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

HLC Minutes (AGM)

Date: August 9, 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 Lakes Area Association

Mary McCulley - Director - Chub Lake Property Owners Association

John Kenny - Director - Lake of Bays Association

Jeanne O'Neill - Director - Harp Lake Association

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

Elaine Jackson - Director - Fox Lake Association

Kim Small - Director - Hidden Valley Property Owners Association

Ted Mercer - Director - Otter Lake Association

Dan McKeon - Director - Peninsula Lake Association

Bill Jolley - Director - Buck Lake Ilfracombe Association

Jim King - Fairy Lake Association 

Roger Staig - Clovelly Point Cottagers Association 

Brian Markham - Bella-Rebecca Community Association 

Dwayne Verhey - Webmaster - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Don Baker - Local Environmental Advisory Forum (Guest)

Roberta Green - Huntsville Public Library (Guest))

Mary Neal - President - Lake of Bays Association (Guest)

Dorothy Johnstone - President - Menominee Lake Association (Guest)

John Scarfe - President - Oxbow Lake Cottagers' Association (Guest)

Nancy Weller - Longs Lake Road Association (Guest)

Dianne Somers - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association (Guest)

Regrets:

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

Morris Eccles - Director - Lake of Bays Association

Mike Greenfield - Director - Mary Lake Association

Ian Hastie - Director - Lake Vernon Association

Wendy Olan - Director - Bittern Lake Association

Michael Young - Director - Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association

Rob Zingel - Director - Fairy Lake Association

Dan Kerr - Director - Mary Lake Association

•4.               Call to Order: Chair, Bill Somers, opened the meeting at 9:35 AM welcoming all members and guests.

                  2. Approval of the Agenda: Motion by Dan M. and seconded by Mary M. that "the agenda be approved as amended". Motion carried.

                  3. Chair's Remarks: (See "The Year in Review" in Appendix I.)

4. Approval of the Minutes: Motion by Burr A. and seconded by Dan M. that "the Minutes of the AGM from August 18, 2007 be approved". Carried.

5. Treasurer's Report: Bruce H. - The Financial Statement for the year ending June 30, 2008, the budget for the upcoming year (July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009) and the July 2008 Financial Statement were presented by Bruce H., the HLC Treasurer.  Motion by Bruce H. and seconded by Dan M. that "the Treasurer's report be approved".  Motion carried.

6. Dues: Motion by Bruce H. and seconded by Ted M. that" the HLC dues be maintained at $25.00 for the 2008-2009 year" be approved.  Motion carried.  A motion by Dan M. and seconded by Tonia D. that "the annual HLC dues be increased to $35.00 for the 2009-2010 year" be approved.  Motion carried.

7. Nominating Committee: Slate of Officers for 2008/09; The Nominating Committee presented to the AGM a list of the Directors proposed for the HLC in 2008-2009.  Motion by Mary M. and seconded by Dan M. that "the Nominating Committee's report be accepted".  Motion carried.

8. Election of Directors to the HLC Board: Motion by Mary M and seconded by Kim S. that "the Nominating Committee's proposed HLC Directors (See Appendix II) be elected to the HLC Board of Directors" be approved.  Motion carried.

9. Resolution: -To change the name of the Huntsville Lakes Council to Huntsville and Lake of Bays Township Lakes Council was approved by the Board of Directors at an HLC meeting in May, 2008 and ratification for this change was sought at this AGM.

After much discussion (pro and con) by everyone in attendance, a motion was put forward.  The motion, presented by Dan M. and seconded by Ted M., was that "changing the name of the Huntsville Lakes Council be deferred until after the strategic planning meeting(s) has/have taken place".  Motion carried.

10. Thanks: Thanks was given to Bill Somers for serving and doing such a fine job as Chair of the HLC

11. Adjournment of the AGM at 11:20AM

Prior to calling a 10-minute recess, Bill Somers called attention to a board placed in the back of the room that contained information about the HLC, a ~60-year-old picture of the downtown area of Huntsville and some other documents that were supplied by Roberta Green.

APPENDIX  I

CHAIR'S REPORT - AUGUST 2008

Year in Review:

This past year has again been a busy one for the Huntsville Lakes Council with the Town of Huntsville's Official Plan draft by laws, navigational buoys for our lakes, various development issues and the sewer and water debt consuming much of our time.

In January, we lost director Barb Stronach, representing the Federation of Ontario Cottagers Association, when FOCA relocated to Peterborough.  Barb was a strong advocate of the HLC.  Her input and support will be missed.

New Directors:

In September 2007, Michael Young then with Hidden Valley Property Owners Association and then later Lake Waseosa Ratepayers Association, Wendy Olan of Bittern Lake Association, Ian Hastie of Lake Vernon Association and Ted Mercer of Otter Lake Association joined our Board of Directors.  Bill Jolley of Buck Lake Ilfracombe Association joined us in October 2007, Morris Eccles of Lake of Bays Association joined us in November, 2007 and Shane Baker of Tasso, Toad, Camp and Blue Lakes Association joined us in December 2007.  As of March 2008, Kim Small representing the Hidden Valley Property Owners' Association joined our Board.  We look forward to their continued input during the next year.

Director Dan McKeon experienced knee replacement surgery that affected his contribution to the Board.  He is back with us and hopefully raring to go.

Attendance:

During the past year, as Chair, I attended Municipal Council meetings both in Huntsville and in the Township of Lake of Bays.  I have attended Lake Vernon Association's AGM, LOBA's Winter Board meeting and Harp Lake Association's AGM.

Environment Committee Award:

Huntsville formed a new committee of Council, the Environment Committee.  It in conjunction with LEAF, the Local Environment Advisory Forum, created an "Environmental Award" to be awarded to two individuals each year.  I am pleased to report that Director Mary McCulley from Chub Lake Association was the first person to receive this award.  Again, my congratulations, Mary.

Name Change:

At our May meeting, your Board of Directors voted to change the name of the Huntsville Lakes Council to Huntsville and Lake of Bays Township Lakes Council.  We will deal with this proposal a little later when I will be asking for a recorded vote from you as to whether or not you support the Board's decision.

Committees:

Policy Issues:

Deer Lake Trailer Park, off Kinsmen Road in Huntsville, has been visited by the Ministry of Environment and the Town of Huntsville following a complaint of sewage leaking into a nearby pond which has access to Lake Vernon.  As there was no one to identify the location of leaking septic holding tanks, no action was taken by either authority.  Subsequent to that, we have lost contact with our complainant and therefore can take no further action.

Other issues we have been involved with are:

• An approved severance application for Antler Island in Fairy Lake in which the Town went against the zoning by laws in the official plan. We sent a letter cautioning against this practice.
• The Main Street, West development that went to Council seeking a variance on height restriction. Despite the opposition by the HLC and other organizations, Council approved the adjusted variance of 12.6 metres.
• An application to Council to install a hydro power plant at the Port Sydney dam. Council turned down the application at this time allowing the applicant to seek a public meeting with the residents of Port Sydney and to acquire more suitable documentation.
• Hydro 1 seeking District approval to use herbicides along its power lines. We support the MWC in its recommendation that Hydro 1 not be allowed to use any non-essential pesticide/herbicide.
• With the District sewer and water debt standing at 90 million dollars, District Council is searching for ways to reduce this debt. One suggestion being that all rural residents should contribute. This suggestion did not go well with the rural folks resulting in a flurry of letters to the editor and District Council. District Council created a document titled " Debt Reduction Initiative", a document to outline in detail some debt reduction strategies for consideration by Committee and Council. It then followed up with a report titled " Debt Reduction Initiative - Snap Shot Summary". The HLC then created a paper for publication, explaining the District's reports and a form letter to be posted on its website for the public who wish to oppose District's suggestion.

Developments:

At the moment, the HLC is monitoring with interest, two large development proposals; one in Huntsville known as Huntsville Highland Estates containing 340 acres located to the north of Chub Lake.  The other development, known as Marnoc Conservancy containing 1,800 acres is located in the Township of Lake of Bays, adjacent to Upper and Lower Raft Lake.

There is one outstanding severance application that we are monitoring on Pell lake in the Township of Lake of Bays.  Directors, Burr Atkinson and Tonia DiSabitino are spearheading this application which comes back to Council on August 19.

Ontario Municipal Board Hearings:

The HLC has been monitoring the OMB hearing from Peninsula Lake and the OMB hearing from Lake Waseosa.  In February, the OMB ruled in favour of Pen Lake.  Lake Waseosa applied to the Divisional Court in Toronto to have their hearing heard.  It is presently before the Divisional Court and expected to be heard in December this year.

Special Projects:

Navigational Buoys:

Our membership indicated a desire to have Department of Fisheries and Oceans approved navigational buoys for their lakes.  Mary McCulley, assisted by myself worked very hard at identifying the types of buoys requested and securing the necessary funds to purchase them.  Following a successful budgeted approval, the buoys were ordered, delivered and installed in Lakes Waseosa, Vernon, Fairy and Mary.  Our thanks to the Town of Huntsville Council for their support.  These buoys are the property of the Town of Huntsville

Insurance:

In December, the Board of Directors agreed to purchase insurance for the HLC.  As of January 15, 2008 the HLC is insured for $3,000,000.00 General liability and $2,000,000.00 Directors and Officers liability with AVIVA, through FOCA's insurance broker, Atrens-Counsel.

Strategic Plan:

After six years in operation, the HLC Board of Directors felt it was time to review what we had accomplished, what we had wanted to accomplish but failed to succeed and where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do in the future.  It was decided that we needed a strategic plan.  Following several committee meetings and meetings with a registered facilitator, efforts were made to schedule a suitable date with the Board of Directors but without success.  The strategic plan exercise has been delayed until later this fall.

Fund Raising:

Lord and Partners Ltd:

Over the past year, I have had meetings with Barry Young, President and CEO of Lord and Partners Ltd, a company based here in Huntsville.  You may recall that Mr. Young was our guest speaker at last year's AGM.  The reason behind the meetings was to secure a fund raising opportunity, distributing the environmentally responsible cleaning products produced by Lord and Partners.  During this period, I sought legal, insurance and sales tax advice.  When presented to the Board of Directors the fund raising scheme was turned down.

Fund Raising BBQ:Again this year we have been approved to operate Robinson's Your Independent Grocers BBQ.  It will take place Friday, August 22, Saturday, August 23 & Sunday, August 24.  If you are in the area, please stop by and support us with your purchase.

Communications:

Newspaper Articles:

It was hoped that the HLC could publish an article a month in the Huntsville Forester but such was not the case.  My thanks to Mary McCulley, Rob Zingel and Kim Small for their newspaper article contributions - pharmaceuticals, green technology, Environment Commissioner of Ontario Report and visiting nature.

Forester Newspaper:

In May 2008, the Forester printed a multi-page supplement on environment issues.  The Forester offered the Environment Committee 15% of the advertising revenue for articles on environmental issues.  Our thanks to Mary McCulley and Mike Young for their contributions to the Forester's supplement.

Newsletter:

We managed to publish a winter newsletter and a spring newsletter.  My thanks to all who submitted articles of interest and to Jeanne O'Neill for putting our newsletters together.

Website:

Our webmaster, Dwayne Verhey, has been doing a great job in maintaining the HLC website.  It can be seen at http://www.huntsvillelakescouncil.org/.  If you haven't visited it yet, please do so.

In October 2007, Dwayne hosted a website tutorial for HLC directors at the Huntsville Public Library.  The HLC is now hosting five member association's websites and the Board has agreed to host certain non-member association websites.

Advertising/Promotional/Social:

HLC Annual Socials:

Our December social was hosted by Bill and Dianne Somers at their home on Palette Lake.  It was another splendid potluck luncheon.

Attempts were made by the social committee to organize our 2008 annual summer social.  To date the committee has failed to secure a time and place.  Unfortunately there will be no summer social this year.

Membership:

To date we have 20 lake associations registered as members of the Huntsville Lakes Council.  Sixteen of these associations have given us 21 representatives and our webmaster while four lake associations, Bella-Rebecca, Springsyde, Menominee and Dickie have difficulty in finding a suitable representative for the HLC Board of Directors.

Liaison Committees:

Director, Ted Mercer, from Otter Lake Association attended on behalf of the HLC, FOCA's AGM in November, last year.  We continue to support FOCA.

Directors, Elaine Jackson and Mary McCulley again represented us at the Muskoka Watershed Council.  As Elaine is unable to represent us at MWC in the future, we will be seeking her replacement.

Director Mary McCulley has been our prime representative on the Town of Huntsville's Environment Committee with Director Michael Young as a back up rep.  Director Burr Atkinson had to step away from this committee but did continue to assist from behind the scenes writing reports and commenting on reports submitted by others.

The Comprehensive Zoning By-Law Sub Committee presented its final draft to Council who passed it on June 2 this year.  Thanks to Director McCulley's perseverance, many of HLC's recommendations were included..

As this will be my last meeting as Director/Chair of the Huntsville Lakes Council, I wish to acknowledge and thank the following;

• Mary McCulley for her devoted contribution to this organization. We would not be here today without you.
• Elaine Jackson her dedication to the HLC since before 2002. You too are to be credited as to where we are today.
• Burr Atkinson for accepting the position of vice-chair and secretary.
• Bruce Howlett for accepting the position of treasure and for being there to keep me on the straight and narrow. I appreciate your friendship.
• Dwayne Verhey, a very busy person, who agreed to help us with our website. Dwayne you are an asset that will be hard to replace.
• Jeanne O'Neill for her contribution managing our newsletter and stepping in as secretary when Burr was unable to be with us.
• Rob Zingel for his contribution to the Forester newspaper articles.
• John Kenny for keeping us up to date with WRAFT/CAPTR progress.
• Dan McKeon for his efforts in calling committee meetings to deal with HLC concerns.
• Tonia DiSabatino for her devotion to the HLC Contact List.
• Don Baker for his continued assistance and support of the HLC
• To all HLC directors, Mayor Doughty and Mayor Peake and their councillors for their support of the Huntsville Lakes Council

If I have missed recognizing anyone, I apologize.  I have enjoyed serving the HLC for the past 6 years as Director, Secretary and finally, Chair and feel it is now time for me to step down and allow someone else to step up.

I wish all of you success in the coming years.  I am sure I will miss you.

Bill Somers.

APPENDIX  II.

Nomination List (2008-09)

P = President

VR = Voting Rep

PR = Policy Rep

SR = Stewardship Rep

Bella Rebecca

VR  Brian Markham VR - 635-3190

PR  tba

SR  tba

Lake Vernon

VR Ian Hastie

PR Carl Heck

SR Carl Heck

Chub

VR Mary McCulley

PR Mary McCulley

SR Mary McCulley

Fairy

VR Rob Zingel (alternate Peter Van Buskirk)  NOTE: Jim King was to be the VR but Kathy thinks that Rob wanted to carry on.  She's checking her notes

PR Kathy Hunter 

SR tba

Harp

VR} Jeanne O'Neill "for now". 

PR} Eric Tenn is very keen on the HLC and they're doing a newsletter asking for volunteers to

LS}  manage these functions on Harp.  He hopes to have names before the end of summer.

Mary

VR Dan Kerr/Mike Greenfield 

PR Ryan Kidd

SR Jane Earthy

Lake of Bays 

VR Morris Eccles/John Kenny

PR Mary Neal

SR Deb Cumming

Menominee

VR tba

PR tba

SR tba

TTCB 

VR Shane Baker

PR tba

SR tba

Walker-Pells

VR Burr Atkinson 

PR Burr Atkinson

SR Heather McLean

Buck Lake

Chair Susan Quinn  NOTE:  Buck has a Chair, not a President

VR       tba       (BillJolley is currently attending meetings but asked to bereplaced)

PR       Susan Quinn                                      

LS                   Neil Haist                  

Fox Lake

P Jim Watson

VR Elaine Jackson (will work on Policy Committee with Mary McCulley, Chair)

PR Jim Watson/Elaine Jackson

LS David White

Hidden Valley

P          Geordie Heath           

VR       Kim Small      (will probably lead Stewardship Cttee)

PR Geordie Heath

LS                   none - looked after by Pen Lake's LS, Susan Brenciaglia

Lake Waseosa 

P          Bruce Howlett (will serve as Treasurer/Budget Cttee)

VR       Bruce Howlett

PR Bruce Howlett/Tony Doob 

LS                   Bruce Howlett

Director          Michael Young (will help on Stewardship Cttee)

Webmaster Dwayne Verhey  (will continue - might serve as substitute Secy. as needed)

Otter Lake

P  Craig Boon

VR Ted Mercer (will let name stand for now.  Will not commit to any committee work at this time - maybe in future)

PR       Craig Boon                

Dickie Lake

P  Paula Elliott ?  (John Kenny's phone calls not returned)

VR ???

LS ???

Oxbow Lake

P  John Scarfe

VR Tonia DiSabatino

PR John Scarfe

LS       Angie & Peter Heydon

Peninsula Lake

P  Jean Fraser

VR Dan McKeown - Jean may also appoint an alternate VR to assist Dan 

PR Jean Fraser                       

LS       Susan Brenciaglia

Springsyde

P  Carole Frankow - AGM in August.  Will contact us if any changes. 

As they are part of Pen Lake, their organization has few formal positions.

VR none at this time.

PR Carole Frankow

LS Tony Moffat - contact him via Carole.

Bittern

P  Lois Spiers - She is ill with pneumonia so unable to do much at this time.  Asked me to contact others for her.

VR Wendy Olan & Joe Swiniarski - phone calls not returned

PR Lois Spiers

LS       Yuri Zadoroznyj ?      Lois will let us know in the fall if Yuri is able to do this.

Clovelly

VR Roger Staig