March 29, 2020
What should we be allowed to do…
There is no shortage of opinion among cottage owners about what we should be allowed to do and why, during the ongoing State of Emergency.
However, the Band and the Medical Officer of Health have both made it clear that they do not want us coming to our cottages. This is not about us but rather about keeping the Band and surrounding communities safe and helping them cope better with this pandemic given the limited resources at their disposal. Please stay home. When the appropriate authorities remove the restrictions we will let you know.
In the Meantime…
In the meantime there are many unanswered questions for which SCOI is trying to get answers. However with the Band offices closed, and Council coping with a lot more than cottage issues, it may take some time to get all our questions answered. As stated previously, it is also early days and too soon for even Band Council to consider a number of issues that cottage owners have raised.
Thank you for your patience and support!
We thank you for your patience and for the many messages of support, which we really appreciate! (We have chosen not to publish these so as not to appear self-congratulatory.)
Many of you are aware that we have also chosen not to publish comments that we think are unhelpful or inappropriate. We are gleaning the important issues from these messages and reporting on them as we have information to share.
Rob McLaughlin
SCOI Secretary-Treasurer
Premier Ford also made an appeal yesterday to ask ALL cottage owners in Ontario to stay home. CBC shared an item on last nights news where mayors across Canada were making the same request. This is not a Saugeen only pandemic response.
I have concerns about being required to submit 100% of 2020 lease payments on time without consideration about all the easing of rent, property tax and mortgage payments by all levels of governments and financial institutions. Finances can be a challenge at this time for all cottagers. Is there any opportunity for this decision to be reconsidered?
I agree – it is terrible the band is asking for full payment and at the same time not allowing us up there and might not all summer. I know many cottagers enjoying muskoka, haliburton, southhampton, port elgin, balsalm lake, etc right now and choosing to bring their own supplies and just stay at their cottage for the next few months rather than their homes. Totally not fair, yet they are quick at taking our money.
Lorna,
There is considerable evidence emerging that a significant number of Covid19 spreaders are asymptomatic. They have the virus but no symptoms. So there is a great risk to other people if those who carry the virus but don’t know they have it, travel to their cottage promising to self isolate. No one has a vehicle big enough to take “everything they need to stay at their cottage for the next few months.
It is unfortunate that some of those who own cottages in other municipalities are disregarding requests by the Province, those municipalities and the medical officers of health to remain in their primary residence. This behaviour is selfish, reckless and puts the full-time residents of those communities and their health care systems at risk and will likely delay lifting of restrictions in those areas.
We are fortunate to have purchased cottages on the Saugeen First Nation where the price of ownership is far more affordable that those other places you mention. However, owning a cottage on First Nation land also means that we must abide by the rules and regulations established by the Chief and Band Council. So unlike other municipalities where the local council does not have the authority to outright ban cottagers, we are forced to take the advice to stay home or pay the consequences.
Regardless of where your cottage is, staying home is the right thing to do.
Be kind, be patient and be safe.
SCOI is doing an amazing job at keeping cottage owners informed and responding in a timely way to questions. You are an amazing group of volunteers. Want you to know that I have connected with more than one cottage friend and in very clear terms reinforced “STAY HOME”. It is hard for people to understand something they have never experienced. In a week or so the number of year round residents in Grey Bruce that will have Covid will increase dramatically and the few precious ventilators for those that will get very sick must be reserved for year round residents as they don’t have another hospital option.
I do ” get it ” but I dont get how we are expected to pay total lease and on May 1st with no consideration since we are being banned from going to our cottages. Also I dont see how me going to my cottage and bringing all my supplies with me so I dont leave my property can in any way endanger anyone.
As stated before the mental and emotional benefit of spending time at our cottages must not be overlooked.
In full agreement with authorities. Stay home. Large cities with state of the art health care systems are already overrun. What on earth will 13 bed hospitals do? Think! The incubation period for this virus is now MORE than 2 weeks- up to 17 days. 30 day shedding virus period AFTER you think you are fine. You are still infectious for that time. Did anyone see the clogged roads in Canmore with cottager fleeing their homes? STAY HOME. The faster we ALL do that the faster we all get to enjoy our cottages.
I find this a bit conflicting. Due to work circumstances I am off for 30 days w minimal pay. I would like nothing better than to go to my cottage and attend to a 3 day project.
As a responsible adult it is up to me to asses my health and make smart choices – which our family have. I realize health equipment is short. What sane person would not return back to home (Toronto) if one felt any symptoms. I would never for a minute think of going to a local hospital. Is this not a consideration or compromise?
Best Regards
Josh,
Experts say said that the virus can be spread by asymptomatic individuals before they even suspect they have an infection. Please stay home.
I certainly understand and respect the decision not to go to our cottages until things clear up. This year, my first correspondence from the band was an increased service fee to be paid as usually on April 1st. Then we learned the band office was closed and roads had been blocked following Provincial recommendations not to visit our cottages. However, the band had started cashing our $1,000 service fee cheque’s. Perhaps all payments to the band should be halted or extended until the state of emergency has ended. In addition, maybe this new “over priced” service fee should be fairly adjusted so we aren’t being charged for no garbage pickup when we are not there. I’m sure many would agree that this new service fee amount doesn’t even come close to reflecting the “quality of service” we receive. I am still shaking my head over their +80% increase from 2012-13.
John, Thanks you for your comments. SCOI is not prepared to concede that the Service Fees have been overpriced. Certainly there have been mix ups with publicizing times the landfill has been open, and certainly there have been times when garbage collection has not taken place on the day it should have. However on the other side, cottagers have be terrible at sorting their own recyclables and at not maintaining their garbage boxes which slows the crews down as they make their collections. Large garbage, which is no longer collected, was because a few cottagers were trying to game the system and then when it was reduced to one collection per year, cottagers disregarded the notice and put their stuff out anyway. Not fair to the Band and not fair to continue to complain that the service is poor.
I’m not sure how you got an 80% increase in service fees since 2012. The average yearly inflation rate for the past 8 years is around 1.6%
However 2012 is a good year to start from since that is the last time the Band made a considerable jump in the fee. That year the fee was $825. If the Band was able to add the annual rate of inflation to the service cost each year, my calculations, using the annual year over year rate of inflation for Canada come out to the fee for 2020 being $936.18. The same calculations suggest that this past year we should have been paying $918.28 instead of the $875 we did pay. And the year before $897.90 instead of $875. And the year before that the fee was $850 and yet the inflation calculation says we should have paid $883.76. Going back to 2015, we have been paying less than the rate of inflation calculation says we should be paying. My point is you can’t have it both ways. When the service fees don’t change every year, some years you pay more than can be justified by the rate of inflation and later on you end up paying less.
I’m not sure why you suggest that all fees be cancelled until the State of Emergency is lifted. I’m assuming you still want the security service
and the fire department to protect your property and in fairness to the Band they are still mostly on the job in the Lands Department and the Works Department. It is way too soon to say how much these services will be impacted this year. Cottage garbage collection wouldn’t normally start for another month.
Stay safe,
Rob
Rob McLaughlin
SCOI secr/treas