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

This year’s Annual General Meeting will be held on August 8, 2021 at 10 a.m., at the Frontenac Provincial Park picnic area, rain or shine.

In keeping with public health guidelines, the meeting will be held outdoors, and is a ‘bring your own chair & coffee’ event. 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. Introduction (Anita)
2. Adoption of minutes of 2020 AGM (Piper)
3. Business arising from the minutes
4. Treasurer’s report (Oriana)
5. Changes to property / owners (Mike Kramer)
6. Water testing / web page (Keith Dunn)
7. Wildlife and loon raft (Judy)
8. Gypsy moths (Judy)
9. Election of new officers (Anita)
10. Other business

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: treasurer, director, director.

A reminder from our treasurer, Oriana, that the annual membership dues ($10 per property) can now 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

2021 Annual General Meeting

Like everyone I’ve been monitoring the constantly changing COVID situation, and the regulations being imposed by the Ontario government. I am currently hoping that we can hold our AGM outdoors at Frontenac Provincial Park on Sunday August 8, 2021.

The current opening-up plans seem to indicate this will be possible, and I very much look forwards to being able to meet up with everyone then. But the situation is very dynamic, so the date remains provisional. I will email everyone once we can confirm the arrangements.

Gypsy moths

The summer of 2020 will be remembered around here not just for COVID, but also for the invasion of gypsy moths. Already this spring we’ve been bugged by the tiny caterpillars blowing in the wind on their long strands of silk, landing in our hair and in some cases causing allergic reactions due to their tiny hairs. And some trees have already started to show significant signs of damage.

Predators and naturally occurring viruses and fungi will eventually control the population explosion. We can’t tell at this time whether 2021 will better or worse than 2020, but there are indications it will be another bad year. We are all worried about the effect this infestation has on the health of our tress. There are some steps that can be taken if you have just a few trees to protect, but most of us around the lake here are custodians of small forests, and all we can do is hope and wait for the gypsy moth population to naturally decline and for the trees to recover.

There are many sources of information on the web. Ross Sutherland our local councillor recommended this article from the city of Hamilton which is a good starting point for information. The Ontario MNRF page on Gypsy Moths is also very informative, and contains maps showing the 2020 infestations and predictions for 2021.

Anita Dunn
President, NSOLA
executive@nsola.org

Our September canoe build project is planned for this September 7-27, 2020 in Kingston’s Inner Harbour, and I thought this might be of interest to many fellow NSOLA members.

For details please visit https://www.friendsofinnerharbour.com/cataraqui-boatyard-project-2020/

We are now partnering with Pytor Hodgson of 3things.ca Indigenous consulting and his Facebook event page Come Walk With Us… Following the Saturday, September 26 programming, he will host a two-hour live-streamed Facebook event in the evening highlighting the days events.  It will also include pre-recorded video segments of the build, interviews, teachings, a panel of Algonquin knowledge keepers and entertainment. It will also be available afterwards for those who couldn’t make either the event or the live-streamed show.  He has an audience of over 850,000 across Canada!

The Saturday event itself will include some programming (tbd), a free venison chili feast, a blessing and launch of the canoe and the chance for visitors to get out on the water in one of three authentic birch bark canoes.

In addition, on the Sunday, we are partnering with TruNorthAid to do a Reconciliation Walk in addition to programming and getting out on the water in birch bark canoes.

As it will be World Rivers Day we are thinking of programming related to the water. Despite COVID, things are coming together nicely.

Please feel free to share with family, friends, colleagues and cottagers and anyone else you think might be interested. Hope you can come too.

Mary Farrar,
President, Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour
http://www.friendsofinnerharbour.com
613-544-1246
inverarymary@yahoo.com