Agenda
Annual General Meeting - Online via Zoom, August 22, 2020, 10:00 am
Mandate of the association: “to promote, protect and preserve the quality of Lac Notre Dame and Usher Lake and the watershed environment of the Lakes to ensure their continued use and enjoyment by all”.
Constitution of the meeting - quorum based on registered members
Lisa Fast, president, opened the meeting.
By the time of the meeting, 40 members had paid their membership fees. 24 members joined the online meeting. Quorum requires at least 25% of members be present - so quorum was reached. Bylaws require that only members who’ve paid the $10 fee can vote.
- Update: by September 7th, 62 lake households paid for memberships - twice as many as last year - and $170 of donations was collected.
Move to open the meeting by: Lisa Fast
Seconded by: Dave Hayward
Approval of previous year’s minutes
Minutes of the 2019 Annual General Meeting meeting were approved.
Moved by: Robert Boucher
Seconded by: André François Giroux
Approve agenda for 2020 meeting
- Financial report - D. Hayward, Treasurer
- Water Testing and water levels report - L. Fast, President
- Board report on 2019-2020 - L. Fast
- Boat launch committee report - M. Desrochers, President Bishop’s Manor Association
- Current board and election of new board members - L. Fast - Treasurer needed
- Members Open Issues
- Develop and vote on proposed program for 2020 -2021
Moved by: Lisa Fast
Seconded by: Robert Boucher
Financial Report
Presented by Dave Hayward, treasurer for the fiscal year 2019 - 2020
Summary:
- At the end of our financial year on June 31, 2020 - there was $4,776.31 in the Association’s bank accounts at Desjardins
- $1,701.36 in Chequing, $3,074,95 in Savings and 163.44 in outstanding cheques/payments
- Income for fiscal year was $454.72
- $320 from 32 memberships, $24.72 interest and $110.00 in donations towards water testing
- Expenses were $1230.70
- Minor: $75 for Rupert Hall rental, $74.82 for web hosting, $35 for Entreprises Quebec registration, and $35.40 for bank fees.
- Water testing: $1,010.48 - covers 2018 and 2019 water testing as the payment of $539 for 2018 was delayed.
Move to accept Treasurer’s report: André François Giroux
Seconded by: Robert Boucher
Your membership fees support the following:
- Water testing approximately $600 per year
- Buoys and signs (not every year)
- Awareness - tip cards (not every year)
- Reserve funds to prepare for potential invasive species or milfoil surge; consultation with experts like ABV-7
- Quebec non-profit corporation fees ($35/year)
- Domain name and hosting fees for the web site ($40.00)
Water testing report
Water testing report presented by Lisa Fast
- Thank you to Carole Doré for her continued volunteer work on water testing. Water testing samples were collected August 10th. Samples from Usher and another sample from Location 6 near Des Generation were collected August 26th.
- The annual Water testing report is updated with detailed test results within a few days of when we receive them. Brief summary here:
- At Lac Notre Dame: Phosphorus, nitrogen and e-coli levels are all highest at location 6 off Ch. des Generations - ask your neighbours in that area not to use fertilizer, to naturalize their shoreline to keep geese away or use goose barriers, to ensure their septic systems are properly maintained, and to use phosphate-free cleaning products. A retest later in August showed e-coli down to more normal levels, although still higher than elsewhere in the lake.
- At Usher: Results are normal at all locations except Location 11 where e-Coli is at unsafe levels and nitrogen, and phosphorus are also high.
Water level report
- In 2019, the board agreed to develop a better understanding of the changing water levels and the interaction with milfoil growth (high water levels tend to reduce milfoil) and water quality (high water can cause erosion & nutrient input, and risks septic contamination).
- Water levels were extremely high in early June, lawns were flooding at Ch. Des Generations, Lac Bernard Association also was complaining. Outlet was cleared of debris and levels dropped 30 CM or more over a week. They then rose again over the summer with heavy rain, so that in mid-August, they are higher than in mid-August 2018 and 2019.
- Marcel Hunton reported that he has seen beaver activity at the outlet- we agreed that the board needs to develop a water level plan for the outlet, including what to do about beavers since it is private property.
- Lisa began tracking water levels in photographs, understanding historical levels and capturing levels in greater detail here: Water level report
Board report on program that had been planned for 2019-2020
- The Pandemic disrupted our program, delaying the return to the lake for many of us, and generally making things more difficult.
- Develop a Blue Green Algae prevention and action plan to understand, prevent and prepare if it appears (for example, add Dissolved Organic Compound (DOC) test to water testing suite) - Investigated how to test for Blue Green Algae and discussed testing issues with other lake associations. Added DOC to testing, and DOC results for 2020 are good, similar to Arctic Lakes, according to biologist. Also same range as in 2005, indicating lake has not progressed in eutrophication. We may only test this every few years given lack of change over last 15 years.
- Suggestion to investigate and prepare a hand-out/tip sheet about fire pits, and handling of ashes. We did not complete this action, due to the pandemic.
- Met with the other lake associations of La Peche to discuss milfoil actions. Agreed that an all-of-La-Peche sign and hand-out approach is preferred to the many different signs and messages around the lakes - two members will be applying for a grant to do this.
- Other lakes have had severe milfoil mats over the last few years (Gauvreau in particular) - we shared water testing results and ideas for cutting. La Peche retained ABV-7 to study the interaction of boats and milfoil spread. The report is available online at villelapeche report
Move to accept the board and water testing report: Robert Boucher
Seconded: André François Giroux
Boat launch update - M. Desrochers, President, Bishop’s Manor Association
About a third of property owners on Lac Notre Dame are also members of the Bishop’s Manor Association. Bishop’s Manor association members pay dues for road maintenance & other subdivision activities per the deeds of their property.
Marc Desrochers, President, joined the meeting to report that the Bishops’s Manor Association has (re)purchased property along the causeway on Ch. du Manoir from the municipality. Ch. Du Manoir was previously part of Bishop’s Manor private road system, but it became a public road in 2009. Marc has applied for a permit to use the property as a private boat launch. The Municipality required an environmental assessment as part of the permit process. A biologist performed the assessment in July, and a permit may be approved in September. Marc hopes to have a functioning launch area for the fall boat removal with a fence and gates.
Marc’s intent is that all property owners on the lake, and Bishop’s Manor Association members, will have access to the launch in spring and fall via some kind of combination lock. It was acknowledged that some people from outside the lake do circumvent the current concrete blocks and put boats in for the day. A gate and fence will hopefully prevent that kind of day-access, and thus prevent the entry of further invasive species like zebra mussels and freshwater jellyfish.
Meeting participants agreed that communication and education about boat washing, wakes, and avoiding milfoil areas should be part of access to the boat launch. We agreed to add this education/communication to our Lake Association projects for this winter. Marc will keep in touch via email about the Bishop’s Manor Association boat launch. We agreed to use the email list and website for communication about the launch, while making it clear that the launch is neither owned or operated by this lake association.
Update September 26: Marc tells us he continues to work through the many levels of the municipality’s permit process.
Current board and election of new members
The Board meets 3-4x times per year plus the AGM.
Changes, new board members and resignations:
- Dave Hayward no longer wishes to act as Treasurer but will remain on the board.
- New: Bryan Watkinson offered to rejoin the board.
- New: Don Herweyer offered to join the board.
- New: Brian Cook offered to join the board as treasurer.
- Lisa Fast, President (elected July 2018)
- Robert Boucher, Vice-president
- Erin Jamison (Usher Lake representative)
-
Marie Maisonneuve
- André François Giroux will be out of the country for 4 years, so offered to either remain on the board if needed or resign for that period. Since there are new members, we accept his resignation and wish him bon voyage!
- Danielle Doré resigned from the board but will continue to do the buoys, and assist with education & memberships. Thank you Danielle!
Moved by Lisa to add Bryan, Don and Brian as new members of the board, and to have Brian Cook take on the treasurer role. The motion was approved - 21 votes for Yes - 0 No.
Members open issues
- Bryan Watkinson - concerned about calcium road spray seeping into the lake, especially on the stretch of Manoir on the south side of the lake where the pumping station is. The road is very close to the water there.
- John Calvert is interested in whether other lake owners already have or would be interested in purchasing aerial photos of the lake. Shelagh responded that she does have an aerial photo - purchased from https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/maps-tools-and-publications/satellite-imagery-and-air-photos/air-photos/national-air-photo-library/9265
- John is also interested in the history of the lake.
Proposed Association program for 2020-2021
- Plan for replacement buoys. 2 of the flagged buoys that identify why the buoys are there were lost in 2018 - we should plan for replacements. Carolle Peras also suggested that more buoys should be added to protect other areas. Carolle has offered to help with applying for a grant over this winter if one is needed.
- Lisa added that with the growth in paid members this year, we may be able to access additional funding from the municipality that is specifically for lake associations and is based on the number of members.
- The board will develop and agree on a water level strategy - adopt some indicators/signals, find out what we can do about beavers on private property at the outlet. Marcel H. reported that beavers are active in that area, although as of Sept 7, water levels seem to be staying at the same level as mid-August. John C. suggested perhaps we can install a pipe under the beaver dam with beaver baffles like the NCC does. Don H. added that pipes like that can work but need regular maintenance. This will require significant research and discussions with the property owner and municipality if we were to move forward. So lots of work to do on this issue.
- Boater lake education action plan - we agreed to focus this year on educating boat owners about their role in maintaining a healthy enjoyable lake. Members suggested reduced wake zones, speed limits and avoidance of the buoys.
Moved by Lisa Fast
Seconded by Marie Maisonneuve
Move to adjourn at 11:26 am
Moved by Lisa Fast
Seconded by Marie Maisonneuve