Janesville council to send citizen petition on GM site to November ballot after hours of public comment

The Janesville City Council voted unanimously Feb. 9 to submit a citizen-initiated ordinance to the November general election that would require voter approval for proposed development projects or development agreements exceeding $450 million that transfer or encumber the former GM/JATCO site.

City Manager Kevin Lehner opened the council’s second reading and public hearing by outlining the city’s current negotiations with a developer identified in city materials as Rydian Partners LLC (presentation materials also used the name Viridian Partners). Lehner said the city is in a 120-day negotiating window and that the developer has proposed building a multi‑building data center that, depending on available power, could be “up to an 800‑megawatt facility.” He said independent consultants estimate remediation of the contaminated site at roughly $30,000,000, and he attributed to staff projections that the full buildout could generate roughly $3.7 billion in total economic impact, support 21,000 jobs (including construction supply‑chain impacts), and produce about $12 million a year in tax revenue across taxing jurisdictions, of which he said approximately $4.2 million would go to the city…