APELL - Volume 8 Issue 2

Your president would like to personally thank all members who took the time to vote in the referendum of May 30, 1999, relating to the possible merger between Blue Sea and Messines. It is only when members exercise their democratic right to vote that they can then criticize any outcome that may develop.

We are pleased with the quantity level of the vote. A total of 360 votes were cast, approx. the same level as a normal civic election in Blue Sea. Although I personally would have preferred a higher quntity of cast votes, the level is nonetheless gratifying.

The results were more spectacular. Only 22 votes were cast in favour of the merger. The balance (333) were opposed to the merger with Messines. (There were 5 spoiled ballots.) This translates into a rate of 93.8% of the vote which reject the concept of merger.

This sends a clear message to the Quebec provincial government to back off. Statements have been made by them to the effect that any municipality which clearly indicates they do not wish a merger will not have one forced upon them. There can be no clearer message than 94% rejection rate by a local population. Since then, we are told that the ministry intends to send out its second  revision list in the fall and that we should not appear on that list. We sincerely hope that is the case.

It is now time to move on and perhaps look at other alternatives. One clear choice is to enter into new or expand existing inter-municipal agreements covering a number of common areas. Another is to slightly expand our existing municipal borders to include certain areas where this municipality already provides garbage, fire and road services to landowners actually outside the boundaries of Blue Sea. These choices should be a priority of council, since it is obvious that the provincial government will not fade quietly away into the sunset.

Another aspect of the referendum was the active participation of residents of the Lac Long area. Fully 1/3 of the total votes cast in the municipality were from the Lac Long area. It is obvious that the "No" committee and this association were successful in getting our message out on the importance of voting. The local results were consistent with the total vote, in that 99 voted against the merger, 7 were in favour, and there was 1 spoiled ballot.

It is our understanding that all members of council apparently voted, and all but one representative of the various lake associations, eligible to vote in Blue Sea, did so as well. A really wonderful example of our representatives  showing the proper example in a vote of such importance.

We can only hope that this responsible democratic action will continue to prevail in the upcoming fall municipal elections.
 
 

For the referendum, a total of 1036 citizens were empowered to cast their ballot. The majority of these were cottagers. It is important to note that, as concerns cottage properties, there can only be one designated voter per residence. It is therefore extremely important that the municipality be advised who is the designated voter in your household. A number of frustrated cottagers were turned away at the polling booths solely because of this problem. A  designation form must be filled out, signed, and filed with the municipal authorities prior to the day of the vote. If not, no one in your household can vote. If you were one of those who did not or could not, or was not allowed to vote, make sure you complete these designation forms as soon as possible (there was a form published in the latest`Blue Sea In Mind` newsletter). Your  association also has on hand a number of proxy forms. Otherwise, the same fate may be in store for you in the fall municipal elections.
 

In order to provide adequate and balanced cottage representation on council, your president, Morris Richardson, has decided to present himself for office as councillor, probably in seat no. 3, which I understand is being vacated by the incumbent.

I realize however, that there are some 375 locals empowered to vote, and approx. 700 cottagers as well. I also realize that, in past elections, the cottage turn-out is approx. 5% of those eligible. I therefore take it for granted that  getting a cottager elected to council will be difficult, given the prevailing attitude of locals not wanting to loose control of the municipality to  cottagers.

However, during my term as your president, I have never failed to challenge the difficult. I believe it can be done. All it requires is for the cottage voters to exercise their democratic rights.

So now the ball is in your court. If you want a representative on council who will give cottage problems a certain priority, you have to get out to vote. If you do not, so be it. Cottagers will have made their choice and opted to continue to allow the local population to interpret your needs as they see them.

In all fairness, I must state that some locals have also sugggested I run for the position, and have promised me some support. They realize that, in the past five years, we have worked not only to improve the quality of life of cottagers, but have worked tiredlessly in improving local conditions and in support of local issues as well. I only hope that the combined vote will be sufficient to enable my win on election night.
 

We usually enclose a membership renewal form with our spring newsletter. However, this year, because the Lac Morissette report was so long, to have added a membership application form in the package would have meant an extra postage on each enveloppe. Most of you have already renewed their memberships, either by remittance, or as a result of a personal visit from one of the directors.

Only for those of you who have not yet renewed, we are enclosing a membership renewal form. Please complete it as soon as possible, and send it in, or bring it to one of the directors' cottages. Remember, we closed last year with 80 members. So far, 60 have renewed, and 20 others have not, yet. And we hope to increase the total this year to at least 90. So lets go, people.
 
 

Fran still has a good assortment of clothing for sale, with the association logo. For your gift needs, give her a call. They now have a cottage telephone at (819) 463-0262.
 

We are pleased to note that a number of small improvements have been made to the local tourism industry infrastructure.

Blue Sea Restaurant, following extensive renovations, re-opened its doors in Dec. 1998, under new ownership by Janique Morin and Richard Raymond. It has a diverse ecclectic menu, generous portions, and reasonable prices. It serves a good pizza as well as ice cream on a hot day. You can even bring your own bottle of wine to have with your evening meal. It is open from 7:00 a.m. daily, until approx. 9:00 p.m. weekdays, and often until 10:00 p.m. on week-ends. The  restaurant is clean and the service is friendly. A number of you have commented favourably upon it in recent weeks. To order in advance, telephone Janique at (819) 463-4249.

Raymond Lacroix has recently acquired the Domaine du Lac Blue Sea property on chemin du Lac Long, near the road to the cemetery. He has now completely renovated 7 cottages and has made them available for rental on a weekly basis. Of course, he is still involved with renting boats, canoes, and pontoon boats. He can even provide deer hunting guides on request. For reservations for the summer or the fall hunting season, give Raymond a call at (819) 463-2250.

Our own Lisette Tremblay has started making twig furniture as ornate cottage decor. She also makes a variety of crafts. Why not give her a call at (819) 463-4899.
 

General Meetings

• Sept. 11, 1999, 10:30 AM, Salle des Loisirs

On SEPT. 11, 1999, we will hold our Annual General Meeting and, as two years have gone by since the last elections, we will also be holding elections for the Executive.

A number of directors have, for a variety of reasons, indicated they will not be seeking re-election. If you feel you would like to help, have someone propose you for the position. We welcome any participants to the position of director. New participants bring new ideas which are always well received and anticipated.

A word to the wise, however. This association is on a high crest of popularity locally. To be a director of the association brings with it a certain prestige. However, the association did not arrive at this point by having directors in name only. There is some work involved. The association has more than doubled in size in the past five years, but that has happened because directors went out and solicited new memberships. We now have a good advertising base. That too was not automatic, but rather the result of hard work. Same goes for the regular newsletter and the website we maintain.

You cannot expect the same people to continue to give their time and effort year after year. Everyone should take their turns at some point and do some work within their capabilities.

But hey, all is not work either. We have six executive meetings a year, and this provides us with an excellent time to socialize, even in the winter months.
 
 

A few late night revelers have prompted your association to remind members to be considerate of your neighbours.

Consider this. There are only 19 weekends from mid-May till the end of September. There are approx. 80 families on Lake Latourelle. If all the families have only one party on one single weekend in the course of the summer, on average, there will be over 4 parties every weekend. So much for quiet enjoyment of your cottage retreat. Of course, if you and others have more than one, well, you get the picture...

There are municipal ordinances covering the situation. And if all else fails, your neighbours may call the police. After that, you will have years to continue living next door to that same neighbour, under some very frosty relations. Is that what you want? Lets leave our petty bickering with our neighbours in the city. There is no place in cottage country for this type of problem.

And please, one final request. Your association Executive was elected to monitor the normal land, air and water pollution aspects of lake life, and to recommend appropriate changes for the betterment of all of us - not to act as enforcers against noise pollution. If you want to maintain a strong Executive, do not place them in impossible positions of enforcement. They are not police, and they have no legal enforcement capabilities. While we can request your co-operation, we cannot demand it or expect it to be blindly obeyed with the force of law.

A few years ago, the Ministry of the Environment of Quebec did an in-depth analysis of Lake Latourelle. Although most members have some knowledge of it, the entire report has never been released. Those who held the reigns of the association at the time best know the reasons for it never having been released. Because a number of members have expressed a wish to read the report, and since we did a thorough analysis of Lake Morissette last year, we believe it is only fair that we report the original Lake Latourelle document this year, for those interested. We would have liked to reprint it for you in the current newsletter, however there was a last minute glitch. We will therefore be reproducing it in the next newsletter. Sorry..
 

On Aug. 7th and 14th respectively, we held our annual childrens' and adults' picnics. We will be writing a longer article on these in the next newsletter. However, we are concerned that the adults accompanying the children on their day are also the same adults who benefit from the adult picnic. And although we have always given ample notification and invitation to all members to come and join us, only a limited number of people do so each year. And it is invariably the same people. We will therefore be bringing up this item for discussion at the next annual general meeting as well as our next executive meeting, to decide where we should go with this.

It has been suggested that we go back to our beginnings and only have one picnic day for both children and adults. That we have the children come in the morning up to 3:00 p.m., and then slowly convert to an adult affair in the evening.

There would be substantial savings in the food and rented porta-toilet areas. What do you think?  Bring us your ideas at the general meeting to be held Sept. 11, 1999.

At the last council meeting, we requested the municipality repair the deplorable condition of the public access on our lake. The concrete ramp pads badly need work and the sand base access needs grading. Your president also spoke at length with Nelson Gauthier, the municipal works director, as well as the mayor, on the problem. Hopefully, the work will be completed before it is time for cottagers to remove their boats from the lake for the season.

In the meantime, if you burn your transmission trying to remove your pontoon boat from the lake, because of the deplorable condition of the ramp, perhaps you should consider sending the bill to the municipality.
 

Email: webmaster@apell.org

Website: www.apell.org
 
 

The executive welcome calls from members, but we would ask they be before 9 PM.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our new sponsors for supporting our assocation, and we invite our members to avail themselves of their services and products whenever the opportunity arises.

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