genesee county

Mercy Flight, which won the nod of the Genesee County Ambulance Task Force, intends to buy the existing city ambulances, according to Vice President and CFO Margie Ferrentino.

City ambulance staff will also be given an opportunity to work for the new service. They will have to go through a pre-employment screening process, but Ferrentino indicated it's Mercy Flight's preference to retain existing staff when possible.

Ferrentino also said this morning that even though the not-for-profit Mercy Flight has not operated street ambulance services before, the leadership and staff of Mercy Flight has hundreds of years of cumulative experience in the ambulance business.

The organization is planning to base two ambulances on North Street and one at the airport.

Here is a four-minute audio interview with Ferrentino.

Ferrentino also supplied two documents outlining the experience of CEO Douglas H. Baker and the rest of the senior staff.

UPDATE: Here's a three-minute audio interview with CEO Doug Baker. Baker says how excited Mercy Flight is to get the opportunity to serve Genesee County with ground ambulance service and notes that there will be local residents on the board of directors. Current Batavia ambulance personnel are their first choice to join the new service. "We hope that all of them will come on board," Baker said.

UPDATE II: Tim Yaeger, coordinator for Emergency Management Services, and head of the task force discusses the Mercy Flight selection in this audio interview. He said he's happy the long process has come to an end. He said Mercy Flight came out on top because the organization clearly understands Genesee County, with its unique needs due to having an urban area and very rural areas.

Officials will announce today that Mercy Flight -- which currently is not in the ground ambulance business -- is the preferred choice of the Genesee County Ambulance Task Force to take over ambulance service for the county.

In a press released obtained by The Batavian prior to its official release to the media, officials state:

The Task Force recommends to local governments and fire districts Mercy Flight, Inc. as the preferred vendor for ambulance services in Genesee County. Mercy Flight, Inc. will operate three Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, one Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance and a Paramedic Fly Car 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will maintain two additional ambulances in reserve status. Their operation will be based in Batavia and will provide services to all municipal jurisdictions and fire districts in Genesee County.
 
The Task Force will continue to assist all parties involved with the conversion process to assure a relatively seamless transition when the city of Batavia ends ambulance service on Aug. 31.

A person associated with the Batavia ambulance service also e-mailed us about the Mercy Flight selection and said, "Hopefully it will be a good fit. We just have to wait for the fine details before we throw a party."

Other companies considered in the request-for-proposal process were Monroe Ambulance, Rural Metro Medical Services and TLC Emergency Medical Services, Inc..

UPDATE: From Mercy Flight's "About Us" page:

Mercy Flight WNY is an independent, not-for-profit provider of emergency air medical transport. We ensure rapid, safe and cost effective delivery of expert emergency response teams. Established in 1981, Mercy Flight has flown more than 17,000 patient missions over the last 27 years. We currently own 5 helicopters and have crews ready to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week out of bases in Buffalo, Batavia and Olean.

UPDATE 10:25 a.m.: Four-hours later, the Daily has its story up, but has an important clarification:

“This is not going to be a county service,” he said (Assistant County Manager Frank Ciaccia). “This will be up to each of the individual towns, and the city of Batavia, to contract separately with Mercy Flight for their ambulance services.”

Mercy Flight will still need to acquire a certificate of need from the State Health Department, he said. That’s a certificate of approval granted by a state agency to a health care provider, deeming that a service or facility is warranted.

The New York Power Authority -- which previously came under fire for denying power allocation to a planned data center in Albion for Google -- unanimously approved power for a similar facility for Yahoo! today.

Gov. David Paterson announced the decision and discussed details of the proposal in a teleconference this morning, according to the Buffalo News.

One site in Genesee County and two in Niagara County are under consideration.

The facility would cost $150 million and when completed would employe about 125 people with an average salary of $65,000.

Yahoo! has been negotiating with state officials for the past six weeks for an allocation of 10 megawatts of low-cost hydroelectric power in order to build phase one of the center.

If the Yahoo! Board of Directors accepts the state's deal, the company would move forward with the project. Phase two to complete the data center would be done by 2012 and Yahoo! would be allowed another 5 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

Today is the day to weigh in on school spending through out Genesee County, with several districts holding budget votes this afternoon and evening.

In Batavia, voters are being asked to approve a .33 percent tax increase to fund a $39.9 million budget.

Three incumbent school board member are also up for re-election, all running unopposed: Gail Stevens, Gary Stich and Andrew Pedro.

Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m.

In Alexander, there is no change in the tax levy and the budget stands at $16.8 million. Polls are open from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In Byron-Bergen, the $19.4 million budget does not include a change in taxes. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.

In Elba, the spending plan is up 1.9 percent for a $9.9 million budget. Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m.

In Le Roy, No tax increase in the $21 million budget. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.

In Oakfield-Alabama, taxes will climb less than 2 percent for a $16.8 million budget.

In Pavilion, No tax increase. Spending: $16.3 million. Noon to 9 p.m.

In Pembroke, taxes will go down by 1 percent and proposed spending drops 2.3 percent for a $19.3 million budget. Voting: Noon to 9 p.m.

Apparently, Genesee County is so far slated to get an out-sized portion of Federal stimulus funds.

From the Jamestown Post-Journal:

Last week, an Associated Press study found that stimulus dollars announced so far are not going where they are needed the most and that stimulus spending is 50 percent higher in counties with the lowest unemployment rates compared to counties with the highest even though it is meant to put people back to work.

That holds true across New York state, according to an analysis of AP's figures by The Post-Journal. According to the analysis, eight of the top 10 counties receiving the most stimulus money per person in New York state are not in the top 10 for unemployment.

At the top of the list is Genesee County, which stands to gain $5.5 million in stimulus funding approved so far, or $93.81 per person, even though it ranks 34 in unemployment with a rate of 8.9 percent. Next is Seneca County, which stands to gain $3.1 million, or $91.70 per person, even though it ties Genesee County with an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent.

Likewise, eight of the 10 counties with the highest unemployment rates are not in the top 10 for stimulus funding. At the very bottom is Lewis County, which stands to gain only $842,667, or $31.83 per person, with an unemployment rate of 11.9 percent. Next is Hamilton County, population 5,075, which has so far gotten nothing but has an unemployment rate of 11.8 percent.

I haven't been able to find the original AP story to double check the figures. 

According to this article, however, Genesee County wasn't included in any of the latest round of my released by Gov. Paterson.

A bunch of teenagers in red T-shirts spent Friday toiling in the sun to fix up an old barn off Route 77 in Corfu. And they did so willingly, even enthusiastically.

They spent the day scraping off old paint, powerwashing, brushing on new red paint, replacing worn out two-by-fours and doing landscaping. They'll do the trim and wrap things up Saturday and then enjoy a well-deserved banquet Sunday.

The workers are students from BOCES in Batavia and Albion High School in Orleans County and the barn is one of only five chosen nationwide to get an overhaul thanks to a generous donation from the Campbell's Soup Company.

It's all part of a project to help sustain family farms and aid the next generation of farmers. It also provides scholarship money for a prestigious six-week leadership conference this summer in Washington, D.C..

The Campbell's initiative is being done in conjunction with the national Future Farmers of America (FFA) Alumni Association, FFA student chapters, farm families and the agricultural community.

The soup maker ponied up $250,000 for the coast-to-coast campaign called "Help Grow Your Soup." Of those funds, $75,000 was set aside to refurbish five specially selected barns (at about $5,000 each) and provide scholarships to FFA students.

The barns, iconic symbols of family farms, had to be visible to the community and belong to a multi-generational farm family that produces something used to make soups.

The local one belongs to the Reynolds family, who operate a 600-cow dairy (for cream of broccoli, maybe?). The Reynolds also own 1,500 acres of land on which they grow feed crops. They sell their milk to Syracuse-based Dairylea Cooperative.

The other "Help Grow Your Soup" barns are in Illinois, Oregon, Tennessee and Kansas.

The hulking Allegheny Road structure is about 60 feet long and 40 feet wide and built sometime in the 1800s, no one seems to know exactly when. It's been used for hay storage but used to be where cows were fed and milked by John Reynolds' late parents.

The Reynolds built a new milking structure in 1997 and a new barn last year. Since the old barn was no longer essential, the family thought of tearing it down.

But family friend Barry Flansburg sort of intervened. He's also a Future Farmers of America alumnus and thought the Reynold's barn would be a good choice for the Campbell's opportunity. Apparently, his lobbying efforts weren't wasted.

"You're the first person I thought of, and you're right off Route 77," Flansburg said to Shelley Reynolds, who is delighted her family was chosen for the refurbishment project.

She likes what she and John do for a living, too.

"There's something about raising calves and seeing them become milk producers," Shelley said. "Sometimes you have to do chores on Christmas Eve, but you're responsible for it all and it's a good life. My kids never spent one day in day care. ... we operate as a family."

The family also includes Tyler, 18, MacKenzie, 17, and Andrew, 15.
Incidentally, MacKenzie is this year's Genesee County Dairy Princess and Tyler will be a freshman at Cornell this fall.

She says the kids say after college they'll come back to Corfu to run the dairy.

"It's their choice," she said, adding that it wouldn't be a bad one either.

Pictured above: Left: Christina Kirby, 11th grader at Albion; Right: Sarah Connor, 10th grader at Albion.

About 70 people who retired from Genesee County jobs will be required to drop their county medical and dental plans and sign up for Medicare by July 1

But it isn't as bad as it sounds.

The retires will likely save at least $100 on their monthly premium, according to Karen Marchese, the county's personnel officer. 

The Medicare plans are as good or better than what the county currently offers, according to the resolution authorizing the plan passed by the legislature.

The change effects only those retired employees, 70 out of 120, who are Medicate eligible.

"Each retiree will be given a chance to meet with the Office for the Aging to decide which Medicate advantage plan best suits their needs," Marchese said.

Marchese added that the change "will result in savings for the taxpayers as well, so it's a win-win situation."

The Genesee County Legislature presented local Americorp volunteers with a proclamation Wednesday night recognizing their volunteer efforts for the community. 

Genesee County is apparently on the short list of potential locations for a new data center for Internet giant Yahoo!, according to the Buffalo News.

If Yahoo! located the center in Genesee County -- or Orleans -- the new facility would generate only 50 to 100 jobs, but it might spur new high-tech growth in the region, according to the article.

Yahoo likes the region for three reasons, Schumer said.

It has a well-educated labor force. And because the data center would house computer systems and other equipment, the company likes the cooler climate, Schumer said.

"In this case, our cool Western New York temperature benefits us," Schumer said.

The company also needs a good supply of electricity, and it prefers clean energy, the senator said.

Of course, when Google was looking at WNY for a data center, it couldn't come to an agreement with NYPA on electricity for the facility.

A nurse with the Genesee County health department has reportedly lost her job and is accused of forging two clinical notes about a patient she did not examine.

Sherri Allen, 47, of Elba is charged with two counts of filing a false instrument.

Allen allegedly submitted clinical notes containing false information about a client she did not examine. The notes were dated March 16 and March 30 for clients who skipped their appointments on those dates.

Genesee County is putting together an employee health plan for the 21st Century, according to County Manager Jay Gsell.

In 1996, the county switched employees to a self-funded insurance plan, but then didn't update it for more than a decade.

Gsell said today that the old plan no longer really served employees well and hadn't kept up in changes in medicine.

"Over time, we've made little changes here and there and most of them are subtle, but now we're here in the 21st Century," Gsell said. "That old plan is not very responsive to the health care needs of people here in 2009 ... and it's not very cost effective."

The new plan has been in the works for two years, with employee unions, management and a consultant participating in putting together the new plan, which even though it was implemented in January is still a work in progress.

The new plan puts a greater emphasis on wellness, well being and prevention.

The plan now covers health care screenings for men and women and preventative diagnostic tests.

"Those kinds of things are in the plan to keep people from getting really sick or avoiding visiting a doctor's office until they have to go to the emergency room," Gsell said.

Still under consideration is coverage for gym memberships.

The committee is also reviewing prescription benefits, such as allowing employees to bulk order medicines through mail order and allowing over-the-counter remedies where patents have expired and a script is no longer necessary.

The main goal of the changes is to be cost neutral, Gsell said, but over the next five or more years, the county could save from $100,000 to $200,000.

"So what we're looking at is whether this plan over the next five years will help us better provide for our employees, but also save us money."

So far, not all employees have opted into the program, but Gsell expects more workers to see the benefits of the plan.

Job stimulus is coming to Genesee County in the form of two programs that are designed to either help laid off workers get back work or youths find jobs and learn new careers.

A total of $1.6 million of stimulus money is going to the Job Development Bureau, according to Director Scott Gage.

In one program, out-of-work people can apply either for a job that will involve on-the-job training, and the government will pay 50 percent of their wages, or youths can take part-time jobs in July and August with the agency picking up 100 percent of the tab.

"Our goal is to get the money into the community as quickly as possible," Gage said. "The majority of the money will be spent this year, because obviously, the goal of the stimulus plan is to turn the economy around quickly."

These are not new programs, but the amount of funding for them is substantially more than originally budgeted.

Yesterday, the County's Ways and Means Committee approved an increase in the budget for the youth summer job program so the bureau can hire two additional temporary supervisors.

Youths from 16- to 24-years-old can apply for work through the program and any agency, public or private business, can apply to hire workers from the program.

"There's no commitment for the business to hire the youth after the summer program, but we hope  that if a business likes the youth the employer will pick them up for a permanent job," Gage said. "Obviously, a lot of employers don't have the ability to that immediately."

Youths or employers interested in the program should contact Jay Lazarony at 344-2042, ext. 212.

For the jobs training program, employers must be able to provide documented on-the-job training with specific learning tasks, or out-of-work individuals can apply for job retraining through BOCES or GCC.

Each program is being funded with an additional $600,000 from the stimulus package, with the balance of the stimulus money going to help disadvantaged or underemployed workers.

If buildings had feelings, you could almost feel sorry for the Genesee Justice/Jail building at 14 West Main.

It's been more than a century since the building, which once served as home for the County Sheriff, got a new roof.  In fact, the roof you see crumbling atop the structure now is the original one from 1903.

The County Legislature's Ways & Means Committee approved a $264,000 bid for a synthetic slate roof to be installed by Grove Roofing Services of Buffalo.

Yesterday's vote was proceeded by some controversy. At the April 15 meeting, legislators questioned the authority of the city's Historic Preservation Board to disallow an asphalt roof, and after we reported that story on The Batavian, some readers raised concerns about the overall cost of the project.

After the bid was approved, I spoke with Terry Ross, supervisor of buildings and grounds for the county who explained that the size and complexity of the roof contribute greatly to the cost.

While prevailing wage rules do add to the expense, ensuring the building is well protected and maintains its historic look is not cheap.

Two significant factors in the expense, besides just the size, unusual shapes and slopes of the roof, are the need to replace all of the copper valleys as well as asbestos removal.

"It's a multi-faceted roof with many angels and it will be very labor intensive to replace," Ross said.

The roof is in such bad shape, it's been patched so many times, Ross said, that it is beyond further repair.

"There's no leaking yet, but there will be if it's not replaced," Ross said. "The slate is no longer in any condition that it can be repaired."

Even though legislators initially objected to the city blocking replacement with an asphalt root, which would be $67,000 cheaper, committee members agreed yesterday that putting on a synthetic slate roof made better business sense. It will last at least 50 years compared to 25 years for asphalt shingles.

"This is the best choice and a wise business recommendation," committee chairman Charles Zambito said. "Shingles don't cost as much but the synthetic slate doubles the life of the roof, so there's no point in fighting the city."

Zambito earlier noted that there was no case law or other precedent suggesting the county to beat the city in any legal argument over the city's authority on the choice of roofing material.

The committee approved the bid on a unanimous voice vote.

The Genesee Justice/Jail building at 14 West Main Street needs a new roof, and it seems the County Legislature Ways & Means Committee is in a little tiff with the city over what kind of roofing material is permissible.

The county applied to the city's Historic Preservation Board to replace the current roof with asphalt shingles, but the request was denied, according to minutes from the April 15 Ways & Means Committee meeting minutes.

The lowest of five bids for the re-roofing project, at $197,000, proposed asphalt shingles. The next lowest bid, using synthetic slate is $67,000 higher.

Committee members question whether the city has the authority to declare a county building part of a preservation zone.

The minutes note that the preservation board approved the synthetic slate roof "reluctantly," without any detail on what that means.

A motion to approve the $264,000 bid from Grove Roofing Services was tabled after some discussion and the matter was referred to the county attorney for further review.

During the discussion, County Legislator Jay Grasso noted that both City Hall and the new county courthouse have asphalt roofs.

At about 1 p.m. today, we e-mailed City Manager Jason Molino for clarification of the city's position and have yet to receive a reply.

UPDATE: After this post, I e-mailed County Manager Jay Gsell to double check whether anything had changed since the April 15 Ways and Means meeting.  In response, he made these points:

• City Hall was not directly part of process county pursued to get approval for roof replacement options other than new slate.
• The Historic Preservation Board was called on because of requirements in city Code, but the new buildings (as mentioned above) do not fall under the board's jurisdiction, so it's not an accurate comparison.
• Bids were solicited as required by state law and the roof of this building is complex both interms of removal and new systems/replacement and materials with a 50-year life expectancy (asphalt shingle is 25 years).

"Bottom line is that roof is over 100 years old," Gsell wrote. "It's in bad shape. This building is on Register of Historic Buildings and we intend to keep using for county functions for a long time, including our  back up emergency 911 center should 165 Park Road for some bizarre reason not be functional."

The Ways and Means Committee meets tomorrow at 4 p.m. and will revisit this issue.

We just received this statement from Interim Public Health Director Randy Garney:

It has been reported to the Genesee County Health Department that 1 of the 2 "suspected H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases is NEGATIVE for H1N.  One suspect case is still pending.

This popped up in my Twitter stream this morning: Genesee County Democrats. It doesn't look like the site is quite done. There's some information missing and at least one broken link.

I can't find a site for the GOP on GC, but the City of Batavia GOP does have a Web site.

Randy Garney, interim public health director for Genesee County, said this morning he doesn't have many details on the two people in Genesee County who are suspected of having contracted "swine flu."

He's unaware if the two people are related, but both have travel histories that took them into areas of known "swine flu" outbreaks. He doesn't know if that travel was to Mexico or elsewhere.

His advice: "At this point, take precautions like you would in any flu season. Wash your hands. If you sneeze discard the tissue. Keep your hands away from your nose mouth and eyes. If you are sick, go into social isolation. Stay home. Say way from crowds and from people."

And of course, contact your doctor.

WHAM 13 is reporting that health officials have said there is one suspected case of 'Swine Flu' in Genesee County.

We can't confirm that at this time.

Earlier today when we contacted the Genesee County Health Dept. we were told that some sort of e-mail related to 'Swine Flu' would be released to local media in the afternoon. That e-mail was never received.

We will try to get an update on this suspected case first thing in the morning.

UPDATE: Dan Fischer at WBTA is actively working on this story. Channel 2 also reported a suspected case. We'll keep you posted.

UPDATE II: It occured to me that we hadn't checked Billie's e-mail account since we left the office. At 5:03 p.m., we received an e-mail from Karen Smykowski at the health department. It reads, "Genesee County has one suspect and one possible suspect case of Swine flu. It is currently en route to Wadsworth Laboratory for further testing." Dan Fischer also spoke with Randy Garney who also said there is one possible case and one suspected case in Genesee County.