Procurement of Legal Services to Support Buffalo Bills Lease Negotiations
WHEREAS, effective on August 1, 1998 Erie County, the Buffalo Bills, the Erie County Stadium Corporation and the Empire State Development Corporation entered into a series of leases and other documents for the use of what is now Ralph Wilson Stadium for home football games of the Buffalo Bills;
WHEREAS, the documents included a one year extension of the then current lease and thereafter a set of new leases that run for fifteen (15) years to terminate at the end of the 2012 football season;
WHEREAS, the 1998 lease involved 35 separate documents entered into by Erie County and one or more of the other parties. Some of these documents required a very high level of special knowledge and skill. The magnitude of the effort also required the ability to provide concentrated focus on this matter over a long period of time;
WHEREAS, it was determined prior to the commencement of the last negotiations that culminated with the 1998 lease, that the best interests of the County would be served by engaging special counsel to support the County’s efforts. New York State, acting through the Empire State Development Corporation, and the Buffalo Bills also used special counsel;
WHEREAS, these negotiations ultimately proved successful with the Buffalo Bills remaining at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the entire sixteen year term of the lease; and,
WHEREAS, in order to best represent the County’s interests, it has been determined that special counsel should again be engaged to support the County’s effort to renegotiate a lease that will retain the Buffalo Bills in Erie County.
NOW, THEREFORE, I MARK C. POLONCARZ, Erie County Executive, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Erie County Charter Sections 301 & 302, Erie County Administrative Code Section 19.08 and General Municipal Law Section 104-b, do hereby order as follows:
1. It is ordered that the County Attorney immediately commence a process to procure the services of special counsel to support the upcoming lease negotiations with the Buffalo Bills through the issuance of a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) from qualified law firms; and it is
2. Further ordered that the RFP be issued within 60 days of the date of this order; and it is
3. Further ordered that the procurement shall be done in full compliance with Section 19.08 of the Administrative Code for the procurement of professional services.
GIVEN, under my hand and the Privy Seal of the County of Erie in the City of Buffalo this third day of January, in the year two thousand twelve.
County of Erie
By: _________________________
Mark C. Poloncarz
Erie County Executive