KAPOA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)
TUESDAY AUG 13, 2024
Barry’s Bay Legion, 250 John Street, Barry’s Bay
Lynne MacLean declared the meeting opened at 6:36, duly constituted and with a quorum of at least 12 (45 people were present at the meeting). She continued by reviewing the agenda as follows:
6:33 – 6:35pm Prior year AGM minutes – at this time, Lynne put forward a motion to accept the prior year’s AGM minutes. Second by Peggy Olbrych and agreed by a show of hands by members present.
6:35 – 6:45pm Welcome and Upcoming KAPOA Initiatives (Kerra)
6:45 – 6:55pm Treasurer’s Report, motion to waive auditors for current year (Candice, Kerra)
6:55 – 7:00pm Membership Report (Peggy)
7:00 – 7:10pm Water Levels and Flows Report (Lynne)
7:10 – 7:20pm Poker Run (Bruce Willmer, 2024 Chair)
7:20 – 7:30pm Regatta (Greg)
7:30 – 8:00pm Marine Requirements and Safety (Travis Ascott, OPP Marine Safety Unit)
8:00 – 8:10pm Director Nominations, introductions, vote (Kerra Wylie)
8:10 – 8:20pm Volunteer recognition / Call for volunteers (Kerra Wylie)
8:20 – 8:30pm Meeting Closure/Wrap-up (Kerra Wylie)
The floor was then turned over to Kerra Wylie
Kerra welcomed all attendees.
This is a new time for AGM this year due to Director’s schedules, and Kerra thanked members for coming. If successful, we may continue with this format for next year so as not to tie up precious weekend time with family and friends.
Kerra continued with Introductions:
She has been the KAPOA president since Sep 2021 and involved with KAPOA as Regatta Director since 2010.
She then introduced our current directors – Lynne MacLean (secretary), Candice Langlois (Treasurer), Peggy Olbrycht (membership), Greg Zdzienicki (Municipal Affairs and Regatta) and Vince Steepe (former Treasurer, director at large).
Kerra acknowledged the service and valued input of Laura Stevens who resigned in March from the Treasurer position and thanked her for her service.
What we’ve accomplished over the past year:
- Our Poker Run Fundraiser and regatta were again a huge success.
- Learn to Fish program last year August in conjunction with Ontario Fish and Wildlife, and Carson Trout Lepine and Greenan Lakes was also very well attended and received, and we hope to organize a follow up next year.
- Caught up to last year with our Ontario Not-for-Profit T2 filings, thanks to Valley Accounting and Tax, and we are in the process of getting this year’s completed.
- Attended annual meetings with our Hastings Highlands Interlake Association partners, and our new Madawaska Valley Interlake Association partners, with whom we met at MV Council this past year.
- After documenting our by-laws last year, we have made one update this year which provides direction for KAPOA’s cash funds and other assets to be distributed to a local charity of our choice in the event of dissolution of the Association.
- We made a donation in support of the Wonders of Wetlands educational event held for Grade 4 students in Bancroft on June 4th and we look forward to providing volunteer and monetary support in future to this event organized by the Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, held every 2 years.
- We have maintained communication with forest licensees and the OPG on the matters of harvesting and water levels, more on the latter to follow.
New Issues we are following / future projects we’re discussing:
- We have been approached by the Carlton University to collaborate with a group of 25-30 undergraduate students and bring them together with members of the Kamaniskeg Area Property Owners Association.
- These are 3rd year students studying either Geography or Environmental Studies.
- They will be staying at the Madawaska Kanu Centre from October 23 to 27.
- Professors Dipto Sarkar and Elyn Humphries are overseeing.
- They will be looking for our help to set up interviews with local and seasonal residents.
- Past collaboration with the MV Fish and Game Club provided learning to participants on how to conduct interviews in a professional manner, about local environmental knowledge, the conservation ethic of rural communities, and so much more.
- We will reach out with a bulletin in Sept to line up willing participants to be interviewed by the students.
- We have the opportunity to work with the Watersheds Canada Fish Habitat Program to restore spawning beds in the 2024-2025 season in Kamaniskeg Lake and Negeek Lake. This involves volunteers preparing and placing brush bundles in areas of the lake that will benefit, that are away from current and would not interfere with boat navigation, such as back bays/along shorelines (not interfering with cottage property access) or in deeper waters – 12ft+.
- MNRF Pembroke supports the addition of woody debris, and they have identified that the trout spawning beds on Kamaniskeg and walleye beds on Negeek may need some restoration work.
- Project can take place September 2024 or September 2025
- We have been offered a free planting of up to 100 native trees and shrubs by the Bancroft Area Stewardship Council to re-naturalize a waterfront in our membership area. If anyone is interested, we would like to award this by the end of August to a willing recipient.
- Monitoring and continued objection to road resurfacing plans for River and Kartuzy Roads that have been bumped from 2025 to 2027.
- Possible future discussions with OPG regarding their operational processes at the dams (Lynne will have more on that later).
- Geese over-population in the Mask Island area has been raised by Mask Island resident, Neil Gonzalez.
- Kerra invited members to raise any other issues here now, understanding that we need their help to pursue all the issues that are deemed important.
- A number of members raised the issue of establishing speed limits along the Madawaska River for boater and swimmer safety as well as to reduce erosion & dock wear & tear. This will be discussed following Travis Ascott’s presentation later in the program.
Treasurer’s Report
Candice Langlois reviewed the Financial Statements that were distributed at the beginning of the meeting. We are showing an income loss of $332.51 due to two accounting errors in 2023. Kerra explained that one was for $339 for advertising that was not allocated to the Poker Run and the other was for $550 in prize money that was incorrectly recorded. Kerra explained that these errors were in part because of not having a separate bank account for the Poker Run event. These errors will not happen again because we now have a separate account for the Poker Run event.
We continued with discussion to waive the auditors for the current year.
Barbara McIntyre put forward a motion to waive auditors for the current year. Second by Vince Steepe and agreed by a unanimous show of hands.
Membership Report
Peggy Olbrycht reported that at present we have received 212 membership payments that have been received by e-transfer, at Bay Day, Poker Run, Regatta, AGM and door to door canvassing. We have not received returns from all our reps so we are expecting more payments in the near future.
Peggy acknowledged our reps as follows: Jim Clelland (Lakeshore Rd), Anna Dolan (Arrrow Rd.), Deborah Gray (Parcher Road), Bev Krupa (North River Rd.), Maria Mironowicz (Black Fish Bay Rd. and Tamarack Rd.), Cathryn Rees (South River Rd. and Golfers Lane), Pat Tranjanovski (Ohio Rd.) and Jeanette Wright (Poray and Jordan Lane).
Peggy put out the call for more reps for Kamaniskeg Lake Road, Negeek Lake, Bleski Road and Mask Island.
Water Levels and Flows Report
Lynne MacLean advised that she attended a meeting with OPG (Ontario Power Generation) on Aug. 12, 2024 via Microsoft Teams with Jordan Hughes and Jennifer Gardner.
Reason for meeting: To get an understanding of why, on the weekend of June 22, 23 and following days of 24-25, the water levels in Southern basin of Kamaniskeg Lake were 8-10” higher than normal while Blackfish Bay and Negeek Lake we extremely low.
Summer levels are an issue because OPG wants the water to be at optimum level because of users (cottagers, outfitters, users in general).
Things to remember:
The Conroy Marsh is a protected wetland especially because of the muskrat population. It must stay static in the winter for species preservation, that is 12 cm or 5” depth.
There are also regulatory limits at Barry’s Bay and they must be adhered to, that is within 18 cm or 7”. The problem is that BB is more isolated and slower to respond to changes in the water levels.
During the days in question, we received 125 ml of rain over 5 days. We received a months’ worth of rain in 24 hours. Keep in mind that the water levels everywhere on our system were rising due to the heavy rain and run off from the many creeks and streams around our watershed. Bark Lake had reached its uppermost limit. The Bark Lake inflow from the rain rose from 12-100 cm/s while the outflow was 105 cm/s. This is the highest record in the 60 years of data.
The Bark Lake Dam and the Kamaniskeg Lake Dam (Palmer Rapids) both had to be opened to move the water along.
Bark Lake was filling up to its maximum level and draining into an already high Kamaniskeg Lake up to BB. Now think of the bathtub analogy. In order to get the water out of the bathtub you have to make sure the drain is clear or the bathtub will overflow……the drain being the Madawaska River from Kamaniskeg Lake to Palmer Rapids. Also, the Negeek Lake area drains much faster than Kamaniskeg Lake. Please note that Blackfish Bay and Negeek lake are in fact part of the Madawaska River. When the Kamaniskeg Lake Dam was opened, it started to drain the water from the drainpipe. The water coming down the drainpipe was much slower because it is restricted at the outflow of Kamaniskeg Lake, like a funnel effect, and can only take on so much water at a time, but it was coming fast and furious. OPG was watching the levels and as soon as they saw the reprieve at BB (remember BB has regulatory limits) they stopped the flow at Kamaniskeg Lake (Palmer Rapids) and that took 65 cm/s off the flow and Blackfish Bay and Negeek Lake water levels began to return to their normal summer levels. This dropping of the water level and rising to normal levels occurred over a 3-4 day period.
Poker Run 2024 – Bruce Willmer
KAPOA & the Poker Run work with The St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation each year to determine the need for a specific piece of needed equipment (outside their budget).
The Foundation supports: St. Francis Memorial Hospital, the Madawaska Valley Palliative Care Unit and the Manor Long Term Care Facility.
$220,000 plus raised through the Poker Run over 12 years for the hospital.
All expenses and costs of organizing are covered through sponsorship (no impact to KAPOA).
12th Year – $34,000 raised towards telemetric equipment for the Emergency Department at St. Francis Memorial Hospital.
50 plus boats participated (plus 40 virtual boats). 250 celebrated at the beach and 20 business and community sponsors took part in the event.
The move to afternoon was generally well-accepted, boats and dock decorating seem to have added a fun element.
Challenges with Today’s Emergency Department are limited space; a Communications desk that is built for only two; lack of space for multiple traumas; Patient bathroom (accessibility); overall space issues; privacy & confidentiality concerns; no separate/private triage area; shared entrances & waiting area; no private areas for grieving & counselling; only two exam rooms have privacy doors; Infection Control & Occupational Health Concerns; inadequate ambulance entrance space.
The Opportunity – Emergency Department
Current Challenges and Redevelopment Solutions
Privacy and confidentiality.
All exam rooms will be self-contained.
New triage room.
Quiet room for those in psychological or emotional distress.
Discrete registration area separated from waiting room.
6,000-foot addition allows for:
Larger, and centralized, communications centre.
Enhanced sightlines; glass walls with privacy blinds.
Dedicated entrance to Emergency Department.
Dedicated waiting room for ED.
Space for EMS personnel.
Enclosed ambulance bay.
Wall separating major treatment and procedure rooms can be opened for a larger space to accommodate multiple traumas.
Designated medical and equipment storage space.
Infection control.
New isolation room with private washroom.
Addition of a standardized decontamination space.
6,000-foot renovation to the ambulatory care clinic will:
Create additional exam rooms.
Improve the flow of services by creating standardized spaces.
Offer its own waiting room.
Create a new telemedicine consultation room.
Improve patient privacy and comfort.
Poker Run 2025 will be held on Saturday, July 26th.
Afternoon from 1 PM to 7PM.
Sponsorship engagement … very important (modify signage, more opportunity to promote themselves and highlight their products and services)
We already have 3 confirmed sponsors for next year and new ones have approached us.
Some considerations for next year include whether we continue with boat and docks decorating, and do we engage a new band on the beach – we are open to other ideas.
Regatta
We had a great turnout at the regatta and this year we included music and a new sound system. The weather was perfect and a fun time was had by all.
Greg Zdzienicki advised that the Regatta takes a lot of volunteers as well and thanked the Wainwright Family who put in the docks, Steve Coe who created a new finish line, Cathy Pitts for the donation for the drinks and Chris Pyz for organizing the donation of the hotdogs along with Yuill’s ValuMart. He also thanked Duncan MacLean and Andy Olbrycht for cooking all the hotdogs, Lynne MacLean and Peggy Olbrycht for overseeing 50/50 ticket, hotdog, drink and t-shirt sales and Laura Stevens for tabulating the winners for the trophies.
Greg is looking for suggestions for new events at next year’s Regatta and for volunteers to run them.
Interlake Associations for Hastings Highlands and Madawaska Valley
Greg Zdzienicki talked about the Interlake meeting in June and discussed the update from the HH Deputy Mayor with regards to road improvements and closure of fire halls. Greg also mentioned that he met with MV council in June and shared successes from KAPOA and other lake associations with council.
Marine Requirements and Safety (Travis Ascott, OPP Marine Safety Unit)
Please see the following link to our newsletter.
KAPOA Spring Newsletter 2024 – Kamaniskeg Area Property Owners Association
The above Spring Newsletter covers in large part what Travis included in his presentation:
- The OPP Marine Units across Ontario floated 170 boats with 380 OPP members in 2023
- Vessel stops totaled 35,000 last year
- Men represent 96% of marine fatalities (all of which involves death following an “involuntary entrance to water”)
- Overall marine fatalities are down year over year (2022 – 2023)
- Of the 201 marine fatalities in the past 9 years, 178 (89%) are vessels under 6 meters (motored and not motored). Note there are no fatalities of children under 16.
- 83% are fall overboard and capsizing incidents with no other boats involved.
Most importantly, of the 312 people involved in marine fatalities in the past 13 years, 88% were not wearing life jackets!! It is hoped that this information encourages you & your guests to start wearing a life jacket whenever you step onto a boat for a ride, no matter the reason or distance to be covered. The normalized use of bike helmets and helmets while snow boarding & skiing was highlighted.
Many may think that they will have the time and ability to reach for a life jacket, swim to safety or get back up in the boat or on the paddleboard and carry on. Involuntary immersion research conducted in a lab with virtual reality technology and dunk tanks provided the following experience for a participant in good physical condition:
- Increased heart rate
- Increased rate of breathing (up 180% in warm water, up 110% in cold water)
- Involuntary (uncontrolled) gasp resulting in 60% larger/bigger inhalation. THIS CAN OFTEN LEAD TO INVOLUNTARY AND UNEXPECTED WATER INGESTION, DESPITE YOUR SWIMMING CAPABILITY.
- Increased panic and anxiety levels
In summary: Respect the water, protect your family and friends, become cold water smart, get your passengers engaged, don’t have alcohol on the boat and wear PFD at all times. If you do have the misfortune of being involved in, or observing, a marine accident, refer to the guidelines in the spring newsletter for who to call and what information to provide.
Following Travis’s presentation, we opened the floor to a Q&A period as follows:
- Question: Are there speed limits on bodies of water less than 100M across (specifically noted were Madawaska River west of Kamaniskeg Lake, Madawaska River east of Kamaniskeg Lake, and entering Negeek Lake from Conroy’s Marsh)?
Answer: No, unfortunately. Per Cottage Life magazine: On most Ontario waterways, the speed limit is 10 km/h within 100 feet (or 30 metres) of the shore. But this rule doesn’t automatically apply in certain situations, such as on rivers less than 300 feet (or 100 metres) wide. (In this case, the speed limit may be set by the municipality.) Through Transport Canada, it is possible to establish a speed limit that applies only to a particular waterway. But that’s a multi-step procedure that requires public consultation, applications, a review process, and a bunch of other paperwork. To investigate this option for your river, see Transport Canada’s Local Authorities Guide to Boating Restrictions.
- Question: Are there boat size maximums depending on lake sizes? This was asked in regards to a boating incident that occurred this summer when a very large boat swamped a smaller boat and some minor injuries were sustained.
Answer: There are no size maximums but courtesy and operating a motor vehicle in a safe manner are what govern all boat sizes.
- Lastly, Travis noted that when someone rents a boat or SeeDoo for the day the signed contract is considered a valid boating license for that rental period. This baffled our members in attendance, as comparatively car rentals require a valid driver’s license to rent and operate the vehicle. This should apply equally to boating rentals and licenses.
Director Nominations
KAPOA is actively seeking nominations for 1-2 open positions within the KAPOA Board of Directors. All director positions are to be re-elected each year, including those folks who are returning for another year. The following positions are seeking re-election by the membership this year:
President – Kerra Wylie
Secretary – Lynne MacLean
Treasurer – Candice Langlois
Membership Director – Peggy Olbrycht
Municipal Affairs – Greg Zdzienicki
Director at Large – Vince Steepe
The following positions are open and new directors are being sought to fill these positions:
Communications Director
Municipal Affairs monitoring the MV Council activities for topics of interest to our members
We also have opportunities to oversee invasive species education, volunteer coordination, as well as to run new events.
We currently do not have a Vice President, which I need to fill in the coming year as this is my last year in the President capacity.
Our bylaws recommend 7 directors. All directors will be nominated as Directors “at large” with the assignment of roles to occur at our Directors meeting following this AGM.
Do we have further nominations from the floor for our open director positions?
There were no further nominations.
Kerra Wylie put forward a Motion to re-elect Kerra Wylie, Lynne MacLean, Candice Langlois, Peggy Olbrycht, Greg Zdzienicki and Vince Steepe to the KAPOA board. Seconded by Andy Olbrycht. All approved.
Acknowledgement of Volunteers – Kerra Wylie
Following are the volunteers that we’d like to recognize for their contributions in 2024:
Email Publications – Newsletters, Bulletins – Leonard Furtado
Website Administration – Evan Croskery
KAPOA Facebook Group administration – Bruce Willmer, Lynne MacLean, myself
Poker Run:
- Bruce and Kathy Willmer
- Lynne and Duncan MacLean
- Peggy and Andy Olbrycht
- Mark and Pam Lyon
- Ed Ragan
- David Kardish
- Chris and John Chaplin
- Dave and Joanne Wilson
- Ed Christine Jackson
Regatta:
- Chris and Isabel Pyz (hotdogs with Yuill’s Valumart)
- The Wainwright family for launching and removing the swim dock
- Our KAPOA Director families (setup, cooking, events) as well as Tim on the dock and Greg on the beach running the event more smoothly than ever
- Stephen Coe for our wonderful new finish line system
Bay Days – our directors and Bruce
Membership Area Reps:
- Peggy Olbrycht
- Lynne MacLean
- Pat Trajanovski
- Jim Clelland
- Jeanette Wright
- Cathryn Rees
- Anna Dolan
- Deborah Gray
- Bev Krupa
- Maria Mironowicz
Hastings Highlands Interlake Association – Daphne Van Ham (Land Use Planning input) and Greg Zdzienicki (Septic Education and Inspection Program committee)
Call for volunteers – we are always in need of more, please approach myself or any of our directors if you are interested in helping out in any number of ways – WE NEED:
- area membership reps
- an assistant website admin
- anyone who might be interested in introducing new events, or providing invasive species oversight
Wrap-up – Kerra Wylie
Kerra asked if there were any further questions before we propose a motion to adjourn our meeting? There were none.
Kerra advised that the AGM meeting minutes from today will be posted on our website in the next few weeks, along with some of the presentations from today for anyone who would like to revisit them or who could not be here today.
She would also love to receive feedback following today’s meeting but we’re convening a Director’s meeting immediately following this meeting, so she couldn’t chat today, but please feel free to reach out by email or phone in the coming weeks
Kerra put forward a Motion to adjourn the 2024 AGM at 8:23 p.m. Seconded by Greg Zdzienicki and agreed by all.
