Over the years, Town of Batavia leaders have overseen significant economic development in their municipality and, with that, have had to add professional staff to handle all of the negotiations, inspections, engineering studies and paperwork that comes with it.
On Wednesday night, the Town Board -- realizing that its employees are in need of more space to perform their jobs in a most efficient manner -- voted to contract with a Batavia design firm to provide a floor plan and elevations for a building that would connect Town Hall to the adjacent Town Highway garage at 3833 W. Main Street Road.
“We’ve been looking at this since 2012; even back then we knew we were short of space,” said Town Supervisor Gregory Post following the meeting. “We have three times the staff that we had when the building was constructed (2001-2002) … and now we’re left with a situation where seven employees are working in a room not much bigger than my living room.”
Post said he is expecting to receive renderings from Design & Drafting by Gina LLC, of Seven Springs Road as part of the contract, which calls for the town to pay the firm $60 per hour up to a maximum of $2,500.
He explained that the current building was supposed to have a full basement – which didn’t happen – and “lost 50 percent of its anticipated floor space during construction.”
“This is turning out to be a different concept than originally thought of (a freestanding addition), but we realized that our efficiencies could be enhanced by connecting Town Hall with the highway garage,” he said. “We will save in energy costs and create new office space within the connecting building.”
In other action, the board:
-- Set a public hearing for 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at Town Hall to consider the establishment and construction of a proposed Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park Sewer Improvement Area on East Main Street Road and the vicinity.
Post said that if the sewer improvement area comes to pass, rates would be established fairly by usage, with businesses in the Agri-Business Park (such as HP Hood and Upstate Milk) along with residents within its boundaries sharing in the costs.
The resolution states that the engineering firm of Clark Patterson Lee has already prepared a preliminary map, plan and report for the project, which calls for the installation of larger sanitary sewer pumps, electrical upgrades, installation of a new generator and other improvements.
The Town plans to pay the $400,000 project cost by the issuance of serial bonds -- offset by any federal, state, county and/or local funds received.
-- Voted to pay an additional $37,626 to Keeler Construction for unanticipated work during the construction of a new pedestrian bridge over the Tonawanda Creek as part of the Ellicott Trail Project.
According to the resolution, it was discovered that driving steel piles for the bridge abutment would have required temporary relocation of the overhead electric lines at an estimated cost of approximately $90,000, according to National Grid.
Keeler, to avoid this charge, revised the design to allow the use of drilled king piles to support the bridge at the reduced cost.
Post said work continues on Ellicott Trail, which is expected to open by the end of October.
-- Reappointed Rhonda Saulsbury as the Town Assessor for another six-year term, beginning Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2025.
