Newsletter October 2006
by MOIRA JAATEENMAKI, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
This will be a long newsletter as there is much information to pass on to our members regarding CATV grants and other items. These grants present significant opportunity for ATV/BC to move forward in offering services to members and to develop projects of significant importance for our members to do with our opportunities to ride such as access and safety just to name two obvious ones.
Here is what is in this Newsletter:
1. Report on CATV Meeting
2. CATV Grants
a. Overview
b. Process for Applying for grants
i. Eligibility
ii. Meeting eligibility
iii. Sustaining Grants and Projects Grants
iv. Application criteria
3. Directors meeting, October 21st, 2006. Meeting information including the CATV Five Principles of OHV Development and next step
1. CATV Meeting September 23rd 2006 Report from President Bev Felske President Bev & 1st Vice President Pat attended the meeting representing ATV/BC. Also attending were representatives from NFLD, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta.
Each Province gave an update of what has happened in their Province over the past year.
• Newfoundland – still in infant stage of development; only one club of 200; they really need help.
• Nova Scotia – expecting a million dollars from their trust fund this coming year, only problem is they don't control the fund therefore they have to justify wanting the money as the snowmobilers want the fund as well. ATVers out number sledders, by three to one in their province, a very cool relationship between the two organizations. They now have an office staff of two people working on their behalf.
• New Brunswick - have an office staff of three and enjoy their trust fund, it is in the second year and so far no problems. They must do all their work in both official languages. They are about five years ahead of us in development with their programs.
• Quebec – The best of us all, they have eight people working in their office and have some very advanced programs. They are most likely ten years ahead of us in development, however their programs are in French but once in a while for government documents they print them in both languages. They have just had the law changed in Quebec, now children under 16 are no longer allowed to ride. This is bad news for all of us.
• Ontario – They have few numbers but somehow they are able to hire an executive manager and others through grants. They are concentrating on trail development in fact if your club is not building trails then you cannot be a member of the Provincial organization. Their fee is $125.00 per member.
• Manitoba and Sask. – not yet developed a Provincial body.
• Alberta – Already applied for the grant for this year and is expecting to hire staff ASAP.
• British Columbia – we have applied for the grant and it is in administrative review with CATV at the present time, I had a fact sheet, which I had copied and gave to all Provinces telling of our progress from last year.
CATV grants:
All Provinces are eligible for the following grants:
• Sustaining grant for 2006 $30,000.00
• Office expenses grant of $5,000.00 for 2006
• Provinces who haven’t applied for the 2006 grants are going to find that later in the year the grant will be prorated - too bad for the late applicants.
• Sustaining grant for 2007 $60,000.00 (designated for office and staff) must be applied for by December 31, this year.
• Office expenses grant $10,000.00 (office rent or what ever we need for office expenses)
• Project Grant – each Province is eligible for two projects grants each year; however the total of grant monies available is $100,000.00 per year. Thus if we have two projects we must insure that they do not exceed that amount. The first Project grant application date is Feb 01, 2007 if we miss that one the next is May 01, 2007 there is another date after that some time in the fall.
Upon return home, I contacted our treasurer about the grants and he indicated that he has a separate account set up for the grant monies. I have asked CATV to send the cheque upon approval of the grant directly to the Treasurer.
AQCC a National ATV Association formed – Since Pat was our delegate for this I will let him give you the information about this body in his report.
Great time, lots of new information, a worthwhile weekend of meetings.
Bev Felske, President
2. CATV Grants Criteria
a) Overview
The Canadian All-Terrain Vehicle Distributors Council (CATV) has announced the introduction of funding grants to be used to help form and expand provincial and national rider federations for ATV and/or off-road motorcycles.
Participating companies (Arctic Cat, Bombardier Recreational Products (Can Am), Honda, John Deere, Kawasaki, KTM, Polaris, Suzuki, Yamaha) recognize and support the value of this initiative, which will help ATV and motorcycle clubs to continue maintaining well-signed, easily accessible trail systems that help to promote safe and environmentally responsible riding. Through a cooperative effort, the CATV and riding federations will be able to continue leading a first class recreation and adventure tourism industry based on safety and environmental awareness.
b) Process
Applicants should develop the application by determining the following:
Is my organization eligible?
In order to be eligible, organizations must be one of the following:
A provincial federation of ATV clubs;
A provincial federation of Off Road Motorcycle clubs;
A provincial federation of both ATV and ORM clubs;
A national federation of provincial ATV federations;
A national federation of provincial Off Road Motorcycle federations; or
A national federation of both provincial ATV and Off Road Motorcycle federations
Am I applying for a Sustaining Grant or a Project Grant?
Does my application clearly demonstrate a valuable contribution to off-highway riding? Do I meet the eligibility criteria? If an organization is eligible to apply for a grant, it must then determine if it meets the following eligibility criteria. Associated documents should be submitted with the application.
• Provincially or federally incorporated as a not for profit organization (documents of incorporation required)
• Properly constituted Board of Directors (list of Board members and the position they hold be provided annually
• Evidence of submission of all required financial and legal documents including annual income tax remittance, GST status and number, annual financial statements, and association bank account
• D&O liability insurance
• List of member organizations provided annually. Am I applying for a Sustaining Grant or a Project Grant? Applicants should specify which type of grant they are applying to receive: A Sustaining Grant or a Project Grant.
a) Sustaining Grant
Sustaining Grants commence July 1, 2006 for the period July 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006. The maximum sustaining grant for this period is $30,000 for a provincial federation and $35,000 for a national federation.
Subsequent years will be for the period between January 1 and December 31, with a maximum of $60,000 for provincial federations and $70,000 for national federations.
Applications must be given final approval by the CATV Executive Committee or a committee appointed by the CATV Executive.
b) Project Grants
Each provincial or national federation may submit a maximum of two project grants each calendar year beginning in January 2007. Project grants will be awarded three times each year in February, May and August.
Total dollar amount of project grants each year for a provincial federation may not exceed $100,000, and for a national federation may not exceed $150,000
Applicants should note that there is no guaranteed approval and therefore applications should be clear and complete. Bids will be reviewed and approved based on the following:
• Merit/importance of request
• Detailed proposed budget
• Ability to complete project as proposed
• Provision or availability of matching resources or contributions
• Other relevant criteria
Does my application clearly demonstrate a valuable contribution to off-highway riding? In order to invest limited resources effectively, applicants will need to demonstrate the value of their project.
Applicants should provide, at a minimum, the following information:
• A project description, including background
• Project benefits and goals
• How the project will contribute to strategic priorities such as those related to safety, rider training,
environmental protection, sound and exhaust emission levels, land access, image, government
relations, education, enforcement and health promotion
• Identification of how success will be measured
• Project timetable (critical dates)
• A detailed budget
• Availability of other funds or contributions from other sources (i.e. matching government
funding)
• How results will be demonstrated and communicated to CATV
• How lessons learned will be communicated to other organizations in Canada
Once a grant has been submitted, it will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
Merit/importance of request
Detailed proposed budget
Ability to complete project as proposed
Provision or availability of matching resources or contributions
Other relevant criteria
3. Board of Director's Meeting, Abbotsford 21st, 2006
The Directors met in Abbotsford on October 21st to meet with Ron Purchase, Manager of Rider Federation Development for CATV. As you have read in previous items, there is a considerable amount of grant money available to ATV/BC over the next several years in the form of sustaining grants and project grants. As these are new programs, ATV/BC invited Ron to attend our meeting to present a
workshop on everything to do with these grants. Ron's expenses were covered by CATV and we have applied for a grant to cover our meeting costs. This was the first presentation of this workshop by Ron. He started at 9a.m. with the overview of CATV and the program then we went into a strategic planning session until 3.45 p.m. It was extremely productive and certainly made us think. It also gave us a good understanding of which projects and ideas would fall within the guidelines for these grants.
First item clarified was that sustaining grants are for the sole purpose of establishing office and staff for a Provincial organization. In Ron's words "they are for building capacity in the organization to handle business (i.e. an office and staff)." They can only be used for that purpose and all money spent has to be accounted for. The sustaining grant that we received at the meeting will cover all expenses for establishing an office until December 31st, 2006. In the meantime, we will apply for a grant for 2007 which will again cover office expense until December 31st, 2007 and so on for 2008. These grants will allow the operation of the office essentially at no expense to ATV/BC.
Project grants are available to a maximum of $100,000 per year and CATV has established very specific principles for using these grants which are designed for major initiatives.
The "Five Principles of OHV Development"
Every OHV Rider Must:
1. Know how to obtain appropriate training, education, and information related to the safe operation of their vehicle.
2. Know how to reduce the operational impact of their vehicle on the natural environment, other recreationers, and the community at large.
3. Know with certainty that they have permission to enter and use every riding opportunity they choose to access.
4. Know the laws, obligations, and expectations associated with the entry and use of every riding opportunity they choose to access.
5. Know how they have contributed their fair share to the cost of creating and maintaining every riding opportunity they choose to access.
We then spent the rest of the time doing a SWOT Analysis on each of these principles. In this we listed the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Then we took those and established goals for each principle.
Some further information re project grants:
They must fall within the five principles.
They must be major initiatives preferably of a Provincial nature.
They can only be applied for by a Provincial or National Organization.
They are funded by CATV through funds that come 100% from the manufacturers.
How will ATV/BC apply for these grants? By consulting with the clubs for what projects they would like to see bearing in mind that they must fall within the five Principles and must be either a Provincial project or of benefit to as many ATV/BC members throughout the Province as possible. This consultation will happen in the very near future so further information as to how this will occur will be circulated. What all of this means for ATV/BC over the next few years is that we will be able to operate an office at essentially no cost to us. This in turn will free up the memberships funds currently being paid to a 3rd party to process memberships. Project grants will be developed that will allow us to actively pursue issues such as access for riding, safety and environmental issues, government relationships and lobbying and many others. It all represents a major development and opportunity for ATV/BC to fully establish itself as the major force for ATV riding in BC.