WHEREAS on February 27th, 2024, Council for the Municipality of East Ferris supported a resolution received from the Town of Petrolia calling upon both the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) Boards to re-establish a combined OGRA and ROMA annual conference;
AND WHEREAS on May 16th, 2024, correspondence was received from ROMA Chair, Robin Jones, stating that in 2019 the ROMA Board of Directors and the OGRA Executive Committee decided not to hold a joint conference, but agreed that there are matters the organizations can work together on;
AND WHEREAS with ROMA being the rural voice of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) it makes great sense for the ROMA and AMO conferences to be a combined conference, not only financially for municipalities but also for availability for participation of members of Council and staff;
AND WHEREAS these conferences afford a vital opportunity for delegations with members of our provincial parliament, moving to a combined ROMA/AMO conference provides a better respect to their availability and participation;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council for the Municipality of East Ferris call upon both the ROMA & AMO Boards to establish a combined ROMA/AMO annual conference;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED should the conferences be combined and held during the winter months, as has been past practice for the ROMA conference, that a hybrid participation option be considered as winter weather can be unpredictable and not all persons who wish to attend can do so in person;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be forwarded to ROMA, AMO, MPP Vic Fedeli, and all municipalities in Ontario.