SMLCA Broadband Committee Update

The SMLCA Broadband Committee has been hard at work since its creation after the last AGM, with a mandate to seek solutions to improve internet connectivity on Six Mile Lake. We have multiple projects on the go, aiming to attract improved internet service to our community. Keep an eye out for an internet service level demand survey coming soon via Facebook, that will provide us with valuable information necessary to attract the interest of the ISPs.

Bell Canada has been rolling out Wireless Home Internet to locations in rural Ontario for the past few years. The committee has learned that Bell has quietly upgraded towers on SML to this new broadband internet service. At this time, we do not know the capacity available to the SML community, but we are aware that several residents on SML have been able to book this service in the past few weeks. Bell Wireless Home Internet offers several service level and pricing packages with speeds up to 50mbps, and unlimited data, reduced after 350gb per month has been used. If you decide to call Bell to inquire about the new service offering, specify that you are calling about Wireless Home Internet, and make sure you are talking to an agent from the WHI sales department. It appears that the rollout to Bell’s retail teams is not yet complete, so you may get different answers from different people regarding availability and pricing. We have discovered Rogers is attempting to roll out a similar program, but it does not appear to be available on SML at this time.

You may be able to get more information on Bell Wireless Home Internet, at the link below:

https://www.bell.ca/Bell_Internet/promotions/wireless-home-internet

We will continue to provide updates as we move further along in our projects, or obtain more information on existing services.

Regatta Dock Fundraising Campaign

 We are officially kicking off our fundraising effort to replace a floating dock used for the Regatta. So far, we have raised $2,500 towards our goal. We are continuing to explore the best price for our dock and certainly would appreciate any further donations.

If you would like to donate please email us at info@sixmilelake.net.

GFA Town Hall meeting

 Since June, we have been trying to get both lake associations working together to develop a joint recommendation for change to the current GFA building restrictions. In November we held a brainstorming session to help flesh ideas for change. We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with the SMLRA in order to jointly hold a lake wide Town Hall meeting early in the new year. This meeting will be held on Zoom so you will be asked to register in order to attend. That way, we can send you an information package ahead of the meeting to bring you up to speed with what will be discussed and assess your preferences after the meeting. We will supply more details on this in our January e-blast.

Funding Approved for Environmental Assessment

 Councillor Wiancko writes, “At our Dec. Council meeting, the Township Budget for 2022 was finally approved.  Although there were major cuts in several areas including several cottage association funding requests, we were able to retain the $5,000 requested by the SMLCA Environmental Committee.” That means we can proceed with plans to hire a summer student to help us assess the shoreline development, Eurasian Milfoil concentrations, and the potential for algae outbreaks. More to come as we establish a plan.

Smoke CO2 Detectors

 As many of you will be using your wood stoves at the cottage, please make sure to check that your smoke / CO2 detectors are working.

From the SMLCA board, please have a safe holiday season and happy new year.