Executive Board

2023 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

I am honoured to serve as your 2022-2023 MEA President. With membership approaching 1,100 professional engineers from over 100 Ontario municipalities/provincial agencies, the MEA continues to demonstrate itself as a significant and vibrant organization in the sphere of local government services providing sound municipal engineering advice covering almost every corner of our province.

The MEA has always relied on the strength of our members and our Board of Directors. I am very pleased to welcome Paul Aquaah from York Region and Scott Hamilton from the City of Burlington to the Board, and know they will both bring a wealth of experience to share with our members.

We also recently said goodbye to two of our Board members, Nick Colucci from the Town of Erin and Salim Alibhai from York Region. I would personally like to thank them both for their service to MEA and the Board of Directors, and especially to Salim for his years of dedication as the Secretary-Treasurer of the MEA. Salim was also honoured with the prestigious MEA Order of Merit award that was presented to him at President’s Banquet & Awards Gala at the 2022 MEA Conference and AGM. Congratulations Salim!

Speaking of the 2022 conference it was momentous not only for being our first conference together in almost three years, but also the first time ever the event was held in downtown Toronto. My sincere thanks to all those involved in putting on such a fantastic event, and looking forward to seeing you all in the City of Sarnia in Lambton County for the 2023 MEA Conference next fall!

In my time as President there are a number of issues that I hope to move forward with the Province of Ontario on behalf of our MEA members. In cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) the MEA is still pushing to finalize the MCEA amendments that will assist municipalities in the responsible delivery of municipal infrastructure. With the drive by the government to expedite the construction of housing across the province, having an effective and streamlined MCEA process is more important than ever to help municipalities complete the infrastructure projects required for the expansion of these residential areas.

Beyond the demanding work that is put into updating and maintaining the OPS, we will continue promote and educate municipalities through the OPS 101 and newly created and soon to be launched OPS 201 courses. The resources dedicated to the OPS committees, as well as our other specialized MEA committees, is strongly supported by volunteered membership time. The continuous activity of our membership is the most important asset of the MEA and is demonstrated province wide. We are always encouraging our membership to be involved, and I can assure you that any time spent volunteering for this association will be rewarding and well worth the time and effort.

Many municipalities across Ontario are provided policing services through the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). For several years OPP have not provided collision data directly to municipalities and this information has now been protected as part of the ARIS system. This database is desperately in need of modernization as the data is difficult if not impossible to access. Municipal engineers who are responsible for traffic safety need and rely on collision data to make sound and wise investments in transportation safety programs in their communities.

If you are not already aware Professional Engineers Ontario will be making the Practice Evaluation and Knowledge (PEAK) program mandatory in 2023. MEA will be developing services and activities to help our members achieve their annual continuing professional development (CPD) hours through training and other events. These activities and the continuing work of the MEA’s Professional Engineers Advocacy Committee will help toward our goal of solidifying the status of the municipal engineers as a critical part of the municipal world.

Of course, the MEA would not be able to function without the hard work of Dan Cozzi, Executive Director, and Amin Mneina, Member Services Coordinator. Their work largely happens behind the scenes but I truly appreciate everything they do to support our organization. Please feel free to contact either of them if you have any questions about any part of our association, they are a fantastic resource and we are very fortunate to have both of them working on behalf of the MEA.

Thank you for allowing me to serve this term as your MEA President. I look forward to working with the current Board to engage and support our membership throughout this upcoming year. If you have any questions or ideas,please feel free to reach out to me at anytime by email at president@municipalengineers.on.ca

Sincerely,

Chris Traini, P.Eng.

President

Municipal Engineers Association

president@municipalengineers.on.ca

(County Engineer/Deputy CAO

County of Middlesex)

2022-2023 Board of Directors