03 September 2008
Mayor Savage and Councilors
Municipality of West Nipissing
C/o Jay Barbeau, CAO
RE: SEPTIC INSPECTION ISSUES
CLEAR LAKE COTTAGE ASSOCIATION
Dear Mayor Savage:
On 03 August 08, councilor Guy Ethier kindly attended our Annual General Meeting and
provided response to inquiries raised at the meeting.
Mr. Ethier inquired if cost alone was the reason that Clear Lake residents were not
responding to the voluntary re-inspection program recently implemented by the North
Bay Mattawa Conservation Authority. I assure you, fees are not the issue. The services
and programs offered by NBMCA simply will not reach all residents and provide the
level of regulation required to ensure our lake is protected. Our members continue to seek
a comprehensive re-inspection program.
Our Board voiced concern with the level of response council or the CAO have provided
in relation to our written inquiries over the past year. Mr. Ethier admitted that formal
responses are warranted in such situations. He apologized and we were pleased with his
commitment to do better in the future.
In particular we would like to know what if anything council has done to ensure that
NBMCA has addressed all outstanding complaints through compliance investigations.
Finally, councilor Ethier reported that the Ministry of Environment intends to table a
report with council outlining the results of a 2008 inspection of our Lake. We would like
to be present during this presentation and ask that you invite us to attend.
We are pleased that Mr. Ethier took the time to attend our meeting. Despite obvious
delays and the limited progress to date, we appreciate all efforts made by council and
wish to reiterate our concern to work in partnership with you.
Please direct your response to the attention of our Secretary Bob Jolley at the address
above.
A timely reply to these requests will be appreciated.
Sincerely
Lois Dobson
President