Huntsville - Lake of Bays Lakes Council

HLoBLC Minutes

Date: February 20, 2010

Location: Robinson Independent Grocer Community Room, Huntsville, ON

Present:

Burr Atkinson - Secretary - Walker and Pells Lakes Area Association

Ted Mercer - Director - Otter Lake Association

Shane Baker - Director - Tasso, Toad, Camp and Blue Lakes Association

Ken Sharer – Director- Lake Vernon Association

John Kenny - Director - Lake of Bays Association

Ellen Fox – Director- Fox Lake Association

Gordie Heath – Guest – Hidden Valley Owners Association

Rob Zingel - Director - Fairy Lake Association

Regrets:

Tonia Di Sabatino - Chair - Oxbow Lake Cottager’s Association

Michael Young - Director - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Peter Van Buskirk – Director - Fairy Lake Association

Jill Patterson- Director-Hidden Valley Owners Association

John Forder- Director - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Dan Kerr - Director - Mary Lake Association

Dan McKeon – Vice Chair - Peninsula Lake Association

Morris Eccles – Director - Lake of Bays Association

Mike Greenfield - Director - Mary Lake Association

Wendy Olan - Director - Bittern Lake Association

Brian Markham – Director -Bella-Rebecca Community Association

Jim King – Director – Fairy Lake Association

1. Call to Order: Acting Chair, Shane Baker, opened the meeting at 9:40 A.M. welcoming all members and guests.

2. Approval of the Agenda: Motion by Burr A. and seconded by Ken S. that “the agenda be approved”. Motion passed.

3. Approval of the Minutes: Motion by Burr A. and seconded by Ted M. that “the Minutes of the January 23, 2010 HLoBLC meeting be approved as amended”. Motion carried.

4. Treasurer’s Report: No Treasurer’s was provided for this meeting, however it was noted that we had to consider spending money to pay our 2010 dues to FOCA (~$75.00) and for paying our 2010 Directors Insurance ($540.00). Burr A. motioned and Ken S. seconded that “we pay the dues to FOCA and our Directors Insurance”. Motion passed with the understanding that the amount of money involved was approximately $600.00-650.00. Whatever the case, these necessary, high expenditures brought up a discussion regarding the necessity of raising money to support our Association. The rational for bringing up this point at this time in our meeting was the observation that if we wished to use a barbeque at Robinson’s as a possible means of making money this year, we must have a person in a line-up at Robinson’s on March 1st for getting a time-slot for the barbeque. The Directors agreed that we should obtain a time-slot for holding a barbeque at Robinson’s this year and Ken S. volunteered to do this. If we were able to obtain a time-slot for a barbeque, the Directors felt that they would discuss the means for operating the barbeque, as well as the need to use a barbeque as a fundraiser, at a meeting later in the year.

Finally, the fact that HLoBLC does not yet have someone to replace Bruce H. as Treasurer was questioned. The Acting Chair mentioned that Tonia D. was looking onto this (see Minutes from last HLoBLC meeting) and would probably report on this at our next meeting.

5. Follow-up Items from Last Meeting: To be covered later under Point #7. Distribution of Information: The Chair of HLoBLC, Tonia D., who was ill and, therefore, not present, informed us by telephone that the next HLoBLC meeting was set for March 6th. Since a number of our Directors that were present for this meeting stated that they could not attend a meeting on March 6th, Shane B. was asked to contact Tonia D. and find out if a more convenient date later in March is available. The Secretary, Burr A., assured the Directors that he would notify them of the date finalized for our next meeting.

6. Lake Association Reports/Concerns:

A. Hidden Valley Owners Association: Gordie H., President of this Association, reported that his Association replaced the Welcome signs for Hidden Valley with new signs. He also reported that rentals for G8 within Hidden Valley were in a holding pattern.

B. Fox Lake Association: Ellen F. stated that nothing new has occurred on Fox Lake.

C. Fairy Lake Association: Rob Z. reported that they have dealt with some proposed changes in the zoning by-laws to reduce set-backs from a stream and a fish habitat on some small lots around Fairy Lake. He stated that while his Association had no objections, his Association did express strong concerns regarding these applications (see Appendix 5A). He also mentioned that he posted the last two years of the Fairy Lake Newsletter on the HLoBLC Website.

D. Otter Lake Association: Ted M. reported that his Association is discussing the LURA survey and looking for ways of obtaining money for the Otter Lake Association.

E. Lake Vernon Association: Ken S. said an Executive meeting is planned for early May and, other than that, nothing new has occurred.

F. Lake of Bays Association: John K. reported some interesting stats regarding the LOB Township: namely, that there is 3,700 permanent residents and 11,500 seasonal residents in the township with a tax-payer base of ~ 15,200 people in the Township. He added that 2,000 of the 15,200 residents are owners of waterfront property in the Lake of Bays (LOB) and that 1,600 of the 2,000 residents of the LOB are members of Lake of Bays Association (LOBA). He felt that the large membership of LOBA is important when issues go to Council. These stats, he reminded us, also suggest that the other 11,000-13,000 of the residents in the LOB Township are on the smaller lakes in the Township.

John K. stated that a Safe Boating Course will be offered by LOBA in July and that other Lake Associations can buy into it. More information will be available on this course in the LOBA Newsletter.

G. Walker & Pells Lakes Area Association – Burr A. reported CORE BroadBand provided a Public Consultation Notification Package regarding a proposed Telecommunication Tower for Walker Lake. He also mentioned that there will be a public meeting on March 23rd at 5:00p.m. in the Township Office regarding this tower and 4 other Towers proposed for the Lake of Bays Township.

H. Tasso, Toad, Camp and Blue Lakes Association: Shane B. stated that at this time there is nothing to report regarding his Association.

7. Committee Updates and Reports:

A. Environmental Committee: Rob Z. reported that the Town of Huntsville’s Environment Committee is requesting agenda items from those on the Committee, including the members from HLoBLC. Rob said that he had suggested several items for discussion; namely, (1.) signage for noise pollution from air brakes on trucks, (2.) signage for not feeding the waterfowl and (3.) open a discussion on ‘Carbon’ neutral development. Rob felt that the fact that the Town’s Environment Committee is requesting agenda items is a step forward. He also reported that the Summit Management Office ( SMO) had a meeting for input from the public on what sort of impact the G8 might have on the aquatic ecosystem and how to minimize any of it’s affects on the environment. He felt that what came out of that meeting was the necessity for putting in place (1.) a plan for remedial action in case of an environmental accident and (2.) a plan to prevent the possibility of an environmental accident.

After considering the obligations of individuals and of groups, such as ours (as well as those mentioned above), that are concerned with the environment, Rob felt that the HLoBLC needs to make/have a ‘Policy’ on the Environment that will allow us to act.

He suggested that the HLoBLC might adopt tenants from the economic/environmental philosophy of “Natural Capitalism” as a baseline for our policy on the environment. He felt that the following five statements promote sustainability and their principles should allow us to act accordingly:

1. Health and welfare of individuals and community are dependent primarily upon the environment. 2. The economy in the Huntsville/Lake of Bays region is environmentally based. 3. Lakes of Huntsville/ Lake of Bay region are the key environmental feature supporting the economy and lifestyle enjoyed by lake dwellers and the broader community. 4. Preservation and enhancement of lakes/watershed health will continue to be a main foundation for Huntsville/Lake of Bays continued economic growth. 5. Lake communities are presently prime stewards of the lakes. It is desirable that the broader community, government and business take a greater role in stewardship.

Having presented this statement to the Directors, Rob Z motioned and Burr A. seconded that “the statements presented above be adopted as a set of principles for the environmental commitment of the HLoBLC to act on”. Motion passed.

At this point John K. pointed out that these statements were ‘enabler’ statements and not mission statements, and wondered if we might put together at another meeting a new ‘mission ‘ statement for HLoBLC. The Directors agreed with the overall idea of John’s suggestion, and proposed that the Executives should undertake the job of reviewing what we have as a ‘Mission” statement and consider whether or not it needs modification. If so, the Executives should present (1.) their rational to the Directors for the need of any changes and (2.) a scheme by which the Directors might accomplish these changes. .

B. Planning and Land Use Committee: Ken S. reported there were five Committee of Adjustment Applications he reviewed in the last month (see Appendix I). Two of these applications were passed by the Huntsville Committee. While he felt that one of other three applicants required no opposition, he said that he would monitor the other two applications.

C. Local Government and Taxation Committee: John K. reported that the District Tax Levy Increase would be about 4.99%. Burr A. (replacing Shane B. at the LOB Township Meeting) and John K. reported that although this draft of the Township’s Budget showed only a 4.49% Tax Levy Increase, many items were not considered in the calculations of the Budget; for example, a new position for a Recreation Coordinator ($55,000.00), Town Office Expansion ($50,000.00), Changes in the Reception Area of the Town Office ($20,000.00), Road Gravel ($50,000.00), etc. While money allocated in the Budget to a number of small items was discussed and apparently reduced, the next draft of the Budget will assure us that they were reduced. Finally, a suggestion was put forward, and is being considered by the Council, to borrow money (i.e. ~$2.5 million) to service all our roads now ( supposedly, 37 Km of the roads are in bad shape in our municipality) and pay off this debt at $50,000.00 per year. Whatever the case, to make a long story short, both John K. and Burr A. felt that a great deal had to be done on the Budget and both are looking forward to the next Budget Meeting on March 9th at 9:00AM in Dwight

D. Communication Committee: Ted M. had a number of issues he wished to address concerning Fund Raising and he presented the attached Report (see 6 points in Appendix II) to the Directors. John K. motioned and Ken S. seconded that “we accept Ted M.’s Committee Report on ‘Fund Raising’ and his Committee Report on ‘Communication and Membership’(see Appendix III), and that they be appended to these Minutes”. Motion passed.

Burr A. suggested that he would like to have Ted address the ‘sponsorship’ point in his Fund Raising document in a more comprehensive manner and reduce it in size; particularly, if he wishes to make it a policy statement. In fact, to speed things up, Burr A. motioned and Rob Z. seconded that “Ted M.’s Committee should put together for the next meeting a pithy, comprehensive policy statement on sponsorship”. Motion passed.

8. New Business: Gordie H., President of Hidden Valley Owners Association, requested if he could obtain from Bill Somers the HLoBLC Business Registration Number of our Association for donation purposes. The answer was yes with the understanding that he would approach us before he used that information. He agreed to our wishes.

Ted M. motioned and Ken S. seconded that “Presidents and/or designates of the Presidents of Lake Associations that are members of HLoBLC should be allowed open access to our Website”. Motion passed.

9. Motion to Adjourn: Motion carried and meeting Adjourned at 12:15 P.M.

Next Meeting –Confirmed for Saturday April 10th at 12:30AM to 3:00PM in the Robinson Independent Grocer Community Room, Huntsville, ON

Prepared by: Burr G. Atkinson – (Secretary)