The Rancho Murieta Association (RMA) directors are shown after presiding over the first board meeting of the year on Jan. 16. From left, are Tom Reimers, Danny Carrillo, Renee Bechthold, Chris Childs, Scott Adams, and Patrick O’Hearn.

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Appointing residents to committees ranging from architecture review to maintenance was the primary happening when the Rancho Murieta Association Board (RMA) of Directors held a brief meeting on Jan. 16. The board also dissolved or suspended two committees.

General Manager Rod Hart also reported RMA Compliance would begin issuing citations to residents who are captured speeding by four Lidar cameras on Jan. 22.  He also reported dashboard cameras coming soon will help document stop sign violations.

In other business, Director Chris Childs reported on the most recent meeting of the Ad Hoc Security Committee, and two audience members spoke. One of them asked the RMA to spearhead a summer activities program for kids.

During his president’s report, Scott Adams said that he would attend the Rancho Murieta Community Services District (CSD) Board the following night. He planned to discuss a developer’s proposal to construct a natural trail instead of a paved trail in the Residences East subdivision. See the separate story in this issue.

Committee appointments

As happens in the first meeting of the year, the directors appointed residents to be members of board committees ranging from architectural review to recreation. However, the chairs for two separate committees asked to deactivate their groups, and a third asked for a postponement to make his appointments.

The board approved a motion by Director Danny Carrillo to put the Community Advisory Committee in suspension “to make more efficient use of staff time. President Scott Adams said he thought it was a good move since a charter for that committee has yet to be approved. Carrillo said the group could be reactivated on an as needed basis. The Board appointed that committee after a group of residents complained about racial harassment in July of 2022.

Adams also received board approval to deactivate the Recreation and Aquatic Center Committee. He said the committee had worked about a year and a half to find a location for a community center and for eventual member approval. After determining the best location was on country club property, they entered a discussion with one of the property owners (the late John Sullivan) and had it appraised. Then the country club began discussions about the possibility of bankruptcy and an eventual sale.
“If there comes a time when it is appropriate to reactivate the committee, then we’ll certainly do that,” Adams said. “But don’t anticipate that happening for a while.”

In other committee reports, Director John Van Doren, who chairs the Finance Committee, received approval to delay his appointments until February. The River Valley Times asked for a list of the new appointees to the eight other committees but hadn’t received one as of the deadline for this story.

Speeding citations

During his general manager’s report, Hart said Compliance would begin issuing citations for speeding violations captured by four Lidar cameras on Jan. 22. He said the need for the cameras became evident during the 90-day grace period in which residents caught speeding were only issued warnings.

During that time, the cameras captured 550 residents and their guests speeding between 35 to 60 mph.  Another 1,500 violations involved vendors. Hart said Amazon was the worst with 135 violations. He is reaching out to Amazon and other vendors to seek compliance.

“Fortunately, with these cameras, we have beautiful pictures and license plates so they will be difficult to deny,” he said.

Hart said some residents also have asked him to set up the cameras in front of their homes. “It’s quite evident they are needed for the safety of the community,” he said.

Running stop signs also is a problem and new dashboard cameras will provide documentation, according to Hart. RMA has ordered two cameras for the compliance vehicles. CSD also had planned to buy a third camera for a security vehicle but decided against it last month for security budgetary reasons.

Hart told the board he ordered a third camera at a cost of $4,500 for a CSD security vehicle using his own line of discretionary spending. The data from all three cameras will go into an RMA server and would be utilized for appeals and evaluations.

Hart said that recordings from the dashboard cameras will also provide documentation of citizen contacts “so you guys will have an idea of what some of our compliance guys go through.” He said the same system also will handle body camera recordings.

Security Committee

Director Chris Childs chairs the Ad Hoc Security Committee, which was asked to research options for privatizing security behind the gates given the budgetary issues facing CSD. Although the gates currently operate 24/7, that isn’t true for patrol because the Measure J tax money isn’t sufficient to pay for full operations.

Childs reported that committee member Greg Mason reached out to several security companies and also asked other homeowners associations (HOAs) how they handled security and made his report at the Jan. 11 meeting. “He came back with a pretty interesting report about what security measures exist in other places and what our committee sees as pretty unique security challenges in Rancho Murieta,” he said.

Hart also will research what other HOAs are doing for security through two industry associations, Childs told the board.

Childs said the most robust discussion at the Jan. 11 meeting had to do with where the committee should go at that point. “We have gone a long way in terms of research, but we have yet to have any type of direction in terms of what CSD is going to do with security,” he said.

Childs said after CSD Director Linda Butler arrived late at the meeting, they peppered her with questions. “Her response was pretty clear that there isn’t going to be much direction until CSD completes its audits so they know exactly what funding sources they can use for security,” he said.

Childs also told the board he had also attended a special CSD Board meeting about security on Jan. 12 and learned that the CSD Board is considering a recommendation to reduce the amount of overhead allotted to the CSD security budget. See a separate story for more details.

Another topic at the meeting was whether security officers should be armed. Their opinions went both ways, according to Childs.

Audience comments

Audience member Melinda Martel told the board she was making three recommendations. She said the big one was the development of some kind of summer activity program for kids. Although she understands that RMA doesn’t have the staff for a recreational program she asked the association could provide some coordination. She suggested that civic groups and volunteers could sponsor activities such as a bike rodeo, a knitting class, a game day,  a gardening project, and chalk sidewalk art.

Audience member Melinda Martel asks that RMA initiate an activity schedule for kids in the summer.

“There are a lot of kids out here, and there are a lot of things we could do with them,” Martell said. “I think the more active we keep the kids, the less trouble they will get into.”

Martell also asked the board to put up a shade structure for spectators at the spray park in the south “because is blazing hot sitting on the bench.” She also suggested holding a Halloween decorating contest. “I don’t have any ideas about how to do it, so I am throwing it out for you guys to talk about,” she said.

Another audience member, Marilyn Haugen, complained about two street lights being out and causing safety issues. One on Alameda Drive belongs to the country club. It wasn’t clear whether a second one at Murieta Parkway and De La Cruz Drive belonged to RMA or SMUD. Hart said he would check it out.

The board will hold its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 20.