City administrator outlines road, utility and staffing updates; mayor flags pole, school-street timing and emergency services volumes

City Administrator Laura Newman told the council on Aug. 4 that city staff have posted a draft South River Street corridor plan online and will hold outreach at the Aug. 23 Farmers Market and additional on-site public events in the corridor. Newman provided multiple public-works updates: the city will replace failing brick pavers on Route 31 (Wilson to Houston) with concrete; paving work on McKee and Van Norwalk is starting this week and the city expects completion before the start of school; a Main Street water-main break near the west-side fire station was repaired; and the bike path adjacent to the wastewater treatment plant will be rerouted temporarily to allow a sanitary bypass and to bring new services online. Newman also said the city created a project information page for the data-center proposal on the city website and that she will meet with the Batavia Environmental Commission and Main Street to finalize a proposed native-species garden adjacent to the Art of the Fox display. She reported that the police department received 157 applications for a recent officer-testing process and announced that Rahat Bari will leave the city at the end of the week after leading multiple road projects. Mayor comments during the meeting noted two near-term operational items residents raised: a leaning pole on South River Street tied to utility repairs and work awaiting Commonwealth Edison, and concerns from parents about a school-area street associated with a new Pulte Homes development. The mayor said staff expect the street to be opened before school starts on Aug. 14 and that the city is pursuing completion of sidewalks and roadway access with developers. The mayor also previewed a November mayoral presentation, which he said will include drone footage of Batavia projects and areas including Nelson’s Lake, Batavia Commons (new attached townhomes near the Aurora border) and the Depot Pond. He urged the Batavia Park District to restart pumps in Depot Pond to improve water circulation and appearance. Finally, the mayor and staff highlighted emergency-response volume: the fire department surpassed 3,000 calls so far this year and the city expects ambulance-call demand to remain high because of a growing number of senior-living communities, a trend the mayor said could push annual call counts toward last year’s total of 5,383.