The town of Altona continued to see growth in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the community's mayor.

In his yearly State of the Town address to the local chamber of commerce, Al Friesen says the community saw the opening of several new businesses last year while others like Friesens Corporation and the Sun Valley Co-op food store expanded their operations. Friesen cited other signs of positive growth in the community.

"Residential building permits increased in 2020 by 53 per cent and commercial building permits increased by 85 per cent over 2019. These increases were driven in part by the emerging presence of companies like Moravia and K-Block Developments. We look forward to more growth in 2021."

One of the more exciting construction projects includes the renovation and development of the former McDonalds restaurant property at the east entrance of town where Winkler-based K-Block Developments is converting the building into commercial offices.

Friesen says, while those were positive developments in their local economy, town council is well aware that the pandemic has had a significant impact on local residents.

"Council committed to a zero per cent municipal tax increase in 2020. Our residents and businesses are still facing challenges due to COVID-19 and in recognition of that town council is freezing the tax rate once again."

Altona's 2021 operational budget will be presented to residents on Tuesday, March 23.

Meanwhile, the mayor feels the town also made great strides last year in connecting with its ratepayers despite all of the COVID-19 health restrictions. The town refreshed its website and relied on its social media pages to get important messages out to residents.

"We created a newsletter called In The Loop, created video content and tried our best to keep a current and positive handle on COVID communications and added a full-time staff position on our team of communications officers."

Friesen says their commitment to community engagement was on display when the town hosted its Cannabis Conversation last fall, a virtual town hall type of meeting to provide information to citizens about the legal sale of marijuana through a retail store operation. That meeting was viewed by over 800 households.

"We feel that an informed community is a motivated community, and while our (town council) actions may not always be popular, they will not be made in isolation. Thank you for voicing your opinions through our surveys on waste collection and downtown parking and through our community conversations on cannabis, drainage and zoning. We look forward to connecting with you more in 2021."