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Some of the circumstances are different, but Genesee County could be like Jackson, Mississippi if upgrades aren’t made.

Things might not be as harsh as the southern state is experiencing, but it’s a worthwhile scenario to keep in mind, county Highway Superintendent and Engineer Tim Hens says.

Hens shared that perspective with county legislators during a meeting Wednesday. He reviewed the last pieces remaining for the second phase of the county’s water project that began three years ago.

“This is the last significant piece of Phase Two required to get the full expanded capacity that we anticipated long ago,” Hens said. “And with the continuing supply chain disruptions and labor shortages and equipment delays, and everything that you can imagine under the sun in a post-pandemic world, every day and week that we can grab onto the schedule to advance these projects is much appreciated.”

He laid out two bids each for general construction and electrical work within this phase, selecting C.P. Ward, at $4.17 million for existing pump station upgrades, and electrical construction work to Concord Electric Corp. for $2.2 million, for a combined total of $6.35 million for the project. That is “a staggering double” figure to what pumping station upgrades would have been pre-COVID, he said.

“That’s obviously a significant pill to swallow,” he said.

The county received a $1.23 million grant, which isn’t nearly enough for that $6.35 total, and other options considered were to apply for another grant, or rescind the one received and go for a larger amount, plus obtaining a loan. The risky part of rejecting that grant money already in hand is that the county might not receive that larger request, he said, and the county cannot apply for a second grant on the same project.

Assistant County Engineer Justin Gerace was talking with New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation on Wednesday to learn how to go about applying for funding that is available through that state agency specifically for water, and he will be working on applying for a $2.7 million low-interest loan, Hens said.

“So Justin's already diving deep with the EFC on how to apply for that and when to apply for that,” Hens said.

That would alleviate the county from having to come up with that cash right now, he said.

Why such an overage from what was originally calculated, Legislator Marianne Clattenburg asked. It was a number of issues, including overly busy contractors, inflation, and supply chain and labor shortages, Hens said. Other than those reasons, “nothing substantially changed … nothing that significantly increased the cost.”

“It's probably the worst time to try and build anything,” he said.

Legislators — somewhat begrudgingly — agreed that it shouldn’t be put off any longer. Legislator John Deleo suggested that “kicking this can down the road” wasn’t a tactic that will accomplish anything. Fellow Legislator Gary Maha agreed.

“I don’t think we have any choice but to keep going,” Maha said.

The group unanimously approved:

• A construction contract as specified in the bid documents for the existing pump station upgrades – General Construction — to C.P. Ward, Inc., 100 West River Rd, Scottsville, for a total amount not to exceed $4,166,000.
• A construction contract as specified in the bid documents for the existing pump station upgrades – Electrical Construction — to Concord Electric Corporation, 305 Pinewild Drive, Suite 4, Rochester, for a total amount not to exceed $2,185,000.

The total cost of both contracts is $6,351,000 and will be funded from the bonds issued by Monroe County Water Authority for the Phase 2 construction and grants secured by the county under the IMG program offered by the state Environmental Facilities Corporation.

As for the turnaround time, Hens said “realistically,” completion would be around the end of 2023 into 2024.

“It’s going to be a long project,” he said.

If the work isn’t done, however, Genesee County could be looking at — instead of close calls during hot, dry summers — actually running out of water due to the pumping stations’ current production abilities, he said. Poor infrastructure and lack of upkeep has led citizens of Jackson, Miss., into a dire situation with no drinkable water, and although that’s due to the actual quality of water due to flooding, it’s a lesson to be learned, he said.

“So for the last three years, we've been kind of maxed out on our water supply. And then the few hot dry days we get in the summertime, we're tapped out, we don't really have a lot of water to go around,” he said. “So the last couple of summers we have been asking people to save water, not water their lawns, not fill their pools. It usually ends up being like two or three weeks of summer. But until these pumping stations are completed, we're gonna have the same thing happen again in 2023.”

The problem with a continuous message to conserve water use, he said, is that people eventually tend to ignore it. He becomes “the boy who cried wolf,” since there hasn't been an actual water shortage that they can see. Hens argues that it’s because of the messages and cooperation from at least some folks to conserve, that the well has not run dry, so to speak.

“We have a water supply in Genesee County, it’s just that we're using everything that we produce. Okay, so this phase two project that we've been working on since 2019, is designed to increase our supply from Monroe County. So it's basically bringing another two and a half million gallons a day into Genesee County from farther away," he said. "So these pump stations are the last piece of the puzzle to get that water here. Once these four projects are done again, which will be a year, year and a half away, we won't have to do the emergency water restrictions every summer, hopefully, for a while.”

Photo: Genesee County Highway Superintendent and Engineer Tim Hens answers questions from The Batavian in the lobby of the Old Courthouse after a meeting with the county Legislature. Photo by Joanne Beck.

It's coming down to the wire at Wolcott Street School, as several items in the district's $12.1 million capital improvement project are not yet completed and students are set to return in less than a week.

Superintendent Merritt Holly isn't too worried about all of the important things to be done before students return on Wednesday. Although he can pick up the phone for a contractor, he's not ready to pick up a hammer himself, he said.

"It would be worse for everybody," he told the Board of Education during Monday's meeting.

The contractor has had to deal with a shortage of workers, Holly said. For example, there's been one guy to lay all the tile in the remodeled bathrooms next to the gym.

"When you have one laborer doing tile, what more can you do?" Holly said. "Probably they'll tell you how lucky, you got one laborer. He was darn good at laying tile but he's one person."

The main thing with the bathrooms is having the partitions in place, and nobody expects a problem with completing that task on time. But even so, with one bathroom ready to go, that's all that is needed for the first day of school, he said.

The gym floor has been stripped and refinished but needs to be sealed before the first modified volleyball practice next week.

There are ceiling tiles to be put in place and general clean-up to finish yet, as well.

"Now we're down to four cleaning days left before kids are in the building, inside of classrooms," Holly said. "It's the responsibility the contractor to clean, and then we come in, check it to make sure it's up to standards, and then we finish it off."

As for the parking lot, it was supposed to be resurfaced on Monday. 

"They were here today and were ready to go," Holly said. "Then the rain came and they were gone."

Before the parking lot is ready, it needs to be resurfaced and striped.  The backup plan is to have staff park on the grass off Stanley Place.

As for how the contractors feel about the looming deadline, "they're saying they're not stressed at all," Holly said.

Top photo: Superintendent Merritt Holly and some members of the Board of Education in the hallway outside the Wolcott Street School gym explaining that eventually a mural will be painted along the wall that will tell the story of schools in Le Roy, starting with a one-room school house.

Photos by Howard Owens.

One of the bathrooms next to the gym has partitions in place.

The other one doesn't. Yet.

One of the gym equipment storage rooms on the second floor of the gym wing of the building.

The refinished gym floor still needs to be sealed.

The tile is down in one of the locker rooms on the second floor of the gym wing.

In the hallway outside the Memorial Auditorium, a new TV monitor will share school information and student accomplishments. 

It seemed like a good day for fishing to Ron Beback, of Depew.

Beback was in town because he runs some horses at Batavia Downs.

He went to Horseshoe Lake first but the white caps on the water looked rough so he decided to switch plans and go to the DeWitt Recreation Area.

As he was unloading his gear at the shoreline, he saw a woman in a kayak.  On his next trip back, he noticed that the kayak had flipped over.

"The gentleman that was with her was yelling over to me, 'she's flipped over; can you go out to get her? Can you go out to get her,' and I was like, sure, let me get my life preserver on, so I ran up to my truck and got my life preserver."

By the time Beback reached her, she was tired, he said.  She was swimming against the wind, making no progress, and her life vest was slipping up over her head.

"I told her to hold onto the kayak and I'll paddle you over to the shoreline," he said.

He guided her to the island in the middle of DeWitt Pond.

Soon, City Fire and members of the Water Rescue Team arrived on scene and helped her back to the west side of the pond, where she was evaluated by medics.  She had no injuries, according to Batavia PD Assistant Chief Christopher Camp.

Camp said the wind had caused her kayak to overturn.

Photos by Howard Owens

Previously: City rescue crews investigating report of kayaker in water at DeWitt

Recent changes to the parameters of the federally funded offender reentry program are widening the path for formerly incarcerated individuals to receive services as they return to society.

Trisha Allen, (photo at right), coordinator of the reentry program at Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, said those changes include reducing the length of a person’s jail or prison sentence (actual time served) from three to two months.

“Previously, we were only allowed to support people who had been incarcerated at least three months – or were on a one-month or greater parole violation,” Allen said.

GCASA has a reentry residence for up to five men in the City of Batavia and a separate reentry home for up to three women in the Town of Batavia. Potential participants must be at least 18 years old.

Allen also reported that the geographic area for those to access GCASA’s program has been expanded from Genesee and Orleans counties to Livingston, Wyoming and other neighboring counties.

Started about three years ago, GCASA’s Reentry Program has provided numerous services to around 60 people, taking a “person-centered peer approach,” Allen said.

“We focus on the participant’s self-identified needs, goals, preferences and strengths, which means that each person’s process and experience may look different,” she explained. “Typically, we offer housing from three to six months.”

Allen emphasized that the goal of the program is to expand substance use disorder treatment, recovery and reentry services for sentenced adult ex-offenders with SUD, who are returning to their families and community following their incarceration.

She added that sex offenders and convicted arsonists are not eligible for reentry housing, but GCASA does support those individuals through other programs while living in the community.

With the program primarily funded by a grant through the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, services are free to participants. Health insurance is billed when allowable for healthcare.

After establishing eligibility and concluding the intake process, men and women immediately are moved into housing, whether it be at GCASA’s facilities or at emergency housing provided by the Department of Social Services or more permanent housing.

The list of services provided include applying for benefits at DSS if needed, securing food, applying for health insurance, setting and attending a substance use disorder assessment appointment, obtaining identification if needed, setting physical and/or mental health appointments, and discussion a plan for education, employment, income, family and other priorities.

“It’s important to point out that we also provide case management on a 1-to-1 basis and 24-hour peer recovery support,” Allen said. “Beyond that, participants have access to all of GCASA’s counseling, treatment and recovery services – including rapid access to Medication Assisted Treatment, Medication for Opioid Use Disorder, detoxification, residential, inpatient referrals and The Recovery Station (social programs).”

Reentry programs, for many years a part of the state’s Department of Corrections operations, have become popular throughout New York as a service of nonprofit, religious, for-profit and governmental agencies.

At GCASA. Allen’s staff consists of case managers Jason Rolle and Erin Cornell and assistants Chester Shivers and Taylor Peck.

“We’re constantly looking to make connections with the local jails and prisons and have been working with the parole and probation offices and DSS since the program’s inception,” Allen noted. “WE just started a peer-run support group at the Orleans County Jail on Fridays.”

Allen said that GCASA has openings at both the men’s and women’s residences. Referrals to the program can be made by contacting her at tallen@gcasa.org or 585-813-6570.

Disclosure: Mike Pettinella is the publicist for GCASA.

Editor's note: This is the third part of a series about the new staff at Crossroads House in Batavia, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in January.

Out of all the physical, hands-on training hours that Ashley Manuel conducts for new volunteers, they aren’t usually the most difficult part of the job.

“It’s the emotional,” Manuel said at the Crossroads House training site on East Main Street, Batavia. “I think the physical becomes secondhand. Probably the number one question is, ‘how do I act?’ Sometimes there’s no right thing to say. Yea, the emotional is hard.”

As volunteer coordinator for the nonprofit comfort care home on Liberty Street, the 33-year-old knows how to run through the drills: rolling residents over as needed; properly using an Ergo Nurse to pull them up the bed toward their pillows; and how to use a bedpan, empty a catheter container and swab the mouth.

As for those emotional moments when talking with patients and their family members, feeling the knee-jerk response of tears welling up, and feeling sadness, those aren’t quite so easy to navigate, she said. After all, the people at Crossroads House are usually at the end of their lives. They are called residents, and they’re people with thoughts, feelings, questions, fears, and sometimes unresolved family issues. In other words, they’re human.

“You fall in love with these people,” Manuel of Batavia said. “You sympathize, but it’s hard to rewire … I think it’s our innate nature to want to feed and take care of someone.”

Manuel has been learning her way through the house, as a volunteer, overnight aide and, as of June, volunteer coordinator. She became familiar with Crossroads when her grandmother stayed there in 2016. She saw firsthand what a “good death” can be: filled with the smell of home cooking, the sounds of her four children running around and playing, and a sense of peace in the air.

“Death is inevitable; why not make it a good one?” she said. “It feels more like family (at Crossroads).”

She has been recruiting via social media, a Bring a Buddy program for current volunteers and giving talks during church coffee hours. Of all of those techniques, it often comes down to word of mouth, she said. People just like her who experienced the house firsthand often come back to volunteer. There's always a need for more, she said, and there are many tasks to do besides hands-on care of residents, such as housekeeping, office work, gardening, raking leaves and shoveling snow.

As a volunteer, she was giving of herself, though it didn’t quite feel that way.

“I think I have a caregiver’s heart. I feel I get more out of it than the resident does,” Manuel said. “It’s humbling that they’ll let you take care of them, it’s very sweet.”

People looking at their final days often fall into similar patterns, she said. They will stop eating solid foods, and shift to liquids, popsicles or ice cream — “We eat a lot of ice cream,” she said. “And it kind of dwindles down.”

It isn’t always the resident who becomes most distressed about that regression from life, but the family, she said. Those innate desires to feed and nourish a loved one can be really strong, and it may become more difficult to acknowledge the truth. That’s all part of the education about what happens when the loved one does begin to move away from life-affirming activities, she said.

Taught by Crossroads founder Kathy Panepento, Manuel feels as though she was taught to fish. She has become more confident in her own abilities through Panepento’s experienced advice and now carries that onward to help others, Manuel said.

During family meetings, volunteers emphasize not to push anything on a resident, and that it’s OK to let the process happen. At that point, family members often display a visible sign of recognition, she said.

“That’s when you start to see the demeanor of the family change,” Manuel said. “They’re like ‘wow, this is real … this is happening.’”

She believes that pushing food on someone who is dying is an unnecessary weight, literally and figuratively.

“Food weighs us down,” she said. “The soul is trying to leave the disease.”

Part of the family educational piece is to encourage members to talk — about the good times and the bad times, she said. There are no rules, and there may be issues to deal with, talk about, and ideally resolve. It’s a vastly different atmosphere than a sterile hospital with doctors, IV tubes and machines, and Manuel encourages visitors to act normally, laugh, joke, cry, and get in bed alongside a loved one if prompted to do so. This is an opportunity for families to heal. 

“Every family has their (stuff), get it off your chest,” she said.

All of what Manuel has soaked up will be wrung out for new volunteers to absorb. She feels fortunate to have the training house rental (a former rectory of St. James Episcopal Church) to conduct group and one-on-one training for all of the needs likely to come up at the actual site. She shows a movie about dying, discusses the origins of Crossroads and makes everyone do what they’re asked to do for residents — sit on a bedpan, run a swab around their mouths, use an oximeter, a gait belt, a denture kit, medicated bandages, Ergo Nurse and be rolled over in bed.

Those lessons definitely involve how to physically perform each exercise, however, Manuel also wants them to grasp the importance of being gentle and maintaining each resident’s dignity throughout the course of his or her stay. And of course, there’s the emotional part.

“I always have the tissues out when we watch the movie,” she said.  “We love our volunteers, they do so much. Someone asked me ‘are we allowed to cry?’ Yes. I’ve sat and cried with many families."

Crossroads House Volunteer Coordinator Ashley Manuel shows some of the items that volunteers learn to use during training at the training home on East Main Street; the home is fully equipped with training materials, supplies, equipment and a bed for ample practice. Photos by Joanne Beck.

City school board members went back to school Monday evening.

They took a tour of the work-in-progress at Robert Morris — closed a decade ago as an elementary site — which will now be operating in full force this year for pre-school and universal pre-kindergarten students after a $225,000 investment so far.

“Pre-school numbers have almost doubled,” Superintendent Jason Smith said during a presentation before the tour. “We had a hard time finding programs to service these students.”

A Little History
District officials decided to close Robert Morris Elementary School in 2012 after it was deemed a savings measure and more efficient to consolidate and students and teachers at to Jackson Primary and John Kennedy Intermediate. The building was used either for district needs (public relations, information technology), or rented out to various organizations, including BOCES, a daycare, 56 Harvester Center, and Arc.

Pre-school numbers began to rise, and the need for space rose with them, Smith said. That resulted in rethinking the use of Robert Morris. After receiving comments that Jackson Primary was getting pretty tight due to increased enrollments, the district bumped up first grade’s eight sections to 10, which then created a need for additional space at Jackson. Four UPK sections are therefore being moved to Robert Morris.

Current Times
Using state funding and grant monies, the new offerings have shifted the physical and philosophical layout of Robert Morris at the corner of Union Street and Richmond Avenue. As Trisha Finnigan, executive director of staff development and operations, said, “we’re using every nook and cranny” of the three-floor building to make the best use of all areas.

The main entrance will be on the east side of the school next to the parking lot, and children will exit on the opposite side at a bus loop. Classrooms are being reconfigured, including a former library, and Community Schools hours will align with the presence of security aides.

There will be five classes to support a total of 64 students in preschool for preschoolers with disabilities who will receive services in a self-contained setting and an integrated classroom with general education students. These students can be three years old for the entire school year and require more intensive interventions through special education.

Board member Alice Benedict asked Finnigan if they’ve considered labeling it something other than preschool since it is so similar to UPK ages.

“We try to be very cognizant of calling it a special education program because there are those two school classrooms also that have general education students, so we don't want people to think that they'd be getting something different than other classrooms,” Finnigan said. “And we'd like to be inclusive when we talk about what we're doing. So it is kind of nice to know that they're not just here alone. Right? They may have been if we hadn’t done this.”

A UPK grant of $672,719 funds up to 112 students — 72 full-day and 40 half-day slots. The district has a waiting list for parents that want full days for their children, and “we are applying for an expansion grant that would convert half-day slots to a full-day slot,” Smith said.

The district is working with Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties to support the regional need for preschool students, and there are 28 enrolled in special education at Robert Morris.

A current Student Transition And Recovery (STAR) program has been moved to the third floor, and the cafeteria has been reopened and prepped to provide meals in classrooms and cafeteria style, Smith said. There has been deep cleaning of the kitchen and cafeteria space, a review of the status of equipment and electrical/plumbing infrastructures, and purchases or upgrades of necessary equipment and supplies.

New staff includes four UPK, seven preschool teachers and 11 teacher aides, plus related service providers for occupational, speech and physical therapies; school resource officer, nurse, administrative, custodial and security aide support. The board approved those new positions during Monday’s regular meeting as part of a long list of additional staff for elementary, middle and high schools.

Security aides, many of whom are retired police officers, are throughout the district for extra safety measures, Smith said. They will provide 15 hours a week at Robert Morris, plus the presence of a school resource officer.

Cost of Change
To date, the district has spent $225,000 to get RM up and running, Business Administrator Scott Rozanski said.

Within that total:

• $93,000 will be funded by a UPK grant for classroom furniture and interactive boards;
• $20,000 to be funded by a School Lunch Fund for a dishwasher, garbage disposal, refrigerator and various carts; and
• $112,000 from the General Fund for carpeting, cabling, a copier, classroom furniture, desks, chairs, intercom, dehumidifier, public address system and emergency lighting upgrades. 

Registration has been moved from the Robert Morris site to the high school administrative wing to reduce foot traffic, and an administrative office will be available on site near the UPK entrance.

Other work performed has included upgraded cabling, interactive boards, cleaning out storage areas, and transferring viable furniture from Jackson to Robert Morris. Walls have been patched, painted and/or repaired in class and bathrooms, carpeting has been replaced, air and asbestos tests conducted in the basement and library, a new intercom and telephone lines installed, and assorted repairs made to vents, plumbing fixtures, and electrical components and new water lines added as needed.

The first day of school is Sept. 7 for all students.

Top photo: City school board member Alice Benedict, left, Superintendent Jason Smith, and board members John Reigle, Jenn Lendvay and Korinne Anderson begin their tour at the east entrance of Robert Morris Monday evening. Trisha Finnigan, executive director of staff development and operations, walks the group through several pre-school and UPK classrooms, and an integrated services room for occupational, speech and physical therapy, shown, as Board President John Marucci takes a peek over a makeshift wall. Photos by Joanne Beck.

 

Justice Coniglio

Justice Coniglio expressed a little surprise after Judge Melissa Lightcap Cianfrini sentenced him to seven years in prison on an assault conviction.

His understanding from his previous court appearance was that if he followed the judge's orders between the time of his guilty plea and his sentencing, he would get a reduced sentence.

That didn't happen and he wanted to know why.

Cianfrini indicated that wasn't how she remembered the previous appearance but called a recess so the transcript of the prior hearing could be reviewed.

It appears Coniglio misunderstood the judge's instructions.  

Coniglio's plea deal was for his sentences on assault and grand theft to run concurrently if he made his court appearances and stayed out of trouble.  If he didn't, then the sentences could run consecutively. 

In June, Coniglio entered a guilty plea to assault stemming from a July 23 incident on Bloomingdale Road in Basom where law enforcement came to his residence to arrest his brother Jarrett Coniglio for allegedly hitting a neighbor over the head with a bottle.  A scuffle ensued and a police officer was bitten by a K-9.

Defense Attorney Jeremy Schwartz said his client has a drinking problem and that he had been drinking that day.  The police officer who was there to arrest Jarrett, he said, wasn't dressed in a police officer's uniform. In Coniglio's drunken state, he said, he didn't understand the man was there lawfully to arrest his brother.

"I don't think he intended at all to stop an arrest," Schwartz said. "In his intoxicated state, he probably thought he was doing the right thing."

He said his client now recognizes that he was wrong.

That explanation didn't persuade Cianfrini to give Coniglio a lighter sentence.  She told him he was going to prison for seven years on the assault charge.

On the grand theft charge, regarding a vehicle that was reported stolen after it was involved in a fatal collision on Dec. 1 in Erie County, Cianfrini sentenced Coniglio to three to seven years in prison, to run concurrently with the assault term.

In the fatal accident in Erie County, Coniglio has admitted to vehicular manslaughter and will be sentenced in Erie County on Sept. 9.  That is a possible prison term of six to 12 years. Coniglio is accused of having a BAC of .18 percent or greater at the time of the accident.

Wesley Thigpen

A man who admitted to child sex abuse in 2019 only to face new sex abuse charges two years later, came into Genesee County Court today expecting to be told he would spend at least another 10 years in prison, not, potentially, the rest of his life.

But a life sentence is now a real possibility after Judge Melissa Lightcap Cianfrini rejected the guilty plea of Wesley N. Thigpen from last May, which came with a 13-year sentence cap as part of the plea deal.

Cianfrini decided to reject the previous plea agreement after receiving numerous letters from family members of a victim, and law enforcement expressing dismay at what seemed to them an inappropriate sentence.

The judge said she also reviewed the pre-sentence report by the Probation Department and found it "woefully inadequate." 

So she asked Assistant District Attorney Joseph Robinson if he had a new plea offer, and Robinson did.

Thigpen is being given time to consider an offer of a guilty plea to predatory sexual assault against a child, a Class A-II felony, with a sentence of 10 years to life.

If he rejects the offer, his case will go to trial on Feb. 4.  He has until 11 a.m., Oct. 3 to decide.

In January, Thigpen was indicted by a Genesee County Grand Jury on four counts of predatory sexual assault against a child. 

The indictment accused him of engaging in oral sexual conduct with a person less than 13 years old while he was at least 18 years old or older between the dates of June 1, 2014, and Aug. 31, 2014. He is accused of engaging in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a child less than 13 years old over a period of time not less than three months.  He is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with a person less than 13 years old.

In September 2019, Thigpen entered a guilty plea to a child sex abuse charge with a four-year prison term agreement.  He entered the plea on an "Alford basis," meaning that he believed a jury would convict him based on the evidence that would be presented at the trial but not admitting that he actually committed the crime.  He accused the child witness of lying.

Cianfrini was first assistant district attorney at the time and prosecuted the case.

Batavia City Schools issued a letter this morning to parents regarding respectful etiquette and the use of security measures for football games -- including wand checks, a new security service and an age limit for attending without an adult -- at Van Detta Stadium.

The Board of Education had approved hiring Armor Security earlier this year. 

The fee is $29 an hour per guard at about five hours each, Superintendent Jason Smith said. That’s about $580 per game, or $2,900 for five games.

You can attribute at least some of the need for this to the Batavia Blue Devils’ track record, Smith said at the time of the board's vote in May. 

“That’s for special events, home football games. We’re drawing 1,000 people or more at those games,” he said to The Batavian. “With a successful team, you draw more people.”

Another change is a $2 admission fee for all varsity football games. Students and seniors 62 and older will get in for free.

The letter addressed to district families is below:

As the 2022-23 school year is upon us, we are excited to announce that our state-of-the-art facility at VanDetta Stadium will once again be hosting Varsity Football games.

We continue to make safety our number one priority for students, staff, and community members attending events at VanDetta Stadium. We’re anticipating large crowds throughout the season, and we want to make you aware of some enhanced safety protocols, guidelines, and expectations when attending:

● All attendees will be wand-checked by our security team to ensure no prohibited items are brought into the facility.
● VanDetta Stadium is located in a neighborhood, so please be courteous and do not block driveways, throw trash on the ground, or use foul language. Please be a good neighbor.
● All students ages 12 and under should be accompanied by an adult.
● We will be charging adults a $2 admission fee for all Varsity Football games. Students and seniors ages 62 and over will have free admission.

We’re also enhancing our security presence around the stadium during events. We’ve hired Armor Security to help support our administrators, athletic event workers, and the Batavia Police Department to make sure safety remains a priority at our events.

We cannot wait to welcome you back to VanDetta Stadium for another exciting season of Blue Devil events and cheer on our wonderful student-athletes. Let’s all do our part to keep our school grounds, students, faculty, staff, and community safe.

Thank you,

Jason Smith, Superintendent & Mike Bromley, Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics

Go here for prior coverage about the security company. 

 

Marc Staley and John Kirkwood, representing Notre Dame and Batavia high schools, respectively, made a pitch — or more accurately, a shot attempt — Monday to the city school board to establish a modified hockey team.

After noticing the number of younger students not qualified for Varsity or Junior Varsity teams, the coaches agreed that there would be enough students for a modified program, they said.

"And we can incorporate these kids already into our summer lifting program into the platform app, and also in our GroupMe app, in which we communicate with them … just to really let the kids know like, even though they're not necessarily in the program right now, that we're aware of them, we want to help start developing them,” Staley said. “And we've seen just tremendous participation from seventh and eighth graders all summer long. Now, I know they're a little younger, they don't have summer jobs and stuff like that, like some of the older kids do. But the numbers really would support a modified program.”

They had originally tallied 16 players and then found two more, a goaltender and a girl hockey player, which lends well to prep for the fastest growing collegiate sport in the country, he said, of women’s hockey.

A fee of $1,800 to cover games and referees would amount to about $100 per athlete, Staley said, not including transportation. A modified program would not compete with youth hockey, though it does “bump up against spring season,” he said.

“We don’t think it’s going to cause much of a problem with schedules,” he said.

Modified teams have one color, and this one would likely be either royal blue or white. The cost of those would be covered by the hockey boosters, he said.

There are 14 modified teams that play in Buffalo, and none in Rochester, he said. There would need to be some practices before they go and play, he said, so “there would be some expense there … less than $1,000.”

Notre Dame would share the cost, and “everything is broken down by kid,” Staley said. Eighth-graders are eligible to try out for junior varsity, however, they must pass a fitness test to do so, Kirkwood said.

“And we don't want to get in a situation where we have an eighth grader who either doesn't pass the test or may not be ready physically for the physicality of a JV team. So to have this option softens the level of effort kids who may not make the JV as an eighth grader but may be a great player,” he said. “So we're trying to mirror some of the most successful programs that are here and saying is this something that we can offer? The only other additional expense would be, maybe before these kids are all going to be in shape, they're going to just play a full hockey season. And they're going to be I think excited to come together for like a little mini-season.”

There are no more league fees, Staley said, which saves thousands of dollars, and “we run a gate now,” which should total $10,000 of admission coming into the program. They have fundraisers for those “soft goods” of gloves, shells and similar needed accessories, and have emphasized the idea of community service, Staley said. Of the 41 kids in Varsity and Junior Varsity, 28 worked at least three hours each at the annual Crossroads garage sale, loading and unloading merchandise.

“I’m a firm believer that, (and tells the kids) if you want the community to come to your games, you better get out there,” he said.

This past year students put in a collective 400 hours of service, “and counting,” he said. He and Kirkwood, a city school district teacher, have challenged the kids to reach 1,000 hours next year. It goes hand-in-hand with playing sports, which would be enhanced by a modified team, he said.

“We think this will be a great step in the right direction, and really give these young kids something to get excited about,” he said.

In his written proposal to the board, Staley offered to be coach of the "United Mod Squad" program without any compensation, as he feels it is part of his role as head coach of the United hockey program. Modified games would be played at Harbor Centre in Buffalo, and go from March 6 through April 23, 2023.

The puck apparently slid into the net. Board members John Marucci, Alice Benedict, Jean Lendvay, Barbara Bowman, Chezeray Rolle, John Reigle, and Korinne Anderson unanimously approved the request.

Photo: John Kirkwood, left, and Marc Staley present their plan to establish a modified hockey program for Batavia City Schools and Notre Dame High School. Photo by Joanne Beck.

Kimberly Fox

Kimberly A. Fox, 44, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. Fox is accused of violating a stay-away order of protection on Aug. 22 at 2:40 p.m. at a location on Vine Street, Batavia. She was arraigned in City Court and ordered held on $1,000 bail, $2,000 bond, or $5,000 partially secured bond. Fox is also charged with two counts of criminal contempt 2nd stemming from an incident reported on Aug. 19 at 10:30 a.m. on Vine Street.  Fox is accused of violating an order of protection by yelling at two of her neighbors. Fox was arraigned on those charges and released under supervision. She is also charged with criminal contempt 2nd stemming from an incident reported on Aug. 17 at 8:30 p.m. on Vine Street. She was arraigned in City Court and released under supervision. Fox is also charged with harassment 2nd stemming from an incident reported on Aug. 18 at 8:53 p.m.  She was arrested on a warrant on that charge, arraigned in City Court, and released under supervision.

Tommy L. Crawford, 33, of Batavia, is charged with criminal impersonation 2nd and bail jumping 3rd. Crawford reportedly refused to pay a bill at a motel on Oak Street on Aug. 20 at 1:25 p.m. While police officers investigated the complaint, Crawford allegedly provided the officers with a false name.  He was also wanted on three bench warrants.  He was arraigned in City Court and ordered held on $10,000 bail, $20,000 bond, or $40,000 partially secured bond.

Crystal Mounts

Crystal A. Mounts, 45, of Batavia, is charged with conspiracy 5th, criminal possession of stolen property 5th, possession of a forged instrument, forgery 2nd, and grand larceny 4th. Mounts was taken into custody on a warrant stemming from an incident reported at 6:10 a.m. on April 30.  She was arraigned in City Court and ordered held without bail.

Andrew J. Draper, 43, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt 1st. Draper is accused of violating an order of protection at 4:57 p.m. on Aug. 24.  He was issued an appearance ticket. 

Ricky A. Marsceill, 58, of Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th. Marsceill is accused of being in possession of a controlled substance at 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 24 at a location on West Main Street, Batavia. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Joshua E. Burt, 33, of Lyndonville, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and driver's view obstructed.  Burt was stopped on Aug. 21 at 1:57 a.m. on East Main Street by a Batavia patrol officer. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Wendy L. Shako, 56, of Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief 4th. Shako is accused of smashing the rear window of a vehicle on Aug. 21 at 12:31 p.m. on Buell Street, Batavia.  She was issued an appearance ticket.

Eric P. Doleman, 52, of Pembroke, is charged with two counts of petit larceny. Doleman is accused of stealing from a business in Batavia on Aug. 18 at 1:37 p.m. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Kyle J. Schroeder, 25 of Le Roy, is charged with DWAI combined drugs, failed to stop at a stop sign, criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th, and failure to appear. Schroeder was located and arrested on a warrant when Batavia PD was dispatched to a check-the-welfare call stemming from an incident reported on April 29 at 145 p.m., at a location on Ross Street.  While being processed, Schroeder was allegedly found in possession of a glass pipe that tested positive for cocaine, leading to an additional charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th. Schroeder was arraigned in City Court and released on his own recognizance.

Anthony L. Vanelli, 45, of Batavia, is charged with failure to appear.  Vanelli turned himself in on a warrant out of City Court. He was arraigned and ordered held at the Genesee County Jail.

Jacqueline R. Garrett, 43, of Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Garrett is accused of stealing merchandise from a business on East Main Street, Batavia on Aug. 22 at 12:15 p.m.  She was issued an appearance ticket.

Gary E. Jackson, 30, of Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd, obstructing governmental administration, and resisting arrest. Batavia PD responded to a disturbance call on Aug. 14 at 1:48 p.m. on Liberty Avenue. Jackson is accused of shoving a Batavia police officer when he was advised that he was under arrest.  Jackson is accused of continuing to resist and being combative with police officers.  He was issued an appearance ticket.

Devin B. Carleton, 21, of Allis Road, Albion, is accused of violation of a family court act.  Carleton was arrested in Orleans County on a Genesee County warrant, arraigned in Le Roy Town Court, and turned over to the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office on a warrant out of Covington Town Court.

Robert A. Drewry, 56, of Keller Road, Hamburg, is charged with petit larceny. Drewry is accused of stealing money from a vehicle parked on Harloff Road, Batavia, on June 8, at about 6 p.m. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Krista S. Kiblin, 32, of Rochester, is charged with petit larceny. Kiblin is accused of shoplifting approximately $200 in merchandise from Crosby's on Clinton Street Road, Batavia, on Aug. 25 at 11:46 a.m.. She was arrested by State Police and issued an appearance ticket.

A state audit discovered nearly 300 pieces of technology equipment missing and unnecessary service fees paid out for those items and those events resulted in a third-party consultant at an additional cost of $8,700.

District taxpayers have a right to be concerned, Batavia City Schools Superintendent Jason Smith says. 

The Batavian asked Smith several follow-up questions related to the audit and his response were issued on Friday afternoon. He reiterated a portion of what his original response was, that “we can and will do better going forward.”

First and foremost, how do you address taxpayers that may have either lost trust, or confirmed their distrust, in district administrators and board members as the guardians of taxpayer money?
He acknowledged that “our taxpayers — including myself as a resident and taxpayer of the BCSD, along with our board members — are right to be concerned about this audit.”

“Our role as fiscal stewards of the Batavia community is vitally important and we need to and will do better in this area moving forward. As the leader of this district, I’m taking this audit seriously and making it a high priority with our administrative team going forward,” Smith said. “I do not take any fiscal responsibility lightly, and understand and value the trust the community gives us to handle tax dollars appropriately.    

“We are developing a detailed corrective action plan — due in 90 days —  that the Board will review and approve, and will be made available to the public as part of a future board agenda. Under my leadership, we fully intend to improve our IT management, implement our corrective action plan, and then carefully monitor the results and new procedures,” he said.  “In addition, our internal and external auditors have been made aware of the comptroller audit and will also work with the district to ensure all procedures are being followed and implemented—as will I and our leadership team.”

Was the district aware of these discrepancies/issues before the comptroller report, or did the audit find these issues?
"The goal of any comptroller audit is to bring attention to areas of concern for school districts and municipalities. The audit found the majority of our IT issues, although prior to my arrival, it’s my understanding the district was generally aware of some of these IT inventory concerns," he said.

Smith included a note for context that “audits of school districts are common and occur on a regular basis, every five years or so for each district.”

According to the State of New York Office of the State Comptroller, “A top priority of the Office of the State Comptroller is to help school district officials manage their districts efficiently and effectively and, by doing so, provide accountability for tax dollars spent to support district operations. The Comptroller oversees the fiscal affairs of districts statewide, as well as district compliance with relevant statutes and observance of good business practices. This fiscal oversight is accomplished, in part, through our audits, which identify opportunities for improving district operations and Board of Education governance. Audits also can identify strategies to reduce district costs and to strengthen controls intended to safeguard district assets.”

As for the missing IT equipment, how did that happen? Were these items on loan to students/staff and weren't returned, or another scenario? What was the procedure supposed to be?
"While there is no excuse for the results found during this audit, we do recognize that the turnover in BCSD administration and our IT department since 2019 contributed to and compounded our IT management issues," he said. "Once we have completed the assessment from the third party company, we will take steps towards also establishing stronger leadership for our IT department. 

"Some items were given to families and not returned and some were given to staff and have not been located in their classrooms.  During the audit itself and as a result of surveying our staff, we found additional missing items reducing the impact of the audit results.

"The procedure should be and will be the development of a detailed inventory list that will match the inventory that has been distributed along with a process for monitoring new/out-of-service inventory and the distribution and return of all IT devices. This will be part of our required corrective action plan that I will personally oversee.

"Over the last 20 years, there have been six different IT directors and approximately six years without an IT Director, mostly due to budget constraints. Hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back, the district may have been penny-wise but pound-foolish in this approach of not having a dedicated IT director for a number of years. We look forward to the incoming recommendations from our third-party company on how best to proceed."

Who is that third party, and what is the fee for this service?
"After reviewing five proposals this past spring, the district selected the Webster-Szanyi law firm as our third-party IT consultants.  The net cost to the district is $8,753.13 after BOCES aid," Smith said. "The firm is providing the district with two educational consultants who specialize in school technology service reviews. Their work has already begun and will be concluded by January."

Doesn't the board have a role in issues like these, such as having to approve the yearly $17,000 fee and being aware of how equipment is being used and its status from the beginning to end of the school year?
"These fees are embedded in our general BOCES bill and not necessarily a separate line item for approval.  We use BOCES to reduce the local share as we receive BOCES aid. The Board should have full confidence and will have full confidence moving forward that leadership is monitoring the use of the equipment, and will be aware of related procedures and will review and approve related policies and our corrective action plan, due in November," Smith said.

How many years has that fee been paid so far? Was it 2021 and 2022 or also 2020?
"The inventory list contained items dating back to 2006. The District pays BOCES fees for each item that we lease, and the $17,000 reported in the audit reflected fees we paid for unused/lost items in our inventory for the 2021-22 school year," he said. "The audit caused us to dig deeper into our current IT inventory, and we have since reduced additional BOCES fees for our current technology equipment resulting in a reduction of $109,000 from our BOCES bill."  

If/when the missing equipment has to be replaced, how will that be funded? How were these items funded ($891,000, I believe) originally? 
"Our IT BOCES expenditures are included in our General Fund Budget but sometimes (relatively minor) items are purchased from State/Federal grants. If we use State/Federal Grants, we do not receive additional BOCES aid. We purchase/replace our IT equipment in cycles so as to not spike the General Fund Budget in any given year," he said. "There is no need to replace those items as the devices are now obsolete."

You have stepped up to take responsibility, but how will your measures put more responsibility on staff, since you can't monitor everything all the time?
"My job is to work with our team and our third-party consultants to develop and implement clear procedures, carefully monitor those procedures, and hold us accountable to those procedures.  This is true for any area of leading a school district, since I cannot monitor everything all the time, my staff will play a vital role in this moving forward," Smith said. "I can and will however monitor these procedures, do spot checks, and have frequent and regular check-in meetings with appropriate staff."

Does the school district have any intention of auditing other areas of the district where similar mishandling or lack of monitoring could also exist?
"We work closely with our audit committee, our internal auditors, and our external auditors on an annual basis. Areas of risk and improvement are identified on an annual and ongoing basis, and we regularly implement new procedures to ensure fiscal accountability," Smith said.

Board President John Marucci had many similar sentiments as Smith, including how the board needs to respond to these findings.

"Taxpayers have a right to be concerned in regards to this audit. The administration and the Board of Education need to and will do better moving forward," Marucci said.  "As board president, I take this audit and its findings very seriously, as do the other BOE members. Jason and his team are putting together a corrective action plan that will be reviewed and approved by the BOE. I want to assure the Batavia taxpayers that this issue is being rectified.

"Regarding additional audits for the rest of the district, we already have auditors in place to review departments on an annual basis, including an audit committee, internal auditors, and contracted external auditors. Each year, they review and identify areas that we could improve on or are of concern," he said. "These audit processes will continue to help ensure fiscal accountability."

What more can the board do to ensure that approvals for spending are necessary and accurately reflect the need?
"As a board, we expect the administration to give us accurate numbers. I trust Jason will make sure that any figures given to the board regarding need-based spending will be accurate moving forward," Marucci said. "It’s the board’s responsibility to do our own due diligence to ensure we’re thoroughly monitoring and reviewing spending requests."

What was the board's understanding when approving or being made aware of the $17,000 annual fee for equipment that, as it turns out, was not even part of district inventory? Moving forward, how can the board protect against such wasteful spending?
"Again, we expect the administration to give the board good and accurate information. This specific IT issue began while we were in the midst of the pandemic, we had a new superintendent, and we had management turnover in our IT department. It's not an excuse, it's reality," Marucci said. "Unfortunately, mistakes happened. Jason was brought up to speed on the issue when he arrived, and he and his team are aggressively putting an action plan in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again. As a board, we need to continue to ask questions to be certain that the information is accurate and gives us a full picture."

What is your overall response to the audit and its findings?
"I was disappointed, but I also understand that any New York State Comptroller audit is ultimately beneficial because it highlights areas of concern that need to be dealt with. Audits ultimately help protect the taxpayers," Marucci said. "With that being said, I believe in Jason, his team, and this board, and I’m confident this issue will be taken care of swiftly."

File photos of Superintendent Jason Smith, top, and Board President John Marucci, by Joanne Beck and BCSD website.

Brett Doward (top photo) and Levi Bennett (second photo) might want a rematch in next year's boxcar derby -- assuming there is one, and by all indications, there will be -- after facing off against each other in both each other's first heat of the day and in the finals for their age bracket.

That finals race had to be run twice after the first race wound up in a tie.  

In the first match of the Doward/Bennett rivalry, Doward won by a wheel.  In the first heat of the finals, the race ended in a tie.

In that second race for the Suozzi Memorial Trophy, Doward won handily. 

The day was also marked by an appearance by Roger Martin with a boxcar he built himself in the late 1930s and which took him to the national championships in 1940.  His son ran it once down the Ellicott Avenue hill, where Martin's car had seen past glory.

There were 28 competitors running against each other in pairs with double-elimination until the final rounds.

The derby was sponsored by the Business Improvement District and Glow With Your Hands.

Previously

• BID Boxcar Derby to honor memories and create new ones in Batavia
• Build Day for boxcar derby brings, kids, families and volunteers downtown

Dominic Darch and Brett Doward, winners of the 7-10 and 11-13-year-old brackets.

The start of the first run of the finals race for the 11-13 bracket. Levi Bennet on the left, Brett Doward on the right.

Bennett on the left and Doward on the right.

Doward in the lead at the end of the first race.

Lilly Gray glances back at Shannon Maute, BID director, as she beats her in an exhibition race at the end of the event.

Press Release

“Today, the New York State Office of the Comptroller, Division of Local Government and School Accountability, released an audit report addressing the Batavia City School District’s Information Technology (IT) Equipment Inventory based on findings from July 1, 2018, through February 8, 2022. 

The report found that during this time period, the district did not adopt a comprehensive policy for establishing and maintaining IT inventory, did not maintain an accurate IT inventory, and could not locate 229 computers, 62 tablets, and paid approximately $17,000 in annual service fees in the 2021-22 fiscal year for the missing devices. 

Since arriving in the district in early 2022, I have been brought up to speed with our current issues, and I take the findings in this report very seriously. The administration and I take full responsibility for the errors outlined in this audit and are taking appropriate corrective action steps to mitigate the problem and ensure a comprehensive policy is followed going forward. These steps include:

• We have engaged a third-party company specializing in IT services to conduct an assessment of our entire IT department, including our inventory and staff. 
• Our internal team has taken the results from the audit and gone above and beyond to reduce our BOCES service charges by purging and returning unused inventory. 
• We are working closely with the Board of Education to adopt a comprehensive written policy for establishing and maintaining controls to track and inventory our IT equipment. 

While there is no excuse for the results found during this audit, we do recognize that the turnover in BCSD administration and our IT department since 2019 contributed to and compounded our IT management issues. Once we have completed the assessment from the third-party company, we will plan to implement their recommendations across the district. 

As a result of this audit, one of my top priorities is to return our IT department to good standing and set our team up with a process to ensure these mistakes don’t occur in the future. 

I understand there may be further questions surrounding this report. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at jasonsmith@bataviacsd.org. 

Thank you for your understanding. We can and will do better going forward.”  

Jason A. Smith                                                                                                                                                            Superintendent, Batavia City Schools

The way Jim Owen tells the story, his father Frank had very high standards when it came to music, and not every Owen in the family made the cut.

“My sister Kathy was a very good singer, and my brother Robert was a very good singer, and then there’s Jim,” the honorary Mayor of Redfield Parkway said, adding that his father wasn’t mean about it. “He was very encouraging of me, he knew I liked sports … cross-country, basketball, and golf.”

Jim just saw a dream come true with the dedication of his father’s name for Batavia High School’s auditorium. Frank E. Owen was a very well-educated man, and one that would be “humbled but very appreciative” of the acknowledgment of how much he contributed to the music program, Jim said.

After a 37-year career as music director at BHS, the elder Owen joined the Board of Education, eventually earning the rank of president. Those “very high standards” came into play when Jim shared his intent to apply for a teaching job at the city school district.

“He said ‘no way.’ He was very ethical and didn’t think I should work in the district,” Jim said.

So Jim worked as a teacher in Sacketts Harbor, and later at Hamburg Central School, where he enjoyed his work and coaching cross-country for 35 years. He retired from Hamburg Central in 2003 and then -- finally -- obtained a job as a substitute teacher at his original choice of Batavia City Schools. 

Frank's legacy
Frank founded a school band in 1930 and raised money to buy new uniforms and instruments. He later founded the community orchestra in 1947 and was inducted into the Music of Note Hall of Fame. He would also “go the extra mile to get students into college,” Jim said, “by using his great influence.”

It would seem as though Jim was destined to be a smart, teacher-type, given his father’s background and his mom, Natalie Walker Owen, who spoke Latin, French and Spanish, and was on the library board. Jim has been involved in education for 55 years and counting, he said, and has shown that same appreciation for his students and colleagues as his dad did.

He chuckled a bit remembering that his sister Kathy (who died in 2019) was fooling around in class one day, and dad kicked her out. Those standards again came into play, and “he didn’t have favorites.”

“In that sense, he wanted you to be focused. He was selective and wanted good quality,” Jim said. “One of his great contributions was, he was very, very proud of his choristers. They were singing on WBTA and on Jay Gordon Bridge armed force broadcast. Some former students in Korea could listen to it.”

As much as Frank has been discussed in preparation for and during the dedication event, there are tidbits that haven’t been listed. He was a violinist, raised in England, and would help kids of all nationalities, Jim said. He was very good in spelling and articulation and even helped local announcer Chuck Platt practice before going on air at WBTA.

“Dad would teach him how to articulate for broadcasts,” Jim said.

Frank worked in Williamsport, Penn. before applying for a job in Batavia. The rest, as it’s been said, is history in that he reformed the music department. He always preferred to use his middle initial in his name (E is for Earl, by the way), even though he sometimes was called Frankie by mistake.

Current high school band Director and Music Department Chairwoman Jane Haggett has heard all about the senior Owen from Jim, who has done a lot of substitute teaching in the district. Naming the auditorium after Frank means something important for the district as a whole, she said.

“I think it just really reinforces Batavia's desire to have a strong music education for their students. I also think that it's in relationship to drama, and our musical productions, that it all correlates to each other,” she said. “We wouldn’t have a musical production club and produce our musicals without our choral program and our instrumental program and so forth. It just wouldn't happen. Or not as well, I should say. But I have to say that it gives the music students a voice.”

Haggett knows what it’s like to have music in your soul; she knew at an early age what her career was going to be, she said.

“I started playing piano at age five, and flute when I was in fifth grade, and by the time I was in sixth grade, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go into music. I knew I wanted to teach. I didn't know what level or for high school teacher or elementary, or just a private lesson student, but I know I wanted to do something in music,” she said. “I felt like I was successful. And it made me happy. So that's why I pursued it.”

Likewise, as a young violinist, Frank Owen seemed to know his direction in life. While at the city school district, he taught the likes of City Councilwoman Patti Pacino and state Assemblyman Steve Hawley. Jim credits Pacino for putting much time and effort into the dedication, inviting fellow alums and pulling together notes about the late music director. Learning music from Frank E. Owen wasn’t just ordinary education, Pacino said, “it was magical.”

Jim’s parents “all of the fine qualities that Batavia citizens represent,” and Frank especially added drive, enthusiasm and talent to music education, Jim said. His dad even recruited a special guest to visit the district: John Philip Sousa.

Sousa, a patriotic composer who died in 1932, served as the 17th director of The President's Own band from 1880 to 1892. The most famous director of the band, he wrote the national march "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and the official march of the Marine Corps, "Semper Fidelis." Jim has an autobiography written by Sousa, “Marching Along,” with Sousa’s signature, made out to Frank E. Owen in 1929.

Not too shabby Frank E. Owen.

See related story of dedication HERE.

About 100 people gathered Thursday evening to honor the late Frank E. Owen by naming Batavia High School’s entertainment venue after him.

The Frank E. Owen  Auditorium has a nice ring to it, his son Jim said via a pre-recorded video during the live-streamed event. Jim has been battling cancer and his medical professionals wouldn’t let him leave his treatment facility. Nevertheless, he spoke proudly of his father and suggested that the honor is about more than Frank E. Owen.

“This is to honor my father, but it’s more important to honor all the teachers and students — past, present, and future — the music department, and all those who use the auditorium,” he said. “It’s to honor the school system. He was very proud of his teachers and his students.”

A cat photobombed his talk, which brought some humor to a moment charged with emotion. Jim calmly continued talking as he acknowledged the cat’s presence with a few rubs on the head, which is an example of his kind-hearted dedication to whatever is before him. Other speakers pointed to how much they could know of Frank by watching his legendary qualities unfold within Jim.

“Jim carries on his father’s legacy by influencing the students,” High School Principal Paul Kesler said.

Frank’s former students, Patti Pacino and Liz Johnson Conway, both 1965 grads, shared how their music teacher was disciplined, down to earth and fair. He expected nothing less than a commitment from everyone.

Music has been a strong piece of Pacino’s life, thanks in large part to the lessons instilled by Frank Owen.

“He presumed we were as dedicated as he was,” she said, listing his many requirements. There was no sheet music on stage, as everyone was to memorize their songs, and no jingling of bracelets on stage, or even the chance fainting spell without consideration not to disrupt the performance, she said.

“Why would high school students put with such rules?” she said. “Because it was magical.”

Students loved music, loved to sing, and learned about teamwork along the way, she said. They all worked toward the common goal of producing lovely choral music. On one of his very first days at the city school district, Frank invited everyone to sing, and they “sang like they never sang before,” Pacino said, reading a report from 1927.

If Mary Poppins had a brother, it would be Frank E. Owen, she said.

Conway only studied with Frank for two years, but in those two short years, “I learned to like and admire” this man of music, she said. He demanded excellence with “pitch, diction and musicality,” she said.

His conducting was classy and subtle, with no large flashy moves, she said, and his secret weapon reining kids in was “the look.”

“Danny VanDetta had the paddle, and Frank Owen had the look,” she said. “Communicating through lyrics and connected to sound, he strengthened the music in this area.”

Superintendent Jason Smith, an avid musician himself, shared some of Frank Owen’s history:

He established the music department at BCSD in 1927 and created the first band and BHS Choristers, a well-known vocal group that reaped many accolades and awards, taped recordings and broadcasts during Owen’s 37-year career at Batavia. He then went on to serve on the Batavia Board of Education, including as president and was actively involved in community music.

“When the Board was considering naming the auditorium in Mr. Owen’s honor, I received numerous emails advocating for this to occur,” Smith said, reading some of those messages. A few snippets are below:

As a graduate of BHS and a member of the Choristers all my years at the High School, I can tell you that he not only instilled a love of music but a sense of service to community.

Mr. Owen was a humble master of music, respected and praised. My brothers and I were in choristers and band. My oldest brother became a music teacher with Mr. Owen’s urging, along with many other graduates.

Some of our fondest memories are the annual live Christmas (morning) broadcasts of the Chorus from the former Elks building on Ellicott Street, and the copies of that program on vinyl - blue records! - that each of us could purchase.  Both Jim and I have included a link to one of those albums on our Class websites.

I can't think of a more fitting honor than naming the Auditorium after Mr. Owen - a 'home' to so many of us during our years at Batavia High School and recognition of the impact he had on so many lives.

Smith also read a tribute recited to Frank upon his retirement in 1964.

“Mr. Owen’s flair as an educator has to be classed in the greater range. Music to him is not merely an abstract subject. It is something that is a very real part of life with ramifications in history, culture and the development of civilization,” Smith said. “Those who had the advantage of his teaching and leadership gained not only exceptional appreciation and understanding of music but also of the wider spectrum.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Assemblyman Steve Hawley sent representatives to present proclamations for the occasion, and City Council President Eugene Jankowski gave one from the city with the wish that the community will find the auditorium space to be a place where folks can relax and be inspired.

The evening also included a ribbon-cutting, a vocal concert of pieces chosen by current Music Director Jane Haggett, including "Adeste Fidelis," meaning come, faithful ones, and a patriotic song since Frank always typically included one for concerts, she said. He loved "America," she said, "so we're going be doing that."

 A reception cake was bedecked with the theme of the night, and memorabilia was on display for guests to see.

Top photo: Abigail Hoerbelt, who comes from a musical family, cuts the ribbon during a dedication of the Frank E. Owen Auditorium Thursday evening at Batavia High School. Music Director Jane Haggett, City Council President Eugene Jankowski, alumni and board member Liz Johnson Conway, Jenn Lendvay and Patti Pacino flank her on the left as Chamber of Commerce Interim President Tom Turnbull, Board President John Marucci, Superintendent Jason Smith and Principal Paul Kesler stand on the right. Photo by Joanne Beck.

Photo of reception cake by Joanne Beck, and memorabilia and speakers by Howard Owens.

Editor's Note: This is the second of a series about new staff at Crossroads House, which is to celebrate 25 years of existence in January.

She was a friendly face in the main office at Washington Towers for 15 years, and although she enjoyed it, there came a time of burnout, Vicki Johnson says.

She left in May 2021 and eventually decided that “it was just time for me to make a change.”

Johnson began her new role as director of development at Crossroads House on Aug. 1.

“I  like working with the elderly. And it's where I just really saw how fragile life is,” she said during an interview at the House on Liberty Street, Batavia. “It can be kind of, you know, you can get a little burnout with dealing with the elderly and disabled. And so this came up and I just knew it was time. Caregiving and Crossroads have always just been something that I feel — like my husband says -- destined to do.”

Johnson provided care for her grandmother Lucy, who was nearly 104 when she died, and for her mom Betty, and now for Aunt Dorothy, who is in a nursing home.

“I think I've always been of that caregiving nature. And just having been with people at end of life. And again, just seeing how fragile life is, you know, in my position at Washington Towers. Unfortunately, over the years, there were numerous people that we did welfare checks on and came upon them that they had passed. We were the first ones that tended to see their decline, whether they were getting dementia or just failing in health, and it's there where I kind of saw the negative part of the family relationships, and how they treat the elderly … it kind of just had me gravitate toward caregiving.”

It was while at Notre Dame High School for about three years that Johnson learned more about development initiatives and fundraising, she said. That shored up her experience for this new role of overseeing fundraising events, donor relationships, endowments and the like, plus probably getting involved with grant writing along with Executive Director Charlotte Crawford, Johnson said.

“Obviously, we need funds, because we're funded totally by the wonderful community that we live in. So I'm looking for new fundraising ideas, trying to get to the younger group, the younger people, with some fundraisers that might appeal to them,” she said. “And when we have the famous garage sale that they do, they have their basket raffles, their fall and spring basket raffles. We're lucky recipients of some outside (sponsored) golf outings that we just supply some help, maybe some baskets, but then we get some of the proceeds. So that's a great thing for us.”

Part of her job will entail raising awareness in order to increase donations for the nonprofit comfort care home. It exists primarily on the generosity of others, so it’s crucial to operations for Johnson to do her job successfully. She plans to get “our image out there” and provide more updates via the website and social media, she said.

After all, the House will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in January, and there are many people — staff, volunteers, families, board members, donors — that will want to recognize the work that’s been done and the missions accomplished.

Johnson wanted to fully envelop those missions, so she took the new orientation training, which consisted of instruction and shadowing volunteers. She wants to also become a volunteer and complete the end-of-life doula course so that she can be a companion for people when they are approaching the end in their own lives.

She doesn’t fear death, and is, in fact, comfortable with the concept.

“So it's just someone that accompanies you through your journey. It’s a time really to celebrate life, to look for reconciliation and forgiveness,” she said. “It’s incredible to hear the stories of people.”

Photo: Vicki Johnson at Crossroads House in Batavia. Photo by Joanne Beck.

Batavia Downs Gaming's new warehouse and cold storage building at the south end of the Park Road facility is complete. The 5,000-square-foot, $1 million structure provides a central location for the corporation's varied food, beverage and hospitality inventory.  From left are Ashley Bolsei, warehouse manager; Scott Kiedrowski, vice president of operations; and Ryan Hasenauer, marketing director.

Bolsei and Hasenauer stand outside the loading dock of the building, which was constructed by Ed Hulme General Contracting of Warsaw.

Photos by Mike Pettinella.

Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. leaders are taking steps to address the company health insurance policy that has been a media hot button item in recent months.

The corporation’s board of directors this morning approved a resolution to spend up to $25,000 to extend a contract with the Connors LLP law firm of Buffalo, with the goal of reaching a “global solution" to the health insurance matter.

“I’ve been instructed (by the board) to come back in September with a plan to globally address the healthcare issue for the whole company,” WROTB President/Chief Executive Officer Henry Wojtaszek said following the meeting at the Park Road facility. “We’re working on a nice, fair global solution to whatever healthcare (is permissible) and that includes the board and entire corporation.”

Wojtaszek said lawyers are negotiating with the New York State Attorney General’s office.

“He’s (Terry Connors) prepared a memo that he’s provided to the attorney general and he’s provided advice to our board,” he said. “Talks with the attorney general are continuing.”

Published reports about the “gold plated” health insurance plan given to board members have prompted protests from Western New York politicians and government officials – present and past. Until June of last year, all board members (and three retired ones) were receiving health insurance plans that cost the public benefit company an average of more than $10,000 per year.

The board, at its June 2021 meeting, voted unanimously to eliminate company-sponsored health insurance benefits for directors appointed on or after July 1, 2021. So, as of today, the majority of the board members are still receiving fully-paid health insurance.

In other developments, the board:

• Approved the purchase of $50,000 worth of $20 gift cards from Tops Friendly Markets to be used toward a promotion for the Hotel at Batavia Downs for eligible hotel stays through the end of the year.

• Announced that $61,498 in surcharges generated in July will be distributed to member municipalities. Also, it was reported that Batavia Bets’ revenue is down 16 percent this month as compared to last August, and 17 percent for the year as compared to this time in 2021.

• Learned that management is looking to reduce the number of summer concerts from 11 to nine next year in an effort to attract top name bands and, hopefully, eliminate tribute bands. “The purpose is to possibly spend a little bit more money to get bigger bands, for lack of a better term, in order to attract bigger crowds,” Wojtaszek said. When asked if security was an issue this year, he said the combination of Genesee County Sheriff’s deputies, Batavia Police Department officers and the Downs’ security staff handled things well.

• Reported that the Park Road Reconstruction Project is moving along, noting that crews were laying the binder on the east side of the road and that sidewalks are being put in on both sides. “We expect the road to be open after Labor Day and we expect substantial completion -- 97-98 percent of the project -- done by September 20^th,” Wojtaszek said. (See photo below).

There's always a job to do in the Oakfield Volunteer Fire Department -- or any volunteer fire department in the county -- and if you can do a job, there is a job for you to do.

You should volunteer.

Not every job involves rushing into burning buildings or pulling injured passengers from mangled cars. Some jobs involve keeping track of people and materials or just cleaning up the fire hall.  All the jobs help the department fulfill its mission of keeping Oakfield safe.

That was the message Department President Joshua Finn and Chief Sean Downing conveyed when they invited a couple of local reporters to the Fire Hall on Monday.

They also wanted to show off the department's new rec room, which is also integral to Oakfield's effort to recruit more members.

"Some of the things that we want to do is get video game systems up there and have it way more comfortable so that we can get younger kids to have a spot, a place to hang out," Finn said. "Why not hang out here and play video games? If they're at least 16 they're able to go on calls, or those that might be, say, 14 are not able to go, but they may be up here with their friend. Now their friend goes out on the call, they hang back. You know, we hope they think and say hey look, that's pretty cool. Their friend is gonna come back and kind of say, 'Hey, I was at this car accident. It was cool. I got to help save a life,' that sort of thing, because if that does happen, we're hoping that it translates into the kids that are upstairs wanting to join."

Besides the kids, Finn believes Oakfield is a community with a generous spirit.  He suggests there are more people in the community who could and would volunteer if they just understood the need and the opportunity.

"I look at our community especially, and we have a lot of great people," Finn said. "The Oakfield Betterment Committee. That organization is fantastic, the things they do. I look at Suzy Zeliff who's running The Goose here in town, and what she has produced is unbelievable. We have a lot of great community members, and there's so much that we (the department) can offer people. Like Sean said, we have maybe 20 members that legitimately will respond to a lot of the calls out of a population of 5,000 residents. That's half of 1 percent."

An example of somebody from the community stepping forward to fill a need that wasn't being met was Ed Spence, a retired City of Batavia firefighter, who offered to become the department's chaplain.  He's helped a lot, being somebody for members to talk with after difficult scenes and performing religious functions within the department, Finn said. 

Downing noted Oakfield is not unique among local volunteer departments and maybe a little bit better off on staffing than some others, but that doesn't mean the need for more people in all parts of the organization isn't real.

"Everybody is struggling to get people during the day," Downing said. "You might get two people. Other times you get an EMS call for a stubbed toe or something and we get 13 people showing up. So, I mean, it's like it's feast or famine. So what we're trying to do is entice new members to come into the department."

Both Downing and Finn acknowledge that the training requirements for a firefighter or EMT can be pretty daunting, which is why they're suggesting people look for other ways they can help the department (though they also need people to join willing to go through that department).  They're also working with the county to find ways to streamline the training for people who might be willing to respond to a fire scene to help but not actually get involved in fighting the fire.  They can drive trucks, run pumps, help with hoses, and get nowhere near the fire.  But there are still risks involved in being on a fire scene, so some training is essential. 

Volunteers can also help with social media, fundraisers, and with serving on the fire board.  Finn mentioned one local businessman who has a family member in the department that he's hoping will take an interest in becoming a board member. His business experience could be invaluable, Finn summarizes, and with the financial strains in the department, more business experience on the board could be helpful.

"As years go on, one of the things that I've brought up is this building isn't getting any younger," Finn said. "We don't have a plan right now. That's one of the things that we've been talking about."

Clearly, Downing and Finn hope people will read this article and decide to at least explore the idea of helping out the Oakfield Volunteer Fire Department, or the department of the town where they live, and Downing encourages readers to visit ReadyGenesee.com.

"Come check us out," Finn said. "Come check us out on a Monday night. We're here. If you live in Genesee, on a Monday night, every county department in Genesee County has either a meeting or a training night. Check out your department. Everybody in the community knows somebody who's a member, ask them what they need. Find somebody that you know on Facebook.

"Especially in a small town like Oakfield, everybody knows somebody. You know, there are so many different things that we need help doing," he said. "Come check us out. And you know, there are so many things that go on in the volunteer fire service that people don't realize. Come check us out."

Previously: New report addresses growing crisis in county's fire and EMS coverage

Top Photo: Oakfield members and family members hang out in the department's new rec room on the second floor of the Fire Hall.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Chief Sean Downing, Jamie Lindsley, president of the Oakfield Betterment Committee, Joel D'Alba, owner of Albion Pools, Tonisha and Andrew Pilc, Mike Harding, Attica Furniture, and Joshua Finn, president of the department's board of directors.

The rec room cost in excess of $12,000 was paid for almost entirely by donations and volunteer labor.  The Oakfield Betterment Committee was able to use its non-profit status to be a recipient of donations, such as $5,800 from The Home Depot.  D'Alba, an Oakfield resident, and somebody who would volunteer if training requirements could be modified so he could drive a truck and run a pump, made a cash donation.  Tonisha and Andrew supplied both volunteer labor and the effort and inspiration to get the project off the ground from consulting with local developers to lining up donations.  Harding made a cash donation and also donated the eagle and flag painting to hang in the rec room.

Photos of what the second-floor room looked like before the remodel.