RANCHO SANTA FE — At the Rancho Santa Fe Association monthly board meeting in March, board member and treasurer Janet Danola shared how during the last Finance Committee meeting, the Parks and Recreation Department came forward asking the Association for the purchase of three new vehicles.
During the course of the agenda item, the board approved all three vehicles.
The first vehicle Danola mentioned was a F-150 Supercab for $30,000, which would be entirely covered by the reserves.
“It’s coming a year early, but it is covered and so that would come out of restricted funds,” she said.
The second purchase would be for a Ford F-150 four-by-four price tagged at $40,000. Monies used would be from both the restricted and unrestricted funds, she said. The next vehicle was a chipper dump truck at $59,985 which was in the budget. Majority of the monies came from the restricted funds.
“The Finance Committee has recommended that these expenditures be approved so I move to approve the purchase of these vehicles,” Danola said.
President Fred Wasserman explained how Association members funded those restricted funds. Monies are set aside to replace assets that are no longer serviceable. This is required by the Davis Stirling Act, he said.
Wasserman went on to say how important it was to have these vehicles to help ensure clean streets and maintenance. He also noted that a lot of the cost in this area is paid for by the CSD (Community Service District).
Wasserman then asked if its Field Operations Manager Arnold Keene could expand on the CSD.
“The Parks and Recreation Department has had a contract with the CSD to fund our department to the tune of about $600,000 a year and those are from tax assessments,” said Keene, noting how the Association currently has a contract with the CSD through County Assessments. “It funds our department almost a third of our budget to take care of all the roadside landscaping.
Anything within the county right of way is mostly or partially funded by that $600,000 that we receive every year of our total budget of about $1.5 million.”
Keene went on to say how these monies help to fund equipment, personnel, and materials that are needed throughout the year. He then echoed what Wasserman said in that these vehicles are an urgent need for the Association particularly after the heavy rainstorms. “The equipment is pretty critical to our mission. About five years ago, that was one of our main goals in our department was to address the aging fleet that we have,” he said.
Keene pointed out how these new purchases would really upgrade a fleet that both staff and Covenant residents would be proud of.
“As I pointed out at the Finance Committee meeting, this will bring our fleet up to a really high level and we will see good results from it,” Keene said.
