Do you work with a boating group or nonprofit that has an innovative or new way to reach boaters on safety or environmental topics of concern in your area? Apply for funding!

Safe Kids Greater Toledo of Toledo, OH used grant funds to produce an ad campaign containing boating safety messages and boating safety course availability that were shown on local movie theater screens.

The BoatUS Foundation Grassroots Grants Program, which provides funding for local projects that educate boaters on boating safety and clean boating topics, is now accepting applications for the 2011 cycle. Traditional boating organizations as well as local groups, clubs, school and college nonprofit organizations are eligible for grants for up to $4,000. The application deadline is April 1. Interested groups may apply at www.BoatUS.com/Foundation/Grants and a total of $50,000 is available for the 2011 Grassroots Grant cycle. This year, applicants are encouraged to upload photos and videos showcasing their proposed project ideas or anything else that will convey their vision.

Don’t have a project idea? We still need your help! In the Spring, the best grant proposals will be posted online for the boating public to vote on. You decide who receives funding. Follow us on Facebook – www.Facebook.com/BoatUSFoundation to be the first to know when voting begins.

The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is an innovative leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. The Foundation provides educational outreach directly to boaters, and supports partner organizations nationwide. With millions of boaters on the water, our aim is to reduce accidents and fatalities, increase stewardship of our waterways and keep boating a safe and enjoyable pastime.

The BoatUS Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our work is primarily funded by grants and individual donations. To donate, visit www.boatus.com/Foundation/donate.htm.

PLEASE NOTE: This email was sent to betsy.woods@state.tn.us. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL, if you prefer not to receive Foundation e-mails in the future click here to be removed. Click here to forward to a friend.

BoatUS Foundation 880 S Pickett St Alexandria VA 22304
©2011, Boat Owners Association of The United States. All Rights Reserved.

Prepared by Comm Mbr Bob McMahan

The writer of this report provided the last report at the November Conference and Board Meeting.  I won’t back into that Report but I will mention that it is available in a Word Doc file for anybody that would like to request a copy via email to bmcmahan@erwinmarinesales.com.

Following are previously unreported actions that are a result of continuing dialogue with TVA by the TMA TVA Committee.

1. The TVA Board has now passed authority to the TVA President /CEO to approve Leases and Easements.  This is a positive step that will speed up the approval process by taking the bi-monthly TVA Board Meeting and TVA Executive Committee preparation for that Meeting out of the process.

1. Mitch Jones, TMA VP and Immediate Past President will be appointed to the TVA Resource Stewardship Council at their forth coming Meeting in Chattanooga, TN scheduled for January 19-20, 2011.  This link will take you to a newspaper announcement of the Meeting.   http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_192180.asp This opportunity for TMA is a definitive result from this past two years involvement by this Committee of TMA Board Members in the TVA’s 26A process for marina and campground leases and easements.  This appointment of a TMA Officer to this council is a positive as it puts TMA in the fore front of discussion on TVA decisions that affect us all.

1. Todate, TVA has approved two Easements, one Marina and one Campground and one Marina Lease.  None of these documents have been executed at this time due to language in the documents not being satisfactory to the Grantees.  This Committee does not know a great deal about the Campground Easement other than knowing that the Grantee has agreed to a rental rate for the Easement based on the Percent of Revenue formula as presented by the TVA official at the TMA 2010 Conference.  We do know both marina documents are with current members of TMA and further, they have been structured with the rent based on the Fair Market Value approach as presented by the TVA official at the TMA 2010 Conference.  At this writing, exchange between TVA and these two marinas is ongoing as regards reaching an agreement on the document language.

1. 4. James Adams, Manager Land & Shore Operations and TVA spokesman at the TMA 2010 Conference, continues to expand his staff in the field.  He recognizes there is still a lot of anxiety amongst existing license, lease and easement holders.  This is particularly true where he is dealing with “specific purpose agreements” aka as 4KA Agreements.  It’s believed by the writer that many of these are in Alabama.  James is hopeful the increased staffing will allow his office to respond quicker and with more detail in responding to the Grantees and Applicants he is dealing with.

1. We do not have an update on any communication between TVA and the Alabama contingent that attended the TMA 2010 Conference.  In the near future, the writer will reach out to them to determine their path of action as regards joining TMA, etc…

1. Lastly, I’ll close this report with the same point I closed the last report with.  This Committee continues to be in commutative negotiation with TVA on two concerns; (1) language that would provide for an existing Grantee to have right of first refusal to renew or extend his/her lease/easement for an additional period and (2) language that would provide TVA comfort in the event of a Grantee’s default leaving the site in disarray at the expense of TVA cleaning up.  Presently they are asking for a sizable deposit scaled to the Grantee’s ability to pay and the size of the real estate, improvements there-on.

TMA TVA Committee Members are as follows.  Feel free to communicate your concerns and thoughts to any of them.

Mitch Jones, Chairman, mitchell.jones@chotomarina.com

Bob McMahan, Asst Chairman, bmcmahan@erwinmarinesales.com

Gary Farwick, garry@flathollowmarina.com

Dale Thomas, dthomas@laurelmarina.com

Click here to download PDF Version

Guest Speaker:

Alex Laidlaw,  Vice President, WESTREC MARINAS

Click here to Download the Presentation!

The Executive Committee worked closely with Tim Knight of the Norris Highlands Agency (NHA) to create a site that would not only serve the membership of TMA, but also provide information to those seeking to vacation at a Tennessee marina. “The design attempts to make it easy for the visitor to find a facility that meets their needs,” said Knight of NHA.

Along with a new design, NHA provided a “back-end” system that not only gives TMA a simple way to update the site, but also allows for future expansions.

For more information, you may contact Tim Knight (tim at norrishighlandsaency.com).

“We have advocated for years that if Indiana schools would go back to starting after Labor Day, it would be good for Indiana families, our boating industry and much more,” says Pat Casey, of Casey’s Cove Marina in Angola, Ind. Casey is the point man for IMTA on this quest. He and others testified last week before an interim Study Committee on Education conducted by Sen. Dennis Kruse ,who is also chairman of the Indiana Senate Committee on Education & Career Development.

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“It’s more upbeat than I expected,” says Jay Reynolds, chairman of the boat show committee for the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, which owns the Lauderdale show. “I think there is some optimism because so much of our industry relies on the boat show. The mood going in has to be upbeat.”

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“Provident was a fairly significant national lender,” with a portfolio of $350 million to $400 million in retail finance, said Don Parkhurst, who heads up marine lending for SunTrust Bank. “A lot of that volume is falling to us now, or BB&T, but it’s one less player at a time that marine finance already has few players.”

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The utility’s independent watchdog found TVA management has not accepted responsibility for management decisions leading to the catastrophe. Instead, the report found, they limited the scope of an investigation into the cause of the disaster in an apparent effort to shore up its legal defense in lawsuits.

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