What's New

 

MARCH 2025 NEWSLETTER

At the March 15, 2025 board meeting it was proposed to setup a committee to help respond to fires at RR. We are asking for involvement from the membership for this. We are looking for volunteers to potentially help with communications, spotting fires, turning on well pumps or filling up water trucks as needed. We understand that not everyone will be at RR during these events and is why we are looking for a pool of members that can be called upon during these events. Essentially we realize that we cannot have the same people all the time. Initially we would look to communicate via WhatsApp during these events. This committee will be headed by Sandy Edwards. We are asking that those that are interested please text Ms Sandy with your information at 863-528-7936.
RRPOA decided a few years ago to install a tower inorder to place cameras off Muddobber and off the Temp Camp area.  These cameras are being placed to help survey a situation that is happening with people littering and improperly disposing of their waste.  Please note that this is illegal and those found doing this will be prosecuted.



Florida Statute 403.413, known as the "Florida Litter Law," prohibits the dumping of litter, which includes raw sewage and other waste, onto public or private lands or waters.

One of RRPOAs new initatives is to provide better communication to our current paid members. We have noted that there are a lot of Facebook sites with the name River Ranch and this can be confusing for members. RRPOA is only affliated with the Facebook site named River Ranch Property Owners Association, Inc. Any of the other Facebook sites with the name River Ranch or RRPOA could potentially have misinformation. If you do not have Facebook you can also call the front gate at 863-692-9807 and either speak with Ms. Sandy Edwards our Gate Manager and President, Kevin Leiby our Property Manager or one of your directors.

RRPOA was notified by Polk County Sheriff's Office that a task force has been assembled to combat some of the thievery and other illegal activities inside RR.  This task force was assembled in Januray 2025 and have been coming into RR since then.  The current president just received the contact information for the head of this task force and is commicating to the membership regarding this.  This update was posted on our Facebook site and members have expressed concerns regarding DUIs, etc.  In talking with PCSO, they are not concerned with drinking and driving, unless said person is driving recklessly and a danger to others.  They have no jurisdiction or concern regarding structures within RR and a county ordinance was estabilished in 2024 that stated any structure at Polk County would be grandfathered in as of June 1, 2024.  Permant structures after June 1, 2024 could be subject to code enforcement.  RRPOA strongly suggests to our members that you do not build permant structures.  The task force has asked to remind members to lock their vehicles and camps to help prevent some of the thefts.

At the February 15, 2025 meeting the outgoing board added a new rule to be in effect for March 1, 2025.  This rule is No harassing the cattle at RR. Those caught harassing the cattle will be subject to fines and/or prosecution.  It was also decided that if a someone sees the cattle being harassed and can provide evidence leading to the prosecution of said person, they could be elidgible for a reward.

The cattle and the cattle lease at River Ranch is important to help River Ranch maintain the fences around the perimeter.  If there are cattle on a property it is illegal for someone to cut the fence since the cows can escape and potentially make it to a roadway, causing a threat to those driving on said roadway.  The cattle and cattle lease at River Ranch is a mutually beneficial partnership at a net zero cost to RRPOA and it's members.

_______________________________________________________________
BY LAWS

At the October 21, 2023 the RRPOA Board of Directors voted to update the current By Laws for our membership.  This update was made to clarify requirements for membership, requirements for running for Director, Alternate Director and Officer positions on the board.  Updates were also made to make the By Laws in compliance with required changes to Florida Statues and the RRPOA Articles of incorporation.  A copy of the By Laws can be found on this website under important documents or by clicking this link.
________________________________________________________________


NEW NIGHT TIME SIGN IN PROCEDURES

Starting April 2, 2023 there will be a new sign in procedure for members that are signing in between 10pm and 6am on Sunday thru Wednesday.  Temporarily, RRPOA will have the red shed open on Sunday thru Wednesday from 10pm to 6am to sign in members.  During this time, we will have the gate house closed and will not be selling memberships, ice or other items at the gate.  We will still be able to sign out guests or family members that are using those passes.

The field will be marked and roped off appropriately so that members can drive up to the red shed and sign in during this time.

Looking through our historical records we have determined that this change should only impact approximately 5 - 10 members.  The gate house will be open as normal from Thursday thru Saturday.  We will make adjustments for upcoming holidays as needed if we still need to use the shed during that time.  Our goal is to have minimal impact or inconvenience to our members during this time.

As always we appreciate our members understanding.

________________________________________________________________

2/18/23
Notice:
At the board meeting on 2/18/23 the board voted to increase the membership dues to $175 and increase the family pass and guest pass to $145 per year effective March 1, 2023. This increase is due to the state mandated increases in minimum wage. The board also decided to increase the dues to provide benefits for our employees. We have never offered medical benefits to our employees and would like to start doing so in an effort to be more competitive and maintain our employees. Finally, these additional funds will also be used for the increases in our liability insurance. We appreciate the members' understanding as to why we feel the need to increase the membership dues.

_____________________________________________________________

 

NEW EXIT GATE

RRPOA IS GOING TO OPEN THEIR NEW EXIT GATE STARTING SEPTEMBER 2, 2022.  WE ARE USING THIS GATE TO ALIVEATE SOME OF THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION AT THE FRONT GATE FOR BUSY HOLIDAYS OR BUSY WEEKENDS.  PLEASE SEE THE PHOTO BELOW FOR WHERE THE NEW EXIT WILL BE.  PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN THE NEW EXIT IS OPEN THE OLD EXIT WILL BE CLOSED, SO PLEASE EXIT THERE TO AVOID TRAFFIC BACKUPS.  IF THE NEW EXIT IS NOT OPEN THEN PLEASE CONTINUE TO USE THE OLD EXIT.  THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND WE PLAN ON HAVING A DEPUTY STATIONED AT THIS EXIT TO HELP WITH THIS PROCESS.

 

FORESTRY MEETING

_____________________________________________________________

5/12/22

Notice:

 

Due to the labor shortages that RRPOA is experiencing, similar to other businesses, we are strongly urging that members renew their membership online.  This is going to be especially important to do with the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.  At this time we will not have to staff to process memberships at the gate expeditiously.  If you have to renew your membership at the gate during the Memorial Day holiday please expect to wait in long lines depending on the time of day you do this.  Our staff will be limited and will focus on signing in members that have current memberships.

 

Please note that if you renew your membership online, our remote workers generally work M-T, Th-Sat and generally start after 12:00 noon and work until 8pm.  If you do your membership outside those hours then it will have to wait until the next day.  That is why we ask that you give 24-48 hours to process the membership.  Instructions on how to purchase a membership online can be found by going to RRPOA.net and clicking on “Renew or start a membership” button or you can click on the following link to go directly to that page: https://rrpoa.net/pages/faq.  Once memberships are purchased a confirmation email is sent and in that email it states that the membership will not be processed until all the required paperwork is signed.  This paperwork is required whether you do the membership online or at the gate.  Once the membership is processed another email will be sent from “remotegate@rrpoa.net” stating that the membership is good to go.  If you do not receive that email then they are still processing the membership.

 

Please note that we will also be emailing members who are expired or are going to expire to advise them about their membership so that we can make the process as quick as possible for members to come through the gate.  We appreciate your understanding as we try to continue working the gate with limited staff as best as we can.  Also if there are any members that are willing to volunteer during the Memorial Day weekend at the gate, they can contact Ms. Sandy.

 

RRPOA

______________________________________________________________
The new Check In Shed is up and running.  We are proud to say that this shed runs 100% on solar power with a backup generator.  This shed will be open as needed on Friday afternoons into the evening, Saturday morning into the afternoon and Sunday morning.  It will also be used on holiday weekends to speed up the check in process and actually has a check in window at both sides of the shed to allow for two lines of vehicles to check in.  We are asking members to completely drive around the loop to go to the shed so that you do not come at the shed at an angle.  We are asking that you have your ID's and/or member card out and ready to give to the employee at the shed to check you in to speed up the process.  If you need to purchase anything at the gate, please just park in the field and do not go through the line for the check in shed.  This is a drive up shed and members will not need to exit their vehicles to sign in.  There may be a few glitches are we are getting used to this new process and we hope for your understanding.
_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

 




RRPOA is tentatively going to allow brothers and sisters on the family pass. This is in addition to children and parents that are allowed to come in on the family pass. We are requiring that you upload all the documents such as the birth certificates, marriage licenses, Driver’s license, etc to you online account. If this is not uploaded to the online account prior to the sibling coming out then they will be turned away at the gate. You can also email these documents to onlinestore@rrpoa.net. For the sibling you will need your birth certificate and you siblings birth certificate, marriage license if either of your names have changed and driver’s license for both you and your sibling.

If you are going to take a sibling to RR on the family pass we are asking you to also email onlinestore@rrpoa.net. Our remote employee is going to input all their information into our family pass database upon approval of the documents sent. So when the sibling comes out for the first time if they are in the system the gate knows they are approved and can sign in quicker. If they are not in the family database then the gate will not allow them to come in. The remote employee will send the member an email upon approval of the sibling so they will know all is good. If the member does not receive this email then the sibling is not good to come in.

If this becomes too troublesome for the gate because people do not upload documents in advance then we will not allow siblings on this pass, so please make sure that you upload prior to coming out. Please upload or email these documents at least 48 hours prior to coming to River Ranch. Hopefully this trial goes well for everyone and appreciate your support and understanding.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

It is with a heavy heart that we would like to inform our membership that our president Pete Edwards passed away yesterday. Out of respect for his family we have delayed notifying the membership until we had given them a moment to catch their breath and start to deal with their grief. They have just given their blessing to post this notification. Pete Edwards has been involved with this association for over 40 years and loved River Ranch dearly. He was always willing to talk to members and resolve any and all situations to the best of his ability. We are tremendously grieved to make this announcement and at this time are trying to process this as well.

RRPOA Board

 



Effective immediately RRPOA is changing our policy regarding guests/family that have not been signed out. Previously our policy was to send two warning letters and then suspend guest/family privileges on the third time a members does not sign them out.

Now members who do not sign out their guest/family after one time will have their privileges suspended until they come to a board meeting to resolve their situation.

If members have questions or would like to discuss further they may contact their director or attend the next board meeting.

Sincerely,
RRPOA Board of Directors

RRPOA

River Ranch Property Owner’s Association

During the Board Meeting on October 19th 2019 the Board adopted new rules for the size of trailers allowed through the gate. For the purpose of this regulation “Trailers” shall include, mobile homes, campers and any other shed like structure manufactured or custom built.

Members will be allowed to enter through the gate for purpose of bringing a trailer to their own deeded private property or on River Ranch property with previous board approval as described below.

The trailer must meet two criteria:

1). The trailer cannot exceed 12’ wide measuring the outer width dimension of the vertical wall of the trailer. The 12’ wide is being restricted due to the size of our gate.

AND

2). The trailer cannot exceed 400 Total Square Feet regardless of the length.

The method for calculating the total square feet of the trailer to ensure approval is as shown in the below mathematical equation.



The width of the trailer _________________

Multiplied by the length of the trailer __________________

Equals Total Square Feet = __________________ Square Feet


See Example Below


The width of the trailer 10 Feet

Multiplied by the length of the trailer 40 Feet

Equals Total Square Feet = 400 Square Feet

NOTICE

RRPOA will be implementing a digital sign-in program in August. The tentative date for this implementation will be August 12, 2019. Members, spouses and disabled dependents will no longer sign in using the log books. You will still need to come to front gate but will give your card to employees at the gate and they will sign you in digitally and provide a receipt for the sign in. Please note that this is a work in progress and we will fine tune this as we move forward. Further implementation will include tablets so we can be mobile and sign people in at other locations other than the front gate office.

Please note that children between 16 thru 20 will need to sign in using the books. Also note that guests that have signed in for the weekend and leave with a member to go to town and come back will still need to sign in using the books.

We have moved toward this new sign in program to hopefully make the sign in process a little easier on members and to provide more accurate information for insurance purposes. We respectfully request members' patience while we implement this process. We fully expect minor changes to procedures as we work through this implementation and will keep members updated regarding any changes.

RRPOA

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE

IF YOU ARE PARKED BY THE TRASH TRAILER, BLOCKING ROADS BY THE FRONT GATE OR PARKED PERMANENTLY IN THE FIELD BY THE FRONT GATE YOU WILL BE TOWED AT YOUR EXPENSE! WE CANNOT HAVE ROADS BLOCKED, THE TRASH TRAILER BLOCKED OR THE FRONT FIELD PERMANENTLY FILLED WITH CARS. WE HAVE A TOW COMPANY IN LINE THAT WILL TOW YOUR VEHICLE. SIGNS WILL BE POSTED IN THE AREAS THAT WILL HAVE VEHICLES TOWED IF YOU ARE PARKED.

Please note that if you need to call 911 our association is identified as the River Ranch Hunt Club in Polk County. The address is as follows:

River Ranch (Hunt Club) Property Owners Association
18550 County Road 630 East
Lake Wales, FL 33898