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Key Voter information for Oct 27 election!
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Our municipal election is coming up on October 27th. You may not realize this, but even if only one person is listed as the property owner, the spouse can also be registered to vote. It is vital to make sure you are registered to vote! Every vote counts!!! There was a difference of only 16 votes at the last election! Our municipal Clerk of Algonquin Highlands has posted the official registered voters list for Ward 3, and you can find out if you are on it by contacting the township office at (705) 489-2379, the candidates themselves or members of their respective teams. If you reply to this email we can get you in touch with a team member. Please make the effort to ensure you are on the list and, if there are any discrepancies or you need to add a spouse or a sibling, that you fill out the following application: click here. All voting will then occur by mail, and a voter's package will be sent to the mailing address where your property tax notices are mailed.
Marlene Kyle, our current ward 3 council member, Oxtongue Lake resident and business owner is up for re-election. Her opposing candidate is Bob Buckingham.
For those interested in reading up more on the general timeframe of these municipal elections click here.
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On August 15th, the Province of Ontario announced a new billing model for the OPP's contracted police services. The new model will take effect on January 1st, 2015. Policing is often the largest single expenditure in municipal budgets; some cottage-country municipalities (and property taxpayers) will be hit hard by these new changes! The actual effect on our property taxes is still undetermined, and Township Council will have to assess the impact in the overall context of its budget. So despite $40 being a cap over the next 5 years (as noted by the provincial government), it is not reflective of your actual property tax bill, which will be in proportion to your MPAC assessments.
The OPP's announcement, and its potential impact, were on the agendas for both the Algonquin Highlands Council and the County of Halibuton meetings on August 21st and 27th, respectively. For the latest information and press releases, visit the County of Halibuton's website: click here.
The Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Association (CHA) (of which OLA is a member) has also responded click here for their opinion.
You can also visit the Federation of Ontario Cottagers Associations (FOCA) website (of which OLA is also a member) for further information.
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Following our AGM meeting and the significant concerns expressed by the membership over the unsightly and questionable environmental impacts of the leftover construction mess at the bridge, more pressure has been placed on the contractor by the township. Marlene Kyle has had a large role in this. The OLA also sent a letter urging the clean up in advance of the Artists' Day Festival, as has OLAC. Click here for a link to our website with the letter.
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No further progress has been made on the community centre rates. To view the 2014 rates, please click here. These rates will increase again on Jan 2015.
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Algonquin Highlands Council Agendas
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Carol Moffatt, our Reeve, encourages the community to sign up for the Algonquin Highlands Council and County Agendas. Click here for a link to their portal to sign up.
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We are sad to see Gisele Gunderman leave after kick-starting and over-seeing this great program, but we are very pleased to introduce our new Cottage Watch Coordinator: Paul Bailey. Paul, a former York Regional police officer, will bring great background to the position and we look forward to working with him.
We also recommend that this fall you get to know your road coordinators who are dedicated, year-round volunteers helping all of us. This is particularly important for any seasonal cottagers, or residents taking extended trips. And, I am sure they would all love to hear a personal thank you too!
Tom and Julie Smith - Harris Road
Chris and Jan Woods - Harris Road
Liz Lindsay - Windy Point Road
Bill Service - Hwy 60
Alex Cousintine - Elliot Road
Marlene and Doug Kyle - Tom Parris Road
Ken Williams - Tom Parris Road
Joanne and Barry Matthews - Algonquin Outfitters Road
Mimi and Tim Drouin - Oxtongue Lake Road
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Arts and Culture from OLAC
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The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson outdoor exhibit at our community centre is complete! If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, there is no better time than its official unveiling on September 20, as listed in our events section below. Margaret Hall (the daughter of A.J. Casson) will do the official unveiling and the Minden Times included a great article on the importance of the exhibit and the event to our community. Check it out: click here.
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Tim Drouin will make sure those great trails we saw at the AGM are kept in pristine shape this winter. Stay tuned for our winter edition for more information.
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Artists Day Festival & The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson Outdoor Exhibit Unveiling
Community Centre
Sept 20, 2014 11am-4pm
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12:00 p.m. The formal unveiling of the outdoor exhibit, will take place with special guests, including A.J. Casson's daughter, Margaret Hall, MP Barry Devolin, MPP Laurie Scott and other dignitaries.
11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Artists' Day Festival featuring celebrated local artists Elizabeth Johnson, Janine Marson, Mark Reeder, Elizabeth Siegfried, Janet Stahle-Fraser, David Standfield, Rob Stimpson and Brenda Wainman-Goulet:
- video excerpt of the upcoming film "Painting the Wilderness of the Oxtongue" by award-winning producer Bob Hilscher
- personal artifacts from A.J. Casson to the Hayden family
- Group of Seven art activity for kids
- Barbeque
2:00 p.m. A Walking Tour (part of Hike Haliburton) will begin at the Community Centre to site locations where A.J. Casson created some of his works of art. Pontoon boat tours available.
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Home Security Challenge Workshop
Community Centre
Sept 27, 2014 10am-Noon
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Your Cottage Watch Coordinator Team, in collaboration with the Oxtongue Lake Community Centre Committee and the Township of Algonquin Highlands, will be sponsoring the Home Security Challenge workshop. This will be an interactive session facilitated by our OPP Community Partner. During the session you will assess the security level of your home/cottage and what you can do to make it more secure. Please join us!
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Septics - Understanding landowners & their systems
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FOCA is circulating the following survey link on behalf of Green Communities Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to better understand the types of systems in use across the province, how knowledgeable property owners are about them, and what their maintenance practices are. Find the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KXJ8N2K
Results from the survey will be used to help rural Ontario residents protect their property values, water sources, and the environment. Survey participants can enter to win $500 to use on septic system maintenance, effluent filter installation, upgrades or repairs.
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Our name is the Oxtongue Lake Association (OLA)
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Our membership is not limited to property owners and anyone can join, and our name shouldn't seem like that either. A number of years ago it was approved to operate as the Oxtongue Lake Association (OLA) to help change the perception. At the moment our legal name still includes in the term ratepayer, but we hope to change that too. We have flip-flopped a bit with the name in our collective usage, but we want to make sure it's crystal clear for the future and encourage everyone to do so too: We are the OLA!
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Safety First! Did you say a battery can burn down my cottage?!?
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If you missed it at our AGM, Ken Williams, our fire chief, gave an interactive talk on the dangers of storing batteries loose, particularly 9 volt ones. Any metal coming in contact with them can generate a lot of heat and ultimately lead to starting a fire. In a few minutes we were given a hot potato of a battery as we passed it around. So keep those loose batteries out of the junk drawer!
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Not only do we want to strengthen the Oxtongue community through adults, we want the kids to grow up feeling it too. Let's try and keep our kids happy and engaged in lake issues, and keep them coming to the lake year after year. We want them to sign up for these newsletters and help make contributions to it too, so please reply to this email to let us know of any kid/teens that are interested.
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Did you know that six out of seven dwarfs are not happy?
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Welcome 2014 Executive Members
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Each member of your Executive serves a term of two years and is to be voted in when her/her term is up. The following directors were voted in at the AGM: Andrea Armstrong, Brandi Bailey, Jana Zavitz and Rick Linklater. The Executive also thanked Jim Grant, Lori Hollingsworth and John Gunderman for their hard work as they stepped down.
The 2014 Executive is as follows:
- President - Andrea Armstrong
- VP - Scott Hayden
- Secretary - Dave Armstrong
- Treasurer - Brian Lambert
- General - Rick Linklater, John Lawrence, Brandi Bailey, Jana Zavitz and Tom Smith
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Exciting website and newsletter changes ahead...
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This year, we hope to bring some exciting new life to our website. We have begun with our new Quarterly E-Blast, and while there will be some learning curves and tweaks to it, we hope that you will see great value in this. We are excited about the coming change both for you and for us. Thanks to cottager Jodi Ferguson for all the help with this initial E-Blast!
Your photos are wanted too! We would like to have an Oxtongue Lake picture depicting the respective season of the newsletter. Respond to this email and attach any great photos you have. Winter's coming up next...
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Last but certainly not least! If you have not already paid your membership dues, please get in touch with Brian Lambert at brianlambertca402@yahoo.ca. We hope you agree that a $30 annual membership fee is exceptional value protecting your investment, Oxtongue Lake, and your enjoyment of this beautiful lakeside community.
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