Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy Meeting Minutes for February 26, 2011 This is a summary of the minutes of the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm by President Pat Minnick at the Mt Laurel Community Park, Harrisburg, PA 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 JD Lewis Baltimore Grotto Craig Hindman Bucks County Grotto --- 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 Schock York Grotto Joel Jacobs Secretary Report: The minutes from the February 2010 meeting were accepted as published in the April 2010 Breakdown. Treasurer Report: Gary Dunmire distributed a copy of the PCC financial summary. Gary reported a drop in the interest rate on three CDs that matured May. The rate prior to maturing was 3%. The bank automatically rolled the CDs over with a new interest rate of 1.53% interest rate. Gary will look into trying to find a better interest rate. Web Page: Dave Fricke continues to maintain the PCC web page. PCC Breakfast: Christopher Catherman agreed to be the chair the PCC breakfast at the upcoming spring and fall field meets. The newly renovated grill is MIA and needs to be located. PCC Brochure: Anyone interested in brochures should contact George Bange. Mail: K. Bange will continue to do yearly Christmas cards to cave landowners. Contact Karen if you have a landowner you want added to the Christmas card list. T-shirts: Gary Dunmire has PCC 25th anniversary T shirts. PA Cave Database: Tony Canike requested, via email, assistance in keeping the cave database access and contacts current as he is getting inquires from the general public asking about caves in various areas of the MAR region. PCC reps will pursue this matter with their respective grottos and get back to Tony. An informal clarification of current county stewards was done at the meeting as is as follows: Berks County - Mike Mostardi Clinton/Lycoming Counties - JD Lewis Huntingdon County - Garrett Czmor North Hampton County - Mike Spencer Blair and Mifflin Counties - Todd Hancock Cumberland/Franklin and Fulton Counties - Ken Jones, Pat Minnick, Don Arrowood Centre County - Amanda Marrow: Nittany Grotto will address this at their next meeting as Amanda no longer lives in the area York County Joel Jacobs: - Joel requested this be changed to Brett Johnson. York Grotto will send an email to PCC and Tony Canike to confirm this change OLD BUSINESS: Project List: Dragon Cave: Berks County, PA – No update Red Church Cave: Schuylkill County, PA — Dean Snyder and Allentown Grotto along with the landowner, Jeff Spoule, opened the cave this past fall. It’s the first time the cave has been open in 26 years. Soil samples were taken from the cave. Dean had a slide show of the re-opening of the cave. Merkle Cave: Berks County, PA - Dean Snyder met with the trustees of the Merkle estate, Bill Flippin. The focus is open the cave with very limited trips. Cleversburg Cave: Cumberland County, PA - Tom Feeney and Shippensburg University continue to monitor water levels in the cave. Howard White has repaired the contact. Schofer Cave: Berks County, PA - No report Durham Cave: Bucks County, PA - No changes Corker Hill and Frustration Pit: Franklin County, PA - Franklin County Grotto has drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the grotto and WASHCO Homes. A motion was made by Joel Jacobs and seconded by Karen Bange to accept the MOU once the draft of the Release of Liability is revised to include addressing minors going into the cave. A vote was taken and passed. Tippery Cave: Huntingdon County - No update Peiper Cave: Cumberland County - Ed Kehs, owner of the cave, reported there has been an increase in cave trips that he isn’t aware of prior to the cave trips. Ed asks that cavers contact him before going into the cave. Ed also reported on recent vandalism in the cave. York Grotto and Franklin County Grotto will contact Ed to coordinate a clean up trip into the cave. Dreibilbis Cave: Berks County - Mike Mostardi asked to have the cave added to the list to start discussing long term management of the cave. NEW BUSINESS: Karen Bange reported the Juniata Valley Audubon Society is suing the DEP. This is response to the DEP issuing a mining permit within the Heller Cave Biological Diversity Area in Catharine Township, Blair County. Elections: All the current officers were re-elected except for Karen Bange who respectively resigned as the current secretary. Next meeting: The next meeting of the PCC will be on Sunday May 15, 2011 at the spring MAR field meet. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm Respectfully submitted, Karen Bange, Recording Secretary