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Update -- 7 p.m.

City Manager Jason Molino’s recommendations for the allocation of $541,000 in unassigned funds to committed and restricted fund balances highlight the agenda of tonight's City Council meeting.

His recommendations are as follows:

-- $50,000 into the DPW equipment reserve, based on the current plan to replace a loader and single axle dump truck with plow over the next three years, and an expectation that close to $600,000 in equipment will need to be replaced by 2021.

-- $25,000 into the sidewalk reserve, based on plans to replace about 15 percent of the sidewalk within the City limits at a cost of $2.35 million. Sidewalk replacement targets for 2018 are Tracy and Washington avenues and Liberty Street and for 2019 are State and Bank streets and Washington and Richmond avenues. Federal grants will cover the majority of the cost.

-- $300,000 into the administrative services equipment and software reserve, which is deemed necessary to upgrade the City’s information technology software and management operation.

-- $20,000 in Bond Anticipation Note financing for capital projects, specifically to cover preparatory costs for a $2.55 million project to resurface several streets in 2018, first reported in The Batavian. Those streets include Union, Clinton, Vine, Liberty and South Liberty streets, and East Avenue. Eighty percent of the cost will be covered through federal transportation funds.

-- $146,000 for Ellicott Trail, the 4-mile pedestrian trail with off-road segments for pedestrians and bicyclists running through the Town and City of Batavia. These funds will go toward the City’s local match ($170,000) of the $1.3 million project.

Also, City Council will be asked to approve “Christmas in the City,” a four-hour yuletide celebration coordinated by the Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District. The event is set for 5-9 p.m. Dec. 1, with a parade from Jefferson Avenue to Summit Street set for 8 p.m.

With more than a decade as manager of the City of Batavia under his belt, 38-year-old Jason Molino says he cherishes the opportunity to move the community forward, ever mindful of the support he has received along the way.

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Sidebar: City Council president weighs in on Molino’s performance.
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“Every day is a new day, and the most fun is the (City of Batavia) staff,” he said. “We are fortunate to have dedicated people who go above and beyond – people who are committed to the community and seeing each other succeed -- and work in a community that is thankful for everything you do. That’s what makes it most enjoyable.”

Molino, a Saratoga Spring native, moved to Batavia in the winter of 2006 after accepting the assistant city manager position.

He admitted that local governmental administration is “a tough field, with a level of scrutiny,” but his motivation comes from understanding that “change happens” at the local level.

Molino started out as an environmental science major in college but switched to political science – a move he doesn’t regret.

“It was the second semester at Norwich (University in Northfield, Vt.) when I decided that environmental science – with all of those science courses – was not for me,” he said.

Also during this time, Molino joined the U.S. Coast Guard reserve as a Petty Officer 2nd Class and stayed on until 2007.

While political science can be a broad field, Molino focused on a degree in management, enrolling at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University of Albany. He overcame some initial doubts to earn a Master of Public Policy degree (the public sector version of an MBA).

“The program was one of the best in the country,” Molino said, noting that many international students – from the Eastern bloc and Asia -- were there “to learn public administration from the American values perspective.”

But Molino said he still wasn’t sure that he made the right move – “I wondered why I was here?” he said – until he took a local government seminar course taught by Bob McEvoy, a retired Schenectady County manager who became Molino’s mentor.

After graduate school and a one-year stint as a management assistant in Schenectady County, in 2004 Molino accepted the position of assistant to the village manager in Port Chester in Westchester County.

His responsibilities included developing budgets for the village’s geographic information system (GIS), leading a yearlong study of sanitation services, coordinating stormwater management, digitizing documents to improve workflow and negotiating labor contracts for 150 full-time employees.

“That was a different environment … a lot of the county’s villages and towns have managers,” Molino said. “When the Batavia assistant manager job was advertised, I applied, thinking that it was an opportunity to come back upstate. It was my journey back north, so to speak.”

It was his first experience with Western New York, however.

“I remember getting into town and stopping at the Chamber of Commerce office, which was downtown, and I grabbed some quarters to put in the parking meters,” he said. “I then realized that I didn’t have to pay for parking. Now that was something I didn’t live with. The next thing I did was check out Royal Rink (now Falleti Ice Arena).”

Molino’s interest in the ice rink stems from his years as a hockey player in Saratoga Springs, a passion that continues today as a goalie in the Batavia Men’s Hockey League.

At the time of his hiring as assistant city manager, Molino said he was unaware of the City’s financial difficulties. It didn’t take him long to see there were problems, however.

“It was around the summer of 2006 when I made Council aware that the City was late in disclosing financial statements,” he said. “There were six to seven years of operational deficits, and I was making a presentation a month to Council that this is what has been happening, and made immediate, short-term and long-term recommendations.”

Shortly thereafter, Molino replaced Matthew Coppler as city manager and embarked on a mission to erase a $2.2 million fund balance deficit. At the age of 26, he was the youngest city manager in the state.

“It was a difficult time,” he recalled. “We had no assistant, the deputy director of finance had left and the City Clerk was on maternity leave.”

Molino said his initial strategy was to draft a balanced budget and “stop the bleeding.”

“We took drastic measures, realizing a small surplus in operations, but the next budget (2007-08) was painful – reduction of services, retirement incentives, tax increases and staff cuts. ”We didn’t even have the proper equipment at that time as the City hadn’t purchased a piece of equipment in 10 years.”

Working together, Molino and City Council managed to stay out of the red every year since, unless there were planned expenditures, such as capital improvement plans and infrastructure projects.

Starting in 2009 and continuing to this day, Molino implemented best practices for budgeting, and the City has been honored by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for the past three years for its budget presentation.

The year 2009 was an important year for Molino personally as he and Batavia native Anna Lesh were married following a two-year courtship. They reside on the city’s northwest side with children, Sophia Dinehart, a senior at Batavia High; Stella, 7; Charley, 5, and Jason Jr., 3.

Other important changes in the past eight years include consolidating police dispatch with Genesee County, abolishing the City’s ambulance service, developing a plan to revitalize the downtown Brownfield Opportunity Area (notably the Batavia Pathways to Prosperity funding arm), and participating in the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

“All of this has been driven by us trying to save money and improve operations,” Molino said. “We received pushback, for sure, because these were big decisions, tough decisions. Council made the decisions in light of severe financial challenges.”

Fairport Village Manager Bryan White, who at 37 is on a parallel career track with Molino since their time at Rockefeller College, gives Molino glowing reviews for restoring Batavia’s fiscal health.

“I don’t think Batavia understands the caliber of manager that Jason is,” said White, the current president of the NYS City/County Management Association (a position formerly held by Molino). “He is a true professional who is driven to succeed, who cares about the community and is well-rounded in regard to his thinking and processes.”

White said Molino’s status as a “credentialed manager” speaks volumes.

“You have to be in the program for over seven years just to apply, and you have to prove to your peers that you have achieved a level of competency in public sector management and local government,” he said.

Molino has been successful, White said, by “building an environment that fosters leadership, confidence, and accountability.”

Today, Batavia has emerged from the “recovery mode,” as Molino puts it, into a “growth mode that can propel the community to greater things.”

And last month’s announcement that the City won the $10 million DRI award for the Finger Lakes Region will make Molino’s campaign of $100 Million, I’m All In campaign much more reachable.

“We’re looking for $100 million in investment in the City by 2022,” he said. “With input from the staff, support from Council and the community, we can do it.”

In the meantime, the City has secured $2.5 million in funding for extensive street repair on Union, Clinton, Vine, Liberty and South Liberty streets, and East Avenue in 2018, work that will include resurfacing, sidewalks and water lines, Molino said.

All told, the City has made a remarkable recovery – tax increases, if any, have been minimal; state and federal money is coming in and it looks as though a solution to the ongoing dilemma known as the City Centre Mall is near.

Molino indicated that interviews for the assistant city manager position are concluding and that a final candidate will be introduced within a couple weeks. Batavia has been without an assistant to Molino since the departure of Gretchen DiFante in July.

 “There have been challenges and curveballs, but throughout all of this, City Council has made the decisions to allow these things to progress – a lot of important decisions,” said Molino, who manages a $25 million budget and a workforce of 140 (full-time equivalent).

He said that discussions are ongoing with the owner of property on Swan Street, a parcel targeted by a city task force for a potential site for a new police headquarters.

“We’re trying to get a contract for a sale in front of Council,” he said, adding that a facility with a $10 million to $15 million price tag would have a significant impact on taxes – and will trigger community input from those on both sides of the fence.

Molino said he understands that public criticism of those charged with making the decisions comes with the territory.

“Anybody that gets into this line of work must accept the fact that he or she will be criticized publicly,” he said. “Even with the best of intentions and ideas, it is the people’s right to criticize. While I don’t take it personally, sometimes people cross the line.

“But at the end of the day, I’m recommending what I believe to be the best possible solutions, giving Council the information to make its decision.”

Batavia City Council President Eugene Jankowski says that a combination of maturity and patience has enabled City Manager Jason Molino to have grown “by leaps and bounds” since he took over as a fledgling administrator in 2006.

“You have to credit the city manager for putting the right people in the right place, and trusting them to do their job,” said Jankowski, a former city police officer who has served as City Council president for the past two years. “Over the last four years, he has grown exponentially – looking at the big picture and making moves today that will have a positive outcome down the road.”

Jankowski said City Council and management have worked as a team to overcome hard times in Batavia, but acknowledged that it hasn’t been an easy road for Molino.

“He started out kind of young and that was a disadvantage in that respect. He was thrust into it and had a lot of ground to make up,” Jankowski said.

Molino made decisions in the late 2000s that were “not popular,” according to Jankowski, who admitted that he did not agree with many of them.

“It was a bad situation; we had to tighten our belt,” he said. “Eventually, there was daylight, thanks to strong budgeting and fiscal responsibility. The past four years, Council has taken more responsibility and now we are in the building stage, with a little room to look toward the future.”

Jankowski said that all of the good things happening today – revitalization of the former Soccio & Della Penna property on Ellicott Street, the JJ Newberry building on Main Street, the $10 million state DRI award, fixing the City Centre Mall situation – have come about as a result of strategic planning and implementation.

“Council made these priorities and Jason has been working on these for several years,” he said. “He has built bridges and through careful planning has made this happen.”

Jankowski said that a true sign of maturity was Molino’s approach to a second DRI application after Batavia lost out in its initial attempt.

“He did his research and modified the second application with a totally different pitch – a total different angle,” he said. “He learned from things that didn’t go so well and made the adjustments to make it work.”

All in all, Jankowski said he was encouraged and excited over the City’s recent good fortune.

“We even were able to buy a $900,000 fire truck, paying in cash, and that is due to Jason’s foresight by keeping the budget trim. Normally, we would have had to take out a bond and pay thousands of dollars in interest over so many years.”

Jankowski said Molino deserves to be acknowledged for hanging tough.

“When things were going bad, he took the heat,” he said. “Now that things have turned around, he should get the credit.” 

Press release:

On Thursday, Oct. 12, the City of Batavia Water Department along with United Memorial Medical Center will be replacing valves on the main water line on Bank Street.

Water service will be interrupted on Bank Street from East Main Street to Washington Avenue. Bank Street will be closed to traffic at 6:30 a.m. from the Mall parking lot to Alva Place until repairs are complete. Please avoid the area if possible.

Every effort will be made to keep water service interruption to a minimum. This work may result in a period of discolored water in this general area after service is restored.

Residents should check to make sure water clarity has returned before resuming activities such as laundry which may be impacted.

Unless the subject is brought to the table in the coming weeks – and that is a possibility – Batavia City Manager Jason Molino will not be getting a raise this year.

Tonight City Council voted 5-4 against a 2.75-percent salary increase for Molino, who has been instrumental in the community’s Downtown resurgence, which recently was punctuated by a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award from New York State.

Council members Rose Mary Christian, Kathleen Briggs, Al McGinnis, Paul Viele and Robert Bialkowski voted “no” to the raise, while Adam Tabelski, John Canale, Pattie Pacino and Council President Eugene Jankowski voted “yes.”

The 2.75-percent hike, which was in the city budget, would have upped Molino’s annual pay from $93,782 – reportedly the lowest salary for a city manager in the state – to $96,361.

Even before the resolution came up in the meeting, Christian took the floor, stating that she had “some questions” about the process because it is the “taxpayers’ money.” Jankowski cut her off, and said that everything would be covered in executive session after the public meeting.

When the matter came up again (it was the last resolution on the agenda), Bialkowski contended that the raise had not been presented in the form of a resolution as required by the City Charter. Both Jankowski and Molino countered that it was put forth as a draft resolution in July – a fact confirmed by this reporter’s check of the July Conference Meeting agenda.

Bialkowski made a motion to delay the vote again, but that was defeated 6-3, after Christian questioned whether some on the Council up for election this year wanted to wait "because if it's passed now, you won't get elected."

She also, once again, questioned the process used to determine raises.

“I don’t like the system and I don’t like the 2.75 percent,” she said. “This comes up every January, so we go to the next budget, and they say we gave Jason 2.75 percent, so we have to give the department heads the same 2.75.”

Jankowski said that January is the time to discuss that and that Council is in the “process of changing the procedure, which will be talked about in executive session.”

Following the meeting, Jankowski said he previously asked that the vote be delayed to the fall since he knew he was going to miss a meeting and “wanted to be here to vote on it because it is controversial.”

“I wanted my intentions to be known, which were to reward the city manager for his proper work over the last year – it was budgeted for in January for him getting a favorable evaluation, which he did receive,” Jankowski said. “So I felt obligated to honor that contract.”

Jankowski and Bialkowski both said they thought the issue could be presented to Council again, with the former stating that he was going to explore the options going forward.

Molino, contacted by phone after the executive session, did not want to comment on the record.

Hired in July 2006, Molino is responsible for a workforce of about 140 (full-time equivalents) and manages a $25 million budget. The city’s budget presentation was honored for the third straight year by Government Finance Officers Association (see press release below).

In other developments, Council:

-- Heard a report on the city’s audit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017, which produced “overall positive results,” said Laura Landers, CPA, of Freed Maxick.

“The unassigned fund balances put the city in a stable position,” said Landers, who highlighted the community’s statement of net position for its general, water and sewer funds.

Landers said the city was required to have a full audit this year – and likely for the next few years – because it expended more than $750,000 in federal Department of Transportation funds.

On the general fund, she said revenues of $16.2 million were less than expenditures of $17.6 million, thus decreasing the fund balance to $7.1 million, but that was done by design.

“It was a planned use of reserves of almost $1.7 million for sidewalks, capital improvements, and equipment,” Landers said, as well as for (as Molino pointed out), a fire truck and health-care expenses.

Landers noted that actual revenues were slightly less than budgeted, sales tax revenue also came in less than budgeted and expenditures – continuing a 10-year trend – also were less than the budgeted figure.

Of the $7.1 million fund balance, $1.8 million is unassigned, meaning that it can be used for whatever City Council wishes, Landers said.

Both the water and sewer funds showed operating surpluses, and have $2.4 million and $3.5 million in funds restricted for capital improvements, Landers said.

-- Was updated by Molino on the progress of the $10 million in DRI funds that were awarded to the city last week when Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in town.

Molino said the state has selected a consultant, LaBella Associates, a Western New York firm which has done work in the past for the Town and City of Batavia, and will be choosing a steering committee in the next couple weeks with the goal of submitting projects to the governor’s office.

“It’s a rough process – similar to a Request for Proposal process with certain criteria,” he said. “I would think that less is more in order to be able to evaluate projects, but there’s really not a lot of concrete information to give you at this point.”

Still, the program is on a fast track, Molino said, as recommendations are expected to be sent to Albany by February.

-- Voted unanimously to adopt the updated Comprehensive Plan after learning that some grammatical and formatting errors in the 100-plus-page document will be rectified and that all items, particularly form-based codes, will have to be brought before Council prior to being implemented.

Bialkowski said he was dismayed that errors existed in the document in light of the fact that Council authorized spending $100,000 for outside consultants to update the plan for the first time in about 20 years.

-- Voted to release five properties sold at auction to the highest bidders as follows: 29 Brooklyn Ave., Louie Kingsbury, $4,000; 200 S. Swan St., Geib Corporation, $20,000; 1 Watson St., Justin and Yasmeen Calmes, $13,500; 46 Swan St., Justin and Yasmeen Calmes, $1,500; and 2 Willow St., Robert Fritschi, $19,000.

The Batavia Town Board has unveiled its tentative budget for 2018, a $5.02 million spending plan that, for the second straight year, calls for $1 million to be generated through property taxes.

The tax rate, however, may go down slightly, said Supervisor Gregory Post, during a special board meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the Town Hall on West Main Street Road.

“By keeping the tax rate the same (it was $2.64 per thousand of assessed valuation in 2017), we figure we will generate a $7,000 increase over the $1 million (in tax revenue) we had last year,” Post said.

In turn, that $7,000 could be used to reduce the tax rate by another two cents, dropping it to $2.62 – which equates to a yearly tax bill of $235.80 on a house assessed at $90,000.

The budget also calls for using nearly $470,000 from the Town’s unexpended fund balance.

Post said the board will have a much better idea of the Town’s financial outlook for the fiscal year 2018 (January through December) in a couple weeks as it receives updated information about sales tax and other revenue streams.

“We just heard last week that Genesee County and the City of Batavia extended for one year its sales tax agreement (which determines how much money is distributed to the county’s municipalities), and that the county again has been authorized to collect an additional 1 percent, so we have proposed the same amount of sales tax for 2018 that we budgeted for last year,” he said.

Post said he is hoping for increases in water and sewer revenues as a result of HP Hood taking over the former Muller Quaker plant on East Main Street Road, adding that nothing is certain, however, as “water rates are volatile.”

The supervisor said sales tax for the first two quarters was close to what was estimated. In all, the budget lists sales tax revenue of $1.85 million.

While uncertainty remains in some areas, Post said the board is taking steps to turning the employee health insurance benefits line item into a “fixed” cost.

 “We’re capping health insurance at 95 percent (of the premium for single, two-person and family plans),” Post said. “Any future premium increases will be the responsibility of the employee.”

Still, the Town’s 30 employees eligible for health insurance benefits will receive up to $16,910 to cover their plan, and will be able to purchase a plan “that suits their needs,” Post said.

In contracting with Tompkins Insurance Agencies, the Town is offering the following:

-- Single plan: $6,080;
-- Two-person plan, $11,400;
-- Family plan, $16,910.

Employees have that much to spend on their health insurance plans, but also have the option of taking a buyout – valued at 60 percent of their plan allowance – as long as they can prove they have obtained health insurance through another source (spouse, significant other, etc.).

“If five people opt to take ‘in lieu of’ we could save around $40,000,” Post said. “The budgeted amount could go down … or worse case, we’re not spending any more on health insurance and we haven’t reduced the benefit to the staff.”

Actually, the benefit is being enhanced as the “buyout” is increasing from a long-standing $2,700 stipend to the 60 percent of the plan allowance.

As was the case last year, the board is proposing 3 percent raises across the board, but that, too, is tentative “because raises will be given or not given on a person-by-person basis,” Post said.

Post said the board is proposing to contract with outside engineers as consultants rather than hiring another Town engineer.

Board members commented that they would like to increase the salary of its Town justices, who have put in additional hours covering when other municipalities’ judges were unavailable.

The summary of the budget is as follows:

General Fund
Appropriations -- $3.89 million; Estimated revenue -- $2.42 million; Unexpended fund balance -- $469,000; Amount to be raised by tax -- $1 million.
Highway Fund
Appropriations -- $1.12 million; Estimated revenue -- $1.12 million.

Including the Town’s special sewer, water and Batavia fire districts, the total budget is $9 million --$6 million in revenue, $606,000 in unexpended fund balance and $2.33 million to be raised by tax.

The board will continue to work on the budget throughout the month in anticipation of a public hearing in November.

Five individuals and the 1986-87 ice hockey team were inducted into the Batavia Blue Devils Hall of Fame on Saturday night at the 16th annual Induction Dinner at Terry Hills Restaurant. From left are Joe Fiannaca, captain of the hockey team; Nathan Hicks (track and field, Class of 1998), Bruce Dedman (baseball and basketball, Class of 1973), Brian Herdlein (baseball, football and basketball, Class of 1999); Jason Bibler (cross-country, indoor and outdoor track and swimming, Class of 1991), and Joe Amico (football and wrestling, Class of 1987).

Members of the 1986-87 ice hockey team, the first BHS sectional champion in the sport and NYS state finalists, are, front from left, Mike Siembida, Joe Fiannaca, Tony Graber, Steve Pies, Greg Fiannaca and Ted Lesh; back, Tony Tresco, Assistant Coach Roy Reed, Brian Wormley, Brett Wormley and Steve Lakins. About 140 people attended the dinner.

Photos by Mike Pettinella.

When asked if it this is what he has been hoping for, attorney M. Scott Barrett didn’t hesitate.

“It sure as heck is,” said the Indiana lawyer regarding the news that Syngenta AG has agreed to pay more than $1.4 billion to U.S. farmers who filed suit against the Swiss agrochemical company for misleading marketing tactics in connection with its rollout of the Agisure Viptera corn seed in 2010.

The settlement was announced late Tuesday night, said Barrett, who has been working with Albion lawyer Conrad Cropsey and others in an effort to reach corn growers in the GLOW region.

Barrett, in an email sent to local media Thursday, reported that this agreement involves more than 100,000 farmers in the United States, but other growers who have yet to opt in still have an opportunity to do so.

“First, this is no longer a matter of telling your corn producer readers that they may get money if they hire a lawyer to represent them. This is now a done deal,” he wrote. “If your corn producer readers hire a lawyer to represent them in this matter, they will get money.”

Barrett said a deadline to join the suit is uncertain, but believes that it could be based on the date that a farmer signs a contract to hire a lawyer to represent him or her in the settlement.

“There will also be a deadline later on to file a claim,” he said. “The later deadline to file a claim is not time sensitive as of today- - it can be dealt with later on. The corn producers’ critical task now to participate in the settlement is to hire a lawyer to represent him or her in the settlement.”

Litigants contended that Syngenta did not get approval from China to distribute the seed, which was found to have contained a seed trait (MIR 162 GMO) that the Chinese deemed unacceptable.

In 2013, China embargoed all U.S. corn and, as a result, corn prices declined sharply and American corn producers suffered extensive monetary losses.

Attorneys for Syngenta said that the company was not at fault because the seed wasn’t sold until U.S. approval was obtained and that it didn’t need China’s approval.

Syngenta was acquired by China National Chemical Corp. in June for $43 billion.

According to a Bloomberg article, the settlement nearly equals the $1.5 billion that Syngenta generated in net income last year, on total revenue of $12.8 billion. It also was reported that Syngenta was expecting to pay between $1 billion and $2 billion to resolve the corn litigation.

Barrett expects USDA Farm Service Agency offices to be “overwhelmed” with Form 578 requests since that is the form required to submit claims. He advises corn growers to contact their FSA office as soon as possible and request the Form 578 for 2011-2016.

For further information, contact Barrett at 317-431-1249 or 812-334-2600 or go to the Syngenta NY website at www.syngentanycornlitigation.com.

When the skies opened up around 5 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Batavia High School junior varsity girls soccer game, this rainbow appeared shortly thereafter. The teams kept playing, the rain eventually stopped and Batavia came away with a 3-0 victory over Greece Odyssey.

Photo by Mike Pettinella.

The adoption of a revised Comprehensive Plan for the City of Batavia, adding the term “Gateway District” to define zoning on East Main Street near the city line, is moving closer to reality as a result of action by City Council on Monday night.

“We’re talking about making it a little more Commercial (zone)-based, or having different options than just Industrial,” said City Manager Jason Molino after Council agreed to send the 2017 Comprehensive Plan draft to its Oct. 10 Business Meeting.

Molino said the plan update, led by a steering committee, has been in the works for a year and a half. Several internal and public meetings have taken place and the update has been reviewed and approved by the Genesee County Planning Board.

Responding to questions from Council members last month about the proper zoning for East Main Street, the committee changed the area from the proposed “Neighborhood Commercial” rezone to “Gateway District.”

Molino explained that Batavia is unique in that it has four major highways – Routes 5, 63, 98 and 33 – leading into the city. By creating a “Gateway District,” it promotes “good optics and good development plans,” he said.

“It’s a more guided zoning code … one with consistency,” he said. “There has been a lot of focus on gateways over the past decade.”

Following discussion about the plan’s timetable, homes in the floodplain, redevelopment of the C.L. Carr’s building on Main Street, keeping electric car charging stations out of the plan, form-based codes and cleaning up the document’s grammatical errors, Council moved the issue forward. Jankowski noted that he was pleased by the fact that Council would be able to vote on individual proposals in the plan, rather than the entire document.

The steering committee recommended incorporating form-based codes into the Future Land Use plan. Form-based codes focus on matching development with the environment and this approach aligns with the City’s vision statement, according to a committee report.

An electric car charging station in Batavia’s downtown area may be a worthwhile venture, but it’s not in the best interests of the City of Batavia to oversee its operation and maintenance.

That’s the viewpoint of five of City Council’s nine members, who on Monday night voted against a proposal to partner with Genesee Region Clean Communities and the Genesee Transportation Council to put up an EV charging station in Batavia.

Council members Rose Mary Christian, Paul Viele, Robert Bialkowski, Al McGinnis and Kathleen Briggs voted against moving the measure to the board’s next Business Meeting for more discussion and a possible up-down vote, overriding “yes” votes by Council President Eugene Jankowski, Patti Pacino, Adam Tabelski and John Canale.

“It looks like a good idea, but it’s for a private enterprise,” McGinnis said. “I would think there are enough entrepreneurs that would knock each other down to get this. I don’t think we need to get involved.”

McGinnis asked how many electric cars were in Batavia, to which Tabelski replied (reading from a proposal packet) that there were 1,061 EVs that require charging in the Genesee Region as of 2015.

Tabelski voiced his approval of the EV charging station at the new Dunkin' Donuts at 405 W. Main St., adding that while a "private location downtown would be more feasible, I think it's (a city-run EV station) worth considering at least."

Jankowski said he could “see the benefit of it” but didn’t like the idea of government getting involved in running a business.

“We’ve seen what happens,” he said, apparently referring to the City’s ill-fated connection to the City Centre (formerly Genesee Country) Mall.

Canale put forth the argument that the charging station, which would have been placed in the northeastern corner of the Austin Park parking lot next to the Post Office, could be an attractive option for travelers on the Thruway and from the two big cities east and west of Batavia.

“It takes a considerable amount of time (to charge electric cars) and people won’t stay with their cars, they would go to a restaurant … spend some money,” he said. “An advantage to having it in the downtown area could attract people off the Thruway (to stop in Batavia).”

The proposal presented by City Manager Jason Molino was based a Genesee Regional EV Charging Station Plan indicating that the City of Batavia is a location where EV charging stations are needed.

He said the City would be obligated to a free, three-year ChargePoint network subscription. However, the City (as a host city) would not have to pay for the station – a $7,500 expense – but only the cost of installing a conduit from a utility pole to the charging station unit (estimated at $1,500).

As far as the cost of electric is concerned, Molino said the City could set and manage the pricing (if the City chose to charge for electric), could charge the consumer an hourly rate on a per kilowatt hour basis, with optional peak and off-peak rates, and could track consumption and related details of the station’s usage.

“After three years, the City could continue to subscribe to ChargePoint for an annual cost of $560 or drop the subscription and have the consumer continue to use the station via their app (on their mobile devices),” he said. “Also, the City (at that time) would have the option to remove the charging station.”

Afterward, Molino was asked whether he was disappointed by the proposal’s defeat.

“Well, we bring forward ideas and initiatives -- proposals to the Council because we think they promote certain elements and are progressive on certain matters,” he said. “The Council has the full right and authority to say that it’s consistent to what we think or not consistent of what we think, and we support those decisions both ways.”

“I totally understand their perspective on it, and right now we’re not going to move forward with that initiative. Should that change at a later date (however), I’m sure the Council would say, ‘Hey, we’re going to change it.’ ”

Asked if he thought that a private entity could step in, he said that it was possible, “just like what happened at Dunkin' Donuts.”

“It’s definitely a possibility that someone could do it on private property in the downtown area. Nothing’s prohibiting anybody from doing that.”

In the meeting’s public comments session, Jim Rosenbeck, of Lewis Avenue, also spoke against City involvement in an EV charging station, asking Council to “be cautious when this idea comes up.”

“It may sound good and feel good, but it costs the people money, and they’re not benefitting from this service,” he said.

Jankowski said he wished that the proposal went through to give the public an opportunity to weigh in on it.

“I just thought it would be nice to at least go to a vote and get two weeks for me to get some input,” he said.

“It’s not done, it just didn’t get put on the agenda, so if there’s public input on it and people want it, then it could be put back on a Conference meeting and re-voted at a future time. So, I’m going to wait until I receive any feedback and go from there.”

In other action, Council:

-- Moved to its Business Meeting a resolution approving the sale of five parcels that were auctioned to the highest bidders – 29 Brooklyn Ave., Louie Kingsbury, $4,000; 200 S. Swan St., Geib Corporation, $20,000; 1 Watson St., Justin and Yasmeen Calmes, $13,500; 46 Swan St., Justin and Yasmeen Calmes, $1,500; and 2 Willow St., Robert Fritschi, $19,000.

Christian expressed her dismay that the property at 46 Swan St. wasn’t sold to Ronald Viele, who had offered significantly more.

The City’s Municipal Code and Ethics Code, however, prohibit the purchase of real property to a City Council member or City employee, and it this case, Ronald Viele is the father of Council Member Paul Viele, who is involved in the family business. When Ronald Viele was informed of the restriction, he withdrew his offer.

-- Was advised of a letter sent to Bialkowski by Kathy Owen, of 2 Redfield Parkway, who is seeking the City’s help in restoring the pillars that act as a gateway to the street from West Main Street.

“The pillars are in a serious state of deterioration,” Bialkowski said, and urged Council to approve using some of the $52,000 earmarked for community development initiatives to fix them.

Molino said the City previously applied for grants for this project but was denied. He noted that two of the pillars are on private property and two are on city property, a situation that creates “some nuances” as far as repair work is concerned.

He said that the community development funds could be used as restoration of the pillars is considered a “neighborhood improvement” project. Cost to professionally repair the pillars was estimated at around $20,000.

-- Heard from Jonathan Bell, of Evans Street, who asked that the City put up a sign notifying drivers that there is an autistic child living on the street.

“I have five kids and one is severely autistic and runs in the street,” he said. “What’s a $100 sign when you are asking for $25,000 for rocks? My child’s life is worth more than a couple rocks (referring to the pillars on Redfield Parkway)."

Molino and Council members agreed to look into this, with Jankowski wondering aloud “what broke down in the process that this gentleman had to come to this meeting?" (instead of it being handled by city officials). Bell reportedly had called the City of Batavia office more than once but received no reply.

In photo at top, City Council Member Kathleen Briggs reads a proclamation designating Oct. 8-14 as Fire Prevention Week. She is joined by City firefighters, from left, Chief Stefano Napolitano, Christina Marinaccio, Tom Douglas, Jeff Stevens, Greg Ireland, Ryan Clair and Mike Morris. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

The 2017-18 league bowling season is upon us, and The Batavian once again is your place to find out who is putting up the big series and big games throughout the Genesee Region.

Just click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page to see some of the high rollers from the season's opening weeks.

The next Pin Points column by Batavia bowling writer Mike Pettinella will appear on Sept. 28.

Owners of an East Main Street welding business made a compelling argument before the City Planning & Development Committee Tuesday night and, as a result, are one step away from achieving their goal to convert a former auto repair shop into a storage facility.

“Absolutely,” said PDC Chairperson Duane Preston, when asked if Daniel and Joyce Mattice, owners of Tri-County Welding at 649 E. Main St., had a strong case for a proposal to transform five of the six bays of the former Mazur’s Auto Repair into retail storage units.

“Since he has the right to put a junkyard in there, this is definitely the softer of all choices,” Preston said. “Now it will be an enclosed building, cleaned up, with no dust, no junk and little traffic.”

The Mattices purchased the Mazur building at 643-645 E. Main St. through foreclosure last year and have put around $40,000 into upgrading it, while renting out the front of the building – office space -- to Anything Your Heart Desires floral shop.

They said they unsuccessfully tried to get someone to rent the auto repair shop before coming up with the idea of storage units. City zoning laws, however, do not permit storage units in an Industrial-1 zone, meaning that the Mattices had to seek an area variance.

Their request was recommended for disapproval by the Genesee County Planning Board last week, but their presentation last night – buoyed by statements from attorney Michael Del Plato – convinced the PDC that their plan could work.

“This is an opportunity to protect your property, and they should be able to take advantage of it,” Del Plato said, noting that there are many businesses in that area. “We can’t legislate through City Council every potential use; the local boards have to help us out here.”

Del Plato called the variance request “minimal” in scope with “much less density” than the building’s previous use, and noted that the business is in an “Industrial zone surrounded by commercial uses.”

Joyce Mattice said she had signed statements from the surrounding business owners in support of their venture, ensuring the PDC that there would be no hazardous materials or tires on site.

The PDC voted unanimously to approve the variance. The request now goes in front of the City Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 28, needing four out of five “yes” votes for final approval.

Preston said the Mattices’ request comes at a “transitional period” (in relation to zoning) in that the updated Comprehensive Plan is nearly finalized and will be addressed by City Council.

“In this case, we took into account the particular area and the makeup of the neighborhood,” he said.

In other action, the committee:

-- Approved a site plan for a proposed 2,700-square-foot addition at Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse campus on East Main Street, which would be used as a methadone clinic to treat people with opioid addictions.

This action comes on the heels of a similar recommendation by the Genesee County Planning Board.

GCASA Executive Director John Bennett and project architect Raymond Murphy presented the plan last night, reiterating the immediate need for such a facility in light of what Bennett terms a “national epidemic.”

The new clinic, with an April 2018 opening target date, will be funded by an $820,000 grant from the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, Bennett said.

Plans are for it to be open in the morning from Monday through Saturday for people to take their prescription and head off to their daily tasks.

The addition will result in an increase of 38 parking spaces on the campus, raising the total parking capacity to 72 spaces.

-- Recommended approval of a 20,075-square-foot, one-story addition to an industrial use building at O-At-Ka Milk Products on Cedar Street.

The $2.5 million addition would be placed adjacent to the existing warehouse space to the west and south on the property. Work is expected to start in less than a month.

The River Street bridge replacement project is progressing toward an expected end-of-October completion.

This afternoon, crews from Ramsey Constructors Inc., of Lakeville, used a 350-ton, $3.2 million crane to set the last two beams of the bridge.

“The crane has s super-lift on it that straightens the boom out so we can use just one crane to pick the beams, which weigh between 31 ½ tons and 28 tons,” Darin Florian said. “Today, we’re setting from the beginning abutment out to the pier and on Monday we will do the same procedure from the end abutment back to the pier.”

The beams were made by the L.C. Whitford Co. in Wellsville.

Florian said since this is a “post-tension” bridge, crews will have to grout all the joints between the beams and then will “tension" the cables that make up the post-tension part of the bridge.

“Then we will begin to form the deck and pour the deck -- hopefully before the end of the month,” he added.

Per the BBR network website, post-tensioning -- at its most basic level -- is a clever way of reinforcing concrete while you are building, and allows thinner concrete sections, longer spans between supports, stiffer walls to resist lateral loads and stiffer foundations to resist the effects of shrinking and swelling soils. 

Benefits of post-tensioning include design flexibility, faster construction, lower construction costs, reduced maintenance costs, enhanced durability and reduced environmental impact.

The executive director of the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse said a proposed 2,700-square foot addition to the agency's campus at 424 E. Main St. in Batavia is on a fast track to completion pending approval by the City Planning & Development Committee next week.

Speaking after Thursday night's Genesee County Planning Board meeting, where the site plan was recommended for approval without stipulations, John Bennett said the clinic could be "up and running in 14 months" and will be funded by an $820,000 Rapid Treament Expansion Grant from New York State.

Bennett attended the meeting with Raymond Murphy, project manager for Fontanese, Folts, Aubrecht, Ernst architects of Orchard Park. Murphy said they will take the plan before the City Planning & Development Committee on Sept. 19 and then prepare drawings for the building permit.

"We've talked to City Council and the Genesee County Legislature about this, expressing our view that it is much needed for the community," Bennett said, noting that the clinic would be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Monday through Saturday to dispense the medication to people battling opioid addiction. "And it is very private; that's one thing I like."

According to the American Addiction Centers website, a methadone clinic is a place where a person who is addicted to opioid-based drugs, such as heroin or prescription painkillers, can receive medication-based therapy. Patients receive methadone, or the brand name version known as Dolophine, which is an opioid analgesic. This treatment is often referred to as replacement therapy.

Bennett said the methadone is dispensed in liquid form, with each visit averaging about five minutes. He said it is a long-acting, safe medication that produces "little or no cravings."

Other drugs used to treat this type of addiction include suboxone, vivitrol and naltrexone.

The new clinic, which will be attached to the back of the existing treatment/prevention facility, will be able to provide services for up to 150 people at any given time, Bennett said. It also will result in the hiring of 10 to 12 more employees, including nurses, medical director, counselors and support staff.

GCASA has treated more than 1,200 people for opioid addiction since 2006, Bennett said, adding that the Centers for Disease Control estimates that 65,000 people will die due to opioids in the coming year.

At top, architect's renderings showing the GCASA campus, with the proposed addition in red in lower drawing.

Backed by data that shows a definite need for senior housing in Genesee County, developer Ronald Long envisions a 35- to 40-unit townhouse complex at 47 W. Main St. in the Village of Corfu.

Long, a resident of Judge Road in Alabama, presented a site plan for his project’s initial phase – two six-unit buildings -- to the Genesee County Planning Board on Thursday night.

And he left the meeting with an approval from the board, contingent upon modifications that include creating buffers from neighbors, placing a sidewalk to an existing building on the site, providing lighting and landscape plans to the Corfu Village Planning Board and obtaining a permit from the state Department of Transportation.

“We’ll probably have them (the apartments) rented before they’re even finished,” Long said, adding that they will rent at the market rate. “We’ve been working with the (Genesee) County Office for the Aging, which indicates a dire need for reasonably priced housing (for seniors).”

Planning Director Felipe Oltramari backed up Long’s statement, pointing out that housing located close to “shops and services is one of the reasons we see this as a good thing – adding density to the village.”

Last night’s site plan review was for Long’s plan to construct 12 units, six in each building.

He said his company, Toor Inc., would like to expand the project to 35-40 units – all in structures located behind the existing 3,400-square-foot building formerly known as The Market.

He said The Market building could be used as a clubhouse for residents (as is the current plan) or converted into another business.

Long said he would like to begin construction on the first phase by the end of this year. He said he will conduct a contest to name the complex, which currently is being called Corfu Senior Apartments.

In other action, the board:

-- Approved with modifications a special-use permit to construct two cabins for the R2R Christian ministry at 9936 Simonds Road, Darien.

Rich Ohlson, ministry president, said the cabins would be used for overnight programs for the 50 or more youth -- mostly teens from troubled homes – who participate. He said activities include indoor sports (in the main building’s gymnasium) as well as fishing.

“We’re reaching kids before addiction,” Ohlson said, noting that many young people in these situations turn to alcohol and drugs.

R2R conducts programs and religious services every Saturday from 5 to 8:30 p.m. and also hosts day camps at selected times throughout the year. The cabins, with eight bunks each, are to be built behind the campsite’s main building.

Planners OK'd the permit as long as R2R: puts in an access drive with a turnaround adequate for emergency vehicles; provides a parking plan acceptable to the Darien Town Planning Board; and obtains an elevation certificate by a licensed surveyor or engineer to ensure the cabins are not built within the flood hazard area.

-- Approved a 7,200-square-foot storage building at S&S Limousine at 7160 W. Main Road, Le Roy, recommending that the applicant, Joe Spadaro, merge three parcels into one.

Spadaro said the building, which will be placed on the west side of his property, is needed to “get the limos out of the snow.”

Currently, he has a fleet of more than 50 limousines.

-- Recommended for disapproval a request for a special-use permit and area variance by Peter Zeliff to convert the former Michelle's Bakery on West Saile Drive into a rental home.

Planners cited a Town of Batavia zoning law that says such a conversion in a commercial district is allowed only if the location is within 500 feet of other residential structures. The request was for a variance of 2,000 feet.

They also said that locating a single-family home next to the County Airport is "questionable and may pose significant impacts."

Zeliff has the option of taking his request to the Town Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.

-- Approved a site plan submitted by O-At-Ka Milk to construct a 29,075-square-foot addition at its food manufacturing facility on Cedar Street.

Mike Pettinella's Pin Points bowling column returns for its second year on The Batavian, starting Thursday.

The column focuses on organized bowling at the local, state and national levels, highlighting outstanding individual performances and timely topics.

The Batavian thanks the following businesses who have signed on as sponsors this season:

Al Vlietstra Masonry

Genesee Region USBC

Letchworth Pines, Portageville

Medina Lanes

Mount Morris Lanes

Oak Orchard Bowl, Albion

Perry Bowling Center

Rose Garden Bowl, Bergen

Sheelar's Auto, Batavia

Sloat Tire, Batavia

Turnbull Heating & Air

Businesses interested in advertising on the Pin Points page can contact Mike at mikepett2002@yahoo.com.