Interview with the Mayor - June 1st, 2026

Monday, 1 June 2026 10:05

Mayor Acchione talked about the downtown parking situation and the purchase of a new aerial apparatus for WFD.

WOODSTOCK - The future of downtown parking will be discussed by Woodstock City Council.

The Downtown BIA requested some changes during a meeting back in March. They will be brought back to council this Thursday, and Mayor Jerry Acchione says council will decide which ones should be implemented.

"I guess the options we can say is make everything a two-hour parking lot, all 900 spots. Do we make some assigned parking still? Do we look at the 14 parking lots and what we should do with them? We will vote on that on Thursday."

The proposed changes read as follows in the agenda;

1) Introduce an interchangeable permit system (i.e. allow permit parking in all lots)
2) Provide 2 hours of free parking in all municipal lots without a permit
3) Enable payment via app and partner with business (no meters)
5) Tighten and simplify by-law language for enforceability

Council will have to decide if it wants to implement all of the changes, some of the changes, or just receive the report as information.

The city currently has 941 parking spots for general use in the downtown core and 351 of them are on street parking spots on Dundas Street and the surrounding side streets.

A big ticket item is also on the agenda for this week. The Woodstock Fire Department (WFD) needs a new aerial apparatus, which is used for high rise buildings like apartments and hotels.

Mayor Acchione says council has been bracing itself for this replacement.

"We've had it in the budget now for the last few years, so we've been setting money aside. It's just $2.65 million and you can't sugar coat that."

It would be coming from Pierce Manufacturing and Commercial Emergency Equipment. The aerial apparatus that's currently being used was manufactured by American LaFrance, which stopped making fire vehicles in 2008 and ceased operation in 2014.

Once the purchase has been approved, Mayor Acchione says the new aerial should arrive in the next year or two.

This Thursday's City Council meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. and it will be livestreamed on the City of Woodstock YouTube page. You can also find the meeting agenda online here.

Mayor Acchione also discussed the following during his interview this morning:

- Why the flags are flying at half mast at city facilities.

- The new Homeless Service Centre that has been announced for Woodstock.

- How the HART Hub has been doing over the past few months.

- The proposed Framework for the Friendly City Volunteer Award.

- His excitement for the Pride Month flag raising ceremony at Woodstock City Hall.

You can listen to the full interview below: