Deadline looms as new sites for coal piles proposed

GREEN BAY, Wis (WGBW) – If Brown County, the City of Green Bay, and C. Reiss can’t agree on where to move the coal piles by Friday, May 30, which are currently sitting on prime real estate in the Downtown area, the whole project will lose a $15 million state grant. 

To that end, representatives from the city, county, and C. Reiss met to discuss the county’s two new proposals this week. Details of the new proposals haven’t been released. 

Brown County Board of Supervisors Chair Pat Buckley is optimistic that the deal will be resolved by the deadline.

About $30 million in funding has been secured. However, the Wisconsin Department of Administration let officials know last year that the Neighborhood Investment Grant of $15 million will be pulled on May 30, 2025, if an agreement between the three parties is not met.

Discussions have centered on relocating the piles from their current location on prime waterfront real estate in the downtown Green Bay area to the former Pulliam Power Plant Site. Those discussions have stalled following rejections from Brown County.

Studies have shown that moving the coal piles from the waterfront property could generate $150 million in new development for the city and county. The coal piles have been on the waterfront for 125 years.