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Can
You Handle Non-paying Customers
Does your marina or
boatyard contract have
any language that will enable you to take action against non-paying customers?
If it doesn’t, it can and should. Under NC General Statutes (Chapter 44A ), a
marina owner may claim a lien on any state registered vessel that is stored at
his facility. This only applies to boats that are state registered and does NOT
apply to federally documented vessels. What does this mean to
you? If a boat owner fails to pay you a slip fee or any other fee for a period
of 30 days or more, you may notify the boater that you will sell his vessel to
obtain the money owed you. This is commonly known as the “deadbeat law”. This
recourse for a marina owner, MUST be specifically written into the lease
agreement, which is signed by the boat owner. In addition, there are specific
steps that must be taken by the marina owner to notify the vessel owner. For
example the marina owner must notify the boater by certified mail that he plans
to place a lien on and then sell his vessel, and the sale must be advertised in
the local newspaper. If the vessel owner disputes the payment, he must take it
to small claims court at which time the vessel may not be sold without a court
order. An outline of the specific steps to take to legally sell an “abandoned”
boat will soon be available on our Marine Trades website, found through www.SBTDC.org or by calling Wendy Larimer
(910) 962-3351. In short, you will need a
clause in your lease indicating the renter agrees the marina owner can claim a
lien, and that the vessel and its contents may be sold for failure to pay
fees. It is also useful to have a place
next to this clause for the renter to initial as added assurance that he has
read and understands the consequences of failure to pay. As always with
contracts, contact your lawyer for help. Information for this article
provided by Lawrence S. Craige, Attorney & Counselor at Law (910) 815-0085
or lscraige@lawyer.com
Coastal
Boating Guide and Map Still Available
Case lots of the current NC Coastal Boating Guides are still available.
These guides are proving essential for anyone cruising or touring the North
Carolina coast. Having them available for boaters that visit your facility is a
valuable service. You can order online at www.NCWaterways.com
or call 1-877-DOT-4YOU. They are free of charge for single pieces up to 25, or
you can order by the case and just pay for shipping.
NC/SC
EXPO 2000 Update
Exhibitors are signing up and seminar schedules are near complete. To date we have engineering firms, dock, decking and boat rack manufacturers, pumpout manufacturers, power pedestals, and concrete repair, registered as exhibitors. There is still plenty of room for more, but sign up soon to guarantee a choice floor location. In the next few weeks we will be putting the final touches on the seminar schedule and registration package for seminar attendees. Watch your mail for more information. Some of the seminar topics include: advanced fiberglass repair methods; yacht docking considerations; urban waterfront issues and answers; series vs. parallel plumbing systems; what’s new in resins, adhesives and gels; small business advocacy – how to use your size; impact of zoning, regulations, etc. in locating drystack and slip boat storage; new boat-bottom treatments; update on boatbuilding MACT, ergonomics, air quality, styrene and other regulatory issues; OSHA training packages for compliance; change management – growth management for your small business; loan packages and business plans by the numbers; web marketing and web startup assistance; manpower and new employee training programs that are working; new three-dimensional weave and its use in boatbuilding; and more.
Boat
MACT standard published in the Federal Register
The boat MACT was published Friday, July 14, 2000.
This starts the 60-day clock with written comments due on September 12th. By
law EPA is required to hold a public hearing if one is requested. The tentative
date for the hearing is August 14th. Those wanting to participate must notify
EPA by August 3rd. (NMMA note - McKnight )
OSHA
Jurisdiction for Boat Builders – Waterfront VS Inland
This is not a new topic to North Carolina boatbuilders
where more than 25 of the nearly 85 boatbuilders have facilities on property
adjacent to navigable waterways. The issue has been Federal OSHA vs State OSHA
inspections, as well as the use of Federal 29 CFR 1915 (ship building safety
standards) inspections at recreational boat building plants that are adjacent
to navigable water. According to a recent white paper by NMMA, OSHA never intended to cover
recreational boat builders under the ship building standards, in part because
the recreational boat building industry was never consulted during the
rulemaking process, and in part because the 1915 requirements do not
appropriately address the safety issues and processes at boat building plants.
Furthermore, shipbuilding is classified under SIC code 3731, while boat
building is classified under SIC code 3732, detailing differences that should
separate the two considerably different categories of vessel manufacture. NMMA
is requesting that OSHA provide guidance stating that recreational boat
building SIC code 3732 be covered under 29 CFR 1910, not 29 CFR 1915,
regardless of location. A “Recreational
boat means a vessel being manufactured or operated primarily for pleasure,
or being leased, rented or chartered to another for the latter’s pleasure”.
This definition is consistent with 46 U.S.C 2101(25) and definitions that have
been used to differentiate commercial ships from recreational boats in the EPA
commercial diesel engine regulation. For clarification, contact John McKnight
(National Marine Manufacturers Association) at 202-721-1604.
Ergonomics
Update
The Senate (National) just passed an ergonomics rule
restriction in its version of the 2001 funding bill for the Department of
Labor. Both houses of Congress apparently have enough votes to stop OSHA from
implementing its ergonomics rule. Don’t expect that this is the last you will
hear of this issue nationally or within North Carolina. Although NC has had the
proposed NC Ergonomics Standards delayed by Rules Review Commission on December
16, 1999, the Department of Labor has page after page of website examples of
rules and training programs. See www.dol.state.nc.us/ergo/erg_main.htm.
For NC boatbuilding comments on the proposed state rules, view: www.dol.state.nc.us/ergo/newbern.htm
(go to comments by Doug Hoffman of Grady-White and Mike Bradley) and for Doug
Hoffman’s comments on behalf of NMMA, go to http://www.asbdcnow.com/ncMarineTradeAssociation
and use the Ergonomics button.
Internet
News, Views, Blues and How-To’s
Marine business magazines and journals are filling space and editorials on Internet topics; marine business across North Carolina are being wooed by B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to customer) Internet companies; and agencies everywhere (including us) are offering to help you get up and running on your own website. The June issue of Soundings Trade Only and July issue of Boating Industry International (www.boating-industry.com) have put together a good set of articles that bring you up to date. These articles provide a good overview and a glimpse of the shakeout of web services.
The “how-to” steps, costs, and
effort are also evolving so that they are reasonable and understandable. The
first logical step for most small businesses is to have web based
“brochure-ware” which lets them put their web address on cards, flyers, and
promotions, enabling the business to have prospective customers see and learn
more about their products, services, and facilities. The next phase is getting
web users to your site, and then possibly selling products from your site
and/or through other B2B and B2C services.
To see a couple of sites
designed for small businesses (our program’s national agencies, the SBA and
the ASBDC) that walk you through setup and/or learning materials, go to http://www.asbdcnow.com/
to set up your own free website or to http://www.sba.gov/classroom/
for background information and Internet terms, as well as on-line courses designed by
CISCO. Our NCMTA site is http://www.asbdcnow.com/NCMarineTradeAssociation.
Call Mike Bradley at (252) 728-2144 for assistance.
Have marine trades related question or problem? The NC Marine Trades
Services is a service of the Small Business and Technology Center and available
to all small businesses without charge. Marina related - call (910) 962-3351.
Boatbuilding and Boatyard related - call (252) 728-2144. The headquarters of
the SBTDC is located in Raleigh and can be contacted by calling (800)
258-0862. |