Business View Civil & Municipal - May 2023

130 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5 been recommended by our committees. We’re very excited about that program.” Reporting $13.2 million in combined residential and commercial building permits in 2022, Taber has also welcomed 43 new businesses in the last year, with the average being between 40 and 45 over the last 5 years. Interest has also been growing in Taber’s Eureka Industrial Park, which has approximately 200 acres of land ready for development. As for what type of industry is being recruited for this park, Allred suggests the town is looking at anything from agri-food processors to trucking. She says, “We’re part of Canada’s premier food corridor, which is about a 50 Kilometer corridor between here and Lethbridge. It’s a cluster of agrifood processing, so we’re really trying to recruit those kinds of businesses. Why would you take the potatoes and take them anywhere else to have them processed when you can do it right here? We’ve got the land and the incentives and the people to make it work.” The twinning of Highway 3, a $150 million investment, is expected to have a huge economic impact on the area. “The project was approved back in 2020 and is due to start this spring,” conveys Prokop. “That’s huge for this area, the lobbying for that has been going on for 20 years.” He adds that it has been calculated that for every dollar spent, there will be a $3 return to the region. In another investment, Prokop says the government has earmarked 200,000 acres for new irrigation land, which will coincide with the expansion of the Chin water reservoir, where Taber gets its water. “It is a major reservoir that’s going to see roughly half again increase for water and watershed storage in the next 10 years,” he describes. “To be able to house that many acres for irrigation purposes, that’s also huge and it is a United Conservative Party focus related to the agrifood corridor area. It all ties back to the benefits of agriculture we’ve already got here, and it is only going to be enhanced in Taber and the area.” Housing inventory is another area of growth, with Prairie Lake Estates, and Westview Estates bringing an additional 100 homes to the community. Along with this, the town is developing 60 acres, known as The Meadows, an affordable housing project which will bring 302 lots to the community. Prokop reports, “There are currently 90 lots serviced and ready to go. We have five manufactured homes currently for sale, and we are looking to grow that area in the $250,000 and under price tag, meaning that you own the lot as well as the manufactured home as well.” He notes that there will also be some traditional builds, although a high water table means there are no basements. Keeping within the $250,000 price tag has had its challenges, especially when lumber and material prices skyrocketed during COVID, but the mayor says, “We are trying to maintain that. We had some difficulties honestly, over the pandemic, but we’re back on track with that.