News

Report of the Second Meeting between the Association and the Municipality of La Pêche

On February 27, 2008 the second meeting was held with the municipality of La Pêche to discuss the on-going actions required to address the water quality at Lac Bernard.  This meeting was a follow-up to the one which took place on December 12, 2007 with Mayor Buissière and Marcel Marchildon of the Municipality.

Participants included: Marcel Marchildon, Director of Urbanisme/Environment; Philippe Vlasiu, Environmental Technician; Jacqueline Lambert-Madore, Municipal Councillor for this sector; Janet Bax, President of the Lake Bernard Owners and Residents Association, Laurence McClelland, member of the Association Executive; Chris Hanlon, Marie Williams of the Septic Committee of Lake Bernard.

The following is a summary of the key points of action:

1. The Association's Action Plan to "Reduce nutrients going into the Lake" was presented for information and comment to ensure the actions being proposed are in sync with and support the upcoming activities the Municipality will be undertaking in the summer of 2008.  A key activity will be the inspection of Lac Bernard septic systems.

2. To address the inspections of septic systems at Lac Bernard, the Municipality recently completed a review of documentation for over 300 property owners to determine whether or not the files contain septic plans and permits. In the case of approximately 37% of the files reviewed, there was incomplete documentation.

3. The Municipality will send letters to these property owners by late March 2008 to confirm this.  Owners will be asked to provide missing documentation to the Municipality regarding compliance with municipal and provincial standards and if not in compliance, information on action to be taken to rectify the situation.  Janet Bax will write to all Lac Bernard property owners to give notice of the letter coming from the Municipality.

4. In summer 2008, the Municipality will perform inspections, on a priority basis, of all the properties for which there is no documentation on file or for which no response has been received from the letters sent to Lac Bernard property owners.

5. To increase the efficiency of the inspections being performed by Municipal staff, Lac Bernard volunteers will work in partnership with the inspectors to ensure that property owners are aware of the schedule for the inspection of their septic systems, that the location of the system is marked and that arrangements are made to ensure the inspectors have the necessary access to the property including the interior of the cottage or residence if necessary.

Other Points of Interest:

The Lac Bernard Owners and Residence Association will work with the Municipality to access funds either from the Municipality and/or the Provincial government to address some of the actions required to deal with Blue Green Algae such as water sampling, outreach and hiring experts and students.

In May 2008, the Municipality intends to hire a student of environmental studies to liaise with all the lake associations in the area.  This person will establish and maintain a relationship with the associations and assist those who want to access environmental assistance programs available from the various levels of government.  He/she would also complete an electronic data base on the status of all septic systems and water test results for all the lakes in the area.

Marcel and Philippe provided valuable information on resource materials available from the Province of Quebec on the subject of Blue Green Algae.  This information will be reviewed and used in the preparation of outreach and communications materiel for Lac Bernard cottagers and residents.

This group will meet again in late March or early April, date to be determined.