Thursday's Wawarsing Town Board meeting saw appearances and appeals from several community residents and business owners, who came before the board to ask that they exercise caution and restraint in their coming dealings with Wal-Mart, the big-box retailer that is supposedly making its way to the Napanoch Valley Mall on Route 209.

During the petitioners and correspondence portion of the meeting, local hardware store owner, Earl Thornton, spoke to the board and voiced his feelings about the impending arrival of the retail giant.

"I'm concerned with the Wal-Mart store going up — not that I want to see it stopped, we need a place to buy things here," said Thornton. "What I'm concerned with is the size of the store that may come in, and the look of the store that may come in. "Right now you have the control of how big it can be, what it can look like, and how it should be put together. Just because they come to you and say, 'this is what we're going to do, and if you don't like the way we're going to do it, we'll move out,' that's just a bully coming into the neighborhood. We don't need a bully — we need a business that will work with the community."

Dick Peters, of Peters Market, spoke next, similarly asking that the town board exert control over the size of the store.

"We give you fair prices — maybe not the lowest, but they're fair," he said, likely referring to Wal-Mart's ability to undercut his store's prices. "What I want is control. Control the size. Set a limit for any big box that comes here…keep us in mind when you make decisions on what you do. Don't let them steamroll you, like Earl [Thornton] said."

Next, County Legislator and local businessman Joe Stoeckler spoke.

"I've seen some of the other Wal-Marts in other parts of the country, and they're not the standard white front with the blue background on the signs," he said. "Quite a few of them are being done with tans and other earth-tone colors, so to the extent that the town could influence that, whether it's through the planning board or this board, and the fact that even though they may not have to do it, I think it would be a goodwill gesture if they did listen to some community input."

Maureen Radl, a 35-year Wawarsing resident, spoke, saying that she's "proud to live in one of the most beautiful townships in the state of New York."

"I would like to request that every board in this township that has anything to do with this project — that would be the town board, the planning board, the ZBA — that you do everything within your power to make this project fit within what is right for Ellenville and Wawarsing. And I think probably the safest way to do that would be to follow the reviews of the New York state environmental quality review act…we want that building to meet all of the highest environmental standards."

Radl was assured later by a member of the town board that in order to be approved by the town planning board, the store would first have to conduct a SEQR study, or State Environmental Quality Review, and as such, would be held to the state's standards for environmental quality.

Ray Matthews, owner of Matthews Pharmacy, spoke on the subject next, largely echoing the sentiments that had been spoken before him.

"The town board members are the ones that are in control, despite what anybody feels," said Matthews. "There is a large corporation out there that feels there is a retail opportunity here…If they've made significant investments here already, they believe there is a retail opportunity here; they simply believe there is money to be made. And by us, or by you, insisting upon structural changes, possibly size modifications, selection of services that they're going to offer, they are going to flex their muscle, and they may balk a little bit, but if they believe there's a retail opportunity and money to be made here — and there is, that's what they believe — they will do whatever reasonable things the town council people suggest."

Another County Legislator, Mary Sheeley, spoke next, speaking about how the town board is responsible for ensuring that the new store fits in with the community.

"I think the theme that most of the business owners are saying is that they accept the fact that Wal-Mart is coming — that's obvious, and I don't think anyone here is saying 'keep them out'; they're way past that. But I think it is up to this board to control the look of what comes to the community… At the end of the day, it's our community, and we're inviting a guest in, we're not handing over the keys to the city."

Offering a different viewpoint, however, was local business owner Bella Volchik, who admonished the previous speakers for possibly impeding Wal-Mart's arrival to the area.

"I look at an empty mall all day long, and I think to myself, where did they go? My wine's not good enough, my shelves don't look good, the floors are dirty? Why does nobody come? If we were a large corporation we would have filed for bankruptcy. But because we're a small proprietorship, we keep cutting here, cutting there, just to survive, just to see something happen.

"I think Wawarsing deserves commercial development," she continued. "Mr. Krulick uses 'cave-people mentality,' scare tactics. I think if Wal-Mart comes, the corporation knows what they're doing. They're going to obey the laws, they're going to work with the town and the planning board. Why do we think this is the apocalypse coming?"

When Volchik had finished, Town Supervisor Ed Jennings related the information he had on the subject.

"I had a rather brief meeting with a couple of their executives and attorneys…they did tell us some of the plans that they were having for the store," he said. "They haven't been before the planning board yet, although they do have an application." Supervisor Jennings said that they would likely go before the planning board in September or October, though August was a possibility.

"It will be a full-service store, open 24 hours a day, hopefully open in spring of 2011. The suggested — and right now, it's only suggested — size of the store is 130,000 square feet. The mall that's there now is a 108,000 square feet. To put it in perspective, the Wal-Mart store in Monticello is 225,000 square feet, so this is considerably smaller than the Monticello store." Jennings also said that there would be a pharmacy and garden-center, and that other service-stores within the retailer are as yet undecided, if they will be added at all.

"The design of the store will be brown and tan, and I have an artist's rendition of it in my office. Anyone who wants to come down and see it, I'd be glad to show it to you at anytime," he said. He also added that the store will face the restaurant on the property, Rickie Lens, and that the garden-center will face Route 209.

"I really don't know any more than that," he said as he began to wrap up this portion of the meeting. "They have not contacted me again, and I'm assuming that some day they will, especially when they come before the planning board. Nothing is etched in stone. I've heard your concerns, and I will relay your concerns to them, and we'll have to take it from there, and just take it one step at a time."

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