Town of Taber ends pursuit of city status after residents reject idea

The Town of Taber is nary longer readying to go Alberta’s 20^th city after a survey of residents recovered the bulk of respondents would similar Taber stay a town.

For astir 120 years, Taber has held onto it’s municipality status, but officials projected a alteration to this quality earlier this fall.

“We did a survey, a lengthy survey that was adjacent to 2,000 participants. That survey successful and of itself was astir 70 per cent against the thought of going to the metropolis status,” said Taber mayor, Andrew Prokop.

He says radical expressed interest astir ensuring enactment for tiny businesses and infrastructure successful the town, alternatively than chasing a caller title.

“We conscionable felt it was much than two-thirds against that, we felt that was a beauteous beardown connection not to spell for that. There was a assortment of reasons not to by the nationalist that generated that benignant of sentiment and that’s what we’re after. So, honestly immoderate things came retired of that we didn’t adjacent deliberation astir before.”

The past clip a assemblage successful Alberta upgraded from a municipality to a metropolis was in 2019, erstwhile the chamber assemblage of Beaumont, 5 minutes southbound of Edmonton, became the province’s 19th city.

While Taber volition stay arsenic is, Prokop is assured it volition proceed to grow.

“Right now, we’re fundamentally looking astatine a strong, precise beardown operation play commercially and/or residentially. Looking astatine grounds numbers here, approaching the $30 cardinal figure, which is astir a 35 per cent summation connected our champion twelvemonth ever. Two years agone was our champion year, astir $22 million.”

The municipality says operation presently ongoing connected Highway 3 volition lone assistance them grow.

“The economical benefits of the twinning to Medicine Hat are going to beryllium incredible. It’s thing that councils crossed confederate Alberta person been advocating for year. Beyond the information aspect, the economical corridor for businesses and transport is going to beryllium unthinkable for our community,” said Meghan Brennan, communications and projects coordinator astatine the Town of Taber.

With 119 years down it, Taber is looking up to 2025 successful precocious spirits.

“We can’t uncover our plans conscionable yet, but we are precise excited to observe with our assemblage arsenic the Town of Taber,” said Brennan.

Taber presently has astir 10,000 residents.