Government Report: Wal-Mart back before City Council

BARSTOW — After continuing a vote to approve plans for a Wal-Mart Distribution Center to respond to concerns, the Barstow City Council take up the issue again on Monday.

The Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed 1-million-plus square foot distribution center, to be built along Lenwood Road north of Jasper Road and southeast of the High Desert Estates housing area. The distribution center is expected to bring about 500 new jobs to area during the first year of operation and between 800 and 900 jobs about two years later. Officials with Wal-Mart said they would like to start construction as early as this fall and hopes to open the distribution center in 2009.

A vote on the project was expected at the council’s July 7 meeting; however a late letter received from the Briggs Law Corporation on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Equitable Environmental Development that raised concerns about the project and the accompanying environmental impact report caused the Council to delay the vote.

The Council will also hold protest hearings for delinquent unpaid sewer and trash accounts and delinquent and unpaid administrative fines and penalties. A vote is also expected on the recommendations of a traffic study to install new traffic signals at three intersections in Barstow. The study suggested a traffic signal for Muriel Drive and Rimrock Road, a four-way stop at Muriel Drive and Virginia Way and improvements to crosswalks at Monterey Avenue and Rimrock Road.

The Redevelopment Agency will not meet Monday. The closed session of the Council begins at 3 p.m. The City Council meets in open session at 7:30 p.m. All meetings will be in the council chambers at City Hall, 220 E. Mountain View. Regularly scheduled meetings are televised live on Time Warner Cable channel 6 and recordings are placed on the city’s Web site, www.barstowca.org.

Special fire board meetings on Monday

The Barstow Fire Protection District governing board will hold two special meetings on Monday. The first will be a workshop at 4 p.m., followed by a meeting at 6 p.m. The fire district is hoping to place a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot to possibly increase sales taxes in Barstow to help pay for more firefighters.

The workshop will be at the fire station on Barstow Road. The district had not posted where the meeting would be as of Saturday.

BUSD board to review staffing

The Barstow Unified School District board of trustees will vote on the resignations of contract of certificated personnel, and to approve the change of contract and/or assignment of personnel. The board will also approve the temporary employment of certificated personnel for services on an as-needed basis for the 2008 summer school program.

The District will discuss the results from the California Physical Fitness test of 2008, summary from the 2007-2008 expulsions and suspensions report, and vandalism reports.

The Barstow Unified School District will hold a board meeting at its regularly scheduled time at 551 South H Ave. on Tuesday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m.