1 Editorial Introducti PARCS UPDATE #108 Nov. 28/2019 All about our Community Members RV of Greig Lake DISTRICT of LAKELAND OH of Little Fishing Lake RM of MERVIN OH of Evergreen Acres OH of Powm Beach AcresOH of Turtle Lake South OH of Kopp’s Kove BayOH of Horseshoe Bay OH of Crystal Bay Sunset RV of Chitek Lake RV of Candle Lake OH of Evergreen Brightsand RV of Tobin Lake OH of Parkland Beach OH of Indian Point Golden OH of Sunset View Beach SandsOH of Turtle Lake Lodge OH of Mowry Beach RM OF HOODOO OH of Cudsaskwa OH of Little RM of MEOTA RV of Aquadeo OH of Balone Beach Swan River OH of Maymont Beach RV of Cochin RV of Wakaw Lake OH of Pelican Point POWL OH of Lakeview Beach RV of Leslie Beach OH of North Shore Fishing Lake RV of Chorney Beach OH of Ottman – Murray Beach RV of Shields OH of RV pf Manitou Beach RV of Thode Crystal Lake OH of Burgis OH of McPheat Park Beach OH of Sorenson’s Beach RV of Kannata Valley Sandy Shores Subdivision RV of Coteau Beach OH of North Colesdale Park RV of Sunset Cove RV of Mistusinne RV of Glen Harbour RV of Sask Beach OH of Hitchcock Bay RV of Island View OH of Pasqua Lake RV of Alice Beach OH of Taylor Beach RV of Melville Beach RV of Etter’s Beach RV of Beaver Flat RV of District of Katepwa RV of Bird’s Point Lumsden RV of West End Beach RV of South Lake PARCS bylaws divide the province into four regions for the purpose of electing 4 regional directors to the PARCS board. The north and south regions are separated by the NOTE: The map locations of the current community members of Yellowhead highway (#16). The west and east PARCS are only approximate due to the limitations of space. On regions are separated by #2 highway, except in the this date PARCS has 63 community members (as shown on map): centre of the province where the boundary . 22 communities in the North West Region, digresses to run through the middle of Long Lake . 11 communities in the South West Region, whose east shore communities are in the SE region . 15 communities in the North East Region, and and whose west shore communities are in the SW . 15 communities in the South East Region. region. ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT PARCS MEMBERSHIP 2 1. What are community members? Communities that choose to take out a PARCS membership are typically resort/cottage communities and are one of the following: . Resort Villages: There are 40 resort villages in Saskatchewan (soon to become 421). By definition, all are cottage communities. As of today, 70% of RVs are PARCS members2. Organized Hamlets: Wikipedia states that there are 151 Saskatchewan organized hamlets3. PARCS has identified 61 OH’s in Saskatchewan that are cottage/resort communities.4 As of today, 51% of these cottage OHs are PARCS members5. Rural Municipalities: Certainly very few rural municipalities6 would define themselves as being communities. However, a few RMs have a large number of cottage properties that are not in resort villages (nor are they in OHs). These RMs acknowledge that their RM council is governing communities which have unique needs due to their location along a lakeshore. Specialized RMs who have chosen to be members of PARCS have included: the RM of Mervin, the RM of Meota, the District of Lakeland, the RM of McKillop, the RM of Hoodoo and the RM of Sasman. Cottage Owner Associations are included in PARCS bylaw definitions of “groups that may directly represent resort property owners”. Today PARCS membership list includes the Aspen Ridge Cottage Owners Association, the Sandy Shores Subdivision Association, and also POWL (Property Owners of Wakaw Lake). 2. Why do we say “today” (see above) when describing community memberships above? We have discovered that different communities tend to purchase memberships at different times of year: . Resort Villages and RMs tend to purchase memberships in the spring just after they have completed their budgets. Unlike RVs, most OHs don’t have a single fixed OH email address; one member of their board changes most years and therefore our email contacts change often. Also, OH boards typically don’t hold meetings throughout the winter to approve expenditures. For all of these reasons PARCS is looking at using an email service to more effectively reach OH cottage communities and others [see #6 that follows]. Many communities wait to renew memberships in the fall when the memberships become a pre- requisite to reduced member rates at the fall convention. For example, we have just sent out 11 emails titled “It’s not too late to keep your memberships current” to members of the ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN group (see below). 3. What do we mean by different membership groups? We have discovered that many of our members belong to one of these groups: . The LOYAL MEMBERS GROUP typically have a standing motion on their book that membership in PARCS is to be renewed annually. Shortly after our reminders go out in January; replies and cheques flow in during February. The ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN group want to be loyal but are sometimes forgetful. Sometimes they send a cheque for 2 consecutive years’ memberships (this year’s and the fees they forgot to pay the previous year7). The CAN’T BE BOTHERED GROUP who choose not to join PARCS. 1 As of January 1, 2020 – The OH of Indian Point-Golden Sand and the OH of Turtle Lake Lodge will amalgamate to become the RV of Turtle View. We also note that a public notice on the website of the RM of Lakeland announces that the OH of Elkridge has applied to become a resort village. 2 There are 28 of these 40 resort villages that are members of PARCS today. 3 Like unincorporated hamlets, organized hamlets are governed by the Council of the RM in which they are located. OH’s however, are required to have an elected 3-person board, to submit a budget to the RM and they retain a portion of the taxes that they generate for their own use. 4 Where an RM chooses to offer the same rights and expect the same responsibilities of their non-organized cottage hamlets, PARCS has, in turn, accepted PARCS membership applications from those communities as well. 5 There are 31 of the 61 OH cottage communities that are members of PARCS today. 6 Saskatchewan has 296 rural municipalities. 7 Bless their hearts. 3 4. Who are our LOYAL members? At last month’s convention, delegates unanimously approved a motion to extend our formal thanks for the loyalty and support of those communities who are current members and who have held uninterrupted memberships How’s this for membership loyalty? in PARCS for at least the most recent decade or more: . The RM OF MERVIN has been a PARCS North West: North East: member for the most recent 18 years ▪ RM of Mervin ▪ OH of Burgis Beach (since we have kept formal records). ▪ OH of Parkland Beach ▪ RV of Candle Lake There are 10 organized hamlets in the RM of Mervin, all 10 OHs are current ▪ OH of Maymont ▪ RV of Leslie Beach members of PARCS. South West: ▪ RV of Tobin Lake . Both of the Resort Villages on ▪ RV of Coteau Beach ▪ RV of Wakaw Lake Blackstrap Lake (SHIELDS and THODE) ▪ RV of Manitou Beach South East have also been member for the most ▪ RV of Mistusinne ▪ RV of Lumsden Beach recent 18 years (since we have kept formal records). ▪ RV of Shields ▪ RV of Melville Beach ▪ RV of Thode ▪ RV of Sask Beach ▪ RV of Beaver Flat 5. How many communities are in the CAN’T BE BOTHERED group? Of the 40 resort villages, only 2 have never been members of PARCS. Of the 61 organized hamlet cottage communities, 9 have never been members of PARCS. 6. Why are our ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN members erratic? The failure to maintain consistent PARCS membership is probably due both: to the communities and to our PARCS services. Communities: As previously mentioned, some RV councils do not include membership fees in the list of services that their administrator is required to pay automatically (like a power bill, for example). Also, changes in RV councillors after elections can result in councils changing their membership decisions. OH boards typically have at least one change on their board on 3 of every 4 years, and membership fees may get overlooked at budget time. Also, OH boards may also forget to include membership fees when their budgets are presented before the March 1st deadlines. PARCS contact services: Our directors have recently discussed two ways that PARCS can streamline our contact services with both our members and non-members: 6.1 Constant Contact email messages - A motion has been passed for PARCS to enrol in an email service agency called Constant Contact. Beginning in 2020, your PARCS newsletters will look a bit different as they arrive via a Constant Contact email message. Advantages of this service will be: . Self-serve newsletter subscriptions – Communities seeking to update their subscription receivers will be able to go online and add, change, or delete who receives PARCS newsletters. Legality – Because members will now always have the option of “unsubscribing”, our group emails will fall within the strict privacy expectations of Canadian anti-spam legislation (CASL). Easier to monitor – PARCS will be able to determine who is reading our emails newsletters and thus determine the newsletters’ effectiveness.