Your automn news… and for many, summer is not yet finished! I hope like me, that you are enjoying every minute in your little paradise at lake Poisson Blanc. Like every year, automn is a season of contrasts in the weather but not for us! We are still, and for a long time, in the heat of action! We are putting into action the recommendations you voted and we are reviewing our past actions in order to better prepare your next summer.

THANK YOU for believing in us !! We are now 83 members … a record that will have to be equaled or even exceeded next year!

Welcome to our latest member: Pauline Poirier!

OUR 2017 PHOTO CONTEST!

WOW thank you Carla for organizing our first photo contest last September. We had many participants… Phil, Ronald, Leslie, Lise, Mylène, Jonathan, Chantal, Yan,Georges, Margaret and Fernande,  thank you so much! For your enjoyment here are the 2017 photographs. The 2017 photo contest winner is Ronald Thomas according to your votes and our judges (Erin, Diane, Carla and Pierre).

Here’s the winning photo:

1.

Proposed dates for our activities in 2018 …. yes already ..

As president, I think we have to keep some stability in the choice of our dates for our activities. Therefore, I will propose to the Board these dates for 2018:

• Beginning of the renewals at the end of March 2018
• Newsletter to our members May 2018
• AGM: 16 June 2018
• Fishing Tournament: 14 July 2018
• Community Dinner (Corn & Roast) August 4, 2018
• Excursion in nature (cycling or trekking) end September 2018

THANK YOU to all those who participated or helped with our Corn & Roast on August 5th. We were more than 80 people including the Mayor of Lac-Sainte-Marie and our guests including Marco (entrepreneur), Charlie-Ann (Mont Ste-Marie) and Nicolas ( Air-Eau-Bois outdoor activity center )! Special thanks to our cooks Gilbert (“Butch”) and Jon. Photos are available in our photo gallery.

2.

Level of fluctuation of our lake

WARNING!! Many of our members have asked us to be notified when our water level fluctuates in September and October. Carla and I will try to update you on our Facebook page, but you can always consult this page of Hydro-Québec, which shows fluctuations at the Rapides-des-Cèdres Dam in Notre-Dame-de-Laus.

Please click on this link: http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/suivihydro/graphique.asp?NoStation=040602

3.

Water Safety

For your information, here is a link to the website of the Sécurité du Québec.

Please click here (click on english afterwards): http://www.sq.gouv.qc.ca/conduire-securite/la-surete-vous-conseille/securite-nautique/lois-reglements-applicables-surete-du-quebec.jsp

4.

Membership

To all the owners and lake lovers who have become members or who have renewed we tell you THANK YOU! Presently, we are 82 members in good standing with a potential of 160 landowners. Last year, at the same time we were 58, so we are progressing.

Only one person has not renewed her membership. We will try to reach her in October and we hope she will renew. Please note that your membership runs for one year from January with the possibility of a extension to the AGM the following year.

Forgive us if we have contacted you several times on the same subject. We use a new management program that was provided to us free of charge by the Regroupement and sometimes there are “bugs” we apologize for it  This new management program helps us to better manage the administration and respond adequately to the needs of our members.

5.

Our 2017 sticker

Have you received our new decal (“sticker”)? Ask us, if you are a member! This decal was distributed at our AGM and also at our Corn & Roast community dinner. You can install it wherever you want … on the car, the your cottage door, on your boat, your canoe and more …

6.

Your news for the Bowman area

We told you that we would have fresh news this month but unfortunately this is not the case. As a result, your Vice-President Eric will recontact the Municipality of Bowman.

Éric will ask:

1. Present our perception of the present situation at the boat launch.
2. Ask them what they would like to be done by us to advance the procedures in our sector.
3. Our impressions about the municipal approach of asking us to call the SQ …
4. News concerning the management of the boat launch since «Base de plein-air Air-Eau-Bois» does not seem to manage that site but rather the parking area.
   
5. About the November elections and the functionning of the advance poll for the owners in the Bowman sector.
6. Finally the lack of written traces of our discussions or requests in the official documents of the municipality.

All our members are satisfied with the installation of a new dock that seems to have reduced the tensions between boaters and canoeists who use this boat launch. We would like to thank Mr. Rémi Bergeron (General Manager of Bowman) for his personal contribution in this matter. We are always hoping for a little more for the next time. We are waiting patiently for the new signs to be installed soon by the «Base de plein-air Air-Eau-Bois» concerning the management of waste and the use of a dock reserved for canoeists.

Sad news, the Paugan road is closed.

Denholm, November 4th 2017

To all the citizens of Denholm,

Following the extraordinary meeting of the Council of the Municipality, last night, November 3rd, it was unanimously decided to close the Paugan road permanently, between , Petit Lac St-Germain road and the entrance to Lake St. Charles road, and the section from Paugan Dam to Farellton Road.

7.

Your news for the Newton Lake area

The municipality of LSM installed the promised traffic signs. A big THANK YOU to Patrick (building inspector and for the environment at the LSM) for his personal intervention in this matter. Unfortunately, some signs had to be moved to make them more convenient for all users. David, your vice-president, personally handled this file to correct the situation. Thank you David!!

Considering the accident that has happened recently in their sector, it would perhaps be good to install this …

unfortunately, we do not have the means to our ambitions … lol!

8.

Your news for the Newton Bay area

Update: October 23th:

It is confirm by the mayor of LSM, Montée Jean-Marc will be were the new road will start. In the spring 2018  there will be a official consultation of all property owners in the sector about going forward with this project. We must be prepared for a local tax increase so till then we must convice our neighbours of the advantages of this project!

• Thanks to the municipality of Denholm for the name correction. It is now official, this road is called “TransOutaouais” in both municipalities.
  
• We are still waiting and we are hopeful that a tourist information sign will appear on the Poisson Blanc Rd in Denholm indicating the direction towards the TransOutaouaise and Lac-Sainte-Marie.

• We wish to say «thank you» to the municipality of Lac-Sainte-Marie, for the installation of the last new road signs that were promised at the beginning of summer!!

• Excellent news for our members and users of the parking lot (Newton Bay Association), the municipality has just installed a brand new waste container. Ouff, the neighbors will be relieved from the visits of raccoons and crows at that area.

WARNING!! for Denholm and LSM, you have to use blue transparent bags for recycling, otherwise your recycling will end up in the garbage !!

• No big news regarding the evolution of the project concerning Montée Jean-Marc and chemin de la Solitude. Last time you were told that the General Manager of Lac Sainte Marie had provided your Vice-President, Ronald, with a timeline. All our members have been looking forward for the finalizing of the project. Everything seems to following its course.If you are curious to read the timeline, it can be found at item # 2 by following this link: https://lacpoissonblanc.ca/our-projects/

9.

Our orphan sites on the lake

Everything is going great for our volonteers. Our posters seem to have an effect because there is almost no waste or vandalism on our sites. We will follow the recommendation of one of our members for our next posters. We will remove the word “camping” so as not to encourage, unintentionally, camping on our sites. Our volunteers will take care of orphan sites on the islands that arenn’t used by the park or the «La base». It should be noted that Luc and Lori haved joined the group also … thank you.

THANK YOU to all our volunteers in this group!

10.

Environment

Maybe it’s because of the weather, but we had no reports of milfoil or zebra mussels in our lake. Thank you to all those who send us this information!

Unfortunately, we did not have any volunteers for the transparency tests so no results for this year.

All our members have seen an improvement in the good understanding between the different users of Newton Bay. The message seems to have passed for the «high-wake» nautical activities that are not encouraged in the bay. Our poster is ready and we will ask in November for a grant from LSM because it will costs us more than $ 350. In addition, we have to meet Konstantinos to see if he still agrees for the installation on the small island at the entrance to the bay. If someone knows him, could you give him the message because he is not yet a member of our association.

11.

The Buoy Committee

The buoys have been collected for winter storage. We left plastic jugs at most spots to mark the rock piles until the buoys can be put out again in the spring. THANK YOU MARGARET, MARC, JEAN AND DARRELL!

12.

November 5th Municipal Elections:

In Bowman:

There is no voting by mail and for the advance poll the date is October 29 between noon and 8 pm at 214 route 307 Bowman

The mayor, PIERRE LABONTÉ, was elected without opposition but several candidates are wishing to represent you. If we have details about the different candidates we will share them with you. We wish also, good luck, to the present General Director who is also candidate in the elections in Gatineau.

Currently there is no pre-election assembly scheduled.

If your vice-president wants to prepare a list of questions we are ready to send them to the candidates and share their answers.

In Lac Ste Marie:

IMPORTANT DATE: The 24 of October is the last day to communicate with your municipality (by phone) to receive your voting ballot by mail!!

EARLY VOTING: the 29 of October between noon et 8 PM at the fire hall 106 chemin du Lac-Ste-Marie.

Our  main concerns:

1. Early completion of the 4 seasons access road for our members on Montée Jean-Marc and Chemin de la Solitude.
2. Respect for the shoreline policy for all those living near water including the residents of the village.
3. A annual meeting between us and the municipality.

WOW, our candidate is already elected without any opposition. We wish the best of luck to CHARLIE-ANN DUBEAU in her new role. Also the mayors GARY LACHAPELLE (LSM) & GAÉTAN GUINDON (Denholm) were elected without any opposition. These are precious voices on our behalf, especially for the continuation of our road project for our members on Montée Jean-Marc and ch de la Solitude.

If your vice-president wants to prepare a list of questions we are ready to send them to the candidates and share their answers.

Some suggestions if you dont know for whom to vote!

There is only the number 5 seat left for the municipality of LSM all other candidates are already chosen.

We shall present the candidates for last available seat that have contacted us and also publish their answers to our concerns

Number 5 seat CANDIDATES:

LOUISE ROBERT: Responsable of the local market. She is a listener and very open minded. She wants better services for the elderly and local merchants. She knows our concerns and she will act on them. Knows our sector. Open for our road project!

ADRIEN (SAM) EMOND: Owner of the Lacalong restaurant. Has a economic point of view for our municipality. Wants to work with the local lake associations. Not in favor of the shoreline policy. Knows our sector. Open for our road project!

PIERRE LEMENS: Seems to be open minded for environment issues. Want to inforce a boat washing policy for those bringing their boats in our waterways. Also wants to lower the taxes by cutting some projects but adding extra money for better maintenance of the local roads.

In the MRC ( Municipal Regional Council) of the Gatineau Valley:

The WARDEN seat (a very important role) at the MRC is also going for elections.

The «Regroupement» has prepare a questionnaire for those candidates and we are sharing their answers (in french) with you. Please use Google Translate!

Here are the candidates for warden that have contacted us…

1: CHANTAL LAMARCHE: She makes it a priority to preserve the quality of our environment. She encourages the creation of local lake associations as a way to encourage better dialogue between municipalities and its community. She will encourage boat washing stations and will also persevere in the application of the shoreline policy for all.

2: GEORGES LAFONTAINE: Knows the municipality and our sector very well. Will make it a priority to complete the TransOutaouais project and our road project. Take a look at his answers to our questionnaire: Sondage préfecture Georges Lafontaine

3: CLAUDE BEAUDOIN: (www.claudebeaudoin.wordpress.com) Knows the Poisson Blanc lake area well as a lake user. Wants to expand our sector by adding more land properties for sale. Is open to dialogue with Bowman to complete the regional park. Take a look at his answers to our questionnaire: Sondage préfecture Claude_Beaudoin

4: SIMON GODIN: Wants to diversify the local economy. Better policies for the poor and elderly in the MRC. Better protection for farmers. Doesn’t seem to know our sector.

Town Hall Meeting!

Come meet the candidates in the Lac-Sainte-Marie municipal elections and exchange with
them on the future of our municipality.

Coffee will be served.

Where? Restaurant Le Lacalong

When? Saturday October 21 at 10:30 am in French and 1:00 pm in English

HAVE A SAFE RETURN HOME AND WORK. DONT WORRY! WE ARE KEEPING A GOOD EYE ON YOUR BUSINESS HERE!

Finally, we offer you some autumn tips from the «Association du bassin versant du lac Blue Sea»

Interested… please follow this link: https://lacpoissonblanc.ca/seasonal-tips/