With the continued growth in the area, the small town of Krugerville is continuing to maximize its limited space within the Ranch Cities area.
Sandwiched between the cities of Aubrey to the north and Cross Roads to the south, city officials are working to make sure the city of Krugerville is doing what it can commercially and residentially to put every piece of its footprint to use.
“Our industrial reserve project that we have over on Prosperity Way was a significant point of focus under our previous mayor, Jeff Parent, and Mayor Pro Tem Kristen Kromer,” Mayor Rodney Cagle said. “They put a lot of effort into getting that developed, and it has come to fruition.” Seventy-five percent of the industrial reserve project’s facilities are occupied, with the most recent addition being A-Z Bus Sales.
“They’re a nationwide company based out of California, and they provide school buses, charter buses, vans and all kinds of mass transportation vehicles, and their priority is full-electric vehicles,” Cagle said. “We literally have Bluebird school buses being fitted out right here in Krugerville.”
Cagle added that Krugerville is negotiating with the city of Aubrey to install sewer lines to bring water to the front of Woodland Phase 5, which will open the area for additional commercial growth.
On the residential side of things, Cagle said, the pace is moving slower than the previous year’s projections because of a slowdown in the area’s housing market.
“We’re still building,” he said. “… They’re selling instantly, so we’re not sitting on any empty homes. They’re being built and filled instantly, which is a good thing.”
Cagle was elected Krugerville’s newest mayor and emphasized that he’s taking a slightly different approach from his predecessors.
“Our previous mayor was very oriented toward business development, and in switching from him to me, especially with my background in community activities and events, I want to take a more community-oriented approach,” he said. “Before I even moved into this role, I have been working hard to bring more community centers here.”
The city opened its first community center last year, and Cagle was excited to share news of Krugerville’s newest project.
“We got through [the Community Development Corporation] last week and went through council last night, and we will start construction on our newest park, Bridges Park, which will be located in Woodland Phase 5,” he said. “That’s been a two-year battle trying to get through.”
Cagle shared that the new park will feature earth tones and have a pourin- place rubber playing surface, which should provide an ADA-compliant, low-maintenance playing surface for local kids.
He added that the construction of Bridges Park is fully funded by sales tax.
“None of it is being done with anyone’s property taxes,” Cagle emphasized. “… All of the items that we call our fun community projects are done with sales tax that we accumulate from people spending in town, and we give that back to the community.”
As the number of commercial and residential properties rises, the city of Krugerville is also making sure that the infrastructure is there to help maintain them.
“Streets are our biggest concern, honestly,” Cagle said. “… A lot of people want us to focus on 377, but that’s TxDOT, so there’s nothing we can do there, but we’re addressing the ones that we can. We have roads that need solid long-term repairs, so we’re digging into our bond funds that we have left for infrastructure to address those repairs.”
Cagle added that one particular area for road repair is Fairview Farms.
“We’ve literally heard from some residents that decided to move, and they were glad to not have to deal with the streets over there anymore,” he said. “I’ve seen worse, but those aren’t up to our standards, so we’re focused on fixing them and making sure they’re back in shape as we move forward.”
With all the changes happening in the surrounding area, Cagle said that Krugerville won’t be left behind.
“There is a bright future for us,” he said. “A lot of people thought we were done with growth, but we have found some room, so we’re not done yet and have some more coming.”
He said that there have been small negotiations with the city of Aubrey regarding border agreements, with the annexation of Arvin Hill and the 7-Eleven at the corner of U.S. 377 and Stewart Road, which are still in progress, being some of the most recent changes.
“The franchise owner reached out to us,” Cagle said. “That’ll help our tax base somewhat, and at the same time our police department will reinforce that location, which we were already doing, so it made sense.”
Cagle also highlighted the food truck park at Woodland Park.
“We had one move-in today, Taqueria Cinco de Mayo, which is our newest truck, … and that’ll give us four leasing residents out of six spots,” he said.
Fencing was also recently installed along the entrance of the food truck park to help secure the location.
Despite all the changes, Cagle hammered home that the city remains concentrated on its residents first and foremost.
“Krugerville is always going to stay focused on the residents that we have now before anyone else,” he said. “We want to grow, but we want to do it intelligently. … I want our citizens to know that they come first. We hear everyone, and our goals will always be the current residents, maintaining their quality of life, and preserving what we’ve been building here for so many years.”
