RSF Association President’s Corner: April 3 RSF Association board meeting highlights
By Philip Wilkinson, Rancho Santa Fe Association President
The April 3 RSF Association board meeting highlights are:
Your all volunteer board, based on a recommendation from the CDRC, approved the AT&T 4G LTE cellular antenna installation with the parapet screening wall atop the office building at the corner of La Flecha and Via de Santa Fe. The 4G antenna will provide upgraded cellular service throughout the Covenant, according to the predicted coverage map provided by AT&T. This is a much-needed upgrade.
The board also approved the as-built new entryway and landscaping for The Inn at RSF. These improvements are a very nice enhancement and the improvements are consistent with the historical character of The Inn.
At the request of the RSF Golf Club Board of Governors, your RSF Association Board of Directors reviewed the Golf Club membership rights for condominium owners in the Covenant. There are 19 condominium developments in the Covenant with 88 total units, and 38 units currently have voting and golf club rights; of which 23 condo residents have golf memberships. That is a 60 percent take rate among those condo owners that are eligible. Given that the Golf Club is looking for ways to increase membership (in a time when membership has been declining), I believe that it is in our best interest to offer the remaining condo owners the right to join the Golf Club. Additionally, I fundamentally believe that a condominium owner or resident that pays Association assessments (HOA dues) deserves to not only have golf membership rights, but also voting rights. We were informed that this issue has been raised twice in the past several years with prior boards and both times it failed to go forward, but these are different times and the board feels that this is in the best interest of its members. The board agreed to have counsel draft the proper bylaw language for the board to review and to move this initiative forward through the process, which includes member input.
The board also requested counsel to research potential opportunities for modifying and simplifying the current Association voter registration process. Counsel opined that our current process is legal and then presented three options for modifying the current complex voter registration process. The board directed staff to post a notice to create an ad hoc committee of members and board representatives to review the current voter registration process and make recommendations to the board. The committee will be established at our May 1 meeting. Meanwhile, the board asked staff to send a second mailer with voter registration forms to all members not yet registered to vote to encourage them to come into the Association office and register. The good news is that 150 new voter registrations have been processed by Association staff in the month of March.
On a different topic, I, like many members, received a UPS package at my home last Saturday from a group that spent purportedly thousands of dollars to communicate with RSF Association members to vote “no” on the upcoming ballot for the RSF Garden Club purchase. Every member will decide on their own how to vote on this issue, but the one thing I believe is very important to understand is that a “yes” vote on the Garden Club purchase does not mean a “no” vote for a possible future pool and fitness facility that is currently under review. I believe most directors, like me, want to see a pool and fitness facility come to fruition. As it relates to the Garden Club vote, I encourage each of you to review the information available on the official Ranch Santa Fe Association web site (thecovenantofrsf.org) and make your own decision. The funds needed to purchase the Garden Club building would come out of the Community Enhancement Fund and those funds would be replenished in less than three years at the current funding rate. I estimate that it would take at least two and half years before the first shovel goes into to the ground to build the pool and fitness facility and at the current $6-8 million cost estimates to build the facility there should be sufficient funds for this project in the near future. I think both the RSF Garden Club and the pool and fitness facility would be terrific assets for our community.
Remember, there is only one official Association website so don’t be fooled by the unofficial look-a-like that has been posted! Our official Rancho Santa Fe Association website is thecovenantofrsf.org.