Resident proposes Kewaunee County economic development committee; outlines nuclear site options

August Neverman, a Kewaunee County resident who said he is affiliated with the Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation (KCEDC), presented a proposal to create a county-level economic development committee during the County Board meeting. "The main thing here is is setting up an economic development committee that would include you and local government, focusing on future development," Neverman said.

Neverman told supervisors the committee would be positioned to pursue government-only actions such as applying for certain federal and state grants and proposing ordinance changes that private economic development groups cannot pursue. He said the committee could act as a county-level point of contact for cross-jurisdiction coordination on broadband, zoning and redevelopment projects and offered examples of how a single committee could avoid duplicate work across towns and villages.

Why it matters: Neverman said local government can pursue funding and regulatory changes that private development corporations cannot, and a standing county committee could centralize those government functions. He said about 80 percent of Wisconsin counties have a government economic development committee and that roughly 96 percent have a private development corporation of some kind.

Proposal details and examples: Neverman proposed membership that would include three county board members, up to 14 local representatives from towns, villages and cities (participation optional), a KCEDC representative and up to three public members. He described tasks ranging from coordinating CDBG and other federal funding applications to exploring zoning- and ordinance-related options that individual municipalities might adopt after county-level discussion.

On the Kewaunee Nuclear site, Neverman described several redevelopment avenues and regulatory obstacles. "There are probably 3 different avenues, complete new plant rebuild, SMR or or some combination of those 2 with a data center," he said, referring to small modular reactors (SMRs) and the possibility of pairing new power capacity with large electricity users such as data centers. He said some redevelopment steps would require federal approvals and that waste disposition rules and negotiation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be part of the process.

Supervisors asked how the committee could handle housing and zoning. Supervisor Swaggle asked whether the group could address smaller, more-affordable housing options, saying, "affordable housing for a young couple starting out or something, somewhere is to work in the township or the villages or the city also somehow. Does that fit in this too then?" Neverman replied that the committee could recommend ordinance changes — for example, setbacks or lot standards — that municipalities could choose to adopt.

Multiple supervisors raised questions about committee size and comparisons with other counties. Neverman said counties similar in size commonly have such committees and that they often coordinate with private development corporations rather than replace them.

No formal board action was taken on the proposal during the meeting. Neverman provided documents and said he could supply a spreadsheet of examples to board members for further review; the transcript records questions and discussion but no motion to form the committee.

Ending: The proposal will remain a discussion item for the board; no vote was recorded on forming a committee during the meeting.