No controversy at RCA board meeting
Secessionists don’t show
By SHARON KERR

Only one person stood up to question the actions of the RCA (Rayburn Country Association) board and their committees at the monthly meeting Dec. 21.

Several property owners have alleged that the board has been unresponsive to phone calls and written requests about road conditions and other problems in their sections. Property owners in Section E-4 went so far as to petition for removal from the RCA, collecting and submitting 16 signatures last May.

The board met as scheduled last Thursday with more than a dozen guests in attendance. All were invited to sign up for the open forum discussion period which began the meeting, but Carole Garner of Section 30 was the only speaker with a complaint.

She questioned whether the Environmental Control Committee, which reviews new construction and code compliance, could be more ethical in its practices.

“Is it kosher to be on the board and on the environmental committee?” Garner asked. She also asked who was on the board and if they were elected.

President Gerald Cole replied that every committee is required to have at least one board member on it, and that everyone who serves is a volunteer appointed by the board. Cole noted that there are five slots on the environmental committee, of which only four are currently filled. He invited anyone who is interested and willing to serve to apply for the position.

In other business, Randy Milford of Section 16 submitted information for the board’s consideration regarding modular housing.

When covenants were first written for the various RCA sections decades ago, there were clear distinctions between houses and mobile homes.

The term “mobile home” has largely been replaced by “manufactured housing,” which recognizes that most factoryconstructed homes are not mobile once set up.

Milford pointed out that “modular” homes, a subcategory of manufactured homes, are constructed “better than most stickbuilt houses in Rayburn now.”

“I love the lake and spend a lot of time on it with my family,” Milford said, “but I am concerned for the mail carriers, school busses and the two bent rims on my wife’s Cadillac.”

He said that opening up some sections to modular housing would get more dues flowing “so we can take care of problems.

“I realize you want to maintain a certain quality here, but modular is basically a stick-built house. It has a permanent foundation, better resale value, and meets or exceeds Rayburn requirements for stick-built homes. They are aesthetically pleasing enough that we have put them in historic areas of Beaumont. This is not your grandparents’ trailer house.”

The board will take the information under consideration.

In committee reports, the road committee reported that new roads are out of the question, with materials now costing about $98,000 per mile plus labor.

They hope to repair the clutch on the maintainer and they are using association maintenance crews to work on erosion control around culverts and replacing a bridge washed out by recent floods.