Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy Meeting Minutes for February 27, 2010 This is a summary of the minutes of the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 3:45 pm by President Pat Minnick at the home of Jay Herbein The following officers were present: President P. Minnick Vice President C. Catherman Secretary K. Bange Treasurer G. Dunmire Representation was as follows: Bald Eagle Grotto --- Baltimore Grotto Craig Hindman Bucks County Grotto Pat Richard Buffalo Valley Grotto --- Central New Jersey Grotto --- Commander Cody Caving Club Mike Mostardi Franklin County Grotto Pat Minnick Greater Allentown Grotto Dean Snyder Huntingdon Co. Cave Hunters Dean Snyder (proxy) Nittany Grotto Gary Dunmire Philadelphia Grotto Amos Mincin Seven Valleys Grotto Gretchen Williams York Grotto Joel Jacobs Secretary Report: The minutes from the October 2009 meeting were accepted as published in the January 2010 Breakdown. Treasurer Report: Gary Dunmire distributed a copy of the PCC financial summary. Web Page: Dave Fricke continues to maintain the PCC web page. Send grotto contact changes to Dave Fricke PCC Breakfast: Christopher Catherman will contact Front Royal Grotto in regards to a Sunday morning breakfast at the upcoming VAR/MAR. PCC Brochure: Anyone interested in brochures should contact George Bange. Mail: Dean Snyder reported a Christmas card was returned. T-shirts: Gary Dunmire has 25th anniversary PCC T-shirts for sale. The T- shirts are $15. PA Cave Database: There has been no recent contact with Bill Herr, current PA Cave Database Steward. Tony Canike is willing to assume the responsibilities. Gretchen Williams made a motion to accept Tony as the new Database Steward. Gary Dunmire seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Keith Wheeland presented guidelines for the Database Steward. The guidelines are as follows: * The Database Steward shall have the PCC Board’s permission to respond to requests regarding the release of cave data under the following circumstances: 1. From a responsible caver who is seriously engaged in a project to update the database for a specific area, for example, a county. 2. From a scientist who is engaged in a project that has a specific goal in mind. 3. From a firm engaged in a study for a specific project where the study will be used to assess the impact of caves or their inhabitants. * In each case where the data is provided, the Database Steward is required to: 1. Obtain a Data Confidentiality Agreement from the person or firm making the request. 2. Notify the PCC Board of the request for data and the response to it. The Data Confidentiality Agreement states: I agree that information included in the Pennsylvania Cave Database is of a highly sensitive nature to private ownership concerns, rare/endangered species concerns and environmental concerns. Therefore, I will not distribute the information provided to me by the Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy to outside persons or agencies without an explicit authorization from the Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy. After I have finished with the information that I am provided, I will ensure that it can no longer be used by others outside the scope of the project for which it is intended. In publication of any findings, I will respect the wishes of cave owners in regard to the publication of cave locations. Christopher Catherman made a motion to accept the above as guidelines for the Database Steward. Mike Mostardi seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. OLD BUSINESS: Project List: Dragon Cave: Berks County, PA – No report Red Church Cave: Schuylkill County, PA - Dean Snyder plans to approach the landowner this spring to discuss physically opening the cave to assess gating needs. Karen Bange made a motion to allow up to $500 be available to help with these efforts. Gretchen Williams seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Cleversburg Cave: Cumberland County, PA - Pat Minnick reported the water monitoring system in the cave is working. Franklin County Grotto has purchased the material for fixing the kiosk at the cave entrance. Schofer Cave: Berks County, PA - No report Durham Cave: Bucks County, PA- Pat Richard reported no change Corker Hill and Frustration Pit: Franklin County, PA - Ken Jones reported the housing project is on hold due to the slow housing market; the land hasn’t even been subdivided. Ken has been in recent contact with the landowners. Ken plans on discussing a lease or easement policy with WASHCO Homes. Tippery Cave: Huntingdon County, PA - This was put on the project list at the last meeting. No one was present to give an update report. Christmas Cards: Send any contact information to Karen Bange. NEW BUSINESS: The Nature Conservancy MOU: The MOU expires December 2010. Renewal of the MOU will be tabled unless The Nature Conservancy approaches the PCC. ELECTIONS: A motion was made to re-elect all the current officers. The motion was seconded and passed. Next meeting: The next meeting of the PCC is scheduled tentatively for May 23, 2010 at the Lewisburg, WV Fairgrounds. The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 pm Respectfully submitted, Karen Bange, Recording Secretary