Batavia Downs

Joey Belladonna and his band Chief Big Way play the Paddock Room at Batavia Downs tonight.

The lead singer with Anthrax, nominated five times for Grammy awards, Belladonna is playing in Batavia for the second time this year. The show is free and starts at 9 p.m.

Pictured with Belladonna are his friend Tom Mazurkiewicz and band members Dave Michelson and Joe Precourt.

Press release:

Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel announced today they will be hosting a job fair on Wednesday, June 7^th in their Paddock Events Room.

There will be two sessions; one from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and another from 5 'til 7 p.m. Representatives from each department will be on hand to discuss current job openings within the facility.

“We’re gearing up for a busy summer season," said Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel President & CEO Henry Wojtaszek. “Batavia Downs has openings in not only Food and Beverage, but Security, Housekeeping, Marketing and positions related to our upcoming live racing season.

"We look forward to seeing area residents at either of the available times to speak with our staff about joining our team.”

Those who apply will also be entered into a drawing for a free hotel stay and gift certificate to a Batavia Downs Restaurant. Anyone with questions ahead of time can contact the Human Resources Department at Batavia Downs at 585-343-3750, ext. 6228.

About Batavia Downs/WROTB

Owned and operated by 15 Western New York counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo, Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation is a public benefit corporation with headquarters in Batavia, NY. WROTB owns and operates 19 branches, as well as Batavia Downs Gaming, a standard bred racetrack and gaming facility. Since its inception, Western Regional OTB has generated over $215 million in operating and surcharge revenues to the taxpayers of those participating municipalities.

Work crews were at Batavia Downs this morning resurfacing the parking lot.

Press release:

Representatives from Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation (WROTB) announced Tuesday that wagering at WROTB locations on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby was its highest total ever at $2,031,741, beating 2014’s record handle.

Handle was up over $200,000 over last year’s handle -- a 12-percent increase. Batavia Downs Gaming also posted a record gaming handle of $3.5 million for the day.

“This was an incredible day of wagering," said WROTB President Henry Wojtaszek. “We at WROTB want to thank our patrons for coming out to our branches, EZ bets, Batavia Downs and for using our online service Batavia Bets.com.

"We appreciate their patience on our busiest day. We could not have pulled this off if it wasn’t for our dedicated OTB branch and Batavia Downs staff, who worked tirelessly on Derby Day. We send congratulations to all our winners including the 34 patrons who hit the Trifecta and to the person who hit the $75,000 Superfecta.”

Derby wagers placed just at Batavia Downs Gaming totaled $91,330, an increase of nearly 58 percent over last year. Wagering using BataviaBets.com, WROTB’s online website, on the Derby was $98,352.50, a record. Batavia Bets.com signed up 720 new accounts on Friday and Saturday, also a new record.  Buffalo ranked #4 in the country in terms of Derby viewership.

“It’s exciting to see that interest in the Kentucky Derby is alive and well in Western New York, “ said Todd Haight, general manager of Racing at Batavia Downs Gaming. “We had a record number of attendees at our onsite party.

"We’ll have another party for the Preakness with live mutuels sellers, food, free play and a complementary Preakness wager like we had for the Derby.”

The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, is scheduled for 6:48 p.m. on Saturday, May 20.

About Batavia Downs/WROTB

Owned and operated by 15 Western New York counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo, Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation is a public benefit corporation with headquarters in Batavia, NY. WROTB owns and operates 19 branches, as well as Batavia Downs Gaming, a standard bred racetrack and gaming facility. Since its inception, Western Regional OTB has generated over $215 million in operating and surcharge revenues to the taxpayers of those participating municipalities.

The Marshall Tucker Band

Press release:

Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced the lineup for this year’s Rockin’ the Downs concert series, and classic rock and country music fans will be very excited.

Kicking off the series on Sunday, June 4^th is country powerhouse Lonestar. Known for merging their country roots with strong melodies and rich vocals, Lonestar has sold over 10 million albums, and achieved 10 #1 country hits including "No News," "Come Crying to Me," and their crossover smash "Amazed," which was also #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's awards include the 2001 CMA Vocal Group of the Year.

Next up, on Friday, June 23^rd, is Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx. DeYoung was the songwriter of the band Styx’s hits like "Come Sail Away," "Babe," "Mr. Roboto," "The Best of Times," " Don’t Let it End," "Show Me the Way," and "Lady."

On Friday, June 30^th, the money man, Eddie Money, will rock the house with his slew of massive hits that includes "Baby Hold On," "Two Tickets to Paradise," "Think I’m in Love," "Shakin’," "Take Me Home Tonight," and "I Wanna Go Back." Along with having sold more than 28 million records, Money’s songs have appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, and have recently been included in hit video games like Grand Theft Auto and Guitar Hero.

Founding member of Foreigner, Lou Gramm will be bringing down the house on Friday, July 7^th. A native of nearby Rochester, Gramm has brought his amazing voice to the rock scene for more than 40 years. Gramm performed vocals on such hits as "Hot Blooded," "Feels Like the First Time," "Cold as Ice," "Double Vision," "Dirty White Boy," "Head Games," and "Juke Box Hero." With Gramm at the helm, Foreigner's first eight singles cracked the Billboard Top 20, making them the first band since The Beatles to achieve this.

Southern rockers The Marshall Tucker Band bring their 40 years of hits to Batavia Downs on Friday, July 14^th. With hit singles like "Heard it in a Love Song," "Fire on the Mountain," "Can't You See," and "Take the Highway," The Marshall Tucker Band earned seven gold and three platinum albums while they were on the Capricorn Records label. During the '90s, the MTB scored four hit singles on Billboard's country chart and one on Billboard's gospel chart. Their music has also been featured on the soundtracks of movies such as "Smokey and the Bandit," "Blow," "The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper," "Shipwrecked," "Crank 2," "Don’t Mess with Zohan," "Stop Loss," "Swing Vote," "Taking Chance" and many others as well as many TV Shows.

On Friday, July 21^st, Lee Greenwood brings his chart-topping music to the Downs. His hit song, "God Bless the USA" has been voted the most recognizable patriotic song in America. Greenwood has won numerous industry awards including, Male Vocalist of the Year for the Academy of Country Music in 1983, two Male Vocalist of the Year awards from the Country Music Association, 1983 and 1984 and a Grammy for Top Male Vocal Performance in 1985 for “I.O.U.” With seven number-one songs and 25 charted singles, his hits include "It Turns Me Inside Out," "Ring on Her Finger Time on Her Hands," "She’s Lyin'," "I don’t Mind the Thorns if You’re the Rose," and "Dixie Road."

Tickets for all six concerts are available at www.BataviaConcerts.com and sales began at 10 a.m. today (April 21). Individual tickets to each concert are $10 for General Admission while VIP tickets are $25. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel at their “Made in America” store located in the lobby.

“We are very proud to offer our loyal patrons and the people of this region an amazing lineup of music legends that are sure to electrify Batavia Downs with their hits from today and yesterday,” said Ryan Hasenauer, director of Marketing at Batavia Downs Gaming. “The fact that we are able to keep General Admission ticket prices at just $10 ensures that local music fans aren’t priced out of seeing their favorite artists.”

Hotel room/ticket packages will be available for each concert. Each concert ticket is also redeemable once at Player’s Club in the three days following the concert for $10 Free Play to be used on one of Batavia Downs Gaming’s 800+ gaming machines. Additional information may be found at www.BataviaDownsGaming.com.

Mercy EMS is finding its current ambulance staging area at St. Jerome's on Bank Street a little cramped and not conducive to keeping ambulances ready to roll in all kinds of weather, so it's planning a new 11,500 square foot facility off Route 98, just north of the Thruway, in the Town of Batavia.

The new facility will cost about $2 million and the site plan was reviewed and recommended for approval last night by the County Planning Board.

"There’s no space," said Mercy EMS General Manager Bill Schutt of the current location. "We’re in essentially four old hospital rooms there. There’s very limited parking space, obviously, if you’ve been there. In winter times, it’s especially difficult. Ambulances have fluids in them, medications that need to be kept warm, so you’re trying to run heaters inside them to warm them while parked outside. We don’t have any space there to hold meetings, do training, any additional private spaces, very limited crew space."

The new facility will have eight interior parking bays and additional spaces with electrical hook-ups for ambulances to park outside in emergency overflow situations.

The location, 2.2 acres being split out from an 8.6 parcel, is part of the Gateway II project on Call Parkway, just off of Oak Orchard Road.

Schutt said the new location will have no effect on response times.

There will also be expanded crew space, a meeting and training room.

The new location will also include a purchasing department that will house regional purchasing for Mercy Flight.

Also on Thursday's agenda:

• The board recommended approval of two new commercial buildings on a parcel just north of Home Depot, abutting the Thruway, at 4181 Veterans Memorial Drive. The buildings will be a 12,600 square foot facility that will house medical offices and a 7,500 square foot building that will contain three spaces. Two will be restaurant spaces. The $1.2 million project is being undertaken by Holland Trotta out of Rochester.  A spokesman for the developer told planners that the large space was originally intended for a well-known local restaurant, but those plans changed. The signage on the architectural drawings in the planning board packet for the smaller building show an urgent care business and a Mexican chain restaurant, Qdoba Mexican Eats.
• The board recommended approval of a conditional use permit for 17.4-acre, 2-megawatt solar farm at 2901 Pearl Street Road, Batavia. 
• The board recommended approval of a nine-month moratorium on the planning and construction of solar farms in Stafford, giving officials time to review policies and zoning plans for such facilities.
• The board recommended approval of a site plan review for a new 29,456 square foot paddock at Batavia Downs to be constructed on the east side of the race track. The previous paddock was removed to make room for construction of the new hotel. Currently, stables, are being used for paddock space. Paddocks are where horses and drivers are prepared for each race and return to after the race for washing and testing (winning horses are tested for banned substances, as required by the gaming commission). 

Richard Siebert, a member of the Western OTB Board of Directors, used yesterday's Ways and Means Committee meeting to brief members of the County Legislature on the relationship of WOTB with George Maziarz and the status of Henry Wojtaszek, the organization's CEO.

Both have been in the news recently in connection with a criminal investigation by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Maziarz is accused of shielding $95,000 in secret campaign payments to a former staff member. Wojtaszek, as part of the same investigation, has pled guilty to a misdemeanor related to paperwork that was filed, or not filed, by the Niagara County GOP Committee, which Wojtaszek once led.

News reports have linked Maziarz to Western OTB, but Siebert told legislators that's not entirely accurate.

The former 20-year veteran of the State Senate was hired as a consultant by a lobbyist that Western OTB uses, Patty Lynch, and Lynch has apparently used Maziarz to work on some Western OTB issues in Albany. 

Maziarz was not directly working for Western OTB, Siebert said.

"We made it very clear at our last board meeting to Patty Lynch that George Maziarz was to no longer to be associated with Western OTB," Siebert said. "We cleared that up. We have no relationship with George Maziarz. Technically, we’ve never paid him, it was just something that Patty Lynch did on her own."

As for Wojtaszek, Siebert said Wojtaszek had resigned as the Niagara County GOP chair in 2009, but somehow he was hung with a 2012 violation related to paperwork that wasn't properly filed.

Siebert, who is also the Republican elections commissioner for the county and chairman of the county GOP, said Schneiderman's office gave Wojtaszek a choice, plead guilty to a misdemeanor and be able to keep his license and his job running Western OTB, or face felony charges that would be tried in Albany, which could have mean legal bills well over $100,000.

At a meeting, the Western OTB board, which includes two Democrats, two Conservatives, and 14 Republicans, agreed unanimously, Siebert said, to support Wojtaszek. The board wants him to stay on as CEO, he said.

"Henry’s done a great job," Siebert said. "Our previous CEO never came out of the office. Henry is out there asking people what they can do better, what we can do better, what management can do better. He’s been a great morale booster. He has great contacts in Albany."

Press release:

Due to the recent expansion of gaming in Western New York and the lack of tax parity amongst gaming entities, WROTB/Batavia Downs Gaming could potentially lose in upwards of 100 jobs in Western New York. WROTB/Batavia Downs Gaming currently employs more than 500 hardworking Western New Yorkers throughout 15 counties and two cities.

A bill that would create ‘tax parity” appears to be logjammed in the budget process. If a concession is not made, there would be devastating effects to the local economy as WROTB has returned more than $226 million to local governments, purchased more than $480 million in local goods and services, and is one of the largest employers in Genesee County.

Having created new state casinos and a hypersensitive business environment without leveling the playing field, potentially means job cuts here and additional loss for horsemen through Central and Western New York.

“We have been working diligently with state officials to create a stable plan for tax parity and are very hopeful this can be accomplished in the state budget,” said Mike Nolan, chief operating officer at Batavia Downs Gaming. “Other facilities have fewer restrictions placed on them. With new gaming competitors entering the market, we are looking to be on a level playing field.

"We want to continue to make facility improvements, satisfy our patrons and continue to provide employment to hundreds of employees that rely on these jobs to provide for their families. We urge our representatives in the Assembly, Senate and in the Governor’s office to give our employees the peace of mind that tax parity will ensure the solvency of our corporation moving forward.”

This Saturday, music lovers who love brass can get an earful at Batavia Downs as five brass bands will perform in the Paddock Room.

The bands are Mighty St. Joe's Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps, Niagara Memorial Militaires Alumni Drum Corps, St. Joe's of Batavia Brass Ensemble, Parkside Brass, and Darkside of Parkside.

Food and beverages available during the performances.

Tickets are $15, which includes lunch and $10 in free play at Batavia Downs.

The show starts at 1 p.m.

Photo, Frank Panepento with his horn, on the right, Frank Cecere, T.J. Noce, assistant group sales manager for Batavia Downs, Mary Bucceri, group sales manager, and Harold McJury.

According to a reader who contacted The Batavian, about a dozen employees at Batavia Downs had complaints about new scent defusers installed at the facility, but according to Mike Nolan, COO for Western OTB, only two employees were seen by doctors.

While the employees complained about the new machines, a connection between their symptoms and the machines hasn't been confirmed, he said.

Also, in response to the e-mail received by The Batavian, Batavia Downs is in compliance with regulations to have on hand material data safety sheets, he said.

Here's the full statement from Nolan:

Within the last week Batavia Downs installed a few scent air machines. They are widely used across the country in retail establishments. 

We did have a couple of employees complain of allergies during the week and went for medical treatment blaming the scent machines, no confirmation they were the source of the ailment at this time.

We do have MSDS sheets on site at the Downs and have offered them to the affected employees for consultation by their physicians.

We discontinued use over the weekend so the vendor can come on site Monday and make adjustments if necessary.

The goal is to create a great environment at our facility for Patrons.

Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation directors this morning approved a resolution to contract with Keeler Construction of Albion to renovate the parking lot of Batavia Downs Gaming on Park Road.

"The parking lot is a go," said Michael Nolan, chief operations officer, referring to approval from the New York State Gaming Commission for the $508,128 project, which is set to begin in early May and be completed by the end of that month.

Nolan advised that the reconstruction and repaving of the parking lot, which currently can handle 1,043 vehicles, will be done in three phases -- with Downs' officials taking steps to minimize any inconvenience to their customers.

"When crews are working in one section, and cars have to be parked further away from the building, we will set up a shuttle service," Nolan said. "We will do everything we can to accommodate patrons while the work is being done."

Scott P. Kiedrowski, vice president of operations, said the contract with Keeler calls for "digging out portions of the lot that are the worst, making sure the drainage is functioning properly, putting a layer over the entire lot and restriping."

"We are driven by the fact that it has reached its age; the time is now for major improvement," he added.

Director Edward Morgan (Orleans County), who has extensive experience in road resurfacing, will be acting as a volunteer liaison for WROTB during the project.

In an unrelated matter, the board has addressed a situation surrounding criminal charges against WROTB President Henry Wojtaszek, who, according to published reports, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge on Wednesday in connection with an ongoing probe into election law violations.

The violation apparently took place in 2012 when Wojtaszek, the former Niagara County GOP chairman, failed to properly file a statement with the NYS Board of Elections.

The investigation has led to indictments against State Senator Rob Ortt and former state senator George Maziarz -- with Ortt's charges involving three counts of offering a false instrument for filing, according to The Buffalo News.

WROTB directors issued a statement supporting Wojtaszek, who was appointed as WROTB president last year. Details of Wojtaszek's plea have yet to be revealed.

The statement reads, in part, that Wojtaszek will pay a fine to receive a "conditional discharge" and that he "fully accepted responsibility" for failing to properly file the document.

"The board supports him, including me, to a man," said Director Richard Siebert (Genesee County). "There is nothing here that will cause him to lose his lawyer's license or his Gaming Commission license."

A phone call to Wojtaszek was not returned at the time of this posting.

In other developments:

-- A summer concert series is scheduled for six Saturdays in June featuring nationally known recording artists who will perform on the track's infield. Although not confirmed, possible acts include Lee Greenwood, Lou Gramm, Eddie Money and Lone Star.

-- Nolan reported that the Gaming Commission also approved plans for a new paddock at Batavia Downs. He said once the bid process is completed, he expects construction to start in June or July.

-- Operational earnings of $111,857 in February represent a $98,000 increase from the same time period last year, Comptroller Jacquelyne Leach said. The track's EZ Bets handle was up 12 percent in February (compared to February 2016) and is up 41 percent this month (compared to March 2016).

-- Racing Director Todd Haight reported that live harness racing will begin on July 26 and run through Dec. 16 for a total of 71 dates. Post times will be 5 p.m. on Wednesdays (except for opening day when it will be 6 p.m.), 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1:15 p.m. on matinees and Sundays.

The track's Family Fun Day, featuring weiner dog races, is set for Sunday, Aug. 27.

-- More than $400,000 in winning or refundable pari-mutuel tickets across the state from 2016 must be cashed by March 31 or that money goes back into NYS coffers, Haight said. About $25,000 of that amount was generated from activity at Batavia Downs or WROTB parlors.

Those holding these tickets can go to a local OTB branch or Batavia Downs to claim their winnings.

Audio and visual fire alarms at Batavia Downs have been set off.

The building has been evacuated.

City fire is on scene, investigating.

Town of Batavia fire responding.

A possible pull station was activated. Investigating.

UPDATE: I thought I updated this earlier: False alarm.