Fall Newsletter October 2014 Mission Statement Mission Statement The Papineau Lake Community Association (PLCA) is a not-for-profit organization. The PLCA is dedicated to promoting responsible environmental stewardship, encouraging an active social atmosphere, monitoring and communicating changes which affect our lake community and providing and maintaining infrastructure to protect the physical and environmental integrity of Papineau Lake. Message from our President By Joe Oatman It was certainly a cooler summer and fall is moving in fast. I am told that leaves will be near peak colours at the time this newsletter is published. The Farmer’s Almanac is apparently predicting a second winter with heavy snow. I have included many web links in my notes below. Please use Ctrl. Click to open the web page. Septage Issue The first thing that we must acknowledge is our success in defeating the Septage Trench issue. It will be discussed in more detail by others. Congratulations to the Harold Harris Team who lead the fight for so long and stuck with it to the end. This is a case, to quote Winston Churchill,” so much owed by so many to so few”. We have learned of the importance of maintaining a constant presence at municipal meetings. Fire Department We have contacted the Fire Dept. and have requested a meeting to review their plans for fire response to our Lake area. As you know, because of liability concerns, the six fire pumps have been sold to Papineau Lake cottagers for their own use. Some of the pumps may be maintained by the cottager and be available to you at your own risk. 1 Municipal Election Soon we face a municipal election. To aid our members who are earnestly supporting us at Council we need you to vote and be as informed as possible on the candidate choices. If you are a Canadian citizen and an owner of property in Hastings Highlands(HH), or any other municipality, you can vote in every municipality that you own property. Our members are supporting the Maynooth Business Association in hosting an all candidates meeting on Saturday Oct 4th at the Gym in Maynooth, from 1 - 4 pm. Please attend, if you can, to be informed. Thanks to Harold Harris, they were influenced to move this meeting from mid-week to Saturday so cottagers have an increased opportunity to attend. As in previous HH elections you can vote by mail. The HH website has much information. See- http://www.hastingshighlands.ca/2014-elections.php The key dates on the election are: September 26th mail-in ballots will be sent out to voters All candidates meeting October 4th at the Municipal Building in Maynooth Last post mark date for mail in ballots October 18th Thanksgiving weekend October 11th to 13th If someone is not on the voter's list and is eligible to vote they need to complete a form and appear in person at the municipal offices. The following link is a video from HH on voting by mail- “VOTE-BY MAIL-TUTORIAL” To aid voters in coming to know the candidates that are available to us , the PLCA, with input from other lake reps in HH, developed, a candidate's questionnaire for candidates to complete . It has been posted on our website recently. See the response on the website under vote or by using the following link;--- http://www.papineaulake.ca//viewcustompage.php?id=17360 -then choose select by each candidate. In short, we need every lake resident to vote. Membership Committee I would like to thank Mary Mueller & Susan Bateman for their very active assistance in creating a new and stronger approach to the team of area representatives. Mary is our new Membership Secretary. Our membership drive got off to a late start but still yielded a successful membership initiative . This newsletter is to be given to all even if they are not members so all may see the value of being part of this great lake culture. Next year we shall try to field an even stronger group and do it earlier. Please consider joining this group and meeting your fellow residents. Even if your neighbor is not a member give us an email address so they can receive the newsletter electronically. Making paper copies is expensive. Division of Responsibility for Association work To grow involvement and de-emphasize executive meetings we shall endeavor to create the following committees to support our activities, lessen the workload on some, grow the involvement of others, identify future executives-- HH Council committee Environmental Committee Nomination & Governance Committee Membership Committee Web Presence Committee Regatta Committee Finance Committee These committees will have their own chair, their own mandate & will meet at times that are convenient to them. 2 Help us unburden the few. In hope that we can improve attendance, we have moved next year’s meetings and events from the long weekends the only exception being the regatta. I would like to give a special thanks to Andrea Carroll for fantastic job she did on running the regatta this year, Anne Salgo for her labours in bringing organizing the raffle and donations to the hospitals, Marjory McPherson for organizing the garage sale and donating to the children's library. Ian Salgo for acting as the editor of this newsletter, crafting its very professional look. See notes later in the newsletter. Hastings Highlands Interlake Meetings In June the PLCA hosted the HH Interlake meeting at the Harold Harris residence. It was attend by representatives from Baptiste Lake, Lake St Peter, Kamaniskeg Lake, & Papineau Lake. Concerns ranging from water quality to the election were tabled. We participated with other lake associations at the Hastings Highlands Lakes Workshop held on June 21st in the Hastings Highlands Gymnasium. A report on this event is given at the following web link. http://baptistelake.org/attachments/hastingshighlandslakesworkshopreport.pdf The key initiative arising from this meeting focused on shoreline land use. As a follow up to this meeting , the agenda of the HH council meeting of Sept 24 included the following item: Shoreline Protection THAT Council requests the Mayor and staff contact lake associations and appropriate agencies, to each provide a representative to form a committee to research best practices on shoreline protection and bring a draft document to the Committee of the Whole meeting of October 29, 2014. On September the 20th Harold & I attended the interlake meeting of lakes in proximity to Highway 60. It was hosted by Kamaniskeg Lake with its President acting as chair of the meeting. It was attended by Papineau, Kamaniskeg, Baptiste, Aylen, Round, Golden & Clear Lakes to name a few. One of these large lakes has recently discovered that the game fish young are being destroyed by in infestation, of now, millions of Smelt that are eating the frye. Another major concern to many of these lakes is the Algonquin Land Claim. The PLCA will host and chair the meeting of this group next year. If you are interested in being a part of the PLCA executive or have ideas for events, activities or projects that you would like to see happen around our lake please let me know. Are there other initiatives that we should be undertaking? The email addresses of your executive is on our website. Executive E-mail addresses I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of our executive for their work during this last year. Table of Events for 2015 Event Spring Executive Meeting Annual General Meeting Meet and Greet Party Regatta Golf Tournament Fall Executive Meeting Location Peter Shoemaker’s cottage Lakeview Resort Lakeview Resort South Beach Wolf Ridge in Wilno Joe Oatman's cottage Date April 25th at 10:00 am July 5th at 9:00 am July 25th from 2:00 to 4:00pm Sat. August 1st at 10:00am Sat. August 8th at 9:00am August 29th at 10:00am 3 Vice President’s Message: By Peter Shoemaker With the passage of our Councillor, Bert Cannon’s, motion on August 13th the septage trenches proposed for the south end of our lake were killed (see http://www.papineaulake.com/viewcustompage.php?id=16022 to see the complete motion). There was only one councillor who voted against Bert’s motion; this was Councillor Fell. All in all it was a great day for Papineau Lake. At the same meeting however, another motion was introduced by Councillor Hickey and was passed unanimously. This motion called for the septage report from Jp2G to be shelved and not acted upon for the time being. In the Jp2G report the only septage site was Papineau Lake. Jp2G proposed extensive ongoing testing to monitor the site. On the surface the two motions seem to be contradictory. Councillor Cannon’s motion called for an end to septage dewatering trenches, Councillor Hickey’s calls for a breathing spell. Both were passed. Candidate for mayor, Brent Dalgleish, when he completed the questionnaire from the PLCA responded to the question about septage dewatering trenches by writing “it’s a shame that we can’t find an abandoned and remote area of land in our very large municipality that could house such a system. I perfectly understand the concerns of Papineau Lake residents as to the proposed location and at the same time know such dewatering trenches are such a cost effective way to handle this issue”. The use of septage dewatering trenches has not been ruled out and ultimately Hastings Highlands needs to come up with a solution to the problem. For the time being we can take down our Stop Septage Disposal Site signs. At the same time we must continue to pay close attention to council. Past President’s Message by Harold Harris Our annual Meet and Greet get together was enjoyed by many residents on Saturday, July 26, at Lakeview resort. Our attendance this year was a little higher than in the past, possibly due to the inclement weather that day! However it didn't dampen anyone's spirits. Thank you to all the executive members who provided delicious treats. During our regular attendance at the Hastings Highlands council meetings we have been pleased to see that, under Mayor Bloom's direction, council feels comfortable discussing/debating issues, is initiating public involvement and is working towards making improvements for our lakes and the surrounding area. As part of one of PLCA's requests to council for improvements we asked for a street light to be installed at Papineau Lake road and Hwy 62, a very dark corner since the gas station closed. At the HH council meeting on Wed. Sept. 24, 2014 council agreed to install the street light, thereby making this intersection more visible and hopefully safer! Our gravel road has been much improved by the treatment with calcium which also helps control the dust. Our boat launch has been graded and we believe we will have a parking area established in due time. We have asked for a load of washed crushed stone to be spread in the lake part of the boat ramp because many of our members experience a vehicle soaking in the spring in order to launch their boats Last spring recommendations were made to hire, through a student assistance program, students to assist in maintaining the beach facilities in Hastings Highlands. This was done and our beach area was 4 cleaner than in previous years. It still has room for improvement but is headed in a positive direction. We have requested the current garbage containers be improved. That is still being evaluated. At the same meeting, a request by council was passed to form a committee of lake association representatives and appropriate agencies to research best practices on shoreline protection and bring a draft document back for the Oct. 29th meeting. This is a follow up to the public meeting held in June when buffer zones, water quality and other lake issues were discussed. Another good step for our lakes! Treasurer’s Report By Steven Smith It's been another successful year for the lake and the PLCA membership. We have a record number of memberships paid this year, 154. This speaks volumes to our little Community called Papineau Lake. There are 2 factors to our increased memberships this year. First, we changed our bank accounts this spring to allow us online access and with this, the capability to accept ETransfer deposits for your dues. We had over 40 ETransfers. Secondly, but most importantly, is to recognize the hard work Mary ( Buzz ) Mueller put into organizing the membership dues collected by her area reps. Her organisational skills with the help of Sue Bateman made my job a lot easier and it is appreciated. We topped up the $1640 earned from the raffle to $2000 and made donations to both Barry's Bay and Bancroft Hospital for $1,000 each. We have a balance of $6,000 in our general account plus the GIC for $5,600. Septage Account This will be the last time we have to report on this! As you know, we won the septage battle. All the members who have donated $100 or more have been notified about the refunds coming. Those who donated $100 have been presented with the option to accept 3 years prepaid membership in lieu of a refund. The percentage refunded is 64%. There are still 10 people that haven't replied yet so please look for the email from Ian Salgo and reply. The total spent on defending the lake was $7,709, $7,312 in legal fees. Once the refunds are returned and we account for the prepaid memberships, the remaining funds will be transferred to the general account and the Septage Account will be closed. Thank you again for all those who contributed, helped and supported our community. I have tendered my resignation as treasurer for next spring as my commitment was to see the Septage issue through to the end. It has been my pleasure to serve for the past 4 years. Secretary's Report By: Susan Bateman Mary (Buzz) Mueller accepted the challenge of our newly created Membership Secretary Position this year. She and her team of Area/Lake Representatives did a great job of visiting as many cottages and residences as possible this year to discuss the benefits 5 of the PLCA, collect dues, distribute membership signs, and update our community on the status of septage and other issues at hand. Our thanks to Buzz and her team as follows: Nancy Bullis Harold Harris Cheryl Linton Joe Oatman Steven Smith Margaret Canning Paul Hart Ken McClintock Tom Potter Neil Crowder Gail Lancaster Carrie Mollenhauer Charlene Quinn As of the date of this Newsletter, overall membership has grown from 134 in 2013 to 154 this year, or 15%. Congratulations, team! Enviromental Report By Andrew Salgo Since 2002, volunteers of the PLCA have taken samples from Papineau Lake on an annual basis and for specific chemical compounds; nitrates and nitrites, and E.coli bacteria. The locations were picked strategically based upon their proximity to water inlets into the lake. A total of 5 samples around these various inlets into Papineau Lake are tested along with the boat launch area at Bark Lake. Since the start of the water testing, all the readings for nitrates and nitrites have been consistently below acceptable levels of 0.05 mg/l on a year by year basis. When nitrogen levels in the water become too high they can result in stressful aquatic life environments and excessive algae and plant growth. E.coli levels have been slightly cyclic primarily on the south beach but have predominately been low and within safe limits, however it is not advisable to drink lake water without further treating it. To maintain the health of the lake we must be vigilante of the effects of human interaction with the lake environment. Nutrient input from fertilizers, faulty septic systems coupled with the destruction of natural shoreline vegetation are the prime reasons for lakes to deteriorate and develop algae blooms. 6 2013 - 2015 PLCA EXECUTIVE President Vice President Past President Treasurer Secretary Director Director Joe Oatman Peter Shoemaker Harold Harris Steven Smith** Susan Bateman Ian Salgo Laniel Bateman Director Director Director Raffle Chairperson Lake Steward Regatta Chairperson Membership Secretary Marj McPherson Jim McPherson Janis Harris Anne Salgo** Kevin McClintock Andrea Carroll** Mary Mueller ***These members are resigning this year and will be looking for volunteers to fill those positions next year The Annual Regatta By Andrea Carroll Another successful year for Regatta! A huge thank you to all those people who made it happen! The credit belongs too… Steve, Peggy, Bailey and Emma Jamrick, Cam and Robyn Clements, Sophie & Ryan Baux, for the incredibly efficient and tasty food service. Ethan Carroll, Scott Clements, Sean Hackl and Chris Doner for running the Horseshoe competition. Christine, Troy and Jordan Dumoulin, and Camren Sheppard for once again organizing and running the young children’s games. Johnathon Potter and Taylor Brejcha for overseeing the sandcastle building area. Anne Salgo and her crew (Lorraine Ward-Hackl, Suzanne Huschilt, Connie Franklin and Victoria Fielding) for the raffle. Paul and Pauline Penedo for once again running the swim races. Rob Clements and Babs Fletcher for once again running the volleyball tournament. Joe and Jackie Hayward and their team (Paul and Peggy Tyres and Ed and Colleen Boer) for once again running the canoe races. Dave and Jackie Buckingham for once again running the Tug of War competitions. Cathy Ward, Alli Penedo, Natalie Fielding, Victoria Morency, and Maeghen Carroll for all the face paint and tattoos. Karis Whillans for updating the tattoo supplies. Lisa Potter and Kelly Mason for their help on the awards table once again. Lois Oatman and Sandy Street for their help with food ticket sales. Peter Shoemaker and Steve Smith for being available at the Association table for all of Regatta. Jim McPherson for the setup and use of his PA system and generator, what a difference it made! Marjorie McPherson for selling t-shirts once again this year. Sue Davidson, Jeff Webster and Steve Carroll for keeping us organized managing the team sign in and announcements. 7 Caleb Dumoulin for being the first ever official lifeguard at Regatta and to Paige Clements for being his backup and assistant. The Penedo family for storing all the regatta equipement . Ian Salgo, Andrew Salgo, Barry Street, Joe Oatman, Debbie Grey, Adam Dagostino, David Pilote, many of the individuals already listed above and a few unsung heroes for your help with setup, cleanup and a few other behind the scene necessities! Sorry if I failed to mention you here!!! A very special thank you to Paul Penedo for developing and managing the Regatta web page. This tool was extremely helpful in organizing the event! We hope to use it again in 2015, so if you didn’t visit this year make sure to check it out in 2015! Congratulations to all Regatta Winners! Swim Events Girls 5< Boys 5< Boys 6-7 Girls 8-9 Boys 8-9 Girls 10 Boys 10 –1st Sarah Clark, 2nd Tegan Lepoole, 3rd Faith Cranston & Callie Bristow -1st Ewan Tackney -1st Noah Ag Ibrahim & Finn Lapoole -1st Lily Shurry, 2nd Megan Hopkins, 3rd Kyra Buckingham & Isabel Tackney -1st Ethan Hunt, 2nd Colter Cranston & Jake Alexander, 3rd Drew McFadden -12 -1st Audrey Carroll, 2nd Sarah Hopkins, 3rd Molly Ferguson -12 -1st Matthew Mason, 2nd Dawson FcFadden, 3rd Kaya Huschilt & Tristan Perridge -1st Julianne Clark -1st John Potter, 2nd Sam Playford, 3rd Tanner McCosher -1st Karen Clark, 2nd Kelly Abols, 3rd Nancy Clark -1st Jeff Webster, 2nd Gary Larose, 3rd Paul Penedo & Andre McCoshen Girls 13-15 Boys 13-15 Girls 16> Boys 16> Canoe Races Mixed 20 & under Mixed 20 & over Men 20 & under Women 20 & under Men 20 & over Women 20 & over Dragon Boat 1st Horseshoes -1st Connor Morrow & Abbey Playford, 2nd Kevin Mason & Gwen D’aumale, 3rd John Potter & Taylor Brejcha -1st Phil & Jill Kapuscinski, 2nd Ian & Cathy Ward, 3rd Tate & Kelly Abols -1st Kevin & Charlie Mason, 2nd Connor Morrow & Jacob Playford, 3rd Tanner McCoshen & Chad Mosley -1st Gwen D’aumale & Sydney Clements, 2nd Katie Potter & Sarah Hopkins -1st Jeff Hopkins & Kevin Cranston, 2nd Matt Lasek & Nick Michino, 3rd Mark Trypuc & Graeme McDonald -1st Anita MacCallum & Heather Johnston, 2nd Jill Kapuscinski & Laurie Ochocinski, 3rd Darla & Kaitlyn Hunt The Wards, 2nd Hunts, 3rd The Glampers 1st Muck Lies, 2nd Polish Connection Tug of War Mixed 17 & under Mixed all ages –1st O.K., 2nd 3 King Kongs -1st Papattack, 2nd Sets on the Beach Volleyball Teams 8 -1st Trypuc & Co., 2nd Papattack Muck Lies O.K. Trypuc Other Regatta News I am retiring as Regatta Coordinator. The Executive is currently working to build a Regatta Committee for next year. The Regatta Committee will allow for the responsibility of Regatta to be more evenly shared amongst a group of individuals. Many of you know participating in Regatta is a very rewarding and fun experience. It is a fabulous way to get involved, help out and meet people from around the lake. I hope many of you will consider being a part of this new Regatta Committee. Individuals who are interested in participating in or learning more about the Regatta Committee are asked to contact Joe Oatman. [email protected] Before I say goodbye however, just one last GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supported me these past two years in The Regatta Coordinator role. I have greatly enjoyed serving in this capacity. Regatta is something so many of us look forward to every year. Families come together to participate alongside one another. So many return to the lake insuring they are here for Regatta. There are faces I only see when at Regatta each year. How many of our cottages are adorned with the trophies, ribbons, medals and prizes of Regatta winnings from years passed? Thank you Papineau Lake Association volunteers for enriching our families’ lives through the many years with this fabulous tradition! I look forward to seeing you on the beach in 2015! Annual Raffle Fundraiser at the Regatta 2014 By Anne Salgo 2014 was another successful year for the annual regatta raffle. With a cooperative weather day, we had a good turnout and our raffle table was a popular activity. We had 59 prizes this year and the table raised $1640! Our association added another $360 to the raffle profits and we made two donations of $1000 each to St Francis Memorial Hospital Foundation in Barry's Bay and the QHC North Hastings Hospital in Bancroft. Many thanks to the volunteers who sold tickets: Suzanne, Lorraine, Nancy & Dave, and Connie. Thanks to Vicki Fielding, Katherine Ward, Jenn and Joe Oatman for their assistance in the draw. Many hands make the work lighter and much more fun! Merchant donors again contributed to our success: In Bancroft: 9 Bancroft Village Playhouse Theatre, The Old Tin Shed, Canadian Tire, Rona, Tim-Br Mart, Home Hardware, IDA Drug Store, No Frills, Foodland, Bancroft Golf Course, River's Edge Golf Course and Shoppers Drug Mart. From Bird's Creek to Combermere: Bird's Creek Feed & Hardware, Madawaska Art Shop, Foxfire Gallery, Hastings Highlands Municipality, Maple Leaf Country Store, WheelCare Auto and Serenity on the Bay Spa. In Barry's Bay: Home Hardware/Mad Outdoors, Lorraine's Pharmasave, P Burke & Son Jeweller, Barry's Bay Outfitters, V&S Stedmans and Alfeskie's Shoes & Clothing. Also, thanks go to the many cottagers and residents who donated wonderful items to the table. Your contributions are appreciated greatly. By the way, the gift set of 40 Creek had over 100 tickets in the bag! It was an apparently "most popular item" in the raffle. I am pleased that so many people purchased tickets and supported our worthy cause. Over the past 5 years, we have donated a total of $2700 to each of the local hospitals. Of interest to the fishing community, St Francis Memorial Emergency department has a "fish hook removal device" that was purchased through our donation in past years. As I retire from the chair of the raffle after five years, I hope that someone will step up to take over this rewarding activity. It has been a pleasure, The PLCA First Ever Yard Sale 2014 By Marj McPherson The PLCA First Ever Yard Sale was held on Saturday, July 26 during the morning before the Meet & Greet in the afternoon. All of this activity happened at Lakeview Resort and we thank Dave Mason and Barb Sanderson for their hospitality and hard work. In spite of the weather (rainy) we had lots of items donated by members and others and we had a good turnout, so that we raised over $450 on the day. This is the kind of event that we could hold every other year….about the right amount of time to accumulate more stuff! We advertised that the proceeds would be donated to the Children’s Department of Hastings Highlands Library and with a top-up from the Association, we donated $500 to the library, complete with a picture in the newspaper acknowledging our efforts. Thanks to all who helped, especially Karis Whillans and Janis Harris. Start saving your ‘stuff’ for 2016!! Marjory McPherson 10 2014 Golf Tournament By Danielle Romanowsky We had a fantastic turnout at the 2014 Annual Golf Tournament with 9 registered teams, perfect weather and the stiffest competition yet. Following the Golf day, Graeme and Danielle hosted a Potluck at the Romanowsky Family cottage filled with delicious food, drink and prizes. A 'Beach-toBoat' chip-off was held as a tie-breaker to crown this year's Champions as the two top teams tied the day at an impressive -9. The winning shot, delivered by "Ricky-Bobby" Oughtred, was followed by victory cheers from teammates Ian Salgo, Shawn Hughes and Adam Heyd. The Oughtred, Salgo, Hughes and Heyd foursome proudly earned the right to call themselves the 2014 Golf Tournament Champions. Next year's Championship title is up for grabs with the 2015 Tournament being hosted by Brendan at the Gordon Family cottage. Thanks to all participants, friends and family who came out to support the Golf Day and Potluck. We hope to see you again, along with some new faces next year! . The longest drive for the ladies was won by Anne Salgo and the longest drive for the men was won by Rick Oughtred. 11
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