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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, January 11, 2013 · 24 River Oaks has found its ROAR -- again By John Bkila OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After nearly a decade, River Oaks residents have once again found their ROAR -- River Oaks Residents Association (ROAR), that is. River Oaks residents have decided to resurrect their community association to once again have a collective voice representing the neighbourhood's issues and principles. ROAR was originally established in the early 1990s to represent the community at large with a membership of 50-60 residents. "It was also to promote friendship, neighbourly values and a sense of community between all the residents," said Henry Warjas, association secretary. But with a drop in issues affecting the River Oaks community residents began to lose interest and the association disbanded in 2004, said Pierre Girouard, ROAR president. Fast-forward to July 2012 when a new issue reignited the interest of residents. In July, Town council approved the installation of bike lanes and signs prohibiting on-street parking any time on River Oaks Boulevard from Mount Drive to Sixth Line as part of the Active Transportation Master Plan and to give cyclists a dedicated space to ride; much to the dismay of the River Oaks Boulevard homeowners -- who ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog roar is ready: River Oaks residents want to bring back the River Oaks Residents Association (ROAR), which used to be active in the community. Here, residents who are spearheading the campaign to start the association, from left, Bruce Williams, Henry Warjas and Pierre Girouard. were most upset about losing on-street parking. Community residents spoke against the new by-law, stating it was inconvenient and dangerous, and were instrumental in restoring the onstreet parking and the removal of the dedicated bike lanes later in October. When the River Oaks residents were asked to make presentations at committee and Town hall meetings dealing with the by-law issue, the founding members of the new ROAR realized there was enough of an interest among the community to bring the association back. "The councillors asked us to make presentations as individuals, but we soon realized that we'd have a bigger voice if we talked as a group," said Girouard. "We had made sure when we made our presentation to the council at large, we had formed the group (ROAR) and were unified in our voice." For ROAR vice-president Bruce Williams, he says the issue itself has shown him how much the River Oaks community has changed and grown together as a result. "I've lived on this street (River Oaks Boulevard) for 25 years and it's the sort of street where people come home from work, they drive in their garage and the garage door goes down. But the neighbourhood and community involvement in the last month, or so, has been amazing. The turnout we had for the first committee meeting absolutely blew me away," he said. "We're European Engineering Combined With Traditional Workmanship 905.849.0266 "Building on the Brightest Ideas Around Glass" sort of resurrecting ourselves." ROAR is looking to expand its membership -- area residents looking to join, can e-mail oakville.roar@gmail.com. "Initially it will be free -- we're all volunteers. The only expense we may have is creating and maintaining a website. Our hope is to keep costs down so we don't have to set a membership fee," said Girouard. "Ideally, we'd like to have a representative sample of 50-100 members." ROAR represents everything from Trafalgar Road to Neyagawa Boulevard and Upper Middle Road to Glenashton Drive/River Glen Boulevard. "If people want us to modify (the scope) to either expand or make (it) smaller because they have their own organizations and separate issues, that's fine with us," Girouard said. "We do need to make sure that we truly represent River Oaks as a group." In addition to the issue of on-street parking that sparked the return of ROAR, the association lists pedestrian safety, setting up a neighbourhood watch, issues of speeding, and promoting a general sense of camaraderie and neighbourly friendship as some of the items and concerns its listing top of mind. Associations like ROAR, said Girouard, are integral to organizations -- such as the YMCA -- and local government, which look to community associations to give them advice on issues and the needs of the community. "You need a voice in front of the city," he said. "What we realized from it all is that the city would love to deal with a group representing a community at large. They're more likely to come to ROAR with certain plans that affect us, rather than spending thousands of dollars to do something, only to find out the majority of residents don't want it." Girouard says the association acts as a support system for neighbours, too. "For any new residents to the area, it's good to know that there's a place for them to go or people for them contact to get information on their community." For more information, visit www.facebook. com and search River Oaks Association of Residents. -- with files from Oakville Beaver reporter David Lea