CLCA General Meeting Minutes
July 4, 2010
JAMBOREE HALL
www.clearlakecabinassociation.org
Call to Order: 10:15 a.m.
Review of Agenda
Introduction of Board Members: Trevor Winters – president, Gary Cavanagh – vice-president, Teddi Brown – secretary, Joyce Harland – treasurer, Gloria Belliveau, Roy White, John George, Joan James, Kevin Alguire, Scott Jordan, Bruce Hembroff
Absent: Ryan Givioli, Brian McVicar
Trevor commented on the informational paper Bruce posted on the washroom bulletin boards. He indicated that it was a document of opinion and asked that members refer to their minutes on the website.
McLeod, 19 3rd St.S: A major issue should be indicated on the agenda under new business and should not poison a meeting initially.
Trevor indicated that the opinion piece has to be addressed.
Judy Mueller,78 2nd St.S: It is her first meeting and she feels the two men need to keep their personal opinions to themselves so no adversary is indicated.
Approval of GM Minutes of July 5, 2009: Motion to accept the minutes as circulated.
Moved by Jeff Sim, seconded by Bob Woroschuk.
Carried.
Business Arising From Minutes:The President has not sent a letter to Parks Canada regarding the members’ views on the building moratorium since the Community Plan has not yet been signed.
Bruce Hembroff: The moratorium was introduced to eliminate any non-conforming building. Some members might have concerns that their building might not be conforming in the future after the Comprehensive Review.
Motion: I move that the President of the CLCA write a letter to the Park Superintendent requesting that all applicants for building permits be advised that a 32 foot by 16 foot cabin could be a non-conforming building.
Moved by Bruce Hembroff, seconded by Wayne Clayton.
Curtis: Don’t all permits now conform? If by chance something in the future changes, what happens?
Don Huismann: Everything changes over time. When you do a renovation or replacement, you must conform with the standard of the day.
Kathy Metelski, 13 4th St.S: I remember people having to remove four feet from their cabin so I would support the motion.
Don Huismann: You have the same rights as a hotel room.
Ena Leskiw, 52 4th St.S: What happened to the motion from 2008 – to send a letter to the steering committee?
Trevor: No steering committee has been formed yet. There are different components of the Comprehensive Review and we will need to set up sub-committees. The October 2009 minutes indicate the makeup of the committee.
Scott Johnston, 3 5th St. N: He spoke against the motion. We have adopted status quo. If the Park honours the permit holders there is no problem.
Friesen, 23 1st St.S: Indicated a confusion between Kathy’s and Don’s statements.
Don Huismann: In 1977-1978 the Park stopped hauling out cabins. There was a lot of chopping and moving done. That is part of the history. Could we go back? The Community Plan of 2000 tried to deal with that. At a review there is a lot of polarized opinion in the cabin area. There is not enough time for everyone to have their say so the community plan initiated a comprehensive review. The comprehensive review committee will initially figure out how the community works. In regards to the moratorium, we are back to normal building (2 or 3 permits). We will honour what is in the campground now.
Ena Leskiw, 52 4th St.S.: You are allowing variances on the building code that is interfering with the rights of people beside them.
Don Huismann: The DRB was formed to handle the issues.
At this time the motion was reread.
In favour: 29
Opposed: 38
Defeated.
A letter to the Superintendent regarding the lack of maintenance in the boat cove has been written and is posted on the website.
The cook shack meetings were offered in the summer of 2009. No one took the Board up on the offer. As we enter the comprehensive review, we will likely revise and implement some form of these meetings again.
President’s Report: The report is posted on the website.
Trevor: Is the newsletter useful or is it too much information?
Jeff Sim, 12 4th St.N: It was one of the best we’ve had. Keep it up. People can always discard what they don’t want to read.
Gale Simpson, 24 3rd St.N: Move to put the President’s Report on file. Seconded by Pam Lucenkiw, 30 3rd St.N
Carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Current balance as of May 31, 2010 is $ 5,574.73.
Motion: To accept the Treasurer’s report as presented.
Moved by Joyce Harland, seconded by Gloria Belliveau
Carried.
Question: Can we save money and have it sent to us on the e-mail?
Joyce: I will talk about it in the website report.
Committee Reports:
Vegetation: The White Spruce trees were planted around 1933-34. We are losing many of them now. In the bare areas, we are working in conjunction with the Park biologist and stakes have been placed for new trees. Three species are being planted, Burr Oak, Green Ash and White Birch. In coming years we will look at shrubs and personal cabin space.
Ena Leskiw, 52 4th St.S: What should we do about carpenter ants?
Scott: I’ve noticed them on stumps and think maybe grinding the stumps down.
Question: Is there any restriction on trees on your lot now?
Scott: As long as it is indigenous to the Park and within your lot line.
Jason, 50 4th St.S: Is the green space going to be reforested?
Scott: Probably on the comprehensive review.
September 29 is tree planting day and there is a need for volunteers. The Park resources are available in September.
Motion: That the vegetation report be placed on filed.
Moved by Gale Simspon, seconded by Kevin Alquire.
Carried
Policing: The security meeting will be held in 10 days. We have a contract with Palladin Security. In order to have more security, we would need to pay more on our permits. We are going to try to work out some form of neighbourhood watch.
Development Review Board: Over the winter, we have looked at items of aesthetics by electronic means. Some were from the North Shore, some cottages, some businesses and one cabin.
Marine: John George suggested that cabin owners check their insurance policies for their boats. Is your boat insured when off your property? We are paying for our property in the campground.
Question: What about the Park green space?
John: Check your insurance policy. See what the specifics are. Let me know if you are not covered. There are a lot of people who want a marina.
Suggestion: Perhaps post something on the washroom bulletin boards so that more cabin owners who own boats are aware.
Website: The website is running smoothly. In addition to our own information the board sends out, we have some new articles of interest being sent to us. Cate Watrous, the Communication’s Officer Resource Conservation for the park contacted Joyce and asked if she could send some articles for our website. She is currently looking after communications and public relations for the Clear Lake Project and the Lake Group. Also Wybo Vanderschuit, the Park Biologist has sent an article about the Spruce Budworm. Roger Schroeder, External Relations Manager for the Park sent in an article regarding the public meetings called Community Conversations which have been held in April and May in the rural areas and will be held in Wasagaming sometime in August. Shelley Neustater, Human Resource Assistant for the Park sent documents to post inviting students to apply to work for Parks Canada for the 2010 season. If you have anything that you think would be of interest to our members please send them to [email protected]
To date there have been 40 people sign up on the website mailing list and Joyce would really like to up that number considerably so in the future we could start sending out the newsletter via e-mail rather than paying to send it through regular mail. It costs about $500.00 to make copies and for the postage so this could be eliminated by sending them by email.
Remember the website is www.clearlakecabinassociation.org
Jeff Sim, 12 4th St.N: Is there any way to notify people when a new article has been posted? Can the system automatically send out a notice to our e-mails?
Speed Watch: The cottage owners have procured a radar device to track your speed. It is an informational program. Volunteers will not be recording license numbers though they can if necessary. Parks Canada vehicles will have their licenses recorded as per their request. The boat cove road is earmarked for our area. The RCMP are supporting the program fully. A data sheet of noted speeds will be available.
Motion: That the committee reports be placed on file. Moved by Bruce Hembroff, seconded by NIta Friesen.
Carried.
Parks Canada: Don reassured the meeting that the Park has never cancelled a permit.
A camera is on the administration building pointing down Wasagaming and will be linked to the website. A second camera will be posted on the flagpole at the pier.
At the request of the executive, North and South signs will be posted on the access roads. Billing will be done in two instalments – permit on April 1 and utilities on July 1
Something is happening every weekend at the Park this summer with Doc Walker and Sierra Noble performing on August 21.
The sewage lagoon will be in operation shortly. On July 24, there will be an Open House at the lagoon.
The endowment fund from the Heritage stones has $1000.00 available for community events. You can apply through the Friends office on Columbine.
Pam Lucenkiw, 30 3rd St.N: Has there been any discussion around garbage along the shore?
Don: The project right now is the base line data for scientific indicators. Social issues are next in line.
Question: Is there any date for a disaster management plan here?
Don: The Park does not have a disaster plan. They have a plan where people who work for Parks are trained for various aspests.ie. a person goes missing. It is coming but not yet.
Question: There is talk of off loading some administration to the RM of Park. Where does that stand?
Don: People pay rent in the Park. We are looking for some way as to how services are run and shared. Is there some way to change the administration? There is a model out there that would work. Consultation would be done before any changes were made. Parks is willing to go there.
New Business: Questions have come to the Board about Waskesiu so Trevor contacted them. The information was put into the newsletter.
Bruce Hembroff, 53 5th St.S: Can building guidelines for Waskesiu be put on our website?
Trevor: Yes. We have $15 000 this year for extra repairs from our permit fees. The thought is to take this money and have Parks match it, then look at a comparative analysis of providing water and sewer.
Jeff Sim, 12 4th St.N: Part of the package is that we need a lease to have water and sewer and this will cost us more than a permit.
Question: Do we have any review about existing washrooms and their conditions?
Don: Nothing substantial.
Bruce Hembroff, 53 5th St.S: Are we talking about an Engineering study?
Friesen, 23 1st St.S: If we ever did have sewer and water, how will it look? For example in the rainy season would we have mud and trenches?
Trevor: We need an engineer or professional to answer that.
Question: Are we doing any work on the shower or bathrooms?
Trevor: Yes. Decisions were made at the May 1 executive meeting and listed in the minutes.
Brenda Loll, 13 5th St.S: The new sinks in our bathroom are great.
Norm, 12 2nd St.N: Everyone here be concerned about the referral to a hotel room. We should be thinking about a lease.
Wayne Layton: We knew what we bought into. Yes, times change but we knew what we bought.
Friesen, 23 1st St.S: A comment in regards to the cottage lease. At the end of the 45 years, it is stated in the lease that the property is returned to its original state. I don’t want to go there.
Ena Leskiw, 52 4th St.S: In the 1970’s we were going to be forced out. Georgina went to Ottawa to fight for low income people. The bigger cabins are going to force older people out who can’t afford it.
Mike Shwetz,73 4th St.S: A lot of people don’t understand the history. We have a lot of debate now because these people fought for us to be here.
Joan Lepp, 12 2nd St.N: Some of this is going with the times. Bikes are stolen off decks. There has been a murder. There is vomit in the sinks. We need to look at our health and safety. We do need to think into our future.
Motion: I move that Bruce Hembroff’s letter to the Clear Lake Association entitled I think you should know be added to the minutes and be posted on the website.
Moved by Bruce Hembroff, seconded by Al Cass.
Wayne Layton: We are not discussing the motion.
Glen Rogers, 62 1st St.S: I don’t know what we are voting on. I don’t know the contents of the letter.
Rob Gerry, 34 4th St.N: As far as the content of the website, I believe some of it is a person’s opinion. Is there information that has to be passed to be posted?
Jeff Sim, 12 4th St.N: The website is a great tool. If we digress to posting our own opinions, it could be a dangerous precedent. It could be slanderous.
Gord, 107 3rd St.S: I strongly disagree. I would love to read anyone’s opinion on the website. We should be able to hear the pros and cons of both sides.
Pam Lucenkiw, 30 3rd St.N: I suggest that the motion be split in half. One vote to attach the letter to the minutes and one vote to attach the letter to the website. Jeff Sim seconded that idea.
John George, 4 4th St.S: Can we amend our website to post a form?
Scott Jordan, 4 2nd St.S: There is a forum to post on the website.
Bruce Hembroff, 53 5th St.S: I thought that I could not post on the website.
Scott Jordan, 4 2nd St.S: Anyone can post on the members forum.
Motion: That Bruce Hembroff’s letter to the Clear Lake Association entitled I think you should know be added to the minutes.
Moved by Bruce Hembroff, seconded by Al Cass.
In favour: 23
Opposed: 27
Defeated.
Motion: That Bruce Hembroff’s letter to the Clear Lake Association entitled I think you should know be posted on the website.
Bruce will withdraw this motion.
Next Meeting: The AGM will be held Sunday, September 5, 2010. The location will likely be the Theatre.
Motion: To adjourn the meeting.
Moved by Bruce Hembroff.
Carried.
The meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Teddi Brown
The above minutes are for informational purposes only and will be approved by the membership at the General Meeting on July 3, 2011.
