ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Dozens of people with a lot of questions gathered in Orchard Park.
When county officials met up with them in the field house, there were three main objectives for this project:
- Present the project plan to city residents
- Explain the environmental review and studies the county will conduct
- Formal mechanism for the public to provide feedback
When the half hour meeting started, they wanted to touch on the ways they could help the community when the stadium was built in 2026. These were some of the many topics they covered:
- Wetlands
- Drains
- Species
- Traffic
- Sanitary sewer
- National gas service
- Any and all things surrounding public health and benefit from the stadium being built
Ernie Dobies is an Orchard Park resident. He said that while they're working on those projects, he's focused on his own home. For 15 years, Dobies has battled with the Bills community entering his personal backyard.
"I find underwear and all sorts of other things I won't mention," Dobies said.
At the end of the day, Dobies just wants his home to be a home and not a bathroom.
"We're not talking after the game, we're talking before the game with the tailgating in the parking lot. They use our property and our neighbor's property as a restroom," Dobies said.
Mark Ebeling is the Owner of Danny's. Another major problem for the Orchard Park residents is the water in their homes and businesses.
"We used to put five gallon buckets in the bathrooms just to dump into the toilets to make them flush, and it's not just my restaurant, it's the whole neighborhood. If you went through the neighborhood, they would all tell you the water pressure stinks around here," Ebeling said.
Outside of the water pressure, the thing that almost all the people who hopped on the microphone to talk about was the sidewalk safety. We've been hearing it for the past few months, but tonight it came up at least a dozen times.
“I think sidewalks would be a big thing. I think it’s important to have them,” Ebeling said.
