We must once again apologize for the length of time it has taken to produce this spring newsletter. So few people are involved in putting this flyer together, and other priorities have kept your president quite occupied in the past several months. Ah well, better late than never!
We will try to make up for the time lapse by giving you extended news coverage of the events that shaped our lake environment over the past six months.
We continue to await any news of the clean-up of the former gas station site in the village, which was supposedly the subject of an extensive leak of gasoline into Blue Sea Lake (approx. 6,000 litres, we were told, in the summer of 1999). According to our sources, work was supposed to begin after the tourist season, in early fall, 2000. However, so far, no activity, other than the removal of the pumps on site. We will keep you informed.
In the meantime, you may have noticed on the weekend of June 9, 2001 considerable activity at a number of sites around Blue Sea Lake. We are told that the ministry forced the closure of gas storage facilities for private planes on Blue Sea Lake, and that these were effectively dismantled that weekend. Apparently 3 or 4 such facilities existed on the lake.
I wonder if the gas station leak had anything to do with this particular decision?
The Federation of Gatineau Valley Lake and River Associations, of which we are a member organization, has put together a phosphate reduction program for our lakes and rivers. Already, 22 lake associations in the MRC of the Upper Gatineau have joined the effort, and approx. 2,500 individuals have pledged support for the program. This association received the material, too late in the fall to begin in 2000 but now that spring has arrived, we will also be pursuing the effort.
For those of you who attended the last General Meeting in September, you were given a sneak preview of the program, and the signage.
As part of that program, you will find enclosed with this newsletter a pledge form and coupons which can be utilized to purchase phosphate free products for use at the cottage.
We invite you to return your signed pledge form in the enclosed self-addressed envelope at your earliest convenience.
If we all do our part in a small way, then everyone benefits, and the lake’s healthy life is extended just a little longer for our children to enjoy.
Last year, your association was instrumental in Blue Sea hosting the annual General Meeting of the Federation at the Blue Sea municipal hall. It brought together representatives of the various lake and river associations of the MRC of the upper Gatineau. After the meeting, Mr. Louis Philippe Mayrand, President of the Federation, and your President, Morris Richardson, Director of the Federation, were interviewed briefly for the French CBC network “Radio Canada” and the program was aired in the early evening telecast.
We have again this year extended the invitation to the Federation to host their annual general meeting, and we have been successful in that endeavor. The meeting will once again be held in the Municipal Hall in Blue Sea, on Aug. 26, 2001.
We have waited too long for the politicians to polish off the Region’s Land Management Usage Plan (Schéma d’Aménagement). It is time for them to explain to us why it continues to drag along. The Federation’s executive has decided to invite Mr. André St. Jacques (Mayor of Messines and designated point man for this program) and Mr. Claude Beaudoin, both of the MRC government level, to provide our members with an update on this plan. A set time will be allocated at the Annual General Meeting to permit them to make their presentation(s), and hopefully answer a few pertinent questions.
At a meeting of the Executive held on November 15th, 2000, it was decided to re-vitalize the water clarity testing program we had begun a few years ago. For those of you who already have the kits, we hope you will re-double your efforts to continue monitoring. If not, please return the kits to Steve Slaby, who has offered to continue preparing the kits and compile the results.
More will be said on this at the next General Meeting.
Since Canada Day (July 1st, 2001) falls on a Sunday this coming year, and with Monday
being a holiday, your Executive decided that we would hold another public fireworks display on the lake. Last year's effort was well received by our members, and in fact brought us a few new members.
It will take place at the same location (near the island), weather permitting, and the show will commence at approx. 9:00 p.m. We invite you all to come along for the fun and festivities. For those of you who are not located within the viewing range, visit a friend on the lake, or come to the President’s cottage at 8, chemin Lacasse, to observe the display.
Executive committee meetings will be held as follows:
August 11, 2001 (host - Steve Slaby). If you have a subject you wish discussed, notify a member of the Executive in advance. They are all listed at the end of this newsletter.
Two general meetings will be held on July 7, 2001 and August 25, 2001. As usual, the meeting will be held at the Salle des Loisirs on Chemin du Lac Long, and starts at 10:30 a.m. We invite everyone to attend.
Clean-up day on Lake Latourelle is scheduled for July 14, 2001. Please participate and help keep our lakes safe from debris.
Childrens' and adult picnics have been scheduled for July 21, 2001.
All members were encouraged to take advantage of the recycling facilities available in Blue Sea. The more we recycle, the longer we will continue to utilize the local landfill site and keep our taxes in check. The recycle bin is located at the grocery store in the village, just as you enter from Gracefield. They will take your jars, paper, and plastics.
We have become aware of a property, which shows sad signs of deterioration. To be blunt, it is beginning to look like a local dumpsite. The structure is unfit for human habitation, the property is littered with garbage, the dock was is in a sorry state of disrepair, and there appears to be no evidence of sanitary disposal areas other than the bushes. We have inspected the property and have taken photos.
We understand that the municipal director has since addressed a letter to the property owner to clean up his act. However, to date, the owner has made no attempt to do so. Should the matter continue to drag on, we will request the municipal council to establish a time limit, and then clean up the property themselves, with the costs to be borne by the taxpayer.
Most of us make the necessary efforts to have our properties look decent and safe for the visual enjoyment of ourselves as well as our neighbors. It is indeed a pity that a few seem to have so little self-respect as to allow deterioration to the extent present in this instance. It is disgusting.
We ask all property owners to maintain their properties to at least a minimum standard of decency. Such efforts contribute to maintaining the property values, minimize pollution, and encourage community pride.
Last year, members were invited to provide the association with their e-mail address. E-mailing would be a more immediate method of communication, as well it would reduce the costs associated with postage. A significant number of you have done so, and for this we thank you. For those of you who have not yet done so, and have that facility, we urge you to supply us your co-ordinates as soon as possible. We want to begin tat process of e-mailing newsletters this year and your co-operation would be greatly appreciated.
We intend to offer a new variety of clothing this year, and Fran, our point person on this project, will be explaining her ideas at the next General Meeting. We invite you to be there to offer your suggestions. Give Fran a call, in Ottawa, at (613) 727-0409, or at the cottage at (819) 463-0262. She will be pleased to show you the products we still have available. Remember, when you purchase our products, you support the association in a financial way, and by wearing the clothes with our logo proudly displayed, you show your pride in our association, in our community and for our lake.
This fall, as called for in the association constitution, we shall be holding general elections. Your President, who has held the post for many years, has decided to step down and allow some new blood at the helm. A few other members of the present Executive have also indicated they may not run again for another term.
At the last Executive meeting, a committee was formed to attempt to find suitable candidates to fill the posts expected to be open for competition. If you feel you could contribute some of your time and effort to this worthwhile cause, communicate with any member of the existing Executive to discuss the possibilities. You will doubtless be happy you did. It should not always be the turn of the same individuals to sacrifice of their time and effort for the common good. Otherwise, these individuals suffer burn-out and disillusionment.
Regrettably, council decided to again delay the annual meeting with the cottage association presidents until later, citing higher priorities. Last year no meeting at all took place. It is a pity so little priority is placed upon good relations between council and the various cottage associations.
This committee, of which your President is a member, has done some great work over the first two years of its existence.
However, its Committee President seems to have lost a great deal of the enthusiasm he initially drew upon to lead the group. In the past year and one half, we have gone through a period of 6 months without a single meeting of the committee, then several catch up meetings, then another 8 months without a meeting, then another emergency meeting. Emergency meetings have been called without much advance notice and held in the middle of the week, thus creating undue strain on the part of certain members to attend.
This is no way to effectively run any committee. Your Association President has not been able to attend a single meeting in the past year, due to these unannounced scheduling practices. Decisions are thus being made by those few who can attend, and any ideas other members of the committee may have are lost with the passage of time and development.
When the committee was set up, Council and the Mayor wisely composed it of various representatives of the community, including two cottage representatives. One cottage representative resigned last fall over an unrelated incident. This latest trend in scheduling effectively negates the input of the remaining cottage representative on the committee.
If council desires to obtain the best results possible for this important project, it needs the input of as many members of the committee it can garner. Basically, the committee has now been reduced to a one-man show since lack of time precludes detailed debate and analysis of any initiatives put forth by the Committee President.
It is time council took back control of the committee and re-instated guidelines and regular scheduling of meetings.
In March of this year, Council, at its regular meeting, authorized an expense of $2,000.00 to stock 1000 pickerel in Lake Allard and 1000 trout in Lake a Laurier. The Mayor and a councilor, Charles Lacaille, were mandated to oversee this initiative. It was up to these two learned members of Council to carry out Council’s mandate exactly and without distortion or compromise.
At the regular meeting of Council for June, which your President attended, Council approved, without question by anyone, an expense of $2,000.00 for stocking 5000 pickerel into Lake Morissette, and another quantity of fish into another lake.
Your association President continues to be amazed by the lack of communication between the Council and the lake associations. Although this association represents Lake Morissette property owners, and although your President never misses council meetings, this association was never even given a courtesy notice of the lake stocking.
A previous attempt at stocking this lake with pickerel failed miserably. The lake is overrun with pike and small mouth bass. It is at the head of a chain of lakes, with Lake Latourelle, and Lac des Iles and the Picanoc, as well as other small lakes, all deriving their waters from Lake Morissette.
There are two possible scenarios. The first is that the scheme is successful and you are introducing a non-native species of fish into the entire water basin with unknown consequences. The second scenario is that you expect the initiative to fail and you are wasting valuable taxpayer dollars.
A comprehensive report on Lake Morissette was made by the Ministry of the Environment only a few years ago, but its findings have been clearly ignored by Council. When we questioned the Mayor on the matter, he professed it was totally Mr. Lacaille’s decision, over which the Mayor was in the dark. When did Mr. Lacaille suddenly become a marine biologist or a Mr. Know-it-all to make these decisions unilaterally.
Why was Council not approached to approve these new decisions before spending the money? Why did no one on Council question the change in types, quantities, and location when the expense came up for approval?
It is one more glaring example of how Council and the Mayor profess to want to work with the lake associations, but in reality do end runs on the situation. Your President thought the days of trying to pull the wool over cottagers’ eyes was a thing of the past. Obvious we were wrong. Obviously we must continue to maintain a constant vigil over Council proceedings.
It is time once again to get out your wallets and cheque books and send us your annual renewal of memberships. The membership dues have remained the same for over 5 years. In today’s economy, that’s getting a pretty good bang for your dollar. Various directors have been assigned to solicit your membership, depending on where you have your cottage property located. Remember, they want to enjoy a life at the cottage too. Facilitate their duties. Try to avoid them having to return several times to collect your dues. Pay them the first time. Better yet, send in your renewal by mail or drop it off at the President or the Secretary Treasurer’s cottage or home mailing address. This information can be readily obtained in the listing of Executive members elsewhere in this newsletter.
At the last General Meeting, in September, 2000, some of you expressed a desire to
bring in a qualified individual to give a course on marine safety. Your newly confirmed Director, Josée Tremblay, volunteered to oversee the project, on behalf of the association. She tells us that a certified individual would be available to offer the course in both official languages, in separate sessions. This course is comprised of 3 hours of theory and 1 hour of testing at a cost of $50.00. This cost includes the instructions, course material, testing, and certificate of competency upon successful completion. Anyone above 12 years of age may attend the course for the same cost.
The goal of the Boating Safety Course is to give the participants the minimum basic knowledge in boating safety, the acts and regulations governing the use and operation of pleasure craft as well as the proper procedures to overcome any emergency aboard.
During the past few years the number of boaters has increased drastically on all the "water plans" across Canada, mainly since the appearance on the market of more powerful and performing boats. The increase in water traffic has resulted at the end of each boating season in increased damages, injuries and even deaths.
The results of police investigation and forensic investigation show that only 20% of boaters have the knowledge to use and safely operate a pleasure craft. That has given the Canadian Coast Guard and the private sector the reason to establish the standards of a boating safety course.
At the end of this course, the participants having a passing grade of 75% on their tests, will receive a certificate which will confirm their achievement of the Canadian Coast Guard Boating Safety course. The Canadian Coast Guard Please Craft Operator Card is the proof that each participant has the minimum basic knowledge to use and operate safely a pleasure craft.
Joseé Tremblay has organised two sessions at the Salle des Loisirs on Chemin du Lac Long road as follows:
French Session - July 28, 02001 (Confirm by July 25)
English Session - August 18, 2001 (Please confirm by August 15)
9:00 - 9:30 - Registration and Payment
9:30 - 12:30 - Theory
12:30 - 1:00 - Lunch break
1:00 to 2:00 - Testing
To confirm your attendance call Josée at home at 741-6455 (evening), or work (854-4833) or cottage 463-4899.
As another cottage season opens, we pause to reflect on the ever expending population and development taking place on our two lakes.
Since last year, our community has seen a number of properties change hands. A quantity of undeveloped plots of land have now burgeoned into active cottage sites. This has brought us new neighbors and a number of new potential members to our fold. We welcome this new vitality. It is good for the community spirit, good for enhancing property values, and good for the security of our milieu.
Just about the time someone is ready to say "what more can be accomplished by this association?", along comes potential new problems: deteriorating quality of water, increasing phosphate presence, nagging municipal merger possibilities, councilors indifferent to cottage industry needs and wants . As an association, can there be better
reasons to continue to be vigilant, to be strong and firm. Our strength lies in our numbers, our determination to protect our environment, our quality of life, for our children and their children.
I urge you to continue to support your association, as paying members, Consider becoming a director/officer and an active participant in its decision making processes. It should not always be the same people carrying the burden for the majority who would otherwise sit back and reap the benefits.
Copyright © 1996 APELL
All Rights Reserved
Droits d'auteur et copie © 1996 APELL
