Pennsylvania Cave Conservancy Meeting Minutes for February 22, 2014 This is a summary of the minutes of the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm by Vice President Christopher Catherman at Mt Laurel Community Park, Harrisburg, PA The following officers were present: President --- Vice President C. Catherman Secretary G. Schock Treasurer G. Dunmire Representation was as follows: Bald Eagle Grotto Paul Winter (proxy) Baltimore Grotto Craig Hindman Bucks County Grotto --- Central New Jersey Grotto Amos Mincin Commander Cody Caving Club Mike Mostardi Franklin County Grotto Glen Sarvis (proxy) Greater Allentown Grotto Mike Spencer Huntingdon Co. Cave Hunters --- Nittany Grotto Paul Winter Philadelphia Grotto Amos Mincin Seven Valleys Grotto Joe Schock York Grotto Randy Hurst Secretary Report: The minutes from the September 2013 meeting were accepted as published in the January 2014 Breakdown. Treasurer Report: Gary Dunmire provided the following PCC financial status. Financial Summary - 02-24-13 Thru 02-22-14 Interest Checking Account - Nittany Bank Account Balance 02/28/2013 $5,023.53 Mail Box Fee (every two years) 03/19/2013 ($56.00) NSS Web Fee 03/19/2014 ($12.00) Interest: Payment 03/30/2013 $0.61 Interest: Payment 04/30/2013 $0.41 IRS Application Fee 05/08/2013 ($400.00) Donation to Cave Sim 05/22/2013 ($100.00) Interest: Payment 05/31/2013 $0.38 Interest: Payment 06/30/2013 $0.37 Interest: Payment 07/31/2013 $0.37 Interest: Payment 08/31/2013 $0.37 Donation: SpeleoSoap 09/04/2013 $50.00 Interest: Payment 09/30/2013 $0.38 Deposit: PCC Breakfast (Spring and Fall 2013 funds) 10/03/2013 $564.00 Interest: Payment 10/30/2013 $0.62 Interest: Payment 11/30/2013 $0.63 Interest: Payment 12/31/2013 $0.63 Interest: Payment 01/13/2014 $0.63 Ending Balance : $5,074.93 SAVINGS ACCOUNT: Maturity Date Certificate of Deposit 05/29/2014 $1,077.34 Certificate of Deposit 05/29/2014 $1,077.34 Certificate of Deposit 05/29/2014 $1,077.34 Tee Shirt Petty Cash $120.00 Check: Lost River Caverns (Needing Deposited) $200.00 COMBINED TOTAL : $8,678.35 Web Page: Dave Fricke stated the PCC web page is up and functioning with no issues or problems to report. PCC Breakfast: The PCC plans to host a pancake breakfast for the upcoming 2014 Spring and Fall MAR field meets. Joe Schock will make some modifications to the griddle prior to the Spring MAR and will ensure it is transported to the field meet site in West Virginia. Transportation arrangements have also been made for the remaining breakfast equipment to be delivered to the field meet site in West Virginia. Karen and George Bange have offered to store the equipment at the Rupert property between the Spring and Fall field meets. Transportation provisions to get the equipment to the Rupert property may have to be organized. PCC Brochure: Anyone interested in obtaining brochures should contact George Bange. Mail: Nothing reported. Christmas Cards: Karen Bange continues to manage the yearly distribution of Christmas cards to cave landowners. PCC will reimburse Karen for the postage of the cards sent. Contact Karen if you have a landowner you would like added to the Christmas card list. T-shirts: Gary Dunmire continues to have PCC 25th anniversary T-shirts available at $15 each (approximately $17.65 with shipping). Dean Synder also has older PCC shirts available for sale at $5 each. Gary stated the shirts would be available for sale during the 2014 Spring MAR event. PA Cave Database: Paul Winter reported the following status on behalf of Tony Canike: 1. We resolved the question of which caves to put on the “closed” list by simply publishing the Long and Deep lists, with access status for all the caves on the list. Thanks to all who offered suggestions and to the committee that was appointed at the Feb 2013 meeting; as we resolved the question with a couple emails we never really needed to meet. 2. Provided a list of caves to Will White for the Middle Susquehanna Valley MAR bulletin that Will is working on. 3. Update functions in the access database still not completely working; been caving too much to sit at the computer a lot. Still on the to-do list. Data is secure, safe, and backed up. OLD BUSINESS: Project List: Dragon Cave (Berks County, PA) – Nothing reported. Red Church Cave (Schuylkill County, PA) – Nothing reported. Merkle Cave (Berks County, PA) – Recent contact with the land owner revealed that the cave will not be opened for access. Ed Kehs, Sr. moved and Mike Spencer seconded to remove Merkle Cave from the project list. The motion passed. Cleversburg Cave (Cumberland County, PA) – Nothing reported. Amos Mincin moved and Craig Hindman seconded to remove Cleversburg Cave from the project list. The motion passed. Schofer Cave (Berks County, PA) – No action was reported and access is not expected to be granted in the foreseeable future. Mike Spencer moved and Amos Mincin seconded to remove Schofer Cave from the project list. The motion passed. Corker Hill and Frustration Pit (Franklin County, PA) – Nothing reported. Peiper Cave (Cumberland County) – No new issues to report. Ed Kehs, Sr. moved and Paul Winter seconded to remove Peiper cave from the project list. The motion passed. Dreibilbis Cave (Berks County) – Bill Schultz reported that a bat count trip was conducted and land owner relations continue to remain positive. J4 Cave (Centre County) – Gary Dunmire stated that the status of negotiations with Graymont remains favorable and are continuing to move forward. Part of the negotiations with Graymont included requesting the management agreement terms be modified to remove the requirement to contact the local fire company for planned cave trips. The local fire company does not desire to be contacted to monitor J-4 cave trips. PCC Tax Exempt Status: Gary Dunmire has not received any additional communications since the last PCC meeting. Gary will follow up on the current status of the tax exempt request. PCC Grotto membership: John Boswell stated that representatives from caving organization(s) that are not currently members of the PCC were present for the meeting. It was reiterated that any grotto is encouraged and welcome to apply to join the PCC. The PCC would like to stress the importance of a grotto representative being present at all meetings in order for the PCC to obtain a quorum and continue to conduct business. Representative forms can be obtained from the PCC secretary. NEW BUSINESS: PCC Project List: After some dialogue regarding caves on the project list, Amos Mincin suggested that the PCC review the status of adding or removing caves to the project list during each PCC meeting discussion. This approach will assist in determining if each cave should remain on the list. There was also a suggestion to maintain two lists, one “Project List” as well as another for “Cave of Interest”. Additional discussion would be required to determine the need, as well as criteria, if a second list is to be incorporated and maintained. Spring MAR 2014: Amos Mincin provided the group with a detailed overview of the proposed budget and planning activity for the upcoming 2014 MAR field meet that will be hosted by the PCC at the OTR site in Dailey, WV May 16-18, 2014. Additionally, Amos screened the conservation video that will be presented to attendees during the upcoming field meet. Amos Mincin moved and Paul Winter seconded to pay the registration fees for the sauna crew to open and maintain one of the site’s saunas during the event. The cost would be $216 to cover registration for seven adults and one child. The motion was passed. Additional information and details concerning the event can be found on the MAR website. Anyone interested in assisting with the various tasks during the event should contact Amos Mincin. Elections: Amos Mincin moved and Randy Hurst seconded that the existing officers remain for another year. The motion passed and all current officers were re-elected. Next meeting: The next meeting of the PCC will be held at the Spring MAR field meet on Sunday, May 18, 2014 at the OTR site/campground in Dailey, WV. Meeting time 9:30 am. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Gretchen (Red) Schock, Recording Secretary