The Erie County Legislature approved Thursday the New York State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) on the Bills' new stadium, which is expected to open in 2026.
The SEQR looks at the impact the stadium will have on the land, water, energy, and traffic in the area.
"I’m confident that we have assessed what the experts have predicted will be the impact of the new stadium," said Erie County Legislature Chair, April Baskin. "It seems there will be very minimal impact, because the land that the new stadium is being built on, is currently owned by Erie County. Therefore, Erie County has kept up the land, preserved the land."
Baskin said multiple public sessions on the SEQR addressed concerns, and now she looks to host other special meetings on the stadium deal.
"This deal is way too large, too serious, too much money," explained Baskin. "As chair of this body I plan to have special committee meetings so we can take hours to go through what we need to go through."
Baskin said $850 million of the $1.4 billion deal is taxpayer money, which is why the legislature will thoroughly review all documents.
Baskin said the final step is approving the final document packet, which is expected to arrive at the Erie County Legislature in two to three weeks.
That final packet includes the construction coordinating agreement, lease agreement, union project labor agreement, affirmative action plan, and the community benefits agreement, which outlines how the Bills will invest in the community.
The legislature has to take at least 30 days before it can then approve the final documents.
"I'm hopeful that within the next 2 months, 60 days, we will have a Bills lease deal done," Baskin said with a smile.
Construction can begin as early as spring.
On Monday the directors of the Erie County Stadium Cooperation will host a public meeting at 2 p.m. It is open to the public, and all attending must RSVP by 9 a.m. on Monday by calling 212-803-3772
It will be held at the University of Buffalo's Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences, 701 Ellicott Street - Conference Room B2-209.
The public may listen to the meeting via webcast by clicking here [esd.ny.gov]. Members of the public may submit comments on the Agenda item in writing to ECSCBdMtg@esd.ny.gov
