If you are signed up to receive emails from the BLPOA Executive, by now, you have received several of them recently to catch up on various communications and to announce that 2020 is going to be an important year for our organization and for every property owner on Black Lake. This website will also become quite active for our members to stay informed on pertinent issues that will be addressed throughout the year and specifically at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) this July.
But first, links are being provided to view our newsletter from last summer and the draft minutes from last year’s AGM.
This edition has the usual material: President’s message, bios of the Directors, material on water levels, finances etc.
In addition, it has a Q&A from Cliff Halliwell on the buoys situation on our lake, and the perennial need for help getting them in and out. This material came from a document that Cliff has prepared documenting why we put out buoys, where we put them, where we source them, how we deploy them in terms of hardware etc. This is part of a background effort to document what your lake association does, to pass on to future members of the Board or other volunteers (or, dare I say it, even just remember ourselves!).
It also contains several pieces from Anita Payne on how we can maintain our water quality through appropriate shoreline and property management. Do not think this is not important: our nutrient loading on the lake is not bad, that is it is below the cut line where we should worry, but typically well above what a ‘pristine’ lake would be. Shoreline management is especially aimed at reducing nutrient runoff. Anita also has a piece reminding us that when we fire off fireworks we are disturbing nature with the noise and, likely much more importantly, depositing a residue of not-so-nice chemicals into our lake.
Planning for the Spring 2020 BLPOA Newsletter is now underway. If there is something you would like to see in it, please let me know. Much better, if there is something you would like to contribute, please let me know. More volunteerism will never be unwelcome at the BLPOA.
2019 Annual General Meeting Draft Minutes
Highlights from last year’s AGM are that the Board of Directors has a new Treasurer, Bruce Brooks. Other than that the Board has stayed the same, with Cliff Halliwell as President. Financially, we are basically breaking even, partly because our membership is under one in five lake owners.
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) reported on our water quality and again the message is somewhat mixed. From the perspective of e-coli, Black Lake is in good shape. From the perspective of total phosphorous, a metric of nutrient loading in the lake, the values oscillate between good (which would be considered a ‘pristine’ lake and (but still below) problematic levels. So, we have to be careful. There is not much ‘headroom’ for additional nutrient loading. More on that soon.
Tay Valley Township is now allowing ‘bunkies’, albeit subject to setback requirements.
The BLPOA Directors will consider whether to drop the P.O. Box, as it costs us the equivalent of 9 memberships, yet only is used for annual dues by one or two people. We will look at e-payment options. Note: We have since done this: dropped the P.O. Box, using one of the Board Members addresses for snail mail (Bill Woodley) and implemented an e-payment option for dues (more on this later).
The issue of buoys was discussed. Quite a few of the original 20 have now been lost, so we cannot mark all the shoals. (That said, the big constraint has always been volunteers to get the buoys out in the Spring and back in by the end of the boating season. More on this later.) The AGM approved buying new buoys, which will be done over the winter.
These minutes will be up for approval at the July 11, 2020 AGM.