Belleville City Council approved amending the 2026 Capital Budget to the tune of $42,000 to allow for upgrades to pay-and-display machines at municipal parking lots in the DBIA area.
Approval came from council’s meeting on Monday.
This amendment would allow staff to prepare for the implementation of two-hour free parking at the lots, that was approved by council in November 2025.
According to a report from Manager of By-law Enforcement Aggie Hill, all pay-and-display machines will be upgraded with integrated keypads so users would be able to enter their licence plate, after which the machine will issue either a no-charge
receipt (during the free period) or a paid slip, as applicable.
The report says that with the keypad upgrade and back-end configuration, the system will recognize one free session per licence plate per day across all DBIA lots (not per machine).
This would prevent session chaining and coincide with HotSpot Parking to ensure consistency between kiosk and app transactions.
Other upgrades would include replacement parts, faceplates, and necessary connections.
Hill says in her report that parts for the upgrades are expected to arrive within three to four months after ordering.
Councillor Garnet Thompson says that staff should look into sending out press releases notifying residents when the two-hour free parking would be implemented, saying there have been some miscommunication.
“I think a lot of people understood it was going to start the first of January,” Councillor Thompsopn said to council while discussing the motion.
“I think we have to get it out to the public that this is not going to start until this item is approved – we buy the equipment and get it installed. So we need to get that out.”
Funding for the upgrades would come from the city’s Parking Reserve Fund, which carries a balance of $684,000.
City staff anticipate that implementation of two-hour free parking would be implemented in Q2 of the 2026 fiscal year, which would be between the months of April and June.
