{"id":54706,"date":"2024-07-10T11:00:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=54706"},"modified":"2024-07-10T11:00:58","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T15:00:58","slug":"genesee-county-owner-of-former-stafford-trading-post-building-seeks-board-cooperation-to-complete-outside-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/10\/genesee-county-owner-of-former-stafford-trading-post-building-seeks-board-cooperation-to-complete-outside-work\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Owner of former Stafford Trading Post building seeks board cooperation to complete outside work"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

(Photo\/Julie Carasone<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week after finding that the historic Odd Fellow Lodge and former Stafford Trading Post at the corner of Route 5 and 237 had been broken into, building owner James Pontillo (above photo) appeared at Monday night\u2019s Stafford Town Board meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to meeting below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GENESEE COUNTY\/Stafford Town Board Meeting\/July 8, 2024 \u2013 Video News Service<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GENESEE COUNTY\/The Sheriff\u2019s Office is investigating after the vacant historic Odd Fellow Lodge was broken into and vandalized on Friday night \u2013 Video News Service<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontillo said he is looking for the board to work with him to complete the outside of the structure, which just about everyone agrees has been an eyesore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that nobody in Stafford town government has reached out to him this year to see the inside of the building, which he claims is \u201c95 percent complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe the only other person (beside Code Enforcement Officer Gene Sinclair) on the board (who has been inside) has been Mr. Clement (Supervisor Robert Clement),\u201d he said. \u201cNobody on the board has ever asked to go inside that building. It’s only other people. The attorneys have been in there. Engineers have been in there. All the inspectors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

(File photo)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the building \u201csupposedly is being condemned because it\u2019s abandoned, but it\u2019s not abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town has issued a summons to Pontillo for alleged code violations but he said the document drafted by the town attorney isn\u2019t completely accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I read through that, he’s not going to be very happy when he finds out that you only gave him part of the truth and not the whole truth,\u201d he said, speaking to the board. \u201cAnd I believe attorneys get very upset when they go to court and find out you gave them part of the truth \u2013 because that\u2019s a whole lie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stated that he asked to have a meeting with the board several months ago to resolve the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNope, we\u2019re going to attorneys,\u201d he said was the board\u2019s reply. \u201cSo, I\u2019ve been waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontillo said he has spent more than $100,000 on the inside of the building since buying it 14 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of the best comments that I got about the inside of the building was by the people that you brought in there to investigate the building, which were engineers \u2013 they gave me some wonderful comments — and your previous attorneys,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said while looking at the outside, we don\u2019t realize how good the inside is. It\u2019s because I haven\u2019t had a chance to get that done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he figures the board has spent about $50,000 in attorney\u2019s fees in connection to the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat would have been a great contribution to say, let\u2019s donate half of that to the Historical Society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clement mentioned that the building needed a coat of paint when Pontillo bought it and now \u201cyou took the siding off of three sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontillo replied that he was going to stucco the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole inside is practically stuccoed. We already changed all the windows,\u201d he said. \u201cWe put all fire rated doors through the building. The inside was done. Then what happened? There was a stop work order when we were doing the side \u2013 \u2018Oh, you\u2019re going beyond the scope.\u2019 That happened three times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontillo then invited Town Attorney David DiMatteo to walk through the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also contends that the board \u201cwants the building to look as bad as it does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs there not a code violation for tall grass and weeds? \u2026 I have not received one this year. I’ve not received one this year because they want the building look the way it does,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing, he said he has put Tyvek on the building more than once \u201cand it mysteriously gets torn down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you can tell somebody’s got a hook on here and they rip it all down. There’s cameras here that point to that building but the cameras never see anything when something happens. I had all the materials to finish my roof on a trailer; we were going to finish it. That weekend someone comes and mysteriously steals the trailer and everything. Nobody saw nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was interesting was I got served two days later \u2013 \u2018Oh, you didn\u2019t finish your roof.\u2019 Yeah, when my building got broken into. It was damaged.. There’s Sinclair right there in the middle of the night \u2013 \u2018Here, you have code violations.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point, Sandra Swanson, a town resident, asked Pontillo what it would take to get it done \u201cand create a more beautiful downtown Stafford?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontillo responded by saying the board \u201cillegally evicted my tenants out of the building to cut my revenue down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have three tenants upstairs and we had two tenants downstairs \u2013 and then there was just the one. We had three up there and they were evicted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swanson then asked, \u201cSo, are you saying that there is no way that you could at least complete the outside of the building?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes money,\u201d Pontillo replied. \u201cI would have rather spent $50,000 on fixing the building instead of attorney fees, fighting it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontillo said all he wants is \u201cassurance\u201d that if he spends another $50,000 to finish the outside, the board will allow him to do so. He also believes the tenants were evicted so he wouldn\u2019t be able to be \u201cgrandfathered in\u201d as a mixed-use building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning to Clement, he said, \u201cWould you be honest \u2026 did you not make the statement to me, \u2018Well, how much more are you going to spend before it\u2019s not worth it anymore?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To which Clement replied, \u201cYou\u2019ve probably reached that point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s your mentality,\u201d Pontillo shot back. \u201cIt\u2019s like we have our supervisor who is kind of making in jest to me, you know, \u2018Come on, how much more you want to spend before you\u2019ve got to walk away from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In other development, the board:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Heard the annual financial statement audit report from Jeremy Smith, CPA, with Lumsden & McCormick of Buffalo. Smith reported that the town\u2019s general fund showed a surplus of $31,000 in 2023, a highway fund surplus of $115,000 (due to some transfers), and $100,000 increase in property taxes collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also reported that the town has spent about $1 million thus far of $4.4 million in grants, loans, etc. for the water district 12 project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Read resignation letters from James Call and Stephanie Call, president and treasurer, respectively, of the Stafford Fire Department. Both were longtime participants in the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letters pointed to numerous problems in the department, specifically negativity, bullying, lack of interest, self-serving, wasteful spending, collusion, unqualified (volunteers) and people living outside of the appointed area. The letters also stated that \u201cthe future looks bleak.\u201d Contacted by Video News Service, James Call said he had no comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo\/Julie Carasone) By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service A week after finding that the historic Odd Fellow Lodge and former Stafford Trading Post at the corner of Route 5 and 237 had been broken into, building owner James Pontillo (above photo) appeared at Monday night\u2019s Stafford Town Board meeting. Link \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[512,4455],"class_list":["post-54706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stafford","tag-james-pontillo","tag-odd-fellow-lodge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-eem","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55825,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/13\/genesee-county-pontillo-urges-stafford-town-board-to-heed-what-its-residents-are-saying\/","url_meta":{"origin":54706,"position":0},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Pontillo urges Stafford Town Board to heed what its residents are saying","author":"aka","date":"August 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"James Pontillo and his wife, Laura (photo by Mike Pettinella) By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service The people have spoken and now it\u2019s up to the Stafford Town Board to listen to them. That\u2019s the message conveyed at Monday night\u2019s town board meeting by James Pontillo, owner of the former\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pontillo-8-12-24-b.jpg?fit=758%2C552&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pontillo-8-12-24-b.jpg?fit=758%2C552&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pontillo-8-12-24-b.jpg?fit=758%2C552&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pontillo-8-12-24-b.jpg?fit=758%2C552&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56618,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/09\/05\/genesee-county-stafford-attorneys-looking-for-james-pontillo-to-submit-scope-of-project-to-show-fire-code-compliance\/","url_meta":{"origin":54706,"position":1},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Stafford\/Attorneys looking for James Pontillo to submit \u2018scope of project\u2019 to show fire code compliance","author":"aka","date":"September 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"File photo By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service Attorneys for the Town of Stafford and for James Pontillo reached an agreement in Genesee County Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon that requires Pontillo to hire an architect to define the \u201cscope\u201d of a project to bring the 134-year-old former Stafford Trading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54453,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/06\/29\/genesee-county-the-sheriffs-office-is-investigating-after-the-vacant-historic-odd-fellow-lodge-was-broken-into-and-vandalized-on-friday-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":54706,"position":2},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/The Sheriff’s Office is investigating after the vacant historic Odd Fellow Lodge was broken into and vandalized on Friday night","author":"aka","date":"June 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"According to Genesee County Sheriff's Office Investigator Ryan DeLong, the Sheriff's Office has opened a criminal investigation after the historic Odd Fellow Lodge at Rt. 5 and Rt. 237 was broken into. According to building owner James Pontillo, he arrived at the property on Friday evening and found several doors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stafford"","block_context":{"text":"Stafford","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/stafford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1000116356-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1000116356-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1000116356-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1000116356-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1000116356-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55440,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/05\/genesee-county-town-board-taking-pontillo-to-court-over-former-stafford-trading-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":54706,"position":3},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Town Board taking Pontillo to court over former Stafford Trading Post","author":"aka","date":"August 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Mike PettinellaVideo News Service Just like the name of James Pontillo\u2019s limited liability company, the plight of the former Stafford Trading Post certainly is \u201cthe talk of the town.\u201d On Sunday afternoon, Pontillo invited Alecia Kaus, publisher of Video News Service, and this reporter to tour the inside of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240804_171006-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C776&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240804_171006-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C776&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240804_171006-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C776&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240804_171006-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C776&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240804_171006-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C776&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58936,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/14\/genesee-county-attorney-stafford-town-board-has-hunted-pontillo-down-for-eight-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":54706,"position":4},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Attorney: Stafford Town Board has \u2018hunted Pontillo down for eight years\u2019","author":"aka","date":"November 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"(File photo) Left-James Pontillo with wife Laura at a Town Board meeting earlier this year. (Right-Former Stafford Trading Post building) By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service The lawyer for James Pontillo, owner of the former Stafford Trading Post at Routes 5 and 237, has come out on the offensive, claiming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stafford"","block_context":{"text":"Stafford","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/stafford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stafford-pontillo-court.jpg?fit=1071%2C563&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stafford-pontillo-court.jpg?fit=1071%2C563&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stafford-pontillo-court.jpg?fit=1071%2C563&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stafford-pontillo-court.jpg?fit=1071%2C563&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stafford-pontillo-court.jpg?fit=1071%2C563&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58764,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/07\/genesee-county-town-of-stafford-attorney-encouraged-after-latest-court-session-over-the-former-stafford-trading-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":54706,"position":5},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Town of Stafford attorney \u2018encouraged\u2019 after latest court session over the former Stafford Trading Post","author":"aka","date":"November 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"(File photo) By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service The dispute between the Town of Stafford and James Pontillo, owner of the former Stafford Trading Post at Routes 5 and 237, could be approaching its resolution. A settlement is within reach, said David Roach of DiMatteo Roach & Kelly of Warsaw,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stafford"","block_context":{"text":"Stafford","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/stafford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1000122025-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/pontillo-stafford-.jpg?fit=960%2C1280&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54706"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54718,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54706\/revisions\/54718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}