Sunrise organization effort is continuing

DINGMAN - Sunrise Lake residents continued their efforts to organize last Saturday as about 80 of them attended a meeting at St. Vincent’s Church. Residents in the 863-home subdivsion say they have concerns about missing services and amenities which they say owners Robert and Bill Ramagosa should be obligated to provide. They had never attempted to organize before, “We had been calling ourselves ‘Sunrise Lake Community Association’ but some people do not like the word ‘association.’ They don’t want to be your usual community association with rules and regulations. So we are now going to be Concerned Citizens of Sunrise Lake,” said organizer Virginia Kennedy. Kennedy said the group wants to get a better accounting of dues money, security for the community, and to have the amenities, that are deeded to them, put back into working order. “Sunrise says the money spent on road maintenance went up over $100,000 from last year. Who certifies that this is correct? They give no answers and even hang up on the press when they call,” said Kennedy. An attorney has advised them that Sunrise has a fiduciary responsibility to give a clear and accurate accounting to the people who have paid money to their corporation, she said. Security has been an issue for many. One resident claimed that a .22-caliber bullet shattered one of his windows while he was in the same room. He said he has found hypodermic needles on his lawn, had his windows broken and his house paint-balled. One woman said she feared retaliation from the Ramagosas if her name appears on a mailing list. Currently, these residents say the community has no amenities at all. The community pool was closed down, allegedly by the health department because of problems with the filtration system. After repeated complaints from residents about the unfilled pool the Ramagosas filled it with unusable, smelly green water from the lake. The Ramagosas claim the money to repair the pool was used to repair a dam spillway. Jack Ritter a Sunrise homeowner for many years said to Kennedy, “Many people are thankful for what you and the others are doing. This is a great start.” Contacted to respond to residents concerns Monday, Bill Ramagosa declined to comment to the Courier.