inc.

After a long career in the natural gas and oil exploration industry, Pembroke resident William Gerych is ready to put the “bright” idea he has been holding onto for a while into action.

Gerych and his wife, Mary Ann, attended tonight’s Genesee County Planning Board meeting at County Building 2 on West Main Street Road, seeking a special use permit for a home-based business: Creating and repairing neon signs.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Gerych, who has worked for Lenape Resources, Inc., of Alexander for the past 39 years. “I like bending glass and have learned that it is truly an art.”

He said he spent six weeks learning the craft in a one-on-one training session with Howie Cohen, owner of Just Neon in Utica.

Gerych said neon sign repair is a “dying industry” because there aren’t a lot of people specializing in the vocation, but believes there is a market for it. His business plan is to advertise through the internet and to contact stores and restaurants that either sell or display the signs.

The planning board, understanding that Gerych will work out of his pole barn-style garage behind his house, recommended approval of the special use permit request with the stipulation that storage and disposal of any hazardous materials must comply with state and federal regulations.

In other action, the board recommended approval of:

• The downtown design site plan for a new façade at 35 Batavia City Centre for the Batavia Players’ Main Street 56 Theater;

• Site plan of additions to two office buildings under construction on the Gateway GS LLC (Gallina Development) site on Call Parkway. One building is going from 22,200 square feet to 30,000 square feet and the other is going from 27,000 square feet to 33,600 square feet. A third building, designated for future construction, will be reduced from 27,000 square feet to 17,400 square feet;

• Site plan for a 55- by 70-foot addition at O-At-Ka Milk Products on Ellicott Street Road, a project known as a MaCC Room Expansion.

The transformation of the Save-A-Lot grocery store building at 45-47 Liberty St. took another significant step forward on Tuesday when the executive director of the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, Inc., signed a long-term lease for 7,630 square feet of commercial office space on the ground floor.

“We’ve outgrown our space at our current location (in the former Kozak plant on South Lyon Street), so it seemed like a good opportunity to start looking around,” said Gretchen Gonzalez, an attorney who directs the Buffalo-based program. “We were looking at some other spots, but it's very difficult to find the size that we needed in Batavia. So, finding this space with Victor (Gautieri) was great and to be able to break it up to what we need.”

Gonzalez and Gautieri, president of VJ Gautieri Constructors, building owner and developer, agreed to terms and signed the contract yesterday afternoon at the VJ Gautieri office on Liberty Street.

Gavin McKeirnan Townsend, licensed real estate salesperson with HUNT Real Estate ERA on Jackson Street, also attended.

“Obviously, piggybacking on the beautiful apartments upstairs and knowing that we had about 16,000 square feet available of commercial space downstairs, we definitely wanted to leverage that and keep the momentum going,” said Townsend, who brought the two parties together. “It’s great to have prime commercial space here in the city of Batavia with sort of the resurgence of everything that's happening in downtown.”

Last fall, VJ Gautieri completed a $3.1 million project supported by $1.15 million in New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding that resulted in the City View Residences -- 10 upscale apartments on the second floor of the building -- along with first-floor storefronts and building-wide façade improvements.

With VLP’s signing, VJ Gautieri now has about 8,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor available for leasing.

Gautieri said offices of the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, known as VLP, will be located in the southwest portion of the building.

“They’re not taking the storefront. They’ll be able to walk out there – we’re going to create a new entry for them – and look almost directly at Batavia Tailors,” he said. “We will be doing the lease build-out – creating the space and dividing it to set up their offices.”

He noted that DEAN Architects of Depew, the firm that designed City View Residences, has been hired to configure the space for VLP’s 23 offices.

“We did an in-house version of a few things just to get the ball rolling, but the architect is going to play off of that and say, ‘Okay, here's what you need,’” Gautieri said. “He's going to also meld all the code requirements in to make sure everything is good. We have to construct the restrooms, entry lobby, reception area and then all the individual offices for the folks who will be working there.”

Gonzalez talked about VLP’s mission and the importance of a presence in Batavia.

“Our initial office is in Buffalo, and we've had a secondary office in Batavia for a number of years,” she said. “We started off with renting space for one office for one attorney – a paralegal that was out here all of the time – and then in 2016, we leased more space there and we now we have around 15 attorneys and five paralegals and two social workers.”

She said VLP is a “hybrid legal services organization” that has attorneys on staff plus a bank of nearly 500 lawyers in private practice that volunteer their time and provide expertise at no cost to clients.

“VLP is the largest provider of indigent immigration services outside of New York City in the State of New York,” she said. “Our Batavia office houses part of our immigration program. It's funded by a grant from the New York State Office of New Americans to provide a public defender-style representative representation to anyone who's detained (and facing deportation) at the federal detention facility (in Batavia).”

While the immigration piece is key to work in Batavia, it’s just a part of what VLP does, Gonzalez noted.

“I always like to say that we do anything under the sun except for criminal law. Because in Buffalo, we have housing attorneys, we have family law attorneys, we do divorces, end of life planning, wills, power of attorney, healthcare proxy,” she said.

“We have a low income taxpayer program that helps people who have cases and controversy with the IRS. We have a program that's specifically designed to serve people who are HIV positive. And we have another portion of our immigration program in Buffalo that provides services to people who are not detained and mostly provide services to victims of human trafficking and domestic violence and other sorts of crimes.”

Gonzalez, who has been with VLP for 10 years, said about 20 full-time employees will be working out of the new Batavia office, and will be supported by attorneys at other locations who volunteer their time.

Gautieri said he is keeping another 1,000 square feet in reserve just in case VLP needs to expand in the future. He said the anticipated move-in date for VLP is Aug. 1.

CLICK HERE for more information about the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, Inc.

Photo at top: Gretchen Gonzalez, center, signs a contract to lease more than 7,500 square feet of office space at 45-47 Ellicott St., site of Save-A-Lot and the City View Residences, as Victor Gautieri, president of VJ Constructors, and Gavin McKeirnan Townsend of HUNT Real Estate ERA, look on. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

Previously: Ribbon cutting marks completion of City View Residences revitalization project in downtown Batavia

The Genesee County Emergency Services Task Force on Monday night took another step on the road to a countywide “reliable, capable and professional” fire and emergency response strategy by interacting with project managers of the Municipal Resources Inc., a consulting firm headquartered in Plymouth, N.H.

Emergency Services Coordinator Tim Yaeger reported on the Zoom call with MRI representatives Brian Duggan and Peter Finley Jr.

Duggan is director of Fire EMS & Emergency Management Services, and Peter Finley Jr. is senior associate for Fire EMS & Emergency Management Services.

“Our initial work is to get a lot of data sets to them – demographics of the county, the number of fire calls, number of EMS calls – as they want to be familiar with us before they come to Genesee County,” Yaeger said. “Then we want to get information out to the fire companies and to the general public about why this study is being done.”

The Genesee County Legislature is on board with allocating up to $101,675 to fund MRI’s study of the emergency response situation in the county and to develop a plan to ensure that all areas have enough staffing to meet the public’s needs and expectations.

“The end goal is to have a reliable, capable and professional emergency services response,” Yaeger said. “It’s a countywide problem and we need a countywide solution or solutions. Right now, we’re all over the board; some days we’re reliable and some we’re not.”

Yaeger said the MRI managers plan to make at least four trips to Genesee County for meetings, with the first one expected to take place at the end of July. He added that media briefings with the consultants will be slotted into their visits.

He also said surveys are being developed as the task force wishes to receive feedback from “anyone who has a vested interest in public safety.”

Calls to Duggan for comment on MRI’s framework and timeline for implementing change were not returned at the time of the posting of this story.

Previously: Yaeger: Paying 'volunteers' is an option as county seeks outside help to solve emergency response woes.

Mercy Flight Inc.’s air and ground emergency transport operation has taken a significant financial hit due to COVID-19 and continues to deal with challenges in other areas, including the safety and protection of its first responders and the ongoing effort to fairly compensate these skilled emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

That was the gist of a report by Michael Gugliuzza, the agency’s director of medical operations, at this afternoon’s Genesee County Legislature’s Human Services Committee meeting at the Old County Courthouse and via Zoom videoconferencing.

Gugliuzza said program expenses increased by more than $115,000 for personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 while net revenue for the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, decreased by $400,000 due to a decline in ambulance calls and the loss of emergency management services standby revenue from Six Flags Darien Lake.

On a positive note, he did say that funds from the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program and federal stimulus have offset much of the loss.

In Genesee County, Mercy Flight received 143 requests for helicopter ambulance service during that fiscal year, resulting in 76 transports, Gugliuzza said. Fifty-six of the requests were deemed not necessary and 11 were canceled due to poor weather conditions.

He said that a change from Visual Flight Rules to Instrument Flight Rules will enable Mercy Flight to increase its weather-related capabilities.

“We’ve gone from what they call VFR, Visual Flight Rules, to be able to fly IFR or Instrument Flight Rules like the commercial jets and things like that,” he said. “So, this has broadened our capability with inclement weather – to be able to fly through much greater weather events.”

Ground ambulance transport decreased by about 6 percent, he said, with 9,649 calls for service resulting in 7,191 instances of patient contact (transports, lift assists and treatments without transport).

Gugliuzza said the company continues to battle the coronavirus virus from the front lines.

“We’ve worked hard to keep our crews protected,” he said, adding that those who wanted the vaccine were able to be fully vaccinated by mid-January.

He emphasized the importance of keeping staff and patients safe and protected, and thanked Genesee County Emergency Management Services for being “great partners” in meeting the PPE needs.

Gugliuzza said Mercy Flight’s “big challenge coming up now is essentially staffing, manpower and pay rates.”

“It’s a very tough market now between a lot of job openings, people not applying for a lot of jobs, and we’re competing with other industries outside of EMS,” he offered. “Part of that is we’re seeing big shifts in pay rates and those kind of things.”

He said Mercy Flight officials are working with payers (Medicare, Medicaid and others) to try to increase the pay scale. He also urged lawmakers to support first responders “and thus the safety and welfare of their constituents with legislative action when necessary.”

“Many of the fee schedules haven’t been adjusted in years and it really becomes detrimental to not just our agency but to EMS as a whole and other agencies as well,” Gugliuzza said. “We’re going to champion that cause and try to move this ahead in an effort to really make this a better industry for everybody.”

In legislative action, the committee approved an allocation of $12,825 for this year to support Mercy Flight.

Vaccination Process ‘In A Transition’

In a related development, Paul Pettit, public health director for Genesee and Orleans counties, said the vaccination process is in a transition – shutting down the mass vaccination site at Genesee Community College and in Ridgeway, Orleans County as “every county in all of the state sites are really facing a reduction in demand of folks seeking the vaccine.”

“The amount of folks who are getting signed up now doesn’t really need to be in such a large location, so we’re kind of reverting back to a different model,” he said. “We’re taking more of a shift to the health department for a permanent site, so we will be there at least one day a week with walk-ins and/or appointments.”

Pettit said that health department staff is contacting business owners and managers to see if they are interested in on-site vaccinations for their employees and families, and also plan to travel to the various villages for one-day vaccines, either by appointment or walk-in.

“We’ve kind of hit our bulk number, I think, with the people that want it at the moment,” Pettit said. “So, it’s a little harder slogging at the moment and trying to talk to people about the importance of getting vaccinated and what that means to them – but also what opportunities it could afford them, like avoiding quarantine if you’re exposed, being able to go to different events and you wouldn’t have to pay for testing to attend. There’s a lot of different advantages that are out there by getting vaccinated.”

He said Johnson & Johnson (one shot) clinics are scheduled for Wednesday at GCC and at the Office for the Aging, with no appointments required.

“Johnson & Johnson -- one shot and you’re done. Two weeks from now you’ll be fully vaccinated,” he said.

The Genesee County Legislature is reaching out to a Buffalo law firm as it has encountered “serious disputes” with a Macedon-based water and wastewater pipeline installation company contracted to connect water main under the I-90 Thruway as part of the county’s Phase 2 Water Supply Project.

On Wednesday, the Ways & Means Committee voted in favor of a resolution authorizing Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein to sign an engagement letter with Hodgson Russ LLP to provide legal advice concerning disputes with Randsco Pipeline Inc., at the rate of up to $305 per hour.

“We are seeking advice to assure that our risks are limited for our contract for water supply, and that’s all I can say,” Stein said after the meeting. “It pertains to Phase 2 – the big water line.”

Scott Smith, owner of Randsco Pipeline Inc., was equally tight-lipped, stating, “I’m not going to comment on any of the matter.”

According to the Randsco Pipeline website, Smith purchased the company in 2015, and was able to expand its services -- primarily public projects throughout the state -- by moving it from Victor to Macedon.

In a Sept. 23^rd story, The Batavian reported that the legislature approved a change to a contract with Randsco Pipeline, adding $125,000 to a pact for the installation of reinforcing sleeves on five tangential tee connections along the transmission main on North Road in the Town of Le Roy.

The modification raised the total contract amount to $5,657,030.60.

Highway Superintendent Tim Hens said that the change order related to the reinforcement of five tangential tees or hydrant assemblies off the 36-inch water main on North Road and to prevent any future leaks at the tees due to settlement or car accidents involving hydrants.

Hens said the work is part of a $23.5 million project designed to add 2.4 million gallons per day to the county’s water supply from Monroe County Water Authority sources, essentially doubling the current output of 2.5 million gallons per day.

The resolution to sign the engagement letter for legal advice states that “serious disputes have arisen with Randsco Pipeline Inc. regarding the work … and these disputes are likely to result in litigation involving the County of Genesee.”

It also states that Hodgson Russ was recommended to the county by Clark Patterson Lee, the engineering firm involved in the project. County Attorney Kevin Earl then drafted the letter, with both the legislature’s Public Service and Ways & Means committees accepting the rate of up to $305 per hour.

The resolution states that legal costs will be paid from the county’s water fund through a budget transfer from wholesale water purchases that came in under budget.

In other action, the committee approved the following resolutions (which will be voted upon by the full legislature at its Oct. 28^th meeting):

-- A capital project for the Darien-Alexander Townline Road over Tunnery Creek Bridge Replacement at a cost of $1,076,213, with 80 percent of the expense ($860,970) covered by federal aid. The county’s 20-percent share ($215,243) will be taken from its road and bridge reserve fund.

-- The reappointment of Dennis Phelps of Alabama as a director of the Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District through Dec. 31, 2023.

-- The reappointment of John Gerace as the Town of Batavia (District #4) representative to the Genesee County Parks, Recreation and Forestry Advisory Committee through March 31, 2023.

Machine shop owners Nancy and Bill Brach passed up the opportunity to buy the building next door to their business in the Town of Batavia nearly 20 years ago and the die was cast.

Nancy said they came to regret that.

Out-of-state businessman Jay W. Tuxford bought it instead, in November of 2000 when escrow closed on the $130,000 sale of 4816 Ellicott Street Road.

Brach's Machine, Inc., a 15,000-square-foot facility at 4814 Ellicott Street Road, soon had new neighbors -- Pandora's Boxxx, an erotica store that sold racy lingerie, adults toys and videos, and exotic gizmos.

"The porno people" as she refers to them, "weren't horrible neighbors" but the Brachs found the operation "unsavory" nonetheless.

"We wanted that place to be closed forever," Nancy said, with some exasperation, adding that the brass at O-AT-KA Milk Products across the street at Cedar Street and Ellicott Street Road, weren't sorry to see the adult business go away either, finding it a rather "unwholesome" sight.

So it was with great delight that they found that Tuxford wanted to unload the property.

He appears to be a South Carolina resident who has, or has had, several businesses, according to information in online databases. These include Panbox Enterprises LTD (Pandora's Boxxx locations) based in Inman, S.C., South Shore Distributing in Long Beach, Mass., The Love Boutique Inc. in Inman, S.C. and in Orlando, the Florida metropolis where he also has two units in a multiplex. He is also listed as owning Florida Video Control Inc.

The Oct. 22, 2010 issue of the Rochester Business Journal lists Tuxford as filing a legal notice to change the name of a business in Genesee County from Granny's Attic of WYN Inc. to Nicholé’s of NY Inc.

The Brachs closed escrow on the 1,700-square-foot property next door on Oct. 18, and the sale price was $160,000.

It was originally owned, according to county records, by Albert Scroger. Genesee Farms bought it in 1990 for $70,000 and Pavlos Panitsidis paid $80,000 for it five years later. Five years after that is when Tuxford bought it.

The Brach's primary interest in it was for "purely selfish reasons" -- to provide much needed additional parking space for their 19 employees and room for their trucks to safely back in and out.

Brach Machine and Design, DBA was founded in 1985, specializing in tool design and custom machine work, focusing on the die casting industry. It incorporated under the name Brach Machine, Inc. in 1993. In 2005, the husband and wife established legal co-ownership under Brachefeller, LLC ("as in Rockefeller," says Nancy) and that entity is the listed property owner of both parcels, according to Bill.

The business continues to serve the die casting industry, producing a wide variety of shot-end components for zinc and aluminum die casting machines.

The Brachs rent the former Pandora's Boxxx to Chuck Bucci, who owns Batavia Bargains, "for a song," Nancy said.

Bucci relocated from 198 Ellicott St. in the city, behind the Qwik Fill, and opened at his new space on Monday. 

Gone are the sun-faded pair of familiar burgundy awnings emblazoned with the words Pandora's Boxxx.

This afternoon, Bucci said the town site offers a bigger, more attractive space to display the goods he culls from estate sales, an occasional auction, etc.

He stocks a wide array of antiques, collectibles, primitives, all kinds of furniture, artwork, tools, signs, toys, and needful knickknacks and odd treasures.

"It's a nicer building ... there's more visibility and more drive-by traffic," Bucci said. "We were in the other building two years and nobody knew we were there."

Batavia Bargains' hours are the same for now: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday; closed Wednesdays and Sundays. Bucci said he'll probably expand or adjust the hours in the warmer months.

Guthrie Heli Arc, Inc., provides a one-stop shop to purchase sewer trucks, street sweepers, grapple loaders, refuse bodies, recycle trucks, and carpet tippers, both for municipalities and the private sector. They also offer welding repair and recertification of pressure vessels, such as those used for propane, fuel oil, and gasoline.

Guthrie Heli Arc is the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce 2015 Small Business of the Year.

(It is located at 6276 Clinton Street Road, Bergen. And although it has a Bergen address, it pays Town of Stafford taxes and for municipal permits and similiar issues, deals with Stafford government.)

Owners Matt and Meg Ryan purchased the company from Meg’s dad, Bill Guthrie, and became full owners approximately three years ago. Meg is president of the company and said "in a short time, we went from renters, to buying property, which quadrupled our space and currently have nine employees.”

They have also recently started to sell Primo grills, which are ceramic charcoal grill/smokers that are made in the USA.

Matt Ryan has a mechanical background from his experience in the Army and learned welding from Meg’s father and other workers. He is a certified welder and runs the shop.

Meg has a history of selling truck equipment. She originally worked with her father, then moved out of state where she gained sales experience.

Through the purchase of the business, they were able to retain some of Bill Guthrie’s core customers. They are members of the Genesee County Town Highway Superintendents Association and work with other municipalities. They are working hard, going door-to door, going out on the road, gaining more customer base and continuing to grow.

When asked what she is most proud of, Meg said “I am extremely happy Matt and I are able to do this together; happy to be in the Town of Stafford in a community that supports our business; and lucky to have good long-term employees."

When the overture began and the curtains opened, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had seen the 1954 film "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" years and years ago but didn’t remember it at all.

(My mother reminded me that it was the movie with the extremely agile male dancers; surprisingly, that didn’t help.)

The show takes place in an Oregon fur-trapping town circa 1850, and tells the story of the seven Pontipee brothers, who all live together without parents or wives.

Because they have no women around to do the housework, the oldest brother, Adam, goes into town -- where the Pontipees are not welcome due to their rowdy behavior-- and quickly proposes to Milly, a waitress.

The two get married and Milly takes on the seemingly impossible task of training Adam’s brothers to be gentlemen. But when the brothers fall in love with girls from the town, they abandon all they’ve learned from their sister-in-law and mayhem ensues.

It’s a cute, fun story with a happy ending and upbeat songs and the actors all seemed to be enjoying themselves while telling it.

Retired schoolteacher Carol Smith said she came because she likes to follow some of her former students in the cast.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said at intermission. “I’m really enjoying it. The leads especially are doing amazing.”

I agreed. Brittany Mruczek and Justin Soble were outstanding as Milly and Adam; both of them were believable as their characters and they have fantastic singing voices. The rest of the ensemble provided solid backing.

Nicholas Dunn, Kraig Marsh, Casimir Mruczek, Adam Secor, Matthew Smith and Eric Waples were audience favorites as the other six brothers, entertaining the crowd with their boisterous antics and impressive harmonizing.

Their brides -- played by Melzie Case, Rachel Fischer, Erin Kruppner, Kaitlin Logsdon, Maryssa Peirick, and Katelyn Rogers -- were equally entertaining as they giggled and flitted around the stage, becoming more and more bold as the show went on.

Even many of the smaller characters who only had a few lines, such as James Barcomb and Alyssa Buckley as Mr. and Mrs. Perkins and Charles Smith as the Preacher, were memorable.

And of course everyone knows that a cluster of dancing 5-year-olds in 19th Century attire just cannot be beaten.

Sixteen-year-old Rosalie Mortellaro is a veteran of the Summer Youth Theatre program but was unable to participate this year because of family plans this weekend (a wedding, coincidentally). However, that didn’t stop her from coming to support her friends from shows past.

"It’s excellent,” Rosalie declared. “I’m surprised to see some new faces and it’s nice to see old faces.”

The show at Batavia High School seemed to go off without a hitch, earning a standing ovation early into the bows.

As I walked out, people all around me were raving about the performance, using words like “incredible” and “phenomenal.”

All in all, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” is great entertainment for the whole family. (The only glitch was the venue's ridiculously long line spilling out of the ladies' room at intermission.)

Editor's Note: Video submitted by Penguin Multimedia.