Minutes of the 51st Annual General Meeting
Oxtongue Lake Ratepayers Association
August 4, 2014, 10:00 AM
Oxtongue Lake Community Centre
1. Call to Order and Opening Remarks. Lori Hollingsworth called the meeting to order and welcomed the full house. Lori remarked on the success of the annual Regatta and the fantastic weather (which was an anomaly this summer). Lori welcomed Reeve Carol Moffatt and Councillor Marlene Kyle and thanked them both for their service to the community and for attending the meeting. Lori introduced the current members of the Board in attendance: John Lawrence, Brian Lambert, Scott Hayden, herself and David Armstrong. Board members Jim Grant and John Gunderman, both of whom are resigning from the Board, were unable to attend the meeting. Lori also introduced the prospective new Board members to be voted on at the close of the meeting. Lori announced this would be her last year as president and director, and mentioned that she very much enjoyed working with the community. Lori’s introductory remarks included: introduction of attendees; OPP funding issue (“not an if it’s going to happen, it’s a when it’s going to happen”); and FOCA (Ontario Energy Board is having hearings in September, with one proposal involving a new classification of seasonal customers, which will see cottagers have their bills rise bu 100%; see the information on the FOCA website).
2. Approval of the Agenda. Motion to approve the Agenda for the present meeting: Joanne Matthews; seconded by Andrea Armstrong. Carried.
3. Approval of Minutes. Motion to approve the Minutes from the 2013 meeting: Frank Tizel; seconded by Jim Elliott. Carried.
4. Regatta Report. Taylor Kendall-Hill and Taylor Hill, co-commodores of the 2014 Regatta, gave the report. Thankyous to the local businesses, including: AO, Blue Spruce, Station 70, and Oxtongue Lake Cottages. Special thanks also to: Jim Rowan, John from Oxtongue Lake Cottages, and the Ferguson-Pass family for all of their help and in-kind donations. Art Andrews Trophy: Tracy Parrott; Ryan Armstrong (aged 12) won the Tom Parris Trophy (each one got a paddle from AO). Approximately $1,500 profit from the Regatta. Still need a commodore for 2014. Joe Spagnuolo is a possibility, but the Board noted that he is not a cottager.
5. Treasurer’s Report. Brian Lambert presented the Treasurer’s report. Motion to accept Treasurer’s report: Paul Bailey; seconded by Chris Woods. Carried.
6. Fire Chief Report. Ken Williams, District Fire Chief, gave the report. He said there are 15 members of the Oxtongue Fire Department: Trevor Drennin and Dale Hollingsworth are the two newest members. Becky Ellis has resigned to pursue nursing. Kyle Cunnington resigned to drill wells. Jim Cosentine has resigned for health reasons. Special remembrance of Bill Scott, a retired firefighter, who passed away this year (active from 1981 – 1999). Ken reviewed the types of calls the FD responded to in the previous year. Ken reminded everyone that detectors must be checked yearly and replaced every 10 years in accordance with their lifespan (8 years for CO2 detectors). Ken mentioned that there is a fire safety house outside the Community Centre, and that demonstrations occur at the Canada Day celebration. Ken and the fire department were thanked for their service by the board and the community. Ken also did a battery demonstration to stress the importance of proper disposal.
7. Snowmobile Report. Tim Drouin provided the report. Amazing winter (trails open and groomed for 16 weeks, up from 10-12 on average). 5 club social events (including breakfasts, chili cookoff and fish derby) went very well, but a lot of people stayed home for the winter because there was snow everywhere. 38 active volunteers put in more than 1,500 hours. Tim extended thanks to private landowners. A question was raised about availability of rentals; and Tim gave out some information about local businesses available to do so (Lakeland; Dwight Marine), including that rental comes with a trail permit. Membership in the snowmobile club is $10.
8. OLAC. Chris Woods gave a report on Oxtongue Lake for Arts & Culture (OLAC). Changed name from Friends of Oxtongue Lake (acronym: Fool) to OLAC. Chris expressed his thanks to the association for allowing OLAC to run its funding through OLA’s accounts. OLAC is a cultural committee put together to promote the arts in the community. Small group of residents, businesses and cottagers formed the group over a year ago to figure out how to embrace the history and promote it; monthly meetings. Applied for a grant from a local Haliburton governmental entity to put up a plaque commemorating the paintings and to have plaques in the region to show where paintings were done; grant for $3000, up from $1500 the prior year. Some of the group’s accomplishments include: the storyboard display outside the Community Centre, the arts festival to be held on September 20 at the Community Centre and the limited edition print by Janine Marson that is available for sale at $100.
9. Community Centre Committee Report. Report was read by Scott Hayden on behalf of John Gunderman. Recognized the committee members, and those members were thanked for their hard work and dedication to the community. Also acknowledged was Tom Smith’s excellent work as caretaker. Thanks were also extended to members of the community for making the Centre the focal point of our community. Many great events were held at the community centre this year. Group discussion centred on recent increases to the fees for community centre usage, and ways for the community to respond (hopefully, in advance in the future) to such increases.
10. Canada Day Report. One of the many great events at the Centre this year was the Canada Day celebration. The report on the Canada Day celebration indicated: it was a (rare) beautiful day for the July 1 celebration; Stormy the Clown and the Drum Circle entertained the children; Chris Woods and Jan Woods presented the flag plaque and were thanked for doing so; Fran Gower arranged the displays in the firehall; and Maureen Coxworth brought down the house with Oh Canada. BIG THANK YOU to everyone involved.
11. Oxtongue Lake Steward Report. Tom Smith, Lake Steward, gave the report. Tom thanked Ben Teskey for his past work in this position – Ben has moved away from the lake. Tom gave a presentation on septic health, including a discussion of a video called Poop Talk and one called Shoreline Stewardship, both of which are available at the Dwight Public Library. Tom also mentioned the CHA, which is an organization for the entire Haliburton community and which publishes a list of resources that are available re: septics. All natural should work, but Tom also suggests a jar of septic helper, some yoghurt and liver and to post bathroom Do’s and Don’ts in all your bathrooms.
12. Cottage Watch Report. Marlene Kyle reported on behalf of Gisele Gunderman, and gave special thanks to Gisele, who will be leaving the lake in September. In 2010, lots of break-ins (Gisele spearheaded the CW program in partnership with OLRA, FOCA and the OPP). All of the members keep an eye on property, neighbours and roads. Over the last several years, nearly no break-ins or theft. In 2013/14, there were three breakins with minor items stolen and one damage incident. Overall, CW is working well, and it is in need of a new leader. CW has partnered up with the CC community (Sept 27, 10-12), for a security challenge run by the OPP, which will give cottagers insight into things we are doing well and not so well.
13. Web Guy Report. Rick Linklater, the new “web guy,” presented the report, and gave special thanks to Jim Grant for all his work in the role over the years. Rick, along with his wife Wendy, have a vision for the website including links to OLAC, community, snowmobile club and businesses association. Hopes to rearrange the sidebar and turn it into an archives file. Community site will not have any advertising on it. Will look into e-transfers for ratepayers, and will have executive members (with contact information) listed on the website.
14. Township Council Report. Report given by Reeve Carol Moffatt, which included: (a) note that a green light flashing is a volunteer firefighter (spread the word); (b) skyrocketing costs for fuel and power (because of the severe winter); (c) divergent priorities of taxes needing to stay low, but costs keep going up; (d) reserves at the end of 2013 will be at $3.7 million; (e) septic inspections are now being done by the township (lake health is very important – know where your septic system is, and treat it well); (f) October 27 election (Marlene Kyle is up against a guy from Dorset); (g) OPP billing issue, with a decision coming (even if it is phased in, there will be an increased financial burden); and (h) bridge construction clean-up (has been up here to talk to the owner of the property and the company and the Township is keeping the pressure on, but cannot go in directly). A question and answer session with Reeve Moffatt and those in attendance followed.
15. Closing Remarks. Presented by outgoing president, Lori Hollingsworth:
· Thank yous to Ben Teskey, John Gunderman, Gisele Gunderman and Jim Grant for all of their work on OLA and its committees.
· Lori proposed consideration of a date change for the AGM from its current date to a Tuesday/Wednesday evening. Motion to change by Paul Bailey (giving the executive the authority to study the date, including with a Survey Monkey or comparable poll, and to make a decision on the change), seconded by Fran Gower. Carried unanimously.
· Welcome to the new owners of the Wolf Den and Timber Trail.
· Promoted the nursing station in Dorset. Information to be available on the website.
· Community Centre Rental: the rate has been increased to double the prior rate. Reeve Moffatt stated that fees are reviewed on a regular basis, and this was part of a rate change across the board; was not specific to our Community Centre.
16. Election of Slate of Board Members. Resignations of John Gunderman, Jim Grant and Lori Hollingsworth were accepted, and they were thanked for their service. The slate for the upcoming year includes: Scott Hayden, David Armstrong, Tom Smith, Brian Lambert, John Lawrence, Andrea Armstrong (new), Brandi Bailey (new), Jana Zavitz (new) and Rick Linklater (new). Motion for approval of the appointment of this group as members of the board was made by Fran Gower and seconded by Frank Tizel. Carried.
17. Adjournment. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.