Raven News

Meeting minutes from the 2022 RLCA AGM held virtually on August 25th, 2022 @7pm.

RLCA August 2022 AGM Meeting Minutes.pdf

The 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) is schedule for next Wednesday (Sept.6th) from 7:00 to 8:30pm ET virtually over Zoom. Please make sure to register to attend the AGM using the registration links below.

Meeting Agenda

• Welcome
• 2022 AGM Minutes Adoption
• Thank you to the 2022 - 2023 RLCA Directors
• Membership Report
• Treasurer's Report
• Lake Steward Report
• Regatta Report
• Communication Report
• Newsletter Report
• Ways and Means Report
• RLCA Bylaws and Constitution Update
• Landing Maintenance Update
• RLDA Update
• 2023 - 2024 RLCA Board Elections
• New Business
• • Resolution to change the RLCA office to the home address of the president
  • Other new business
• Adjournment

Questions, Comments and Discussions for the AGM

RLCA members are encouraged to join in the discussion and ask questions during the meeting. The Zoom meeting format allows for brief comments or questions to be made during the meeting using the Zoom Chat feature. Additionally we are asking members who have questions or topics they would like to raise ahead of the meeting, or members who are only able to join by phone to send your questions by email to info@ravenlake.org so that the board can address them during the call.

Please Register for the AGM here.

Greetings Raven Lake Residents!

The 2023 Annual RLCA Newsletter has arrived and it's even bigger and even better than ever!!

The Newsletter committee hopes that the great collection of articles in this years newsletter will help you and your family feel closer to the cottage and to the Raven Lake Community! 

2023 RLCA Newsletter.pdf

Attention: Mayor Glover, Councillor Lacroix, Councillor Anderson, Ms Sykes,

Mayor - Terry Glover: tglover@lakeofbays.on.ca

District Councillor - Robert Lacroix: rlacroix@lakeofbays.on.ca

Area Councillor - George Anderson: ganderson@lakeofbays.on.ca

Director of Corporate Services / Clerk: Carrie Sykes: csykes@lakeofbays.on.ca

Subject: Lake of Bays Council Meeting, Tuesday January 10th, 2023, item 6(E)(V) "Raven Lake Landing Parking Lot"

I am a property owner on Raven Lake, and I regularly use the Raven Lake Landing and Parking Lot. I am deeply concerned that Township Staff have prepared a report to Council regarding a significant change in policy regarding the Raven Lake Landing Parking Lot with insufficient notice or consultation with the various individuals and organizations which use the Raven Lake Landing and Parking Lot. 

I understand that in the fall of 2022, the Raven Lake Cottage Association and Raven Lake Dock Association were told, by the mayor, that the matter of maintenance being completed by Lake of Bays at the parking lot was not an issue for the Township at that time.

Many groups, in addition to the residents and cottagers of Raven Lake, require that the landing and parking lot be maintained, as it has been, by the Township of Lake of Bays for the past thirty years.  Groups that use the landing and parking lot year round as the only public access point to the lake include the Algonquin Highlands Fire Services Dept, Lake of Bays Planning and Building Departments, Algonquin Highlands Planning and Building Departments, Haliburton Highlands Water Trails users, The MNRF Enforcement branch, The Ontario Provincial Police, Hydro One Crews, Raven Lake Dock Association members, Raven Lake Cottagers Association members, Tall Pines Snowmobile Club trail users, Lake of Bays ATV Club trail users, local contractors, and many other leisure organizations and members of the general public.

I request that:

1. Lake of Bays Council NOT accept the recommendation from staff at this meeting to “immediately cease all operational maintenance activities” at the Landing. 
2. Council commits to providing sufficient time for a rigorous public consultation and due diligence process which would detail the future impacts that such a measure would have on each of the public, and public sector stakeholders that will be impacted.
3. Council commits that it will not take such a direction without a fully developed solution in place for the continued operation and maintenance of the Raven Lake Landing and Parking lot.

Sincerely,

Add name and Cottage Address

I hope everyone is enjoying another beautiful summer on the lake. I wanted to follow up to the recent survey about the 2022 RLCA Annual General Meeting (AGM). 

For 2022, our AGM is scheduled for 7:00 - 8:30pm ET on Thursday, August 25th virtually over Zoom. Members will be able to ask questions using the Zoom chat during the meeting, or by emailing questions to info@ravenlake.org during the meeting or beforehand.

Please register for the AGM here.

Dear Raven Lake Cottagers’ Association Members,

On behalf of the RLCA Landing Committee we would like to share some exciting news about the progress of docking project at the Landing.

The Raven Lake Dock Association’s (RLDA) vendor, R&J Machine has completed the construction of the first phase of docks, and they are now ready to be installed as soon as the ice is gone from the lake this spring. The initial installation will provide 40 slips which the 76 RLDA members will be sharing to start the 2022 cottage season.

On March 29^th a rezoning application to permit the RLDA docks to extend up to a maximum of 176' from shore and accommodate a maximum of 96 boat slips for Raven Lake Water Access Residents was heard at the Lake of Bays (LoB) Council meeting.

Council unanimous voted to approve the LoB Staff Report recommending the approval of the rezoning application.

During the council meeting, on behalf of the RLDA, the Landing Committee committed to continuing to work with our neighbours near the landing to ensure concerns about the project are addressed:

• Keeping the overall length of the docking project to a minimum, and to keep the 4 main docks as close to uniform lengths as possible
• • The RLDA has contacted the docking vendor, the layout of the docks and slips in second phase has been changed to be more rectangular and uniform in length, and the shorter main dock has been placed at north end of the project.

• No additional lighting is included in the project in order to protect the night sky / dark sky in 5 Mile Bay
• RLDA will assist with re-naturalization of the shoreline where possible, appropriate, and allowed by the MNRF
• A working group has been established with the residents located near the landing to tackle some of the common neighbourly behaviour issues at the landing (ie. lighting, car lights, noise, boating, wakes, etc)

LoB published the rezoning approval on April 4^th; the Landing Committee is continuing to work with our planning consultant and with the LoB Planning and Building departments to submit the development permit application and building permit applications for the second phase of the project.

Once the necessary approvals are in place the main docks will be extended and slips will be installed for each of the 76 RLDA members.

The Landing Committee hopes that everyone is as excited as we are about how quickly and successfully the project has progressed since last fall. The RLCA Board of Directors, numerous Past Presidents, and volunteers on the Landing Committee have been working to see this project come to life since 2007. With the former stick docks removed, a new organized and centralized docking system installed, boating traffic removed from the shallow and environmentally sensitive areas and a large portion of the shoreline able to return to a natural state the whole Raven Lake community will be able to enjoy a much-improved situation at the landing this spring.

If you have any questions or concerns about the RLDA project, please reach out to the landing committee.

Sincerely,

The RLCA Landing Committee

Sean Hungerford, Scott Lewis, Graham Donald, Ross Lawrence, Mike Wlodek, Peter Hungerford, George Kenins, Craig Stoyles, Tom Wilson

Z 04-22 (Raven Lake Dock Assoc.) Notice of Passing.pdf

By Sue Tiffin, Minden Times, March 29, 2022

Councillors passed the township’s 2022 budget last week. The budget includes $14.6 million in total expenditures, $5.9 million which will come from property taxation. This represents a levy increase of 4.16 per cent over last year, for a 2.33 per cent increase in the municipal tax rate. This equates to an estimated overall increase of $14.94 for every $100,000 of assessment for residential properties.

“Changes approved in final deliberations resulted in an overall decrease in reserves of 31.5 per cent, but remaining funds should be considered a reasonable reserve balance for a municipality of this size,” said Jean Hughes, treasurer, in her report to council on March 17. “It was noted that the township is facing significant infrastructure needs going forward, and continued use of reserves without replenishing must be considered.”

Some budget highlights include the Dorset Recreation Centre’s mould remediation project, the continued reconfiguration of Maple Lake’s landfill, and improvements planned for the Stanhope Airport.

The final budget summary is available to view at algonquinhighlands.civicweb.net