Chatham-Kent is going to get a little greener thanks to a federal grant.
At their meeting Monday night, members of municipal council approved matching $728,240 in grant funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities through the Green Municipal Fund’s Growing Canada’s Community Canopies initiative, which will result in 948 new trees being planted across CK.
“It’s a great program,” said Councillor Alysson Storey. “I wanted to thank staff for keeping their eagle eyes open for this grant because it does provide much needed funding.”
The communities of Chatham, Dresden, Pain Court and Tilbury will see 725 street trees planted in recently developed residential neighbourhoods. The municipality will use $350 per lot collected from developers in those subdivisions to help fund the plantings.
Another 223 mature shade trees will be planted in municipal parks in Blenheim, Bothwell, Chatham, Dresden, Mitchell’s Bay, Thamesville, Tilbury, Wallaceburg and Wheatley.
Municipal administration said procurement will be completed early this year, with tree planting expected to take place through 2027. A two-year monitoring period will follow each planting season, continuing until 2029.