Saying they were feeling stung about a private negotiation that the other side made public, the Rancho Murieta Association board of directors questioned fire and sheriff's officials Tuesday night about the possibility of putting a public-safety radio tower on RMA property. In the end, the board decided to resume its negotiations in private.

Earlier this month, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Chief Don Mette wrote an angry letter to the RMA, saying the association was seeking "inappropriate and outrageous" fees to place the antenna on the RMA's tower property on Stonehouse Road.

The letter said the RMA first agreed to donate the site and then asked for lease fees -- 30 years at $12,000 a year for the first decade, $24,000 a year for the second decade and $36,000 a year for the third decade.

Fire Chief Don Mette said his letter to the RMA was blunt but fueled by his desire to safeguard his firefighters.

The letter was copied to a long list of county and other officials and distributed to RanchoMurieta.com and the River Valley Times.

Mette took the microphone at Tuesday's meeting, acknowledging immediately that his letter had been "pretty blunt."

"What's passionate for me is, our radios aren't working," he said. "And I don't want to be called at 3 in the morning to hear that one of my firefighters was injured or killed because the radio didn't work."

Mette and Walt White, a firefighter who lives in Murieta, spoke of dead spots in safety workers' radio reception here and how they sometimes have to exit a home and stand outside to pick up a radio signal.

"I'm sure you see every summer, when we have wildfires out here or auto accidents, it's not the time to be messing around with the radio," Mette said.

If the tower were to be built on district-owned property -- at Fire Station 58 or 59, for example -- Mette said it would take two towers to do the job, doubling the $1.5 million cost. He said of the Stonehouse property, "That site's the best site."

He also addressed the notion that space on the tower might be leased to cell phone companies, generating revenue that would be lost to the RMA, which leases space on the existing towers.

"We have no intention of putting Nextel or Sprint or anything like that up there," Mette said. "I'm just concerned about my people and the citizens who live out here."

Directors Dick Cox and Mike Martel questioned Mette about the fees paid by Murietans, including a $100 special fire assessment paid on top of property taxes.

Mette said all the fees paid by area residents total about $2.3 million -- far short of the $3 million it costs to operate two fire companies here.

"It really ticked me off personally because (the letter) was released to the media before we ever received it," said RMA Director Dick Cox.

Martel offered some history, recalling how the RMA imposed an assessment on itself and sold property to the fire district at a bargain price in order to help the firefighting effort get started. Community funds might have been used to buy the first ambulance, Martel said.

"I'm a fan, Don," Martel said. "I think the only difference of opinion we have is a thousand (dollars) a month." Cox added that for all his criticism of the county's failure to deliver local services in exchange for taxes, fire services are the best services we get.

Cox was one of several directors challenging Mette for the way the letter was circulated.

"It really ticked me off personally because it was released to the media before we ever received it," Cox said. "We found out about that letter from the media. And I really don't think that's the way to negotiate in good faith, personally."

Cox said the RMA had asked the county group handling the tower negotiations - the Sacramento Regional Radio Communications System -- if lease fees were a deal-breaker and was told it could be discussed.

"The negotiations went outside of our negotiations with the county, and that's where the fault lies here," said Director Paul Gumbinger. "We shouldn't even be here tonight. We should be in discussions with County Communications."

The regional communications effort is an umbrella for a wide range of government, public-safety and service organizations. It is funded by the member organizations and has a budget separate from the county's general fund.

Mette invited the community to a meeting 6:30 p.m. April 30 at the Community Services District Building to discuss the issues around the radio tower.

Other matters the board considered during the four-hour meeting included the following:

Debate over exclusive use continues

The board rejected an exclusive-use request for a circle lot on a split vote that revisited the controversy regarding a law that took effect in 2006.

The RMA's interpretation of the law, supported by legal opinion, is that the board is able to vote to approve exclusive uses because 60 percent of the community approved CC&Rs giving them that right a decade ago.

Resident Wilbur Haines successfully argued in Sacramento Small Claims Court in January that the law requires 67 percent approval of the membership to issue new exclusive uses unless the CC&Rs specify a different percentage.

The RMA's appeal of the Small Claims Court decision will be heard by a Superior Court judge on Friday, General Manager David Stiffler announced at the meeting.

Under the planned development ordinance enacted in 1977 and current RMA CC&Rs, owners of circle lots, townhouse and cottage lots are permitted to lease up to 1,200 square feet of common area for heating and air conditioning equipment, propane tanks, decking, unroofed patios, landscaping and swimming pools. The ordinance was amended in 1992 to include an application process.

The request the board considered Tuesday was for a pool and other improvements extending beyond the circle lot into the adjoining common area. It was the last of four exclusive use applications the board agreed to consider when it declared a moratorium on accepting new applications last year. The Architectural Review Committee had reviewed the application and recommended approval to the board.

The discussion included an ongoing disagreement between the owners and neighbors about the plans.

Lot configurations that utilize exclusive-use provisions have proved problematic over the years, and circle lots were discontinued at the RMA's request in the development of the South. On the North, the Fairways subdivision was the first to have only estate lots.

Future of cable system

The board discussed "Plan B," the alternative to continuing to operate the cable system in its present form, and will bring in a broker to discuss prospects for selling the system.

An ad hoc committee is in the process of being formed for Plan B.

"I hope we can keep an eye on Plan A as well," said.Maintenance Manager Rod Hart, referring to the multi-year plan the board approved to upgrade the system and expand service. "We're ready to launch."

Director Dick Cox said the Finance Committee would like the Communications Committee to do a study on how many paying customers it would take to sustain the cable system if an effort to end the mandatory dues contribution succeeds. Members now pay about $30 a month for basic cable service. Cox suggested looking into whether retaining 1,000 customers and the present number of broadband and premium channel subscribers would be sufficient.

Boy Scout proposes dog-related improvements

Board members greeted a plan to provide pet hitching posts and pet pooper bags at Laguna Joaquin with enthusiasm, and several offered to donate the needed bags. Jacob Wolhart of Boy Scout Troop 633 devised the plan for his Eagle Scout project. He initially brought the proposal to the Maintenance Committee, and he will work with the Architectural Review Committee on the design.

Digging out SMUD transformers

The community has been put on notice about obstructing utility boxes with foliage and trees, Architectural Manager Mark Parsons reported. "SMUD is requiring that we maintain an eight-foot clearance. We can no longer hide them in the manner we've been doing."

The community needs to get rid of the obstructions around Sacramento Municipal Utility District transformers in 100 locations around the community, he said. Of the three located on RMA property, one is "a safety hazard," Parsons said.

"We've got ivy actually growing into the transformer and we've been instructed by SMUD not to touch it," Parsons said. "They will remove it for us. ... SMUD is taking a proactive stance on Rancho Murieta. It's an area they've pretty much ignored in years past. ... They are making contact with residents and advising them of some of the landscapes they're going to have to modify ..."

General Manager David Stiffler said a SMUD representative will be at the May RMA meeting to discuss the issue.

Voting period extended on bylaws change

The board voted to extend the voting period for a proposed bylaws amendment by 30 days to achieve the majority vote -- 50 percent plus one -- required for passage.

If passed, the amendment would lower the quorum requirement for the election of RMA directors from 40 percent to 33 1/3 percent. The reduction in the quorum requirement applies only to the election of directors.

Town hall meetings coming

Director Bonita Jones received the board's approval to hold single-topic town hall meetings on a three-month trial basis. Jones would serve as a facilitator for the meetings and bring suggestions back to the board. The meetings wouldn't be televised.