Are You Ready for Big Changes?

Do you know that the Scott administration wants to transfer all ERP (Environmental Resource Permitting) from the Department of Environmental Protection to the five water management districts?

It’s true. This can be good – or bad!

We know what can happen when government acts without our involvement. Moratoriums. Unexpected new requirements. Fines. Microscopic scrutiny, while unlicensed builders without permits are untouched.

Unless the marine construction industry is well-represented during this immense transition, you can expect:

Inexperienced reviewers
Inconsistent and unpredictable results
Higher costs
Longer delays
Dissatisfied clients

Times are tough enough already!

We’re writing to ask you to join your peers to ensure that the hard-won improvements in permitting and licensing we accomplished over the years are maintained – and enhanced.

The Scott administration is committed to growing business and jobs, but they need to hear your voice so that marine construction jobs and business will grow, too!

I know that you know who was responsible for all the accomplishments over the past several years.
We’re here to do even more.

In 2010, the old association’s lobbyist and I formed the Marine Construction Industry Alliance to continue fighting the good fight. Peggy Mathews and I maintain great relationships with the Legislature (President Haridopolos is a long-time friend), DEP, FWS, FWC, and have built new connections with the new administration, to make sure your rights and business can be protected.

In our first year, the alliance won passage of a permit streamline bill that expands self-cert, and allows roofs over boathouses in Aquatic Preserves. We stopped rules and legislation that would have cost you business by restricting dock size, seawalls and dredging in even more waterways.

This year, with your help, we’re ready to do even more. The cost to join the Marine Construction Industry Alliance is $250 a year. $250 to protect your business.

Please feel free to call or email me at any time with questions or suggestions. Peggy and I look forward to continuing to serve this industry, protecting our hard-won victories, and your future.

Sincerely,

stevesigblue.tif
Steven Webster
________

P.S. The Marine Construction Industry Alliance works with Citizens For Florida’s Waterways. During my time as director of the old association, I simultaneously served as President of CFFW. Our affiliation with CFFW, which is Florida’s oldest and largest boating advocacy organization, is big a reason why MCIA annual membership dues are so low. CFFW is a great group!

Click here to download a Marine Construction Industry AllianceMembership application PDF.

Cost

Business Class Membership costs $250 per firm per year, payable by check, and includes all the benefits of membership in Citizens For Florida's Waterways.

Benefits

Business Class Members will receive confidential status reports on pending legislation, agency rule-making, and Manatee Forum activities. Your industry interests will be represented and communicated to decision-makers, and you will have the opportunity to share your views and opinions face-to-face.

Business Class Members will have access to our Tallahassee office, located just steps from the Capitol, when we organize legislative and agency office visits during the legislative process that is already underway.

Business Class Members will be represented FULL TIME here in Tallahassee by me and by Peggy Mathews, who I retained six years ago to represent FMCA and CFFW. We are professionals with more than 40 years experience working on marine and marine industry issues before government.

We will work with Members to identify and address other important matters (such as unemployment compensation, insurance and licensing) in addition to our current priority items.

Membership in CFFW is a great business asset. Its websites -- cffw.org and boatflorida.com -- are very popular, offering excellent exposure to advertisers. The Central Florida Marine Flea Market attracts thousands of customers every April. In fact, several marine construction businesses exhibit every year and as a Business Class Member, you can, also.

Business Members will be kept up-to-date, giving you an advantage over the competition. I have always emphasized the importance of being first in line with the most accurate information. In today's economy, this can be the difference between business success and failure.

ONLY CFFW Business Class Members receive these benefits.

Click here to download a CFFW Business Class Membership application PDF.

Follow MCIA.US on the Web

$250 Annual Dues

MCIA's dues are substantially less than the old trade association charged.

That's because MCIA focuses on performing one job extremely well: advocating on behalf of our industry whenever -- and wherever -- government is involved.

Click Here to Join MCIA

MARINE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY GOALS

Dependable, proven, respected leadership on industry issues at the state, federal and local levels.
Promote boating and other water dependent activities through informed review of existing laws and rules.
Champion the importance of advocacy and being stakeholders for water dependent activities.
A level playing field, including clear license standards, affordable and available insurance, reasonable permitting requirements, and science-based environmental standards.
An Advisory Board of seasoned industry experts with whom you will be proud to associate.
A marine construction industry association designed to lead!

What are the key issues and how do we address them?

There are four issues that the marine construction industry must address. To succeed, our industry needs respected, effective, government advocacy.

Permit streamlining.

For the past four years, I have been shepherding a permit reform bill through the Florida Legislature. The old marine association NO LONGER HAS a registered lobbyist working on your behalf in Tallahassee! With your support, we can get this passed! If this bill does not pass, then well-intentioned efforts to emphasize permit and license enforcement could backfire terribly.

Construction fees and fines.

Take this to the bank. Fees and requirements for permits will be going up and are going to get even tougher unless a strong marine construction industry advocate is there to protect our businesses, and our waterfront owner clientele.

Manatee habitat.

The old marine contractors association no longer has a seat at the Manatee Forum. It just doesn't have the clout to be heard (those of you who were there in its early days remember what it was like to be completely ignored) or the knowledge to be effective on this never-ending challenge. Manatees are still the legal tool of choice for groups that just plain don't like what you do for a living.

Read about the coming Federal manatee habitat designations. This article originated at Florida Today. It has been picked up by the Associated Press and run in papers across the Southeast. Click here for a PDF of the article.

Click here to view a PDF of the great story about manatee poop. (How can a critter so abundant that its feces can close a beach be "endangered"?)

Making a living.

Everything on the waterward side of a home is regulated to an extreme, and the costs of those regulations are completely borne by you and your customers. There is little or no financing, and little or no insurance. Waterfront owners, many of whom are retired and on fixed incomes, pay a premium in taxes. Where does that extra tax money go? It's sure not being used to benefit the public waterways, or your clients!

This is the baseline reason why, when the economy turns sour, marine construction is the first to suffer and the last to recover.

There are answers to this fundamental challenge. With your support, we can bring them to fruition.

What are your top issues?
What's your opinion on these four challenges?

Join the conversation about the marine construction industry at marineindustry.org. Contact us to share your thoughts.

Contact us to learn how the leadership vacuum creates an opportunity for all of us in the marine construction industry. Contact us to learn how we can work together to improve our industry.

Join the conversation on marineindustry.org.

Sincerely,

sw sig

Steven E Webster

For More Information