Merrill - A group of citizens is speaking up about Merrill's soon-to-be Super Wal-Mart.
Newswatch 12's Kailey Burton spoke with the group called M-GO!, which is voicing its concerns about the construction.
They say M-GO! stands for "Merrill's Great Opportunity and it's an opportunity they want the city to take full advantage of in constructing a Super Wal-Mart.
The group's main concerns center on traffic flow to and around the new Wal-Mart.
They're asking for the building to be turned 90 degrees, which would point Wal-Mart's dumpsters toward highway 51. That would conceal what they say will be serious eyesores, and opening Pine Ridge Road for future development.
The city feels this is asking too much of the super center.
"What it would be doing is basically setting that land up further south for development. So you would be helping the people that own that land further down develop their land, at the cost of Wal-Mart," says Merrill City Administrator David Johnson.
Which M-GO! says is exactly their point. The "Great Opportunity", they say, is in the negotiations.
"We have the ablility to ask Wal-mart to comply with certain things that we want... There's a lot of delevopment that would really be beneficial for future planning, if it's situated that way," says Tim Haight, the owner of Ace Hardare in Merrill, and a member of M-GO!
The city says Wal-Mart already made some concessions, and doesn't want to ask for more changes. They also say turning the building would interfere with wetlands.
The last public hearing on Wal-Mart is June 4th in Merrill's City Hall.
M-GO!'s organizers are petitioning the public to attend.
Written By: Kailey Burton