RA interaction with MLA

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Road Association interaction with the MLA

This section contains important information if you are a member of a Road Association (RA) around Mississippi Lake, and especially if you are a Director (President, Treasurer, Secretary, etc.) of a RA.

What does the MLA do for RAs?

The Objectives of the MLA are focused on providing information and support to the Lake Community. We do this in a variety of ways, including, but certainly not limited to:

deploying cautionary buoys for boaters;
monitoring and reporting on water quality;
monitoring the health of the lake through wildlife (Loon, Turtle, etc.) surveys;
monitoring aquatic vegetation trends (invasive species, etc.); and
reporting lake water levels promulgated by MVCA.

The above activities are geared towards maintaining a healthy ecosystem where we can live, work, and play. But the MLA provides more direct assistance by being in a great position to advocate on behalf of RAs and its members when difficult issues arise requiring outside agencies and governments to respond. Such issues include:

coordinating questions and responses from candidates for municipal elections;
engaging municipalities to develop a Private Road Equilization Payment (PREP) program;
engaging municipalities and MVCA regarding floodplain issues and Safe Roads;
engaging the fishing community regarding tournaments on the lake;
engaging the appropriate authorities (including RCMP) regarding noise and other disturbances;
and much more.

Individual property owners, and indeed RAs, can engage the authorities on their own for these issues, but we feel that the MLA can exert far greater influence by making representations on behalf of a large number of people. This is why MLA feels that membership in the MLA is of great benefit to our lake community.

MLA Roads Committee

The support that MLA can provide becomes evident when major issues come to rise that affect a majority of residents and RAs. MLA can help in terms of representing their interests and advocating for them.

The Roads Committee was therefore initiated in 2018 to promote greater liaison between MLA and the numerous RAs around the Lake, and to better address a number of important issues. View the list of issues here. A Town Hall held in June 2018 consolidated the above issues and proposed a way ahead. See the agenda and meeting slides here.

Currently, the committee's main focus and activities are:

engaging Drummond and North Helmsley Township to introduce a Private Roads Equalization Program (PREP);

engaging Beckwith Township to intorcude a Cost of Living Allowance (COLI) to their already established PREP program; and
engaging MVCA to ensure accurate floodplain mapping in support of Safe Road Access determination during flooding conditions.

Please contact Chris Winter to get further information and hopefully join the team to help advance Private Road issues with our municipalities, MVCA, and other government departments.

How RAs can help the MLA

The MLA is a not-for-profit organization that depends on revenue from membership dues and donations to provide the necessary funds to undertake the above activities. The greatest service that property owners can provide to the MLA is to become Members and to help us deliver the goods. A valuable service that RAs can thus provide is to recruit their members to become MLA members. The MLA is prepared to recognize this effort through a deduction of membership fees if all properties in a RA become MLA members. Please visit the Join Us pages to see how this can be done and why becoming a MLA member benefits everybody.

Can an RA become a MLA Member?

Can an RA become an MLA member?

Yes, or course! Organizations such as RAs, businesses, other Lake Assocations, etc. can become MLA members and can enjoy the same benefits and privileges as individual members. Simply use the Membership Application Form to register, identify the person that will represent your RA, and submit the membership fee to the MLA Treasurer. Visit the Policy and Benefits page for further information about benefits for RAs that become MLA Members.

Can an RA join FOCA?

The Federation of Ontario Cottagers Associations provides an incredible amount of support to over 5,000 associations throughout Ontario. The MLA was an active FOCA member until 2014, when unfortunately changes to membership rules no longer made it cost effective. The Board has since reviewed FOCA's membership structure (in 2019 and again in 2025) and has concluded that MLA membership in FOCA is still not cost effective unless a great majority of our 35+ RAs were interested and agreed to share the membership fee.

However, if an individual RA assessed that FOCA membership would be advantageous, it could join FOCA as Member Association in its own right. FOCA is in fact geared to small and medium sized Road Associations, and there are numerous benefits available for associations and individuals that are well worth investigating. A major benefit that RAs should really investigate for their particular needs is the availability of a discount for insurance through Cade Associates, who have partnered with FOCA to provide insurance specifically designed for cottage and road associations. While circumstances and coverage requirements will vary from RA to RA, a 20% discount for FOCA members is a good general starting estimate.

Visit the FOCA website to learn the many ways that FOCA membership could be beneficial to an RA.

Contact Cade Associates to request an insurance quote for your RA. If the cost of joining FOCA is less than the discount you can receive for insurance, that saving alone might make it cost effective for your RA to become a FOCA member.

See also the very informative 2019 FOCA Survey of Road Associations to see how other Assocaitons are doing.