Minutes of the Board
of Directors
Appalachian Cave Conservancy
Perkins Cave Preserve Field House - Washington County, Virginia
4 October 2008
Call to Order
Meeting called to order 10/4/2008 at 10:35 AM
Attending:
Ellen Hofler, Jason Lachniet (proxy to Emily Lachniet), Tony McGee, Mark Little (proxy to Tanya McLaughlin), John K. Matthews, John M. Wilson, Don Feathers, Gary Fielden (proxy to Joel Stevenson), Mary Wilson, Bill James, Terri Brown
Reading and/or
approval of minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were approved as emailed.
Appointment of a temporary Secretary – this meeting is the last in the temporary secretary’s term.
Ellen Hofler volunteered to take minutes for this meeting.
Chairman of the Board - Tony McGee
Gilley Cave gating plan – by Tony McGee. Tony has drawn up a plan of the proposed gate, which was passed around. It will be massive and heavy, but the opening will swing downwards like the gate on Perkins Cave, which is balanced to be easy to open despite it’s weight. The single bars will be 6 ft x 6 ft x ½ in. thick and weigh about 125 lbs each. Corner and sill will be 8ft x 8 ft poured concrete. Carolina Steel may be willing to donate the steel, worth approximately $2500 in return for a letter of donation. John Matthews stated the Baker Gibbs Construction is willing to donate the fiberglass and Ross Pre-Stress the cement makings or possibly cement mix. We will probably only have to buy welding electrodes and gasoline.
John and Tony will be going to the cave shortly to take measurements.
Work weekends will be scheduled starting in the spring.
Gary Fielden’s farm will be the staging area. It is only 20 minutes from the cave, and there is camping and hot showers. 2-3 work weekends will be needed. Most of the gate can be pre-fabricated there then transported to the site.
Steps involved:
Get material and bring it to Gary’s
Pour concrete sill on site
Work party at Gary’s farm to put the gate together
Bolt all together and finish welding on site. Mix and pour concrete on site.
A suggestion was made to provide food and beer for the work weekends. The consensus was that we should.
The owner will donate $1000.00 toward the gate. A budget will be presented at the next meeting.
President – John M. Wilson
Gilley Cave report by John Wilson– Everything is going smoothly. The majority owner, Jeanne Moore, does not have title but as she is on site and in possession we will proceed. We run the risk that the other heirs may at the end not work with us, but it was agreed that it is worth the risk for the benefit of the cave and for us.
The most likely scenario is that the heirs will agree, once we have gated and are managing the cave, to have us continue. But there is another scenario, much less likely, that the heirs do not agree and the cave will then go to auction and sale. Mrs. Moore owns 1/2 share, 3 other heirs own 1/6 each.
We are now managing the cave. The management agreement has been signed by Mrs. Moore. Bill James will set up a plan for key availability.
ACC participation in the combined International Congress and NSS convention in Kerrville, TX, 19 - 26 July 2009 – John Wilson gave a brief description of the Congress and the benefits to the ACC of being visible there.
Notice of the election of four board members at the Annual meeting
Terms end in 2009: Terri Brown, Bill James, Emily Lachniet, and Mark Little
Hopefully all will stand for re-election. If not, please let us know as soon as possible.
Notice of the election of officers at the next board meeting
Vice President of Finance and Information Systems - John K. Matthews
Database report – Most email addresses are bad and need updating. John will formulate a plan to facilitate that. We have about 340 names in the database, only about 100 of the email addresses are good.
Membership report – there was a discussion as to how to best contact members.
Treasury
report – Expenses: $1000 for SERA/VAR, $126.59
for ACC banner, $277.93 for cave sign framing material, $152.39 for ladders for
Perkins Cave, leaving $1789. Income: $12 donation plus $90 from OTR new
memberships for grand total of $1879.12
Vice President of Cave Management - Bill James
There was a suggestion that we use a standard form for each group visiting each cave. This form would go to the Cave Manager who would then send it to Bill for filing and compilation of visitation numbers.
ACC stewardship caves – All is going well. Bill has talked to all Cave owners, spending a half hour to an hour with each, and giving each a SERA/VAR guidebook and T-shirt. We are now managing 6 caves.
Cave signs – Tony McGee
The signs will include the phone number to call for permission to enter the cave. Bill James will supply the numbers to Tony. The signs will also include our website, closed cave list site, etc.
John and Tony have 600 ft of framing and 1200 ft of rubber inserts for the signs. IT is stored in Tony’s basement. Tony suggests making standard size signs, since it will be easier if he can cut all the pieces at once. John Wilson and Tony discussed paper and lamination issues and decided that it can be done that way.
Perkins Cave map – Jason Lachniet
Nothing to report. No survey trips since the last meeting. All survey notes are at the field house as well as on CD at Jason’s.
Vice President of Development – Vacant
Legal Officer – Joel Stevenson – not in attendance.
SERA – VAR region meeting –
Don Feathers
Through recent donations we
are no longer in debt. VAR has been paid. SERA has not
but will be.
Motion
to approve the officer job description - Job
descriptions have been sent to the board by email.
Moved and seconded. Unanimous
agreement
Development of a plan and schedule for the construction of
the Gilley Cave Gate.
Tabled. Will be sent via email.
Suggested
Bylaw amendment Article VI Section 3 - Bylaw
was sent to the board by email.
Section 3: Standards for members of the Board of Directors. Members of the ACC board are expected to participate in the leadership and management of the Conservancy and/or provide support to the Conservancy through donations of personal effort or resources. Candidates for election to ACC Board of Directors should have sufficient knowledge, skills, and abilities to help advance the mission and program of the Conservancy. Each board member should continue his or education and improve his skills and abilities relevant to speleology, cave conservation and management
Suggested
Bylaw amendment Article VI Section 4 - Bylaw
was sent to the board by email.
Section 4:
Removal of a member from the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors may remove a member of the board upon
providing proper notice and a fair hearing for any of the following:
significant actions harmful to the conservancy, gross negligence in performance
of duties, or abandonment of position. Removal of a member of the Board of
Directors requires a two-thirds majority of the board members.
Suggested Bylaw amendment Article IV - Bylaw was sent to the board by email.
Article IV: Management
The affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by a Board of Directors which shall consist of:
1. The sixteen Directors elected by the members in accordance with Articles VI, VIII and IX of these bylaws
2. The Officers of the corporation as defined in Article VII and elected in accordance with Article VIII of these Bylaws.
Moved
and seconded to approve motions adopting Bylaw amendment Article VI Section 3,
Bylaw amendment Article VI Section 4, Bylaw amendment Article IV . Unanimous approval.
Motions to schedule the Gilley Cave gate construction and appropriate funds as required.
The budget will be proposed later in the spring
when we have a better idea of the cost. It may be an email vote.
Construction – March
28 will be the next Board of Directors meeting and will be held at Gary Fielden’s farm. Work on the gate will follow the meeting.
Motion to set a time table for having signs posted at appropriate ACC caves
Don Feathers stated the Scott County Blowing Hole should be a priority. John Wilson followed with a motion “Set a target date of December 1, 2009 to have signs placed at the ACC managed caves where appropriate”. Bill James seconded.
Approved unanimously.
Nominations
to the vacant officer positions - to be considered at the next meeting.
Date of the next annual
meeting 28 March 2009 Moved and
seconded. Approved unanimous.
Schedule the two additional
board meetings in 2009. July and October
Tony moved that dates be finalized at the Annual Meeting. Seconded and
approved unanimously
Approve a project in Perkins Cave in which James River Valley Grotto (Lynchburg, VA) may participate and support ACC.
The Grotto is looking for a project, but not to start before November. Don Feathers will be the contact for them.
Approve a general plan to have a committee headed by Roy
Powers develop a memorial kiosk for Charles Rice in Perkins Cave.
Roy has four people willing to make a donation for the memorial. Perkins was Charlie’s favorite cave. The memorial would be in cave. Their preference would be in the Humming Room. The description was a ceramic base with a plaque. John Wilson made a motion, which was seconded to approve the memorial. Don Feathers proposed an alternative motion, Ellen seconded. “ To approve the idea of Roy Powers developing a memorial in the cave, possibly within the Humming Room, subject to Board approval of the design”. The alternative motion was carried unanimously.
Gary Fielden will be the contact person for Roy.
ACC Life Membership – Don Feathers brought up a discussion of the SERA/VAR donations and life membership in the ACC. Mark Little proposed a motion, seconded by John Wilson “To accept as ACC Life Members SERA/VAR donors Ted Durning, Tony McGee, Don Feathers, Bill James, John Matthews, and Becky Watson (who is the recipient designated by Gary Fielden, who is already a Life Member)” The motion was carried unanimously.
Gilley’s Gating project letters to heirs. Mark Little proposed a motion, seconded by Don Feathers. “John Wilson will draft a letter to the heirs of Mr. Moore concerning our plan to gate Gilley’s Cave”. These letters will then be given to Mrs. Moore for distribution to the other heirs. Approved.
Other improvements needed – John Wilson more stepping stones
in the pool for First Discovery passage
improvement.
Motion - Bill James will develop and accept the forms to visit ACC managed caves. John Matthews proposed an amendment to the motion – to add the words “upon review of the legal officer”. Amended motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Perkins Cave activities today
– Photo trip
Adjourn Perkins Cave
Management committee meeting