GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – In a 5 hour meeting last night, Green Bay’s city council members addressed a number of major topics.
On a 10 to 2 vote, the council agreed to support Brown County’s plan to build a new expo center.
Green Bay’s support of the project is necessary to extend the area room tax to help pay for most of the project.
A blend of area elected officials filled Green Bay’s city council meeting to voice their support for Brown County’s sales and room tax plans.
“We should be celebrating this as a community,” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “It’s an opportunity for us to stand up and say we’re going to make an investment.”
The county’s $225 million plan would be paid for through two taxes.
A half percent sales tax would pay for a variety of county projects, including road repairs, a jail expansion, and library branch upgrades.
An extension of the area’s room tax would pay for most of the $93 million expo center, which would replace the Brown County Arena.
John Gard, a Brown County resident and former State Assemblyman tells WLUK….
“I don’t think there is a person in the county that goes into the Brown County Arena and says that building should still be there. I’ve never heard anybody say that is a thing of beauty, that ought to be preserved.”
Late last week, Mayor Jim Schmitt wrote a letter to council members urging them to not support the county’s plan.
A majority of the council disagreed, passing a revised resolution that will return excess room tax revenue to the municipalities.
The council also discussed the stalled $44 million Hotel Northland project.
Developer Keith Harenda announced Kothe Real Estate and Great Lakes Management, both out of Madison, are joining the project as co-developers.
During the meeting, Harenda said he wants 60 days to finalize the deal with the new developers. Work on the hotel will begin after the 60-day period.
At its meeting last month, Mayor Schmitt provided an ultimatum: either a funding deal is in place to finish the hotel or foreclosure discussions should begin.
The hotel’s developers say construction work is 75 percent finished. However, work has stopped amid struggles to replace the project’s top lender.
Harenda says the goal is now to open the hotel in the first quarter of 2018. The previous goal was to open this fall.
Some aldermen questioned Harenda’s ability to follow through with his announcements at the council meeting.
The council voted 7-5 to give Harenda the 60 day extension.