the Healthy Living campus, essentially. They refer to it as a campus, but it’s a building and a parking lot.”

Although not wanting to speak for GO Art! Executive Director Gregory Hallock, Beatty said he believes Hallock will be disappointed in the outcome of that particular space but also said he foresees the three entities becoming “good partners.”

“I think there could have been more to it. Again, it’s a missed opportunity. I think they could have done more and I mentioned that many times at various meetings,” he said.

Leslie Moma of Batavia, who serves on the GO Art! board of trustees, was in attendance tonight.

Afterwards, she told The Batavian that a previous “conceptual plan” created by the engineering firm of Clark Patterson Lee showed an expansion of the green space on Main Street and stretching north along the east side of GO Art! and the Genesee County Office for the Aging.

“In Gregory’s letter that he sent to the (PDC) board, he emphasized that there is this partnership that GO Art! has with the Y,” she said. (That plan) really did lend in our campus, the GO Art! campus, which will include the patio space – the courtyard space that is shared between GO Art! and the Office for the Aging,” she offered.

“So, that would be a seamless blend of this common space with the Y and could bleed right into their secondary entrance. But that’s not going to happen.”

Moma (photo at left) said that until the current Y building is taken down, “the barrier of that wall has created this confined space for us.”

“So, once it comes down, we’ll have to revisit what our landscape architecture plan will be for the courtyard and even our space where we can hold events,” she said.

She said the GO Art! board considers the courtyard as a key aspect to its fundraising efforts.

“Right now, with the parking how it has been approved, there’s going to be some conflict between the cars – that parking space – and how we’re going to be able to utilize the courtyard space. We see that as a funding mechanism … as we do have to raise funds for our operation.

“We appreciate the offer that the Y reached out and said they’d be happy to block out parking and things of that nature. But, we all know how we are as human beings.”

When it was mentioned that about 30 parking spots were removed from the plan, she said that “pushing it back a little further would have been ideal for us.”

“Once the demolition is done, we’ll have to see what those options are, and what we need to do to mitigate any impacts from the automobiles,” she said. “Maybe things will change as far as public opinion on parking, and how many people live downtown. Maybe more people will be walking to the Y. So, the use of having that extensive parking, at least so close to GO Art!, maybe it won’t be needed because of just how society is changing.”

Moma said that until the existing YMCA is torn down, the door is open to do something different with that space.

“There’s still the opportunity, we feel, that there’s hope to do something different with that space where it can be more of a collaborative, social, green active space, so that our programming and the Y’s programming can have this fluid activity time,” she said.

Prior to the construction phase, Genesee County will need to have its four-member corrections’ officer transition team in place to write policies and procedures covering the $70 million, 184-bed county jail proposed for West Main Street Road, just east of County Building 2.

County Manager Matt Landers last week updated legislators on the progress of the jail, continuing to express confidence that groundbreaking will take place next spring.

Appointing those to be on the transition team and reviewing and approving engineering specifications are current priorities, he said.

“We’ve always known that there was going to be a jail transition team that would be responsible for writing all of the policies and procedures of the new facility, and the (New York State) COC (Commission of Correction) requires that this team be hired as soon as the first shovel is in the ground,” Landers said.

The plan is to take four current county corrections’ officers and assigning them to the transition team, and then to “backfill” the positions that would be open afterwards.

“And that’s when we would hope to increase our efforts to hire more female COs because we will be housing females in the new facility,” he advised.

Landers said Assistant Engineer Laura Wadham and Deputy Highway Superintendent Paul Osborn are poring over the drawings to make sure “everything from a technical engineering perspective is being considered on the site.”

The county is continuing the State Environmental Quality Review process, working with the SMRT architectural firm of Portland, Me.

“Hopefully we can go out to bid near the end of the year and be in position to award contracts in the spring,” Landers said, adding that the new four-pod jail would include a backup E-911 Center. Currently, that service is located in the Genesee Justice building at 14 West Main St.

The county is planning to take out a 30-year bond to pay for the jail, with annual payments estimated at $3 million to $3.5 million, Landers said.

“Interest rates are historically low right now, which is in our favor,” he said. “Plus, this (financing of the jail) is one of the reasons for the restructuring of the sales tax distribution agreement with the towns and villages so we can utilize more of that revenue to pay off the jail.”

Landers said that portions of the sales tax proceeds and reserves would go to the debt service payment.

“Over the next decade or so, we would use less and less reserves on an annual basis, and more of the sales tax as sales tax revenue grows,” he noted.

In another development, Landers today said the Genesee County Legislature will be conducting a Committee of the Whole meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Old County Courthouse.

That meeting has been set up for legislators to go over the results of the 2020 Census as they pertain to population shifts in the county’s nine legislative districts.

"For us, we utilize weighted voting in Genesee County … so we have to go through the process of updating our calculations – updating the weighting of each legislative district," he said.

He said the process includes hiring a consultant to certify the results and then a public referendum on the November 2022 ballot to ratify the changes, which would take effect in January 2023.

The regular County Legislature meeting will follow the COW session.

File photo of, clockwise from left, lobby, kitchen, dayroom, visitation area of facility similar to proposed new Genesee County Jail.

An Akron entrepreneur says he is scrapping his plans to convert an empty building in the Village of Corfu into a bistro restaurant/ice cream shop.

Earlier this month, the Genesee County Planning Board approved, with modifications, Randy Hesior’s site plan to lease space in a vacant building on a 7.2-acre parcel at 47-49 West Main St.

Hesior was looking to put about $15,000 into the facility, and eventually employ eight to 16 people.

Since then, Hesior told The Batavian that the property owner, who lives in Clarence Center, indicated that he was not willing to spend any money to satisfy requirements pertaining to a driveway or to erect a fence shielding the building from neighbors’ homes.

Modifications recommended by the planning board included that the applicant obtain a driveway permit from New York State Department of Transportation for the change of use prior to approval by the Corfu Village Planning Board and to make sure on-site lighting was installed as to not shine directly onto neighboring property or cause a hazard for motorists.

“So, I’m going to have to look for another building someplace else,” he said.

Another dining establishment in the Village of Corfu is moving forward, however, as planners recommended approval, as long as signage complies with zoning regulations, a site plan to operate Home Slice 33 Pizzeria at 12 East Main St.

The first-floor business will offer pizza, wings, subs and fryer foods, with enough space to seat 18 to 20 customers. Takeout and delivery are additional options.

Two members of a prominent family with deep ties to Batavia – notably a pair of the stately homes that now are part of the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse campus – paid a visit last week to the community that has provided them with many fond memories.

Stephen Atwater of Walnut Creek, Calif., and his sister, Sarah Atwater Mayer, of Scarborough (Westchester County), are the grandchildren of Edward Perrin and Rowena Washburn Atwater, who purchased the historic house at 424 East Main St. in 1937. Edward P. Atwater was president of Batavia National Bank.

(Stephen and Sarah are in the photo above with John Bennett, GCASA executive director, in front of the home at 424 East Main St.)

Built in the 1830s, the Greek Revival and Italianate-style structure has for the past 23 years served as GCASA’s Atwater Community Residence, a place where up to 17 adult male and female clients can live while receiving professional services to help in their recovery.

Furthermore, Stephen and Sarah are the great-grandchildren of Judge Edward A. Washburn, who owned what is known as the Washburn house at 430 East Main St., which now is GCASA’s primary substance use disorder treatment facility.

And their mother, the late Patricia Carr Atwater, was the granddaughter of C.L Carr, who founded the Carr’s department store in downtown Batavia. It was later taken over by her father, Robert Carr, and then her brother, (the late) Steve Carr.

Stephen and Sarah’s aunt, Beth Carr, who resides in Stafford, was closely involved with managing Carr’s store with her husband, Steve, prior to its closing.

“It was known as Batavia’s Finest,” Stephen said of the store, “and it still is.”

'WE HOLD THE CITY NEAR TO OUR HEARTS'

“Moreover, we’re proud to be a part of Batavia and to have a strong attachment to the city based on our family history as it relates to the Atwater, Washburn, and Carr families,” he said. “We hold the city near and dear to our hearts.”

Stephen and his twin brother, John, and sisters, Sarah and Martha, were born at Genesee Memorial Hospital in Batavia and, although they grew up in Rochester, spent much time during their childhood years in the 1960s at their grandparents’ home at 424 East Main St.

Sarah and Stephen said they are pleased about the way GCASA has maintained the architectural heritage of all of the houses on its East Main Street campus.

“We think it’s wonderful,” Sarah said, with Stephen adding, “We’re happy to see it is being used and that they have maintained the appearance and integrity of the houses. The fact that they maintained the character of the house is priceless.”

A special feature of the interior is the Mexican mahogany paneling in the library, which was one of the last jobs completed by the Batavia Woodworking Company before it ceased operations in 1939.

Stephen said he and Sarah were in the area to take care of things at the Rochester home of their father, Julian “Joe” Washburn Atwater, who passed away on July 30 at the age of 90. They also went to Le Roy to check on the headstone of their father, who will be buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, where his brother, Edward, and his wife, Patricia Carr Atwater, are buried.

Julian Atwater received the nickname Joe while he worked at the former Massey-Ferguson plant in Batavia back in the ‘50s, Stephen recalled.

“Someone asked him what his name was and he said, ‘Just call me Joe.”

Their father, who went on to become a corporate lawyer in Rochester, had two older brothers -- the late Edward, and James, now 93. They were the sixth generation of their family to live in Western New York.

A 'GIFTED' CHILDHOOD IN BATAVIA

Sarah said the many days in Batavia with her grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins contributed to a special childhood.

“We had a very, very gifted childhood by being able to spend so much time in Batavia in the sixties,” she said, noting that the four Atwater children would take the Trailways bus from their Rochester home to Batavia to stay at their grandfather’s house.

Stephen said he remembers sliding on the bannister and playing billiards on the pool table that was “right at the bottom of the staircase.”

“And they had a cat named Walter Mitty,” he said. “One of the things we did when we got to the house would be to try to find the cat, but often times we couldn’t find him.”

He said he recalls going to the Treadway Inn with his grandmother to have roast beef au jus, dining at Mancuso’s Italian Restaurant and attending St. James Episcopal Church.

Sarah said she enjoyed the walks down Main Street and having lunch at the counter at JJ Newberry or going to see their maternal grandfather at Carr’s store.

“I love Batavia but when I come here, I try to imagine it the way it used to be,” she said. “It’s getting better, though. My brother and I went to Eli Fish and the brewery – because GCASA has one of Eli Fish’s old houses, too. We noticed the old JJ Newberry sign.

“Carr’s Department Store (being gone) makes us really sad because we loved that. I still talk to people who say their parents went there for everything. They bought their furniture there, their makeup, their jewelry, their baby clothes. We rode the elevator; I remember the gumball machine on the third floor.”

ATWATER HOUSE CALLED 'ICONIC'

Stephen, a veterinarian specializing in treating animals with cancer, and Sarah, who is retired, were joined by their brother, John, on a phone call with The Batavian. Martha passed away in 2013.

John, a chemist from Potomac, Md., called the house at 424 East Main St. “iconic.”

“It represents the wonderful times that I spent there as a kid in Batavia, which was such a fun town to be in,” he said, with Sarah adding, “A charming, small town.”

Although the long row of storefronts on the north side of Main Street gave way to Urban Renewal in the early 1970s, Sarah remarked that the city still has “a lot of potential.”

“We still love it,” she said, asking about the Greet yogurt plant (which now is HP Hood in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park), O-At-Ka Milk Products and other places of employment to attract young people to Batavia.

Ultimately, Stephen said they consider it an honor that the Atwater and Washburn family name continues to hold a special place in the community.

“I think the fact that we are able to give something back to the community that maintains the name of the Atwater family is an honor,” he said. “And to have that history entrenched in the City of Batavia as it was, obviously, is such a large part of our heritage.”

Photo: Atwater family photo from 1964 in the Atwater House living room -- sitting on floor, from left, children Connie, John, James and Stephen; seated from left, James and his wife, Joan, holding son, David; Rowena Washburn Atwater and her husband, Edward Perrin Atwater, holding grandchildren Rebecca and Sarah; young Ned, with his father, Edward C. Atwater, and his mother, Ruth Prole Atwater; standing, Patricia Carr Atwater, holding daughter Martha, and her husband, Julian Washburn Atwater. Julian and Patricia are the parents of Stephen, John, Sarah and Martha.

Photo: The Atwater grandchildren in 1964. Front from left, David, Connie, Ned; middle, Rebecca, Sarah and baby Martha; top, John, James, Stephen. Andrew, the 10th grandchild of Edward Perrin and Rowena Washburn Atwater, wasn’t born yet. Andrew passed away in 2013, three days before his cousin, Martha. Submitted photos.

Disclosure: Mike Pettinella is the publicist for GCASA.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  During the course of events yesterday we had a technical issue with the website.  This caused us to copy the original post and headline and create a new post with the same information and then delete the old post.  When we did this, all the comments disappeared with the original post.  I just wanted readers to know that no comments were deliberately removed.

A person is in custody after two shots were fired on Route 33 in the Town of Stafford, according to a report from Howard Owens, publisher of The Batavian, who is at the scene.

Owens reported at 6:12 p.m. that a silver Pontiac sedan was westbound into the City of Batavia on Route 33 and it was weaving.

Just after passing Mill Road, a Genesee County sheriff's deputy pulled the vehicle over and a black male driver got out of the car and ran across Route 33 into a corn field on the south side of the road.

About three or four minutes later, a shot was fired, Owens said, calling back to report that a second shot has been fired.

Two sheriff's deputies and a City of Batavia police officer are on the scene.

Updates:

UPDATE 11:57 p.m. (by Howard): Suspect in custody as of about 10 or 15 minutes ago.

UPDATE 9:36 p.m. (by Howard Owens):  At shortly before 6 p.m., while returning home from Rochester on Route 33, I noticed a silver Pontiac sedan weaving.  He crossed the center line and the fog line once each and then went straight for a while.  I didn't immediately call it in.  Then it weaved multiple times so at 6:04 p.m., I called dispatch completing the call as we approached Griswold Road.  A few seconds later, the car slowed to about 45 mph.  At Route 237 it slowed again.  Then about 1/4 of a mile later, it accelerated to 75 mph.  I called dispatch again.  As we approached Mill Road I spotted a deputy parked in a drive lane in a farm field on the right side of the road.  I slowed to allow him in behind the vehicle.  The vehicle pulled over as soon as the officer his emergency lights. I was not planning to stop but as soon as the Pontiac stopped, the driver bolted from the car.  He was a tall, thinnish, Black male dressed in all black. He ran in a laneway between rows of corn near where there is a corn-for-sale stand at the side of the road. The deputy pursued on foot but stopped when he got to the start of the cornfield and he drew his weapon.  I later heard him tell another officer that he had seen the man with a gun in his belt.  I walked back from the way we came (to me, it feels like north but I guess it's really east) to watch the open field on that end of the incident to see if I saw the man fleeing.  After a couple of minutes, I decided he was more likely to run toward the Thruway where there was more cover so I walked back to my car.  Just as I reached my car, I heard a gunshot.  I took cover behind my vehicle. I heard at least four more shots while in that position.  At that point, two deputies and a patrol vehicle pulled in behind my vehicle and asked me to get in the backseat of the patrol vehicle.  I did.  Then the female passenger from the sedan got in the back seat.  I asked her what was going on.  She said she didn't know and that she had just met the driver earlier today.  I was left with a Batavia police officer who was blocking traffic at Caswell and Route 33 until about 8:30 when the Sheriff's Office provided me a ride home.  The situation as far as I know remains unresolved.  I'm told not to  expect a press conference tonight.  Law enforcement is on a secure channel now so further updates are going to be difficult to obtain.

8:21 p.m. -- The New York State Thruway traffic is moving very slowly.

Photo above taken at 7:55 p.m.

7:47 p.m. -- Situation continues as Monroe County Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team arrives.

7:35 p.m. -- Latest report from Owens: Monroe County Sheriff's Office drone operator is on the scene.

7:26 p.m. -- The New York State Police helicopter has arrived on the scene (photo below).

7:17 p.m. -- Police are indicating that at least a dozen shots have been fired, all by the suspect. His location is believed to be in a wooded area behind a tree east of Mill Road near the New York State Thruway.

6:53 p.m. -- Genesee County's Emergency Response Team has been dispatched to the scene.

6:45 p.m. -- Owens reported that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officer has arrived with his K-9. He also said that a deputy reported that he saw a gun at the driver's waistline.

6:38 p.m. -- Police have ordered the scene to be evacuated, moving Owens east to Caswell Road. The driver of the car is still at large, with Owens indicating that all shots have been fired by the suspect.

6:30 p.m. -- A fourth shot has been fired. The person in custody is the female passenger in the car (photo above).

6:25 p.m. -- Multiple law enforcement vehicles are on the scene.

6:24 p.m. -- A third shot has been fired.

6:20 p.m. -- Route 33 is closed.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Undefeated Oakfield-Alabama/Elba rode a second-half ground game sparked by Gaige Armbrewster, Noah Currier and Bodie Hyde to overcome underdog Notre Dame, 34-7, Saturday afternoon in varsity football action at Elba’s field.

Armbrewster rushed for 111 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown, Hyde ran eight times for 79 yards, including a 56-yard TD scamper, and Currier carried six times for 64 yards and two scores as the Aggies overcame a 7-0 deficit to improve to 3-0.

The visiting Fighting Irish, 1-2, gave O-A/E all it could handle in the opening 24 minutes – taking the lead on a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jimmy Fanara (photo at top) to wide receiver Evan Cummings and Brandon Carrick’s extra point with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

ND had a chance to take that advantage into intermission but the Aggies stopped a third-and-one play with about a minute left, and took over at their own 44 with 52 seconds on the clock.

From there, Hyde connected with Kaden Cusmano for gains of 12 and eight yards, and then hit Currier for 36 yards to put the ball at the ND 8. Armbrewster found the end zone on the next play on a sweep to the left and Max DeMare’s kick was good, knotting it up at 7-7 with 21 seconds remaining.

The second half was all Aggies as they’re offensive line took control, powering a consistent rushing attack.

O-A/E put together an eight-play, 72-yard drive, culminating with a 13-yard TD pass from Hyde to Cusmano with 53 seconds left in the third quarter. DeMare’s kick made it 14-7.

The drive was sparked by runs of 13 and 14 yards by Armbrewster and a 15-yard run by Connor Scott that moved the ball to the ND 19. From there, a pair of short runs by Armbrewster set up the touchdown play.

An interception by Armbrewster set up the Aggies’ next drive at the ND 41. His 14-yard burst and a three-yard run by Hyde move the ball to the 24, where Currier broke through the left side of the line untouched to the end zone. DeMare came on for the PAT and O-A/E had a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Cusmano recovered a fumble on ND’s first play of its next possession, and that led to a six-yard score by Currier, with lineman Brayden Smith applying a key block. A pass for the two-point conversion failed.

The Aggies forced ND to punt at took over at their own 44. Armbrewster picked up 22 yards on three runs and Scott ran for a nine-yard gain to set up Hyde, who escaped a few tackles near the line before breaking clear for the 56-yard score. DeMare’s PAT closed out the scoring.

The Irish fell just short of their second touchdown on their final drive behind fullback Vin DiRisio, who gained 54 yards, including a 44-yard burst up the middle, breaking several tackles before being upended at the O-A/E 9. He carried twice more but was stopped at the 5 when time ran out.

Fanara passed 15 times, completing seven for 107 yards, while Cummings caught four passes for 86 yards, all in the first half. On defense for ND, George Woodruff, Drew Edwards and Connor McWilliams led the way with 10 tackles each and Cummings made a one-handed interception.

For the Aggies, Scott recovered a fumble. O-A/E outgained ND, 347-193.

ND hosts Bolivar-Richburg at 7 p.m. Thursday at Van Detta Stadium, while O-A/E travels to York/Pavilion at 7 p.m. Friday.

Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.

Connor Scott breaks free for OAE.

OAE's Gaige Armbrewster brought down by two ND defenders.

ND's Fanara puts a hit on Noah Currier.

OAE's Noah Currier.

ND's Brandon Carrick for the PAT.

Fanara lets one fly.

Armbrewster on a couple of big gains (see below).

“Why can’t the Town of Batavia go to 8.25 percent sales tax and use the .25 percent to prevent citizens in the Town of Batavia and companies (from) absorbing this cost for everybody from outside communities that come here to do their shopping?”

With that question toward the end of Wednesday night’s Batavia Town Board meeting, Lewiston Road resident Bill Sutton triggered a 15-minute discussion with Town Supervisor Gregory Post about sales and property taxes, and New York’s tax cap.

Sutton, (photo at right), a truck driver for Kistner Concrete, said he noticed that the meeting agenda included a resolution calling for an override of the New York State tax cap – the limit on the amount of real property taxes that may be levied by the town as it prepares its 2022 budget.

He said he was concerned that property taxes will increase and thought that bumping up the sales tax from 8 to 8.25 percent could be a way to prevent that from happening.

Pointing out that Erie County’s sales tax is at 8.75 percent, Sutton said he wondered if the extra ¼ percent in sales tax could be put in the town’s budget “so that citizens in the town don’t have to pay higher property tax.”

“Why can’t we benefit from that? Why can’t the Town of Batavia implement a little more sales tax to compensate for this, instead of property owners and businesses picking up the slack?” he asked.

TWO SALES TAX JURISDICTIONS

In his response, Town Supervisor Gregory Post said he appreciated Sutton’s questions and went on to explain that towns or villages do not have the authority to impose sales tax.

“There are two entities that are eligible to collect sales tax. One is Genesee County and one is the City of Batavia,” Post responded. “Traditionally, over the last 20 or 30 years, there has been a collaboration between those two entities to allow the county to collect all of the sales tax and then distribute 50 percent of those revenues collected or some portion of that 50 percent to the communities on an ad valorem basis.

“Which means that communities will get a percentage of the sales taxes collected by Genesee County – whether it’s 8 percent or 8 ¼ or 8 ½ or 8 ¾. Those are distributed based on the communities’ assessed valuation – taxable assessed valuation.”

Post mentioned the agreement between Genesee County and the City of Batavia that provides the city with a minimum of 14 percent share of all the sales tax revenue generated in the county. That agreement also benefits the county’s towns and villages which, by virtue of a revision last month, will share $10 million in sales tax revenue annually for the next 38 years.

Per that agreement, the Town of Batavia’s assessed value qualifies it for about 16 percent of that amount – the actual figure is $1,687,937 – and that is substantially more than the other municipalities. The Town of Darien, site of Six Flags Darien Lake, is next at $970,992, followed by the Town of Le Roy at $822,260.

The supervisor explained that the town is supported by sales taxes “and the sales tax revenues have traditionally been twice what the property tax collection levy was.”

“So, for every dollar collected in property taxes, we have been benefited by a dollar and a half to two dollars in sales tax revenues already,” he said. “And that sales tax is paid by (in part) by citizens not living in the Town of Batavia …”

'LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD'

Sutton said that satisfied that part of his question, but added that he is “looking down the road (because) here we are today – we have a shortfall.”

He continued on his point that many people from outside the town come to the town to shop, and that the town should benefit more from having to deal with extra traffic and for having many “employment opportunities.”

“There has to be something we can do as a town to increase sales tax,” he said. “There has to be something that we can go forward doing this to make it even more beneficial to live in the town – to bring a business in from outside.”

Post replied by asking him to consider, “How much benefit does Genesee County get by having a lower sales tax rate to attract shoppers from counties that have a higher sales tax rate?”

“We have spent a lot of time looking at the consequence; right now, we’re an attractive site for equipment sales, heavy equipment. We just had a groundbreaking this week (LandPro),” Post offered.

“I’m looking at the larger scale sales of automobiles and heavy equipment, and if you’re selling a million dollar bulldozer and you’re selling it because your sales tax are 8 percent instead of 8 ¾ percent, and they’re buying it and taking delivery here, we’re getting the benefit of some of those revenues that we wouldn’t get if our sales tax rate was the same as it was in another county.”

Sutton said if Genesee County went to 8.25 percent it still would be lower than Erie County (but more than Monroe County, which also is at 8 percent).

Post offered to continue the debate with Sutton, inviting him to attend a weekly (Wednesday at 5 p.m.) board workshop.

“I am happy to hear your perspective and your comments … and I’m happy to see the participation,” the supervisor said.

Sutton acknowledged that he doesn’t have access to all the dollar amounts, but pressed on with his view that the Town of Batavia has a quality of living that other communities don’t have, especially an abundance of shopping locations.

“Why can’t be benefit from this so that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will also have that benefit going forward?” he asked. “We will prevent the shortfall by adding the .25 percent sales tax across the board to make it fair for not only the residences and the businesses – for everybody – to keep the property tax down that will draw business in from the outside and everybody will contribute.”

'NO OBLIGATION TO SHARE'

Post then brought up the fact that Genesee County has “absolutely no obligation to share one dime of sales tax revenue with any community.”

“They are entitled to keep 100 percent of it and it is only through the strict negotiations over the last 20 years by this board and our predecessors to come to some rational agreement where the county gets what they need to sustain their operation and not defer maintenance, and the communities in the county are benefited by the apportionment of sales taxes that they are,” he explained.

He then said he believes that Genesee County probably distributes more in sales tax to its towns and villages than another other county in New York State.

“There might be one or two other counties that do a better job with sales tax distribution than Genesee County, but locally they take 10 million dollars in revenue they collect in sales tax and they give it back to the towns to subsidize town and village operations to maintain a lower (property) tax rate.”

Post then went back to the resolution to override the state property tax cap, calling it “a statement that our community has been strategic and has been looking down the road five, 10 and 15 years financially, and retained by these resolutions annually the ability to manage our assets and modify our cash flow to meet the needs of our community so that we’re not bound and restricted by New York State and prevented from maintaining infrastructure that is key to being an attractive community to developers both international site selectors and local developers.”

The board set a public hearing on the tax cap override for 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Batavia Town Hall, 3833 West Main St. Rd.

Post thanked Sutton for sharing his thoughts, adding that he is “part of this community and your job as a citizen is to participate.”

Following the meeting, Post said that although it is early in the 2022 budget process, he does not expect the town’s property tax rate to increase.

The 2021 tax rate was set at $2.85 per thousand of assessed value, meaning that a home assessed at $100,000, for example, would pay $285 in town taxes for the year. The town also imposes a fire district tax, which was $2.34 per thousand this year.

Photo by Mike Pettinella.