Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy Meeting Minutes for February 23, 2002.

This is a summary of the minutes of the meeting.

The meeting was call to order by President, Pat Minnick, at the home of 
Jay Herbein in Harrisburg, Pa., at 4:15 pm, Saturday, February 23,2002.

The following officers were present. 

President:	Pat Minnick 
v. Pres:	Karen Bange
Secretary:	Keith D. Wheeland
Treasurer:	George Bange

Representation was as follows:

Baltimore Grotto		Craig Hindman
Bucks County Grotto		Rich Rosevear
Central New Jersey Grotto	John Tudek
Commander Cody Caving Club 	Harris Martin
Franklin County Grotto 		Pat Minnick
Greater Allentown Grotto 	Dean Snyder 
Huntingdon Co. Cave Hunters 	Proxy
Nittany Grotto 			Keith Wheeland
Philadelphia Grotto 		Mike Mostardi
Pittsburgh Grotto --
Seven Valleys Grotto 		Joe Schock
South Jersey Grotto 		Bill Vis
York Grotto 			Ted Sargent

There were other individuals present, including past 
president of the NSS, Jack Stellmack.

The treasurer , George Bange, reported a balance of $273.34 
in the checking account, and $2,174.47 in the savings 
account for a total of $2,447.81.



OLD BUSINESS:

PROJECT LIST:

Devil's Den, Sussex County, N.J. - No report.

Baker Caverns, Franklin Co., Pa. - Pat Minnick reported that 
he thought the price for the property had dropped.

Dragon Cave, Berks County, Pa. - Mike Mostardi, et. al., 
reported that the original gate had been breached, and that 
a new attempt was being made to gate the cave. It is a 
Frank Eckert project.

J-4: Keith Wheeland reported that there has been no change 
in the status of 1-4. The owner has asked that cavers not 
visit the cave.

PCC Brochure: The distribution of brochures was discussed. 
The Tytoona Cave Preserve and the Western Pa. Conservancy 
were specifically mentioned. Persons who have ideas for 
distribution should contact Karen Bange.
According to PCC representatives, the initial distribution 
to show caves (as detailed in the minutes of Sep. 16, 2001) 
has been completed.
The PCC Secretary sent Gordon Ley a thank-you letter for 
his help in getting the brochures printed.

Fund Raising T -Shirts. Dean Snyder has PCC T -Shirts for 
sale at $8 each.

PCC Cave Calendar: After much discussion, a motion was made 
by Commander Cody, seconded by Baltimore to drop the 
calendar project. Passed. The benefit to the PCC is small 
compared with the effort and expense.

Web Page: David Fricke, the web master, provided an oral 
and written report (included).

Growing Greener Grant Money: Harris Martin reported again 
that there is money available for water related projects. 
He urged members to consider karst/hydrology projects and 
apply for grants

NEW BUSINESS

Elections: Pat Minnick and Keith Wheeland decided not to 
seek re-election. Candidates were Karen Bange, Chris 
Catherrnan, Kim Kehs, Rich Rosevear, Ted Sargent, and Joe
Schock.  The following officers were elected.

President: Kim Kehs
v. President: Rich Rosevear
Secretary: Karen Bange 
Treasurer: George Bange

The PCC representatives thanked the many candidates who 
were on the slate this year. They also thanked the outgoing 
officers for their work.

Spring 2002 MAR Pancake Breakfast: The Spring 2000 MAR 
field meet will be hosted by Seven Valleys Grotto at the 
Rupert Cave Campground the weekend of May 4, 2002.

A pancake breakfast will be served on Sunday morning with 
proceeds to benefit the PCC. Alan Horn has again volunteered 
to chair and fund the breakfast.  The PCC, by acclamation, 
decided to pay Alan's registration fee for the Spring 2002 MAR.

McAlisterville Cave Gate: Keith Wheeland reported that the 
gate on McAlisterville Cave had been vandalized. The 
Nittany Grotto has a written agreement with the landowner 
to maintain a gate and control access in order for the cave 
to remain open and accessible to cavers. A new gate will be 
installed on Monday Mar. 11 (and the 12th, if necessary). 
Volunteers are invited. After the gate is installed, a 
reward will be posted in the local newspaper for 
information leading to the arrest and conviction of the 
person or persons responsible for vandalizing the gate. It 
is also possible that a cave conservation related article 
may be written for the local newspaper.

Merkel Cave: Mike Mostardi reported on an attempt by 
trespassing cavers to dig open the cave. Their attempt
was foiled. They found the obscure site by using GPS. 
Another attempt will be made to contact the owner about 
gating the cave.

Cleversburg Sink: Pat Minnick reported that access to the 
cave hasn't changed, although the exact ownership of nearby 
properties at the site is unclear .

Next meeting: The next meeting of the PCC will be on Sunday 
May 5, 2002 at 10 a.m. at the Rupert Cave Campground.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m., February 23, 2002.

Respectfully submitted,
Keith D. Wheeland, Outgoing Secretary