President’s Report Summer 2019
by Mike Thomas, PLCA President
Anyone Thinking of Opening a Restaurant?
We need a new restaurant on the Lake. It was a long time ago that Paudash Lake had no another water access or nearby road location of a restaurant. With the Craftsman and Lakehouse gone we have to take a longer car ride to enjoy a nice dinner out. We do have Yoasha’s ‘Yummy’ hot dogs, sausages, etc. at Paudash Lake Marina on weekends, and it is good food but not the same. Just be sure that if an entrepreneur starts a new restaurant, we support it as we should all the other businesses in the area – their services are a part of what makes our time at the lake enjoyable.
Summer Events
There are lots of great activities happening at the lake this summer, including our new Paudash Lake Golf Challenge, to be held on Saturday, July 20th. Also notice the new route and finish for the Canada Day Boat Parade. Click here for a the full list of events.
Lake Health Report
All members are being provided with this 250 page bound hard copy report outlining information on many of the lakes in Haliburton County, including Paudash Lake. If you have not done so already your copy can be picked up at Landing Point Marine. This report follows on the work done from 2015-2018 with the “Love Your Lake” program whereby every property owner on Paudash Lake received a confidential report indicating the state of health of their shoreline – the goal is to have a natural shoreline for 75% or more of the total lakeshore in order to have a sustainable healthy lake. Go to the CHA website at www.cohpoa.org/shoreline-health/ to get more information on how you can improve your shoreline, if your ‘LYL’ suggested doing so.
Lake Trout
Our 5 year stocking program got an extra year this past May when another 2,375 trout were put into the lake by our friends at North Hastings Community Fish Hatchery. Please support their annual dinner / auction fundraiser on Saturday, July 13th. Go to http://fishhatchery.ca/ for more information.
Short Term Rentals
The spring survey that Highlands East asked for input on, had very low response numbers. Council is now putting together a survey questionnaire that will be distributed sometime later this year.
Chinese Mystery Snails from the lake. Photo by Mike Thomas
Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Association Items Learned
PLCA continues to be a member of CHA and their work is invaluable. Gord Chong and I recently attended their Lake Stewards Meeting and learned that the mysterious snails in Paudash are indeed ‘mysterious’. They are the ‘Chinese Mystery Snail’, an invasive aquatic gastropod. They most likely got into our lake from boats in transit. Over the past 2 decades they have spread north from the U.S and, although not as devastating as the ‘Zebra’ mussel, they do reproduce in abundance. Also, they do not have any natural predators and eat much of the food that our natural species of fish and other aquatics depend upon. It is advised to remove them from the water and dispose by burning or dump well back from the shore (they can live and move for up to a month out of water). Haliburton County is preparing a new ‘shoreline protection by- law’, with the support of all municipalities, expanding upon the current ‘shoreline tree removal’ by- law, that already exists. The goal is to prevent current healthy shorelines (within 30 meters of the high water) from being degraded with lawns or other non-native species of plant material. We fully support this action as it continues upon the important theme of ‘protect our shorelines protects the environmental and financial health of our lakes and properties’.
Boats and Speed
Your PLCA Board has approved the cost of providing ‘speed and reduce wake’ signage for property owners in areas where this is a continued problem. All those who are licensed to drive a boat should know the ‘rules of the water’ and we hope these signs will be reminders. TAKE BOATING ONTARIO’S CLEAN BOATER PLEDGE Our colleagues at Boating Ontario, the recreational marine trade association, ask all boaters to take the “Clean Boater” Pledge. As a passionate boater that enjoys Ontario waterways, I pledge to do all I can to protect the waters for all to enjoy, now and in the future, by embracing the following Clean Boater practices:
TAKE THE PLEDGE: https://www.boatingontario.ca/cpages/responsib le-boating
• Recycle and keep Ontario waterways free of refuse and garbage
• Practice proper fueling techniques
• Keep a clean, oil-free bilge and use oil-absorbent bilge socks or mats
• Use proper pump-out facilities • Support Boating Ontario’s Clean Marine marinas
• Promote Clean Boater practices at all times.
Membership Renewals
Please pay your 2019 membership fees that were sent out earlier this year. Members attend our events for free but we do charge nonmembers a nominal fee to help with our costs. At $35 per year (or $90 / 3 years) this is a bargain and less than the cost of a non-member family attending all of our events. Plus, the membership is tax deductible!