Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – Another box checked on the to-do list to start construction for a new football stadium in Orchard Park.
During its session on Thursday in Downtown Buffalo, the Erie County Legislature unanimously voted to approve the Memorandum of Understanding that was agreed upon on March 28 for a new facility for the Bills.
"It's a step in the right direction,” said Legislator Howard Johnson on Thursday of the decision. “It's the first step in a direction, but it's the right step in the direction to get this passed and get this going. I know this gives the parties involved the room to do the necessary next steps."
While this approval of the MOU does not mean a deal is finalized to get construction started, it allows for all parties involved in this process to continue moving forward with other negotiations. A Sept. 1 deadline was part of the MOU to get the stadium deal officially wrapped up and signed off on to start the process of getting shovels in the ground.
“I'm happy that we finally moved it forward,” said Legislature Minority Leader, Joe Lorigo on Thursday. “I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of everything shakes out, and I hope that the Legislature can be more a part of the process and not kept in the dark as much as we were leading up to the MOU's finalization."
"It's another great step in the process,” said Executive Vice President of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, Ron Raccuia of the Legislature’s decision on Thursday. “Really appreciative of all the work done by the Legislature, led by Chairwoman [April] Baskin, and we're excited to get this one done and start moving towards long form agreements."
While the Legislature still had some time to approve the MOU for the stadium, it was a consensus feeling on the floor that this deal needed to be approved sooner rather than later.
"I know all parties involved were waiting for the MOU's approval,” Lorigo said. “Not that it was holding anything up in terms of finalizing a deal, but at the same time, I think it was in the back of everybody's mind that the Legislature had not approved it yet. So I'm glad that we were finally able to get that done, and now all of the negotiations between the County, New York State and the Bills on finalizing the deal can be done in earnest."
As parties waited for the next ball to drop in the stadium process, the Bills have been hard at work getting other things in place to prepare for the construction phase. It’s something that they cannot wait on if they hope to get the facility open for business by 2026.
"We're all actively working on all of those long form agreements. We have been even without the official approval by the County,” Raccuia said. “We didn't want to waste any time, and we wanted to be very efficient with everybody. So we've been working on that, we continue to work on that. But this is a really good step. We're glad this is out of the way so we can focus on these agreements."
Among the agreements that have to be finalized before the Sept. 1 deadline is the community benefits agreement with the Bills and the people of Erie County. While discussions have just started to get underway on a CBA for the stadium, the Bills are looking forward to their upcoming interactions with the community.
“We're going to listen to our partners, we're going to listen to the community, looking forward to having those conversations,” Raccuia said. “I know they've been meeting regularly, we've been getting our ducks in a row, and those things will be coming pretty quickly over the next few weeks."
As for Lorigo, he’s keeping his eye on a project labor agreement that will hopefully keep the work on the new stadium in favor of local workers in Western New York.
"One of the things that I've been focused on, mostly, is making sure that all local contractors have the ability to work on the project. That there's a preference for local Western New York contractors and workers, whether they be union or non-union, before we start bringing in people from other states or outside of the area,” Lorigo explained. “I'll be watching that, I'll be waiting to see where that negotiation goes… and I'm hopeful that there can be a preference for local before we start bringing in people from other states."
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