MURPHYSBORO - Mayor Ron Williams and other city and county officials were put on the spot Thursday night as residents probed the reasoning behind moving a Wal-Mart Supercenter into the neighborhood of Illinois 13 and Country Club Road.

A Wal-Mart spokesperson attended the meeting, confirming the fact the current Wal-Mart store in Murphysboro will be closing down with the idea of likely opening a Supercenter at the Country Club Road location.

"The plan is to relocate the store to that site or another site," said Roderick Scott, a community affairs manager for Wal-Mart. "I don't know where the other properties are. (But) we have moved further on this piece of property."

He did not say, however, when the company would make a decision on the property.

About 50 people attended the meeting held at the Davis-McCann Center and sponsored by "Friends for Fair Growth." A few city aldermen, township officials and county board members were also present at the meeting.

Steve Gough, a member of the group who has come up with his own economic impact study, discussed his study and the fact that Wal-Mart could

have a multimillion-dollar impact on the county over years.

After finishing his presentation, members in the audience turned their attention toward Williams and Scott.

Questions ranged from the potential liquor license the Wal-Mart store would receive to the hiring of local laborers for construction.

As to the potential cost the store could have on the county and paying $600,000 to extend Murphysboro's sewer lines out to that property, Williams said he still has not heard from Wal-Mart officials on their needs.

Thursday afternoon was the first time he had met with Scott, he said.

Scott said he didn't know of any development plans, but did say the company has paid for soil borings and other surveys on the site at Illinois 13 and Country Club Road.

He arrived in Murphysboro Thursday and began discussions with neighbors who live near the selected site. He said he jotted down lists of everyone's concerns and will take those concerns and complaints back to the real estate division and engineers within the Wal-Mart corporation.

People in the crowd asked Williams if the city has concerns about the impact Wal-Mart will have on downtown businesses. Williams said the city has already lost business to the big name stores in Carbondale, starting with JCPenney's moving to Carbondale in the 1970's.

"The city of Murphysboro has already been decimated," he said. "I can't blame that all on Wal-Mart. It's the people who have walked away from those businesses."

In the end, those attending asked that Scott stay in touch with community members and the mayor.

"We are here to learn from this," Scott said. "We hope to come here in the early stages of this process."

kristen.cates@thesouthern.com

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