DEKA LAKE & DISTRICT RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER We get May / June 2016 The AGM!! This will be on THURSDAY AUGUST 4 th at the Deka Fire Hall. Doors will open at 7PM so that you can renew your Membership, or join for the first time. The meeting will commence at 7:30 PM We do not have a guest speaker lined up at present, but that could happen, so watch area Bulletin Boards, & if you are a Member with an e-mail address, you will get a notice. We get more money! President of the Ratepayers, receiving a cheque for $20,000 from Donna Barnett, our Cariboo Chilcotin MLA. We have also, again, received a $2500 Grant from the CRD. These monies are for our Community Access improvements that we have planned for this year, and any monies remaining will go towards (not too distant) future projects. We now have a proven track record for doing things within and for the Community and believe this was a major reason for receiving these monies. Big Thanks to Donna Barnett and to Brian Coakley, our CRD Area L Director, for their support. INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 Fisheries & Water Related Issues 2 Fires / Access Update 3 Derby Weekend 3 Summer Activities 4 Mountain Spruce / C.O.P. 4 Community Improvements WE WISH YOU A GREAT SUMMER!! One issue we shall be dealing with, is our Constitution. It is a wordy, 6 page, small print document with many articles that are no longer relevant to the Community structure, nor to the Electronic age. It needs a full review but at this time, we shall just be putting forward 2 articles for change, as indicated below. Notice of Motion: Constitution, Number 2, Purposes a : Change to: to safeguard and promote the common interests of the property owners and residents of that certain area in the Cariboo Regional District, in the Province of British Columbia within the boundaries of the Deka Lake & District Fire Protection Area It currently reads:.in the County of Cariboo, in the Province of British Columbia known as Deka Lake and associated areas bounded by the Deka Lake Fire Protection area, and, if desired, to include Sulphurous and Hathaway Lakes By-Laws, Number 19, Executive Committee: Change to: the Executive Committee shall consist of not less than seven (7) nor more than fourteen (14) members of the Society It is now: not less than six (6) nor more than twelve (12)... These changes reflect the new reality of our Community make up and also our wish to encourage increased representation on the Executive Committee from members from all our area Lakes. We hope you will come out to the AGM and unanimously support these changes we are proposing. DEKA LAKE & DISTRICT 1
Fisheries : On May 26 th, your Association hosted Mike Ramsay, Fisheries Manager in the Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resources at the MS Community Events Centre. He presented his Ministry s proposal, still in the planning stage, to construct a small weir at the outlet of the creek from Sulphurous to Deka Lakes. The water level in Sulphurous Lake will not increase by any more than approx 4 inches as it will naturally flow over the weir above this height. Deka & Sulphurous Lakes provide about half of the Kokanee eggs collected for re-stocking throughout the Province. Kokanee are attracted by running water, so as water is released down the creek in September, they will be attracted to this site where the trapping pens are located. An added bonus for those launching a boat at Sulphurous will be the (slightly) deeper water. Mike also noted that if we wanted to catch more Kokanee, we should catch more Lakers!! At the end of Mike s presentation, a vote was taken on the proposal, and it was overwhelmingly supported by those present.. approx 30 persons, the majority from Sulphurous. Our Fisheries liaison rep on the Board is now Gary Sayenchuk, 593-4641, so if you have fisheries related questions or issues, he s the one to contact. Boating: Closely related to Fishing, is Boating! Just as you must know the rules around fishing in any particular lake, you must also know the rules that apply to Boating! Higgins Lake is trolling (electric) motors ONLY! Deka Channel Markers: These went in on time for the May long weekend and will probably stay until Thanksgiving. Remember, treat them like the centre line on a road keep to the right! By maintaining this path between Upper and Lower Deka Lake, it is hoped the channel will be maintained & not silt-in! Access Etiquette: Some things bear repeating!!!.. Respect the neighbours. leave the noise (music) at home and enjoy the sounds of nature & of happy people... Swimmers keep out of the way of the boat launching areas. Boat operators can t always see you... Pack it in; pack it out! This includes your cigarette butts... Dog owners keep your dog on a leash when people present; not everyone is comfortable around dogs, no matter how gentle Fido might be, and this can change, especially if other dogs are there... If there s an outhouse use it; or go at home first. Fires: After a very dry spring and lower than normal winter snow, Fire Restrictions went into effect in early April after more than the usual number of wildfires had to be battled throughout the Province. Unfortunately, most of these were human caused. Given the recent cold and wet weather, you could be forgiven if you thought these might have been lifted, but NO., they are still in effect for open fires of all sizes. Camp Fires are still OK, but the ban does include fireworks. Once the warm, dry weather returns, it doesn t take long for things to dry out, so always be VERY careful with your campfire and note when these are also banned. It would also be a good idea to remove the debris from your own property, even though the, often absentee, owner next door does not seem to care. When you do this, take the debris to the Landfill. Do NOT place it on the road allowance, hoping that Interior Roads will remove it. They will not! In fact, it is illegal to do so, and if you add to the pile Interior Roads has stacked, ready to take away, this now becomes your pile, and you are responsible for the removal of it all! It is a fire hazard!! We are very glad to see that fines have been significantly increased for ignoring the fire bans, but, the sad truth is, that should this happen, we live in the forest and the danger that we could all lose everything is very real. We just have to look at Fort MacMurray! Although it is difficult, maybe now is a good time to take a serious look at what you would need, or would wish to take with you should we have to evacuate! Have your grab & go bag ready! And don t forget your meds & pets! Have you signed up for the CRD Emergency Notification System?? If not, do it now! This can be done on line or you can visit the CRD office in 100 Mile House. You can choose how and by how many ways you wish to be notified. It pays to be Prepared! Access Development: As noted in our last Newsletter, Deka Accesses # 6 & #9, Higgins Access #3 & the large, un-surveyed Access at Sulphurous are our projects for this year. We are just in the process of dotting the I s & crossing the T s for Deka & Higgins accesses and hope that by the time you receive this, we shall be all set to go. Sulphurous is a different situation. We applied to have it become part of Rec Sites & Trails BC,; no word yet but our District Officer is feeling very positive about the outcome, and is looking at the Fall for the necessary work to be done. All things come to those who wait! Right?? DEKA LAKE & DISTRICT 2
Regular Summer Activities: Throughout our community, there are activities of interest to everyone. Bingo takes place, every Wednesday evening during the summer, at the Deka Fire Hall. (doors at 6:15) Crib is every second Friday evening, year round, also at the Deka Fire Hall (doors at 7) June 10, 24 etc Book Sale/ Exchange every Wednesday, May 25 to Sept 28 from 1 3 PM at the MS Community Events Centre on Pettyjohn Rd ( back of DL&D VFD Sulphurous Hall ) Further afield are the Loon Bay Craft Market and the IEA Farmers Market & Flea Marketat at Interlakes corner, both on Saturdays. If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don t, you will find an excuse! Vandalism: Around the Easter holiday, two of the Advertising signs on our Community Information Board were, literally, ripped off! Several weeks later, another sign was defaced. By advertising with us, these businesses help to support our Community improvements. You re hurting us all! If you have an issue with any business, deal with it like an adult in person, do not resort to anonymous, childish behaviour! Closely related is the stealing from local recycling bins! Derby Weekend: This year, the Deka Derby is July 30 th & 31 st This is always a great Community Family event, hosted by the DL&D Volunteer Fire Department along with the active participation of the Ladies Auxiliary and the Ratepayers Association. The Fire Dept always comes up with lots of great prizes for fish caught and has many lucky draw prizes We, again, will be doing Pancake Breakfasts on both mornings, and the always popular Bar-be-que on the Sunday afternoon. After the popularity of the accompanying Show & Shine at last years Derby, it will happen again, with probably even more vintage cars on display. And don t forget live music!! We know this is a busy weekend for most members of all our community organizations, but the more people who can come out to help, your shifts will be shorter and everyone will have the chance to enjoy the activities. The Mtn Spruce Community Centre Society is also sponsoring the annual Derby at Sulphurous on the Saturday, the 31 st, from dawn until 2 PM. A big thank you to all of our Members and to all of our Advertisers. It is your support that enables us to carry out the projects that, we hope, benefit our Community Special thanks to Paterson Septic for their continuing attention to our port-a-potties! Thank you to all who recycle & especially for the refundables you take to our Lanndfill site for which we share Now is the Time.. to renew your Membership.. If you include your e-mail address, not only can you receive the Newsletter this way, but you can also receive notices of unscheduled events or meetings of importance or concern to our Community. DEKA LAKE & DISTRICT RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION Please print: Membership Form Name(s) Lake address: Mailing address (if different) City Province / State Postal Code Telephone # Lake &/or Full time residence: E-mail address: DEKA LAKE & DISTRICT 3
Mountain Spruce Community Centre Society: The AGM will be on Saturday, July 2nd at 11 AM. Weather permitting, it will be at the Park; if not, it will be at the Community Events Centre on Pettyjohn Road. The Society now manages the Events Centre. Any not-for-profir group may book the hall at no charge. Contact Siana at 593-0206 for information and bookings. The Society is also planning a Community Garage Sale on Saturday September 3, from 9 AM to 2 PM at the Park. Table rentals are $10 or you may bring your own. Come on out and have some fun now that you have found stuff you no longer need or want! And find replacements! Many thanks to all those who deposit recyclables in their bin; now all that is needed is some more people to help with the sorting Choose being kind over being right, and you ll be right every time! Citizens on Patrol: Since the last Newsletter, a couple of new Members were recruited, but, wouldn t you know it, we are about to lose three dedicated, long standing members as they are moving from the area! Back to square one!! Right now, all Members are from the Deka area, but patrols go into all our 4 lake communities, so we d love to see a few folks from these areas participate You would be patrolling every 3 to 5 weeks, depending on the number of up here teams at any one time. The driver receives $20 for gas expenses. Maybe some former Members would like to put their names up as a spare?? Contact Area Captain, Donna Jarvis @ 593-4541 Community Improvement: Do you ever wonder how we decide what community improvements to undertake?? Well, the ideas come from you, the members of this community.. With the success of the Boat Launches at Deka Accesses #8 and #12 in 2014, which started with a request from the Fire Dept., you have been coming forward to ask that more accesses be improved. With the number of them around our lakes, we are the ones who have to decide which ones are most in need, and what we can manage in any one year. As we see it, the priority has to be the larger, busier accesses where swimmers and boaters compete. Our population is growing, especially over the summer months, so there needs to be some separation of use. We definitely see it as a Safety Issue! You really don t want to see the outcome of an encounter between a boat & a swimmer. When the work is done, we would really like to see people take some responsibility for the upkeep. The individuals of the executive cannot be the ones always doing the work. If you can see the grass needs cutting, please let your lawn mower wander over and do the job as Steve does! If you feel the needs are more than one individual can handle, contact us and a work party can be organized. All of the lakes Accesses are valuable assets to our Community and are there for all of us.. and our visitors! While we are talking about lakes. There is algae in the lakes; the rocks on the bottom are slippery because of this, so there is no reason to believe that the concrete boat launches at Deka #8 & #12 are not also slippery! Another good reason to keep your kids OFF the launches! Have a wonderful summer in, on and around the water, but most of all BE SAFE! Please mail membership to: ( or bring to AGM or to Derby festivities) Deka Lake & District Ratepayers Association, c/o 7524 Burgess Road, Lone Butte, B.C. V0K 1X3 Annual Membership is $7.00 per individual, or $10.00 per household. *Our year-end is June 30. You must hold membership to vote at the AGM DEKA LAKE & DISTRICT 4
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