Newsletter 2009

The Presidents Message

As we look back on 2008 we see that once again Friends/Amis had an active year. Members participated in a number of environmental, municipal and land use activities.

• Green Day was well attended with a return by Mr. Lapalme
• The Friends/ Amis lake calendars and tote bags were introduced.
• The land use committee presented a position paper concerning lot sizes.
• Members actively participated in the municipal hearing on the amalgamation of the municipality of Sixteen Island Lake into Montcalm and Wentworth North.
• The annual general meeting was held in August.
• Member volunteers assisted with the building of the parking lot wall.
• Lucie Barbeau and Corina Lupu continued the municipal lake water testing program.
• In September Friends/Amis submitted recommendations and discussed with the municipal council areas of greatest concern.

Municipal

Councilor George Calder has worked diligently to re-establish vote by mail for the municipality of Sixteen Island Lake. As a result the provincial government voted to change the election language to permit vote by mail. The language has been prepared and now has to be voted on by the legislature in Quebec. Friends/Amis wrote Mme Nathalie Normandeau, Minister of Municipal affairs and Vice Prime Minister of Quebec and our representative David Whissel to ask for help in getting the legislature to vote on the changes before they leave for summer break. The concern is that if the changes languish over the summer it will be too late for the upcoming fall elections or worse yet will never be brought up for a vote.

Municipal elections are scheduled for November 1st, 2009. In order to participate seasonal residents must be registered at the municipal office. Seasonal residents may have to fill out and return a “formula” in order to vote by mail. Identification will be required to vote. Permanent residents of Quebec require a current Quebec driver’s license. A current Canadian Passport is required for those who are not permanent residents in the province of Quebec. Friends/Amis will keep members posted as developments occur.

A public hearing was held by the municipality in July concerning a petition that was being circulated by some residents. The petition requested that the municipality be amalgamated with an adjacent municipality of either Montcalm or Wentworth North. Friends/Amis submitted a position paper at the meeting that took the position that the Municipality of Sixteen Island Lake should remain as a separate municipality and not be annexed by another municipality. After vigorous discussion by many residents, Mr. Pieter Folmer and Mr. Claude Lemire offered to form an adhoc committee to hold discussions with representatives from both camps. Three meetings were held and a submission with recommendations was made to the Mayor and Council. The primary recommendation was to reduce spending and taxes. As a result of these efforts there no longer appears to be a desire on the part of the petitioners to amalgamate with another municipality.

There had been an extraordinary run up in municipal spending over the previous three years in spite of requests by Friends/Amis for moderation. Then the citizen’s petition for amalgamation sent a message to the administration that was difficult to ignore. As a result the municipal budget for 2009 has been reduced from $798,011 for the 2008 Budget to $642,705 for the 2009 Budget. Some of the one time projects have been paid for and are now completed or soon will be. Additional funding for some projects has been obtained from other government sources. Friends/Amis continues to encourage the council to control expenditures.

In January 2009 a decision was handed down by the Quebec superior court on the Ste. Adolphe d’ Howard case concerning launching boats from private property. The ruling favored the Ste. Adolphe position that launching of boats could be restricted to specific municipal launching points and that launching of boats over private property was not allowed. Over the past few years Friends/Amis has asked the municipality of Sixteen Island Lake to restrict the launching of boats to the municipal launching site. Their response has been that they would wait until a ruling was available from the Ste. Adolphe case. With the courts having ruled in Ste. Adolphe’s favour Friends/Amis will once again request that boat launching be restricted the supervised municipal ramp.

Environment

The 2009 16 Island Lake summer season is not far off. Our lake is changing. We know from the experience of our lake and other Laurentian lakes that our lake is not immune to pollution problems. We know that we must all be stewards of preservation for our lake by following some simple rules:

• Use only phosphate free products
• Keep our shorelines healthy through natural plantings to absorb and balance any toxins
• Ensure septic systems are functioning properly
• Do not over develop the watershed

Environmental statistics in Canada show that approximately 30% of all lake pollution is caused by badly managed septic systems.

Encourage your neighbors and lake residents to become members of Friends/Amis so we are all getting the same message to protect our paradise. It takes years before a lake shows the effects of human activity. Let’s not wait until it is too late.

There will be another Green Day held this summer in July with a focus on environmental tips and composting. Green day was well attended last summer and Mr. Lapalme presented the results to date of the water quality study of the lake. Literature on the lake aquatic systems was distributed and many folks took home trees to plant.

The water quality of the lake will continue to be monitored with water testing thanks to Lucie Barbeau and Corina Lupu.

Congratulations George Calder for the great job of organizing and building the parking lot wall with plant beds. Also many thanks to all the volunteers who donated their hard work building the wall. This spring under the direction of Geoff Cresswell the beds will be planted. The wall will resolve much of the problem of erosion run off from the parking lot into the lake. A second wall is planned for the parking lot this summer and volunteers will once again be required.

Get involved in Friends/Amis lake association

Assess the lake’s health with the CRE web site which you can visit online at: www.crelaurentides.org.
Go to publications, then select English or French for an excellent lake pamphlet, or a shore line plantings pamphlet.

Land use Committee
Friends/ Amis were saddened by the sudden loss of member Bob Wilson. Bob grew up summering at the family cottage on the lake. As a lawyer and an active member of the land use committee, Bob contributed to the preservation of the lake, particularly through his desire to have municipal bylaws that protect the lake and its environment. We offer our condolences to the Wilson Family.

In July the Land use Committee made a presentation to the council as part of a municipal public hearing on revisions to the zoning bylaw. Presentations were submitted by Dave Logan, Bill Meldrum, Vincent Causse, and Chris Campbell. Friends/Amis recommended that minimum size required for municipal lots be increased and that frontage be a minimum of 120 meters. Numerous individual members also spoke at the hearing. At the recent May meeting the council approved changes to the zoning bylaw. We have not received the official changes from the municipality but we understand that the minimum lot dimensions were not increased substantially. For most of the zones the minimum frontage was 50meters (164ft) and has now been increased to 65meters (213ft). The minimum area was 4000 sq m is now increased to 8000 sq m.

The Quebec municipal code requires that to build a residence (cottage) the property must be accessible by road. The MRC des Payes-D’en-Haut at the request of the Municipality of Sixteen Island Lake asked the Quebec Government for an exemption from this requirement. Quebec turned down the initial request for an exemption but said that if there were extenuating circumstances they might reconsider. The MRC held a public hearing at the Sixteen Island Lake municipal hall on April 7th, 2009. Friends Amis sent a submission detailing support for the variance. A number of lake residents also sent letters of support. It is our understanding that at the April MRC monthly meeting one of the municipal mayors on the MRC objected to the request and convinced two more of the mayors to change their minds. The MRC decision on whether to make another submission to Quebec was then postponed until the May 12th public monthly meeting of the MRC. Friends/Amis sent a letter to all the mayors of the MRC explaining the association’s position. Fortunately at their May meeting the mayors voted to support another request to Quebec for a variance. Friends/Amis will continue to follow developments.

The land use committee seeks to preserve the lakes, streams and forests within the Sixteen Island Lake watershed for the future. The first approach is to work with the municipal council to establish bylaws that protect the environment. Laws that have a direct effect on the lake and its ecosystem are constantly being added, deleted or modified by Quebec government, the MRC, the municipality, and the courts. The land use committee responds to these changes as they become aware of them. Position papers are submitted on proposed changes such as the recent public hearings on municipal lot size zoning, the MRC lake roads, and the size of boat houses. The next step will be to recommend changes to existing bylaws or propose new bylaws that offer greater protection. Good bylaws are the important first line of defense in protecting the environment.

Unfortunately bylaws can be changed depending on the personal objectives and agendas of present and future elected officials. However, there is a more permanent solution available to protect the lake and watershed. Establishing land trusts and conservation easements offers an effective method to assure that the land and lake will always be protected regardless of the municipal politics.

Cottages, the lake, and the healthy watershed can be effectively preserved for future generations with trusts. Some lakes in the Laurentians have set up such trusts and there are a large number of trusts throughout Quebec and the rest of Canada. The land use committee would like to introduce the concept of land trusts as a method of long term protection for the lake. Friends/Amis hopes to start a discussion on how land trusts can be an effective way to protect the Lake and watershed over the long term and to provide information and a method to establish a trust for the Lake. For more information visit the Canadian Government website www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/ecogifts. More discussions on land trusts will be forthcoming.

Once again, in 2008 there was excellent support from our community for Friends/Amis. Our membership was up from 2007, ending the season with 110 memberships, representing 200 members. We had more than 20 first time memberships and we hope to continue to see our organization grow in this very important election year.

Your commitment and involvement is very important and we look forward to working together to protect and preserve our beautiful community. Tell your friends and neighbors about us and encourage them to sign up!!
The 2009 membership form is attached to this newsletter for your convenience.

Activities for 2009

• Green day is scheduled at the municipal hall on July 4th at 10:00 AM.
• The 2010 Friends/Amis Lake Calendar by Tim Boswell will be for sale starting in late June. They were a sold out success last year.
• A nature hike up Blueberry Mountain is planned for the youngsters, with their parents, under the direction of Bob Zinck. Look for the date and details on the bulletin boards.
• We would like to ask folks to send us nature photos taken in the Sixteen Island watershed. These photos will be used for the annual calendar. The only requirements are that they be taken within the Sixteen Island Lake watershed or immediate area, that they have a minimum resolution of 6 mega pixels, and that Friends/Amis is permitted to use them. Please contact Tim Boswell or Chris Campbell.

2009 is an election year. Friends/Amis will be keeping abreast of developments and keeping members informed. Consider running for Council or Mayor. Do not delay getting your passport if you do not have one. It takes time.

• Friends/Amis requires assistance with our communications committee.
• Help is needed in translating our newsletters and emails. These are not complicated translations. Friend/ Amis would pay by the page. If you know of anyone who does translating please let us know. We would also like to have a pool of members willing to translate small, time sensitive items. If we have a big enough list, we may only call on you once every year or two.
• Help is needed in setting up a simple web site.

Please contact:
Penny Love [email protected] 450-226-8062 or
Chris Campbell [email protected] 450-226-6727 (lake), 901-527-1582 (home)

Lac des Seize Iles will be holding municipal elections in November, 2009. Our goal is to get everyone to register to vote.

• If you are a resident of Quebec, you will need a piece of provincial identification, such as a driver’s license, to register.
• If you live outside of Quebec, you must have a Canadian passport to register to vote.
• Only Canadian citizens may vote.
• There is one vote per property for seasonal residents. Only the property owner may vote. If more than one person owns the property, you must designate one person to represent your ownership group.

Voting is a right and a responsibility. We urge everyone to be proactive and to help “get out the vote”.

Friends/Amis wishes everyone an active, happy and safe summer!