PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Brown County Board of Supervisors will vote Thursday night to finalize a proposed deal that would move the downtown Green Bay coal piles to the former Pulliam Power Plant site.
While the agreement between Brown County and C. Reiss Company, the owner of the coal piles, came in the 11th hour, it could mean big things for the city.
For 125 years, the coal piles have sat on the west bank of the Fox River. And for about six decades, there’s been talk of moving them and redeveloping the land they sit on.
Now that Brown County officials have reached a tentative agreement with C. Reiss to relocate the coal piles, there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. And the timing was key, because the state required an agreement be made no later than June 6, or it would rescind a $15 million grant. That’s nearly half the $33 million Brown County has accumulated the past several years to expand port operations.
“I’m so glad this is happening, and it hasn’t been from a lack of effort from Paul or me or Sam or anybody. It’s just the money wasn’t there, and now the money is there, and sometimes the spirit of cooperation wasn’t there, and it seems like it’s there now. So I’m very excited about it,” said Jim Schmitt, former mayor of Green Bay.
Schmitt understands the impact the proposal could have on the community.
“Once those are gone, $150-$200 million of tax base, and to be on the water front. That’s going to help the whole west side of Green Bay. That’s the exciting part of it, the waterfront and the west side,” he said.
Back in December, C. Reiss said it would be interested in working with the city to redevelop about 10 acres of the land for mixed-use development. The 20-25 acres on the south end of the property would be for light industrial use.
During a Green Bay common council meeting, council member Brian Johnson asked, “If working with city staff to try and find the right developers, the right users, would you be open to even expanding that 10 acres of mixed use, if the money makes sense?”
Keith Hasselhoff, CEO of C. Reiss, answered, “Ultimately, yes. We’re a business, we’re going to look at all of our options and make the right decisions for us.”
But it’s not just the redevelopment that has people excited about the potential coal piles move. Residents who live along the river on both sides believe their quality of life would improve.
One resident said “I am very, very happy that it’s going to be off the banks of the Fox River, where it’s been for a really long time. I think it’s going to be great for our air quality, the water quality. All of the residents on both sides of the river that have lived with this for such a long time, just really happy they were able to come to an agreement.”
If the county board approves the proposed agreement, it would be several years before the coal is gone from the downtown location and redevelopment gets underway.
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