Birch Island Property Owners Association
Minutes of Executive Meeting of January 14, 2006
Present Home Cottage E-mail
Orland French President (613)969-8354 359-1074 ofrench@littlebrickbookhouse.com
John Curley VP, Web Master (613)549-1021 359-5085 JohnCurley@sympatico.ca
Alice Howarth Treasurer (613)546-7208 Alice_Howarth9@hotmail.com
Sharron Curley Secretary (613)549-1021 359-5085 Sharron.Curley@sympatico.ca
John Feltmate Director (613)824-1833 359-5831 feltmate@ican.net
Ross Leeder Director (613)591-8788 Leeder.Howarth@sympatico.ca
Regrets
Chuck Laudermilch Director 359-1078 cclauder@ptd.net
Ralph Robertson Past President 359- 5427 ralph.robertson@sympatico.ca
The meeting was held at the Curley’s, 494 Aragon Rd., Kingston and convened at 1:20 pm.
· Minutes of the previous meeting (July 31/05) were approved.
· The action item list was reviewed. See revised action item list for current status.
· Agenda items 1 through 9 were discussed.
1. Reaching the membership and recruiting new members.
All executive are in agreement that this item is our first priority.
Comments were made on the draft brochure and survey. The plan is to
complete these items by April. They will be distributed via mailing to
current members along with the newsletter and also as part of a summer
membership drive along with a “note from the president”. Also of
interest - .Orland has been speaking with Ralph Robertson (who is
stranded on the island currently due to the unseasonably mild weather.)
Ralph feels that the Sand Lake Cottagers Association will likely fold due
to dwindling interest and no one willing to take on leadership.
2. Directors’ responsibilities and divvying up the load
We will try to get additional persons to volunteer in various capacities –
either as directors for items such as membership or simply to assist with
the various activities / action items. Given the size of the current group
we need to be careful not to take too much on.
3. Newsletter and web site.
Orland thanked John for his work on the web site as well as the various
contributors. We should promote the site as widely as possible.
Suggestions for the site included – adding home phone numbers for the
executive, making the survey available online, implementing the bulletin
board feature if possible and ensuring we have an email address on the
site.
4. Banking
The previous executive have signed off and the monies have been
transferred to a new account with TD Canada Trust. Alice, Orland and
Sharron have signing authority with 2 signatures required for any
cheque.
5. Director’s insurance
Will cost in the neighbourhood of $800 to $1200. Orland will follow up on
acquiring the coverage.
6. Property assessments
There were substantial increases in the Ontario property tax assessments
received by cottage owners. Ranging from 40% and up. Some owners
but not all, received reassessments that lowered the figures. It will be
interesting to see how this translates into tax bills. It would be good to
get better statistics/more data on the increases. Also may be worth
looking into WRAFT – Waterfront Ratepayers After Fair Taxation , a
province-wide coalition of 120 lake and cottage associations.
7. Canal 75th anniversary celebrations
Several possible activities discussed but nothing has appealed as yet. It
might be useful to check out the website created by “Friends of the
Rideau” to review suggested celebration activities and for any projects
approved to date. See www.rideau175.org
8. Winter parking on Glover’s road
The county bylaw enforcement officer has said that people can no longer
park at the end of Glover’s road due to winter road clearing needs. Ralph
Robertson has sent a letter (Jan. 13th) to our municipal councilor pointing
out that people have been parking there for 30 years and this has never
posed a problem before. It was suggested that we should petition
council for parking enhancements for this area – there are over 100
cottagers on Sand Lake without road access and this is only 1 of 2
municipal access points on the lake. It certainly would be nice to see
some of our tax dollars at work for our benefit.
9. Signage for Trails
John Feltmate suggested the use of 911/fire numbers be used as the
basis for signage for internal trails. These would be used along with
signs at major trail points showing a lot map of the island with a “you are
here “ designation. John will work with Ross on determining how many
signs this might require.
The meeting ended @ 3:50 pm.
Next meeting will be May 6th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at John and Sharron Curley’s 494 Aragon Rd., Kingston.
See next page for action items.
Ralph Robertson
· Update on winter parking – Glover’s Road.
Orland French
· Acquire Director’s insurance for the association.
· Newsletter for May mailing
· “Note from the President” for inclusion with membership drive material
· Status of boat slips when property is sold? Directors felt that we can only advise persons who may be selling to check first with Glovers and get their assurance they can transfer the slip. Perhaps for mention at the general meeting or as item for web site?
· Approach Sue Cavanaugh/others for vacant position on board – membership director.
· Photo of Chuck for the website
John Curley
· Add home phone numbers for the executive
· finalize online survey
· implement the bulletin board feature if possible
· ensure we have an email address on the site
Alice Howarth
· On going treasurer duties.
· For spring - sample of water from spring & send end for testing
· See if Cindy can do signs on metal
Sharron Curley
· Update and revise brochure and survey. Send out for comments to membership (April)
· Research the coalition of cottage associations concerned with high property assessments (WRAFT).
John Feltmate
· look into possible signage for internal roads and trails (trail committee)
Ross Leeder
· trail committee
· will undertake some clearing of overhanging branches on trails in the spring
· look into Dock carts – where to buy, how much?
Chuck Laudermilch
·
Unassigned
· Status of emergency fire pumper and servicing maintenance bill
· Contact Ken Watson (resident Sand Lake estates) for update on status of Rideau Waterway as a Canadian World heritage site.