Residents of Alpine noticed town land for sale, and after some digging it was discovered that the current owners of Melvin intended to exercise a purchase option from 2014. Melvin is in the process of purchasing their brewery building, improvements and land from the Town of Alpine for $1.7 million, plus $300,000 in past due fees, and immediately sell it to private investors for $10 million.
What seems unclear is HOW the economic development portion of the project was renegotiated four years after the Wyoming Business Council and State Land and Investment Board contributed over $5.1 million in taxpayer funds to the project.
The current CEO of the Wyoming Business Council Josh Dorrell, has been dodging questions by concerend citizens and legislators since June 30th!
Read below for more detials.
The original owners of Melvin Brewing were required to contribute $2 million in 2014 to benefit from over $5 million in government GRANTS. How they contributed the $2 million was by transferring their 6 acre parcel to the Town of Alpine to capitalize on that $5 + million in taxpayer money. Currently, Melvin Brewing does NOT own the property, building or infrastructure located in Alpine. Back in 2014 when the PREVIOUS OWNERS signed agreements with the Town of Alpine and the Wyoming Business Council, they were given an OPTION to purchase the property after 5 years, but ONLY if certain terms were met. This is where it gets sticky. Recall that the entire $5 million in grants was given specifically for “economic development in Alpine“.  |
| This is specifically what Melvin agreed to in 2014 when they signed the agreements: “28 permanent jobs with a median wage of $25 per hour, and benefits inclusive of a retirement plan, medical insurance…”  Those grants came from the Wyoming Business Council and State Land and Investment Board (again, this happened back in 2014 with the PREVIOUS Melvin Brewery owners). This seemed to be the “economic development” portion of the contract that the original owners agreed to. Then, during the town meeting in Alpine on Tuesday night, we learned that….. The former Mayor of Alpine, Kennis Lutz, signed an UPDATED agreement in 2018, which seemingly NO ONE ELSE knew about. It REMOVED THE LANGUAGE requiring Melvin to hire 28 people in order to have the right to purchase the land, buildings and equipment. This made it possible for Melvin to purchase all of it for $1.7 million without any job obligations. In other words, four years AFTER the Wyoming Business Council and SLIB agreed to terms for the grant, the Mayor changed the terms. 2014 Agreement Updated 2018 Agreement In 2022, the ownership of Melvin changed to the current owners. I am sure they have also poured millions into Melvin. Melvin also borrowed $4.5 million from the Bank of Jackson Hole against the land and building owned by the Town of Alpine, in addition to their contracts, production, etc. Realtor, Ian Osler, already has a real estate listing to sell all of this to Tyler Davis and his crew now for an estimated $10 million after they pay the Town of Alpine $1.7 million, per the 2014 / 2018 contracts. |
