Newsletter JuNe 2012 why JoiN the twelve Mile little BoshkuNg lake

Newsletter
June 2012
I am writing this letter while sitting at my cottage on the May 24 long weekend. The thermometer
reads 32 degrees and although I have not seen every May 24 weekend, I have seen my fair share….
and I have never seen weather this good, the bugs so few and the water this warm at this time of
year…ever . If this is any indication of the summer ahead, I say bring on summer!
This is your lake association, and frankly we need some help. Financially we are very sound with
approximately 6K still in the bank and managing to maintain a yearly surplus. However, what we
really require is more members and more volunteers. By my estimates, we have roughly 32% of the
cottagers as paid members. I believe we should have at a minimum 75% of owners as active members.
In order to have a robust and engaged membership, we must have a higher level of paid members.
When things are going not as planned we need to step back and say why? We believe one of the
reasons for a stagnant membership is because of our lack of articulating our value proposition to
cottage owners. I thought this year’s newsletter would be an ideal time to remind those members who
may not have joined as to what exactly we do.
I have listed below some of the top reasons to join the association. When you finish reading this, ask
yourself….why have we not joined the Association? We doubt you will find any good reasons not to.
Why Join the Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association (TMLB)?
Who we are: We are an association of all property owners around the two lakes.
Our Mandate: Is to protect the interests of the property owners regarding environmental issues,
identify safety issues, discuss issues in the community and provide a collective voice, provide social
opportunities and communicate to members.
As we all know, the properties on the lakes are all of considerable value and certainly have been both
a labour of love and money. The Association works hard to ensure the sustainability and protection
of your properties as well as the quality of life on and within the lakes. All board members and
road captains are unpaid volunteers who work hard for you. We believe you need a healthy lake
association, and we need you to sign up to ensure it stays that way.
Membership Fee: Only $25 per property.
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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Top Reasons to Join the TMLB:
Water testing program: We carry out regular water testing on the lake as to ensure the sustainability
and quality of the precious resource we all share and enjoy. Without quality water, we all don’t have
much of a cottage. This alone offers high value for your membership.
Minimize your footprint. We are currently going through the process of developing a comprehensive
Lake Plan that will outline and define a variety of topics, however we believe it will be a highly useful
tool to educate owners/renters on shoreline management, septic maintenance, invasive species, waste
disposal, dark sky lighting and other environmental and safety issues.
Tax Dollar oversight: Ensure your tax dollars are used wisely and appropriately. As the saying goes
“death and taxes are unavoidable”. As owners, we have seen an ever increasing property tax bill.
The Association observes how our tax dollars are spent and works cooperatively with key political
stakeholders to ensure that all property owners pay their fair share of taxes. We also look to ensure
the services we pay for are being delivered.
You never know when the unexpected will arise: The ability of the organization to speak on behalf
of the members ensures that when a unified approach is required, the infrastructure already exists.
We are well ware that a healthy lake association is a great line of defense against competing interests
that wish to utilize our shared resources.
Stay current on news and events. Receive news and information through the newsletter, our new
website, new electronic bulletins and the Annual General Meeting (AGM). We strive to always have
an informative guest speaker to the AGM who will share his/her views on timely and informative topic
that relates to the interest of owners. A few of the recent speaker topics included Septic systems, Lake
Planning and Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation.
Let your opinion be known about the growth and development of the community. We are all
residents of the lakes, and through the Association you can have input into the direction growth and
development takes in our community. We believe the development of the Lake Plan will allow a
greater discussion of individuals’ opinions and their visions of what the lake should become.
Learn who your neigbhours are, meet the good people who you share the lake with: The cottage
is about family and friends. The AGM, ice cream flotilla, road captain program, golf tournament etc
are great ways to get connected to your lake and the individuals whom you share the great passion
for cottaging with. Your road captain will meet with you, your family and neighbours to discuss any
issues or concerns you have.
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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Ensure that 12 Mile and Little Boshkung, the surrounding lakes and the area is everything
tomorrow that it is today. None of us are really owners; we are simply stewards here to ensure the
great cottaging experience we have been able to enjoy is here for the next generation, and all the
subsequent generations. As a unified association we can help to ensure this happens.
Support Other Associations that work on your behalf with greater scale: Part of your dues go
towards annual fees that we contribute to such organizations such as FOCA (Federation of Ontario
Cottagers Association) and CHA (Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Associations). Both of these
organizations listen to our input and work together with a large collective group of Lake Associations
in order to recommend policies and influencing outcomes. Our membership with these organizations
allows us to remain current with the issues facing cottagers in Ontario (through FOCA) as well as local
issues (through CHA) and bring these to the attention of our members. On an annual basis we also
support a charitable endeavour that reflects the interests of the lake owners.
Support the work of volunteers. By becoming a member, you show a vote of confidence in the hard
work of talented and dedicated volunteers of the Association.
After considering all the above reasons, we encourage you to join today, fly your membership
flag proudly on your dock and ensure we have a strong, unified voice that will protect the lakes
we love and enjoy.
AGM: We strongly suggest you attend this year (see details in the AGM section). This year is of great
importance as we will unveil the Lake Plan strategy that is well underway. This will be the focal point
of this year’s AGM. The Lake Plan will serve as a steering document for our lakes for years to come.
We will also have guest speaker Jane Tousaw (Director of Planning, County of Haliburton) – who will
update us on the Shoreline Tree Preservation by-law.
Wishing you and your family a safe and relaxing summer. We look forward to seeing you on the lake.
Sincerely,
Stuart SmithJennifer Graham
Co-PresidentCo-President
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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Twelve Mile Little Boshkung website
It’s Official! Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association now has a website!
Visit www.tmlb.ca for information on association events, newsletters, and links to valuable resource
groups. Have a question for the association? Watch for the link to email us at [email protected] (coming
soon).
Membership Flag program
Now in its fourth year, this program continues to gain momentum and we ask that you ensure your
membership flag is placed in a prominent spot. This year the flag will be orange in colour, and will
be delivered via your road captain or mail. Having your membership in early, will ensure you have
the ability to fly your flag for the whole summer season, instead of just the few weeks that follow the
AGM.
Lake Plan
Based on the responses to our 2011 survey on Lake Plan priorities, the following were identified as
most important to be addressed by a lake plan:
•
Water levels;
•
Water quality (clarity, bacteria levels);
•
Requirements for eco-friendly product use;
•
Invasive species;
•
Septic systems; and
•
Care of property grounds (use of weed controls, fertilizers)
For those who have expressed interest in participating on the Lake Plan committee (or for anyone
else who is interested in participating!), please provide your contact information to Larry Tompkins
c/o [email protected] . A meeting to discuss these priorities, as well as funding, will be
established this summer for a further presentation at the AGM.
With respect to funding this endeavour, the membership favoured looking for 3rd party grants/funding
to assist, but also agreed that a one-time increase in membership fees would be acceptable to help
fund the lake plan. As such, the Association Executive will be recommending an additional amount to
be added to next year’s membership fees for this purpose at the AGM in August.
Road Captain Program
Last year marked the 1st time in many years that the Road Captain program was implemented.
Although we started near the end of summer the 10 volunteers we had did an excellent job and had
fun re-connecting with their neighbours. Thank you to all 2011 volunteers!
This year we are looking forward to our first full season implementing the Road Captain Program. We
want to significantly increase 2012 Lake Association Membership through awareness and responsibility
to our lakes. To help us achieve these goals we ARE LOOKING FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS. Please
e-mail Jonathan Ginou at [email protected] or call 416-996-7448 to express your interest. The
success of our lakes is up to us. Twelve Mile and Little Boshkung… they’re your lakes to love! I look
forward to hearing from many.
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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As always, you can submit your membership to Lorraine Gilmour as per the attached membership
form.
Volunteer Program
We are looking for volunteers. There are lots of opportunities in website, newsletter, events, Lake
Steward, Road Captain etc. If any students require volunteer hours for school or resume, contact us
for further information.
Archives
We are now into 2nd and 3rd generations of cottaging on the lake and a lot has changed over the
years. We are in the process to compiling an archive of records and history of the association. Thanks
to Ron Bilyk and Sue Pethick for providing their documentation and even some of the old regatta
trophies. If anyone else has information to provide, please contact Jennifer Graham at mercury725@
hotmail.com
Initiatives for summer 2012
This year we continue with some favourite events and some new events for our members.
These include:
1. Highway Cleanup – Saturday June 9, 2012 10:00 am– TMLB
Lake Association is responsible for keeping Highway 35 from #118
to bridge at the bottom of Twelve Mile Lake (south of Wedgewood
Marina); as well as Highway #118 from #35 to the bridge at the
narrows between Little and Big Boshkung Lakes.
After several years of hiatus, Bill and Carole Peeling restarted this
initiative last year. This past weekend 17 volunteers cleaned up
Highway #35, collecting 33 bags of trash. A big thank you to all this
year’s volunteers; Brian Taylor, Mike Leslie, Lisa Tompkins, Dave and
Dianne Fennell, Mary Samson, Sandy and Bill Spurgeon, Patti and
Tom Peeling, Jenn Peeling, Ben Graham, Jennifer Graham, Carole
Peeling and Bill Peeling.
Since this initiative started, 172 bags of trash have been collected
from the highways surrounding Twelve Mile and Little Boshkung
lakes. Bill and Carole will be organizing another highway clean up
this fall, if you would like to volunteer, please contact Carole or Bill
Peeling at 705-489-1154.
2. Ice Cream Flotilla – Saturday June 30, 2012 – This year marks the 5th annual Ice Cream Flotilla
and it has been a great success each year!! In fact, other Lake Associations in the area have heard
about our flotilla and are talking about doing the same thing on their lakes.
Once again the big floating dock will be on the lake from 12:30-2pm. We will be giving away ice
cream treats to everyone on the lakes. Come out, dock your boat and get an icy summer treat.
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
Don’t forget, you can also pay your membership at Red Umbrella Inn at the same time, so dock your
boat at Red Umbrella, pay your membership, pick up your flag and head on your way to the ice
cream flotilla.
3. Membership Flag – For the 4th year, members who have paid their annual memberships will
receive a membership flag to attach to their dock, showing they are a proud member of the lake
association. This year’s flag will be orange. You can also purchase larger flags for your boat and
flagpoles when you send in your membership payment, just check off the box of which size flag and
add the amount to your cheque for membership.
4. Annual Meeting – August 11, 2012 – Last year the Red Umbrella Inn generously offered to host
our AGM meeting. This year the meeting will take place in the large room and we will have a PA
system so this will resolve the issues of last year’s meeting. We will be meeting from 9:00 to 10:30
am. Attendance is open to all members and family. Please know your blue emergency number for
the meeting.
It is our goal to keep the AGM meetings informative, interesting but also as brief as possible. We want
to ensure business is covered off, however we know how precious everyone’s time is. We feel we
have obtained a respectful balance between the two and will once again this year strive to keep the
AGM on schedule.
Chance to Win! This year we will be holding a new member challenge. Bring a friend or neighbour
on the lake who is not a member of the TMLB Lake Association to the AGM meeting. If they sign up
as a new member, your name will be entered into a draw to win a gift certificate to an area merchant.
Just a reminder that annual membership fees are due to the Association on or before the 1st day of
August of the calendar year in which the membership is to be effective.
Motions
We are looking to change the membership dates – currently the membership year is July 1st to June
30th and our fiscal financial year end is June 30th.
Motion –
1.
2.
Change the membership year to calendar year – January 1st to December 31st.
Change our fiscal year end to December 31st.
Charitable Donations
As agreed upon at last year’s AGM, we will be making a random draw for donations two charities.
Your charitable requests can be sent to us prior to the AGM by e-mail at: stu_smith@scotiamcleod.
com or they may be included with your membership cheque in the mail. You may also submit your
charitable request for consideration at the AGM prior to the official meeting is called to order. Just a
reminder we will not entertain any charity request submitted to us after the start of the AGM until the
following year.
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Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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Issues and Concerns for Discussion
Also approved last year, all other business matters that are not handled by the council, be sent to us
in writing, in advance of the meeting by email to: [email protected] or by mail with your
annual membership cheque. We will then have time to research the issue(s) of concern prior to the
AGM and come back to you with a more informed opinion at the AGM.
Guest Speakers
Haliburton County is considering a new bylaw regarding the preservation of trees along shorelines.
Jane Tousaw, Director of Planning, County of Haliburton, will be the keynote presenter at our
upcoming AGM, to update us on this important issue which goes to Council for vote in the fall. See
CHA update for further information on this topic.
5. Annual Golf Tournament – Saturday September 1, 2012 – We will be holding our annual golf
tournament at Lakeside Golf Course. The price is $40/per person and includes lunch. The game is
best ball and the format is to bring a prize and take home a prize. We are asking each player to bring
a donation to the Minden Food Bank. Deadline to register is August 20, 2012. For more information,
please contact Bill Peeling or Larry Tompkins at 705-489-1154.
Information
Your association has membership in various organizations representing cottage associations.
FOCA
The Federation of Ontario Cottagers Association (FOCA) is always a resource for cottagers and our
lake association. Of particular note this year, visit www.foca.on.ca for information on being ‘fire smart’
– tips for preventing cottage fires. And checkout their contest on Facebook for a chance to win great
prizes!
For more details and information on FOCA or FOCA’s AGM, please visit www.foca.on.ca
CHA
TMLB is a member of the Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Associations (CHA). CHA is a
member-driven group, made up of over 40 property owner associations from across the geographical
limits of Haliburton County.
It lists as its primary roles as:
•
improve communication among member associations
•
support and strengthen member associations
•
create synergy, by sharing resources and learning from each other
•
work on projects that are too big for one member association - as long as the project is
•
approved in advance by the board
•
not in the mandate of another organization
For more information about the coalition visit www.cohpoa.ca
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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TMLB Lake Steward Larry Tompkins attended
the CHA AGM on June 9, 2012
Focus for discussion included:
Membership –
•
Many of the 42 CHA lake member associations reported a 66%-90% membership rate (so TMLB has
a long way to go!).
•
Average membership fee is $25
Viability of Lakes –
•
Of the 21,365 private dwelling s in Haliburton County, approximately 2/3 are cottages
•
In Haliburton County alone there are 32 lakes on a “health watch” by Ministry of Resources
(eg. for study purposes of oxygen levels, fish stocks, invasive species). An article by Gerry
Moraal of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Minden, is attached for your interest
and information.
•
Lake Trout issues – a report from the Environment Commissioner of Ontario identifies that “at
least 2 studies based on a wide range of data from Ontario lake trout lakes indicate anglers are
reaping harvests well in excess of levels that biologists say are sustainable.”
•
The CHA is suggesting that member lake associations consider supporting a Labour Day closing
date for lake trout fishing season. We will be asking members to comment at our upcoming
AGM. To read the full article, google ontariolaketroutinperil
Haliburton County Shoreline Tree Preservation Bylaw –
As identified at our 2011 AGM, Haliburton County is considering a new bylaw regarding the
preservation of trees along shorelines. Jane Tousaw, Director of Planning, County of Haliburton, will
be the keynote presenter at our upcoming AGM, to update us on this important issue which goes to
Council for vote in the fall. A number of opportunities to engage public comment have already been
provided, and comments are still welcome to be submitted by June 30 as follows:
Jane Tousaw
Director of Planning, County of Haliburton
P.O.Box 399, Minden, ON K0M 2K0
Fax 705-286-4829 Email [email protected]
Please note that CHA has asked Lake Associations to indicate their support of this proposed by law,
and your Association Executive will be asking you to vote on this at our upcoming AGM.
Lakeland Conference
Save the Date for the 12th Annual Lakeland Conference!
The 2012 conference is being held on Saturday, September 8, at the Faraday Community Centre. This
year’s topic will be on Septic Systems, discussing the provincial inspections and lake associations who
have implemented successful re-inspection programs.
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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13 Lower Faraday Road (north of Silent Lake Provincial Park and south of the town of Bancroft at the
intersection of Hwy 28 & Lower Faraday Rd.)
Keep checking for details at on Lakeland Alliance’s events page (www.lakeland.greenup.on.ca) and
we will post info on the new TMLB website.
We look forward to providing updates from these organizations at this year’s AGM.
TMLB CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Post on your fridge at home and cottage!
Highway Cleanup:
Spring - Saturday June 9, 2012 at 10 am
Fall - TBA
Ice Cream Flotilla:
Saturday June 30, 2012 from 12:30 - 2 pm
Annual General Meeting: Saturday August 11, 2012 at 9 am
Red Umbrella Inn
Golf Tournament:
Saturday September 1, 2012 at 9 am
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Elected Executive 2011-2013
PositionNamePhoneEmail
President Jennifer Graham
T 416-441-3142 C 705-489-3275
[email protected]
Stuart SmithT [email protected]
C 705-489-3670
N/A
Vice Pres
SecretaryCarole PeelingT [email protected]
TreasurerJonathan GinouT [email protected]
C 705-489-4443
Membership
Lorraine Gilmour
T 905-472-6782
C 705-489-3848
[email protected]
Communications
Lisa Tompkins T 905-271-0692
C 705-489-2266
[email protected]
FOCA rep/
Larry TompkinsT [email protected]
Lake StewardC 705-489-2266
CEWFBob HelwigT [email protected]
C 705-489-2299
Membership 2012 : Annual Fees $25.00
Name(s)
Home Address
City
Home Phone (
Email
Cottage Address
2012 season
Province
Cottage Phone (
)
Postal Code
)
(number)
2013 season
(road)
I would like to volunteer with the association in the following areas:
Please forward to:
Flag order
Small Annual Dock Flag:
12” x 18” Boat Flag $12
18” x 36” Flag Pole Flag $32
27” x 54” Large Flag Pole Flag $60
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
c/o Lorraine Gilmour
197 Ramona Blvd, Markham, ON L3P 2L1,
Free with annual Membership
Quantity
Total $
Quantity
Total $
Quantity
Total $
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
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800-362-6676
705-489-3257
fax: 705-489-3798
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[email protected]
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Arend & Conny Meiling
8.5 km North of Minden, 14483 Hwy #35, R.R.#2, Minden, ON K0M 2K0
Lee Gauthier
Dagmar Boettcher
Broker
M.E.S., Broker
Granite Realty Group Ltd.
Brokerage*
Carnarvon Office, 9143 Highway 118
Corner of Highways 35 & 118
Bus: (705) 489-9968
2005
Cell: (705) 457-6109
[email protected]
www.leeanddagmar.com
HALIBURTON HIGHLANDS
*Independently Owned And Operated
Cell: (705) 457-5968
[email protected]
Twelve Mile Little Boshkung Lake Association
Spring 2012
Doug Colbourne
705-754-5303
[email protected]
11429 Hwy 35
Minden, ON K0M 2K0
(4km south of Minden Hwy 35)
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