Town of Batavia Board votes to buy land for shared court facility

This information in this story comes from WBTA.

The Town of Batavia Board approved a resolution on Wednesday night to buy 19 acres of land on Park Road to build a new shared court facility.

The approval comes four years after the idea was first discussed at a staff meeting, according to Supervisor Greg Post. He told WBTA news that in 2007 town council members proposed a merger of Elba, Oakfield and Batavia town courts to save money on prisoner transports, utilities, District Attorney's Office travel, etc.

The building was planned on unused parcel of land along Park Road in the City of Batavia., which the town agreed to buy. But state law would not permit the land to be used to consolidate municipal courts. So the town contacted newly elected Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer who subsequently announced easement legislation to address the issue.

Once in Albany, everything stalled. In 2010, the bill finally passed. And after still more delays, the town board took action this week to buy the Park Road land.

Next, the Batavia City Council will consider the sale and Post says he expects it will be approved for $150,000. He predicts each of the towns and the county will save tens of millions of dollars over the course of several years by having a consolidated court facility.

By federal law, the Town of Batavia will need to install a sidewalk along Park Road, add direction signs, and make improvements to a pond on the property. But the town plans to do even more, including stocking the pond with fish and putting in nature trails for veterans at the nearby VA Hospital. In addition, the town will rent building space to the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce for a tourist visitors' center.

The additional improvements are estimated to cost another $150,000.

If the city approves the land sale, town engineers hope to begin demolition and landscaping before winter begins.