College Village

A possible structure fire, with heavy smoke, is reported at Hickory Lodge, College Village, 8170 Batavia Stafford Townline Road.

Town of Batavia fire is dispatched.

UPDATE 2:53 p.m.: The apartment requires ventilation.

Press release:

The Genesee County Funding Corporation (GCFC) has approved tax-exempt bond financing for a $5.2 million project to upgrade and renovate residential facilities at College Village in the Town of Batavia.

Tax-exempt bond financing will assist projects by the Genesee Community College Foundation (GCC Foundation) Housing Services Inc. at five on-campus residential facilities owned and managed by the GCC Foundation.

The renovations will include updated technology, renovating several suites into modern communal living and learning spaces, updated facilities and amenities, safety improvements and upgrades for disability access. The work will be performed at Birch Hall, Pine Hall, Beech Hall, Oak Hall, and Cedar Hall.

About the Genesee County Funding Corporation (GCFC): GCFC’s mission is to assist local economic development efforts by serving in a conduit financing capacity enabling the issuance of taxable and non-taxable debt to benefit the growth, expansion, ongoing operations and continued viability of nonprofit business enterprises in Genesee County, thereby helping to maintain a sustainable long-term economy.

Photo and information provided by John Sisson and GCC.

A turkey was fried at College Village today to help demonstrate how to safely cook with oil for residents at the apartment complex at Genesee Community College.

Chief of Safety, Bob Guesno and College Village Director John Sisson are seen lowering the turkey into the oil.

"As many of our fire calls at College Village are related to cooking with oil, we thought that we would take this opportunity to give the residents not only a safe example but also a chance to share some tips for cooking with oil in their apartments as well," Sisson said.

The residents will be served a turkey dinner with all the fixings, including stuffing and mashed potatoes.

“This will be our 12th year holding this annual feast in honor of Thanksgiving,” said Mary-Clare Stokes, assistant director of Residence Life and Learning at College Village. “It’s a great way for our students and resident assistants to come together in a bonding experience. And, as the semester winds down, it certainly is a ‘de-stressor’ as well.”

Each resident assistant of College Village works throughout the day to prepare the meal, and are being charged with cooking one turkey apiece to share with residents. That usually is approximately 10 turkeys and will feed at least 150 student residents. For some students, this will be their only Thanksgiving celebration, and for some international students, it may be the first time they’ve experienced the holiday or tasted the traditional foods of an American Thanksgiving.

“The tradition is a great experience for everyone,” Stokes said. “Not only is it the first Thanksgiving experience for some of our residents, but it may also be the first experience for some of our resident assistants and staff at cooking a Thanksgiving meal. We look forward to a great turnout and a fun evening!” 

Laquasia M. Orr, 19, of Bronx, is charged with two counts of identity theft, 3rd, and one count of attempted identity theft, 3rd. Orr's arrest stems from a fraud complaint filed Feb. 23 and investigated by state troopers. Orr is accused of memorizing the debit card number of a former roommate and linking it to her own e-mail address and using it to order Chinese food delivery on two occasions and one attempt to order pizza.The total value of the alleged theft is $60. Video surveillance was used to help identify the person who signed for the food delivery orders.The investigation is ongoing.

Zivko Kacurovski, 56, of Linden Tree Lane, Rochester, is charged with possession of more than 400 untaxed cigarettes. Kacurovski was stopped at 11:06 a.m. Thursday on Route 77, Pembroke, by Deputy Patrick Reeves. Kacurovski was allegedly in possession of 3,200 untaxed cigarettes.

Joshua Lenair Webster, 28, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with two counts of attempted criminal contempt, 2nd. While incarcerated at the Genesee County Jail, Webster allegedly made two attempts to contact a person he is barred from contacting by court order.

Ryan Michael Bobzin, 26, of West Bergen Road, Bergen, is charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle. Bobzin allegedly took a vehicle without permission. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

A kitchen fire is reported at College Village.

Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

The call was first dispatched as an automatic alarm of fire. A minute later the dispatcher came on with "updated information" and said there is a confirmed kitchen fire, confirmed via the alarm company.

UPDATE 10:36 p.m.: Alexander's Fast Team dispatched to College Village.

UPDATE 10:38 p.m.: Security reports the fire may be out, but responding units asked to continue.

UPDATE 10:40 p.m.: Alexander can stand down.

Jasmine Jaquana Allen, 20, of Batavia-Stafford Townline Road, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Allen was arrested following a complaint of marijuana smoking inside dorm rooms at College Village.

Justin Elwell Jr., 31, of Miller Avenue, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a parking between 2 and 6 a.m. ticket. Elwell turned himself in to Batavia PD. He posted $100 bail.

Adam Daniel Smart, 32, of Clinton Street Road, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on an endangering the welfare of a child charge. Smart allegedly failed to appear on for a pre-sentence interview with the Probation Department. Smart was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Jeffrey Cole Thompson, 19, of Swamp Road, Byron, is charged with unlawful possession. Thompson was charged following a traffic stop for an alleged traffic violation at 9:15 p.m. Thursday on Reed Road, Bergen, by Deputy Joseph Corona.

A security guard at College Village has been arrested by State Police for allegedly entering apartments and stealing undergarments and swimsuits.

Matthew P. Lenhard, 28, of Corfu, has been charged with six counts of burglary, 2nd, a Class C felony, and one count of criminal possession of stolen property, 5th.

The NYSP criminal investigation unit took up the case after receiving a complaint through Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

State Police say several pieces of garments were recovered at Lenhard's residence in Corfu.

The press release contains the following statement attributed to the director of College Village: "We are assuring students that safety is our top priority. We are encouraging students to bring any concerns they might have to members of our staff, or to discuss safety issues with our staff."

Lenhard was arraigned in Batavia Town Court and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

Press release:

Mother Nature's record-breaking winter has impacted the construction plan and schedule of the two new buildings currently under way at College Village, the student residence community located adjacent to Genesee Community College in Batavia. At last week's monthly meeting, GCC's Board of Trustees learned that while cold weather and excessive snow has put the construction schedule approximately five weeks behind the original plan, it has also given way to an innovative building solution which will result in a small expansion of the space at the basement level.

Richard Ensman, director of GCC's Foundation which manages the property, reported that although the two new buildings were planned to be "carbon copies" of Hickory and Willow, the two buildings built in 2007, the recent excavation work revealed a different soil variation under one building necessitating an unplanned gravel base. Securing many tons of gravel in Upstate New York at this time of year is nearly impossible and trucking it in from a warmer climate would be costly, Ensman explained. Whitney East, the general contractor on the project recommended a different and innovative solution -- adding a concrete basement to the one building.

"The unsuitable soil conditions have put us behind schedule, but we are pleased that we have a plan to keep the project moving. We carefully calculated the cost variables and for less than the cost of acquiring the necessary gravel, one of the new residence halls will have a basement," Ensman said. "The auxiliary space offers potential for storage and possibly other student study space if properly built-out in the future."

The overall cost of College Village expansion project is $2.84 million and will provide the community with 64 additional beds for a total population of 451 student residents. Each of the two new facilities feature eight suites with four single bedrooms, and a shared common space will allow for more educational, social and instructional opportunities. The project is being financed by a private bond issue.

In other business at the meeting on March 10, the Board of Trustees:

More after the jump (click on the headline)

• Heard that two Genesee Community College Phi Theta Kappa students, Emmeline Vacanti (of Alexander) and Joseph Lubanski (of Macedon) were recognized in the USA TODAY's All-USA Community College Academic Team for exceptional efforts in academic rigor, growth and how well they use their education to benefit their schools and communities. The program is administered by Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. In addition, the following four students will be receiving the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence: Michelle Nagle (of Randolph), Yuki Sasao (of Batavia), Emmeline Vacanti (of Alexander), and Kelly Wetherby (of Olean). A full press release will be available soon.

• Heard Kathleen Schiefen, Ed.D, GCC provost and executive vice president of Academic Affairs, report that Genesee Community College is continuing to review all college curricula to ensure compliance with required accreditation standards and also with the new State University of New York (SUNY) seamless transfer initiatives intended to encourage timely graduation. Since September, more than 106 curricula changes have been submitted to the GCC's Academic Senate for review. Twenty-two of GCC's academic progams have been registered as 50 percent or more complete-able online. Six courses have been submitted to SUNY for consideration as meeting general education criteria. In addition, 22 GCC faculty members have volunteered to participate in the statewide SUNY discussion group reviewing the seamless transfer program within the SUNY system.

• Heard introductions from following new faculty and staff members: Doreen Bortle, James Brooks, Terry George, Rosemary Jonientz, Juanita Lewis, Heidi Lockwood, Kristen Mruk, Derek Payne and Gail Whalen.

Genesee Community College's next Open House is scheduled Wednesday, March 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. at all of the following seven campus locations:

• Albion, 456 West Ave. / 585-589-4936

• Arcade, 25 Edward St. / 585-492-5265

• Batavia, One College Road / 585-345-6800

• Dansville, 31Clara Barton St. / 585-335-7820

• Lima, 7285 Gale Road / 585-582-1226

• Medina, 11470 Maple Ridge Road / 585-798-1688

• Warsaw, 115 Linwood Ave. / 585-786-3010

Next fall, more Genesee County Community students than ever will be able to live on campus thanks to the construction of two more housing units at College Village.

Today, officials held an official groundbreaking for the new buildings.

"It's great for our students," said College President Jim Sunser. "It's great for the community. College Village is an integral part of what we try to do, to have students experience the full college environment, and adding 64 more students to the full campus experience is another step in that direction."

The $2.81 million project is funded through a private loan to the Genesee Community College Foundation Housing Services, Inc., and repaid through fees paid by students.

Photo: Laura J. Bohm, GCC trustee, left, Norm Fuest, housing president, Jim Sunser, college president, Robert Boyce, GCC Foundation president, Joe Condidorio, with Whitney East and Rick Henry from Clark Patterson.

Previously: Plans moving forward for expansion of College Village

There's more demand than space for student housing, so officials are planning two more housing units at College Village.

The expansion will provide housing for 42 more Genesee Community College students than the 389 accommodated now in the nine existing buildings.

College Village is owned and run by Genesee Community College Foundation Housing Services Inc.,

Director John Sisson shared the development plans with the Town of Batavia Planning Board last night. He said if site plan approval is granted Oct. 1, construction will begin almost immediately with plans to have the new units ready for students at the start of the 2014 school year.

Of course, any discussion of College Village quickly turns to the issue of fire department calls to student housing.

Sisson said the college is working very hard with students to reduce the number of fire calls.  Last fall, there were 24 fire alarms at College Village. So far this year their have been 10.

Town of Batavia fire, an all-volunteer department, responds to each and every call of burnt popcorn, burnt grilled cheese and smoking pots of overcooked soup.

"When they get a call they want to come out," Sisson said. "They support coming to calls 100 percent because it's a high volume of people that needs extra attention paid to them."

College Village now offers cooking classes for students at the start of the year along with fire safety training.

First Assistant Chief Nate Fix conducts a fire safety class that is mandatory for all village residents.

"Nate Fix does a great job," Sisson said. "The students are there. They're attentive and they listen. I think you'll see a reduction in fire calls."

If there is a fire call, once construction is completed, firefighters will find it easier to get their new 80,000-pound ladder truck into the quad, giving the ladder truck access to all the buildings. The sidewalk into the quad is being widened to 24 feet, with concrete poured deeper to support the weight of the truck.

GCC is unique among the state's two-year schools because it attracts about a quarter of its students from outside its market area, said Rick Ensman, director of development and external affairs for GCC.

Even with the expansion, there will remain more demand for student housing than available units, he said.

"Housing adjacent the campus makes or breaks a decision to attend specialized programs," Ensman said.

UPDATE: The total cost of the project is $2.81 million, according to Ensman. That includes all planning, building, furniture, equipment, etc., as well as debt financing. The project will be funded through a private loan to the foundation and repaid through fees paid by students.

Burnt food in Room 102 in Spruce Hall at College Village resulted in a fire alarm to which the Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department's Engine 24 responded. Upon investigation, burnt food was confirmed to be the cause for alarm and Engine 24 is back in service.

Dispatcher: "Copy, 253 on scene, investigating burnt rice."

The chief (253 is from Town of Batavia Fire) is "on scene" at Cedar Hall at College Village.

Yes, school is back in session.

Engine 21 is on location.

UPDATE 3:01 p.m.: Town of Batavia is back in service. Confirming burnt food.

Ah, the fall semester nears. Is that burnt food emanating from College Village? Why yes, it is. Room 203 in Spruce Hall. The college has confirmed it is burnt food. And the Town of Batavia now musters a fire crew to respond.

UPDATE 2:39 p.m.: The fire department confirmed the confirmation that food was burning inside Room 203 at Spruce Hall. It is back in service.

Yet another false alarm of fire at College Village prompted two Town of Batavia fire engines to the scene. They found burnt food in one of the apartments. Well, burnt meatballs actually.

"The report should include meatballs," says a responder.

"What? Meatballs?" comes the reply.

"Yes, that would be meatballs."

"How do you burn meatballs?"

(But then again, when College Village occupants have been known to burn anything burnable, why not meatballs?)

"...I shouldn't be surprised," concludes the fireman.

There is a fire alarm at Oak Hall in College Village with "light smoke" reported.

As far as we know, this is the first fire alarm at College Village of the 2011-12 school year.

Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE: A source more aware of previous calls says that prior to this call, there were at least three, and maybe five, calls so far this academic year.

Willie Lamar Ervin, 18, of Bonica Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks. Deputy Brian Thompson responded to a report of M88 type fireworks being set off in the parking lot of College Village at 3:15 a.m., Sunday. Ervin was issued an appearance ticket. Also charged was Jerrod Malcolm Scott, 18, of Ridgeway Avenue, Rochester, and Armekco Davante Austin, 18, of Terrace Park, Rochester.

Anthony Willie Wagner, 19, of Bruce Street, Syracuse, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Wagner was at 4:49 a.m., Sunday, following an investigation into a report of fireworks being set off in the College Village parking lot.

Clark Tyrell Canty, 20, of Lenox Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Canty was arrested by Deputy Brian Thompson at 11:12 p.m., Sept. 29, following a report of the strong odor of marijuana coming from a van parked in the parking lot of College Village.

Kimberly Ann Doyle, 20, of Watson Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Doyle was stopped at 1:04 a.m., Sept. 30, by Deputy Brian Thompson at College Village after dropping off a resident there. Doyle was allegedly spotted with a banned person in her vehicle. Upon investigation, with the assistance of K-9 "Jay," Doyle was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.

Ashley Evette Mercado, 20, of Watson St., Batavia, is charged with trespass. Mercado was arrested at 1:04 a.m., Sept. 30, by Deputy Brian Thompson for allegedly entering College Village and remaining there in violation of an alleged ban on her presence at College Village.

Sharnice Shantell Gibson, 18, of Wood Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass, 3rd. Gibson is accused of being on Walmart property at 11:04 p.m., July 23, in violation of a ban against her being on Walmart property. Gibson was issued an appearance ticket to be arraigned in Town of Batavia Court on Oct. 21.

Town of Batavia FD is on scene at College Village building G (Spruce Hall) for a fire alarm. Response appears to be Rescue, Heavy Rescue, and at least one Chief. The cause of the alarm is not known to me at this time. More info when available.

Update (9:50 PM): This may end up being a non-story as they've already left. Response was Rescue 20, Rescue 24 and appeared to also include two chiefs. The dual-Rescue response has been fairly unusual in the past and that combined with everything arriving in a group led me to believe there might be something confirmed active, but appears to have simply been for the lighting abilities of those rigs. I don't have access to a scanner, so until I hear details from someone all I know is that the FD has been called.

Friday moning (8/28/09) at approximately 2:00 AM, fire alarms were activated in Beech and Cedar Halls (Buildings B and C) at College Village. Initial response was two Town of Batavia Fire Department chiefs and Engine 21, with one Genesee County Sherriff's Office patrol car and two New York State Police patrol vehicles arriving shortly afterward. During the investigation Beech Hall's alarm activated a second time. At approximately 2:25 AM residents were allowed back into their rooms. Information regarding cause, etc. is currently unavailable due to lack of an appropriate time to ask officials who were on-scene.

More photos as well as personal comments "after the jump..."

First view of E21 as I walked out to see what was happening:

E21 in front of Beech Hall:

From the road (walked around to stay out of the way):

GCSO response arrives (sorry for the blur - unsupported long lens at night didn't want to work too well) :

Residents awaiting all-clear:

CV Safety (I think, couldn't really be sure), Sherrif's Deputy and unidentifiable individual (possibly TBFD) talking next to E21:

My Comments:

Based on the number of people talking (and in general having no respect or care) at our fire safety meeting Monday night, I have a feeling that these unnecessary incidents are going to continue for a while. Furthermore, the total lack of respect from my fellow residents toward our firefighters is not only appalling, but absolutely unacceptable. When someone gets out of bed at 3:30 AM (two years ago this was a pretty common time for alarms to happen within an hour of) to possibly pull people out of a burning building if necessary (regardless of if it's for pay or not), a little respect is due to say the least. We've even had residents vehemently arguing (trust me, this is putting it nicely) with one of the fire chiefs and a safety officer wanting to go back into a building with the smell of smoke and a sounding alarm still present.

I'm honestly no longer sure there's anything that can be done to change these issues, but if you have ideas feel free to share, I'll pass along anything good to one of the RAs, the CV office or GCC.

I have a suspicion that tonight's alarms were a false pull due to it being two buildings at the same time and the larger-than-average police response.

Also, an obligatory disclaimer:
My comments are made purely on my behalf. I have never been a Resident Assistant at, or employee of, College Village or Genesee Community College. I am not speaking on their behalf, and have no intention of doing so unless I am asked to, in which case I would indicate such. Furthermore, I have no affiliation with any fire or law enforcement agencies in Genesee County. I am simply a concerned GCC student and CV resident. Intentionally misconstruing anything I publish/print/say in regards to the above disclaimer and the content it applies to will be interpreted as slander, and/or libel, and may or may not be met with legal action as necessary and to the fullest extent of the law. None of this is meant to harm the reputation of administrative, security, law enforcement or fire officials, nor that of the organizations they represent. It is, to the contrary, meant to support them.

If any official from involved agencies and organizations feels that I may have photos which would help their investigation into this incident, please contact me via bill [AT] buckleyw [DOT] net or my college e-mail address. I have retained all revisions of the images above (which had to be enhanced due to exposure issues) as well as various images either too blurry or not useful enough from a journalism perspective.

Edit: Code refresh and added photo captions.