Important information from the Board in chronological order:

4-17-2006 - Back in August 2005, EBMUD installed new Automatic Meter Recording  (AMR) equipment on all of our individual water meters.  This allows them to collect water usage data on an hourly basis throughout the month for each residence in RHEN.  They have been recording this data for many months now during the changing seasons and wish to discuss the results with each homeowner individually.  The purpose is to decrease water usage by as much as 50%, while making your gardens even healthier and more lush, and to save you money.  You might get a call from Mr. David Wallenstein (510) 986-7614, a EBMUD engineer, to discuss the results and suggest methods of decreasing usage and more efficient irrigation techniques.  In some cases, you may have a water leak which can be identified by looking at the recorded data.  He can help locate the leak as well.  In my meeting with him, he says this pilot program is one of about 7 in the county with 5 different recording vendors and that we are one of the larger users of water - mostly for irrigation purposes.  Like it or not, we live in an arid area (albeit not evident over the last few months) and we can only be a year away from a dry spell.  Water is a precious resource and we should not be inefficient in maximizing our usage. 

EBMUD has several water usage programs - following is a summary of their program:

EBMUD wants to help you save money and water!  EBMUD has a wide variety of WaterSmart programs to save water including:

To apply visit the EBMUD website at www.ebmud.com/conserving_&_recycling/ or call 1-866-40-EBMUD (1-866-403-2683).

5-31-05 - The construction on the roundabout is scheduled to start around the week of June 13th to clear the vegetation.  The week of June 20th through 29th excavation (removing to soil to carve our for the retaining wall and capping the irrigation system). The duration is expected to be about 6 to 8 weeks.  When a more complete schedule is available it will be posted.   

10-19-04 - At the annual meeting, the Association voted to add three new members to the Board of Directors.  They are:  Joseph Bonn, Mazi Ghorbani, and Glenda Sonu who will serve for one-year terms.  The Board welcomed the participation from all of the members that attended the meeting and the active discussion and feedback on a number of issues that the Association now is dealing with.  George Yaron and Jake Bercu, incumbents, chose not to rerun for an additional term, but pledged to continue their support for the activities of the Board.  

5/26/04 - The Board passed a resolution at last night's Board meeting to restore by repaving and/or slurry sealing all of Chanticleer, Palmetto Dunes and Tanbark Lane.  This represent a major financial expenditure from our reserve fund and will bring all of our private streets up to first-class condition with all of them having been recently restored in the last 2 years.  We are also currently having a consultant revise our reserve study, which is mandated by law to be done every three years.  The results of this reserve study may affect our yearly budget as we are mandated also to be 100% funded to cover ongoing maintenance over a 30-year time.  Finally, the Board did pass the Home and Landscape Maintenance Rules that you should be receiving soon.  Our management company CCPM has already started conducting drive-through inspections on a monthly basis and reporting to the Board on their findings according to the new procedure.  So, if you get a letter from the Management company indicating an issue with your maintenance, we are just following this procedure and we desire everyone's cooperation to improve our property values.  

5/17/04 - The proposed Home and Landscape Maintenance Rules is now available along with the Cover letter  that will be mailed to all property owners.  

4/28/04 - The Board directed Management to mail to all homeowners a copy of a proposed "Home and Landscape Maintenance Rules" (will be posted as soon as final corrections are made) to accompany the recently approved "Architectural and Landscape Rules, Guidelines and Procedures".  Expect to receive this in a week or so.  The Board will vote to approve these new rules at the next Board meeting on May 25, 2004 and will listen to homeowner comments at that time.  

In addition, the Board has directed Management (CCPM) to conduct a drive through inspection of all home and lots for compliance with CC&Rs. other rules and, when passed, the "Maintenance Rules".  Management has been doing this for the past two months where they supply the Board a record of their findings along with photos and descriptions of suspected infractions.  The Board decides which lots need some action and directs Management to send a letter to the homeowner requesting compliance.  When the Maintenance Rules are adopted, the Board and Management will follow the guidelines and processes therein.  The purpose of this procedure is to try to bring up the appearance of our properties and hopefully their property values.  We hope all homeowners will be cooperative with this initiative.  

12/3/03 - The Board approved a new Architectural and Landscape Rules, Guidelines and Procedures at this meeting after several years of work starting with our landscape and architectural consultants drafting the document, review by our attorney, and many meetings with the Board.  This will be mailed to all homeowners soon and will be permanently posted here and on the General Homeowner Information page.  The new Guidelines were deemed necessary to better integrate with our new CC&Rs and to strengthen and clarify the review process. 

Some highlights are:

1)      Formalization and clarification of the review process.

2)      Requirements to improve the quality of the review process.

3)      Enact higher fee and deposit schedules to cover the costs of review and to ensure strict compliance to the Guidelines.

4)      Enhance neighborhood notification for new home construction and remodeling.

  Remember, ALL exterior changes or improvements to properties (both architectural and landscaping) in RHEN are subject to these Guidelines and Procedures.  While these procedures seem daunting, they are meant to maintain and improve all of our property values. 

  The Board’s policy is quickly act on all applications, subject to appropriate review and this process will move efficiently, if applications contain the needed information outlined in these Guidelines and Procedures.

10/28/03 - The Board has elected new officers for this year.  See the "general Homeowner Information" page for the current listing.  

8/5/03 - The Board approved the resurfacing of Tanbark Lane and Palmetto Dunes Lane at the board meeting.  Management will be obtaining bids with the goal of completing the project by the end of October.  The Contra Costa County Sanitary District sent a letter to the Board advising them that the homeowners need to conduct repairs to prevent erosion onto and from their sewer bench easement.  They spent over $25,000 on remedial repairs to their easement last spring.  The Board will arrange a meeting with the District's representative to discuss what remedy is recommended.  Homeowners should be advised that this is a serious issue and they are responsible for water runoff  from their properties onto either the sewer easement or association property that causes damage.  Homeowners should check out this web's Erosion page for more information on maintenance and problems. 

6/27/03 - A local realtor mentioned a new report being issued by insurance companies that can effect homeowners ability to get homeowner insurance and the ability to sell a home.  The report is called CLUE and is a national database on every incident reported concerning a home.  This article.pdf has more information about the report and its implications with some examples of how it might affect homeowners.  The takeaway is be careful in asking questions to your insurance agent, even if it is just searching for information as your question might get into this database with a negative stigma attached to your home, even if no claim was ever filed.  

5/8/03 - The Board approved the Budget 2003-2004 for fiscal year 2004 at last night's meeting which includes $35,000 for improvements to our community achieved by both savings in many of the general ledger expenses and an increase in the assessments by 12.7% to $310/quarter.  The Board and the PVI Committee would like your comments on the Proposals and priorities.  There will be a questionnaire mailed to all homeowners informing them of these proposals soliciting their comments.  Finally, the Board passed a change in the policy of mailing of Board minutes to all homeowners.  In the future, these will be posted on this website and only mailed to homeowners that specifically request a hard copy.  

4/29/03 - The Board meeting scheduled for tonight is delayed due to lack of a quorum.  The proposed date is next Wednesday, May 7th, 7:00p.m. at the Round Hill Country Club.  

3/28/03 - The proposed budget for the next fiscal year has been posted on this site in the "General Homeowner Information" page.  This Proposed Budget will be voted on by the Board at the next board meeting to be held on April 29, 2003 at 7:00p.m.  Also, to be voted upon will be an increase in quarterly assessments of ~12.7% bringing the dues to $310/quarter to cover the improvements on association property by the Property Value Improvement (PVI) Committee (Beautification).  There will be postings on this site in the "General Homeowner Information" page concerning possible improvements the PVI Committee is considering.  Since this is your community, please comment on the proposals and if you have any suggestions, place them in the discussion forum.   

Announcement of the upcoming Board meeting on budget - Budget Meeting Notice

3/21/03 - The next Board meeting is delayed on day due to a conflict with the Country Club.  It will be on Wednesday, March 26th at 7:00pm in the Round Hill Country Club House.  

1/29/03 - The next Board meeting will be on February 25, 2003.  At yesterday's Board meeting it was announced that the revision to the CC&Rs has received the number of needed votes to pass.  It will be filed by our attorney in the near future and become effective.  In addition, the revised Articles of Incorporation  and By-Laws were also passed.  So, we have a new set of operating documents.  Additionally, the Board passed a new Architectural Guidelines.  This will be posed as soon as it is available and it will become effective at the end of February.  Finally, EBMUD has hired a consulting firm to evaluate the recent erosion at or near their sewer bench below most homes in our Association.  The document is being scanned and will be posted shortly.  In some cases, the erosion is serious and may be very costly to repair.  We will keep you posted on what we know of the situation.  

11/18/02 - We have moved the next Board meeting to December 17, 2002.   Not enough Board members present to have a quorum, so no official meeting was held.  Next Board meeting is January 28, 2003.  

11/11/02 - We have formed a Beautification Committee headed by Steve Lange (831-8076 or Steve Lange).  If you're interested in being a member of the committee or have ideas for improving the appearance of our neighborhood, please contact him.  

10/29/02 The deadline for voting on the revised CC&R, By-Laws, and Articles of Incorporation has been extended until January 1, 2003.  Please consider how the proposed changes will affect you and cast your vote accordingly.

10/02 - There has been reported activity of a coyote and sightings of several bobcats in the area; we know they will take small animals, so please keep your pets indoors at all times - these carnivores do work during the day.