LEWISTON – Wal-Mart gained a year’s worth of breathing room from City Councilors Tuesday.

Councilors unanimously approved the retailer’s request to push back construction on its Plourde Parkway grocery distribution center by more than a year.

According to current plans, the company will begin construction on the 485,000-square-foot food warehouse in April 2004 and finish in August 2005.

Development Director Greg Mitchell said he’s confident Wal-Mart will build the warehouse according to the new timeline. Even so, Mitchell said the new agreement built in some new safeguards for the city and the state.

“It seemed prudent to add in some protective measures, in case it does not proceed as planned,” Mitchell said.

If Wal-Mart backs out, the retailer will reimburse the city and the state for all the work they do to get the site ready for the warehouse. That includes Lewiston’s expenses for moving its snow plow operations off the site and expanding water and sewer lines.

Mitchell said that clause was included in the original agreement the city and Wal-Mart signed in December 2001.

“But this new agreement expands that to include the state Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority as well,” Mitchell said. “We needed a way to convince them to continue their work.”

Mitchell said he expects state crews to begin relocating Plourde Parkway this fall, finishing just in time for the Wal-Mart project to begin next spring.

“The company has agreed to about $7 million in incentives if they decide not to proceed,” Mitchell said. “I think that demonstrates their willingness to continue with this project.”

The company will also begin paying property taxes in April 2004, as scheduled – about $1 million annually. According to the Tax Increment Financing deal with the retailer, about $300,000 of those taxes will be returned to Wal-Mart each year.

The city would also get control of the land if Wal-Mart decided to back out. That land, about 130 acres with new roads and utilities, would be valuable for other developers, he said.

“We could go right out and market it for a similar use,” Mitchell said. “We know that it would be a valuable parcel for business, so we wouldn’t have any problem doing that.”

But Mitchell said he’s confident it won’t come to that.

“I feel there is ample evidence that they plan to continue with this project, and that it’s a valuable project for them,” Mitchell said.

Mia Mastan, Wal-Mart community affairs manager, said the company plans to open eight distribution centers around the country this year, including five food distribution centers similar to the one planned for Lewiston. The Lewiston center is the only food distribution center currently being delayed, Mastan said. She declined to say where the other five proposed food centers are being built.

“We still need this center,” Mastan said. “It is a part of our plan, and we need it soon. That’s why we’re still planning to do it. Our timing has just changed.”

According to the company’s 2003 annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, the company plans to build about 50 new Wal-Mart stores and between 60 to 70 new supercenters by this time next year around the country. That’s about the same as 2002.

According to Tuesday’s annual report, the company has 3,400 stores nationwide, including supercenters and Sam’s Clubs. Those stores were supplied by a network of 84 distribution centers, including 25 for groceries.

Four of the company’s distribution centers are in New York and one is in New Hampshire. The Lewiston center would be the second New England grocery warehouse.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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