Land Stewardship Committee
Update March 19, 2024
Please find an updated letter from the Board here.
Conservation Agreement Draft and next steps
At the Club AGM held earlier this spring, over 85% of members of the Club voted in favour of proceeding to draft a Conservation Agreement with the Georgian Bay Land Trust (GBLT) and presenting the Agreement to the members of the Club for their final consideration and vote after community feedback and discussion. On behalf of the the Board of the Club, the Land Stewardship Committee (LSC) has prepared an updated draft Agreement, an introductory note and a short Five Question survey. Please review these documents and take the survey over the summer. We would greatly appreciate your feedback on any and all matters pertaining to the Agreement.
The LSC will be available throughout the summer to discuss this draft with community members who have questions or comments. Someone from the LSC will be at the Main Dock during Library starting next week. We will have hard copies available and welcome your feedback. Members are also encouraged to forward any questions to the LSC as part of the short survey – or via the board secretary (secretary@gohomebay.com). Thanks for your time and interest!
Sincerely,
Land Stewardship Committee
(Patsy Cross, Doug Grundy, George Lougheed, Tony Pigott, Jim Rusak, Barb Zimmerman)
Main Dock Meeting September 2021
RESPONSES TO COMMUNITY QUESTIONS-COMMENTS
At the Summer Dock Meeting held September 4, 2021, the Land Stewardship Committee made a presentation regarding its recommendation that the Club enter into a conservation agreement with a land trust in order to enhance the protection of the Club’s Open Lands. In doing so, the LSC responded to some of the questions/comments that had been received during individual discussions with community members and posted on the Club’s social media platform. Not all of the questions/comments were addressed in the meeting due to time constraints, so the LSC promised to publish written responses to all of the questions/comments. The following are those responses:
June 2021 Update
Dear Madawaska Club of Go Home Bay Community,
Following the annual meeting, the Land Stewardship Committee posted an example conservation agreement that it envisions could be entered into by the Club should its recommendation for strengthening conservation of our open lands be approved by Club members. The purpose of posting this draft was to facilitate discussion. The Committee will host a Zoom meeting on June 17th to enable members of the Community to ask questions and to provide feedback. Committee members also hope to meet with members of the Community at the Bay this summer in order to answer questions and receive feedback on the recommendation for a conservation agreement. We look forward to seeing you next Thursday!
LSC Q&A Zoom - Thursday, June 17th, 2021 at 7:00pm EDT
May 2021 Update
At the Annual and General Meeting of the Club on Thursday, May 6, 2021, Tony Pigott presented a report on behalf of the Land Stewardship Committee. In his report, Tony indicated that the LSC would be posting a draft Conservation Agreement for the Community to review. The draft Conservation Agreement is an initial draft of the type of agreement that the LSC envisions would entered into by the Club should the LSC’s recommendation that the Club protect its Open Lands by way of such an agreement be approved by Members.
The LSC’s recommendations and the considerations undertaken by the LSC in making its recommendation can be found in the January Report submitted by the LSC. A copy of that report can be seen with the following link:
The draft Conservation Agreement can be viewed here.
As Tony referenced in his presentation, the LSC has prepared a Backgrounder for the assistance of Members which is intended to aid in their review, understanding and consideration of the draft Conservation Agreement. The Backgrounder can be viewed here.
The LSC intends to hold an informational Zoom meeting in late May, after the long weekend, in order to answer questions and receive comments from Members regarding the draft Conservation Agreement. The date and time of that meeting will be posted prior to the Victoria Day weekend. Members are welcome to email questions or comments to the LSC prior to that meeting. Those messages can be sent to:
George Lougheed – lougheedg@rogers.com
Jim Rusak – james.rusak@gmail.com
Doug Grundy – dgrundy.gcpc@gmail.com
Tony Pigott – tpigott@brandtrade.ca
Barb Zimmerman – zimmerman@icfcanada.org
Patsy Cross – patsy.cross@rogers.com
A member of the LSC will try to respond promptly to any questions or comments that are received prior to the meeting. As we have done in the past, the LSC will post the questions and comments on the Club’s webpage. As we do so, we will use the Club’s facebook page to announce such postings.
Land Stewardship committee update and progress summary
Land Stewardship committee update and progress summary
January 2021
From the Board of Directors to all Mad Club Members.
You may recall that in 2018 the Board asked the Land Stewardship Committee (LSC) to consider how to update or enhance the protected status of the 1,589 acres that is currently zoned as open space while retaining club ownership and control of these lands. The LSC subsequently undertook a review of the history of the open lands, the current plan and protections, an analysis of risks and challenges going forward, the options for protection and a recommended direction. Their analysis and a recommendation to consider a Conservation Agreement was shared and discussed at the annual dock meeting in 2019. In order to answer questions posed at the meeting and to provide further clarification of the LSC’s recommendation, a power point presentation and FAQ was posted in August 2020. Further discussion was put on hold at that time due to COVID and while the community dealt with the issues surrounding the caretaker property.
The Board would now like to return to this important question and engage the community in a step by step process to confirm the best way forward. Whatever the outcome, the final direction the community chooses to take will be determined by a two thirds vote of members in good standing.
Where to from here?
Step One is to invite the community to review/revisit the LSC’s analysis and recommendation through a careful review of the power point presentation posted last summer. You can find the presentation on the website through this link: https://tinyurl.com/y3b7kbyf and attached to your MadMail
Further, a community video conference call will be scheduled on February 9, 2021 to allow the LSC to review the presentation with the community and to answer any further questions or provide clarifications to the presentation. The process and steps for a decision will also be discussed.
To make the most of the call, we ask all members to read the presentation and forward any questions via email to either George Lougheed - lougheedg@icloud.com - or Doug Grundy - dgrundy.gcpc@gmail.com - in advance of February 9.
Step Two. The Board, following input from the community and the advice of the LSC, will determine next steps to be undertaken between February and April. This could, for example, include continued consultation, further details on the recommendation or a preliminary drafting of a conservation agreement for community consideration. Any additional work that is undertaken will be reviewed and shared at the AGM in May at which time next steps in the process will be laid out by the Board.
Previously archived discussion
The Land Stewardship Committee (LSC), charged with developing a plan to enhance protection on the Club's Open Lands, presented its recommendation to the Community and Board at the AGM and summer dock meetings last year. Two open meetings were held in the summer prior to the summer dock meeting. At the request of the Community, the LSC has prepared the attached document to provide further information on the options, process, and framework the committee used to arrive at its final recommendation of a Conservation Easement.
The board is posting this document so that the community can have a full understanding of the work that has been done so far as this is just one step in the process of attempting to increase the protection of our Open Lands. This process still requires significant community input on the content of any potential Conservation Easement Agreement before it can be brought to club members for approval. This process will take time, and it is not the intention of the board that any vote on the proposal take place this summer, as the Caretakers Site deliberations are our top priority at present.
This document is available on the Mad Club website (http://www.gohomebay.org). Further details on information sessions (either virtual or in small groups conditional on the evolving COVID-19 situation) will be communicated shortly. In the interim, questions, comments and discussion can be held in the Land Stewardship Committee blog (http://www.gohomebay.org/new-blog).
David Cape