Council approves GELOC brownfield work plan after public hearing

The Wyoming City Council voted Sept. 8 to approve a brownfield work plan for the GELOC development project following a public hearing and staff explanation of the tax‑capture sequence.

At the public hearing, Matt Van Dam, who identified himself and gave his address, told the council the project team consolidated branding under the GELOC name and that the brownfield approval is “kind of the last little bit of that,” adding, “we hope before the end of this construction season to be able to get that retention pond in place.” Planning staff described the work plan as a mechanism for capturing local and state taxes to reimburse environmental investigation and remediation costs and to fund some public infrastructure for the site. Staff said taxes captured from an earlier site (Site 36) are being used to reimburse prior Brownfield Authority advances and that captured taxes will flow to GELOC after earlier obligations are repaid.

Council members asked clarifying questions about how tax capture is prioritized among adjacent projects and whether separate entities on the larger site would generate separate captures. Planning staff responded that the city is capturing taxes from the whole site and explained the sequencing that routes reimbursements first to previously advanced projects and then to subsequent developments. After the discussion the council approved the resolution on a roll-call vote.