ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES
September 9, 2006

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1.  Call to Order, Introduction, etc.

• J. Gillespie introduced Mary of the Huron County Health Unit, who was staffing a display at the meeting.

• J. Gillespie noted that there were several politicians present and offered regrets from George Irwin.  Politicians present included:

Dave Johnston – Currently on Bluewater Council

Paul Klopp – Currently on Bluewater Council

Bill Dowson – Mayor

Jan Snider – Mayoral Candidate

Bill McDougall

Jim Fergusson 

2.      General Meeting Minutes Approval (June 17, 2006)

• Melody Northey motioned, Bob Campbell Seconded, None opposed; Passed.

3.      President’s Report

• Review by J. Gillespie of 05/06 BSRA Priorities.  Opportunities for questions offered; no questions.

• P. Mennill presented Priorities for 06/07.  Handouts were available for members.

Malcolm Hay – Norman Heights:

Q.    Have we been removed from the sewer project plans?

Paul Klopp responded:

R.    Hwy. 21, St. Joseph is still in the plan, Dashwood is still in the plan, Zurich is not in the plan.

• J. Gillespie asked if there were any other Priorities that the membership would like BSRA to consider.  None offered.

4.      Treasurer’s Report

• Don Bulloch – shoreline resident and certified accountant reviewed the financial statement and found it to be in order. 
• H. Johnston reviewed highlights and asked for questions.
• H. Johnston moved that the Financial Statements be accepted as distributed, Seconded by D. Banks; Carried.

• H. Johnston again asked for questions:

Q.    Are fees to be paid directly to BSRA or to be paid to the subdivision association?

R.    If you belong to an association, you would pay the fee increase (from $1.00 to $1.50) to your association.

• H. Johnston moved to accept the fee increase, C. Boyle – Rocky Point Seconded, Vote taken, None opposed; Carried.

5.      Constitution and Bylaws

• D. Banks presented some corrections to the Constitution and Bylaws.  He reminded members that these were outlined in the most recent newsletter.  D. Banks moved that the changes be accepted, H. Johnston Seconded.  Question from the floor:  Should municipality have a capital M?  D. Banks will correct.  Bob Worthy expressed concern about the change to a calendar year; he recommended that we go with a March 31st year end.  B. Campbell provided the partial rationale for going with a calendar year – it avoids confusion as to whether dues have been paid or not. 
• D. Banks provided clarification for change in Annual Meeting date.  Vote taken to change date, None opposed; Carried.

6.      Member Services

• H. Johnston apologized for not pursuing Member Services as aggressively as he could have.

Q.    Lindsay – How many members are part of BSRA?

R.    1,250 paid members, 44 organizations paid their fees this year

 7.      Environmental Issues

• P. Mennill provided report from the Environmental Committee.  Identified Committee Members:  Bob Slow, John Gillespie, Paul Mennill
• Brief summary of “It All Ends Up in the Lake” conference.
• Introduced the “Lake Huron Coastline Stewardship Guide”
• Mentioned Circle Groups that were held
• Announced beach clean up being planned for next spring
• ABCA now responsible for shoreline jurisdiction
• B. Campbell and P. Mennill participated with ABCA in discussion regarding an implementation plan
• Some questions/concerns from the floor regarding consistency of approvals
• P. Mennill shared that BSRA looked into having representation on ABCA; answer was no but suggestion was to consider forming an Advisory Group

• J. Gillespie offered an example whereby the Ministry of Natural Resources responded to a situation where rocks were being used as a break water.  MNR ordered them to be removed and the property owner was fined 

Q.    Is there an appeal process for ABCA decisions?

R.    Bill Dowson said you can appeal to the ABCA board and take it to court if you wish.

Q.    4 wheelers on the beach – who is responsible for monitoring this activity?

R.    P. Mennill expressed that it is unclear if 4 wheelers are allowed on the beach.  He said he would do some digging on the issue and would get back to the member.

• Open Air Burning Practices – Guidelines available on the Bluewater website

• Water Testing:  J. Gillespie spoke on topic

Testing is being done in 4 ravines by ABCA, HCHU doing it in the lakes.  Have been testing since 1996.  Not seeing any improvements, in fact the ravines are getting worse

There is a big project going on in St. Joseph Shores

One solution being proposed to deal with agricultural run off is the creation of wetlands

• St. Joseph Shores manure spill July 10^th -  occurred at Sararras and Black Bush Line.  Spill occurred when transferring manure into a truck.  Occurred on a Monday, noticed on a Thursday.  Odor issues and a fish kill.

BSRA is now in the process of putting together concerns.  Ministry of Environment is willing to sit down and discuss this

A letter was sent to HCHU; they responded but did not assume any responsibility for addressing it

BSRA will continue to publish what we find

General message:  we think MOE that your response has been inadequate and we want you to take corrective action

BSRA is going to the Ombudsman to get government bodies to respond

Bluewater Council requested that MOE appear before them and they declined

A member suggested that property owners should reinforce their shock and dismay at the lack of action by MOE

Paul Klopp

Q.    Has BSRA contacted the MPP?

R.    J. Gillespie stated that on 3 occasions BSRA has tried to contact Carole Mitchell without success

J. Gillespie congratulated the Municipality of Bluewater for their response and support in addressing this issue

8.      Shoreline Property Taxes

• B. Campbell summarized the shift of the total tax burden to shoreline residents.  Referred to handouts and advised members to complete the “Increase in Taxes and Assessment” form and send it to Carole Mitchell - MPP and Hon. Greg Sorbara – Minister of Finance

9.      Political Action Committee

• B. Campbell presented the Nomination Papers filed to date: 

Hay West – Bill McDougall

Stanley West – George Irvin

Councillor-at-Large – Jim Fergusson                 

Deputy Mayor – David Johnston

                             Paul Klopp

Mayor – Bill Dowson

              Janet Snider

• BSRA is undertaking a process to evaluate each candidate’s stance on relevant shoreline issues

• The Political Action Committee will be meeting with both candidates for Mayor.  BSRA will pose questions to them and will send a letter to BSRA Members when the ballots come out.  B. Campbell emphasized the importance of voting and taking care to put the ballot in the proper envelope. 

• B. Campbell paid a public compliment to J. Gillespie as the outgoing President for his efforts on BSRA and particularly on the issue of water quality

• B. Campbell also paid tribute to outgoing Executive Members:   P. Bieman, D. Banks and J. Chapman

10.   Report of the Nominating Committee

• D. Banks presented the nominations for BSRA Board of Directors for 2006 – 2007:

Past President – John Gillespie

President – Paul Mennill

First Vice President – Harlie Johnston

Second Vice President – Bill Smith

Treasurer –  Jan Purvis

Communications Director – Bob Campbell

Membership Director – Larry Marchand

·        Motion to close the nominations made by Bob Worthy, Seconded by Bruce Bates, None opposed.  J. Gillespie declared that those presented will be the Board Members for the next year

11.  Other Business

·        Bill Dowson paid his respect to J. Chapman and D. Banks for their involvement in organizing lakeshore residents

·        Electoral list is posted at the library and the Municipal Office

·        Member comment - wanted to state the obvious; we pay high taxes and yet are ignored on the manure spill

·        Member offered a piece of advice on dealing with government bodies – We have done the predictable, now we need to do the unpredictable

·        Member recommendation that BSRA develop a ‘war chest’ to give clout to issues of taxation.  New Board will take this recommendation into consideration.

·        J. Gillespie asked that if anyone has ideas for types of action we can take to bring attention to the water quality issues, to please forward them to BSRA.