Miller Lake Community Group
AGM - 2010

July 2010 Minutes

Welcome:

Barry Walker welcomed everyone to this year's annual meeting and introduced members of the executive.

Barry Walker - President and Treasurer
Barbara Chester - Vice President
George Chester - Secretary
Maggie Vaivods - Executive at Large
Randy Gulliver - Webpage Design and Management
Paul Munday - Past President (absent)

Meeting July 2010 Minutes of 2009:
Minutes are posted on the website millerlake.org, and printed copies were available at the meeting. George Chester can mail a copy to anyone who requests it. Moved by Maggie Vaivods, seconded by Bruce Hunter, the minutes of last year were accepted as written.

Treasurers Report:
Printed copies of the report were available at the meeting. Barry Walker gave an oral summary. Moved by Marni Down, seconded by Bill Shultz, the treasurer's report was accepted as printed. It was noted that membership was declining, causing a drop in income. It was suggested that a mail out membership drive should be considered.

Secretary's Report:
There were no communications to report other than the monthly e-mails from FOCA and a letter regarding re-stocking the lake with Walleye.

Mayor`s Report:
Taxes:
Mayor McIvor gave a summary of this year's budget. The overall tax increase was 3%. The loss of 200,000. from the Provincial government had a 6% impact on the municipal budget. . Information from the County Clerk shows that in spite of this there is only one municipality in the region that pays less tax. They pay $20.00 less per $100,000.00 of assessment.
The Municipality is in a strong financial position with reserves of $4,000,000.00, and no long term debt other than the Lion's Head water treatment plant.
The property taxes are split 40% to the County, 35% to the Municipality and 25% to the School Boards.
There was a question from the floor asking what we get for our taxes. The mayor listed many benefits. He agreed to provide a comprehensive list of benefits at the various levels. These are listed at the end of these minutes.
It was suggested that the list of services be posted on the Northern Bruce Peninsula website.

Council Salaries:
In spite of a recent raise in Council salaries, they are still the lowest paid in the area.

Policing:
Policing costs have remained stable.

Payments in lieu of taxes:
The Federal Government is close to fair value, but the Province is still too low compared to normal tax levels for properties owned by them. These properties are poorly funded and the differential should be rectified. The north end of the Municipality feels that this needs to be addressed.

Waste Management:
The municipality has invested $1.3 – 1.5M on landfill sites and improvement in their management. There is a technical committee at the county level that has suggested our municipality complete a master plan for waste management.  The meetings will be completed in 2010, but the recommendations or actions will be left for the new council.

Meeting July 2010 Dumpsters/Pickup:
The future of the dumpsters is being considered as part of the Upper Tier Waste Management. They think they can improve on the problems. They know bears are a problem, and pickup is being done in bear territory. One solution may be to keep the dumps open later on Sundays, although this may be inconvenient for people in some areas of the Municipality. Some of the problems with the dumpsters include the lack of recycling, people from other areas using them, leaving the doors open or unlocked allowing bears to get at the garbage. A problem with roadside pickup is that cottagers/renters leave on Saturday or Sunday, but pickup in some areas is not until Wednesday.
It was suggested that a camera be installed to monitor the dumpsters. However Bob Beccarea indicated this would be a waste of time and we shouldn't spend a lot of effort on pursuing this. Some people have problems opening the dumpsters, and one doesn't close easily. There should be a sign with directions for opening and closing them. Carole Shultz agreed to draft a flyer of instructions and deliver it.

Improved Website:
The mayor commented that they will continue trying to improve the website.

Hazardous Waste:
There will be a hazardous waste day at the Municipal office on August 14th.

Funding:
Three sand domes have been erected at Lindsay, Tobermory and Eastnor sheds, for $850,000 - 900,000. This was funded 1/3 by the Municipality and 2/3 by the province.
An Information Centre at Ferndale is to be constructed which will include washrooms and an information centre. It is expected to be completed in 3 months.

Committees:
The Municipality is looking for more people, with professional backgrounds, from the community to serve on 6 to 8 committees. One such committee would be involved in Source Water protection.

Doctor Recruitment:
The Municipality was not involved in doctor recruitment until last summer, but there is now a recruitment committee. The committee attends universities to promote our area. It is expensive to entice new doctors to the area, but we now have a new doctor - Dr. Appelton.

Boy Scouts:
The Boy Scouts want to clean up the south end of Miller Lake. The council will co-operate with them on this project.

Comments from the Floor:
Public Access/ Boat Launch areas, especially on Miller Lake Shore Road needs gravel. The main access is very rutted. Also, on Barney's Blvd.
There should be signs at all public accesses. Another picnic table was requested for the south end access.
Notice boards have been erected at some locations for public notices. However there is not one on Tammy's Cove.
The Fire Insurance Underwriters have changed the requirements of Fire Departments. Homes or cottages in any areas where the fire departments do not meeting the new standards will see increased insurance rates. The Fire Chiefs are getting together to lobby against these changes.
Barry Walker closed this section of the agenda by thanking Mayor McIvor for coming and giving us these updates.

Adopt-a-Road:
Maggie Vaivods gave a recap of the road cleanups that occurred in October, 2009 and May, 2010. Roads currently part of the cleanup are Barney's Blvd, Burnett's Dr. and Tammy's Cove. She would like to have a volunteer captain for Miller Lake Shore Road so we can extend our coverage.

Miller Lake Website:
Randy Gulliver gave an update on the changes and enhancements to the website www.millerlake.org . He expressed the view that it is a good centre for sharing information and ideas.

Donation:
Maggie Vaivods noted that we made a $100.00 donation to the Lions Head Hospital fund last year and that we received a note of thanks from the hospital, and from the Municipality for the road cleanup. M. Vaivods proposed a donation to Lion's Head Hospital, but the motion was not carried.

Election:
The following people were acclaimed for the new executive of the Miller Lake Community Group:

President:   Maggie Vaivods
Vice-President:  Randy Gulliver
Secretary:   George Chester
Treasurer:   Randy Gulliver
Also appointed as Water Testing Supervisor: Barbara Chester.
Bob Beccarea and Brenda Pinder volunteered to help with the water testing.

Meeting July 2010 Miscellaneous:
A letter listing the benefits of being a member of the MLCG should be composed and mailed out as part of a membership drive.
It was noted that Eastlink bought out Amtelecom and we are now subject to pre-billing.
The minutes of the meeting should be e-mailed to members, and mailed to Marnie & Arnie Down.
Dyer's Bay association should e contacted regarding Neighbourhood Watch.
It might be more convenient to move the group's Bank Acct. to a closer bank.
The next AGM will be scheduled for July 23, 2011 at 10:00 am.
It was moved by Bill Shultz, seconded by Maggie Vaivods, to adjourn the meeting. Carried. The meeting was adjourned and members retired to the annual BBQ.

County Benefits
As part of his presentation, the Mayor explained the governing aspects of the municipality and outlined where our tax dollars are spent.

The above are some of the core responsibilities of Bruce County Council. The Mayor of the local municipality is the representative at the County Level of government. The County seat is in Walkerton.

Local Municipal Services

The above are some of the core services provided by the local municipality.

Back