GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — There appears to be some division among Brown County supervisors about where to go from here when it comes to moving Green Bay’s coal piles.
That is despite a nearly unanimous vote Wednesday night to reject the latest offer from C. Reiss Company, the owner of the coal piles.
Negotiations between Brown County and C. Reiss Company have been going on well over a year to try to relocate the downtown Green Bay coal piles two miles north to the former Pulliam Power Plant site at the mouth of the Fox River.
Studies have shown the prime riverfront property where the coal piles currently sit could garner $150 million of new development.
The Pulliam site is in Supervisor Tom Friberg’s district. He says he hasn’t had any constituents voice opposition to moving the coal piles to the Pulliam site, but he’s ready to move on from the possibility.
“It’s my opinion that if they’ve been treating us with disrespect throughout the negotiations, they don’t deserve taxpayer money,” said Friberg.
Like other supervisors, Friberg believes C. Reiss has been difficult to negotiate with since state officials confirmed a $15 million grant to expand port operations is contingent on moving the coal piles.
Despite the possibility of losing that money if a deal with C. Reiss isn’t reached, the county board voted to keep talking with other companies interested in the Pulliam site.
County officials have only said there are eight interested entities, including C. Reiss.
The county asked interested parties to call Brown County Port Director Dean Haen, leaving no paper trail of who the other companies are.
Some county supervisors say they haven’t been told who the companies are.
“There is a port operator with over 100 terminals in the U.S,” said Friberg, who said the information of this operator was relayed to board members from county officials who have been part of discussions with the interested companies. “They are very interested. They came to us with three separate proposals and at the end of the meeting with us they said you don’t even need to pick from these proposals, we’re willing to work with you to get what you guys want for the port. That’s the kind of respect we’re looking for from a corporation.”
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, former mayors Jim Schmitt and Paul Jadin, along with City Council President Brian Johnson issued a statement on the efforts.
For decades, under our respective tenures and beyond, the City of Green Bay has pursued the goal of relocating the coal piles away from our downtown waterfront to benefit our community, our port, and our regional economy. Recognizing the existing window of opportunity is closing quickly, we urge Brown County leaders to seize the moment and work collaboratively with C. Reiss toward a sound and equitable agreement that uses the allocated grant funds for their intended purpose in a way that brings the relocation project to fruition. The decision before the County Board and C. Reiss is a legacy-making opportunity to transform our riverfront for generations to come, and we urge them both to choose a solution of which they and the community can be proud.
“The whole crux of having the port is to move the coal piles and I don’t see that happening now,” said Brown County Supervisor Pat Evans. “I’m so disappointed in everything.”
While Evans doesn’t see a path forward, Brown County Board Chair Pat Buckley vows moving the coal piles remains the county’s goal.
“We’re willing to work with the city and C. Reiss to get it done,” said Buckley.
Buckley says the city has been working with C. Reiss on an alternate site if a deal can’t get done to move the coal piles to the Pulliam site.
He says the alternate site is city-owned property near the Fox River Terminal, which C. Reiss’s parent company owns.
An online search found only two city-owned property in that area, which aren’t far from the Pulliam site.
Mayor Genrich’s office says it is not in a position to confirm or deny whether those properties compromise the “alternate site.”
The property is largely under water right now.
“If the city and C. Reiss have something going on that is great, but I think the county is missing a big opportunity here,” said Evans.
Friberg suggests leaving the coal piles where they are. He believes they could be obsolete in 10 to 15 years, saying port data shows C. Reiss’ supply has steadily decreased.
“Can we bear seeing the coal piles for another 10 years as they slowly dwindle to nothing or do we want to give taxpayer money to get it out of there now, even though it’s a bad deal,” said Friberg.
C. Reiss has said they’ll be keeping coal for the foreseeable future.
“The customers that we have right now have no intentions of going away from coal anytime soon,” said C. Reiss CEO Keith Haselhoff when answering Green Bay City Council members’ questions in December.
That leaves the question: Will a deal get done to move the coal or will they remain where they’ve sat for the past 125 years?
Comments