North Kawartha Council News

Courtesy of Doug Hutton


West Eels Lake Road
Inga Berrey and George Clark from West Eels Lake Road asked council to assume the full maintenance of the road. This issue began in 1995 when the previous council provided limited road maintenance in the summer. The road has some very significant grades and curves and cannot accommodate township snowploughs. It is owned by the MNR, who will permit the township to do summer maintenance but will not provide any financial support. Council will consider the request but stated that they are already spending a significant part of the budget on the road. The council also said that part of the problem also lies in the fact that the province withdrew its financial support for municipalities upgrading roads to provincial standards. Costs to upgrade the road are not clear but figures up to $ 3 million were mentioned. Council will respond to Ms. Berrey and Mr. Clark in writing.

Roads Needs Study
Council approved the proposal to have a roads needs study completed at a cost of $19.090. Although the study is expected to quote incredibly high amounts to bring roads up to date, it can be very useful in setting priorities and long range planning.

Health Task Force
Two citizens, Roy Allen and Neil Currie have made some suggestions for changes to the Medical Centre plans. After considerable discussion, council decided that Reeve Jim Whalen will talk with the architect to see if any of the changes should be incorporated as long as the cost does not increase and the schedule is unaffected.

Medical Centre Name Change
The new name for the Medical Centre will be the North Kawartha Health Centre. The new name better represents the dentistry and other health activities of the practitioners. A new metal sign will replace the deteriorating wood one.

The Nurse Practitioner is Coming to Apsley
Reeve Jim Whalen announced that a nurse practitioner is coming to the Health Center for two days each week starting sometime in the next few months. She will be working with Dr. Rayes. There will be more information on this in the future.

Stoney Lake Rezoning
After considerable discussion regarding the results of two different environmental impact studies concerning a rezoning on Stoney Lake, council approved the rezoning bylaw subject to the provisions set out in the original impact study. The application now proceeds to the land division at the county level where the final decision on the severance in made.

By June Hitchcox

    An update on our area Bluebirds:  Diane and Larry Jopson have watched the progress of their pair with 4 young to the point that the young are feeding themselves (August 4) so they know the parents will soon be starting another family.  Larry has built a 6' high arbour of branches in their front yard and the Bluebirds are often perched in it - an ideal height for them to watch the ground for insects.  Tree Swallows were annoying the Bluebirds while they were in the nest box but they were unable to enter due to Larry's unique birdhouse design.  The problem was solved when Larry put  a birdhouse for the Swallows in the backyard, on a pole about 15' high - the height that they prefer.  Within 2 hours, the birds had moved in and peace reigned.  The Jopsons have also had nesting House Wrens and Hummingbirds with incredibly tiny young.

    Tom's  Bluebirds had 3 young.  Something happened to the male so they have been raised by the female.  Another male turned up and tried for her attention but she was too busy finding food for her brood so he left.  As Tom said, if that male had offered to help out, she might have welcomed him to stay!   The little family disappeared about July 14 but reappeared August 3 when all visited the nest and explored the area then flew off.  Tom's Tree Swallows, in a nest box about 15'  from the Bluebird box, raised 2 young.  They were out and flying about 2 weeks before the young Bluebirds.

    My thanks to Steve for finding a nesting Gray Catbird - another confirmed species for our area.

    Canada Geese on lake-front lawns, can be a problem.  It seems they will rarely come out of the water onto property that has bushes, long grass - anything growing that might conceal an enemy such as a fox.  In addition, a wide strip of low bushes, wildflowers etc., along the water's edge will eat up the nutrients in run-off water before  entering the lake, where, otherwise, it becomes fertilizer for water weeds.  Lawn Grass is not very efficient at doing this.  Do yourself  and the lake a favour by allowing natural vegetation to grow along the shore.

    Hundreds of birds are killed each year by flying into windows, especially when migrating  in unfamiliar surroundings.  Jack's Lake Landscaping on Jack's Lake Road, among others, sell fine netting that can be used for windows.  They have a sample to show how it is done.  Just put a screw in each outside corner of the window frame, stretch the netting taut across to hook onto the screws and cut to fit.  It is easy to unhook when cleaning the windows.  We have not had one fatality since doing this.  The netting is fine enough to be almost invisible.

Thanks again for your news.