Huntsville - Lake of Bays Lakes Council

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

HLC Minutes

Date: May 2, 2009

Location: Robinson Independent Grocer Community Room, Huntsville, ON

Present:

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

Burr Atkinson - Secretary - Walker and Pells Lakes Area Association

Bruce Howlett - Treasurer - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Dan McKeon - Vice Chair - Peninsula Lake Association

Morris Eccles - Director - Lake of Bays Association

Roger Staig - Director -  Clovelly Point Cottagers Association

Ted Mercer - Director - Otter Lake Association

Ian Hastie - Director - Lake Vernon Association

John Kenny - Director - Lake of Bays Association

Bill Somers - Guest

Regrets:

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

Michael Young - Director - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Dan Kerr - Director - Mary Lake Association

Jeanne O'Neill - Director - Harp Lake Association

Mike Greenfield - Director - Mary Lake Association

Peter Van Buskirk - Fairy Lake Association

Wendy Olan - Director - Bittern Lake Association

Brian Markham - Director -Bella-Rebecca Community Association

Rob Zingel - Director - Fairy Lake Association

1. Call to Order: Chair, Tonia D., opened the meeting at 9:30 A.M. welcoming all members and guests.

      2. Approval of the Agenda: Motion by Tonia D. and seconded by John K. that "the agenda be approved". Motion carried.

3. Approval of the Minutes: Motion by Burr A. and seconded by Ted M. that "the amended Minutes of the April 17, 2009 HLC meeting be approved". Motion carried.

4. Old Business:

A.  John K. brought up the issue of the Government planning to blend GST & PST Taxes and the possible results on the Taxpayers of the Government doing this. He referred to a document he recently received pertaining to the effects on the Taxpayer of blending the GST & PST Taxes and suggested that the HLC might become involved in endorsing or not endorsing this issue. After some discussion, it was decided to put this topic on the agenda for Discussion at our next meeting and Burr A. was directed to send a copy of the document John received to all of the HLC Directors.   

B. Bruce H., who apologized for not being able to attend the last HLC meeting, felt that he needed to respond to points directed at him, as the HLC Treasurer, by Bill Somers at the last HLC meeting as ‘Follow-Up to Previous Minutes' (see attachment to last months Minutes).

                  i.)  Donation to the Muskoka Heritage Foundation of $100.00 (Minutes from September 6, 2008) - a check, #114, was sent and dated September 9, 2008.

                  ii.)  Donation for Barb Patterson to either Muskoka Heritage Foundation or Muskoka Heritage Place (Minutes from December 5, 2008): Bruce H. presented his arguments for the Muskoka Heritage Place and Ted M. motioned and Burr A. seconded the following; "that HLC donate $200.00 in Barb Patterson's name to the Muskoka Heritage Place." Motion passed.

                  iii.)  Recognition of achievement: Barb Stronach: Chair to arrange pick up of apron and future presentation to Barb. Secretary to prepare standard certificate acknowledging Barb's contributions to the HLC.

                  iv.)  Town of Huntsville buoys :  Status update: (Minutes from January 31, 2009) - The Lake Waseosa's Ratepayer Association keeps a log in which it reports (1.) the date on which the buoys are placed in the Lake and (2.) the actual GPS site at which the buoys are placed in the Lake. This information is passed on to the Town of Huntsville.   Treasurer confirmed HLC was not liable for buoys, Town of Huntsville requires lakes to provide log information to ensure insurability under the Towns policy. 

      C.  Status Update -Pells Lake Issue ‘Follow-Up to Previous Minutes' regarding the Pells Lake issues (Minutes from December 5, 2008) -   updates have been provided when made available, current status - , consideration of this issue has been continually delayed.

      D.  HLC Website Design- Updates on proposed design template sent to Dwayne for review awaiting response,  an up-date  to be provided June 6th/09- webmaster, communications chair .

5. Lake Association Reports/Concerns:

      A. Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association; Bruce H. reported a severance issue from last year was still awaiting a conclusion. He mentioned that their Newsletter came out in beginning of April and that, thus far, they have 59 members in their Association.

      B. Lake of Bays Association; Morris E. reported that their AGM is scheduled for July 11 and the name of the guest speaker has not yet been announced.

      C. Lake Vernon Association; Ian H. stated that his Association has an Executive meeting on May 16 and will be discussing their Lake conditions (based on a Environmental Committee Report that has been mostly completed), plans for a summer Bar-B-Q, and recruiting 60 new members from our Northern shores (giving us a membership of about 200 families). Their Communications Committee has put launched a new glossy brochure for distribution. Ian mentioned that there are two building application issues on the Lake; one has been withdrawn by the applicant and the other is a modification on the Peacock Marina development that should be discussed at a meeting before the town on May 19.

      D. Peninsula Lake Association, Dan M. reported that this Association's AGM is on the first Monday in August and that on next Saturday they will be planting trees at Maplehurst. He mentioned that this Association's Newsletter will be out this month, that they have approximately 225 members and that the ‘Quarry' was sold. During Dan's presentation he mentioned the fine job that Ginny Burgess and Nancy Tapley (area Councilors in Lake of Bays Township) did in the recent Budget and G8 Legacy Meetings in Lake of Bays and suggested that HLC might consider a G8 Legacy proposal to clean up the Canal between Peninsula and Fairy Lakes - this latter point resulted in a lengthy discussion and Dan said that he would look into this matter and report back to the HLC. 

      E. Otter Lake Association; Ted M. reported that their Association met last Tuesday and they scheduled their AGM for August 8, 2009. At this time they are looking for a date to do a benthic study and have a follow-up meeting in another week. He said that they are putting together a Spring Newsletter and wanted Ted to give an overview in it on how the HLC was dealing with the transitions that have occurred since the Strategic Planning Exercise was completed.

      F. Walker & Pells Lakes Area Association; Burr A. reported that his Association's AGM is scheduled for June 27, 2009. He mentioned that the Pells Lake severance issue was put off again until further studies could be completed by the applicants. He mentioned that an excellent study by the ‘York North Archaeological Services Inc. was completed and they recommended that ‘MOC issue a clearance of the archaeological/heritage condition in order to permit the project planner to continue with the proposed development of the study area'. This presentation led to a discussion on the preservation of historical material and/or information about it, and, specifically, focused on the Heritage Place in Huntsville and what the mandate is of the person in charge of obtaining and/or keeping historical documents and/or information pertaining to these documents. Tonia D. addressed this latter point and asked John K. to contact Teri Souter and find out if he would be willing to talk to us about his duties, etc. regarding the histories of the Lakes and Lake regions around Huntsville.

      G. Oxbow Lake Cottager's Association; Tonia D.  reported that the biggest talk on her lake has been about the Lake of Bays Township Budget. She mentioned that Shane Baker had organized a successful clean up of Limberlost Road. 

6. Treasurer's Report: Treasurer's Report was distributed to Directors  for review .. Motion by Bruce H. and seconded by Ted M. that "the Treasurer's Report be approved". Motion carried.

7. Committee Reports:

      A. Planning and Land Use Committee:  Three new applications, all of minor concerns, were reviewed since last meeting.  Issues were not raised by HLC members but by concerned parties i.e. neighbors.   The Peacock Bay Marine developments continue to be on our radar. Follow-up June 6th/09 should more details be available.

      B. Local Government and Taxation Committee: The Tax Levy increase for 2009 in the Lake of Bays Township is 3.72%. It appeared that no changes were made in it from the last time that it was presented to the public. It was felt that the increase was snuck through because of the discussions concerning the G8 Legacy Archives issue.  There are changes  being developed to the Huntsville sports programs that will affect our community, information is still not publically available for announcement but we can expect an update soon. Follow-up June 6th/09 should any information be available.

      C. Communication:  Request for information documents was distributed to members where no contact information is currently on file for their respective Lake associations. Follow-up will be provided June 6th/09.

      D. Website: Tonia D. outlined some of the new designs she was asking Dwayne to provide on the HLC Website.  A request was sent to Dwayne to create a Generic Sign on for each Lake association (for shared Website access to the Directors view) on our site.  This would provide access for lake associations who don't currently have a director identified on the council. An update to be provided on June 6th/09.   

8. New Business:

      A. HLC Lake Plan Manual Use by FOCA- Mary McCulley and Elaine Jackson  have accepted the responsibility to review FOCA Lake Plan Manual  published in cooperation with the Haliburton Lakes Associations.  A synopsis of the review comparing the HLC lake plan template with the published document to be provided at the June 6th meeting.  

      B. Fund Raising Opportunities:

                  i.) Advertising a ‘Business' on our Website for a fee is not a problem, according to Dwayne, however, deciding what Businesses we would allow to advertise on our Website would have to be decided by Council.

                  ii.) Bar-B-Q times at Independent Grocer are presently unavailable.  

                  iii.) Other fund raising opportunities raised included requesting donations within the notification of membership renewal.  Council agreed to have Bruce and Tonia draft a sample email that will be distributed to members outlining the increased membership fee (see below) and the optional donation message to be included.

                  iii.) Reminder: HLC Minutes from August 9, 2008 showed that HLC approved a motion to increase HLC dues to $35.00 a year beginning in the 2009-2010 year.

7. Motion to adjourn by Ian H. and seconded by Ted M. Motion carried and meeting Adjourned at 11:55A.M.

Next Meeting -Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 9:30 AM in Robinson Independent    

Grocer Community Room, Huntsville, ON

Prepared by: Burr G. Atkinson - (Secretary) June 1, 2009