Batavia Council OKs $150,000 jail upgrade
BATAVIA — A $150,000 upgrade to the Genesee County Jail has been approved by the Batavia City Council.
The work, which will modify the jail to accommodate booking and improve processing of suspects, will increase the number of holding cells to three. The project was made necessary because of a new limited-hours schedule at the Batavia Police Headquarters, which is adjacent to the jail on West Main Street.
The $150,000 was secured through a member grant obtained by retired State Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville.
Holding cells at Police Headquarters are no longer used because the city joined the county in a joint dispatch service a year ago. The downtown police station is now open only during weekday working hours.
As a result, city police no longer process suspects for fingerprints and photos. The process has been transferred next door to Genesee County sheriff’s deputies at the jail.
The City Council on Monday also approved seeking a state brownfield grant to return dormant or underutilized sites to productive use, City Manager Jason R. Molino said. Envisioned is a two-year, $300,000 project with a 10 percent match by the city, probably through in-kind services.
The targeted area is called the Central Corridor and runs form Harvester Avenue one mile west to downtown Batavia, with a mix of historic commercial and industrial properties. Molino said the restoration of the heart of the city into environmentally and economically sound property “can really help move economic development forward in the downtown area.”
The timing of the project coincides with the recent announcement of new policies to speed the conversion of brown-fields into shovel-ready sites.
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