There is an air of excitement in St. Pierre. A large construction site just west of the village will lead to significant growth for the community of 1,200 people. Expansion of the lagoon is underway on 62 acres along the south side of Provincial Road 205. St. Pierre Mayor Mona Fallis says it has taken years of planning to get to this point. She adds construction crews are hard at work on the site means there will soon be an end to a freeze on development that was imposed by the province in 2012 because the lagoon was at capacity.

"We're going on five years so there has been very limited new construction in the community. This will allow us to approve and expand new developments, new subdivisions and any commercial development can now move ahead. This is a huge benefit for our community."

Fallis says the expansion will enable the community to almost double in size.

"I think we'll be able to add about 150 homes. Once the lagoon is completed, the capacity will be about 2,000 residents. We're just under 1,200 right now so this will really help us."

She notes developers have been itching to get going and, with lagoon construction to be completed by the fall, they will soon be able to get started.

"There are a few developers who have been itching, they have been for a couple of years. There are two developments that are waiting for approval to continue their expansion. There are at least two more who want to start developing their properties so they are very happy to see this new (lagoon) construction going on at this point."

Fallis says St. Pierre has many young families and she expects they will have more once construction of new homes can resume. She adds new development will mainly be happening on the east side of the community.

In the following video, Fallis talks about the development freeze and its impact on the community

Men and machines at work building the new cell of the lagoon.