Wednesday, March 23, 2011

We had a good crowd last night in front of the board of trustees. Several people told the trustees why we oppose the plan to allow a Sam's Club to develop and give the developer millions of dollars in tax revenue. I apologize for likely misspellings below.

  • Gary Graves talked about the problem with the Sam's in O'Fallon and disagreed with giving money to a for-profit organization.
  • Mike Chamberlain noted that tax breaks given to Lowe's helped Lowe's put the Do It Center (which did not get tax breaks) out of business. Sam's will have the same impact.
  • Phil Jarsik told the trustees that Glen Carbon should not be in the business of giving money to businesses.
  • Jeff Corbin mentioned that Wal-Mart has taken huge amounts of money in tax breaks all over the country, making its primary owners very wealthy. He added that Sam's should pay its own way to come to Glen Carbon.
  • Susan Hamil said that Sam's will not be a benefit to the community.
  • Steve Strayer questioned the Sam's traffic study that shows the store will have only 33 cars per hour coming to the store.
  • Grace Garin reminded the trustees that small businesses deserve the same treatment given to big businesses in Glen Carbon.
  • Kenny Wilhelm asked why Glen Carbon should welcome a company that treats employees so badly and threatens other stores' abilities to survive.
  • Kathy Starch told the trustees that it doesn't make sense to spend money to bring a store to Glen Carbon that doesn't sell anything not currently available in Glen Carbon.
  • Mark Martin told them that Glen Carbon doesn't need a Sam's.

9 comments:

TISA said...

Way to go Glen Carbon! I agree with all of you. We do not need a Sams or Wal-Mart supercenter. Tell Sam's, Wal-Mart and THF to move on and go back to Arkansas!!

Anonymous said...

Glen Carbon is SO proud of their "Top 100 Places to Live" status. Do they really think they'll ever earn that award again once they give millions of dollars to company like THF to build a Sam's? Especially with the number of empty business spaces cluttering the streets already.

Gary said...

Per the below article from the
newspaper Karen O'Koniewski doesn't live in Glen Carbon, why doesn't she stick with Edwardsville issues!!

"Karen O'Koniewski led the group that's now called GlenEd Citizens and she advised its members and supporters of the new proposals in an email this morning. She had not received any responses by mid-day and did not know what the organization might do. O'Koniewski said it had been largely inactive for about a year, and she recently moved from Glen Carbon to neighboring Edwardsville."

Donna said...

Would you please list the people who are running for Village Trustee that are part of the GlenEd Citizens group. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

WE live in Glen Carbon and am against the Sam's addition to our lovely community, but have spoken with family & friends from Edwardsville & Troy regarding this possibility as well. They too, understand that Sam's would not be a positive addition to Glen Carbon. The Village needs to listen to it's people and vote no on this one. Another business or restaurant will come along that we will all see the true value in. It's pretty bad when even your neighboring communities look at this and can't believe this is even being considered! We've worked hard to reach a "great place to live"; let's be picky and protect the asset that our village is and scrutinize to ensure the RIGHT business to "take ownership" of the DIY property!

Fred said...

We live in Glen Carbon too and several of our friends and business associates think it would be good for the community. Consider the property tax that this project will pay!

barb said...

Really Fred. How much do you figure that Glen Carbon will gain. I would love to see your figures. Maybe yours will go down as the value of your home will go down the drain.

Wow!!!

Anonymous said...

Uh, Gary, the GlenEd Citizens represent BOTH Glen Carbon AND Edwardsville.

What happens in Glen Carbon affects Glen Carbon and Edwardsville and all neighboring communities.

Anonymous said...

Please make sure everyone knows about the open forum concerning Sam's on March 30 at 7 PM in the Village Hall Chambers.