THUNDER BAY — Finding an unexpected cheque for $5,000 in the mail would likely bring a smile to most people's faces.
But when this happened to Kaministiquia resident Michael Meade last Friday, he was perplexed.
It's because it was only when he unsealed the envelope that he learned it was from Hydro One, which wants to erect a high-voltage transmission line through his property.
"I went to my mailbox, and the [envelope] was in there, with no identification and no return address on it. No logo. I opened it up and there was a cheque with no explanation, no directions. The only reason I knew it was from Hydro One is that it was printed on their cheque, for their bank in Toronto. Five thousand bucks," Meade said.
He said the cheque "came out of nowhere" as he'd had no personal or direct contact with Hydro One to that point.
On Monday, a representative of Hydro's real estate section phoned Meade to say he had heard about the incident, and that the cheque had been sent in error.
Hydro One told TBnewswatch it mistakenly sent money to three property owners, including Meade, and that it has made every attempt to contact them all to apologize.
Meade belongs to the citizens group Neighbours on the Line which has criticized the utility for planning to run the new Waasigan Transmission Line along a route that takes it close to their homes.
The line would parallel an existing power line through the Kaministiquia area, but the group says it would significantly disrupt the use of numerous properties and in some cases force people to abandon their houses.
Meade said other residents have also received cheques — or offers — for either $2,500 or $5,000.
"Everybody is saying they don't want to cash them. People are really upset."
His understanding, he said, is that the smaller amount is for just allowing Hydro to come by for a meet-and-greet, while the larger payment goes to owners willing to proceed to the next stage of Hydro's route study, such as a survey or environmental assessment.
Meade believes the cheques are an effort to separate the homeowners, but he said the community is united and committed to work together to get Hydro to alter the route.
"We don't want to try to bully our way in. We want to work with Hydro to offer opportunities for them to do this in a different way that won't affect people so personally," he said.
In an emailed response to an inquiry from TBnewswatch, Hydro One acting vice-president Susan Wylie said the three cheques the utility sent by mistake went to property owners in advance of meetings with its real estate representatives.
Wylie said Hydro is in the process of working directly with impacted owners to enter into voluntary early access agreements for environmental and engineering studies to facilitate the final design of the transmission line's route.
"In these meetings, property owners are provided with any applicable immediate payments, which means we prepare cheques in advance," she said. "We are sorry for the confusion this has caused and remain committed to meeting with each impacted property owner to learn more about their property and to look at ways we may be able to mitigate or minimize the impacts of the proposed project."
Wylie invited any residents interested in learning more about its voluntary land acquisition process to contact Hydro One by phone at 1-877-345-6799 or by email at Community.Relations@HydroOne.Com.
Meade, though, commented that "Anybody who accepts the cheque and says 'You can do whatever you want on my land' is sort of dividing the community to an extent. I can't call people on that, but that's an opinion."
Neighbours on the Line were scheduled to hold another meeting to share their concerns at the Kam Community Centre at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
