The FOCA March Elert is out

The FOCA March Elert is out

Some of the highlights

If you are planning to go to the Spring Cottage Life Show, click through and get the code to save on you pre order tickets

This week was World Water Day (on March 22nd), an international observance and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others, and take action to make a difference. The sustainability of our precious lakes and rivers is our collective responsibility, and water features prominently in the new UN

New Electricity Pricing for 2016 and beyond:

Within the next month, Hydro One customers will be receiving 2016 electricity bills that reflect the change to "all-fixed" distribution rates. Find out more about new electricity pricing

FOCA was pleased to have senior representatives from MPAC (the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) at our Spring Seminar on March 5th. MPAC spoke about the new property assessments which are rolling out over the next few months, regional trends in waterfront assessments, and changes coming to the "Request for Reconsideration" (RfR) process for property owners wishing to challenge their assessments.

http://bit.ly/1pCHUFh FOCA

Social Media for the Cottage Associations Part 1

I have been cottaging pretty much since I was born, at our family cottage on Georgian Bay. I have great memories of events organized by the Clearwater Beach Ratepayers Association when I was growing up. Since about 2000, I have had the pleasure of serving my cottage association. First as a volunteer for a number of years at our Fun Day/BBQ, then joining the board in a number of capacities, first as Secretary, then Vice President, and now President. Part of the job of the board of a Cottage Association is keeping your members informed. Social Media can give you a great tool kit for both getting information and sharing it to your members.

This is the first of several posts on using Social Media for a cottage association. This post is just an overview. I will be going in to more detail in future posts.

The idea behind this series is that it is not so much a "this is what and how to do it' manual, but more a "here are a bunch of ideas/tools you can pick and chose from". You need to figure out what works for you and your association. I will be using the sources that I use for my association as examples, you should be able to find similar sources in your area.

This will not be a static post, I will update it as errors are found or when someone sends me information that fits in. If I have missed a tool or source that you use, please let me know. I am always looking for ways to better serve our association.

Information

There are a many of kinds of information that you need to pass on to your members:

Taxes
     Are they going up, by how much, and why. Where is the tax money being spent.

By-law's
     Proposed by-laws, new by-laws and changes to by-laws that affect your members. 

Road construction
     Road work affects all of us... 

Safety
     Police, Fire, Coast Guard, weather alerts, weather forecasts

Local events
    Festivals
    Concerts

Local attractions
     Museums
     Historic Sites
     Boat Cruises 

Local Companies
    Any companies that sponsor your association
    Great restaurants in the area, because sometime you just want eat out
    Is there a local store close to your association that is great for picking up that one item you forgot?
    Is there a sidewalk sale in town?
      
Elections
    Local elections, who is running for what. Is there a cottager running?
    Provincial elections, which parties platform is cottage friendly?
    Federal elections, which parties platform is cottage friendly?


Sources

There are a number of great sources for information. Plug in to as many sources as you can, but watch out for information overload,

Your members are a great source of information.

Government at the  Local, Regional, Provincial, and Federal levels
     Web Sites
     Twitter Accounts
     FaceBook Pages

Shows/Expositions 
     There are a number of cottage shows/expositions, 2 of ones that I love to go to are the Cottage Life shows (they have a Spring and a Fall show) and Ottawa Cottage and Backyard show

Associations
     Cottage related associations like FOCA
     Local business associations

Police
     Many local police forces have a web site, Facebook page, twitter stream. The OPP is a great source of info in Ontario.

Magazines
     Magazines have great information, in the magazine, on their web site, Facebook page, Twiter stream

Newspaper
    Local newspapers have great information, in the paper, on their web site, Facebook page, Twitter stream...

TV
    Local TV stations have great information, in the news cast, on their web site, Facebook page, Twitter steam.... 

Web Sites
     There are a lot of great websites on cottaging. 

Blogs    
     There are number of great blogs focusing on cottaging and cottage related things.

Books
     There are a lot of great books out there on cottaging. 

Facebook
     There are a number of Facebook pages that are cottage related or cover the area your association is in.

Twitter
     There are a number of Twitter feeds  that are cottage related or cover the area your association is in.

Google Plus
     There are a number of Google Plurs feeds  that are cottage related or cover the area your association is in.


Tools

There are a lot of tools for getting information to your members. This is a quick list of 


AGM
     Great for face to face communication but they happen once a year.

Newsletter
     Great for putting out a lot of information but they are a lot of work to write and there may be a cost to produce and/or distribute a physical copy.

Email
     Lots use, from single focus emails to long rambling updates. Downside we all suffer from email overload....

Web Site
     Great for putting out lots of information, but your members have to want to check up on the site. Depending on how your site was set up, posting quick updates may not be that easy. 

Blogs
     Great for putting out lots of information. Blogs are designed for quick rapid postings, but your members will have to want to check up on the blog. 

Facebook
    Great for putting out lots of information. You can share posts from other Facebook pages/accounts to your groups page very easily. Depending on how your members have set up their Facebook accounts, they may get notifications of new posts.

Twitter
     Great for putting out lots of information. You can easily share tweets from other Twitter accounts to your groups account very easily, but your members have to want to check their twitter stream.

Google Plus
     Great for putting out lots of information. You can share posts from other accounts to your groups account very easily. Great tool for photos. Every one who has a gmail account can every easily have a  Google Plus account. Your members have to want to check up on their Google Plus stream.

Instagram
     Great for putting out lots of photos live from an event. Great tools for photos from a smart phone. You can set your account up to cross post to a number of other social media sites. Your members have to want to check up on their Instagram stream.

Pintrest
     Great for putting out lots of photos. Great tool for photos you can set up your account to cross post to Facebook and/or Twitter. Your members have to want to check up on their Pintrest stream.

Planning To Have A Outdoor Fire This Year?

Just a reminder

===========

New in 2016!! The burning of leaves is strictly prohibited in Tiny

Fire permits can be purchased through the Township of Tiny Office, at 130 Balm Beach Road West, Perkinsfield (9:00 am to 4:30 pm) Monday to Friday.

They can also be purchased for $20.00 cash only at the 5 (five) following locations:

1) Lafontaine SuperMarket, 345 rue Lafontaine Road West, Lafontaine

2) Wyevale Jug City, 870 County Road 6 South, Wyevale

3) Mailloux Jug City, 594 Champlain Road, North West Basin

4) LA Hill Esso Station, 2 Lafontaine Road East, Lafontaine

5) R&P Gas, 2236 County Road 92, Elmvale

You can also download a copy of the Fire Permit application and rules, by clicking on the link located on the left side of this page entitled "Fire Permit Application".

It is the applicant's responsibility to know if a Fire Ban is in effect.

For FIRE BAN INFORMATION contact the Township of Tiny office at (705) 526-4204 ext 226 or check the Fire Rating Symbol on the Home Page

REMEMBER IT'S ILLEGAL TO BURN WITHOUT A VALID FIRE PERMIT

============

I ordered mine in January and received it in about a week or so.

Highway 400 bridge replacement planned

Highway 400 bridge replacement planned
The province is widening Highway 400, from Highway 9 north to the Holland Marsh – widening and replacing the bridges over the North and South Canals.

The South Canal Bridge replacement will take place first, with completion slated for 2018. Once that project, and the construction of the new interchange at the 400 & Line 5 BWG are completed, work will begin on the North Canal Bridge replacement, Bradford West Gwillimbury Council was told by Mike Trader, Senior Association and Professional Engineer with Stantec.

http://bit.ly/1XDzTux Bradford Times


Looks like a bad news good news thing.. looks like a few years of traffic headaches for those who take the 400 north from south of Bradford