Boat & Safety Committee
At the January 26th, HOA meeting, a Boating & Safety Committee was created among a number of things, to study and review the current boating regulations regarding the size, horsepower and types of boats currently permitted on our lake. The purpose in creating the Boating Committee was to enhance the living experience of the families and their friends who live at Valley Shores. To accomplish this goal, the Boating Committee always had three (3) objectives in mind. They are;
Boater and Boating Safety
Minimization of Wake/Waves by Boat Design/Technology
Ski/Runabout Boating Availability
The Boating Committee worked with the local boat dealers in the Omaha-Lincoln area along with the Water Sports Industry Association as they addressed this matter. The Boating Committee felt this was important since the original rules were established in 2005 and only modified once in 2017. Technology in engines, propellers and hull design have improved pleasure boating immensely over the past few years.
As the challenges and objectives of our lake community was conveyed to professionals; we learned that the size of our lake was not necessarily our biggest problem with beach erosion, rather, it was the north, center and south lobes to our lake which creates an inherent problem of insufficient area to dissipate the waves created by the ski/runabout boats. Depending on the type of boat and how and where it is driven, it takes 50’ to 200’ to dissipate a wave. Hence, finding and approving boats that go on plane quickly, reduces the size of waves minimizing beach erosion.
Another major problem that was discovered related to boat selection was many of the current boat manufactures no longer produce ski/runabout boats that are 19’ and under, with a 200hp motor. This is due to changing customer tastes (80% of the market is for wake & surfboarding boats), and the lack of profitability in smaller powerboats. Therefore, the board must have the flexibility to look at boats outside of our current boat restrictions if we want the homeowners on Valley Shores to have the ability to buy this class of boat.
Taking all of these factors into account, the Boating Committee has recommended to the HOA Board several possible new ski/runabout boats that could be approved for our lake. One of those boats that was proposed by the committee is the Cobalt 200S. The Cobalt 200S boat measures 19’4”, and while a mere 4” longer than our current length rule, the boat exceeded expectations as the boat quickly planed and produced a very small wake, meeting the goals of the Boating Committee and the HOA Board. Reviewing the test was the Boating Committee and the Valley Shores HOA Board.
The Boating Committee is currently in the process of reaching out to other boat dealers to provide additional boats for testing and approval on our lake.
We apologize for the delay in getting this notice out to everyone, but we hope we have conveyed to our community our efforts to serve you.
Safety is our Top Priority.
Valley Shores HOA Board
Boating & Safety Commitee