Taking his fishing boat out on Drag Lake recently, Haliburton resident Jim Miners said he had anything but a relaxing time on the water.

He was one of approximately 30 volunteers from the Drag and Spruce Lake Property Owners’ Association (DSLPOA) to work with four professional divers July 13-15 as mitigation efforts to limit the spread of Eurasian watermilfoil continued.

Residents on Drag Lake first noticed the invasive species in 2017. By 2020, volunteers had mobilized into an official corporation so they could get permission from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) to target problematic outbreaks on the lake.

Initial analysis identified four locations with Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM), with three more popping up in 2021. This year, the group assessed 20 known sites, Miners said.

“It’s a plant that can spread very quickly… once it’s established, it self-seeds. When it flowers, it fragments, breaking off from the stem and floating to the surface,”

Miners said, noting pieces of the plant can spread, leading to other outbreaks. Miners said there haven’t been any new outbreaks since 2023. He’s crediting the program developed by former lake steward Bert Bicknell and Trent University professor Dr. Eric Sager six years ago for that.

A dive team was brought in twice in 2020 and once every year since to apply underwater decomposable matting to the EWM, blocking out sunlight. They were approved to lay mats at seven locations this year.

While scientists have debated EWM’s impact on aquatic life and lake health, Miners believes it poses a risk to humans.

“It can be very dense and imposing in the water, growing to be 10-15 feet or even longer. If someone happens to fall into a patch and doesn’t immediately get themselves out, they can become entangled… there are documented incidents where people have drowned,” Miners said.

While decomposing, EWM can reduce oxygen levels in lakes. It can also impact property values, Miners said. While its presence is concerning, he doubts it will ever become an epidemic on Drag Lake, with the plant covering only four per cent of the lakebed.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to get out of control… because Drag Lake is as big as it is and the shoreline is as rocky as it is, it tends to not be that attractive to EWM,” Miners said, noting only three of the outbreaks – near Bonham’s Bay, at Outlet Bay and one in the centre of the lake are considered serious.

Expensive work

Another volunteer, Bob Heyes, has had a property on Drag Lake for several years. Asked how bad he thought the problem would be if the lake association hadn’t starting tackling EWM, Heyes felt the situation would be much worse.

“I know 10 years ago there are people who say the sites where EWM is now the thickest didn’t have anything there – it was always a nice, clear, rocky bottom where people went to fish. It’s not such a pretty spot anymore,” Heyes said. “If we’d left this alone… we would have 20 really bad sites today, maybe more, instead of just three.”

While the team had planned to lay 21 mats, they only ended up placing 17 due to how dense some of the patches were. Miners said it was a difficult job for the dive team, who had to figure out how to pin down taller growths up to 10-15 feet tall.

With each day costing approximately $8,000-10,000, it’s not cheap work. Miners estimates next year’s efforts may need to be expanded from three days to four or five, just to keep pace with the growth at known EWM sites.

That will require an increase in funding. Miners said the group has invested between $170,000 and $180,000 over the past six years, with $20,000 already raised to support efforts in 2027.

The working group is focusing on controlling the EWM population rather than completely eradicating it, something Miners felt was an unrealistic goal.

“You might get rid of it in one place, but you’re never going to get rid of it forever in all locations on a lake once it’s taken hold,” he said.

The County of Haliburton wants to change the pre-consultation process for development applications across the Highlands, saying it will improve the experience for customers, reduce duplication, and shorten approval timelines.

County senior planner, Kim Bishop, presented a report to the July 22 meeting, seeking endorsement for the new approach.

Now, applicants have to complete a preconsultation with the local municipality for all development applications for which the County is the approval authority.

“This has the effect of doubling the efforts of applicants and staff for a single planning application,” Bishop said. “Applicants consistently advise that the process is time consuming, expensive, and confusing.”

She further noted that streamlining preconsultation processes was one of the recommendations of the service delivery review and has been discussed by area planners for several years.

She told councillors County staff are recommending a ‘one-window’ approach, where all proposals are directed to the County, and then circulated to local staff for comments. She added a single set of preconsultation comments would be provided that address provincial, County, and local policy requirements as the review and commenting during this phase would occur at the staff level.

“The proposed one-window approach would eliminate the requirement for local staff to prepare a recommendation report and present it to their local council; instead, they could provide comments to ensure that proposals conform to local official plan policies, and comply with other planning bylaws. The feedback would also include a list of required submission materials,” Bishop said.

Under the proposed new arrangement, endorsement of applications by local councils would shift to the complete application stage, where councils have all the information they require prior to making an endorsement.

“The intended effect would be to provide more timely, comprehensive pre-consultation comments, eliminate duplication of effort on the part of applicants and staff, and expedite the consent application review process,” Bishop said.

Fees would be adjusted once the program can be evaluated to determine what is required for cost-recovery; likely the municipal fee would be reduced in time provided municipal staff time involved is reduced.

Bishop noted that more recently, the Minden Hills’ development approval process review reaffirmed the recommendation by identifying streamlining the consent, commenting and endorsement process as an opportunity for improvement.

“It is the opinion of staff that the proposed process maintains meaningful local municipal involvement while better aligning pre-consultation with its intended purpose under the Planning Act. The recommended approach provides applicants with a single co-ordinated pre-consultation process, reduces duplication between the County and local municipalities, improves customer service, and allows local council endorsement, where desired, to occur at a point in the process when complete information is available to inform decisionmaking,” Bishop said.

Make it easy for the public

Councillors Liz Danielsen, Jennifer Dailloux, and Pat Casey expressed some concern about the input from ward councillors being lost, or any threat of local councils being cut of the process. However, Bishop said they were giving councils an opportunity to choose their level of involvement.

Casey said he thought they should keep the initial submissions local, “for a local refined feel,” with the ‘one window’ approach starting at the townships, then moving to the County for review. “I do feel it’s one or two steps removed from what the local municipality wants, or what the councillors may pick up from the people in their ward,” he said.

Director of planning, Elizabeth Purcell, however, noted the carriage and approval authority rests with the County, or its land division committee. “Having carriage through the local municipality puts a lot of work on municipal staff when they’re not the approval authority…” She added the proposed process still maintains direct input from local councils.

Coun. Lisa Schell said “one of the biggest frustrations we hear from the community is that this is difficult for the average person to navigate. I don’t feel, as a council member, I’m losing any kind of a say that I may have, or not have. I think we need to make this as easy for the pubic as possible.”

After a 26-plus year career in competitive gymnastics, John Craig said he planned his permanent relocation to Haliburton County this past winter expecting to leave his old coaching life behind him. Then he met Kathy Judson.

Craig will serve as head coach at the new Haliburton Gymnastics facility once it opens next month. Located at 367 Industrial Park Rd., the 8,000 sq. ft. space will feature recreational and competitive gymnastics programs for County youth aged three to 17. A soft opening is planned Aug. 17.

After buying a cottage on Drag Lake in 2023, Craig said he’d been looking for reasons to spend more time in the Highlands. He was here for extended weekends, Friday to Tuesday, spending a couple of days coaching in Port Elgin. The four-hour drive wore on him quickly, Craig said.

Already contemplating his long-term future, Craig spotted one of Judson’s early social media posts asking people if they wanted to see a specialized gymnastics program come to the Highlands. He completed a survey and offered to help Judson, having experience helping to get new programs off the ground, most recently in Hanover.

A couple of days later, Craig received an offer from Bruce County for his gym building. A deal closed in the spring. It was all very serendipitous, the trainer said.

In recent weeks, Craig said it’s been a bit of a rush deconstructing his Port Elgin space and getting the Haliburton facility set up. He either sold or donated all his equipment to Haliburton Gymnastics.

“There’s a lot we’re bringing in – there will be a major climbing wall, full spring floor and tumble track, vault table, vault strip and landing area. We’ll also have two balance beams, three sets of uneven bars and one set of high parallel bars,” Craig said.

After excelling in soccer, football and rugby in his youth, Craig said he was surprised when he took a liking to trampoline in his first year at Queen’s University. He learned under Wingee Lee, a junior national champion in the sport.

“Wingee was doing some really cool things, and I decided I wanted to do that too,” Craig said. “Eventually, I started helping to coach.”

He started taking his courses and, in 1995, started running his first gym. By the time he was finished his degree, Craig was both competing and coaching at the national level. His best result as an athlete was fifth place at a national meet in 2001, though Craig has had a hand in developing eight provincial champions.

The head coach said he’s excited to help guide up-and-coming gymnasts in the County. Competitive tryouts will begin in August.

“This is a great opportunity for kids – anyone signing up will learn agility, balance, coordination and spatial orientation as part of their physical fitness journey. In terms of mental focus and organization, it’s second to none. You learn to get disciplined quick,” Craig said.

Seven months after going public with her plans, Judson said it feels surreal to be planning the gym’s opening. A schedule of classes went live last week, with an enormous response.

“There has been a lot of bumps along the way, but they always seemed to smooth themselves out. The community showed up for me, and for these kids, time and again,” Judson said. “I feel like I’m just facilitating other people’s hard work.”

To date, Judson said she’s received approximately $107,000 in in-kind and cash donations, with major contributions from businesses like Haliburton Electric, Paradigm Electric, Kegel Heating and Cooling, and The Pump Shop. She also thanked Dysart et al mayoral candidate and retired Ontario land surveyor Greg Bishop for his assistance meeting demands set out by the township’s planning department.

There has also been a $100,000 loan provided by the Haliburton County Development Corporation.

“The outpouring of support has been amazing – we couldn’t have done this without our community.”

Judson said Craig will be one of about 10 coaches – though she hopes more will come forward to help. As an instructor, Craig can teach people to become licensed coaches.

A grand opening of the space will be held Sept. 12, Judson confirmed. To register for programs, visit haliburtongymnastics. uplifterinc.com.

Hockey-mad Highlands mom Manny Lawson wants to knock down any doors preventing youth from across Haliburton County from playing Canada’s favourite sport this winter.

Lawson is once again partnering with the Highland Storm for the third annual free hockey equipment day at A.J. LaRue Arena Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since launching in 2024, Lawson said the program has supported more than 120 youth. Last year, about 45 families benefitted with over 100 pieces of equipment given away.

All types of equipment, including sticks, helmets, gloves, chest, shin and elbow pads, shorts, and skates are available to youth aged three to 17 free of charge.

“Hockey is an expensive sport. Buying everything new is hundreds of dollars, maybe more, which is a substantial cost for families,” Lawson told The Highlander. “We want to make sure every kid who wants to play hockey has everything they need to get out on the ice.”

Knowing how badly some in the community are struggling, Lawson encouraged anyone attending to bring a non-perishable food donation, which will be donated to one of the local food banks. Last year, she raised $120 and collected four large bags of donations.

Gently-used hockey items can be donated at drop-off locations at Emmerson Lumber in Haliburton and Carnarvon and the Minden Fire Hall throughout August. People can also contact Lawson at mannyfergie@ hotmail.com or 905-410-5964.