JANUARY 2026 NEWSLETTER

2026 GENERAL MEETING

Reminder that the general meeting will be February 14, 2026 at 12:00pm at the front gate pavillion. This meeting is open to all current paid members. Please note, as per our bylaws, the general meeting is the second Saturday in February at 12:00pm. Whatever that date is, is whatever the date is. This has been set since the 1990s. This date has also been on the public calendar at RRPOA.net. 

We have a few items that members brought up during the district meetings that were held on January 17th. The below ballot items were brought up by members and text message discussions were had ensuring that the below wording captures what those members wanted voted on during the general meeting. We originally had six items, one is being tabled to discuss in a committee (more information will be given on this) and the other was rescinded by the member that brought it up. Below are the following items for ballot: 

Ballot item # 1 : Proposed ballot item to exempt workers from no guest dates. Workers will be defined as people who either work for a legitimate businesse or are an owner of a legitimate business and have proof as such to provide a service for a current paid member. Workers are to only come in to provide services for the specific member on their specific owned property and cannot be sub contracted to work for said member on other people’s property. Workers can only enter the gate in a street legal vehicle. Workers will need to sign in and out each day. 

Ballot item # 2 : Proposed ballot item that any increase in membership dues would need to be voted on and approved by the membership. This is restrictive to only membership dues. Guest passes, family passes, guest/family fees, prices of retail items sold at the gate, disposal fees, buggy lots, or any other fees are not included in this proposed ballot item. 

Ballot item # 3 : Proposed amendment to the bylaws requiring a voting quorum of 20% of the current membership when said membership is voting on anything other than electing directors or officers. 

Ballot item # 4 : Proposed ballot item to remove the amendment to the bylaws that required any changes to the bylaws to only be made by a vote from the membership 

Please note only current paid members are allowed to vote on the proposed ballot items. Members will be required to have a current membership card and present such in order to vote. Notices of this meeting will be sent via newsletter and via mail as well. After the general membership meeting the activity committee will be serving free hot dogs. We hope to see everyone there.

ONLINE VOTING

Online voting was proposed by a member and reviewed by the board. After review if was agreed by the member that proposed the ballot item to table this item pending further review. Meaning this item will not be voted on at the February 14th meeting. The reasoning for tabling this is as follows:

Significant concerns were raised regarding security, voter verification, cost, and potential fraud claims, especially compared to our current in-person process. A quick search showed that there are many different options for online voting ranging from essentially free and all that is needed is an email and a code, to slightly more secure with notices and codes mailed which was more expensive. There was also the concern to ensure that no one would be able to tamper with the online voting as well. Right now we have a controlled sign in for voting and verify eligibility and have a paper ballot and we have multiple people who count in front of everyone to verify the results. Online voting will be different and there were many concerns raised regarding this. Just a simple email and your membership number being used would not be practical since we know for a fact that many of the emails in our system are junk emails, or emails that are for a relative or friend of members. 

The best way to be fair, so that everyone has a fair option to vote online would be to send their information via mail, which does have a cost. The proposed change in the membership dues was an expect the worse, hope for the best scenario based on three different quotes from vendors who specialize in secure online voting who stated they could take care of some of the security concerns. There were also other ballot items that may necessitate additional voting through the year, incurring additional costs. Also, if dues are raised then liability insurance is raised as well since it is largely dependent on our revenue. An additional 20% cushion was also added for expenses that we didn’t think of. 

Concerns were brought up regarding what happens if online voting doesn’t cost as much as anticipated and we only end up using twice a year and there is extra money from the proposed increase in dues. It was proposed to limit surplus funds to road maintenance and committee functions. Anything other than that could be a vote by the membership. 

An agreement could not be reached and was determined that the responsible thing to do would be to table the ballot item, and a member committee will be formed to study options, costs, and safeguards before any future vote. We feel the need to accurately get a cost of online voting, free versions are not a secure option nor are running the online elections ourselves. Putting this on the ballot right now may do two things, put expenses on the membership that may not be valid or have expenses that we had not accounted. It would also create a security issue where people who are not members, can now vote on items pertaining to RR. 

Details on the committee and volunteers will be announced soon.

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BUGGY LOT

We wanted to let members know that we have an area at the front gate called the Buggy Lot that members can rent a spot for their vehicles and leave them there after the member leaves for the weekend. We are now allowing members to rent a spot for their campers that are 35 feet or less in addition to buggys, SXS or ATVs . These spots are essentially parking spots and people will not be able to camp out of their campers in this area. The Buggy lot costs $250 per year and is in a fenced off area that only people whom have a spot can get a key to. The front office does walk throughs on the buggy lot to check on the vehicles parked there.

If you are interested in renting a buggy lot spot, please contact Ms Sandy or Ms Angel at the front gate.

DISTRICT MEETING RESULTS

Results from the district elections are as follows:

Southeast District:

Josh Hutcheson - Director

Shane Bradley - Director

Eugene Hagney - Alternate Director

Bear Hutcheson - Alternate Director

Southwest District:

Cliff Goodrich - Director

Donald Sparks - Director

Catherine Keaser - Alternate Director

Kevin Moran - Alternate Director

* This meeting did not have a quorum. Voting was performed for the alternate directors and those listed had the majority votes by the members that attended. They will need to be approved by the board at the February board meeting.

Northeast District:

Jamie Stone - Director

Kevin Leiby - Director

Linda Carrick - Alternate Director

Hunter Miller - Alternate Director

Northwest District:

Stephen Johnson - Director

Stephen Johnston - Director

Phillip Leftstead - Alternate Director

Timmy Moss - Alternate Director

* This meeting did not have a quorum. Voting was performed for the alternate directors and those listed had the majority votes by the members that attended. They will need to be approved by the board at the February board meeting.

Congratulations to everyone above and thank you to all the members that came to their district meetings.

SPECIAL HOG HUNT

KID SIGN IN

In November the board approved updating our Counterpoint system to help mainstream checking members kids in. When your child is aged 16 - 20 they are supposed to sign a book when they check in with you. This can be a cumbersome process for both the member and the gate. The reason for them signing the book at that age is because most kids between those ages can legally drive and the gate has wanted to know if they are actually in the woods in case of an accident for insurance purposes. Currently when you sign in under age children you generally don’t have to say their names. Unfortunately this process has caused a few issues when there was an emergency with members children or their POA children since we could not accurately determine which child was in the woods with the member. 

All that being said, starting Monday January 5th that process will change. All children of a member will be signed in by their name through our Counterpoint system. We will no longer have a book that children ages 16 - 20 will have to sign. When signing in their kids or POAs, the gate will need to know which kids are signing in with you at that time. This will eliminate the book for children ages 16 - 20 and will help the gate have a better idea which kids are in the woods with you in the event of an emergency for insurance purposes. Unfortunately we have had quite a few instances of people bringing in kids that were not theirs and then there was an emergency and then there is not any information on the child to help with the emergency. 

Also, our current policy at the gate is to require a birth certificate for kids on a members file that do not have the same last name as the member. Starting on Monday January 5th we are going to require birth certificate for all kids on your file next time you renew, even if they are on a POA. We do realize that members have been asked for birth certificates and the notes may not have been eliminated from their file or that members may not have access to print the birth certificates and bring them in. To hopefully help make this more convenient for the members, you can email this information if you would like to onlinestore@rrpoa.net and make sure you include your membership number and name in the email. We are only asking for a copy of the birth certificate and can be either digital or printed copy.  Members can provide a copy with all information blacked out except the childs name, date of birth and name of the parent and to mark the copy of the birth certifcate as a copy for security reasons if they so choose. 

The other upgrade we have made with counterpoint is to help with new members who have bought property under contract. This means that you have bought property online from approved sellers and bring in an email to show your purchase to get a membership same day. The board suggested giving these new members 60 days to get a recorded deed proving they own property. After 60 days, if they do not have give us a copy of a recorded deed then they will not be able to sign in until they can prove they own property. The gate has always had this policy, but has had difficulty keeping up with this. New changes to Counterpoint will allow the gate to keep up with this. 

We hope to have members patience and understanding as we navigate these new features that should help for insurance purposes.

RED SHED

We are asking members to please be mindful to not hit the red shed with their trailers when signing in. In the past month the shed has been hit 4 times. We have placed poles around the shed, which people have also hit in the last month that we are working on replacing. If you have a tall trailer, please make sure to give adequate space between your vehicle and the red shed. Please make sure to drive your trailer straight out until you can safely make the turn without hitting the poles or the shed. We have a sampler with an extension that we can use for you to put your ID in to sign in if needed so your vehicle does not hit the shed.