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JUNE 2025 NEWSLETTER

RRPOA Road Advisory Committee

 

At the June 21, 2025 meeting Ms. Sandy asked the Board and was granted permission to form a Road Advisory Committee.  We are asking for volunteers for anyone who would be interested in being a part of this committee to please contact Ms. Sandy or email us at theboard@rrpoa.net with your name and contact number.

 

The committee is being formed to help fix areas of main grade and 4 wheel drive.  We are NOT looking to pave the roads nor are we looking for people who are just wanting to complain.  If we are going to tackle some of the issues with those roads we want to spend funds wisely to fix issues and not just do bandaid fixes.  We are asking for help becasue we realize there may be a lot of knowledge and expertise with the membership that can help us tackle this.

 

Main grade and 4 wheel drive are identified as essential roads to help get equipment out to areas to fight fires or help transport emergency personnel in the event of an injury or medical emergency that members may have.  This is why we are only focusing on these roads.  If, at a later date, we identify other roads that would fall into this category we will look at adding them as well.



River Ranch Coloring Book

 

We had a member approach Ms Sandy who has put together a coloring book about RR. The pages in the coloring book are from pictures that members submitted on a Facebook post that he made along with other pictures that he had. We would like to thank Stephen Johnston (Camouflage) for taking the time to put this together. We will be printing off a few pages from this for the kids to color at the Summer Bash.

We have also contacted a printing company to have them make a bound coloring book with all the pictures. Due to the amount of pictures, we will do a second volume at a later date. We are also wanting to break this up to keep the cost down. All going well we would hope to have these for sale at the front gate on June 27, 2025. Cost of the coloring books will be $6.50. We had another member donate crayons for this and will be giving out a 4 pack of crayons with the purchase of the coloring book. We would like to thank Dan Curly for donating the crayons.

We really hope members like this and have talked to Camouflage already about making this an ongoing thing using photos from members around RR. This is new to us and I’m sure there will be a learning curve regarding this.

Again, we would like to thank Camouflage for putting this together! We would also like to thank Dan Curly for the crayon donation. 

RRPOA Cattle Gaps

 

RRPOA has had a gang of cows that like to wonder into the camping area from time to time since they feel the grass is greener on that side (this is light hearted joking). In response we are in the process of fixing the cattle gaps with the help of Mr. Gill (the cowman). Below is one of the cattle gaps that were completed today. This is a time consuming process and we expect this to take a few weeks to fix all of them. 

 

The thought process behind this was to make the fence on the side to keep animals from simply trying to walk around the fence post by the cattle gap. The cattle gaps have been repositioned and have been raised slightly higher than the surrounding area. Pavers were put leading up to the gap to try to keep the dirt in place leading up to the cattle gap and further deter the cows from trying to get across them. Open graded pavers were used because we are hoping that this will provide some grip for tires and keep them from spinning on the pavers. 

 

We are hoping this will keep the gang of cows on their side of the fence. We wanted to let the membership know why they will start to see these changes in the cattle gaps. We would also like to thank everyone involved in this project.

 

RRPOA 4th of July Fireworks

 

The Activity Committee was approached by a member who would like to donate their time and money to have a fireworks display on Friday July 4th at 9pm at the Burnt Bridge. This time may shift slightly due to any weather conditions. We have decided to have this event at the Burnt Bridge since it is a more open area and will have plenty of room for members to attend. We are planning to have a fire truck on location for any just in case scenarios. As we continue to plan this event, we will make sure to update the membership. 

 

We would like to take a moment to thank Chris Coleman for putting on previous firework displays at his own expense. This was much appreciated by the membership. 

 

We would like to thank Donny Ginoris for donating the fireworks and setting this up at the Burnt Bridge. He expects this to be a 25 - 30 minute show. 

 

We hope to see everyone there.

ATV Committee Poker Run

 

The ATV committee will have another Poker Run on August 9th. We will post additional details once they become available or you can join their Facebook page.

 

Below is a photo of the historical data that was submitted to the board for review and justification for RRPOA to do our own garbage disposal. Prior to 2019 RRPOA used to have their own dumpster and disposed of their garbage their selves and the cost for just disposing of the garbage during those years is shown on the sheet. Also in 2019, the membership voted to increase the membership by $10 to keep the dump open. In December of 2019 the board decided to contract the garbage to an outside vendor due to new DOT changes and the expenses related to getting our current vehicle in compliance. It was estimated at the time that including garbage fees, insurance, maintenance, employee wages and DOT compliance fees that it was costing the club over $100k a year. In 2020 the board decided to take an initiative to clean up the dump and had spent more money than usual on this. Also in 2020, the board decided to institute as $250 per trailer deposal fee. Garbage fees leveled out during 2021 - 2022 and in 2023 - 2024 the garbage expenses increased. It appears there are multiple reasons for this increase based on the number of people that have come through the gate, fires and a decrease in the amount of fees that were collected for trailers taken to the dump. It appears that people were putting trailers in the dump, but were not paying for them. It should also be noted that RRPOA tried to reduce the amount of garbage that was being hauled and our current vendor responded with increasing the cost per dumpster by 30%.

 

Based on all this historical data, we proposed spending $178,000 to purchase a roll off truck and $40,000 to buy dumpsters. RRPOA could have purchased a cheaper truck, but decided on this truck because we plan on using it to back haul road material. It was estimated that updated costs for RRPOA to do their own garbage would be $130,000 which includes insurance, garbage disposal costs, maintenance, fuel and employee wages. RRPOA will also save and estimated $20,000 a year for back hauling road material. The increase cost of the dumpsters was factored into this spreadsheet. The total savings until the truck is paid off is estimated at $35,000 per year. The ROI for this is estimated to be 6 years. After this we expect to save around $80,000 per year. RRPOA plans on using these saving to pay for clay and other materials to fix the roads, fix fences and other maintenance items needed.

 

Member Update: Since March RRPOA has been working on various projects approved by the RRPOA board and we have tried to keep members informed regarding these projects. An update on these projects was presented at the last board meeting and we would like to pass this along to the membership. We have a photo of the update presented to the board and just want to give an explanation of each. (We apologize in advance for the length of this post).

Cameras - The board approved the installation of cameras at locations in the camping area in April 2022. This was approved since we had tried cell cameras at the dump and other locations and did not have good luck with reaction times of the cameras and found that we were missing sometimes critical footage. Due to that it was decided to install camera systems that have continuous recording and is saved to a DVR. The board spent a total of $5149.88 for this system with the majority of the expenses incurring in 2022. We were able to beam our internet to the dump for the cameras and will then be able to go from that location to other locations for cameras. We looked into the cost of internet, such as star link, for that location and would spend an estimated $2400 a year. With this setup we have the initial setup cost and no additional costs associated with this.

 

Internet - In an effort to pay for some of the projects that we have worked on, we took on the task of looking at current costs and trying to reduce them. Currently we spend $1040 monthly for internet at the gate and $490 monthly for internet at hwy 60 for our security there. We were able to negotiate this cost down to $777 monthly at the gate and $333 monthly at our Hwy 60 location. This would be an annual savings of $5040.

 

Asset Trackers - We purchased asset trackers in an effort to have a better idea of where fire trucks were to help keep members better informed. The assumption is that the fire would be where our fire trucks are. Many times through the years we have had difficulties giving members an exact location of fires or emergencies. We are hoping this would help. This has an annual cost of $5785.36 and is mostly offset by the internet savings.

 

Vehicle Insurance - We were able to speak with our insurance company and reduce the insurance on our street legal vehicles for an annual savings of $2009.44

Garbage Truck - This has been posted previously, but by RR doing their own garbage, we expect to save an estimated $35,600. This is slightly less than what was previously reported since we got a higher interest rate than what was previously quoted. The reason for the higher interest rate is primarily due to the fact that in the 43 years since RRPOA has been incorporated they have only financed things 10 times. We do not have a long credit history since traditionally RRPOA just pays cash for their purchases and does not typically finance items. This estimated sayings may not be realized during the first year and were thinking that savings would be taken by the cost of purchasing dumpsters. After the first week of hauling our own dumpsters we were able to haul our own scrape material and did not have any trash thrown on the ground by the dumpsters to pick up. For comparison purposes, tonnage for the second week of May was 7 tons and cost the club $1950 for disposal. Our first week for disposing ourselves cost us an estimated $1110.21 (including disposal, fuel, cost of truck, insurance, employee wages, etc) and was 6 tons of trash. We also made $617.50 for the scrape that we took from the dump and $450 for trailers. This would make our first weeks cost only $42.71 compared to $1950 for a first week savings of $1907.29. We know that every week will not be like this, but this first week was very promising.

 

Fire Prevention Committee - Currently there are 24 members and they have assisted with the previous 5 fires to quickly respond, gather information about suspicious fires, help use the water hoses and help us quickly get information to the membership about the fires. Only costs associated with this has been $305.30 to purchase weather stations to post throughout the camping area to help forestry get a more accurate drought index in this area.

Overall we expect to see a saving of $39,264 for doing these projects and expect to use these saving to do other much needed project in RR. We would like to notify the membership that during the months of June, July and August our operating expenses are typically more than the revenue that is brought in. Due to that we typically pull back from doing major projects and just focus on spending money on the musts. The only projects during this time will be "water gates" (gates that will open to allow water to flow on the hunting fenceline) and fence repairs (since we already have this material). We expect to discuss sharing some costs with our neighbors for these repairs.

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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.
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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.


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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.

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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

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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

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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.
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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