Day by day it becomes more apparent that Wal-Mart will be taking up residence in the town of Wawarsing sometime soon. Much recent activity, reported here and in other area-media, indicates the process has progressed to a point where the normal levels of secrecy and lack of candor can no longer be maintained. While Wal-Mart still refuses to officially acknowledge their intentions, the meeting at Town Hall scheduled later in July, to be attended by representatives of the corporation and a variety of town officials, suggests that those denials will soon have to end.

When rumors of Wal-Mart's interest first surfaced nearly two years ago, the local reaction was swift and intense. Excitement that something new and large might be happening here was accompanied with the dread of the well-documented devastation that typical downtown business districts suffer upon Wal-Mart's arrival. For and against, everyone seemed to acknowledge that Wal-Mart wasn't the best neighbor or employer. For some that was a price worth paying, but for others, Wal-Mart was worse than nothing.

Groups sprang up on both sides of the issue, meetings were held, forums organized, and petitions circulated. Rightly or wrongly, the impression arose that most in the community were either "for" or at least "unsure" about Wal-Mart, culminating in a petition containing over 1000 signatures presented to the Town Board. Caving in to the perception of popular will, the town board chose to do nothing — no study, no research, no proactive planning — to determine the appropriate path of development. No surprises there.

Ultimately, the arguments against Wal-Mart were weak and missed the point. The alternatives offered by the various anti-Wal-Mart groups were not that compelling, and the follow-up on those alternatives were completely non-existent. More than a year has passed since the first alarms were raised, and no visible progress has been made to bring more shopping to the village or find a more acceptable tenant for the mall. The goal was always to stop Wal-Mart, but not to create anything else. It's no wonder that this movement failed to gather much support.

And during that time, the owners of the mall and Wal-Mart steadily moved forward, producing plans, signing a contract, and preparing the site. Will Wal-Mart build a store in Napanoch? Nobody yet can say for sure, but it does appear that sometime in the near future Wal-Mart will own the property. What they do with it is anybody's guess.

While it certainly can seem depressing that the best our community can muster for itself is to provide cheap real estate for one of the richest corporations in the world, at the same time, it's encouraging that something new is happening. Something, that is, that involves more than a few dozen people or a few thousand dollars. It's a positive development, but it also is a measure of our desperation. And desperation does not generally lead to the best of decisions.

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