Brown County could spend $3.5 million on Green Bay’s new fire station and apartment complex.
The county’s Human Services Committee meets April 16 to discuss a proposed resolution to help fund the city’s project and turn the former Badger Sheet Metal site into a new fire station along with Metro Fire administration offices, over 200 apartments, commercial spaces and green infrastructure. The site is in the 400 block of South Broadway.
The money comes from the county’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds, which were two rounds of funds provided during the pandemic to assist residents with rent and housing. The first round of ERA funds was provided through the CARES and Consolidated Appropriations acts and the second round came through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Brown County received $14.9 million in 2021. In the second round of funds, the county received an additional $17.3 million, for a total of $32.2 million in ERA funding, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The money needs to be obligated by Sept. 30. Otherwise, the county would lose the money and it would go back to the Treasury. Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach said the $3.5 million is the only ERA funds left that are unallocated, besides a remaining $500,000 that will goes toward court evictions.
At least 75% of the second round of ERA funds needs to be used to help households cover costs. The ERA funds went toward rent, utilities or other housing bills for 2,286 households in Brown County by the end of September 2024, according to data from the Treasury.
The remaining funds can go toward an affordable housing project. The $3.5 million would go toward the project on South Broadway to provide more affordable housing in the county, the resolution states. The Human Services Committee will discuss the resolution in its meeting April 16, before going to the Brown County Board that night for a vote.
Streckenbach said the county decided to put the ERA money toward the new fire station and apartment complex because the project fell within the September deadline and qualified under the ERA guidelines.
“It’s a best of both worlds scenario,” Streckenbach said. “We want to support Green Bay.”
The county’s funds would make up for some potential federal funding that failed to come through for the project after $5 million requested by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin for the project was not included in a continuing resolution signed into law March 15.
The new fire station would replace the aging stations at 885 Shawano Ave. and 501 S. Washington St. Both are around 90 years old.
In 2018, the city bought the Badger Sheet Metal site and secured a $1 million Environmental Protection Agency grant to demolish the buildings and get rid of contaminated soil on the site. The city had previously allocated $1.025 million for the project in ARPA funds.
County Board Chair Pat Buckley hopes the site will spur more development in the Shipyard area.
“If we can get this thing off the ground, it’s a win-win,” Buckley said. “Hopefully this makes the project come to fruition.”
If the city secures all of the money needed for the project, the new fire station complex would break ground this year, Council Member Melinda Eck said.
Two-thirds of County Board members would have to vote to approve the resolution April 16 night for it to pass. Buckley said he expects the County Board to approve it.
More: $5 million in federal funds for new Green Bay fire station left out of new federal spending bill
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Brown County could help fund new fire station and apartment buildings in Green Bay