Batavia bridge site coming, eventually

The Batavia community development committee will likely vote Nov. 9 on where a second Fox River bridge should be if sometime in the next 20 years the city council wants to build a bridge.

The committee asked city administrators to recommend some choices for it to vote on. A citizens bridge committee studied 16 sites in 2008 and 2009, but declined to present a recommendation, instead presenting a lengthy report on the merit of each site.

The city council asked a consultant to study five of those options, focusing on crossings at Main Street and at First Street, connecting to Webster Street and Adams Street. The development committee has had several public workshops and meetings to review the consultant's findings.

Tuesday the committee heard answers to questions it and the public raised at a Sept. 28 open house, about road grades, elevations and impact on nearby buildings. The drawings presented will be posted at cityofbatavia.net.

Far fewer people attended Tuesday's meeting than the September meeting, which drew several dozen. Not counting two presenters and two reporters, five people attended.

Three were from the Heska family, of 115 S. River St. (Route 25), who oppose building a downtown bridge. They believe it should be a bypass bridge at least a half-mile away from the Wilson Street bridge.

The options on the table now are deemed “circulator” bridges, meant to move traffic around the downtown. Several of the options put the bridge just several doors down from the Heskas' home.

Leo Heska, who runs bataviabridge.com, told the committee that in May, he circulated petitions to get an advisory referendum on the November ballot against a downtown bridge. He and his neighbors collected enough signatures but held off so as not to affect the vote on another referendum, a binding question about borrowing money to build a Batavia Park District recreation center.

Heska, who supports the rec center, said many of the people he talked to believe that the rec center “has something to do with the bridge. They see conspirators and people (elected officials) that have hidden agendas,” he said.

He also questioned why the citizen's bridge advisory committee wasn't allowed to recommend “no bridge” as an option.

Alderman Vic Dietz agreed, saying that when the matter comes up for a vote, he wants “no bridge” as one of the choices.

City officials have repeatedly said the vote to choose a site for a bridge doesn't mean Batavia is actually going to build one. But people who plan downtown development, as well as utility placement, want to know where a bridge could go so they know where not to put buildings, new electrical substations and the like.

Batavia voters rejected a tax increase to pay for a First Street-to-Webster Street bridge in 2000.

Thirteen of 14 aldermen attended Tuesday's committee meeting, although only seven serve on the committee. Alderman Eldon Frydendall, who is not on the committee, did not attend.

Alderman Jim Volk, not on the committee, suggested the committee skip making a recommendation to the council.

“I think we need a ‘shootout': Move it out of this committee, bring it to council. I've been swimming in this thing for 15 years of the 16 I've been on the council,” Volk said. He suggested inviting representatives of every local governing body to the meeting as well as members of the public, “give everyone a chance to speak their piece,” then vote “yea” or “nay” on each of the five options.

“I like the idea of finally making a decision,” said Alderman Alan Wolff but nobody on the committee made a motion to follow Volk's suggestion.