Brown County Administration Committee makes move to retain grant funding

GREEN BAY – During its Jan. 2 meeting, the Brown County Administration Committee passed an amended resolution, 3-1, to retain a $15 million state Neighborhood Investment grant originally tied to the moving of coal piles three miles downriver from the current C. Reiss Mason Street property.

During the Dec. 18 Brown County Board meeting, supervisors approved lease terms with C. Reiss that would provide for the relocation of coal piles to the J.P. Pulliam power plant property.

The adjusted terms came in the form of a counteroffer from the county board following a two-hour closed session, which brought negotiations with C. Reiss to a standstill.

“From the start, C. Reiss made clear we would commit to being part of this project, but we also need to be good stewards of our company and the future of our business in Green Bay,” C. Reiss said in a release following the vote.

Based on the resolution, the Wisconsin Department of Administration would require a successful negotiation in order for Brown County to receive the Neighborhood Investment funding, which is provided through the Federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

“During said lease negotiations, while the length of the lease was being negotiated, the State Department of Administration informed the County that, unless a deal is reached with C. Reiss to relocate the coal piles, the $15M grant funding is at risk of being reallocated to another project,” the resolution states.

“C. Reiss seemed to then consider the $15M in grant funds theirs, which led to continued demands from C. Reiss to be granted a 100-year lease (the longest current Brown County Port lease is 25 years), demands which C. Reiss finally lowered slightly to 75-years shortly before the issue went to the Brown County Board of Supervisors for consideration, which was significantly longer than the 40-year term the County Board was ultimately willing to approve; and it is not in the public interest for the county to provide indirect corporate welfare to benefit a private entity subject to whatever terms and conditions a private entity chooses to impose.

“The County Board should be able to insert terms and conditions into leases that it feels necessary, such as the resident health and environmental protections the County Board has since required. The county has held up its part of the grant agreement by negotiating in good faith to provide a location to accommodate the relocation of the coal piles, and by making a reasonable offer to C. Reiss to trade or lease property to do so, and the county should be allowed to retain the grant funding it was awarded to develop its port.”

The resolution said that by allowing the county to retain the funds, it “would force C. Reiss to either take a more reasonable approach when negotiating a lease, or to lose out on the opportunity, as opposed to tying the county's hands by forcing the county to either accept the unreasonable demands of C. Reiss or risk the loss of Grant funding; due to the potential of having the $15M in grant funds reallocated to another project by the state, and the untenable negotiating position that leaves the county in, the county can no longer rely on a reasonable agreement being reached with C. Reiss, and it is now desirable for the county to pursue dual-tracks, by continuing to work with the state, the city and C. Reiss to see if a reasonable agreement can be reached, while simultaneously issuing a Request For Information that seeks information from potential port operators that would like to be part of the Brown County Port Expansion Project, including what the potential operators are willing to propose in capital contributions and other port related investments should the county decide to partner with them to develop its Port.”

The resolution states that the county “has fulfilled its Grant obligations by offering a port site suitable for coal relocation to C. Reiss with reasonable lease terms and conditions, and that the state allow the county to retain the $15M in Grant funds that have already been awarded to and accepted by the County to develop its port.

C. Reiss Company CEO Keith Haselhoff released the following statement before the Brown County Administration Committee meeting.

“The draft resolution under consideration by the County Board contains several clear and obvious inaccuracies regarding the good faith negotiations between The C. Reiss Company and the County Administration over the past year,” it stated.

“On Dec. 19, the county board rejected an agreement negotiated by the County Administration and C. Reiss that would have moved the coal piles from their current Mason Street location out to the former Pulliam Power Plant. This new draft resolution appears to be part of an effort to shift blame for the consequences of that decision, which has put at risk some $25 million in state and federal grants for Brown County port infrastructure.

"First, the resolution falsely states that C. Reiss somehow increased its demands after learning that the $15 million state grant was contingent on reaching a deal to move the coal piles. All parties knew from the beginning that the grant was given specifically to move the coal piles, as Brown County itself stated in its grant application back in 2021. Further, this $15 million doesn’t go to C. Reiss — it’s dedicated to making capital improvements to turn land that is currently unusable into a site that can handle dry bulk commodities.

“Second, throughout this negotiation, C. Reiss has made multiple concessions to achieve a fair and reasonable agreement for all parties. For instance, the new proposed site is actually smaller than the one we currently own and use at Mason Street, causing operational efficiency issues that would increase our operating costs. C. Reiss has also moved from making a purchase offer to a lease, spent some $20,000 of our own money for design work, and agreed to shorten the lease term by 25%, among other compromises.

“Third, the resolution’s depiction of C. Reiss as a difficult negotiating partner does not reflect reality. In fact, C. Reiss reached at least two agreements with the county’s appointed negotiators, first with Green Bay Port Director Dean Haen in May 2024, which was rejected by the Harbor Commission. The county executive then placed Corporation Counsel Dave Hemery in charge of negotiations, and C. Reiss reached a deal with him in November 2024.”

The county requested an extension this summer which gives them until Dec. 31, 2025, to use the funding.

The resolution now moves to the full county board for approval at its January meeting.