Inset: Penhold Mayor Mike Yargeau. (Supplied)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

HOUSING STARTS, NEW SCHOOL, AND MORE

2024 in Penhold: Preparing for growth

Dec 26, 2024 | 12:00 PM

Growth and infrastructure upgrades seem to be the highlights of 2024 for the Town of Penhold, with multiple projects springing up to accommodate a larger future population.

“We accomplished a lot. The community is growing the way we want it to grow. All in all, it was a really positive year for Penhold,” Mayor Michael Yargeau reflected.

Yargeau said the progress made in developing the Community Hub area, located south of the Penhold Multiplex, and in preparing for the construction of a new Public Works Office and Fire Hall stood out to him most this year.

“It’s something that helps bring the community together, which is what we’re all about. Our residents love it, people from out of town love it,” he commented on the hub. “And on top of that, building for future growth with our new Public Works and Fire Hall puts us in a position for the next 50 years that we’ll be able to look after our residents’ needs and grow successfully.”

Other growth-oriented projects included the construction of a new middle school, which began this summer and will have an initial capacity of 500 students, with the ability to expand to 700 later.

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Yargeau also said housing starts increased for this year, a positive sign for the town.

“After a few relatively slow-ish years, we’re sort of seeing some movement there on the housing market, which is good. We renewed our New Home Buyer Incentive program and realtors and builders seem to really like that, so I’m sure that’s helping contribute to some of this growth,” he said.

While it’s been good to see more people intending to develop in the community, staying on top of infrastructure upgrades needed to accommodate that growth and keep things up to date has been a challenge within today’s budget context, a challenge Yargeau said many municipalities are facing.

Some of these challenges might be the next town council’s to deal with, however, as the fall of 2025 marks the next round of municipal elections happening throughout Alberta.

Mayor Yargeau did communicate he intends to run for Mayor again in 2025 and hopes to attract more businesses to the area if elected to another term.

“Long term, something I’ve always been working towards, and I know council has too, is we want to attract some more businesses to help alleviate some of the stress on our residential property tax payers. Everything we do strategically is with a vision to attract new business growth, new commercial growth, and that’s something we continually strive for,” he said.

He added that in recent years, the ratio of residential-to-business properties in Penhold has been 90/10. Now, he said it is more likely 80/20 and close to reaching a 70/30 ratio.

“It’s a process,” he said, “but we’re starting to see things pay off.”

In the rest of his term, Yargeau hopes to see construction of the new Public Works and Fire Hall begin and possibly a grand opening at the Community Hub.