By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
How Chatham-Kent council will in the future disperse cash from the Hydro One Community Benefit Agreement will be left up to the next council.
Council reached the decision at its Nov. 3 meeting, voting yes on a motion from Wallaceburg Coun. Aaron Hall to defer.
Discussion on the matter was prompted by a motion from South Kent Coun. Anthony Ceccacci, who said he wanted to make sure that rural wards losing representation when council drops from 18 to 15 members in 2026 won’t be short changed on the cash.
As part of his motion, Ceccacci recommended the $75,000 surplus resulting from the upcoming changes in council’s composition be distributed equally among eight rural wards councillors including Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
“We all know that the will of council was to reduce the representation for our rural residents,” Ceccacci told council, noting it will significantly reduce cash available to affected wards.
“I would like to see the funds distributed to the rural wards that have lost representation,” Ceccacci said. “This is something I think is very important.”
As part of a host sharing agreement with the utility, Chatham-Kent receives $1 million per year. In turn, each councillor receives $25,000 and the mayor receives $100,000 to fund community culture and recreation capital projects, as well as addressing community need.
The 10-year agreement between the municipality and Hydro One launched in 2022.
However, discussion on the matter grew slightly heated, with Chatham Coun. Brock McGregor saying he disagreed with changing the model.
“I understand the spirit of the motion,” McGregor told council, but said he didn’t think “we should value one area over another.”
McGregor said the new councillor boundary system “does a better job” of representing people by population, and the funding should follow the same model, as the changes recommended by Ceccacci would make in “unequitable.”
Had Ceccacci’s motion passed, it would have meant an additional $9,375 for each of the rural wards to spend on projects.
Ceccacci said his goal wasn’t to increase the funds but to redistribute the money amongst the communities that have been the most affected.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t want to talk negative about a program like this,” he said, noting he wanted to help make up for the loss of rural councillors and the funds they would have received.
Following suggestions from North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville and McGregor, staff have agreed to beef up its reporting on how the Hydro One funds are being spent, so that all of council will be aware of how the money is used across the municipality.
