The Lake Dues for 2023 have been set at $75.00/cottage.
Please submit payment to the Treasurer, June Smyth,
by e-transfer:
Recipient: OLCA, email address: [email protected]
Please use the password: oxbowlake.
to arrange other payment, contact June by email:
[email protected]
**Please include your cottage number with your payment.**
Thank you!
One of Oxbow's Past Presidents, Angie Heydon had the opportunity to address the question:
Why be a part of our lake association and pay annual dues? Her well thought-out response follows!
Your Lake Association membership means:
The Oxbow Lake Cottagers’ Association is dedicated to the preservation and protection of life on the Lake, as we have all come to appreciate it. The Association monitors activity on the lake, water quality, issues in the local community, among other things.
Elaborating on this quote — OLCA (just like any other association) is all about putting in place a structure and mechanism for people who share common interests to advance their common interests.
Our common interest is that we all own property on Oxbow Lake. This means we also have common interests in things like:
All of the actual work is done by volunteers, people like you and me and on and on. So why do we need to collect $$ from cottagers to pay for stuff that people are doing for free anyway?
If you look at the budget, annual dues amount to roughly $$. Of this, about $1000+ goes to insurance. Why do we need that? To protect all the volunteers who do this work from liability. There are many horror stories of law suits – yes, even involving cottager associations in Ontario. If we didn’t have this protection, we would not run the regatta, care for the marker buoys or take leadership on a big issue like lawsuits. Those are real, personal risks that are huge.
Another ~$$+ goes to FOCA – which is an effective voice to support the common interests of lakeside residents across the province. The other half of the funds goes toward a variety of things to support the common good, e.g. fire hall donation, supplies like the buoys, signage materials, candy + drinks for the regatta, and this past year, wood so a canoe rack could be built to thank the OLCC for hosting the annual regatta.
This is the paradox — the association benefits EVERYONE on the lake whether or not they choose to belong to the association. Looking at it from the individual point of view, there is absolutely no reason to pay the yearly dues. They’ll still get the benefit of all these volunteer efforts … AS LONG AS THERE ARE ENOUGH OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO PAY. If the majority of Oxbow Lake cottagers felt the same way, there would be no association.
There is one benefit that’s available to members only, and that’s to be on the e-mail list to get updates on what’s happening at the lake. (For a measly $$, that’s worth it alone!)
Please submit payment to the Treasurer, June Smyth,
by e-transfer:
Recipient: OLCA, email address: [email protected]
Please use the password: oxbowlake.
to arrange other payment, contact June by email:
[email protected]
**Please include your cottage number with your payment.**
Thank you!
One of Oxbow's Past Presidents, Angie Heydon had the opportunity to address the question:
Why be a part of our lake association and pay annual dues? Her well thought-out response follows!
Your Lake Association membership means:
The Oxbow Lake Cottagers’ Association is dedicated to the preservation and protection of life on the Lake, as we have all come to appreciate it. The Association monitors activity on the lake, water quality, issues in the local community, among other things.
Elaborating on this quote — OLCA (just like any other association) is all about putting in place a structure and mechanism for people who share common interests to advance their common interests.
Our common interest is that we all own property on Oxbow Lake. This means we also have common interests in things like:
- Making our voices heard in the political process on issues that affect our lake. We have a rep on the Sinclair Advisory Council, and when needed, OLCA has consulted with the membership and advocated on behalf of our lake (e.g. winter plowing). OLCA has made sure we have our LOB Township reps out at each AGM so all can hear from them.
- Building community through social events (e.g. Regatta, Lake Social; the AGM is also a community-builder)
- Finding solutions on common issues and taking action on behalf of lake residents (e.g. signage, marker buoys, trying to improve safety on the lake, garbage cleanups along the roadway, banding together to raise funds to challenge legal issues that are deemed not in the best interest of Oxbow Lake Cottagers.)
- All of this is supported with mechanisms for all members to communicate, raise concerns, discuss solutions and participate in decision-making (e.g. e-mail news, website, AGM, open opportunity to serve on the OLCA Executive, even a survey in the past).
All of the actual work is done by volunteers, people like you and me and on and on. So why do we need to collect $$ from cottagers to pay for stuff that people are doing for free anyway?
If you look at the budget, annual dues amount to roughly $$. Of this, about $1000+ goes to insurance. Why do we need that? To protect all the volunteers who do this work from liability. There are many horror stories of law suits – yes, even involving cottager associations in Ontario. If we didn’t have this protection, we would not run the regatta, care for the marker buoys or take leadership on a big issue like lawsuits. Those are real, personal risks that are huge.
Another ~$$+ goes to FOCA – which is an effective voice to support the common interests of lakeside residents across the province. The other half of the funds goes toward a variety of things to support the common good, e.g. fire hall donation, supplies like the buoys, signage materials, candy + drinks for the regatta, and this past year, wood so a canoe rack could be built to thank the OLCC for hosting the annual regatta.
This is the paradox — the association benefits EVERYONE on the lake whether or not they choose to belong to the association. Looking at it from the individual point of view, there is absolutely no reason to pay the yearly dues. They’ll still get the benefit of all these volunteer efforts … AS LONG AS THERE ARE ENOUGH OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO PAY. If the majority of Oxbow Lake cottagers felt the same way, there would be no association.
There is one benefit that’s available to members only, and that’s to be on the e-mail list to get updates on what’s happening at the lake. (For a measly $$, that’s worth it alone!)