Township recognizes Nancy Tapley as longest serving councillor in Lake of Bays

The Township of Lake of Bays held a special celebration to recognize one of their longest-serving members at their October 10, 2023 council meeting.

Nancy Tapley was first elected to represent the Franklin Ward in a bi-election in 1998. She has since been reelected or acclaimed in the past eight municipal elections, thereby representing her ward for the past 25 years and making her the longest-serving councillor in the history of the Township of Lake of Bays.

Councillors and staff applauded Tapley for her participation on a multitude of committees and for being integral in the creation of the municipality’s Heritage Advisory Committee in 2004, a committee she has chaired for the past 19 years. The committee has been instrumental in the designation of 13 heritage properties, councillors heard, and Tapley has helped committees in other municipalities protect heritage in their communities.

She served as acting mayor in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013 and was appointed Deputy Mayor from 2014 to 2020, according to Township Director of Corporate Services, Carrie Sykes.

Township Mayor Terry Glover described Tapley as a trailblazer, particularly as one of the few women on council. “We’ve debated cell towers, official plans, hunting, boundaries, tornadoes, flooding, COVID measures, closing beaches and docks, parking in Baysville, Dwight and Dorset and many other topics, and I must say Nancy did a great job in all of those,” he said. “She has a fantastic talent for working a room… it’s amazing how she can walk through a large room and know everybody. She also has a great sense of humour. Her timing, well, but her humour is really good,” quipped Glover. “Nancy, you’re a great politician. I honestly believe she had the public interest in mind when she made all of her decisions, so I say thank you, Nancy Tapley, you deserve a big piece of cake. I hope you feel a great deal of satisfaction from your years of history of service and thank you from the Township of Lake of Bays Council and staff. “

Township resident and Lake of Bays Association member Wendy Gibson also said a few words at the meeting. She said while Tapley can be tough as nails she’s also very approachable and said she truly understands that the environment is the economy in the region. She said Tapley has always been a champion for the environment. “The other thing I have always really appreciated about you is that you really do understand how much the seasonal population and the permanent population need each other and are intertwined, and I think it’s your lived experience here and your boots-on-the-ground approach to everything, it’s has been appreciated. And on behalf of 1,260 members of our association, thank you very much for your past service and continued service,” said Gibson.

Tapley confirmed that she loves the environment of the area. “Without the environment there’s nothing. We have to have that, we have to have the lake. We have to have a healthy biosystem. We have to stop spraying insecticides. We need bugs. I know summer people hate the bugs. I love the bugs because I love the birds,” she said, adding that over the 25 years she’s been on council, she’s seen a lot of changes “in the type of cottages built and the attitude of people.”

Tapley said she’s been fortunate to have always been supported by staff. “With tiny little exceptions here and there but I beat them into shape,” she quipped. She also noted that she and former Mayor Bob Young had many disagreements, “but later he made me his deputy mayor so I guess he forgave me.”

She said she’s been happy to serve her community and thanked everyone for the recognition. She said she’s even been called Hazel, but that’s okay Hazel’s good,” she said.

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