BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – The minority caucus of the Erie County Legislature introduced a resolution which calls on Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz to release the full stadium study regarding the construction of a new Bills stadium.
They also want to know all the people who have been provided the study.
"We at the legislature are ultimately responsible for voting yes or no on any contract or agreement that comes out of these negotiations," Minority Leader Joe Lorigo said. "We haven't had a seat at the table. We haven't seen the study. We think that's wrong."
Pegula Sports and Entertainment is seeking to build a $1.4 billion stadium to replace Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. It's expected that the majority of the funding will come from state and county taxpayers.
Public officials involved in negotiations have been largely mum about the stadium talks. Poloncarz has declined on several occasions to speak about the stadium talks, though he said earlier this week communications are continuing between the stakeholders. The governor's office has said they will release the study once a deal is finalized.
Lorigo believes the release of the study will not derail the negotiations. Instead, he believes a continued lack of transparency will hurt the negotiations.
"They're going to be asking taxpayers to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new stadium," Lorigo said. "They're going to be asking me as a legislator and my colleagues in this body to vote yes on a contract. We need to know what the contract is based on and where both sides are coming from when we make the final decision."
The legislature could vote on the resolution next Thursday.
