Not currently at the lake, so hard to comment on the weather each day. September is typically one of the nicest months of the year with lower humidity, lots of sunshine and afternoons quite pleasant. Looks like Friday morning the 23rd could be first frost.
The September Council meeting was Wednesday afternoon the 21st. Not a lot of interest to seasonal residents. The by-law enforcement officer attended a seminar on Short Term Accommodations during tthe past month and recommended that the by-law which was to have had its 3rd reading at this council meeting go back to the drawing board and start over. Given that PEC (Prince Edward County) just revised its STA by-law this week to BAN all new STAs, probably a good idea to look at the situation anew. Also some discussion of initiating dog licensing in 2023. Greg Maxwell, the "roads guy" was officially appointed the new fire chief. No further discussion on the Land Escapes / Transition Metals negotiations or on Limerick Estates. I did find it interesting that one of the new councilors did not attend the meeting. You would think that since they are being acclaimed that they might attend a meeting to see what it is all about.
The candidates list for the municipal election is official. There will be no election for Councilors as there are 4 open seats and 4 nominations. The new council will be Jan MacKillican, Shawn Pack, Glenn Locke and Grace Hamm. There will be a campaign and election for mayor with incumbent Carl Stefanski being challenged by Limerick Lake resident Kimberly Carson.
There is some misleading communications around the municipality about a new mining venture tied to Land Escapes. Our two cottager/councilors are on top of what is really happening. Land Escapes has asked to create a special zoning designation for the majority of their holdings in Limerick Township to accommodate their planned park. As part of that new zoning it lists "permitted activities." NOT on the list is "mineral exploration." The existing holder of the exploratory rights (Transition Metals of Sudbury) has turned to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to get them to intervene and remind the municipality that mineral exploration is governed by the province, not the municipality. Hastings County has urged Land Escapes and Transition Metals to sit down and work out an access plan amicable to both parties. There is NO new mining activity being applied for. Only preservation of existing rights.
The LWRA held a combined AGM and BBQ on August 6th. The event turned out to be lovely. The shade in the new location made it even nicer than the lodge lawn used to be. Had two resignations from the Board. Mike Douglas-Hecker finished up his 3rd year as President and did not stand for re-election to the Board. In addition, Ed Offshack also did not stand for re-election. Several cottagers did put their names forward, and the new board has increased from 12 to 13 members. I was elected the new president and have been getting up to speed on the current organization projects.
I have been told that Trudys was ordered to replace their gas tanks and that is why they are not selling gasoline. As of late September, that is still the situation. The Gate (Rustic) restaurant just south on 62 is re-open with baked goods also available. Looking forward to stopping by there one of these days.
For those driving between the US and Canada, the restrictions and questions seem to change at random. Another trip to NY State on September 12th went smoothly in both directions. Always be prepared with all documentation on printed paper to avoid delays. Travelers still must use ArriveCAN northbound, but that is fairly easy to comply with. Asks a lot of questions the first time, but remembers the data and subsequent uses are much quicker. Since the implementation of ArriveCAN I typically spend less than 30 seconds at Canada customs. There is another update to ArriveCAN (asks a few more questions now) in the last month. If you installed it sometime back, might be a good idea to log on and make sure it is updated.
Internet service on the lake has been handed off to Northern Rural Net. There are a few alternatives. There is a company called MapleWiFi that is offering unlimited cellular data packages that can be turned on and off on a monthly basis. Nice for seasonal use. After a lot of "site searching" I had success in installing a Starlink dish. Got it to have 98% up time. Gives around 250Mbps down and 10Mbps up. It does need a tree free view to the north. The municipality installed Starlink at their office this month and they are loving it too.
The Limerick chain of lakes are in fisheries zone 15. Bass season opened on June 25th and closes on November 30. Lake trout opened on January 1 and remains open until September 30.
