Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Thursday was a another step in the right direction in the process towards getting a finalized deal to construct a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.
During a meeting at the Erie County Legislature in Downtown Buffalo, the much-anticipated State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) was discussed and laid out for Legislators that pointed out a number of findings and discoveries about the grounds of the new stadium, and how the facility will be constructed and designed going forward.
During the nearly 75-minute presentation to Legislators, a number of issues were brought up as part of the SEQR review, including the decision of the stadium location, water pressure and runoff issues, stadium traffic concerns, future stadium turf and much more.
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When all was said and done with the presentation, Legislators got a chance to reflect on what they heard about what's slated to come across the street from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park come 2026.
"I was very impressed with the SEQR position that they took. It was a negative declaration, which is fine, because actually, that sites pretty clean. So it moves the process along quite a bit," said Legislator John Mills after the presentation.
"It was a thorough process, let's just start there," added Legislator Howard Johnson following the review. "I mean, as you can see by the binders that were here, they went through a very thorough and exhaustive process, which was good. I think it's good that nothing unfathomable was uncovered."
While Thursday's presentation may not have come as a surprise to many of the Legislators, many of them were happy to see all that was covered and explained to them after an extensive process looking into the new stadium.
"My concern was that the SEQRs are based on the developments and the studies and the plans of the developer. I didn't want there to be any place where the county was assessing studies that were biased to what the developer wanted," said Legislature Chairwoman April Baskin after the meeting. "What I've learned here today was that the county was able to take all of the studies that were done by the Bills, be it environmental impacts, location, traffic, sound, all of them were measured against an independent eye, and to assess its validity to what it is that we are trying to accomplish with public dollars. That was something that was really important to me, and today, the experts came in and they showcased the multiple levels of research that they went through to get us to a solid SEQR."
Heading into the presentation, many of the Legislators did have questions about certain aspects of the SEQR review and what was discovered about the region in-and-around the new stadium grounds, or how certain elements of the new stadium were going to be constructed or maintained.
After all that was discussed, many of them were able to come away with a clear and concise mindset with what's to come in Orchard Park, which was the goal of those who put together the SEQR process.
"My questions have been answered. I think the majority of the Legislators have been, because they didn't say an awful lot about this either," Mills said. "It's overwhelming, the piles of books here, pages and pages of study. That's pretty impressive, and the answers they gave in the presentation, in general, was I think A-plus."
"I think most of my questions were answered, there's obviously still some issues about the runoff into Smokes Creek, that's not changing. It would have been great if there was a way to improve that runoff rather than just keep it status quo, but, at least, we know we're not making anything worse," added Legislature Minority Leader Joe Lorigo after the presentation. "Obviously, they brought a lot of documents here, they went through them relatively quickly for how much there actually was. But again, it was really no surprise given that Erie County has owned the property for decades. We know what it's been used for, we know that there are really no negative environmental impacts that might happen by moving the stadium."
While there were plenty of different aspects on the mind of Legislators, there were a few items that certainly piqued the interest of those in the Legislature on Thursday.
"They looked, they turned over every stone, so I was amazed at that," Johnson said. "It's a lot of lawyer speak in that and I'm not a lawyer, but the fact that they turned over every stone, the fact that they did such an extensive review, to me, is what piqued my interest the most."
"The thing that struck me about this whole process was that as large as a commitment this is of state and county dollars, and the Pegulas too - probably about $1.6 billion when it's all done... it was a smooth process, much smoother than I thought it would be," Mills added. "So in that case, and I'm happy that it happened. I think they did their homework, I think we've got a great project. And we need the Bills here in Western New York. They're part of the fabric of the community, just like our school systems, our culturals, our freshwater supplies, our labor force. The Bills are part of that fabric, so I'm really happy with [all that happened] today."
Another discussion that was covered on Thursday was the configuration of the new parking lots that will be in place around the new stadium, as well as the spaces that will be implemented after Highmark Stadium is taken down. While the new stadium is set to seat less capacity than the current stadium, Lorigo is happy to know that traffic issues should be better addressed with the new facility.
"Probably the best thing that we heard today is that it's only going to take eight months to get the old facility removed. That way, there's more parking, so I think you're gonna have less congestion when it comes to traffic before and after games, just from the fact that there's going to be less people attending the stadium," he said.
While the SEQR process is not quite complete yet, the Legislature now has the necessary information and documentation to be able to vote on the review to determine if there is, or not a significant environmental impact. Presenters felt Thursday's session went extremely well, and believe Legislators will vote a negative declaration.
Once that negative vote takes place, approving the documentation from the SEQR process, it will kick in a 30-day "exclusivity period" to be able to finalize all details of the Bills stadium deal, allowing for the start of construction in 2023.
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However, towards the end of Thursday's presentation, Lorigo asked of the potential to see a formal finalized deal for approval in front of the Legislature before the end of the 2022 calendar. In response, it was said it is not inconceivable that there may be something in front of the Legislature by the end of the year.
"Today's Dec. 8, and I'm sure whatever final deal is struck is going to be almost as voluminous, if not more than what we saw today from the SEQR process," Lorigo said of his question. "What I don't want to see happen is the County Executive bring over a final deal to the Legislature and say, 'You guys have gotta vote on this within the next couple of days.' I think the Legislature, whether I'm here or not, needs time to review the documents, make an informed decision, make an informed vote, and do the right thing on behalf of Erie County residents."
While it would be nice to see a final stadium deal proposal laid in front of the Legislature before Dec. 31, the other Legislators agree that time will be needed to properly review the details of the deal and ensure a proper deal is agreed upon for Erie County.
"The holidays get in the way of this, obviously, the timeline and such. I'd rather take a little more time getting it right, but I think everybody expressed their issues today, and seem to be together on the results and moving forward," Mills said. "I would anticipate something maybe happening before the first of the year."
"Even if we do get it, I wouldn't want to rush it. I want to take the time to look through it to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. So that's where I'm at with it," Johnson agreed. "I'm hoping that we can get something by the end of the year. It will keep in line with the timeline that was presented to us, but if not, if it extends a little further, I'm OK with that as well, because we know we're being very deliberate in the process."
"I understand that this stadium deal is something that is once in a generation. I'm not in favor of rushing any part of this process, because of the millions upon millions of public dollars that are being invested into it," Baskin added. "However, if the parties that are at the negotiating table, specifically those that are negotiating parts of the deal that I'm not included in, are prepared and they feel like they've gotten to a place where they are prepared to present something, I'm not above calling a special session in the month of December and getting us to a place where we have a solid stadium deal. But I'm not gonna rush that for a billion dollar private entity. I want us to do things responsibly, and I want us to take our time and do things right."