A study to explore the costs of Wal-Mart building its new supercenter on a site near I-35 and East Main got the approval of the Albert Lea City Council Monday.

&uot;I don’t think there’s any question they want to build,&uot; City Manager Paul Sparks told the council.

The only concern raised at the meeting came from Albert Lea resident Ken Nelson, who asked how Wal-Mart would deal with several acres of wetlands on the site.

Developer Tom Leland, who owns the site, said the company will only need to remove around two acres of the wetlands and that the rest will be preserved. A retention system will also be put into place to keep runoff from increasing after the large store and parking lot are built, in accordance with state and federal regulations.

Sparks told Nelson that wetlands guidelines require that developers deal with wetlands a certain way and this case will be no exception.

&uot;We have spent tens of thousands of dollars out there looking at wetlands and we understand wetlands,&uot; Leland said.

The council approved the study, which will cost $8,000, to be paid by the company.

Wal-Mart supercenters are large stores that include a traditional Wal-Mart retail store as well as a supermarket. The company first brought forward plans for the new store more than a year ago.

In other council news:

– The city approved the purchase of the Hansen building on East William Street. The building, now occupied by apartments and a couple businesses, sits next to the Freeborn Bank building, also known as the Vault, and the Medical Arts building on a block the city is targeting for redevelopment. In city hands, the building is likely to be torn down to make way for parking.

The city is also hoping to acquire the Lea Center building across the street and turn it over to a redevelopment company that would seek to turn it into residential space with some commercial tenants.

– The council heard from a local massage therapist who wants the city’s ordinance changed to distinguish among those with more training and those who only have the bare minimum.

Mary Schallock, a massage therapist with Massage Connections, said the city’s ordinance, which allows anybody with 48 hours of training to be called a massage therapist, doesn’t let consumers know which providers have the most expertise.

&uot;There is a huge difference between 48 hours of training and a 650, 750-hour instructional massage therapy course,&uot; she said.

The standard in the industry is for therapists to have at least 650 hours of training before performing massage therapy on customers. A 48-hour course is sufficient to perform massages on friends and family, she said.

Schallock said most of the providers in Albert Lea have the 650-hour training, but some do not.’

&uot;The public really needs to be aware that when they come into this town to seek out a massage therapist, they have the credentials and they have the schooling,&uot; she said.

The council decided to check into what other cities do with regard to massage therapists and make a decision later.

– A downtown restaurant, Talk About the Weather, will be allowed to place two tables on the sidewalk for diners. The tables won’t block the sidewalk traffic and will be taken indoors at night.

– The city approved a speed limit study and $15,000 in new street lighting for Southeast Marshall Street, an area annexed by the city Monday. The speed study is paid for by the state and will determine whether a new speed limit is needed.