Directory of NSOLA Cottages and Residents

The list of contact information for all the properties in our area is currently being updated and will be distributed by email to everyone on the list when ready. If you know of any changes since the 2022 version please send them to nsola@nsola.org.

Current NSOLA executive

Following on from the elections at the AGM, the current members of the NSOLA executive are:

• President: Marie Hulse
• Vice president: Simon Smith
• Past president: Anita Dunn
• Treasurer: Oriana Muzzin
• Secretary: Piper Huggins
• Director: Aaron Zimmerman
• Director: David Crane

Members of the executive can be reached at executive@nsola.org.

Control of invasive species

Following her very informative talk on controlling invasive phragmites and dog-strangling vine, Sarah Kirby provided these links to further related information which is available on the web.

• General information on dog-strangling vine in Ontario (identification, management, impact on ecosystems)
• Best management practices for control of dog-strangling vine
• General information on phragmites in Ontario
• Best management practices for control of invasive phragmites
• More general information on how we can prevent the spread of invasive species, along with how to report sightings
• Purple loosestrife information; an invasive plant which wasn’t mentioned at the meeting but is very common here

Lake Partner Program (LPP) water testing

The starting point for data on the lake water quality is the Ontario Ministry of the Environment page. Search for “North Otter Lake”, or follow the link to the Open Data Catalogue. The latest information available is for years up to 2021.

There is a good overview of the LPP on the  FOCA website. From here there are links to the database of results covering all the tested Ontario lakes. For more details still, there is a very detailed 42 page FOCA report on the LPP.

FOCA

NSOLA is not currently a member of the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA), but they publish a number of useful documents on their website which are accessible to everyone. The 2023 Ontario Lake Stewards Magazine  is the current issue of their annual newsletter.

Frontenac Park Updates

Park superintendent Ben Chabot’s update on what’s new and what’s happening in Frontenac Provincial Park is here. If you intend to bring a car into the park, especially during the busier times, you should be aware of the significant changes noted in Ben’s update.

Lake Ecosystem Grant Program

These grants (up to $10,000) provide funding to lake associations and non-profit organizations looking to make positive changes within their lake ecosystem. For more information see the South Frontenac Municipal Grants page.

The Frontenac Forests area (which includes North and South Otter Lakes) has long been listed as an Important Birding Area (IBA) and has recenlty been identified as a nationally and/or globally significant Key Biodiversity Area (KBA).

The Key Biodiversity Areas Canada Coalition is undertaking a process to identify KBAs across Canada. KBAs are sites that are identified as being important to the persistence of specific species and ecosystems. A KBA delineation does not presume, determine or require any particular management response and does not affect any existing rights or responsibilities pertaining to the area determined to be a KBA. Rather, it highlights a unique or vulnerable place, recognizes the ongoing stewardship that has enabled it to persist, and provides clear information about the value of the site. KBAs constitute a layer of information that can feed into management decisions of any kind, such as land use planning, protected area planning, community or private land stewardship and land use policies.

Currently, Birds Canada is working on a transition from IIBAs to KBAs. While Birds Canada is focusing on identifying which IBAs in Canada will qualify to become KBAs, the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada is working on identifying new KBAs for species other than birds.

For more information on KBAs visit the KBA Canada site, and for specific information about the proposed Frontenac Forests KBA see this page.

Updated 2023-08-17

This year’s Annual General Meeting will be held on August 20, 2023 at 10 a.m. at the Frontenac Provincial Park, at the new Outdoor Classroom, near the Park’s Trail Centre.

The newly completed Outdoor Classroom has a roof, is open on three sides and is equipped with picnic tables. There should be no need for you to bring your own chairs (except for personal comfort!), and we will be good to go in rain or sun.

Please read the agenda, a proposal regarding caution buoys and last year’s minutes before the meeting; printed copies will not be distributed. No refreshments will be served this year.

The meeting is open to all residents and cottage owners around North and South Otter lakes. It is your opportunity to meet your neighbours, and get up to date on everything that happening in and around the lakes.

Please contact the Secretary Piper Huggins (email piper.hugg@gmail.com) if you would like to add something to the agenda.

*Current Executive:

President: Vacant
Vice-President: Vacant
Secretary: Piper Huggins
Treasurer: Oriana Muzzin
Directors (members at large): Aaron Zimmerman
Past President: Anita Dunn

Under our constitution, the election of the Executive is staggered. Each position has a two year term. This year we will hold elections at the AGM to fill vacancies and for positions that have come to term: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Director (Member at large)

A reminder from our treasurer, Oriana, that the annual membership dues ($10 per property) can be paid in the following ways:

• In person, by cash or cheque at the AGM
• Electronically, by sending an e-transfer for direct deposit to the NSOLA account to treasurer@nsola.org
• By mailing a cheque to Oriana Muzzin, 15 Somerset Ave., Toronto, ON, M6H 2R3

Looking forward to seeing you all at the park!

The 2022 AGM

The Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is a new tax intended to apply to underused housing in Canada owned directly or indirectly and wholly or partly by non-resident, non-Canadians. UHT obligations apply for calendar years (beginning with 2022) to affected owners of residential property in Canada on December 31 of the relevant year.

For most NSOLA cottage owners there is nothing to do. But if you are not a Canadian resident, or if you own the property through a business, trust or partnership you may be required to file a form and pay a tax to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) before April 30; there can be significant penalties for failure to comply.

This article presents a good overview of the requirements, but of course you should refer to the CRA or a tax professional for definitive advice.

As you probably know, The Friends of Frontenac Park have been active in promoting and fundraising for an Outdoor Classroom at the park. Construction started in the latter part of 2022 and the structure is now complete. Most of what remains to do now is to install the electrics in the spring and to provide the necessary furniture. There are photos here of the construction process. There is also an update on The Friends’ website. (Thanks to Simon Smith for the update and photos.)

Several dangerous incidents have been reported over the summer where power boats have had near misses with swimmers, even though they have been wearing bright hats or been towing a florescent float. Swimmers have often had to resort to frantically yelling and waving to attract the boater’s attention.

This is especially a problem in the narrows at the east end of North Otter, where there are several regular swimmers and boats often pass through at high speed. But swimmers, many of them children, can be found all around the lake.

So if you or your guests operate a boat it is your duty to be constantly vigilant and watching for swimmers and other water craft. And please keep your speed down; our lake is small and remember there is a legal limit in Ontario of 10 km/hr within 30 metres of the shore.

Thank you for making our lake a safe place for all of us to enjoy.

List of residents and cottagers

The list of cottagers and residents around North and South Otter lakes has been revised. If you would like a copy (PDF) please email me. It is NSOLA’s policy that this information be restricted to NSOLA members and not made public.

This list is very useful to have, both to help you get to know your neighbours around the lake, and in case of emergency when you might need to contact someone urgently, be they at their cottage or elsewhere.

Keeping lists up to date is always difficult and there will already be errors in this list. Please help by sending any corrections to Mike Kramer who is maintaining the list for everyone’s benefit.

Lake Partner Program (LPP) water testing

Unfortunately the official LPP results for 2021 have not yet been published by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. The latest information available is for years up to 2020. A summary of that data for North Otter Lake  is here. To search for the most up to date data at any time go the Ministry’s Map: Lake partner page.

There is a good overview of the LPP on the  FOCA website. From here there are links to the database of results covering all the tested Ontario lakes. For more details still, there is a very detailed 42 page FOCA report on the LPP.

Frontenac Park Updates

Park superintendent Ben Chabot’s update on what’s new and what’s happening in Frontenac Provincial Park is here.

Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) Dashboard

The CRCA have a new Lake Report Dashboard which is worth browsing for lots of information about all the lakes and surrounding land in the CRCA’s jurisdiction. Be warned though, the interface is not the easiest, and is best viewed on a large screen.

After effects of the gypsy moths

It was a relief to all of us that the gypsy moth invasion of 2020 and 2021 is behind us and we hope that the next peak is many years away and a lot less strong. This is an interesting little article about the effects the gypsy moths can have on lake quality and carbon emissions.

Keith Dunn, NSOLA webmaster
August 23, 2022
nsola@nsola.org

Hello fellow members of the North & South Otter Lake Association

This year’s Annual General Meeting will be held on August 14, 2022 at 10 a.m. at the Frontenac Provincial Park picnic area, or indoors at the Park’s Trail Centre if it is raining.

Outdoors there are a few picnic tables to sit at, but for guaranteed seating please bring your own chair. Coffee will be served. Printed copies of the agenda and last year’s minutes will not be distributed.

The draft agenda is below. Please contact me if you would like to add something.

1. President’s words of welcome
2. Adoption of agenda
3. Adoption of minutes of 2021 AGM
4. Business arising from the minutes
5. Treasurer’s report
6. Changes to property / owners
7. Water testing / web page
8. Wildlife reports
9. Speaker (TBA)
10. Election of new officers
11. Other business (Tydee Bins Subsidy Program)

The current members of the executive are:

President: Anita Dunn
Vice-President: Judy Tetlow
Secretary: Piper Huggins
Treasurer: Oriana Muzzin
Directors (members at large): Cam Kenny, Aaron Zimmerman
Past President: Peter Neumann

Under our constitution, the election of the executive is staggered. Each position has a two year term. This year we will hold elections at the AGM for the following positions: President, Treasurer, Director (Member at large).

A reminder from our treasurer, Oriana, that the annual membership dues ($10 per property) can be paid in the following ways:

• In person, by cash or cheque at the AGM
• Electronically, by sending an e-transfer for direct deposit to the NSOLA account to treasurer@nsola.org
• By mailing a cheque to Oriana Muzzin, 15 Somerset Ave. , Toronto, ON, M6H 2R3

Looking forward to seeing you all at the park!

Anita Dunn
President, NSOLA
executive@nsola.org

At our AGM in August we discussed the beaver population in our lakes, the damage they do to shoreline trees and the possibility of controlling their numbers.

It was agreed that NSOLA would not, as a group, take part in any control, but would make available the name of a local trapper, so that any member who wishes can make his or her own arrangements.  This trapper’s name was provided by Simon Smith:

B.J. Hogan (goes by B.J.).  Phone:  613-214-2663. He can be texted or called at that number.

Anita Dunn
President, NSOLA
executive@nsola.org

Lake Partner Program water testing

A summary of the water test results for North Otter Lake for the years up to 2020 (latest available) is here.

There is a good overview of the Lake Partner Program on the FOCA website at https://foca.on.ca/lake-partner-program-overview/. From here there are links to the database of results covering all the tested Ontario lakes.

Frontenac Park Updates

A report by Ben Chabot, Park Superintendent, on what’s new and what’s happening in Frontenac Provincial park is here.

The outdoor classroom project

At the AGM Simon Smith described plans for an outdoor classroom to be built very close to where we held the meeting. See here for an artist’s impression of the proposed structure. The project is being funded by The Friends of Frontenac Park; if you would like to donate you can do so in person at the Park Office, or at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-friends-of-frontenac-park/

Survey about the usage of the Cataraqui Trail

The Friends of the Cataraqui are asking local residents and visitors to complete a survey about the use of the Cataraqui Trail. Please see here for more details.

Map of the Otter Lake area

Mike Kramer brought to the AGM a large map of the Otter Lake. If you are interested in looking at it there is a PDF (just taken from a photo) available here.

Keith Dunn, NSOLA webmaster
nsola@nsola.org