Recap of December 2011

# of Calls for Service by Security: 100

# of Member Communication Forms Received at Association Office:  2

1- One (1) complaint regarding piles of leaves accumulating on a member’s lot for an extended period of time.

Action: The HROA Code Enforcement Officer contacted the owner of the lot and issued a ‘Notice to Comply’ specifying a deadline the leaves need to be cleaned up by.

2- One (1) complaint regarding a oak tree in the common area near the complaining party’s lot.  The complainant is concerned over the health of the tree and its potential to fall and do damage to the surrounding properties.   

Action: The Maintenance Manager inspected the tree and determined no further action was necessary.  The complaining party was advised of the Maintenance Manager’s findings.

# of Citations Issued:  84

Parking Violation = 5

Parking of Boat, RV, Camper = 3

Defacing Common Area = 1

Failure to Stop = 1

Excessive Speed = 1

Excessive Speed in School Zone = 1

Off-Road Vehicle = 4

Illegal Entry = 3

Vessel Not in HROA System = 11

Unleashed Dog = 9

Impounding of Dog = 4

Barking or Nuisance Animal = 5

Lot – Weeds / Debris = 3

Equestrian Violation = 1

AEC Violation = 3

Storage of Watercraft = 12

Other = 17

(Multiple Violations = 17, Written Warnings Issued = 27)

By far, in 2011 the most commonly occurring violation(s) on the Ranch was related to parking with 325 total citations issued.  Also, members are often frustrated when HROA Security is not around to catch individuals running stop signs on the Ranch.  You might be surprised that In 2011, 45 citations were issued for this infraction.

Summary of action taken at Board Meeting(s) for December 2011

In December 2011, the Board of Directors held their regularly scheduled monthly Board Meeting on December 9^th.  The following appeals / security related issues were discussed or acted on (by agenda item):

6.  Property Owner Appeal – Barr (Resident), Citation #20130, $50.00, Failure to Stop (5:30 p.m.) SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1  Action: Changed to a Warning

8.  Property Owner Appeal – Poquette, Citation #20180, $50.00, Parking (Use Letter) Action: Upheld

16.  Approve/Disapprove requiring the private dock owners to follow a minimum safe practice of tying off their private docks to the shoreline to include: all ropes and cables must be located on the ground (not allowed to be suspended in the air), a cover must be put over all stakes, and no tying to trees allowed Action: Require all stakes to be covered/protected so as not to cause harm; that all ropes and cables suspended in the air must have reflective flags tied to them; that all ropes and cables which utilize a tree to tie off must include a strap to protect the tree bark; that the material required to cover the stakes must be made out of PVC or equivalent; and that the deadline to comply be March 30, 2012.

Note: The HROA Board of Directors began reviewing a series of issues involving the private docks in July 2011.  This is the last item in that series.  We thank the private dock owners for their patience and attendance at various meetings.

At the beginning of the calendar year, HROA staff begins a review of all the existing general rules and regulations (excluding the Equestrian Center and Private Docks which are reviewed on an as-needed basis), and makes a list of any proposed changes, deletions or additions to present to the HROA Board of Directors.  The various committees also provide input.  If you have any specific recommended changes to the current rules and regulations booklet, please submit them in writing to the HROA Office, c/o the General Manager. 

You can find the agenda and minutes for all meetings by clicking on the CALENDAR found on the front page of the HROA website at www.hroa.us

Summary of Security-Related Activities

The HROA Security continues to assist law enforcement with numerous law enforcement related incidents reported in December, 2011.  These included: 1 domestic violence, 11 disturbing the peace, 2 check the welfare, 1 traffic accident, 3 vandalisms, 2 alarms (no crime), 4 illegal dumping, 2 trespass/prowler reports, 32 dog-related calls, 5 miscellaneous animal-related calls (2 deer hit, a mountain lion sighting, a loose cow, and a loose calf), 5 illegal riding in the green belt, 1 shots fired (heard only), 1 neighbor dispute, and 1 attempted burglary (no suspects seen, assigned to the Sheriff’s Department and the investigation is in progress).  

I am continuing with the January Security Bulletin to collect data from the Sheriff’s Department. I now meet with the new Commanding Officer of North Station Commander Ken Conway monthly and we discuss crime issues unique to Heritage Ranch.  I believe this will be a good process to keep on top of crime in our area.

During the month of December the Ranch was victim to some very damaging vandalism at the Main Marina. I continue not to understand the need of a very few individuals to create so much damage around our Ranch. Along with the vandalism we had individuals dump over 50 cans of paint in a lot in tract 1990. With the CSD taking these items for proper disposal every Friday it makes no sense to have dumping of this kind in the Ranch whatsoever. There is no fee for bringing hazardous items to CSD for proper disposal. Please help us get the word out on proper disposal of these items.  HROA Maintenance also found an abandoned dishwasher in the same area.

Our dog related incidents were down by 15 for December and I thank the Ranch folks for continuing to keep a closer eye on their pets and what they are up to. We had 5 other animal related calls. Two deer were hit and a mountain lion was sighted. No one was injured by the big cat. I have seen a lot more deer in recent weeks so keep the defensive driving mode switch on in your head.

As we begin a brand new year let us all be thankful for the beautiful place we live in and keep an eye out for others who would try to take that beauty away from us. Have a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

HROA Security’s goal is to provide services to HROA Members that will most benefit them. If you wish to speak to me directly, you can call the Association Office at 805-238-9641 and leave me a message and I will return your call as soon as possible.  Our goal is to maintain your confidentiality if you are complaining about another member.  Please keep in mind that certain complaints by their nature might require your cooperation in order to process them to your complete satisfaction.                

Sincerely,

Tony Foti

Senior HROA Investigator

Tip of the Month  

This topic has been covered before but with new statistics from Triple A, we should keep computer crimes fresh in our minds.

The still occurring issue with e-mail scams is that crooks will send you a notification that your bank account is in jeopardy.

They will then ask for you to update your personal information. The truth is banks and financial institutions call you directly with pertinent questions so that you can do the proper follow up to assure that they are the real deal.

Just a reminder, stay sharp and don’t let anyone take what you have worked so hard to earn

PLAY SAFE

BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR

BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS

HELP US, HELP YOU