Buffalo, NY (WBEN) With a September 1 deadline, there appears to be little movement on a community benefits agreement for a new Bills stadium. One lawmaker says he's heard no progress so far.
"Your guess is as good as mine," says Erie County Legislator Joe Lorigo. Lorigo does not sit on that bargaining committee, but notes from what he's learned that committee has yet to meet. "I don't know, what's been discussed or negotiated on either side. It seems to me that right now, there hasn't been a lot going on," says Lorigo.
Lorigo says he's concerned about the lack of reported progress. "We all want to make sure that every part of this deal gets done as quickly as possible, and that benefits the most amount of people in our community," says Lorigo. He notes legislature chairwoman April Baskin has sounded committed to getting a good community benefits agreement done, but there's no tangible progress to report.
Thursday is the next scheduled legislature session, but Lorigo's not getting his hopes up. "There's nothing on our agenda about the community benefits agreement," says Lorigo. "We don't have committees until next week, so I would say unless something comes out of the blue, I'm not anticipating your anything about it." Lorigo says whether such an agreement is needed before construction begins is up to the committee.
We tried to reach Baskin for comment, but WBEN was told she was unavailable Wednesday.