Batavia council agendas list hotel tax, battery storage moratorium and a $90,000 truck; no minutes yet posted
Batavia's City Council has not published minutes for its Oct. 13 meeting, so no votes or outcomes are on the record from that session. What the city has posted are agendas, and they list proposals touching city finances, land use and public safety: a new hotel and motel room occupancy tax, a 12-month moratorium on battery energy storage permits, and a $90,000 transfer for a Fire Department pickup truck. This roundup reports what was scheduled, not what was decided.
Three proposed local laws
The Oct. 13 agenda lists Local Law No. 3, establishing a Hotel and Motel Room Occupancy Tax; Local Law No. 4, a 12-month moratorium on Battery Energy Storage Systems permits; and Local Law No. 5, repealing and replacing Chapter 87 Flood Damage Prevention. The Oct. 13 agenda does not state a tax rate. A separate agenda prepared for the council's Oct. 26 meeting describes the hotel tax proposal as 3%.
$90,000 truck, roof work and budget amendments
The same agenda lists $90,000 from the Fire Department reserve for a 2026 pickup truck, and an agreement with J & B Installation for Water Filtration Plant and Fire Station 2026 roof replacement. No contract dollar value for the roof work appears in the summary provided. The council is also listed as reviewing budget amendments for emergency projects and equipment purchases; no amounts are given.
Asphalt millings could be declared surplus
A second Oct. 13 agenda lists a presentation on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project and a resolution to declare approximately 6,000 tons of city street millings as surplus for salvage and disposal by auction. If approved, the material would go to auction. The agenda does not estimate its value.
Zoning Board: four variance requests
The Zoning Board of Appeals met Oct. 22 for public hearings and action on four area variance requests: reconstructing entrance landings and stairs at 1 Dellinger Avenue; maintaining 10-foot hedges at 1 Union Square; replacing a concrete landing with a wood-frame system at 14 Park Avenue; and a landscape buffer reduction and sign code deviation for a Taco Bell at 244-248 West Main Street. Minutes for that meeting are not yet published, so the board's actions are not known from the record provided.
Coming up
City Council, Oct. 26. Public hearings are scheduled on the proposed Local Law No. 3 of 2026 establishing a 3% hotel and motel room occupancy tax, and on the Flood Damage Prevention local law, including a SEQR determination. The agenda also lists budget amendments and resolutions regarding a USDA loan for a police facility, a fire engine agreement with the Town of Alabama, and an intent to apply for the FY 2026-2027 Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program. The meeting summary also notes discussion of e-bike laws and property tax relief for disabled veterans.
Historic Preservation Commission, Oct. 28. A public hearing and action are scheduled on a proposal at 7 Evans Street to replace an existing Rochester Regional sign with a Lattimore of Batavia sign of the same size.
All three recent meetings summarized here are agenda-only entries; minutes have not been published, so no vote tallies or final outcomes are available. Readers can check the city's posted agendas and minutes for the official record.