Business Improvement District

This year’s third Annual Beertavia promises to be better than ever. With more than 20 local breweries, this year’s attendees will be greeted with over 50 tastings of local craft brew, cider and mead. Along with delicious beverages, the event will host several food and specialty vendors.

As the Headline Sponsor this year, Alex’s Place will be on site serving up their amazing menu. We are pleased to have with us also this year Batavia’s Original Pizzeria, Yancey’s Fancy, Cheesed and Confused Food truck, Buffalo Brew Fab, The Bavarian Nut Factory, Santiago Cigar Factory, and more!

Tickets are still available at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle, Angotti Beverage and Batavia Bootery until Friday at 5 p.m., and then available at the event. Get your tickets today for Beertavia this Saturday!

The OHMS Band will be performing live and there will be some great raffles! Click here to purchase your tickets now.

The Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District has partnered with The Batavia Ramble this year to bring a summer festival to downtown. Anyone interested in being a vendor, the Business Improvement District is still taking applications until next Friday, June 23rd. Contact Beth Kemp at bkemp@downtownbataviany.com or 585.344.0900.

The Business Improvement District held its annual meeting and awards breakfast this morning at City Church's Generations Hall on Cedar Street, Batavia.

Above, Director Beth Kemp delivers opening remarks.

The Spirit of Downtown Award was given this year to Steve Hawley and his downtown business, The Insurance Center.  Hawley was out of town, so not available to accept the award.

Photos below: Amy Worthington, owner of Amy's Fluffy Friends, and a tireless volunteer for the BID, received one of two volunteer of the year awards. The other went to Corey Wolcott, bottom photo, manager of Angotti's Beverage, for his volunteer work on Beertavia, which is now heading into its third year as a local annual event.

Press release:

The Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District will hold its Annual Meeting & Awards Breakfast on Friday, April 21st
from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. (registration at 8 a.m.). At City Church Generation Center, 15 Center St., Batavia.

Overview of this year’s goals, announcement of newly elected board members, and presentation of “Spirit of Downtown” Awards. It costs $10 to attend. All BID members are invited.

RSVP by Monday, April 17th to the Downtown Batavia BID office at 200 E. Main St., Suite 12, Batavia, NY 14020. For further information contact Beth Kemp at 585-344-0900 or bkemp@DowntownBataviaNY.com.

The Business After Hours gathering for the Chamber of Commerce yesterday was also a celebration of the arrival of a news director for Business Improvement District.

Beth Kemp moved into the BID office more than a month ago and she and her husband, Brian, co-owners of T-Shirts Etc. and both artists, went right to work redecorating the space, so for many of the people attending the event were seeing the bright and attractive revamped space for the first time.

Hundreds of people lined Main Street in Downtown Batavia on Friday night for the Christmas parade that was the highlight of a successful Christmas in the City for 2016.

Many businesses opened their doors for activities and food to celebrate the annual event.

To view photos and purchase prints click here:  steveognibenephotography.com

One of the many floats in the annual parade.

Bradley Winslow, local musician.

10-year-old Ryan Cox getting his face painted sponsored by T-Shirts Etc.

Batavia Concert Band

Students and staff from Batavia City School District singing carols at the Holland Land Office Museum.

Beth Kemp, who has been active in the Downtown business community since she and her husband, Brian Kemp, moved their business, T-Shirts Etc., to East Main Street in 2012, has been named the new executive director of the Business Improvement District.

Kemp replaces Laurie Oltramari, who resigned about two months ago, following a recruitment search by the board of directors that brought in potential job candidates from throughout the region.

Kemp thinks the board recognized her passion and commitment to Downtown.

"I feel there is a lot of potential for our Downtown and I would love the opportunity to bring it to the vision that I see," Kemp said. " I feel the board of directors is moving in the right direction. I think I’m able to collaborate nicely with all the organizations and the city. I have great relationships already established to move things forward."

In order to take the job, Kemp resigned from her director position with the Business Education Alliance.

The move seemed like a natural extension of her longtime involvement with the BID, she said.

"I've actually been in love with our downtown since we moved our small business down here," Kemp said. "I jumped on any opportunity I could take to get on all the committees to help with events to help other small business owners, so it just seemed like a perfect fit for me.  It’s everything that I love to do."

Since moving Downtown, T-Shirt's Etc., which started in the Harvester Center, them moved to the former WBTA building at Main and Harvester, before moving to East Main, has continued to grow and is now located on Center Street.

There's been some tension the past year or two between City Hall and the BID, but Kemp things will be smooth sailing going forward.

"For me personally, I’ve never had any tension or problem dealing with the City on any level," Kemp said. "They’ve always been very willing to help me with any event that we’re coordinating. Any committee I’ve been on, we’ve had great relationships. I don’t see that as being an issue at all."

• There will be horse and buggy rides again this year. Purchase tickets at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle. 
• Home Depot is hosting "Santa's Workshop" at 109 Main St. (The Newberry Building). Stop into the Hillside Children's Center for a craft, cookies and cocoa. 
• T-Shirts Etc. will be hosting a T-shirt coloring contest. The cost is $3 each with all the proceeds going to Don Carroll Toys for Kids. 
• Amy's Fluffy Friends is offering professional Photos with your pets, family and kids, with all proceeds going to charity. 
• Catch a bus to visit the Holland Land Office Museum’s Wonderland of Trees. The bus departs from the Save-A-Lot parking lot. 
• Pollyanna and Dot along with The Hidden Door will be offering a Christmas themed activity for children. They are also offering 15 percent off all full-priced items. 
• Warm up at the YNGodess with an adult only tasting and in store specials. 
• Stop into Art Ah La Carte to make a Christmas Ornament. For $2, children can make an angel ornament. All proceeds will benefit Josh Harloff to help pay medical bills due to battling leukemia.
• The First Presbyterian Church at 300 E. Main St. will be putting together a nativity walk during Christmas in the City. Walk through and view a variety of scenes from around the world and close to home. 
• The Batavia Concert Band will be playing in the mall concourse from 6 to 6:45. 
• Game-On will be having an open play in their new gaming lounge called the Warp Zone. They will have different games set up for kids to play, along with refreshments. 
• GO ART! is hosting the "Celtic Christmas in the City" with the Tullamore Celtic Band, Irish dancers, carolers and refreshments. 
• Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle will be offering Buy 1, Get 1 FREE on bicycle tune –up gift cards! They will also be serving their famous chili. 
• Mane Attraction is offering hair Tinsel at Christmas in the City! $5/ strand... get your holiday hair on!
• Stop in to Charles Men's Shop during Christmas in the City and check out their amazing new styles and holiday specials! 
• Bahama Bay Salon and Spa will be having a basket raffle. Enter to win a basket valued at more than $200, with gift certificates, clothing and more. 
• The Spa at Artemis is offering a special discount for Christmas in the City. Their $80 "Touch of Artemis" package is marked down to $65! 

Facing a reduced budget for the coming year, Laurie Oltramari said she decided that the time was right to reassess her personal goals and submit her resignation as director of the Batavia Downtown Business Improvement District.

Oltramari, speaking publicly today for the first time since informing BID directors last week that she will be leaving effective Oct. 2, said that “after re-evaluating myself and the BID, taking into account a budget that is drastically limited this year, I felt it was the best thing for me to move on.”

Oltramari, a native of Wellsville, took the full-time position a year ago following a four-year stint as the assistant to then-director Don Burkel.

She said she has mixed feelings about resigning – “I really enjoyed meeting everyone downtown and working with the businesses,” she said – but was quick to add that “the time has come to think about myself.”

The downtown taxing jurisdiction’s budget has been scrutinized, of late, primarily by the Batavia City Council, which on Tuesday night passed a local law amending the BID plan to address district assessment charges that exceeded the amount authorized for operations and debt service payments under the General Municipal Law, and adherence to Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Laws.

The city actually is holding onto $49,571 in BID assessment money that has been designated as “excessive.”

Despite these proceedings, Oltramari said that had no effect on her decision.

“It’s more about what I want to do,” she said. “I understand why the BID’s funding had to be downsized, it was by law.”

Oltramari said the BID’s annual budget has decreased from $120,000 to $55,000, and with only 20 percent of that latter amount available for use for operations, “it really puts a constraint on the organization.”

“I figure that my leaving will help a little bit. They won’t have to pay a full-time director, who really won’t be able to do that much.”

She said she suggested to the board that it should hire a part-time director, with a salary considerably less than the “just over $30,000” that she earned.

Oltramari said she is going to “take it slow” before seeking another full-time position. She and her husband, Felipe, director of the Genesee County Department of Planning, have two children who attend Batavia Middle School.

A telephone call to BID Board President Victor Gautieri for comment was not returned. 

City Council is expected to vote tonight on a local law to amend the Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District (BID) plan, a proposed action supported by a six-page report from City Manager Jason Molino and coming on the heels of last week's resignation of BID Executive Director Laurie Oltramari.

The Business session of tonight's City Council meeting at the Council Board Room at City Hall gets under way at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a Conference session.

The city and the BID have been at odds since May when Molino reported that the BID's 2016-17 assessment budget exceeded the General Municipal Law limits for district assessment charges used for operations. Molino also recommended requiring the BID to adhere to Open Meetings and Freedom of Information laws, and to post its bylaws and meeting notices and minutes on its website.

According to Molino's report, the BID -- which includes business property owners located in the downtown section as well as on Ellicott Street -- assessed a levy of $120,000 for 2016-17, an amount that exceeds the authorized amount allowed for operations and debt service payments under the General Municipal Law. As a result, the BID assessment that was levied May 1, 2016 was an additional $49,571 in confilict with the GML and the district plan with no authorized use of additional funds.

The city has made several budget amendments to correct the situation, including holding the additional levy of $49,571 in a trust account until the BID plan could be updated and approved by City Council to include a capital infrastructure project. Molino's report also calls for the BID's Management Association to forward its proposed budget to the City Manager no later than Jan. 15 of each year, subject to review by City Council.

Emails and calls to Oltramari for comment regarding her resignation have yet to be returned. BID President Victor Gautieri confirmed the resignation and said the board would meet in the coming week to decide what to do next. 

Also on tonight's Business agenda:

-- Resolutions to submit applications for a Community Development Block Grant to rehabilitate homes owned by those with low- to low-moderate incomes who occupy the home and a Restore NY grant program that provides up to $50 million for redevelopment projects in urban areas;

-- A resolution to authorize a 2.75-percent hike in Molino's salary, which would increase his annual pay to $93,782.

Laurie Oltramari, executive director of the Batavia Improvement District, turned in her letter of resignation this week.

BID president Victor Gautieri confirmed the resignation and said the board would meet in the coming week to decide what to do next. 

Oltramari led the organization for a year. 

Gautieri declined further comment.

The 2016 summer season of concerts in Jackson Square kicked off Friday night with performances by St. Joe's of Batavia Brass Ensemble (its 85th Reunion) and the Mighty St. Joe's Alumni Corps (with an interlude covering the history of the bugle, featuring members of the ensemble).

Officials are being coy with details, but the city and the Business Improvement District are apparently close to a negotiated agreement that will end a bit of a dispute over some operational issues. 

The turning point apparently came at a meeting Friday involving City Manager Jason Molino, City Attorney George Van Nest and an attorney for the BID who, up to this point, hadn't been involved in the situation.

Laurence Rubin, of Kavinoky & Cook, LLP, in Buffalo, was at Monday's City Council meeting, where Molino informed council members that progress had been made and an agreement should be forthcoming.

A public hearing on a proposed change to local law that would have affected the BID's district plan as well as required the BID board to abide by the State's Open Meeting Law and Freedom of Information Law was held, but there were no speakers.

Both Molino and Rubin sidestepped questions about the sunshine law requirements.

"We have an agreement in principle on the substantive issues," Rubin said. "I don’t want to get into the details and give you a long law school lecture, which I’m sure you don’t want to get into now, but in terms of the principles of transparency and timelines, I think there’s agreement."

Molino said, "I think both the City and the BID board are interested in the issues of transparency and that the public having access to board decisions and board meetings as well as how decisions are being made."

Rubin said he is an expert in the area of special districts and business improvement districts and General Municipal Law (GML).  

Asked if he was aware of any districts that were required to abide specifically by the sunshine laws, he said he didn't know of any, but that such districts and boards are generally open and transparent.

"I think government and the public and taxpayers do want to see transparency and I think there is a common theme about that," Rubin said. "Again, I don’t want to get into a law school lecture. The Freedom of Information Law or the Open Meetings Law, per se, is not really the issue. The issue is should there be transparency and there is absolute agreement on both sides that there should be."

At no point, has there been any specific allegation that the BID or the BID board has been anything less than transparent, but Molino raised the idea few weeks ago that to ensure transparency, the city should require the BID to abide by the sunshine laws.

In a memo to BID members last week -- property and business owners within the downtown district -- Executive Director Laurie Oltramari said the BID board objected to the sunshine law requirement not because the BID isn't transparent, but as a matter of legal precedent and principle. 

"The BID board is opposed to the City of Batavia adopting a local law imposing such as it conflicts with state law and our meetings are already open to the BID membership," Oltramari said. "For the City to implement such is creating new law for the City of Batavia, setting new precedent within NY State and discriminating against a not-for-profit corporation."

The dust-up between the city and the BID began a few weeks ago when Molino required the BID board to cut its budget to better comply with General Municipal Law, which Molino said the BID's budget had skirted for the past few years.

The BID's assessment, which is the basis for the BID's budget, is set by the city and while Molino said he has raised the issue with the BID in previous years, this year he said the city would correct the assessment to comply with GML.

Rubin repeatedly said that in his role as legal counsel for the BID on this issue, he didn't want to look back and concentrate on past history.

"We had a very positive discussion with the city administrator and the city attorney," Rubin said. "We talked about substantive issues. We set aside the history and whatever conversations may have been and we just talked about the statute and the proposed revisions to the local law. It was very constructive. I can’t really speak to what happened in the past, but going forward seems to be very constructive and very productive."

Press release:

Starting this Friday, July 1st, the Jackson Square Concert Series is set to begin with St. Joe’s of Batavia Brass Ensemble as a celebration of their 85^th Reunion. Concerts are in Jackson Square every Friday through August from 7-9 p.m. If you’d like to attend, be sure to bring a chair to relax or bring your dancing feet for some great fun Downtown.

Bands are booked by the BID Executive Director Laurie Oltramari. Many people ask how bands are chosen. Price and sponsorship are always factors. However, last year, the new director had a table at every concert to ask people what bands they like and if they wanted any new. She asked on the radio, walked around to several businesses, asked her board members, and asked on Facebook. And of course, bands contact her at the beginning of the year to see who will be chosen. Bands were booked based on price, availability, genre, and returning bands vs. new bands.

“I tried to mix it up, and of course, you cannot please everyone," she said. "We are especially grateful for M&T Bank as always being the title sponsor to bring such a wonderful event Downtown.” 

The lineup for this year:

Friday, July 1st -- St. Joe's of Batavia Brass Ensemble (85th Reunion)
Friday, July 8th -- Fat City (Soft Rock)
Friday, July 15th -- Ghost Riders (Country)
Friday, July 22nd -- Universal Mind (Rock)
Friday, July 29th -- The Fibs (Rock/Reggae/Funk)
Friday, Aug. 5th -- Stone Row (Celtic Rock)
Friday, Aug.12th -- Midnight Cruisers (Rock)
Friday, Aug. 19th -- It's My Party ('50s and '60s)
Friday, Aug. 26th -- Josie Waverly Band (Country)

For any questions or concerns, please contact Laurie Oltramari at (585) 344-0900 or email LOltramari@DowntownBataviaNY.com.

Members of the Batavia Improvement District were informed yesterday in a memo from Executive Director Laurie Oltramari, that the BID Board of Directors has voted to oppose a plan to change the rules for how the BID operates.

City Manager Jason Molino has proposed to City Council that the city adopt a district plan for the BID, which in the past has been drafted by the BID board and then approved by the council, and require that BID comply with the state's Freedom of Information Law and Open Meetings Law.

Oltramari said the BID has already turned in a budget for 2016 that is compliant with the state's General Municipal Law.  

The whole issue of the BID's budget is what precipitated the city's recent actions, but Oltramari told BID members that it was the responsibility of the city manager to ensure property owners in the Downtown tax district were charged the appropriate tax rate, not the BID's.

"The City wants to implement compliance of the debt limits within the General Municipal Law, something that has been known to the City Manager for several years," Oltramari said in her memo to members. "In addition, the City levied the 2016 assessment knowing that there was a compliance issue, collected the BID assessment, and is retained the funds without any authority to withhold funds that are due and owing to the BID."

BID members are people who either own property in the Downtown district or operate businesses in the district.

Oltramari invited BID members to visit her office at 200 E. Main St., Batavia, on Monday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to discuss these issues, or to make an appointment with her for a conversation.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the city's proposed changes at 7 p.m., Monday.

The proposal would also require the BID to comply with the state's open government law, but Oltramari said director's meetings are already transparent and open for its members.

"The BID board is opposed to the City of Batavia adopting a local law imposing such as it conflicts with state law and our meetings are already open to the BID membership," Oltramari said. "For the City to implement such is creating new law for the City of Batavia, setting new precedent within NY State and discriminating against a not-for-profit corporation."

Beer, sun and fun at Beertavia today.

The new public market -- a merger of the Business Improvement District's public market and the Genesee County Farmers' Market -- opened at Bank Street and Alva Place today.

A new vendor this year is Big Bossman's BBQ, run by Anthony Person, of Lockport.

Person said his family has a long tradition in the food business, and after his mother died recently, he wanted to keep the tradition going.

Fighting back tears, Pearson told WBTA's Alex Feig that he was president of his mother's company, Mrs. Ribs, but after she died, he didn't want to trade on her name, so he bought his own truck and called it Big Bossman's, a name his parents used for their first restaurant, which they ran out of their home.

The recipes have been handed down generation after generation in his family, from mother to mother to mother, going back to the family's days as slaves in the South. 

He was pleased to get invited to be a vendor in Batavia, he said.

"I’m a small businessman just trying to make an honest living just like anybody else, always looking for a way to expand my market, sell my product in new areas, and Batavia, I’ve always wanted to come this way and the Farmers' Market offered me a chance to showcase my cuisine," he said.

The market will be open for business from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and will run through Oct. 28, weather permitting.

Press release:

The Batavia Business Improvement District (BID) is pleased to host the Second Annual Beertavia Craft Beer Festival, with major sponsorship by Alex’s Place, on Saturday, June 18th from 3-6 p.m. in the Bank & Alva parking lot (27 Bank St.) in Downtown Batavia.

Advanced purchase tickets are $10 for designated drivers (must be 21 to enter festival), $25 for regular admission and $35 for VIPs. (Tickets on the day of increase to $30 and $40, respectively.) All designated drivers receive complimentary drink and food. A regular ticket holder receives a sampler 5 oz. glass. VIPs receive a 16 oz. pint glass and earlier admission at 2 p.m.

Sixteen breweries will be on hand to serve samples of their craft creations including 42 North Brewing, 810 Meadworks, Abandon Brewing, Amber Lantern Brewing, Bandwagon Brewery, Big Ditch Brewing Co., Community Beer Works, CB Craft Brewers, Ellicottville, Four Mile Brewing, Hamburg Brewing, Ommegang, Resurgence, RG Brewery, Rohrbach Brewing Co., and Southern Tier Brewing Company.

In addition to the breweries, the festival will have a temporary parklet/ biergarten; food from Alex’s Place and other local vendors, and music provided by The Bluesy Band. All persons must be 21 to enter the festival.

After a City Council meeting where City Manager Jason Molino outlined his recommendations for city oversight of the Business Improvement District, the BID's Executive Director Laurie Oltramari told reporters that the BID is almost out of money because the city hasn't turned over the funds it is contractually obligated to release by May 1.

"Even though we're trying to be friendly, we feel like our funds are being held hostage," Oltramari said.

Reached later in the night, Molino said the only hold up with releasing the funds is a lack of a properly amended budget from BID that complies with the state's General Municipal Law.

"The city fully understands they need those funds to operate and will release those funds once the BID budget can be amended," Molino said. "Once compliance is achieved with the law and the budget is properly amended, then we will release those funds."

Oltramari said the BID can operate for about one more month with current reserves. If funds from the city aren't received by then, it would need to suspend operations until the money is released.

Earlier this year, Molino notified the BID that over the past several years the city's assessment of downtown properties to provide funding to the BID has not been in compliance with the law. Molino said he had previously brought this issue to the attention of the BID before Oltramari became director, and it was never addressed. This year, he's holding up the funds until the budget reflects the law's restrictions.

The law limits the BID assessment from exceeding 20 percent of the total levy for the properties in the district, plus an additional amount for repayment of bonds secured to pay for public improvements in the BID zone.  

There was a bond issued in 1999 for public improvements, such as new street lighting, and as those bonds have been paid off, the annual debt expense for the BID has decreased, but through all that time, the assessment hasn't been reduced to reflect the lower debt payments.

As a result, the BID has a capital improvement account with $216,000.

It would be logistically difficult to return those funds to downtown property owners since the amounts vary annually and many properties have changed hands over the years.

Molino is proposing that the $216,000 be held until the BID's next capital improvement project, which raises another point of contention for Oltramari.

Molino is proposing such a plan be developed with consultants and city officials. Oltramari said the BID should lead any effort to identify and plan for capital improvements using those funds since they were raised on behalf of the BID.

Since 2005, the BID has been receiving a flat $120,000 from the city for debt repayment and operational costs, which Oltramari admits she always found strange because it was always the same without any variance for a cost of living adjustments.

"We have gone above it (the GML limit) in order to continue operations because property values are so low in Batavia," Oltramari said.

Under the terms of the GML, the BID's budget for this year is being reduced to $55,000 for operations and $15,000 for debt service, which is the last debt payment from the 1999 bonds. 

That's a severe cut in operational expenses, Oltramari said. In addition to canceling Summer in the City, Oltramari doubts she will be able to keep her assistant on payroll and the BID is looking for new, lower-cost office space downtown.

The current office is on the second floor of the Masonic Temple building at Main and Center streets.

Molino's recommendations provided to the City Council last night include:

• Ensuring the BID amends its budget to comply with the General Municipal Law;
• Identify commingled funds that need to be separated from the BID account, which includes capital improvement funds, operational funds and money generated by BID events;
• Ensure the City Council adopts the proper local laws each year for governance of the BID;
• As part of the local law amendments, require that the BID's board of directors comply with the state's open meetings law and freedom of information law;
• Require the BID to update its district plan in cooperation with residents, businesses within the BID and the city to ensure future budgets and excess capital funds are used in a manner that best represent the business and property owners needs to achieve the organizational mission.

Oltramari thinks there is some overreach by the city in these recommendations.

First, BID board meetings are open to the public, though they're not announced on the BID's Web site, Oltramari said, and approved budgets are available to the public.

The district plan is essentially a business plan and Oltramari contends that's entirely the purview of the BID's board.

"The role of the city is to figure out the assessment and what the BID gets and to assign people to our board, that's about it," Oltramari said. "From there, it is our money to spend, and if we spend it wrong, then it's up to the state comptroller say, 'slap on the hand to you.' "