GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay’s city council remains on the same page after a lengthy closed session discussion on the Lambeau Field lease negotiations.
After talking for about 90 minutes behind closed doors, the council unanimously voted in open session to “proceed as discussed in closed session.”
The talks come about three weeks after the last known offer was made from the Packers to the city to extend the lease for Lambeau Field, which currently runs until 2032.
“Looking forward to communicating what was communicated to me to the Green Bay Packers in very short order,” said Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich about the closed session discussion.
FOX 11 asked Genrich if he thinks a deal will be done sooner or later.
“We’ll see,” said Genrich. “I really can’t prejudge that or don’t have a great prediction on timeline, but I feel optimistic and just really appreciate common council being as thoughtful and as deliberative as they have been throughout this process and appreciate the unanimous direction that was given.”
Both the Packers and city leaders haven’t said much publicly about the lease talks since the one-week period last month when the talks became very public.
The Packers made a public plea for the city to return to the negotiation table after months of little to no progress. The Packers said their offer included spending $1.5 billion on stadium upgrades and maintenance over a 20-to-30-year extension without the use of tax dollars.
“Why we are interested in getting this done now is the longer we wait, the more it will cost, and increases the likelihood that public tax money would be needed in the future,” said Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey during an October 16th interview.
City officials said the Packers needed to make an offer that was at least in-line with what the city receives in rent payments in the current lease, which is in place until 2032.
“When you do public stadium deals and the government invests in these things there are some pretty standard language that is universal across these: community benefits statement, investment in economic development and lease payments,” said Johnson during an October 23rd press conference. “The Packers are missing 2 of these 3 and they’re asking for a reduction in the third.”
The Packers then provided another offer that financially met the city’s request. Since then, very little has been said.
It’s unclear if there’s been any progress on the city’s desire for a community benefits statement and an investment in economic development.
Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said Tuesday morning there are no updates on the lease negotiations.
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