Public Service

If you don’t think there’s fun to be had in Batavia, then look no further than the name of a company being considered for DeWitt Recreation Area on Cedar Street.

Genesee County legislators that make up the Public Service Committee reviewed a move Monday to obtain Rent.Fun LLC to set up a self-service kayak rental kiosk at DeWitt. Kayaking was identified in the county’s comprehensive recreation plan as a “need to be made available to the community.”

Genesee County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens and the deputy superintendent recommended that the committee approve the proposal for the county to enter into an agreement with Rent.Fun, LLC, located in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“There would be four (kayaks) available to rent from spring to fall,” Hens said to The Batavian. “The financial model is that the county would pay itself back on the investment, but we are looking at this as an opportunity to provide a recreational service to the community that also generates residual income and requires no county maintenance.”

The agreement would be for a period of five years, at a total cost of $16,000 for the installation and activation of smart lockers, fully equipped with kayaks/lifejackets and locker signage. Kayak users would then pay a rental fee through use of the kiosk that would go back to the county.

This park amenity expense will come out of the Capital Project DeWitt Improvements Phase IV, with $6,000 of this cost offset by a donation from the Association for the Conservation of Recreational and Natural Spaces (ACORNS), for a total cost of $10,000 to the county.

A final vote will go before the county Legislature in the next couple of weeks.

“If approved, the kayaks will be in place by mid-June,” Hens said.

In 2020-21, the county’s Chamber of Commerce Batavia Rotary Club and Youth Bureau worked together to put a $6,000 grant toward a new kayak launch at DeWitt and purchase kayaks for the Youth Bureau.

Although contractors for the new Genesee County Jail have been abiding by OSHA requirements, the construction site had an incident with one worker this past month, Carl York says.

York presented a monthly update Monday to the county’s Public Services Committee. From the large — utility infrastructure and the building’s footprint — to more minute details of cell accessories, they were being completed one by one, he said. And occasionally, accidents happen.

“A contractor twisted his arm while drilling,” said York, senior project manager for The Pike Company. “There was no doctor visit, no lost time. So we’re just treating it as a first-aid case.”

Many items on the construction to-do list have been completed by 98 percent, but some supply chain issues will cause a delay of the precast (a premade concrete form of a structural element for the building) from December of this year to January 2023, he said.

A visit to a neighboring jail facility seemed to be a validation that many aspects of Genesee County’s new jail are on track with what has worked in Greene County, he said.

“It was very informative. We learned a lot of stuff. We talked to the maintenance people about things they like and didn’t like. “But (the county’s architect) had already put most of the lessons learned into your design that the transition team had met with previously,” he said. “So it was, for us, the learning was all very positive.”

Aside from losing seven days to rain, the project is still on course for completion in spring 2024. Masonry work has been started, with about 5 percent completed, he said, and will continue until a steel shipment arrives for another phase of construction.

He showed some areas that were near completion, including a cell mock-up that his team inspected.

“There were very, very minor quality control issues,” he said. “The biggest issues we saw were some of the sharp points that were still left on some of the stainless steel, which is the sink and toilet. And then they also found the mirrors and the grab bars,” he said. “So we were pretty thorough, running our fingers over everything just to make sure there’s not a sharp point."

He had a feeling that further inspections will cause those items with sharp points to be removed and fixed. He marveled at how smooth and shiny a steel mirror was — the reflection was like a regular mirror, he said. There was other good news as well, he said.

“We did hit one of the milestones, which is getting all of the foundations complete for the Admin Building and for the pods. So that's 100 percent complete and finished … three days ahead of schedule, so that was good,” he said.

Construction began in May next door to County Building #2 on Route 5 in the town of Batavia. The 184-bed facility has a total contractor cost of $57,272,800. A target completion date has been set for March 2024.

Go HERE for prior coverage. 

Carl York, senior project manager for The Pike Company, shows photos during the county's Public Services Committee meeting Monday at the Old Courthouse in Batavia. Photos by Joanne Beck. Editor's note: The Batavian has requested the report with photos.