For some time now, Rockwood Village has been regarded as one of the premier communities in Mississauga, and the RHA wants to share our neighbourhood pride.

In 2010, the City gave its blessing to allow communities to erect signs to identify their neighbourhoods. Since that time, the RHA Board has been working to raise enough money to cover the cost of having signs erected and maintained. It has taken 4 years, but we did it!

Please join us at the AGM, Thursday May 8th. We are excited to share our plans and get your input.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Summer 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

According to a recent survey of Mississauga residents and business owners, 93% say that they are generally satisfied with life in Mississauga, and 84% would recommend Mississauga as a place to raise a family. But residents are not as committed when comparing “the Burbs” with the big city, as only 77% stated they were proud to live in Mississauga and only 69% believed that they had a better quality of life than in Toronto.

When asked what key words best described Mississauga, the top responses were: growing, family friendly, safe, culturally rich, neighbourhood feel, welcoming, balanced lifestyle, and community oriented. The key words used least to describe the city were: surprising, rich history, sophisticated, hi-tech, young, charming, visionary, naturally beautiful.

Forty years ago, when Rockwood was a still only a farmer’s field, Mississauga had just incorporated all the “little villages” within the area to emerge as a city. Back then, we were, for the most part, a suburb of Toronto, a bedroom community. For those who grew up in Etobicoke, East Mississauga offered affordable housing within a reasonable commute, by car, to downtown Toronto. But today’s Mississauga is different and not entirely by accident. A few years ago, it became clear that while we are the sixth largest city in Canada, we, unlike our counterparts, had no downtown. The new City plan quickly changed to bring a new urban feel to the City Centre. To boost the urbanization of Mississauga came a proliferation of new condos, from which came new demands for more transit.

You can really see the changing face of Mississauga when respondents of this survey identified the key attributes of city. My take is that the positive words: geographic location, cleanliness, parks and green space, safe streets, infrastructure, recreation activities, and economic prosperity came from the suburbanites among us. The elements that least describe us -- accessibility, downtown, transit, eniors Activities, Traffic Congestion, Night Life and Affordability--possibly came from the urbanites among us.

But overall, the survey identified that Mississauga offers its residents good facilities and amenities, for shopping (88%), education (80%) and health care (77%). While 66% of those surveyed were optimistic about the city’s future, almost half expressed concerns that the city is growing too quickly.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Summer 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

While neighbourhood accounts and stories of “the Flood of 2013” are still going strong, a new disaster, “the ice storm of 2013,” is now sharing the spotlight. Hey, Mother Nature, what the heck did we do to you? 

Fortunately, because we have underground power lines, there was no power loss here in Rockwood even though the storm caused damage to many mature trees. For those who did have damage, the City has cleaned up most of the debris from their property, and, commencing mid-February, will be removing city trees and debris that have fallen onto properties. If the tree or debris is not a City tree, you will need to deal with it yourself by contacting a landscape service or a contractor to remove damaged trees or fallen branches from your property. Please note that depending on the damage, you may need City approval to remove a tree from your property if it is not completely felled as a result of the storm.

In order to assist residents with the removal of excess wood and brush debris, the Region of Peel has begun collecting small bundles of wood and brush from the curb since January 13th on regularly scheduled collection days.

• Bundles of wood and brush must not exceed 1.2 m (4ft.) and 76 cm (30 in.) in diameter and weigh no more than 20 kg (44 lbs.) to ensure collector safety;

• Individual branches and tree limbs must not exceed 1.2 m (4 ft.) in length and 7.5 cm (3 in.) in diameter and weigh no more than 20 kg (44 lbs.); and

• Leave small bundles of yardwaste at the curb as the Region of Peel anticipates yard waste collection may not coincide with residents regularly scheduled collection day.

In order to mitigate the cost of this most recent disaster, the City has joined forces with 19 Mayors and 3 Regional Chairs in the GTA. They are collectively requesting the Provincial and Federal governments to share an estimated consolidated cost to GTA municipalities and Hydro of $275 million. Similar individual requests for flood relief last summer were denied. Without Federal and Provincial assistance, the taxpayer will bear the brunt of the cost through increases to property taxes or special assessments.

Trees--the loss of, protection for, or damage to--will be a big part of our future tax bills. We are already looking at a hit of $58 million for the Emerald Ash Borer Blight, and now, post ice storm, the cost of cleaning up and replacement of City trees.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Spring 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

Spring is in the air and soon the trees will be budding, but what if your boulevard tree forgets to wake up this year? We asked Gavin Longmuir, Urban Forestry Manager for the City of Mississauga.

The city’s Urban Forestry Unit is responsible for the care and maintenance of all trees located on City property which includes that maple tree on your front boulevard. Forestry staff is responsible for all tree maintenance works, tree/stump removal and tree replacement, insect and disease concerns, community tree plantings and enforcing the Private Tree By-law.

If your boulevard tree does not come to life this spring or should you notice blight or bugs later in the season, contact the City call centre 3-1-1 to report a Forestry issue or concern. An inspection is completed by Forestry staff and if work is required a work order is generated with operational staff completing the work. This work is reactive in nature based on residents requesting work. This means that the resident has to report an issue requiring service or hope that in the process of completing another request, the Forestry staff notices other trees that need maintenance.

The forestry staff also generate work orders to prune all City owned trees located on individual streets to elevate lower branches ensuring adequate clearance over the sidewalk and road ways. This work is known as “Block pruning” and is sometimes this is completed by retained contractors. This work is proactive in nature with staff identifying works that are required to be completed.

In 2011 throughout the RHA geographical area the following works were completed:

• 28 street/park trees were removed.
• 0 street/park trees were pruned.
• Eight trees were fertilized.
• Seven streets were included in our “Block Pruning program” with approximately 450 trees pruned.
• Eight community tree planting events were held allowing for approximately 800 potted trees and shrubs to be planted in parks and natural areas.

In 2012 Urban Forestry is committed to delivering similar tree works and programs to the Rockwood Homeowners Association area of Mississauga. Staff will also be involved in two major City wide projects: Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation and Management and the review of the current Private Tree By-law.

If you would like to request an inspection of a City tree for works to be completed, to have a new street tree planted or to volunteer in one of our community tree planting events please call 3-1-1 (or 905.615.4311 if calling outside City of Mississauga limits)

*Please note this article was originally published in the Spring 2012 edition of The Rockwood Times.

Author: Stephen Roscoe, Director and Life Member, Rockwood Homeowners' Association

The Rockwood Homeowners’ Association is pleased to congratulate Councillor Maja Prentice on her twenty-five years of exemplary service in municipal politics. We in Rockwood and all of Mississauga have benefited greatly from Maja Prentice’s tireless efforts to improve this great city we live in.

Maja Prentice was first elected to City Council in 1985 and since then she has brought to fruition a remarkable number of positive initiatives that have improved our community. The Councillor: has chaired the Mississauga Committee on Obscenity , was elected President of Peel Living from 1989 to 1996, sat on the Board of Directors of the Living Arts Centre and the Mississauga International Children’s Festival, and protected our environmental interests as a member of the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) Noise Management Committee . Furthermore, Councillor Prentice also served on the Greater Toronto Services Board (GTSB) as an alternate for the Mayor and was her representative on the Board. Councillor Prentice has always been a staunch supporter of the Rockwood Homeowners’ Association, often making time to attend our meetings and always promptly responding to RHA concerns. Residents of Rockwood will be interested to know of several accomplishments that brought immediate improvement to the Rockwood neighbourhood.

Over the years, Councillor Prentice has
1. Collaborated with the RHA to establish the Etobicoke Creek Trail system from Burnhamthorpe Rd. to Eglinton, including erection of 4 pedestrian bridges crossing the Etobicoke Creek.

2. In harmony with RHA & Parks Dept., established the Lorrie Mitoff Bike trail through Rockwood Community commencing in Garnetwood Park and winding through to Audubon Park.

3. Teamed with the City of Mississauga & RHA to fight and win the battle to keep the McLennan lands as a Prestige Industrial Park vs the proposal by a Developer for a high-density residential slum development.

4. Chaired the Public Committee to restrict unbridled development of the existing Apartment at Dixie/Rathburn.

5. Pursued, with the RHA, the various bank stabilization projects along the west bank of the Etobicoke Creek to prevent erosion of residential properties both single family and town house units.

6. Worked effectively with the RHA and Parks Department to initiate the connection of a safe walking path from the terminal end of Rathburn Rd. to the Etobicoke Creek.

7. Co-operated in the organization of numerous tree planting programs and Green workshops within the Community in harmony with RHA , City Parks and the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority.

These improvements to our neighbourhood are certainly testimony to Councillor Maja Prentice’s effective leadership in Municipal government. For all of us in the RHA, it has been our honor to work collaboratively with Councillor Prentice for more than a decade. Her goodwill, integrity, dedication and class are the hallmarks of her exemplary character.

For your 25 year legacy of good works which all of us enjoy today, we thank you. You are truly appreciated. Congratulations on your retirement! We would also like to wish you a Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary and the best of times ahead spent with your family.

Author: Frank Medoro, Director, Rockwood Homeowners' Association

With the school year once again in full swing, it may be an appropriate time to talk with your children about being good citizens. Keeping our community clean protects our property values and saves tax dollars spent on removing litter and graffiti.

As parents we need to teach our children that littering is no less a crime than painting graffiti on the school walls. The city has garbage bins strategically located around the community. Being a good citizen means you do not toss plastic bottles, soda cans and snack wrappers without regard on lawns, sidewalks, parks and streets. Trespassing means you enter somebody’s property illegally when you cut across their lawn as a short cut to wherever.

While we all know that it is illegal not to pick up the droppings of your pets, on occasion we have all found “little gifts” on our own property donated by someone’s lack of personal responsibility.

As children learn by example as well as instruction, let’s all practice good citizenship habits and encourage our children to do the same. It’s our community; let’s keep it clean and green.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Fall 2010 edition of The Rockwood Times.