2001-09 Coordinators Meeting
St. Joseph's Church basement, Kingsbridge.
Introduction
A total of 29 people representing 17 different member beach
associations (of the current 23 total member beaches) were at the meeting.
This is the 3rd planning meeting for the ACLA since our inception just
under 1 year ago as an umbrella lakefront association for both Ashfield
and Colborne. We have made considerable progress over the past year and
there are further opportunities to build on that momentum. The issues will
change over time, but as an organization we have the opportunity to share
experiences and resources, and a greater ability to influence those events
that will impact us.
Contact information (name, e-mail, home and cottage phone #) to help
the approximate 40 ACLA primary contacts to get in touch with one another
on projects and common issues has been distributed separately (since
information not for general circulation).
The next meeting is tentatively planned for April 27,
2002 at the Kingsbridge Church from 10:00 to noon.
Political issues
(Nigel Bellchamber)
A brief to A-C-W Council was made in April. The overall tone was
collaborative and it was well received. See "northwesthuron" web site for
a copy.
A-C-W first 8 months - new Council working well as a team; significant
work by Council/staff implementing amalgamation; some administrative
teething problems (replace new clerk, terminated Treasurer).
A-C-W proposes name change to West Huron Township as of Jan 1, 2002.
Existing ward names would be retained.
Ben Van Diepenbeek running for Huron County Warden for 2002.
Nigel proposed a follow-up brief to Council. Suggestions included:
- Bill 81 effectiveness, nutrient mgmt bylaws
- vandalism Huron Shores, Ashfield, Birch sited as examples
- motorized vehicles on the beach - posting, enforcement, legality
- policing - level of service, additional lighting
- roads- varying issues
- taxes - level of and information
- township web site
- new drinking water regulations
- septic re-inspection program
- 2002 stream testing funding support
- garbage
Communications
Web Site
(Heinz Puhlmann)
- Most attending indicated they have access and have accessed the
website.
- Website and costs have been donated for past year.
- Heinz coordinates update material. Kim Burnett has provided excellent
design/updating support. Meeting agreed we should convey our
appreciation.
- We may be asked to undertake web-site costs (approx $100 per annum)
and design/updating support.
Newsletter
(Dave Cooper)
- In 2001, ACLA issued a comprehensive April newsletter, an August news
bulletin containing several items, and a selection of several e-mail
notes. Note that e-mail distributions are sent as "blind copies" to avoid
our mailing list being inadvertently passed on to others.
- Mid-May and late August agreed as best newsletter timing to suit some
member association meetings and physical distribution of printed
copies.
- A newsletter team of 3 or 4 would help share workload and provide a
wider range of perspectives.
- Beach association coordinators are encouraged to contribute
information.
- Grace Patterson, Green Acres, offered to write an article re dump bin
use for the spring newsletter. Note NO Propane tanks; Amberley store will
take these.
- Nigel Bellchamber volunteered to assume Newsletter as of mid-May 2002
issue.
Annual Summer General Information Meeting
We agreed there was NOT a compelling reason, at this time, to have a
summer general information meeting in 2002. However, we should re-confirm
this at our Spring 2002 Planning Meeting.
Treasurer
(Geoff Walker/Marilyn Karlson)
Geoff has a long association with ACLA (which began as the Ashfield
Lakefront Association from 1982 to 2000). Geoff inherited the job of
Treasurer a few years ago, and asked the group for a volunteer to take
over the role. Marilyn Karlson volunteered and was elected as the new
Treasurer. Two signatures are required on cheques; it was agreed that
Geoff Walker and Heinz Puhlmann would be signing officers in addition to
Marilyn Karlson. We want to thank Geoff for his strong support over the
years, look forward to his continuing participation in the ACLA, and
welcome Marilyn as our new Treasurer.
Geoff presented his Financial Report. In summary, current assets total
$7612, liabilities are $4400 (almost all to cover 2001 stream testing
costs), leaving a carry forward surplus of $3212. Revenues for 2001 came
from a mix of association membership/stream testing contributions, a
number of personal donations to the stream testing program, and a $1500
contribution to the stream-testing program from A-C-W Council.
Seven member associations have not yet forwarded/committed the
suggested 2001 membership/stream testing dues of $10 per paying member in
that association. These dues will help generate the remaining funds still
needed to cover 2002 stream testing costs. A separate reminder notice will
be issued.
Meeting agreed that 2002 membership dues would be $5 per paying member
in each association, and member associations are asked to forward this no
later than June 1, 2002 (to minimize administration, and help with
financial planning).
A budget will be presented at the Spring 2002 Planning Meeting. We
agreed that a working reserve of $1000 be set aside in the budget. This
will ensure funds are available to support decisions that might be made
during the year.
Environment
Stream-Testing
(Mike McElhone)
- Several volunteers completed a total of 15 test sets (5 sets to go).
- Test results are posted on the "northwesthuron" web site.
- An interim brief was presented to A-C-W Council and got their strong
interest and attention (and the above-mentioned $1500 contribution).
- The program and the to-date results have received wide visibility.
A-C-W forwarded a copy of the brief to The Ministry of the Environment,
and Helen Johns. A-C-W included a copy of the study in their Holmsville
presentation to the Bill 81 Standing Committee on Justice and Social
Policy. Mr. Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner for Ontario,
referred to Huron County stream pollution in a recent speech.
- The Maitland Conservation Authority will assess the results after
this years tests have been completed, and issue a summary report in
December.
- Next year the program will begin late April, and may be altered to
focus on a fewer more problematic streams and take additional measurements
upstream.
- Additional volunteers - Bruce Robertson (Shamrock) and Janet Stubbs
(Ashfield).
- It was suggested we ask both A-C-W Council and Maitland Conservation
Authority to include funding support in their 2002 budgets
Bill 81 -- Province's proposed new Nutrient Management Act
(Dave Cooper)
- The Ontario Legislature has convened the Standing Committee on
Justice and Social Policy to solicit public input on the proposed
Bill.
- Both A-C-W Council and Huron County presented at the Holmsville
hearing and hopefully their experience with the issues associated with the
rapid growth of Intensive Livestock Operations, as well as the recent
comprehensive study by Huron County, will be given careful
consideration.
- PROTECT also presented at the Holmsville hearing. The PROTECT
presentation (see web site) describes several key concerns (both Heinz
Puhlmann and Dave Cooper are members of PROTECT).
- OMAFRA has indicated the regulations would follow passing of the
legislation (late this year?), and wouldn't be available until Spring 2002
(April, 2002?)
A-C-W Interim Control Bylaw (the "Moratorium")
(Dave Cooper)
- In June, several members from both PROTECT and representatives from
several different ACLA member beach associations jointly participated in a
half-day feedback review with Scott Tousaw, County Planner, and Ben
VanDiepenbeek, A-C-W Reeve, on a comprehensive Interim Control Study done
by the County on Intensive Livestock Operations and Manure Management.
- Huron County is forming a Working Group, involving some members from
the community, to build a model Nutrient Management Bylaw by year-end
2000. This model could then be considered for adoption by the various
Huron County townships. A PROTECT member will be a part of that Working
Group.
- A-C-W Council is moving forward (in parallel with the County) with
changes to its current Manure Storage Bylaws, with the intent of having a
replacement in place by year-end or early 2002. This schedule means that
expansion of liquid-manure Intensive Livestock Operations could resume in
A-C-W ahead of the new provincial regulations under Bill 81 being in
place. The replacement would result in the interim control bylaw or
moratorium, which has provided temporary protection, being rescinded.
A-C-W Council has promised there will be a public meeting to review the
replacement by-law.
NOTE: One of the issues PROTECT had with the current provisions in
the Province's proposed Bill 81 was that it pre-empted municipal by-laws
in the areas covered by the new provincial regulations. Also there are
questions (no answers) as to how the transition will be handled if
municipal bylaws are superseded, and the new regulations are phased in
over a few years. The net of this may mean it could possibly be an
advantage to have a strong by-law framework in place before the new
provincial regulations come into effect? It is hard to tell right now.
Huron County Health Beach Water Testing
Some data that stands out in the 2001 results:
- From May 15 to July 16, while some readings were above the 100 mark,
Ashfield Beach and Blacks Point showed some consistency at higher levels
(50% of readings at each of these locations above 100).
- From July 23 to Aug 30, 71% of the readings across all 15 beaches
were above 100.
- The 4 worst beaches during that period were Camp Kintail (avg 547),
Ashfield (avg 386), Amberley (avg 300, and Port Albert (avg 258).
People indicate they are using the lake less and less for swimming. No
wonder!
Septic Systems
Mike McElhone indicated any kind of mandatory septic tank
re-inspection program is unlikely in 2002 (by the township or the
County).
The successfull Amberley Beach 2001 septic pumping pilot organized by
Nigel Bellchamber was described. Written material was provided in a
newsletter promoting the economic and environmental benefits of regular
septic system maintenance, a volume discount was negotiated, and a list of
15 volunteer participants was provided to a selected service provider.
Some people missed out and have asked to participate in next year's
program. For more information, other beach associations wanting to set up
such a program can contact Nigel Bellchamber. This is a simple but
effective way for us to illustrate that the lakefront is prepared to
accept its environmental responsibilities.
The Ontario Rural Wastewater
Center provides information on septic systems operations and
alternatives.
Drinking Water Regulations
Several people from the ACLA attended recent MOE sponsored briefings
on this topic. A private consultant conducted the briefing. Many have
reacted that there is confusion about the new regulations and the
"one size fits all" approach is inappropriate. Apparently the
consultants doing the briefing are providing feedback from these sessions
back to the MOE.
Note there is rule that if a well has less than 50,000 liters-per-day
capacity, it may not fall under the new regulations even though it
services 6 or more residences. There has been some confusion around this
interpretation, and the MOE should be consulted as the experts on the new
regulations.
At a recent A-C-W Council meeting, the following costs were indicated.
Capital cost for the new Huron Sands well and distribution system
servicing 48 residences $8500 per residence
($5200 after provincial OSTAR grants). Average sampling and testing
costs for 4 well systems operated by the Township is $18,500 per year per
well. These costs dont include any maintenance. Sampling and
testing are the same irrespective of size. To arrive at a per residence
cost, simply divide the $18,500 by the number of residences on the
well.
According to the newspaper, the MOE was accepting public feedback on
the new regulations until September 30.
Membership
Dave Cooper reported that:
- We currently have 23 member associations.
- All except 1 member association have assigned one or more primary
contacts.
- The size of the e-mail contact network for the distribution of
information is about 250 residences.
- About 400 residences are receiving ACLA information on a fairly
regular basis by either e-mail or printed copies.
- The total potential (including trailer camps) is estimated at about
1000.
The opportunities over the coming year are to:
- Continue the development of proactive primary and backup
Communication coordinators for each member association.
- Maximize the e-mail potential for member beach associations.
- Seek ways to more effectively (cost and time) distribute information
to non-e-mail residences (eg: mailboxes, bulletin boards, buddy system,
regular mail).
- Reduce one-person dependency for central ACLA network coordination
and development (Barbara Foell- Ashfield, and Bob Howison - Bogies offered
to help).
We agreed we should offer the opportunity to participate in the ACLA
to mobile home parks and trailer camps. Note that mobile home park
residents are probably listed as electors, and some trailer park residents
as well (it depends a lot on what kind of lease agreement they have with
the owner). One would expect that these residents would share many of the
same interests as such as environmental protection and drinking water.
Glen Gardiner offered to contact Happy Hollow, Frank Steinbach to contact
McKenzie, and Paul Mason to contact Kintail. Hopefully some interest can
be generated and we we will have some representation from these groups at
our Spring Meeting.
Other
- Personal Watercraft - a petition was available at the meeting for
those that wanted to express their support for a proposed federal Bill
S-26 the Personal watercraft Act.
- Flyers from the Huron-Kinloss Coalition of Concerned Citizens were
made available for representatives to distribute to their members. They
provided an update on the court case which was to begin Oct 15 in London
related to the proposed Geene hog barns. The H-K CCC appreciates the
generous support shown by the many individual members and associations
belonging to the ACLA. They established that further funding of $40,000
would be required to see them through these court proceedings. This will
require a lot of support from a lot of individuals and associations.
Timing is also urgent given the court case is about to begin shortly.
While most of the ACLA funds are committed to the stream-testing program,
the group agreed we should send a donation of $200 to the H-K CCC as
gesture of our support.
- We agreed it could make sense to explore preliminary contacts with
lakefront associations south of Goderich in Huron County. There could be
many shared interests, the opportunity to share experiences, and the
additional strength of numbers may help in dealing with the County or the
Province.
- We agreed these ACLA Planning Meetings were productive, generating
results, and should continue for the time being on a twice-a-year basis.
The group felt late April and mid September were the best times to have
the meetings.
Recorded by Dave Cooper.