Interview with Mayor Jerry Acchione - April 15th 2024

Monday, 15 April 2024 at 11:21

This week's Woodstock City Council meeting will have a large focus on attainable housing.

WOODSTOCK - It's a step in the right direction for the City of Woodstock.

It recently found out that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will be accepting Woodstock's housing numbers. This will allow the city to receive funding from the province if it reaches its housing target of 5,500 by 2031.

Mayor Jerry Acchione says there has been a bit of confusion because Woodstock reports its housing numbers to Statistics Canada. This has caused a gap in the numbers.

"Our records show 439 starts last year, but what we got back was 413. So now we're just going through to find the exact details of which ones are missing, we will resubmit, and it looks like we are right on track."

Acchione says attainable housing will also be discussed at Thursday's Woodstock City Council meeting because planning reports will take up a large portion of the agenda.

"There's 19 townhomes being proposed again on Mill Street, right beside the Church of the Nazarene. There's also eight apartment buildings on Buller Street being talked about."

He says there's also a proposal to turn nine rental units into condos so they can be purchased.

This Thursday's City Council meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. and it will be livestreamed on the City of Woodstock YouTube page. You can also find the meeting agenda online here.

During his interview with Dan and Marcie this morning, Mayor Acchione also discussed the following:

- His wife Sarah's birthday coming up this Friday,

- His involvement in the Crime Stoppers of Oxford County's virtual Jail and Bail fundraiser,

- The new industrial/commercial park that's in the works on Highway 2,

- The construction of the new hotel and Denny's restaurant on Dundas Street,

- The main focus for the Mayor's Task Force in 2024,

- Woodstock being selected to host a fully funded Brightside Youth Hub,

- What would have to be done to introduce Tiny Homes in the City of Woodstock.

You can listen to the full interview below: