ARPA

Editor's Note: This article has been updated on 1/26/23 to include details of the future facility upgrades.

A project at two major city facilities that began more than five years ago is finally coming to fruition after City Council approved the use of post-COVID funds for the work this week.

During a special business meeting on Monday, council approved reallocating $635,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for upgrades at the City Fire and Bureau of Maintenance department facilities. Funds of $400,000 and $235,000 are being diverted from prior projects of Cohocton water and Austin Park’s playground, respectively.

ARPA money was from 2021 Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to assist municipalities with post-COVID measures to rebound from financial losses.

These two capital projects were first eyed in 2017 and were then put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“We finally got a project engineered and out to bid. It came back much higher,” City Manager Rachael Tabelski said.

She recommended taking funds previously allocated for the Cohocton Water and Austin Park playground projects and reroute them to the fire station and Bureau of Maintenance projects.

She wasn’t suggesting scrapping the other projects, but to finance Cohocton Water and find other grants for the playground later on, she said.

The city received a total $1,474,764.79 of ARPA funding, $722,000 of which has already been spent at the fire station for water system engineering, apron accessibility, a new sewer camera and water meter reader, she said.

Public Works Director Brett Frank outlined details of both new projects.

Fire Department work is to include:

• General Improvements
• Fire Suppression System
• Fire Alarm System
• New generator
• Plumbing improvements
• Electrical improvements
• HVAC improvements

Bureau of Maintenance work is to include:

• Completely reconstructed trench drain
• Plumbing tmprovements
• HVAC improvements

A total price tag of nearly $1.9 million for the fire station and bureau of maintenance projects includes that $635,000 reallocated from ARPA, $1,100,000 from facility reserves, $55,000 from FEMA and another $100,000 from ARPA.

Previously, when the city received the ARPA funds, the city was only allowed to spend those funds on water, wastewater, or public health-related expenses,” Tabelski said in a memo to the council. “The definition of allowable use has been expanded, and I recommend that we utilize ARPA funds to complete this project. The total construction will cost $1,472,315 (after HVAC change order), while design, engineering, bidding, and construction inspection is estimated to cost $415,475 for a total project cost of $1,887,790.”

The Cohocton Water project includes the potential to remove an existing line and replace the waterline on Walnut Street as well, she said. That project has now swelled to $2.6 million and will need to be financed by a bond, she said. The park playground has an opportunity for future grant funding, so she recommended taking both ARPA funds for the facility improvements.

In related votes, council approved contracts with Camco General Contracting, Inc. for general contractor, DG Messmer Corporation for plumbing, and Concord Electric Corporation for electrical.

Council also reviewed additional future expenses to be completely financed, including $1.5 million for a new ice rink chiller and Zamboni ice machine, $1.7 million for a street light LED conversion, $1 million for sanitary line work at Maple and Mill streets, and $12.5 million for a new police facility.

Top Photo of city fire station from City of Batavia; above of CIty Manager Rachael Tabelski by Howard Owens.

Just 5 percent.

That’s the percentage of Genesee County residents that County Planning Director Felipe Oltramari hopes will take a few minutes to complete the Empire State Broadband Assessment survey that can be found at www.geneseebroadband.com.

Oltramari, speaking after Wednesday night’s Genesee County Planning Board meeting at County Building 2 on West Main Street Road, said the survey is an important tool as New York State attempts to expand internet access to its residents.

“By getting 5 percent of Genesee County residents to take the survey (less than 3,000 people) that will help determine the distribution of funding to fill in the gaps in broadband,” he said.

Millions of dollars are available for broadband development, Oltramari said. In Genesee County, government officials already have indicated they are setting aside a portion of the $11 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding it is receiving for that purpose.

Upon going to the website, the user is directed to the state’s “Advancing Broadband for New York” initiative featuring two large blue buttons: one marked Speed Test & Survey and the other marked Survey Only.

The speed test measures both the download and upload speeds from that location. It is important that the speed test is taken from a home or business computer, and not a mobile device. Additional instructions and information are provided.

The survey, according to the website, is “to understand how you utilize, or would like to utilize, broadband capabilities in your home or business in your community.” The questions are not difficult to answer and the entire survey takes five to seven minutes to complete.

When finished, a “thank you” message appears and links to additional resources, such as the New York State Broadband Program Office, and Data USA: County & City Data based on the U.S. Census, are provided.

Oltramari said the county will be conducting a marketing campaign to spread the word about the broadband survey.

He also reported that the first draft of the county’s updated Comprehensive Plan – part of the Genesee 2050 project – is complete and will be shared with the public in the coming weeks.

County planners recommended approval of a dozen referrals last night, most notably:

• A site plan for a 5-megawatt ground mounted commercial solar system in an Industrial (I-1) district at 7054 West Main Rd. in the Town of Le Roy. The project, being developed by AES Clean Energy, based in Louisville, Colo., is on land owned by Route 5 Storage LLC, not far and on the other side of the road from the intersection of Keeney Road.

• A site plan review for a 1,944-square foot (81 by 24) addition to the existing building owned by Gadd Properties (Alexander Equipment) at 3266 Buffalo St., Alexander;

• A site plan review for the Burning Barrell BBQ restaurant to be operated by Nicholas Rada at 10 East Main St., Corfu;

• A site plan review and area variance request for Harrington’s Farm Market to replace an existing greenhouse with a new 2,304-square foot (48 by 48) greenhouse on its property at 5282 Clinton St. Rd. in the Town of Stafford;

• A sign permit request from Pierrepoint Visual Graphics, Inc., of Rochester, to place new signs for a proposed UR Medicine office building at the Gateway II Industrial Park at 7999 Call Parkway in the Town of Batavia.

Previously: Genesee County legislators call on G/FLRPC to provide answers to broadband availability question