Business View City & Municipal | August 2022

35 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 WOODSTOCK , NEW BRUNSWI CK Woodstock has more than 160 years of history and heritage to celebrate. It is home to some of the province’s first pioneers and boasts some of the finest 19th-century homes, churches, and civic buildings in the Maritimes. Andrew Garnett, Woodstock’s Chief Administrative Officer says, “The town really has it all. What I like about Woodstock is that it has the feel of a small town, but we have lots of big town or city things to do. We have a number of great older homes; we have lots of great places to visit in the area that have that small town charm. We have good shopping, good restaurants and if you can’t find it here, it’s not that far to go to find what you want. But living in a town our size is great because I find it’s never boring.” As of the 2021 census, the population of Woodstock is 5553, but in January 2023 it will balloon to more than 10,000 because it is amalgamating with the surrounding rural service district. The town has always functioned as the service centre for surrounding communities in the Saint John River Valley, which is one of the reasons government services are in the town. In the next municipal election, there will be eight councilors from five wards. Four councilors will be elected from the former service areas and four from the Town of Woodstock. The mayor will be elected at large. The current mayor, Arthur Slipp acknowledges, “The process has gone well. We’re going to have a tax base of approximately $1 billion dollars starting January 1, 2023, and so we’re working at preparing more for that transition to expanding the municipal government here. We’re going to be going to a regional focus now which will, I think, continue the prosperity and growth that we’ve seen over the last 10 years.” Slipp also says one of reasons the area is so popular and prosperous is due to its diverse economic base, “We’re an agricultural area and we’re experiencing a solid economy. The