New Draft of Buffalo Bills Community Benefits Proposal Released
Officials from the Erie County Legislature have released an updated draft of their proposal for a Community Benefits Agreement with the Buffalo Bills in regards to the new stadium that is being built across the street from the current stadium.
Officials released their first draft earlier this year in hopes that negotiations on the CBA would begin soon thereafter. However, according to some officials from Erie County those negotiations have failed to begin yet.
In a letter to the Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature April Baskin notes that there have been no formal talks between the Buffalo Bills and Erie County regarding a CBA, even though the Memorandum Of Understanding between the parties requested there would be.
A Community Benefits Agreement ("CBA"), applying an inclusive process to document with the CBA the commitments to be made by the parties that will ensure the New Stadium will benefit not only the Team, but all segments of the local community including historically underserved community within the County.
-Memorandum Of Understanding between Erie County and the Buffalo Bills.
Just as the original, the Community Benefits Agreement framework that has been released would require, among other things, the new stadium construction to ensure that local Minority and Women-Owned Businesses hiring goals are met, creation and expansion of public transportation to and from the stadium, and a requirement that the Bills work to address the most basic needs of a disadvantaged in all of our communities in Western New York.
You can read the 18 page Invest Well Erie, CBA Community Report right here on the Erie County Website.
Community Benefits Agreements are quite common and most modern sports stadium projects that use public money have had some sort of Community Benefits Agreement attached to them. The new Basketball Arena in Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Clippers Buffalo Braves, which is expected to open in 2024, has a Community Benefits Agreement attached to it. So does PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins play.