As members of Friends of Bangor Mall Area (FOBMA), we would like to say having a Wal-Mart Supercenter in our area would be helping the city with about $350,000 in taxes a year, plus they donate more than $100,000 a year to local charities, also for environmental-related grants in the Bangor area alone.

Wal-Mart has been working to create a safe flow of traffic on Stillwater Avenue. The marsh is far enough from Wal-Mart that it would not bother it. The marsh is far north of where Wal-Mart would be built so the water would flow down, not up. They are doing everything to meet the requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation. They would not be harming the Penjajawoc Stream.

The marsh would not be there if somebody had not transported beavers 25 years ago without our knowledge. It used to be a hay field that was mowed to feed cattle.

With proper development, Wal-Mart and the marsh can co-exist. It seems funny Bangor Area Citizens Organized for Responsible Developoment (BACORD) or anyone else didn’t speak up when land was for sale for so long, plus there was no opposition when Circuit City, JoAnne Fabrics, Pet Quarters, Crossroads Plaza and Country Inn were approved.

Marion and Jeanne Rudnicki

Bangor