Minutes of the 10th Meeting of
The Patterson Lake Association
151 Lakeside Rd
October 16, 2005
Present: Lorne Bowerman, Dave MacCrimmon, Howard Stanley, Kathleen Sullivan, Bill Brooks, and Rhodena Bell
Regrets: Nil
1. Lorne opened the meeting at 1:55 PM. Howard moved seconded by Rhodena that the agenda be accepted. Lorne noted that elections needed to be added. Rhodena asked that MPAC be added. Carried. Howard moved seconded by Kathleen that the minutes of the last meeting on August 14, 2005 be accepted. Howard noted that his address should be 632 Fairs Way. Howard also commented on the use of the word "meeting" in the paragraph 2 sentence "The meeting was distressed .." Howard preferred the word "group" to indicate the participants. Carried.
Lake Level
2. Dave reported that the lake level had increased since the last meeting. However, a major change from the past is that the water level is the same a both ends of the culvert because of probably a beaver dam downstream. Culvert blockage now was not the major contributor to lake level. At the time of the meeting, it was Howard's period of culvert cleaning, however it is unclear what if anything could be done. Dave will continue to monitor the situation. Dave is continuing work on forms requesting retention of 8" to 10" of water during the summer. Lorne passed out copies of a letter from Mary Kirkham dated September 17, 1993 directing removal of concrete from the culverts. The concrete had been put there by persons unknown.
Ribbon of Life
3. In the last Newsletter, Lorne had included some excerpts from a letter from Tim Simpson, the Township's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), on the Ribbon of Life, a natural fringe left along a lake shoreline. Lorne had received a call from a property owner on this matter citing a case where there appeared to be no regard to this concept. Kathleen also had some concerns. Lorne asked Kathleen to follow this up with the Township. Kathleen reported that seasonal dwellings are exempted and that only lots created after 2003 are affected by the Ribbon of Life concept. In terms of good lake and property management, the exemption of seasonal dwellings made no sense to those attending the meeting. Kathleen will draft a letter to the Township's CAO outlining our concerns on bylaw exemptions. As well, Kathleen reported that seasonal dwellings are also exempted in many bylaws that deal with planning issues. Kathleen will also draft a second letter expressing our concern in this area. Our Councillor, Leonard Echlin, will be given an information copy of both letters when they are sent.
Lake Networking Group
4. Lorne had asked Kathleen to attend as an observer the Tay Township Lake Networking Group meeting - a coordinating body of property owners in the Tay watershed. Kathleen briefed the meeting the work being undertaken by the Group, especially a Lake Management Plan. The Lake Management Plan, which is being prepared for three lakes in the Tay system, is well beyond the capacity of the Patterson Lake Association at this time. However, Kathleen will continue to sit in on the meeting as an observer.
Ontario Regulation 97/04 - Protection of Wetlands
5. Kathleen gave a short briefing on this regulation which will come into effect in May
2006. It directs the Conservation Authorities to amend their local flood plain regulations to
include protection for wetlands, valley lands and lakeshores within their watershed
jurisdictions. It takes the previous 36 different sets of local regulations and streamlines them
into a more uniform set of rules. We will continue to monitor this.
Constitution
6. A good discussion was held on the 3rd draft of the Constitution. Lorne noted that it is a continuing process as we are not organized in a typical fashion. Agreement was reached that a "member" of the Association would be property owners on the Lake. Those on the Executive Committee would be representatives of road associations which in turn represent the property owners. Kathleen thought that we needed a Purpose in our Constitution. Lorne will draft another Constitution for review.
7. As a follow-on from the discussion of the Constitution, the attendees agreed that there would be a two week delay between sending the minutes to the Executive Committee and publishing on the web. As well, there will be two newsletters: one in June and one in October. The draft of these newsletters would be distributed at our meetings. Publishing the minutes to the web and publishing the newsletters would take place at the same time. This will save administrative costs for the representatives.
History
8. Rhodena reported that an initial section of the history had been sent to Lorne to show that progress was being made. Lorne asked Rhodena about the possibility of putting up Larry McDermott's thesis on Patterson Lake. Rhodena will follow-up. Under the historical discussion, Kathleen reported that the Township has no official name for the large bay on Patterson Lake. In the past it has been referred to as MacCrimmon Bay or Bell Bay. Those at the meeting thought that MacCrimmon Bay would be appropriate as his fishing shed was still there. This name will be used in our minutes and newsletters.
Other Business
9. Lorne had received a request for a Lake representative to attend the Fall 2005 Lanark OPP/Lake Associations Communications Link meeting on Friday, October 21 at the OPP in Perth. Bill will attend as our representative. Rhodena expressed her concerns about property assessments that have been sent to all property owners. Those attending the meeting did not think it was something that we could become involved with.
Elections
10. Lorne noted that he had completed two years as president and that it was time to pass the job along. After a good discussion, Lorne seconded by Dave nominated Kathleen as President. Although hesitant, Kathleen agreed. The motion was carried followed by a round of applause to welcome Kathleen.
Next Meeting
11. The next meetings were set for April 23 at Kathleen's, June 25 at Dave's. August 20 at Howard's, and October 22 at Bill's.
Adjournment
10. Bill moved seconded by Rhodena that the meeting adjourn at 4:00. Carried.
Contact List
In the listing below, "(H)" means "home" and "(L)" means "Lake".
Rhodena Bell, Box 32, McDonalds Corners, ON K0G 1M0
(H)267-5291 (L)278-2562 purdonbell@perth.igs.net
Bill Brooks, 483 Porcupine Way, Box 61, McDonalds Corner, ON K0G 1M0
278-2705
Lorne Bowerman, (L) 151 Lakeside Road, (H) 6 Lipstan Ave, Nepean, ON K2E 5Z3
(H)225-7904 (L)278-2813 lorne@bowerman.ca
Dave MacCrimmon, 399 Hardwood Ridge Road, RR3, Lanark, ON K0G 1K0
278-0184 dlmaccrimmon@sympatico.ca
Kathleen Sullivan, 178 Parsons Way, RR3, Lanark, ON K0G 1K0
278-0931 kathleensullivan100@sympatico.ca
Howard Stanley, (L)632 Fairs Way (H) 313 Hinchey Ave, Ottawa, ON K1Y 1M1
(H)722-6846 howard.stanley@statcan.ca