As the holiday
season approaches, I wanted to send you a few words and to wish you a very
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2012. Happiness, health, peace, and success to you
and all members of your family.
MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
I take this opportunity to inform you of
the new developments which have taken place since my last letter. I can confirm
that the members of the Executive Committee were very busy in September and
October as they met the mayors of
Bouchette and Ste-Thérèse to discuss, among other matters, the drainage of ditches
and creeks which flow into Grand Lac Rond, the septic tanks around the lake,
and the stabilization of the water levels. A meeting was also held with our
local MNA, Stéphanie Vallée, to ask
for her support in several of our initiatives, notably the stabilization of the
water levels, the bylaw RCI 2009-206 and also to verify the possibility of
benefitting from a grant. We also met the warden
of the MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, Pierre Rondeau, concerning the interim
control by-law 2009-206. A lot of correspondence also resulted from these
meetings.
DECISIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Your Executive Committee
met three times since the beginning of September to coordinate the transfer of
powers, to confirm the nomination of members of the Executive, and to change
the postal address of the Association. In the interest of transparency and
honesty, we have adopted a resolution which states that in future, two signatures will appear on cheques issued
by the Association – that of the president and the treasurer – whereas in the
past the president was authorized to sign cheques by himself. This measure is
to demonstrate our willingness to gain the complete confidence of our members.
We have proceded to
share responsibilities within the Executive as follows – R. LeSage :
communications with senior officials and the media, RCI 2009-206; J.
Lépine : treasurer; M. Lukyniuk : water levels, French-English
translations; R. Ducharme : water quality; B.
Paul : septic tanks.
Other measures were
taken to control spending :
1- It was decided that the reimbursement for travelling for
members of the Executive (at the rate accepted at the annual meeting on August
28, 2011 at 40 ¢/km) will be reimbursed only for travel outside our region. Travel to Maniwaki,
Gracefield or in other neighbouring municipalities will not be reimbursed.
2- We also wish to
limit the costs of printing: documents will be sent to you only in your language of choice and not
in both languages as in the past. This is why it is important to indicate your
preferred language of communication in your membership registration form.
3-
We have also abolished
the membership card which, in our opinion, did not have any use since it
was issued before membership fees were paid. Again, this is to save money in printing costs.
4- In attempting to
economize, we are considering the possibility of sending information bulletins
only by email for those members who are on the internet, and by post
to members without internet service. We
would appreciate your comments on this matter. If we proceed in this fashion,
it will be important for all members to send us their preferred email
addresses.
NEW OFFICIAL SITE OF THE ASSOCIATION
Since we were not able to gain control of
the old internet site owned by André Patry, we have established another form of
communication on the internet with our members. Through the work of one of our
directors, Michael Lukyniuk, we are happy to confirm the existence of a web
blog which will henceforth be the official site of the Association :
We find this new blog to be very
interesting as it doesn’t involve any cost to the Association, and it permits a
greater interaction between the Executive and its members. If you click on the
word ‘comments’ under each message, you can enter a comment or suggestion in a
form which will be sent to us. I invite
you to add this blog to your ‘favorites’ in order to consult it from time to
time. The French version of the blog is
available when you click on ‘version française’ on the first page to the right
of the photo. We certainly intend to keep you informed of all news or decisions
concerning the Association.
FISH STOCKING
The Executive Committee adopted a
resolution to set aside $3,000 for the stocking of pickerels. However, since
the stocks of our provider were depleted in the autumn of 2011, the stocking of
fish will only take place in the autumn of 2012 under the careful supervision
of Brigitte Bourgeois and Pierre Martin. It may have been possible to obtain
small 1 – 2 inch pickerel this upcoming spring, but since they would have been
very fragile, our preference is to wait until the autumn when we can get four
inch pickerels.
STABILIZATION OF WATER LEVELS
Following the adoption of a resolution at
the annual meeting on August 28, 2010, I have transmitted a letter to the
Director General of the Centre
d’expertise hydrique du Québec, Mr. Yvon Gosselin, accompanied by a report
prepared by Michael Lukyniuk (this report is available on the new blog of the
Association). The purpose of the correspondence was to ask the Centre to
consider modifying the procedures for opening the dam at Lac 31 Milles in order
to reduce the negative effects it has on the water levels of Grand Lac Rond.
Copies of this letter and the report were also sent to Mr. Pierre Arcand
(Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks), Mrs. Stéphanie
Vallée (MNA for Gatineau), Mr. Réjean Major (Mayor of Bouchette), Mr. Roch
Carpentier (Mayor of Ste-Thérèse) as well as to the President of the
Association for the Protection of Lac 31 Milles, Mr. Denis Lacroix.
In October, Mr. Gosselin replied stating
that the Centre would study the situation. We intend to follow-up and continue
our efforts on this dossier.
RECRUITMENT OF NEW MEMBERS
Last October, the Executive Committee
decided to hold a recruitement campaign in the spring of 2012. The Association
is now composed of 110 members, whereas there are approximately 360 property
owners on the lake. Therefore, a team of volunteers will do a door-to-door
visit to invite residents to join the Association. In the meantime, I’d
encourage everyone to begin by speaking to their neighbours and friends around
the lake so that they understand why it is important to have a strong
Association which can defend the views and interests of its members.
GRATITUDE TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
We wish to thank Suzanne Lannigan and
James Frederick who have agreed to continue testing the water in our lake for
clarity and coliforms, as well as to the persons involved in the RSVL program
(Réseau de surveillance volontaire des lacs) who will analyse the level of
phosphates in our lake.
Thanks to Brigitte
Bourgeois and Pierre Martin who continue to manage the stocking of pickerel in
our lake.
Our gratitude also
goes to Jim Chevrier who continues to maintain the pedestrian trail, the
outlook, and other tasks associated with these projects.
We are privileged
to be able to count on the devotion of these volunteers who do not hesitate to
work for the good of our Association.
FUTURE
PROJECTS
We are planning to
organize a social activity during the summer, which can take one of the
following forms: a golf tournament, a BBQ supper, amateur contests with prizes,
social games, etc. I invite you to make some
suggestions and I hope that a large number of members will participate. This
sort of activity will allow us to get to know one another and to socialize in a
harmonious climate. Depending on the wishes of members, we could also organize
a fishing day for youngsters which is subsidized by the Quebec government. It
goes without saying that these projects require the participation of several
volunteers, so we encourage you to let us know if you are available to
contribute to these projects. Your suggestions will always be welcomed.
In closing, I hope
that you have found the above information to demonstrate the dynamic of your
Executive, and its willingness to work with local organizations in order to
ensure the best quality of water in Grand Lac Rond and the health of its
cottagers. Please do not hesitate to share your comments with us.
Happy Holidays!
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