Huntsville - Lake of Bays Lakes Council

Published on Huntsville Lakes Council (http://www.huntsvillelakescouncil.org/)

HLC Minutes

Date: January 5, 2008

Location: Robinson Independent Grocer Community Room, Huntsville, ON

Present:

Bill Somers - Chair - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Bruce Howlett - Treasurer - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Burr Atkinson - Secretary - Walker and Pells Lake Association

Mary McCulley - Director - Chub Lake Property Owners Association

Jeanne O'Neill - Director - Harp Lake Association

Ted Mercer - Director - Otter Lake Association

Dan McKeon - Director - Peninsula Lake Association

Mike Greenfield - Director - Mary Lake Association

Regrets:

John Kenny  - Director- Lake of Bays Association

Michael Young - Director - Lake Waseosa

Tonia Di Sabatino - Director - Oxbow Lake Cottager's Association

Elaine Jackson - Director - Fox Lake Association

Wendy Olan-Director - Bittern Lake Association

Bill Jolley - Director - Buck Lake Ilfracombe Association

Morris Eccles - Director- Lake of Bays Association

Rob Zingel - Director - Fairy Lake Association

Ian Hastie - Director - Lake Vernon Association

Dwayne Verhey - Webmaster - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

•1.      Call to Order: Chair, Bill Somers, opened the meeting at 9:39 AM welcoming all members and guests.

      2. Approval of the Agenda:. Motion by Mary M. and seconded by Ted M. that the amended agenda be approved. Carried.

3. Approval of the Minutes: Motion by Bruce H. and seconded by Mary M. that the Minutes be approved as amended. Carried.

•4.      Treasurer's Report: Bruce H. - The Treasurer's Report was provided to the Directors. Bruce H. pointed that the Bank Fee charged to us (i.e. $2.00) was returned to us. He noted that 16 of the 20 Lake Associations have paid their dues and that no expenses occurred in December. Our December balance is $2020.87. Bruce H. reported that he had invoiced, for the 2^nd time, the Lake Associations that have not paid their 2007-2008 dues (i.e. Dickie Lake, Hidden Valley, Lake Vernon and Peninsula) and has only heard back from the Dickie Lake Association. Bruce was asked if he had looked into moving our funds to another bank and he said that he talked to people at the Bank of Montreal and the TD Bank. He felt that he would consider their replies and bring this issue up for our consideration at another meeting. Motion by Bruce H. and seconded by Dan M. that the Treasurer's report be approved. Carried.

•5.      Comments from the Chair: Thanks to everyone for attending the pot-luck luncheon on December 15 at Bill's home. Thanks to Jeanne O. for getting out the ‘Newsletter'. Thanks to Rob Z. for the excellent letter in the ‘Forester'. Notice was given of a LOB Winter Board Meeting on January 19^th at 10:30 AM inviting near-by Lake representatives to attend. Burr A. was asked to send copies of the invitation to those on HLC who had not received the invitation.

1. Lake Association Reports/Concerns:

•a)      Chub Lake - Mary M. reported that the Chub Lake Property Owners Association is holding a meeting this afternoon and will be discussing the new Huntsville Highland Estates development in relationship to the residents of Chub Lake. At this time Mary M. stated that Chub Lake property owners had some concerns which they would discuss at this meeting. Namely, the infringement of the proposed trails on the back lots of the Chub Lake property owners and the possible light spillage from the proposed development.

•b)      Otter Lake - Ted M. had nothing to report.

•c)      Mary Lake - Mike G. reported that the bridge was approved. This Association is still concerned with water levels and is awaiting a report from the NMR concerning this issue. The Lake Plan for Mary Lake is under revision and have been submitted to the town. The Mary Lake Association is preparing a ‘Guide for residents, cottagers and visitors' about Mary Lake which they plan to submit to the Town. Mike G. volunteered to share this ‘Guide' with the HLC when it is completed.

•d)      Harp Lake - Jeanne O. reported that they will hold their Annual General meeting in May. Bill S. volunteered to attend this meeting.

•e)      Peninsula Lake - Dan M. reported that there still was no ruling on the quarry issue. He also stated that the Association was very pleased to have received the approximately 2 acres of land given to them in a Land Trust.

•f)       Lake Waseosa - Bruce H. reported that their Association's Newsletter was out in mid-December. It was suggested that Bruce H. talk to our Webmaster, Dwayne Verhey, and have him put a link on the HLC website to the Lake Waseosa Newsletter. He also stated that the Board of Directors was still looking for funds to support their severance issues.

•g)      Walker & Pells lake - Burr A. had nothing new to report.

1. Committee Reports:

•a)      Membership Committee Report: -Bruce H.- covered under Treasurer's Report.

•b)      Communications:

• i) Forester Articles -Rob Z- Unable to attend today.

                               ii) Newsletter - Jeanne O. reported that the Spring 2008 Newsletter will be prepared.

            c.) Special Projects:

i).Insurance: Bill S. reported that once all of the HLC Directors have filled out the declaration forms on the application he sent them, he will submit the HLC application for insurance.  

                                    ii) Navigational Buoys -Mary M. -Mary M. reported that the people on the Buoy Committee were given some time to talk to the Lake Associations wishing to have buoys (i.e. Waseosa, Vernon, Fairy, Mary and Peninsula) and establish the type of buoy they would like to have on their lake. However, Mary M. felt that the lakes involved should recognize that the Mayor of Huntsville and/or the Town would only help with the cost of the buoys, if the lakes involved choose a uniform buoy. She felt that a decision by the Lake Associations, regarding the buoys they wish to use, needs to be reached in February. Mary M. said that she would be sending an E-mail out on Monday to the Lake Associations involved in obtaining buoys for their lake and, hopefully, getting a consensus on the type of buoy required by each lake.

                  (iii) Stategic Planning; Mary M. -Bill S. , as suggested in our last meeting, contacted Lynn Sharer, a Human Resources Consultant, regarding her interest in helping the HLC in forming an activity plan for the next 1-5 years. Ms. Sharer was interested and stated that it would cost us approximately $200.00 per 4 hours, however, she felt that our Planning Committee should decide exactly which issues they wish to consider. Bill S. was asked about Ms. Sharer's credentials and he said that she was a registered Human Resources Consultant who lives on Lake Vernon and has done similar work for government, U. of Toronto, business, etc. Bill S. also said that he has names for 2 other retired consultants, but has not contacted them yet. Whatever the case, Bill S. stated that he would call a meeting of the Planning Committee (i.e. Tonia D., Barb S., Mary M. and himself) and sort out the Planning Issues/Directions the HLC might consider presenting to any consultant. He also said that they would bring their decisions back to the HLC before approaching any consultant.  Bill S. was also asked to find out from Ms. Sharer if she had experience with volunteer groups, such as ours.   Finally, Dan M. motioned that the HLC provide up to $500.00 for a Strategic Planners consultant's fees. This motion was seconded by Ted M. and the motion carried.

d.) Policy:

                          (i) Zoning By-law Review Cttee; Mary M. - Mary M. plans to make a draft of her comments on the by-laws in the next week and send it out to our various lakes. She has not received any comments from anyone else and needs any comments you wish to offer by the end of next week. She would like to have a consensus document from the lakes which she will present to the Review Planning Committee on behalf of the HLC. Whatever, there will be public meeting on this draft on the 10^th and 11^th of this week and Mary M. encourages as many lake people as possible to attend these meetings.

                                    (ii) Environment Cttee; Mary M. reported that the Environment Committee has asked our help in setting up a Symposium for the Environmental Advisory Committees in Ontario that it is considering hosting in 2009. Bill S. stated that he would research the Web see what is on it for setting up a Symposium and get back to Mary on it before this coming Wednesday.

                 e.) Fund Raising;  Bill S. said that he had contacted Barry Young, Owner of ‘Lord & Partners', and that he was all for us buying his product and selling it as a fund raiser. Bill said that he was meeting with Barry on Tuesday morning at 9:30 AM and would have more information for us at our next meeting. Jeanne O., another member of the Fund Raising Committee, will also attend that meeting with Bill and they will raise questions regarding insurance, costs, etc. Jeanne O. volunteered to be in charge of the Barbeque Fund Raiser this year. Bill S. proposed that it be held on the weekend of June 20^th.

                 f.) Contact List; Tonia D. was not at this meeting, but Bill S. reminded us that there is a number of changes in the contact list.

                 g.) FOCA's AGM; Ted M. presented some of the main topics in the following point form; (1.) Stewardship. (2.) Taking on a more corporate form in being able to go for grants. (3.) Emergency preparedness for Cottagers. (4.) Phosphate levels in lakes. (5.) Septic re-inspections. (6.) Insurance. (7.) Safe boating. (8.) Property tax. etc.. Ted M. promised to provide us with more detailed information when the notes from the meeting are available.

            8. New Business:

                         (i) Town Visioning Process; -Mary M. - The Town of Huntsville will put a visioning process on their website to which people can respond. Mary M. has asked us if we, HLC, wish to make some sort of visioning submission to the Town's website. If so, Mary stressed, we should have something prepared by January 10^th. A committee, composed of Mary M., Dwayne V., Tonia D., and Burr A., was established to put together a series of ideas we might want to focus on in a submission from the HLC. However, since the deadline for submission was near, Mary suggested that Burr and she should meet and draw something up about the environment and our lakes and submit it to the Town (sort of a ‘Motherhood' statement).Everyone seemed to agree with this proposal.

                         (ii) Corporate Sponsorship; Corporate sponsorship as a means of obtaining money for the HLC was discussed for quite a while, but,  by the end of the discussion, it did not seem like a good idea. However, a proposal to consider selling sites for business cards in our Newsletter was considered. Dan M. and Burr A. said that they would discuss this proposal and bring it up at the next meeting.  

9. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Burr A..   

Carried and adjourned at 11:40 AM.   

Next meeting - Saturday, March 8, 2008

Prepared by: Burr G. Atkinson - (Secretary) February 29, 2008