PENHOLD - The Town of Penhold and Red Deer County held their first joint open house on the town's proposed massive annexation.
The open house, which also featured the inter-municipal development plan (IDP), was presented on Nov. 23 at the Penhold Regional Multiplex.
“The IDP allows for the coordination of planning and development around Penhold, taking into consideration both county planning initiatives as well as the future growth and development of Penhold,” said Ron Barr, long range planning manager for Red Deer County.
Last month, Penhold officials noted the IDP boundary includes about 3,360 acres of land. The land earmarked to be annexed would double the size of Penhold, adding an additional 1,260 acres of land for a total of 2,560 acres. Penhold currently sits at about 1,360 acres or eight and a half quarters.
The open house had representatives from both Red Deer County and the Town of Penhold, including several town councillors and Mayor Dennis Cooper, as well as planning and development officials. In addition, the open house provided local citizens details of the proposed annexation and inter-municipal development plan with the use of maps, graphs and charts.
Those in attendance had questions and feedback regarding both areas, noted Barr.
“There's a mix of questions as to how it's going to impact them,” said Barr. “Some are within the IDP area and some are outside of the IDP area. Some want to know long-term whether or not they're going to be within an annexation area or outside of an annexation area.”
Barr noted the proposed annexation will be a lengthy process that includes collecting written comments from the public between now and early December. They will be brought to the inter-municipal planning committee in January 2017. Officials will also work on the draft proposal during that time.
“We'd like to hear from the public in terms of whether or not we're on the right track before coming forward to them, probably in February with another open house,” he added. “Then we'll be looking at public input on that draft plan in February 2017.”
The annexation process, including a public hearing in the spring, is expected to be complete by the summer of 2017.
Paul Pettypiece, a resident of Red Deer County, will not be directly affected by the proposed annexation but wanted to learn more about the pending annexation.
“I'm always interested to see how the municipalities are evolving,” said Pettypiece. “There's good information and it seems fairly positive. I think it's good planning.”
Penhold mayor Dennis Cooper said he was pleased with the turnout and feedback from area residents.
“I'm overwhelmed with how many people have come out. We've heard some positive comments and we've heard from some people that don't want to see it (the annexation),” said Cooper. “Experts from the county are here, members of Penhold council are here and our planning department (officials).”
Cooper noted some of the feedback he heard during the open house and addressed some of those concerns.
“The jurisdiction is changing. Instead of being taxed from the county, they'll be taxed from the town,” said Cooper, adding the town is going to match the county's tax rate over time.
“It's going to take 10 years for us to match (that) tax rate. The tax rate will go up very, very slowly at very small increments.”
This will be the Town of Penhold's second annexation. The last annexation took place in 2008.
Dennis Cooper, mayor of Penhold
"I'm overwhelmed with how many people have come out. We've heard some positive comments and we've heard from some people that don't want to see it (the annexation)."
