Don't do it! This company is a vampire that will suck the life right out of your community.

This question is for Denise Lockwood:
Do you know if this Pre Development Agreement is site specific or is this a general agreement to look at other sites or any site for that matter in Caledonia?
I would urge everyone to call their board, starting Monday, and request the Board hold a public hearing in order to get the public's opinion on this matter before the Board decides to vote on this matter.
This seems incredibly premature to allow tax payers dollars to be funded for reviewing information provided by Walmart on sites that they cannot develop on, especially if they are requesting this agreement based on the 4 Mile/Green Bay Road plan.

What I mean by "tax dollars" is this seems premature to have elected officials spend time on projects that haven't even been agreed upon by the public or even Land Use for that matter...when there are so many other concerns this Village has that the Board's time can be utilized more effectively. I apologize for using the term "tax dolars." I meant our village's "time and efforts."

Noooooo! Call Board Members and make sure your voice is heard before it's too late!

Next (shameless plug), support the opening of an independent food co-operative in Racine called Wild Root Market by becoming a Member-Owner today! Invest within our community.

List of Village Board Members here:
http://www.caledoniawi.com/Caledonia_Elected_Officials.aspx

Alida,
How would a new Wal-Mart affect plans for the Wild Root Market?

Do not believe anything Walmart says, in writing or otherwise. Most of the 300 jobs will be full-time? How long after the store opening will it change to 600 part-time jobs?

This is the time folks. Call the village trustees and leave them this message.

You can buy most anything you need at Caledonia's new Walmart.
You can buy most anything you need at Caledonia's new Walmart.
Grab a cart, nice cloths on the rack.
About a quarter mile from the railroad track.
You can buy most anything you need at Caledonia's new Walmart.

If you can get multiple people in your household to sing it in 4 part harmony, they might thinks it's a movement or something. We can change this Village.

http://youtu.be/LjKF7aQthcQ

Yes call the Board members at the link noted above and below.
http://www.caledoniawi.com/Caledonia_Elected_Officials.aspx
Ask them questions, such as the following:
Is this normal practice to allow "Pre Development Agreements" before any public opinion (a formal meeting, hearing, etc.) has been recorded with the Village to the proposed agreement?
Is it normal practice to allow the Board to vote on "Pre Development Agreements" that have not been disclosed or discussed, in great length, to the public and the Land Use Commission? Especially one that is being proposed on land that they cannot build on based on zoning and the Land Use Plan?
Doesn't this agenda for the December 4th meeting seem premature and out of order, relative to the appropriate chain of events?
Hold the Board to the Sections of the Caledonia Village Ordinances requirements under 16-4-3. Look it up people, it is public record.
Get YES and NO answers people to basic questions. That is all we are asking from our Board and will do so Tuesday night at 7 P.M.

BUT PLEASE PEOPLE! IF YOU ATTEND THE MEETING BE PROFESSIONAL AND LET PEOPLE SPEAK THEIR MINDS, WHETHER FOR OR NOT, WITH GOOD QUESTIONS AND FACTS. IF WE ARE CIVIL AND RESPECTFUL, THE BOARD HAS TO LISTEN TO THE QUESTIONS PROVIDED TO THEM AND HOPEFULLY THEY WILL ANSWER INSTEAD OF BEATING AROUND THE BUSH.

Isn't this pre-agreement just WalMart paying for Caledonia's review of their plans? Why not have WalMart pay for their time? In no way is this an approval or rejection of their proposal. And until they present there proposal there is nothing to reject. My guess is, and only a guess on my part, they have their plans about done and want input from Caledonia. That is when publc input should be heard. Let them pay for public meetings involving officials. Don't hurt your cause by being part of the screaming crowd like last time. Use the design requirements from the land use plan. Cool, thought out responses will get you a lot farther.

Dear MS: It may well be just a request but the citizens of Caledonia are asking simple questions to the Board such as "Is this typical protocol for a "Pre Development Agreement" to be presented to the Board without other critical avenues knowing beforehand (passed through Land Use Commission, public, etc.)? Especially one that is not catered to the zoning and the overall consensus of the Land Use Plan? And they are still waiting for an answer. Because Pre Development Agreements are not just basic Boilerplate language throughout...it may or may not include numerous stipulations that cannot be answered appropriately and quickly through a brief Board Meeting for approval of a such agreement. We want to ask the Board questions of the process of determination.

YES-YES-YES!!! Build I will come!!!! And yes, I live nearby!!

According to the Village ordinances, Ch 16, an applicant shall enter into a pre development agreement with the Village at the time of submission of an application for a zoning permit for a moderate or high impact use. This is the foot in the door. The community has had NO FORUM offered from our Village for a chance to voice concerns, nor has the Village responded to any questions from the public, other than "there is a process and you will have a chance to speak at a later date". Yet they will allow Wamart the time to present and the opportunity to move forward. There is nothing stopping our leaders to hold a public hearing now. Not a single member of the Board, Planning Commission or Community Development authority voiced any concerns to Walmart over the location of the proposed store on October 23rd. Yes, concern over 23 hrs and delivery access points was brought up. And Walmart is notorious for giving the middle finger to these concessions. And part of this also involves economic, tax, traffic and other studies required by the village. Will this pre agreement hold the assurance that UNBIASED 3rd parties will conduct these studies? Will the public be able to see their leakage studies? Will the public have the opportunity to refute the results as Walmart "concludes" them? Mind you some of these same things were asked of WM by the Mount Pleasant board. They did not get them. Walmart could make a store sound good for the North Pole. Compete with Santa, right?

A new Wal-Mart wouldn't affect Wild Root Market's plans. But as a community-built, future small business, we believe shopping locally does exponentially more good in any community than shopping "big box" where our dollars very quickly leave the area/state instead of recirculating locally. We vote with our dollars every day and I was simply making the case to vote local.

My other point was, in addition to making your oppositional voices heard, we can take positive action today by helping Wild Root Market open (by becoming a Member/Owner). Hence, voting with our dollars and investing within our own community.

For every quarter since 2008, Walmart leads the state in BadgerCare enrollment......more than 9000 eligible participants. Our tax dollars subsidize Walmart’s profits.

http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/badgercareplus/enrollmentdata/enrolldata.htm

How does this happen? By manipulating employee hours and wages to make them ineligible for Walmart healthcare benefits.

BREAKING NEWS.....now in view of Obamacare, I’m guessing that the BadgerCare enrollment numbers relating to Walmart will now increase.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/01/walmart-health-care-policy-medicaid-obamacare_n_2220152.html

I’m further guessing that Walmart employees of any Caledonia store, should one indeed open, will not be treated any more fairly.

How can any fiscal conservative support the pillaging of our tax dollars?

Perhaps the Village Board should read this, in addition to the Ehler's Report that it commissioned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/economic-impact-walmart_n_1449429.html

San is right, taxes would go up, but by only about $100 a year on a $200,000 home. Mt Pleasant's mill rate is only 50 cents more per $1,000 assessed than Caledonia's. That is a small price to pay to avoid driving across town or to Oak Creek for anything.

Grocery store, shoe store, clothing store, sporting goods store, bakery, hardware store, drug store, pet supply store, oil change/automotive repair, oh wait scratch that last one.

Mite as well board up Douglas Ave.

Yep, you are all correct. Once Walmart builds, nothing survives. Just like the Walmart area in Mt Pleasant. No business around the area. Hwy 31 and Hwy 11 is a deserted corner. Do you people really believe some of the nonsense you write? Either you do not get out, or just like to sensationalize to forward you position. Build it, I will come!!

Not true, the most populated zip code in the metro Racine area is 53402 with 33,000 people alone. One quarter of Racine County's entire population lives in the area from the Main Street bridge north to the Milwaukee County line and out west to Hwy 38.

Have you heard from "The Fact Police" or "Racine Writer" lately?
___________________________________________________________________ ""With a much larger population to draw from."