RCSD Contract Re-negotiated

According to the Minutes of the March 7, 2023 HOA board meeting, the contract with the Richland County Sheriff's Department (RCSD) to provide special duties to the HOA has been re-negotiated.

The HOA has had a Special Duty Agreement (SDA) with RCSD for several years. The Safety Committee chair, Dennis Rybicki, likes to refer to it as a "Signal 30 contract". Does any homeowner has a clue as to what "Signal 30" is?

One internet source defines the "Signal 30" police code as "Officer Needs Help". Well, that one certainly does not apply to our HOA.

Another source identifies is as "Observe Area".

On March 15 I requested a copy of the "Signal 30 Contract" from Dennis. Not only did he not furnish it; he didn't even reply. Have board members been directed not to respond to requests from residents? Or just from me?

In the absence of a response from him, I have filed a FOIA Request with RCSD. In ten days or so, I'll receive a copy of it. I'll have to pay for it and fetch it from RCSD, but I'll do it.

The old SDA was basically worthless. The HOA paid $40-45/hour for "extra" services that taxpayers already pay for. Homeowners (Members) were never informed what they were receiving for the $40,000/year being spent with RCSD. Will the new deal be any better (for the homeowners)?

Nothing in the Minutes records whether the Board authorized Dennis to re-negotiate the SDA or to execute it. Did the Board members ever review the new deal and approve it? Maybe that's one of the things that got handled in the private, secret, pre-board meeting that was held on February 28th.

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