Village Board Candidates Weigh in on Wal-Mart

Would you support a Wal-Mart development on Highway 31 and Four Mile Road?

Jim Dobbs

My initial impression of the Wal-Mart project is that the site is not designated for that use, it’s designated as residential development.

Also we have to be selective with development. Do we want to clog up that area with lights? If we let one business build there, what’s to stop more from coming in? And if that happens, then we’ll get a hodgepodge of different things in there. Unless there’s overwhelming support and the community wants to redo the land use plan, I’m not for changing it.

In addition, everyone is so excited about Wal-Mart bringing $225,000 a year. But the Village will only see $70k of that $200,000 and they keep saying we can put that $200,000 into parks. The way I see it, Caledonia takes all the risk and everyone else gets the benefit, but Caledonia might have to provide extra police, extra street lights and fire protection. And we pay for that. We have to take all of those things into consideration.

Duane Michalski

Wal-Mart is a tough issue. I’m not a Wal-Mart kind of guy, but I do see value in the effect it will have on the Village tax base.

Still, there’s a lot of uncertainty in that project. Is it 24-hour store? Is there going to be public transportation service to it? Why do they want to put it on Highway 31 and Four Mile Road? What are they going to do to blend into that area in Caledonia? And do we want a big pole barn-like building? And that’s what you see if you go north. Still, I see why the people living nearby this are upset. I respect their opinions and I understand their frustrations. I wouldn’t want to live by it either.

But as far as it goes with the land use plan. It’s a plan. It’s designed to be changed and as times change, we need to change. If this goes forward, several people will have their lives directly affected. That happens with development. But I think with 794 coming in and all of the potential for that development, it’s going to happen no matter what.

Still, there’s tension and it’s a contentious issue. With that being said, we have to look at how this would impact the village overall, and not just part of the village.