Military Appreciation (Hour 3)

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Coming to Northeast Wisconsin live from the Civic Media Studios, this is Mino and the Mayor.

And here are your hosts John Minow and Jim Schmidt welcome back everyone our three

here mine on the mayor was Shannon Cohen and the mayor and thanks for being here

at

awesome guests, aren't they?

Yeah, this

has been just a great morning.

I'm very Talking with Psy that was amazing This guy's

gonna be these guys go in parole.

Oh, wow good for unboxing.

Yeah, that's not a big big thing in our community

Unlike hockey, we'll get to that in a second.

Football.

Football.

Football.

But even if you say, you know, football, yeah, I know, basketball, even tennis, but boxing just isn't there.

They don't have that at Preble.

And Preble, you know, what, 2000, they have over 2000 kids there.

Right.

They have, I think they have like 80 extracurricular activities there.

I'm not kidding you, they have, I mean, German club and all that, but they have so many things and they don't have boxing and he wouldn't talk to the principal and they're like, I don't think

so.

I just think it's super inspiring.

So I'll give that kid a lot of credit.

that he's, you know, working towards the stream, even though like it's not super common that he's making it happen and he's going pro.

So I

might have his dad pushing him a little bit too, but yeah, I think that's that impressive kid.

Hey, we are.

Here with John Kramer, of course, you know him he's been on many times with headlines from

the press

times We love his paper that comes out on Fridays and do a great job with that.

It's the local news in the written form We hear at Civic Media deliver the local news in the radio and form and streamline it as well Special guest today Ryan Hopson.

All

right, so the Green Bay

Wizards, which is a great

If you love hockey and

football, I mean football.

It's okay.

I said

gamblers are hockey

I'm sorry.

You're killing me,

Jim.

Same place.

I was looking at his, I was looking at his sweater and it reminded me of the hockey.

Okay.

I know it's football.

Out of my glasses.

This is my boss.

You

know, I take pictures for these guys.

I'm not going to hear the end of this sound.

I feel like don't invite me again.

Okay.

No, no, I'm glad you're here.

Football, football, football.

But anyway, what you do there is you have that military appreciation night, which is, it's just awesome what you do to honor the military, the jerseys.

And that's coming up.

So welcome.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah, this Friday night.

So we have a heck of a football game on our hands, but we always say that you come to a Blizzard game and we hope you catch a football game because of all the other stuff we do.

There's a lot going on.

There is.

And a chance to actually catch a football.

Yeah, you do.

You catch it.

You keep it and indoor football.

So, yep.

And football, I think we all grew up with football.

It's getting a little, I don't want to say boring, but the TV, it's just, there's a lot of lulls in football

right now.

Not in, not in the indoor game.

No, no, no.

I was gonna say, I've been to your

games.

And you just, it's constantly going

and

you're like you said, oh, there's football going on too.

I mean, there's just,

it's such high energy there.

And it's, I mean, we'll allow the hockey comments, but it's like football and hockey and concert had a baby and it is indoor football.

You are on top of the field, 50 yard field.

You can throw the length of the field.

So 70, 70 is not uncommon.

It's nonstop.

And it's

high scoring,

which, you

know.

which is very cool and some great plays.

And I think, you know, those of us who would go with kids, it's just more fun.

It is very family

friendly.

It keeps the kids, yeah.

Very interactive.

There's

chances to participate in so much stuff.

And what I like about these guys is, yeah, the Packers do stuff for the community, but they get the community involved

and

on the field.

Big time.

And it's just an amazing opportunity for kids to get to something like that and participate in the show.

And you, you're the GM?

I know, director of sales.

So,

yep.

I like the fact that your players interact with the fans too.

Sometimes kids

get there and they may go to another event and they get ignored.

You

know what I mean?

Like, I think it's really

cool that you, I don't know if you, that's part of their

contract, but you do a good job.

Yeah, it's part of the part of the.

the gig and we have a good reputation across the league that you know what you're signing up for besides playing football here, whether that's the school appearances, the interaction with the kids at the field.

We definitely make community a priority when we're recruiting players as well.

It's like a culture that you guys have built, right?

Yes,

100%.

Yeah, I'm 11 years in and when I started, this was average attendance of 1,200 a game and we average 4,900, 5,000 now

and

it

is solely

It's not some secret marketing or anything like that.

It is who we've become in the community.

And lo and behold, when you do the right thing, people will come out and support you on a Friday night.

Well, and the organization

has won.

Yeah, we have one of two franchises in IFL history.

We were back-to-back franchise of the year.

So last season, prior season, and back-to-back community relations for the league as well.

So that's all about all the stuff they did for the kids.

Thank you.

You go out to the schools too, and I think sometimes kids need to They don't know what they don't know their parents busy and you guys get out there and they're like

come home and say

yeah yeah it's a good reminder I think all of us as we we do our nine to five or whatever it is like sometimes you get caught in the minutiae like I got to do a couple community appearances my job is more this as I'm 11 years in now

yeah

and we were just stretched thin a couple times this year so I got to go do a couple schools and a couple other community appearances and it is crazy to watch what we've become and what

A second grader thinks that guy rotates to the classroom or is in the lunch room and just is really cool.

Did you happen to make it out to Bay

Harbor?

No, I didn't, but I won't go on record that's saying one of my favorite schools, but that is Tony Ebeling played for us.

He's a

principal out there.

That school is good for 500 kids.

Family is a game

when they come out.

So we go to that

family night game every year.

Yeah, Bay Harbor holds the records for school attending a game with a couple of schools on his heels now as he's

so many years of doing this, but that one's special for me.

I do still try and make that appearance.

He's become a great friend.

My kids think it's the best thing.

That's really cool.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

The sponsorship must be there.

I mean, 4,400 people.

That's a lot of people.

I mean, she talked to UWGB.

They're

good friends of mine.

We have the

money, but I'm just saying, that makes a difference just for fans when there's more fans.

It does.

We like it.

We just love it.

We use the word partnership.

I understand the industry term sponsorship, but we want a business when they support us to get involved because of the work we do in the community, not just throw a logo on something.

Because that's actually easier to do than truly.

getting a partnership and like the Bay Harbor School who's now six, seven years in, like partnerships go

on for a

long time.

Sponsorships are logo and out and very transactional.

So yes, the community has really rallied and on military night, folks like Desert Betsa, Wisconsin, Nikolay Bank, WAPL and various businesses.

I won't list them all because I'll miss them in regards to people that have provided tickets for those who serve because it's free tickets for service men and women on Friday night.

because of our business partners in the community.

Well,

I love

that.

So Friday,

it tells us every game is fun.

I

mean, we've already

talked about it.

Tell us about how it's different and it's more special Friday.

I mean, you do a

great

job with the lighting, with everything about

it.

No, I appreciate that.

Yeah, and I'll rattle off the list, because then...

The military night has been every year in my 11 years.

That'll never go away.

The folks that own the Blizzard are very vet and services focused.

So that game as we rotate and look for new theme nights every year will never go away.

It'll constantly be on the Blizzard schedule.

But this one has probably had the most things on it.

We threw the kitchens and get this on Friday night.

Really

cool.

Yeah, we'll start from 5 p.m.

and work towards game.

So at five, there's a block party before the game.

So Operation Song, who does songwriting, and John's very familiar with

that

organization.

They've been on our show.

They're performing the block party and performing SM.

They're gonna join us on Friday to talk a little bit about it, give it some more promotion.

Yeah, so in

a real cool moment, and we'll just spend a couple minutes and seconds on that one, like the gentleman that's coming from Operation Song.

Actually, Song wrote with the Blizzard owner last time he was here.

He, her dad passed from Vietnam related stuff.

And so she got to go through the whole operation song experience.

And that's how I last time.

And it was amazing.

And that's how I actually met John.

John photographed the operation song event.

Yeah.

So I met Kathy that night, the owner, and I talked to her for a little bit and didn't realize she owns Blizzard.

then uh got hooked up with these guys and had the opportunity to take pictures for games now wow

yeah so block party from five to six i understand there's weather coming so the military vehicles and everything will be out front um operation song i think we'll let perform in the lobby if we get

some weather, and if not, he'll still be at

halftime.

But

from five to six, there's a block party with military vehicles, inflatables, and games, and just free hangout before the game.

At 6 p.m., when doors open, a new partner for us this year in Network Health did an amazing thing in the Bud Light Lounge upstairs,

where

if you show a form of military service of some way, shape, or form, they're gonna do water, soda, popcorn, and snacks from 6 p.m.

until the end of the first quarter at no cost.

So not only is your ticket free if you have

served or are serving, but you can stop and get a soda water and snack at that lounge before we even get to the rest of my theatrics.

Love

that.

And there are a ton of theatrics, which I can rattle them off here.

That's going to be a great night and we know that, but I

mean just to share this with our listeners and you know Friday, we've never heard, here we don't.

we don't bet on the weather because it changes.

So

I don't want to discourage

you, but that's going to be a

pretty cool thing.

Of course, it's indoor football.

Actually, you can't control when what happens, but I want the rain at kickoff.

Everybody

in

here at kickoff because then people will come in.

But some amazing things pregame.

So if anyone came last year, we repelled the game ball in and the Marine inverted when he did it.

It was incredible.

So from the ceiling of the rest, the game ball got repelled in.

It will be repelled in again.

to hear the game ball delivery is awesome.

I'm

not doing that, am I?

No, it is you, actually.

This is, congrats.

Boom, while holding your camera, challenge is on.

And then Frankie Moscato, who has American Idol, Oshkosh native, UWGB grad, has sang at Lambo four or five times, is doing the National Anthem.

Right, oh yeah.

And then Operation Songs at halftime again.

It is loaded, so.

Guys, you guys didn't mess around.

I just saw Frankie sing the National Anthem at another event.

And I was floored.

I'm like, oh,

is this girl a runner up?

How did she

not win?

Yeah, she's good.

Tell me about the

ticket prices.

Military

honoring, right?

Yes, that's free.

So yep, if you show up.

Right now you could swing out to Replay Sports Bar if you wanted and pick up free tickets.

We've made that a ticket hub or you can go to the box office on game day and show a form of military service and your ticket is free.

But otherwise, the one of the things in my time doing this, it is as low as $12.

To spend a game

and that's actually in the

end zone where you can catch a football.

Keep it like and the military balls are one of the coolest game balls We do so they're specific to the night But yeah, you it's as low as 12 bucks to endable isn't that great?

Do you do

the veterans that work for you get a free military ball?

That's I'm not gonna say that on air John There cannot be any evidence of me answering that question It's

free for a $50 donation.

Yeah, right.

That's a

great That is the line I'm gonna use

I gotta get a partner to sponsor me.

No press times is gonna pay for the ball.

This is great.

And I think when we talk about the military, the men, the women, all by branches, I mean, you're all in on

this.

Yes.

Yeah.

And it's just been really cool.

My dad was in the Marine Corps band and it's just, it's neat.

And over the years, we've done this, right?

We've caught lightning in a bottle a couple of times because flag day is the next day.

Marine Corp band has performed halftime for us before because they were in town to do the Appleton flag.

They prayed

not this year.

We got

operation song, but it's just this game continues to grow and we we have efforted this silent drill platoon a couple times and we'll stay on it, but this game continues to have some really cool things and one of the coolest things is when we

early on in the game do the salute to service piece and you get all those folks standing up and even one of the Marine Corps ban nights when they played the Marine ham and it was just it was it's pretty cool.

It's a very special night and oh by the way there's high-paced incredible

football like this if you're coming to

one this year to have never been to a game it's seven on three seven and three Blizzard versus seven and three Jacksonville sharks

with

huge playoff implications so it is it was

Take the playoff sendings, it is the game with a huge opponent.

Oh man, yeah, this is the one to come to.

I

want to talk when we come back.

Can you stick around?

I want to

talk a little

bit about football.

I love the adventure having, but I mean, that is good, fun football.

And I just love the high scoring.

And like I said, I like it, but kids really like it.

You bet.

All right, we're going to be right back.

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started.

No, we're

not.

It's after seven o'clock.

So we're done.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I hope you got it.

Sorry.

I'm... Man, I call this guy a hockey team.

He's a football team.

I just know what you guys do over there.

He eager the farmers today.

Oh,

man.

I know, right?

I got to... That's the time I come on.

There's a crew outside with tomatoes ready to throw that to anyone.

Now

tomorrow, you'll tune in.

It's going to be Mino and Shannon.

All right.

Hey, John.

Cramer with headlines from the press times and we're here with Ryan Hopson and Ryan is the Marketing director what's your title

director of sales

director of sales for the Green Bay Blizzard, which is some just high energy a lot of fun family football Which they're bringing in like almost 5,000 people to the arena, which is

amazing

that is high energy that number of people in that arena Before we went actually during the break.

I asked you you've got a cool job and I think there's a lot of

people maybe listening or people in college that would like your job.

How do you get to be

where you are?

I'm not sure they want to hear the answer to that story as they're in school.

But you work for private owners?

I do.

I work for really good humans.

So I'll give the abridged version.

So I come from 11 years of height, well, Best Buy and the last.

I ran stores and assistant manager at Best Buy for a while and I love teaching kids to sell because I think sales is how you treat people and not what you're selling.

And in the end of my Best Buy career, I didn't want to be in the box.

So the four walls anymore and I drove a geek squad bug around.

not to hang a TV on your wall or fix a computer.

They'd send me out if you were looking to spend a decent amount of money and do a home theater room or home automation project, so the high-end side of Best Buy.

And I got sent out, ironically, to Larry and Kathy Trinkler's house, who had just purchased the team in 2013.

And after doing that, yeah.

Do you tell people who they are?

I think a lot of people know who they vote for and turn up awards.

Yeah, they're...

They do a ton of work in the community.

A lot of their businesses are in the Pulaski area.

Kathy owns Trinks in the Lawrence area.

Really good humans.

So I had done a two-day job for them, and I usually hung out on the jobs just to make sure the install went okay.

Again, I am not tax-heavy.

Putting a TV on the wall is not what I was doing.

I was just making sure and hanging

out

with my installers to make sure it all went okay.

And after I got done with the job, I just could tell there was something different about them.

And I literally sent the text after I left and said, hey, I don't know if I want to sell TVs my entire life.

I know you own a couple companies.

So it wasn't even Blizzard focused

at the time.

They

just bought the team, actually.

And I said, hey, keep me in mind.

I made it probably another five, 10 minutes down the road and the text came back and said, Hey, when you left, we said you were going to work for us one day.

We just aren't going to recruit you in front of your install team.

Um, so they finished kind of watching do the, watch the team do its thing.

Its first year made some changes.

Um, I ironically, now that I'm talking on air with you guys, my first experience was sitting at military night.

The first year they purchased the team without being employed by him and Larry saying, what do you think?

And I said, I don't know what you're asking me.

He's like, you think you could.

be part of this and here we are 11 seasons later.

I'm the longest lasting employee in the IFL the entire league.

Oh, wow.

Look at you.

Isn't that a great story?

Yeah, that's something.

Great people.

Great people.

Well, they got a good picture.

I was going to say, you're one of

them.

I mean, students need to hear that because there's just a whole, there's a lot of.

messages in your

store.

Yeah, and I ask the core how you treat people, right?

And as you try and get into sports, because I think go and answer your question there, like every sports team wants to know you can interact with people and probably have cut your teeth on selling tickets or different roles throughout the entity.

But remember how you treat people, 100% matters, not necessarily what you're selling, how you interact with them.

Another great thing with that is all the interns that they have.

So they get an opportunity

to meet.

Nice.

Mentored by by this guy and and like you said learn how to treat people.

Yeah, besides the attendance actually my one of my proudest stats in inner football besides the accolades is everybody that is currently in

a paid team member for me was part of an unpaid position game day.

And

we, when we have an opening, we go back and call the kids that bus that they're bought for us on game day, throwing shirts in the crowd or photographer for us, right?

Like everybody that is currently employed by us came through the organization in a different capacity before they were employed by

us.

So

we're definitely a good farm

system, including a lot that are at pro teams across the country too.

So

yeah.

Cool about that.

Everything that you talked about, Ryan, was, I mean, you're a good example to other businesses because, I mean, everybody wants to have a successful business,

right?

We

all do.

And I tell my students that, you know, you look at your product, you look at your finances, nothing's more important than your employees.

Just

period.

That is the number one

thing.

You focus on them.

It's a good step in the right direction.

And you talk about that.

I think that's, I hope other businesses are

listening.

I appreciate that.

And I mean, John's an element out of that too, right?

Like when we...

bring people on, we can teach, I could literally, 11 years in, teach you everything about indoor football and minor league sports, even though we're the major league of indoor football, but I can't teach you to be you, right?

So we hire the person, I will teach you to Blizzard.

That's that simple, so, yep.

That's awesome.

Well, good for you, and you have,

I don't want to ask if you have plans, because it sounds like you're going

to stick around there, but I mean.

I am.

Nice.

On air, this is my knowledge.

I love my job.

I love my boss.

I do.

No, I've had the honor and privilege to talk to other teams in pro sports

and

the league, but

I

just.

As you look at NFL, NHL, NBA, whoever I've talked to, I would just be a sales guy there.

I always tell people I have to do everything here, because you wear a lot of different hats, but I also

get

to do everything, especially when we look at all the stuff we do on military night, or kids night, or the different theme nights,

or

the interactions of the school, to look back and have gotten to create that versus just be a ticket sales guy is really cool.

Right.

That's awesome.

This is great.

So Ryan Hopson, Green Bay Blizzard, we have military appreciate it coming up this Friday.

Just give us your website.

I know you

said we can

go to military guys and get their tickets and where we as general

Yeah, so Green Bay blizzard comm and then rush center box offices where you can provide a military ID or again Brian Vanderbiltman desert vets and replay has a block of tickets still plenty left And I would hope after this you're running out to replay and grabbing a burger grabbing free tickets.

I'll reload him

Right, thanks for what you're doing

Just military night, but just for the community.

Thank you guys.

This is the first for me to be on with you guys.

It's awesome.

You guys do a great job.

Can you come back?

Can you come back?

We're going to have you back for sure.

You bet.

Well, he's got to experience Mino.

Yeah,

I have experienced Mino over the years.

He knows me.

I'll try to schedule him when he's out again.

So thank you for coming.

Ryan, this is great.

John, thanks for all you're doing with the press.

Thank you guys.

All right, this is Mino and the Mayor.

We're going to be right back.

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Now, back to Mino and the Mayor.

Here's Jon Mino at Jim Schmidt.

All right, it's Jon Mino who is out today and we are, Shannon Cohen

is in.

And she's here.

See that's no problem, six o'clock.

Boom, here we are with our last half hour.

Right.

This is, this is going to be a fun half hour.

I'm excited about it.

This is the eye on the community, right?

And this is, this is, this is sponsored Pat.

So just, you know, be on your best behavior.

Cause this is an eye

on the community.

I'm always on my best.

Let me finish this

first.

I and the community is brought to you by insight, insight.

I care.

Yes.

I know I met those guys.

They're great people improving lives by improving sight.

They're in Oshkosh at 251 North Sawyer street and an Appleton at 509 chain drive.

This.

These guys, any issues with your eyes?

And they talked about just a number of things that they do, the testing and what they can do for you.

This is a great company and they're sponsoring us, so we want to sure support them.

So Insight Eye Care, so improving lives by improving sight, which is a great motto that they have, a great slogan.

We are talking about the community, eye on the community.

Something that we've had our eye on in this community for 120 years that was I don't want to call it an eye sore, but it was not the most beautiful And that's the coal piles that are along the waterfront here in Green Bay and other communities have had that right Sheboygan's struggled with coal piles.

They kind of got it resolved and Every community may have that that piece that they want to relocate

It's been tough and 60 years it's been worked on and I can attest to that because I know the mayor who worked on it 60 years ago, he's since passed away, actually spoke at his funeral, Romy Dennison and then of course, mayor's following that, Mayor Hallowen, Mayor Jayden and myself.

And the reason it's like, why didn't you guys get this done?

It's a complicated, complicated process.

One is like, you know, some people will get rid of coal.

Okay, that's not that easy, because they supply our businesses here, Green Bay packaging, and that coal is used all the way down the Fox River.

I mean, we ship that coal by a railroad truck down to Appleton and Oshkosh, so we need coal, and coal is gonna be here for the foreseeable future.

Yet, that's a beautiful piece of property in the downtown, and it finally, finally, finally after all those years, whatever happened, and we're gonna hear about that in just a second,

was brought to resolution to relocate the coal pile.

So we're saving the industry, we're preserving the industry, plus we are freeing up some land to develop and what more should be.

And one of the people who led that charge was Pat Evans.

And one second Pat, before I turn it over to Pat, he's been on the county board for I think 22 years, 20?

22 years

23

years and I was on the county board.

We're on there together way back in the day And you've stuck with it your constituents obviously love you because you keep getting reelected and reelected Something we don't agree on its term limits, but we'll leave that off the table for now But I you've done we're fortunate to have you there Like Pat, let me just write how did this happen?

Well, it happened by WPS deciding that they did not need the Pullium site.

And with that, and this goes back to, in 2021, the county purchased the Pullium site, which is 43.75 acres.

We purchased it for $2.7 million.

So, because we were looking at, well, that's an opportunity, there's a port there.

And are there, there will be a port there now.

There's not, people should know there's not a port there now with a county.

And this is where it's going to take some time.

And I'll get into that is, is we have to build out the port, you know, I mean, because everything else, it was all rail coming in, all the coal and everything that WPS needed was all done by rail.

But that

land is right on the water,

when you enter, when you enter the channel.

Correct.

Okay.

So

you bought this 43 acres, that's a chunk of land.

Yeah.

It's a big chunk of land.

And we looked at developing our port.

And then we thought about, well, what could we do with it?

And the main idea was, why don't we relocate the coal piles out there?

And in the state grant, it is specifically mentioned to move coal piles out there for that $15 million.

So if this deal didn't go through,

We weren't going to get the grant.

Okay.

The, let's just remind our listeners, we are a port city.

I think some people don't, and I'm going to have Dean Hain come on and we're going to talk about, but there's jobs, there's economic impact.

I mean, that is a, that is a very viable industry that we have here in Green Bay.

And I think some people don't.

I don't appreciate, but they don't know

it.

Yeah, a lot of people don't understand that.

I didn't bring any of the port numbers, but they're big, and Dean will get that to you.

Yes.

But there is so much tonnage and everything coming

in

here.

It's

crazy.

And going out and I mean, people can just think back to...

all the paper mills that were on the river at one point in time.

And why was that?

Because there is a waterway and it goes out into the bay and the Great Lakes and it's a big industry.

People don't realize how big it is.

And I think the other thing I wanna, we'll get to the coal piles in a second, but that people don't appreciate, the bridge goes up because there's a ship coming through.

But do

you know that that ship is equivalent to taking 900 semis off the road?

think about that people just the safety that brings in the fuel it saves and

you know

the the economics of shipping so again I think maybe we don't

talk enough about that and I think the listeners get a chance to make sure that they really tune in to talking with when you with your your interview with Dean because people will come away from that interview like stunned like

Really?

We do that.

And we do that.

Right.

And we do that.

And then this is how much economic impact it has.

It's incredible.

So I think that was, you as a county board supervisor and you're a city guy too, but preserving the port was important to you.

Well, absolutely.

You know, this goes back to when we, you know, 20 some years ago when I first was elected, Jaden and you and of course Zimba and they all, all three of you said Pat.

You I represent everybody just it's district nine It's over on the west side of Green Bay kind of by St.

Mary's Hospital real easy Taylor Street to the west by Fleet Farm mason to the south one night a street to the east and then kind of everything up and It was always told to me and I've done that is you you worry about the people of your district first

and we got

26 supervisors So I sometimes I've been the only one to vote whatever way yes or no, but I worry just about the people in my district number two is then

I worry about the municipality I represent.

I've never been on the city council, but I'm well attuned to what the city council is doing, what the mayors are doing, and made sure that I have worked on it.

I mean, we worked on the, you know, the KI here together, and I was able to get the 22 million or whatever it was, because that's my job.

And then the county.

So there was this great opportunity.

and it's gonna help Green Bay out and that's the people I represent and mind you, everywhere I went when this first started popping up where it was starting to get heated up, everybody.

It was like move the coal piles right and I didn't have you know I saw some things on the internet where people are you know coal piles or whatever blah blah blah and I'm like oh I don't know I'm pretty in tune with the people in my district you know and I go to you know my church is st.

Jude and the quad perishes and right I do all sorts things and and and of course and I'm recognizable you know I'd be at woodmines or something or shopping and people coming hey your your Evans I was pumping the gas the other day and I stopped he walks by my car he comes back goes you your Evans

And I'm like, yeah, I'm Pat Evans, you know.

And he says, you got to move those coal piles.

And I said, yeah, absolutely.

But yeah, I know you're doing it.

You're keeping up, you know.

And I'm like, yeah.

But in 20 years being elected, seldom are things that, that supported.

Usually there's, you know, look at the things we did.

I roller coaster city deck and anything.

Well, this and that.

And there's two sides.

You know, a lot of times it's skewed, you know, heavy to one side, but this was pretty close to everybody.

I thought the vote was unanimous.

And that's probably because I banged on some people and you were there.

And I mean, I did say it.

And I've seen this over the years.

You can do great work, great work.

But there you can vote one time on one issue and it'll bump you out of office tonight.

And.

I've seen that before.

And this was one of those issues that people wanted.

You know, I was talking to my fellow supervisors, you know, like Kuhnenin writes down Van Dyke, I don't know, where's he, Holland or something like that.

And they understood the impact.

You know, they like, well, my people, you know, I'm not really getting a lot of information or a lot of any, you know, contact, but they get it.

and they understood the benefit then for Brown County.

And so that really was something important that we had.

All right, so we're talking with Pat Evans, Brown County Board Supervisor, who was really part of that whole process of getting this agreement on the coal piles.

The agreement though was between the county, the city, and sea rice, right?

Was there more to it?

Yeah, I mean that is the the macro way to look at and I think that's fine to say on on how that works is you know because it's like a domino effect.

We do something and then

the

city does something and then they have responsibility for this and then it comes back to the county.

But yeah, it was basically the city, the

the county and see rice and

it seemed like it was going to happen and then they're and this is just in the last few weeks a little bit of a setback um that's that setback but we thought it was going to happen and there was something the county somebody wasn't comfortable with it and then it came back and you guys went into closed session and put the deal together and I don't know that we all know what the deal is and I think it's going to be public but what

What was like the roadblock?

Was there something in timing or price or

what?

Well, I mean, people have to realize the county didn't have much negotiation power.

When it says, in order to get a $15 million grant to develop your port, you need to move coal piles in there.

So that gives a lot of leverage to see rice.

And the first deal that came through which the county administration

Had negotiated that was shot down at the county board.

I supported it because I understand the intrinsic value of moving coal piles.

Um, but so then I wasn't on the negotiation team that was supervisor at the last one, supervisor Buckley, Pyle and Gannon.

I was that.

Intermediary guy because I had a real good relationship with this CEO Keith Hasselhoff from C rice who's a great guy for very professional and then of course with the fellow supervisors So I'd go back and forth and just kind of talk but I mean the one thing is I did tell Mr. Hasselhoff when I said after it was You know myself and I think Megan Borcher were the only ones that voted for it.

I said I said, you know Keith

I gotta be honest when I first saw the agreement come out and it said a hundred thousand dollars I thought there was a hundred thousand dollars a month You know versus I mean you're gonna get like 14 acres of commercial property and It's a hundred thousand dollars a year You know, I've had my company I've done and you know, I've done business I've done business in 30 countries in the world and I've done you know, I've

I was a little taken back, but I understood the magnitude of this project.

Now that has since been bumped up to $350,000 a year.

They got more acreage.

They were offered about 14 acres.

They're getting 16 acres.

They're getting 16, we'll say, usable acres.

They have 1.5 acres for stormwater.

And they're going to be the only ones that are going to be using the stormwater because they have a process where they can recycle it and reuse it and probably dump it on the coal pile so that way.

And then the term, of course, they initially wanted a 100-year lease, which I didn't really have a problem with.

because they've been there for 120 years.

And as you said, coal isn't really going to go away.

People may want it to go away, but it's not.

But they came down to a 60-year lease then.

But with that, then there's options to re-up, and they'll deal with the county board at that time.

Well, this is just good stuff.

And it's one of those things, I mean, we'll touch on the southern bridge when we come back, but this has just been a long time coming, and I'm glad.

It's there.

There's work to do.

I want to talk about what you see next, because this isn't going to happen tomorrow.

Correct.

Yeah, there is still a lease that needs to be set aside.

Right.

We're going to get back

to that.

We've got Supervisor Pat Evans in the House, along with Chris Shannon Cohen and Jim Schmidt.

We're going to be right back.

This is mine on the mayor.

Oh, we got one more minute here.

All right, I saw

him put his... See, there's a little glare here and he put up two minutes and

I thought it was one.

There's a clock sheet right on the screen in front of you that tells you a

little

bit

more.

When all else fails, read the instructions, right?

He may have... Okay, thank you, Pat, for piling on.

All right, so we're gonna talk...

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Alright, welcome back.

This is Shannon the mayor.

We are here with our special guest Pat Evans talking about the relocation of the coal piles This segment is brought to you by I on the community.

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Back to Pat Evans and talking about the relocation of the coal piles.

Something that those of you who have been in the community for some time, it's been worked on.

They've been for 120 years, but

We thought, let's get these guys in a different location.

And that started like 60 years ago when Romy Denison was serving as mayor of the community.

And it finally got done.

An agreement came to fruition last Wednesday, I think.

And Pat, you were part of that.

And is it a done deal or what's

next?

So the deal is done and we've supported it and everybody seems to be happy.

Now, of course, come the fun part, all the details.

So we have till September 15th to sign a lease.

agreement with C. Rice for that property.

I don't foresee really any problems because everything has been agreed upon, but you know, the little nuances are always something that you want to make sure that everybody has spelled out because, you know, I had a

Post I was so happy about the vote and then somebody said oh, it's I can't believe you took this long and only politicians can get this it's just co piles just move them and I'm like Well, there's a little bit more complicated than that

Because

it's not like we're just gonna get a bunch of pickup trucks and fill our pickup trucks and move the right co piles So what what's next is we have the lease by September 15th.

We have to develop the site and that could take

five years, it could take 10 years.

We have to put a port in there.

There is some area for rail.

We have to basically redo the rail.

We also want to make sure that we got to do some soil sampling and all of that.

But that's going to take some time.

We have to put in a, it's called a pad, and that's for the salt for sea rice.

And we've got to install that where they put the pad down and all that stuff.

So you put a dock that you can't unload there now.

Cannot unload there now.

So you got to put a dock wall in there.

Correct.

Wow.

And a big one, because there's a lot of property there.

And putting in a dock wall is, you know, we just... Right.

And putting in a dock wall for there is not like we put a dock wall in at the eagle's nest, you know.

Right.

I mean, there's some

serious boats coming in here.

So that's going to be a, that's a big project in and of itself.

Then we have, we have rail.

We're going to have to, you know, stormwater all that stuff.

So it's the...

Well, people don't really, and then of course, you know, like sea rice, it's just not co-piles.

And basically, you know, sea rice on the property they have downtown here, they have something like 14 buildings.

I mean, over the years they've had that, but you know, increased, but I mean, they need to put their office space in there

and all that stuff.

So there's

going to be some really things coming.

And then of course, you're going to take it so we get the port all ready to go.

They have the salt pile there.

They're going to move the salt from the one area where they have it now to the, to the kind of more to the closer to the bay or to that section.

And then, then you can start putting this, the coal on where they have the salt currently.

And it's going to work out much better just for transporting everything.

And, and, and, but then they're going to drain down the piles.

And it could be anywhere from eight.

I mean, this is what Keith had told me.

And they have a good idea, but, you know,

things change, but it could be eight, 12, 14 months that they're gonna drain those piles down.

So you're looking at, let's just say, I'd say at minimum a year.

So if it started today, they could start draining the coal piles down.

It would be a year from today, but of course, it's gonna be five years out.

I think you'll see something, it's gonna be one of those things in 15 years and 20 years when you see this development, you won't even think that there were coal piles there, but it'll be like, wow, we've got this thriving port, and then we've got this nice area where we've had this economic problem.

Let me ask

you quickly, and you've represented that district, which is the waterfront.

Do you have a vision?

I know that's going to be really more

the city's call.

I don't represent, I never represented that district.

I'm sorry.

I only have Oneida Street.

Oh, Oneida Street.

All right.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, you've been here

forever.

Yeah, I've been here for quite some

time.

But do you, let me ask you then, as a supervisor, someone who's lived here pretty much your whole life, like what do you, what do you see there?

And I know that we're going to have somebody come on from the city economic development.

We're going to talk about that.

But I'm just wondering, you as a, someone who's worked so hard on this, do you envision something there?

If you, you've traveled, you've traveled like everywhere.

What do you see?

It's, I haven't given a lot of thought to that because I'll tell you why, because I was so in, you know, my wife, I said to her today, yeah, I'm going on vinyl in the mirror.

Yeah, okay.

She goes, you're talking about co piles.

And I said, of course, because

I've only been

on the phone for, you know, every day for six hours a day.

And so my job was really to make sure we got the co piles moved to the city of green bacon development that I think they'll do a good job.

I mean,

There is some speculation.

I mean, you can see... I mean, if you put some really classy waterfront...

Housing there,

you know,

I mean and I mean like condos and or apartment buildings higher and stuff and then some Maybe a nice office building and there's a big that's a big port They've got a big area

and I got believe that there's gonna be focus groups like we did with the city deck You know, there's

just

some input and

I

think someone's got to go out and study other communities

with a

successful waterfront like seaport village in San Diego I don't know if we can deliver that but there's some cool stuff.

Hey Pat I just want to thank you for coming on I know it was a little bit short notice, but yeah, I just want to tell you and

We could talk about other things when I talk to you on the phone, but we'll do that another day.

I just really want to focus today on the coal piles and just really applaud you and the rest of the county board for making that happen.

Yeah, thank you for this opportunity to come.

I want to thank Keith Hasselhoff from Sea Rice, the city of Green Bay, the county board for putting this together.

Quickly mentioned, we did get a $10.1 million port infrastructure development grant that is going to be on top with this.

And then hopefully the legislature now will put some dollars in to develop.

the port as well.

But thank you for this great opportunity and I appreciate the opportunity to serve in the people of Brown County.

We love having you on the board and having you as representing the district.

Shannon, thank you for coming in.