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Woods Bay Community Association
NEWSLETTER
WINTER 2015
President’s Report A COLD WINTER: After a record cold February, I was glad to learn that in early March the ice had stopped expanding across the Great Lakes and was already starting to dissipate. On the other hand, after near record ice coverage on the Lakes this winter, the weather has a long way to go before we will all be boating around the Bay. HIGHER WATER LEVELS: Once the ice melts this spring, the one thing we can count on this year is that we will have lots of water for our boating. Forecasts are for water levels to be at least 10 inches higher than last year. This comes after record low water levels only a couple of years ago. Maybe the difference is cumulative lower evaporation including last year’s cold winter and colder, wetter than average summer. Maybe, if –like me – you didn’t loosen your dock anchor chains enough, you will find that your dock has drifted away…. WHAT’S NEXT: Curiously, while we in the Great Lakes basin were having a colder than average summer last year, most of the rest of the rest of the world was having a warmer than average summer. In fact, the planet as a whole experienced its warmest year overall. So, I think I am going to be happy with the higher water levels – even though I have to retrieve my dock from my neighbour’s– because it is unclear to me that these higher water levels are going to be with us for very long. However, the extreme variation in water levels is yet another reason to support the effort of our Georgian Bay Association (and other associations) calling for water level mitigation at the St. Clair River. OFFICIAL PLAN REVIEW: This summer our Township will be continuing its periodic review of its Official Plan. This review was started last summer, will continue this summer, and will conclude in the fall. More information can be found at: http://www.thearchipelago.on.ca/index.php/departments/planning/official-‐plan-‐review Through conversation with other neighbouring associations, civic officials and our councilors, I gather that the general view is that our Township has a strong and well-‐crafted Official Plan that does not need much change at this time. It is my guess that the formal review will find this to be the case. This is not to say that there is not some room for improvement: if you have any places where you would like to see changes made, please bring them to the attention of your Association Board we can try to help make the case with you. MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS: Membership renewal notices went out in February and we encourage you to respond promptly –as we plan to produce the Membership Directory in May this year –so it can be used throughout the season. If you have lost your Membership Renewal Form, or if you did not receive one, or if you have a neighbour who needs one, please email us at: [email protected] YOUR ASSOCIATION NEEDS YOU: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being members of your community association. Every member makes our community stronger and our collective voice on the Bay stronger. Your Board has been actively trying to increase membership over the past year and has had some modest success -‐ but we really need your assistance. Please let us know the names and contact information of any of your neighbours who are not already members so that we can provide them with information. SUMMER PLANS: Finally, there is another year of fun, social and informative events planned for 2015 that you can learn about in this Newsletter. We hope to see you out this summer! Richard Crouch WBCA President MINUTES of the Woods Bay Community Association Board Meeting Saturday, October 11, 2014, at Richard Crouch’s cottage B273-‐21 Island In Attendance: Richard Crouch, Carol McCron, Julia Webster, Jamie Crichton, Sue McPhedran, Karen Phillips, Robin Flumerfelt The meeting was called to order at 9:19 am Approval of minutes: Director’s meeting, August 16, 2014; minutes were approved by the board committee Membership: Financial target of 72 members has been met, however discussion was held around how we can continue to increase membership. Committee felt that exposure was of prime importance. Ideas put forward were: Ø WBCA welcome package given to new home owners through Real Estate agents Ø Web site to promote membership Ø Work to create a Facebook page Ø Yearly “welcome event” to encourage non-‐members to join Outcome: o Plans were made to create a Facebook page that might include: presidents welcoming letter WBCA goals / what we are / what we do membership information past and current newsletter contact info / email will be through Woods Bay email account wall to post comments upcoming events buy and sell “Welcome Event” Wine and Cheese: Board member will map current membership to see where we could concentrate on areas in the Bay to promote new members Newsletter: Discussion was held around Fall newsletter. Fall newsletter has been sent and mailed – due to file size, some emails bounced back Outcome: o Will reduce the file size o Members who did not receive newsletter will be sent another copy with either reduced size format or mailed out. o In future, newsletters to all members will be sent out as bcc so email addresses are kept private. CAP Discussion was held around training of new CAP volunteers. Outcome: o Due to current CAP Fire Pump volunteers being unavailable to train new volunteers this fall, they will continue to be serviced by current CAP volunteers o Training of new volunteers will take place in the Spring Goals and Objectives for 2014-‐15: Official Plan Review: o Richard sent out email – there was almost no response from members o Official Plan review is available in Board’s Google drive o Moon river zoning concerns – not ideal for water front properties; possible dredging; a development plan has been filed; notified people within a km of site o Write letter to Ted Christie as he made the comment about the “natural state” -‐ send it to the developer – what is the law around this natural state? If possible, do this before the election. Health units / water quality testing Discussion was held around communal cottage drinking water testing and local water sampling Outcome: o Communal drinking water sample testing will be offered to members o Recognition of water testing work by Denny O’Hare over 7 years, as the WBCA’s representative in the Township’s water quality monitoring program. o Board member volunteered to continue Water testing role –will try to get more info about what info the results give us about the quality of our Bay water. Social events Discussion was held around summer social events Outcome: o Travelling dinner will be continued due to sustained interest o Family Triathlon – Run, swim, canoe -‐ long weekend in August Meeting adjourned at 10:55 Next director’s meeting will be at Julia Webster’s home in Erin – date TBA MINUTES of WOODS BAY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING Saturday, February 28, 2015, 9:00am – 11:00am at Julia Webster’s house 9355 Wellington Rd. 50, Erin In Attendance: Richard Crouch, Julia Webster, Jamie Crichton, Sue McPhedran Via conference call: Carol McCron (Regrets: Robin F.) The meeting was called to order at 9:10 am Approval of minutes: Director’s meeting, October 11, 2014; minutes were approved by the board Financial report §
The Treasurer provided a financial report as follows: WBCA had bank balances as of December 31, 2014 as follows: Operating Account $3,412.33 and CAP Account $7,748.30. There are no outstanding accounts payable for 2014, however there is an accounts receivable of $225.00, which is expected to be collected by April 30, 2015. § A proposed budget for the operating fund was presented, which is based on a target of 78 memberships (2014 -‐ 72 memberships) with membership fees maintained at the $75.00. GBA fees will remain at the $45.00 per member threshold for 2015, with additional fees to GBA of $4.50 per member for GBA newsletters. § WBCA membership fees will be reviewed for the 2016 fiscal year. § A budget for 2015 CAP expenditures will be discussed at the spring meeting of the WBCA board following input from the CAP volunteer group. The Treasurer moved acceptance of the 2015 budget (see Appendix 1), and the vote was carried. Membership update §
Discussion was held around this year’s new membership form and the board’s continuing membership drive. Outcome: § Revised membership form has been sent out to all existing members that includes an opportunity to give feedback on issues they would like our board to address § Membership directory will be issued in May § E mail blast sent to former members to encourage renewing membership § Township map has been marked with existing members – board will encourage non-‐
members through direct contact with a welcome package in June § Target one area of the bay with a Wine and Cheese event in July for members to bring a non-‐member guest Newsletter Discussion was held around the timing and submissions for the newsletter. Outcome: § Submissions to newsletter sent by March 13 § Newsletter to be out by March 20th CAP Discussion was held around volunteer training Outcome: § Current and former CAP volunteers will train new volunteers in the Spring to help manage and maintain pumps in the Spring and Fall Health units: Water quality monitoring Discussion was held around the projects concerning water quality monitoring Outcome: § Township planning dept. was contacted – they are currently outsourcing all of their monitoring – Georgian Bay biosphere is picking it up § Contact name: David Bywater – currently reviewing existing program and planning a survey to reach out to associations and volunteers to better understand the needs and concerns § Board member will meet with David to get some future direction on monitoring projects GBA News §
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Annual Spring meeting will be replaced by a seminar on Fragmites: April 25 th: You must be registered to attend and space is limited. Register through the GBA website at www.georgianbay.ca. GBA Annual General Meeting: March 28 in Toronto Official Plan Review Discussion was held around member interest in the Official Plan Outcome: §
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Local councillors and neighbouring associations in the Georgian Bay are, at this time, are all satisfied with the Official Plan as it stands and expect that the review will not involve much change. Next to none of our members has expressed any interest to pursue the review any further at this time. Board will seek official clarification of what “natural state” means As well, concern about development up the river has been expressed FOMP Update Discussion was held around status of FOMP, Calhoun Lodge, and FOMP future plans Outcome: §
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Mission statement for FOMP is being drafted June 27 – FOMP to initiate Moon Island Trail cleanup Signage for all 3 trail heads is moving ahead Calhoun lodge – need to have a close look at the realities of stabilizing the buildings for functional use Meeting adjourned 11:07 Next director’s meeting date: TBA (in May) Do you remember….the old Moon River bridge? Sue McPhedran It’s been several years now, since the old Moon River bridge on Hwy 69 was replaced during the expansion of the Hwy 400 corridor. For close to 50 years, that bridge was a landmark, welcoming motorists to the lakes drained by the Moon River, that empties into Georgian Bay just upstream from Woods Bay. But even before that bridge was the ’Ghost Section of Hwy 103’. Never heard of it? Well, back in the late 1950’s, the Moon River bridge was supposed to have been built in another location. “You’ve never heard of the Ghost of old 103? It’s where the Moon River bridge was supposed to go. Hwy 69’s official number was 103. Contractors built almost two kilometres of road bed, only to get a scare of their own: the crossing site wasn’t suitable for construction. As the 1957 Department of Highways annual report says ‘after extensive soil testing and investigation at the Moon River crossing, it was decided to relocate the approaches .’ Work shifted about 100 metres downstream, and crews started all over again. Road engineers probably still tell the tale around campfires after the kids have gone to bed. The result is an abandoned right-‐of-‐way complete with graded surfaces, rock cuts, even concrete culverts still visible through the undergrowth. ‘It’s not everyday you see a road where it’s practically all built and then abandoned like that,’ says Cameron Bevers, an amateur highway historian who has photos of the ghost road on his website, www.thekingshighway.ca Now the Moon River bridge is slated to go the way of 103, replaced by twin precast concrete structures nearly 2.5 metres wider and less susceptible to road salt damage. To be finished in 2008, the new spans are designed to last 75 years, about three decades longer than the existing bridge’s time in service. Still, the new bridges’ clean lines lack the charm of the old riveted metal. By this time next year, cottagers will still drive past the ghost of Old 103 and over the Moon River, but they won’t be crossing in quite the same style” (Excerpt taken from a 2007 edition of Cottage Life magazine.) The Georgian Bay “Scoot” The Georgian Bay “Scoot” Sue McPhedran By the 20th century, the lumber industry was becoming increasingly less important to the local economy. Communities along the Georgian Bay coastline adapted by becoming year-‐round residences for homesteaders and those who were employed to maintain and supply summer properties, camps and lodges. Properties accessible only by boat were able to be reached while the water was open, but once ice appeared, access became a challenge. Within the 30,000 islands, the many channels and narrows might only freeze completely in the coldest winters, so an alternate means of travel was needed. “The precursor to the scoot was an air sled designed by French River resident Reg McIntosh (1903–1985). He used a toboggan-‐shaped sled with a motorcycle engine to drive a homemade aircraft–style prop. He celebrated when his dream toy scooted across the ice, but nearly died when he unintentionally hit open water and sank his weighty sled. But the potential was released; now it had to be modified to perfection”. (Ned Morgan, “Scooting Across the Bay”, Mountain Life, January 2014) The aim of the early designs was to have a water craft that could be propelled across ice, across ice ‘that couldn’t be trusted’ or when floating masses of ice made travel by boat too dangerous. Below is a photograph of the earliest scoot designed and built in the Woods Bay region by Malcolm Dion. This scoot used a Harley Davidson motorcycle engine and was eight feet long and four feet wide. The hull was built of lumber, with the bottom covered with galvanized metal. The wide-‐bladed wooden prop was carved by hand. Malcolm Dion of Moon River Scoots were hand-‐built by the people who likely drove them. The builders would use whatever materials and tools were available to them at the time, so lumber, old angle iron, castaway bed frames, and assorted metal piping was put to good use. If things went wrong, there was no local service station to provide new parts. The scoot builders were independent, industrious and self-‐
reliant inventors. Prior to the days of cages, there were accidents related to the invisibility of the propellers when moving at high speed – sometimes with tragic results. The freedom to travel regardless of the conditions could also spell misfortune and strand drivers in remote locations. While there has been some mention made that scoots were merely adaptations of the Florida airboat, it has been stated that, while the scoot uses the same principle of propulsion, the scoot actually predated and was designed independently of the first airboats. For more information on the development of this unique method of winter transport, you are encouraged to read: Flying Low: a History of the Georgian Bay Scoot by Daniel Marchidon ___________________________________ 2nd Annual Wine and Cheese Event a.k.a. WBCA membership drive Sue McPhedran To get the 2014 summer season off to a great start, the WBCA board hosted a Wine and Cheese Party at Julia Webster’s cottage last July. Prior to this, board members prepared and delivered packages to non-‐members and new property owners, letting them know about the WCBA, the GBA and the great reasons to become members of our Community Association. Included in the package was an invitation to attend the Wine and Cheese, to meet their neighbours and to learn more about the WBCA. The event was a success and we made the decision to host a similar event every year, but to move it “around the Bay” to make it accessible to all. The event this year will be hosted by Peter and myself, July 4 from 4-‐6pm on Woods Bay Lane. Members on Woods Bay Lane, Grisdale’s Rd., Sunset Point Rd and the neighbouring islands will be sent a message closer to the date, where they are invited to attend and to bring neighbour(s), who are not members of the WBCA. Celebrating -‐ Denny Hare -‐ A Member of WBCA Board of Directors for 10 years! We asked Denny to share his thoughts on his years on the Board – here is what he shared with us (a modest man -‐ as always): In July of 2004, I joined the Woods Bay Association as a Director when the meetings were held in Tilley's garage on Sunset Point Road and Werner Wichmann was President. In 2007 I began doing the "water quality monitoring" for the Township of the Archipelago in the Woods Bay and North Moon Channel, which I took over from Glynn Jones who was Association President at that time. I continued to do this important job until September 2014 when it was passed over to Sue McPhedran for the 2015 season. In 2007 Bruce Mortensen was elected President. During his presidency in 2008 and 2009, as part of changes requested in the Township's Official Plan, a Neighborhood Study was done in Woods Bay and meetings were held with area residents at Moon River Marina. There were many topics discussed about what the area residents wanted to see in their community and a couple of the top of the list topics were "to amalgamate Woods Bay and North Moon Channel to make one community" and "give the new community a name" and "apply to the Province to make a new Ward in the community to allow for local representation on Council". In 2009 Keith McCron started to petition the local community about having a "fire boat" which could assist in putting out cottage and bush fires in and around Woods Bay as well as assisting in emergency medical situations. This then evolved into the entity known today as C.A.P. (Community Assistance Program) with Keith as its Director. The C.A.P. program is manned by volunteers. Keith and I provided courses to the local residents on how to operate the fire pumps and equipment. I took over as CAP Director in 2011 when Keith resigned from the position. It was realized that fire fighting equipment would be needed along with a place to store the equipment and so fire pump boxes were built by myself, Bob Beatty, Aime Dion and Bill Keith and then the boxes were moved to some strategic properties in and around the Woods Bay area. These boxes were then stocked with pumps and equipment provided by the WBCA and some property owners. Today there are nine fire boxes located throughout Woods Bay and surrounding areas. I was elected Vice-‐President when Lisa McCron was President and continued in that position when Richard Crouch was President until 2014 when I resigned as a Director. I enjoyed all of the years that I was on the Board of Directors with the WBCA and know that the new Directors will continue to do an exemplary job for the Woods Bay Community Association. . Denny Hare: rolling up his sleeves to get the job done! Thanks for all you’ve done for the Woods Bay Community Association, Denny July on Georgian Bay 2015
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1 Canada Day 2 parade Thu
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3 4 New Members Wine and Cheese 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 FOMP AGM (and celebration of trail signage) Moon Island docks WBCA Community Dinner 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Festival of WBCA Annual the Sound General Meeting starts: Parry Sound 20 19 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 ICFC Art Sale August on Georgian Bay
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1 WBCA Family Event 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11 12 13 14 15 See the Bay with Island Civic holiday Queen cruises Canada 9 Festival of the Sound 10 ends: Parry Sound 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31