The Erie County Sheriff’s Office’s plan to move employees out of a grass-covered nuclear bomb shelter, currently home base for the SWAT team and other Special Operations personnel, remains in limbo.
The sense of urgency remains to move employees out of the decades-old, windowless bunker at Chestnut Ridge Park. But when legislators got together in committee Thursday to discuss and approve a recommended 10-year, multimillion-dollar lease, most of them had not seen any of the contract lease documents or proposals. Many had not even seen the eight-line summary that the Sheriff’s Office created, outlining the location, square footage and cost per square foot of the developers’ proposals.
After more than 50 years of working out of a county-owned bomb shelter in Chestnut Ridge Park, the Erie County Sheriff’s Special Services Division needs to move. But the new office and warehouse space in Orchard Park would cost about $10 million.
Leaders with the Sheriff’s Office made only brief, introductory remarks before offering to answer questions.
All Republican legislators – and some Democratic legislators – said they could not ask appropriate questions or make decisions when they had so little information. Public Safety Committee Chair Howard Johnson called a brief…
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