The gates are now operable, and we are in a transition period. Twenty-three home owners still need to complete their applications and obtain their RFID tags, adjustments need to be made to the mechanical systems for the gates and new procedures developed and approved by the Board. Following are some adjustments that are in progress that will improve access and egress from the community and reduce confusion in the operation of the gate system and call boxes.
- The old Morgan Creek Golf & Country Club green stickers ARE NO LONGER VALID. Residents need to remove them and replace with the NEW RED STICKERS (with numbers only) in the lower driver side of their windshield.
- Currently, many residents and visitors do not understand how to operate the scroll feature on the call boxes and are pushing the button and advancing name by name. This takes an inordinate amount of time, it causes lines to back up and it is frustrating for everyone involved. A clear instruction sticker will be placed on each call box next to the call button. It will read “PUSH AND HOLD TO SCROLL”. This is an easy but important fix and will happen soon.
- Currently, numerous residents and visitors are waiting for a car with an RFID tag to open the gates and then they are tailgating the car into the community. And, shockingly, a significant number of people wait for a car to exit the community and then recklessly enter through the exit gate. On more than one occasion, this dangerous maneuver has placed exiting drivers in serious jeopardy. The plan to mitigate this problem is to reduce the delay time before the gates start to close after a car passes through the gate. This should prevent drivers from entering through the exit gates and significantly reduce tailgating for entry.
- Discussions are in process with gate contractor to determine if the sound quality for the call boxes can be enhanced.
- Entry procedures for large parties and events are being developed.
- A new system for gate violations and fines are being developed.
- The effort continues to enroll the remaining 23 homeowners that have not submitted applications and received their RFID tags.
We know there has been a bit of a learning curve for everyone and we still have some technical issues to work out, but we hope you will bear with us until everything is up and running smoothly. We’d love to know what your experiences with the gates have been so far, and what you think can be done to improve their operation?
Generally speaking, I have had very little issues with the gates. The main issue is that I can’t hear the person calling me from the “call box’ ,looks like you are working on that. I also, have noted many times when it appears that people are waiting for me to go through and follow me in, this obviously that defeats the security purpose of having gate. Keep up the good work, you’ll get it figured out. Thanks you
Gates are useless. I moved to Morgan Creek from a Gated community due to the same issues. Lots of cars are waiting for somebody to open the gate then all tailgate. I am not sure there is any fix for it. Reducing the speed to close the gate could push them to follow the person’s car at faster speed, which could be more dangerous. In my personal opinion greeters worked much better. At least they captured the person’s info before letting him in and people knew that they will be asked a bunch of questions before letting in. Now all they need to do wait on the left side for 5 to 9 minutes to tailgate somebody. Gates are waste of money. My gardener and cleaning lady never called from the gate so far, even I gave them the code. They just tailgate somebody to come in every week (a living example of security. Lol)
I have not had any issues with the gates. I believe the shorter time allowed for gates to remain open will reduce tailgating into the community.
On the PFE side, signage is too small directing “Residents” and “Guests” and lighting at night is non-existent. The curb also gets clipped due to poor lighting. I asked Sheila about this, and she said it wasn’t part of the original cost/ plan. Lighting is critically important if we want people to enter safely and be able to follow procedures. Lastly, a lot of vendors pull up to the camera on the left side and begin speaking to it or seem to think someone will talk to them through it. This backs up residents with RFID tags.
Thanks for the gate update. I have an issue trying to exit on my motorcycle. The sensor will not activate the exit gate.
Hi Dennis. We do too. Sheila said we need to look for the mark in the concrete where the sensors were placed and stop on top of them to trigger the gate. We have not tried it yet, but she said others have and it seems to work.
I agree with the two prior comments before me. People are constantly tailgating into the community. THEY ALSO PARK BEHIND THE GUARD SHACK AND WAIT FOR GUESTS TO PULL UP TO THE CALL BOX. ONCE THE GUEST PULLS UP TO THE CALL BOX, THE WAITING CAR CUTS IN FRONT OF THE GUEST. THEN WHEN THE GATE OPENS FO R THE GUEST, THE WAITING VEHICLE DRIVES INTO THE COMMUNITY IN FRONT OF THE GUEST.
We need a system to help prevent all this non-sense When I see cars that look extremely out of place in the community cut in front of waiting guests, I know someone must be up to no good
When I was at Los Logos in Granite Bay, i noticed that they have the perfect combination: of a greeter AND a gate The gate and the greeter together will help keep the suspicious out-of-place vehicles from attempting to enter.
Neither the gate or the greeter is perfect, but the the greeter offers human intelligence on the ground, something we can not get from the gates Human intelligence on the ground in real time is crucial as part of the over all package of prevention and deterrence. A greeter adds value to the community by being able to collect information and relay it to law enforcement and community management as needed. Additionally, the greeters are trainable. The gates are not Yes, the greeters cost, but they help keep the community safer and that adds value.
The greeters/humans may be trainable but I do not miss pulling up late at night after flying back into town only to find them asleep or head down on their phone oblivious to anyone coming or going. I will take the gates over underutilized and unaware human intelligence. Functionality and proper use will improve over time. It is already getting better.
RE cars entering the “exit” gate: a very effective solution, although possibly expensive, is to install one-way spikes, giving the offender a flat tire or two.
Also I noted that some drivers, mostly golfers, do not pull up close enough to the exit gate to open it. On a few occasions as many as four cars are stuck in line waiting to exit before the the lead car inches ahead to activate the gate. Perhaps a sign advising drivers to pull up to a white line will correct the problem.
Here is a thought for those advocating to add back greeters at all the gates. The ability to install the gates with no additional assessment to homeowners was predicated on the REDUCTION in greeter staff. The greeter contract was this Community’s #1 expense and the lack of service from the greeters was the Community’s #1 complaint. The reduction in greeter staff will enable our HOA to pay off the line of credit secured to pay for the gate project over an approximate 3 year period.
Also, we have 3 entrances to service – not one like Los Lagos – it gets expensive and we have to pay for it. The gate project never promised to provide SECURITY for the community – it promised to provide greater privacy and quality of life. I do not think that we will ever be able to stop tailgating completely, but I also feel that adjustments can be made to make tailgating more difficult.
BTW…………………..adding greeters back to all the gates would probably add an additional $50 per month to all of our assessments. Who’s in favor of that??
No thanks, they have already raised HOA’s with the non lake non villas added expense. The HOA fees do not represent the value they should but that is an entirely different topic.
I agree that the greeters sleeping and not doing their job is extremely inappropriate. I would be very upset at seeing those incidents myself and would most likely use a bull horn to solve the problem. lol As far as the $50. per month and the value. It’s a 50/50 situation. We can pay $50. a month and help reduce crime or we can save the $50. and let the crime go where it will go or take our own measures to protect our homes.
I personally think that the $50. is worth it, but that is subjective. Other people may want to save the money and figure they can do a better job themselves or not take any action at all and just let the crime do what the crime will do.
I am curious to know what measures were taken with the vendor to help the problem of the greeters sleeping too much. I have heard complaints about how horrible the greeters are, but I have not heard what steps have been taken by the vendor or management or if any steps were taken at all.
Those gates are not curbing crime nor were the greeters. As long as dry creek trail is open, as one example, anyone can do anything they want and have easy get away paths while avoiding the cameras at each gate. I think the big development miss was failing to install street lights in the neighborhood.
The staff at the cottages are not security guards, they are greeters – albeit greeters that were not doing their jobs. Multiple attempts were made by management and various Boards to correct greeter behavior with little success – and THAT was one of the biggest arguments for the installation of the gates. So I really do not see the wisdom of revisiting our past failures with the greeters by bringing them back. When the proposed adjustments are made to the gates, the operations should be better. They never will be perfect………………but they should be better.
If we are having someone stay with us for a week and I know I will not always be available to answer her call from the gate to let her in, what is the best way to get her in without needing me to let her in? She enters through the Walerga entrance. Before she would have got a pass to put in her window from a greeter to allow her in for the week. Now I am not sure. Should she just contact the greeter from the pin pad every time since she is on my list so they can let her in? I am in no way complaining. I am just not sure how to best handle this any more. Any information that can be provided would be appreciated. By the way, my only complaints about the gates are I can’t hear when someone calls but it sounds like that is being worked on. And the constant tailgating but I really don’t see how that can be avoided. Thanks!
You are on the right track. Contact Sheila Tonini, Community Manager to obtain the current procedure for guests.
I am very concerned about the people that follow me in sometimes. I have had anywhere from three to six cars follow me in through the gate.
Me too, but I guess as long as we keep saying to ourselves, ” I am saving fifty dollars per month,”it should make everything okay. I wonder if this mantra will stop the burglaries and prowlers that dont exist….
I think we should have greeters from 6am to 10pm only. That will be ideal for our situation and provide us with a good security feature in the day time. It will not only help us to fix the tailgating issue but also help us to deal with legitimate guests / visitors or big party issues. We will still save money not having night greeters (Those were the only ones who were sleeping). Having greeters in the day time will also keep our house value up otherwise gates gives an apartment complex feelings.
I know there are communities where they have gates that close very quickly and only allow one car in. I think you can either set them on a timer or sensors where the gate closes as soon as the vehicle has cleared the sensor. I don’t think the current gates can do that but more likely an arm that swings up and down. I think we should add that to all the entrances bc tailgating is a real problem and we can’t just ignore it. And no, the greeters were not better especially since most of them just waved at you as you drove by.
Placer County would not permit the community to install the arm style gates. However, the company that installed the community’s gates recently adjusted the delay on the gates to make them close quicker. They also adjusted the sound on all the kiosk stations. Let’s see if the adjustments reduce the amount of tailgating and make the sound quality better.