Story in the Herald news

NEW LENOX — The village board Tuesday learned more details about a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter and Menards development along U.S. 30. Some trustees expressed concern about the size of the development, while others welcomed it with open arms.

I view it like this, the super Wal-Mart should be placed on the South end of Gougar Rd this would cause least traffic congestion and due to the new warehouses that are just off Gougar Rd. this would allow for expansion of Gougar and of Laraway Rd, the roadways to and from the Super Wal-Mart could be brought up to weight limits then could handle the over weight traffic of big trucks.

Due to the Wal-Mart warehouse being in Elwood Illinois the truck traffic could be kept to a minimum in downtown New Lenox while the funds generated by the Wal-Mart could go to fixing Rt 53 from Elwood to Laraway Rd and ease the crunch on Elwood, Joliet and New Lenox in the form of tax savings and use of our roadways this also could help repair our failing roadways.

Wal-mart stores spurs other stores to pop up around them and this would also be a great expansion area and give a great buffer zone for which way it can expand and give more control to the city over expansion with out harming property values.

Trustee David Smith stated he feels the project would be “detrimental to the neighborhood” and would encourage drivers to use residential streets to bypass a congested U.S. 30.

New Lenox is a cute little town with a big charm, why tear that apart and make people not want to visit, it is apparent that it is time for New Lenox to grow but exercise some control.

There would be more value to this big box items then meets the eye like Target stores, computer warehouses like Tiger direct if these stores also come in the area they could have products shipped in thru the BNSF rail yard, the products could be brought directly to the new big box stores and not increase any traffic in down town, Then more jobs could be created and then it will benefit all not just some.

The development is projected to create between 450 and 550 full- and part-time jobs in the two anchor stores alone, village and development officials said.

It is slated to produce $1.5 million in sales tax to the village as well as property tax collections as follows: $380,000 a year to the New Lenox grade schools, $200,000 to the high school district, $39,000 to the fire department, $35,000 to the park district and $26,000 to the library.

What New Lenox and the surrounding towns need to do is “think outside the box” what brings prosperity while causing a traffic jam may cause residents to move away, I don’t think that should be the end result.

I say this to the Mayor and trustees of New Lenox use your heads and just quit looking at the quick buck.