RR1, Elgin, ON K0G 1E0
Sand Lake Estates Inc. is a cottage association, formed in the 1960s and incorporated in 1972. It is located on the west side of Sand Lake (near Davis Lock) in the ward of South Crosby, Township of Rideau Lakes.
It has a fixed membership (47 property owners), comprising those who live on lands on Sand Lake developed in the mid-1960s by the Opinicon Properties company. The surrounding lands and access roads are owned by the association. The association is a member of FOCA and also participates in the Cataraqui Region Lakes Stewards Network. The membership is made up of 15% permanent residents, 40% from the Ottawa area, 9% from the Toronto area, 2% from Kingston, 17% from the rest of Canada and 15% from the U.S.
Membership fees for the most part go to pay for road maintenance of the access roads, and property taxes on the common lands. Issues tackled by the association typically include:
- Road Maintenance
- Property Assessment/Taxes
- Lake Water Quality
- Bass Poaching
- Municipal Services
The AGM is held on the Sunday morning of the July 1 long weekend.
The Association participates in the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's Lake Partner Program, the volunteer Lake Steward taking weekly water clarity and temperature readings of the lake. The Association also participates in the Cataraqui Lake Stewards Network, a forum for discussing various lake related issues. In addition, several individuals in the Association maintain loon nesting platforms, helping to ensure a healthy population of loons on Sand Lake.
About every 10 years a crisis hits. In the mid-1980s it was a dramatic increase in Gypsy Moth populations that threatened the hundreds of beautiful mature oak trees in the area. The Association at that time ran a successful Gypsy Moth eradication program. In 1998 it was the ice storm. The main problem for the association were the thousands of branches that came down. The association organized to have the main access roads cleaned up using a contractor with a branch chipper (and many hours of volunteer help).
Read our 2014 Newsletter (875K PDF file)
Read our 2013 Newsletter (560K PDF file)
