Oxbow Lake Cottagers’ Association Annual Meeting
Saturday, June 28, 2008, 10:00 am, Interlaken Fire Hall 1.Following coffee and timbits at 9:30 am, the President, John Scarfe, opened the meeting, welcomed and introduced the head table and Executive. 45 members were present. John commented on the past spring conditions, upcoming summer weather and wildlife sightings. 2.Special Guests: a) Janet Peake, Mayor of the Lake of Bays sent apologies for not being able to be here. b) Ben Boivin, District Councilor, touched on a number of issues. – The Muskoka area is excited that the G8 Summit will be here in 2010. -Limberlost Road will be torn up from Hutchison Road to South Limberlost Road at some point this summer. Ben has requested later August and September if possible but was not promised anything given other road projects. -With respect to the “Water/Sewer Taxation Issue”, Ben indicated that the long-awaited Treasurer’s Report was submitted to the District Councilors this week. This will go to the committee of Mayors Friday and will be a public document shortly thereafter. On July 19 at 9:30am there will be a public meeting at Dwight where your input can be provided. Oxbow Lake Cottagers’ Association should be well represented at this meeting. We need to get involved to be able to say how much we are willing to pay for. www.Muskoka.on.ca The Commissioner of Finance has outlined a number of options in his report. The District will select the fairest option in their opinion. Debt for urban sewer and water is $91 million +. Three quarters of this amount has occurred since the Walkerton event. Ben has indicated his opposition to extending costs without valid reasons. He supports user-fees re maintaining the lagoons. Question – Is it true that in Lake of Bays, Baysville is the only one hooked up – about 100 users? Ben – Yes Question – Will the Mayor and Councilor Marg Casey be voting to pass this? Ben – You can’t tell how an individual will vote. Marg has indicated that the rural will receive some benefits if we support urban sewer and water costs. Question – Other than being able to use toilets in Huntsville, what are the added benefits to us? Ben – Marg Casey feels that (not upgrading water and sewers) it will adversely affect people downstream. Most downstream are on their own systems. If some don’t treat, the quality of water will be affected. Question – Will there be a special levy? $100/year? Ben – One proposal is $30/yr but this can set a dangerous precedent. Question – What work has the District been involved in regarding environmental issues? Ben – The report card gives a good overview – see the District website. More people are becoming aware of land trusts and submitting large parts of land. There has been a great deal of time and effort in recycling of garbage. Jennifer Schnier, Lake of Bays Parks and Rec Coordinator, reported that the Ironman 70.3 competition is being hosted here Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008. There will be 2000 competitors plus family and supporters. Billeting is being offered. Deerhurst is the staging site for a number of the competitions. The main competition includes a 2.4 km swim, 90km bike (really only 87km!) and running. Pros will go first, etc. with each racing in their own category. This is a great opportunity for business in Lake of Bays. With respect to traffic, there will be no issues for Highway 60 except for a three hour period that day: the area by Delta Grandview will be marshaled. Participants are made up of 20% international and 30% US, with 50 winners going to the world Triathlon in Florida. They are considering Muskoka for the international event also! See www.lakeofbays.ca for more information. The paving of a section of road (2.3 km Dwight) is one of the undertakings involved ahead of time. Cyclists would have had to use Highway 60 if it was not paved and this is too dangerous. Jennifer feels this preparation will open the door for other corporate challenges (team building), other races and possibilities. c) Ginny Burgess, our Township Councilor, was not able to be present but sent in a report that was read by Bill Wylie. Her Advisory Committee meets regularly and has reps from all lakes including Bruce Cameron, Ed McRobbie and Bill Wylie from our lake. See attached report. 3.Secretary’s Report Motion – Lynda Arnold, Angie Heydon That the minutes of the Annual Meeting 2007 be accepted as published. Carried 4.Treasurer’s Report Motion – Lynda Arnold, Angie Heydon That the Treasurer’s Report be accepted as presented. Carried Motion – Claudette McRobbie, Bruce Cameron That the final financial Legal Report be accepted as presented. Carried Motion – Angie Heydon, Colleen Dodds That the Association dues for 2008 – 2009 be set at $40.00 per cottage. Carried 5.The Camp – Building permits granted at the Township are being monitored. The Camp still has a septic system permit at this point for the point property. The northeast corner of the lake outflow by the camp has an algae bloom already. Testing is needed. Marc Lichtenberg will look into testing. 6.Lake Stewards – Angie and Peter Heydon test the west side and Marc Lichtenberg the east side (started in 1999). Every 3 years the District of Muskoka does lake water testing and last year was our year. Phosphorus is key point being monitored and is tracked over the whole summer. Both the readings done by District and us show phosphorus levels have been going down and the water getting better. An additional test was for the dissolved oxygen, which supports fish life. We are in good shape with a healthy lake. Ecoli testing was 2 years ago and both times 0 or a miniscule amount of no concern. Keep up the good work! Everyone needs to be aware that their own system is working properly. The good quality of our lake is due to the upgrades of our septic systems. FOCA – check out their site for valuable information on cottaging. 7.Huntsville Lakes Council – Tonia DiSabatino We pay $35 for membership and presently there are representatives from 20 lakes with 25 reps. HLC deals with water quality, roads, watershed, environmental issues, resources for cottage issues and provides lake related articles for the Huntsville Forester. Check out their site, which gives info on how other lakes are doing. There are monthly meetings on the first Saturday of the month. Let Tonia know if you would like to attend with her. Some of their jobs recently have been standardized buoys for lakes, the pesticide issue for hydro cuts. Coming up this summer, they will be hosting a bbq at Robinsons. www.huntsvillelakescouncil.org 8.Roads – Ed McRobbie reported on his discussions with Tom Brown, Roads Supervisor, from Lake of Bays. Our roads have been graded and west arm has received dust control. Ed has emailed a list of corrections to be addressed this year. He will continue to work with Tom on keeping our roads up. West Oxbow will receive some gravel this year. 9.Summer Activities
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