SKOWHEGAN - Planned expansion of the Wal-Mart store at Fairgrounds Marketplace is to be a topic of discussion Tuesday night during the annual, joint meeting of the Skowhegan Planning Board and Board of Selectmen.

The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the Community Center. The regular meeting of the Planning Board will follow, with discussion on Wal-Mart site inventory and analysis of expansion plans.

Planning Board Chairman John Youney said the proposed 30,000-square-foot expansion to the existing store, built in 1994, amounts to a 25 percent increase in store volume.

"As far as I understand, it's a Super Wal-Mart - food," Youney said Monday.

Alexandra Serra, Wal-Mart's senior manager of public affairs and government relations, confirmed expansion plans on Monday, saying completion of the project is expected next year.

"We're hoping to get the whole process rolling and under way this year and then begin construction next year, in 2010, with completion eight to 10 months after that," Serra said.

"We're building a store with a grocery, an optical center, a pharmacy. We hoping to employ another 100 people in addition to our current staff.

"It's really a terrific thing; it's a great time for an expansion in the area and we're really looking forward to it."

The expansion will provide nearly 100 new jobs for area residents, Serra said.

The average hourly wage for regular full-time employees in Maine is $11.94 per hour.