Steering Committee planning meeting 2007-09-29

Eight of the nine members of the Steering Committee met at the Port Albert Inn, 09:00-11:00, to review ACLA's mission and accomplishments, discuss items of general concern, and establish priorities and plans for action.

present: Jim Baird, Nigel Bellchamber, Judy Crawford, Mike McElhone, Joel Rochon, Beth Ross, Robert Stephenson, Roger Watt

absent: Eric Holmes

Mission statement re-affirmed

ACLA's mission is to co-ordinate advocacy on common concerns of the lakeshore community.

This wording resulted from much discussion at the 2003-09 Communications Coordinators meeting. It reflects the volunteer-driven manner in which ACLA operates. We do have an administrative structure that incurs expenses, and we rely on the enthusiasm and expertise of those who care enough to lead the way.

ACLA's top two priorities for the immediate future

A healthy beach environment for our children

We now have five years of results from the stream-testing program. We believe these results show that untreated agricultural run-off continues to be the dominant cause of the high levels of E.coli and other pollutants in the areas of the Lake Huron shoreline where children want to play ... in the sand at the water's edge, and in the near-shore water. We believe that Ontario's Nutrient Management Act, the weakest in Canada, has had zero impact on lessening the problem.

Outreach

ACLA communicates with the lakeshore community through the e-mail lists that the Communications Coordinators maintain for the lakeshore associations that ACLA represents. Funding for ACLA programs is almost totally dependent on the lakeshore community, through the annual contribution of each association (currently $10 for each property that the association represents, although several associations have voluntarily increased that to $20 recently).

TO-DO list

Programs and budget for 2008

The "$10 per property" contribution that the lakeshore associations have been making to ACLA is no longer sufficient to support ACLA's stream-testing activities (due to increased cost of lab analyses), nor to enable any new undertakings.

Funding assistance for water-quality testing

There are entities in Huron County that fund selected projects whose objective is to improve water quality.

Funding assistance for road maintenance

Bluewater Township provides funding assistance to some of its lakeshore associations to help maintain unassumed roads.

Outreach

ATVs on the beaches

The Township of Huron-Kinloss now has a by-law that prohibits the operation of ATVs in an area including the Lake Huron beach and lakeshore roads.

DONE list

ACW garbage pickup after holiday weekends

The ACW garbage/recycling pickup on the Saturday instead of the Monday of holiday weekends is ineffective for the cottage community, since weekenders don't have much garbage that early in the three-day weekend.

2008-03 UPDATE -- Requested at ACW Council meeting of 2007-10-02. In the 2008 schedule, holiday-weekend pickups will be on Mondays as normal.

Items requiring further discussion

Sewage

Huron County facility for treating septic-system/holding-tank pump-outs

-- Robert Stephenson

Storm-water retention/pre-treatment facilities for farm runoff

-- Nigel Bellchamber

Compiled by Roger Watt. Last updated 2008-04-03 09:47.