NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING

178^th Regular Meeting

The Kings Inn
11245 Memorial Parkway SW
Huntsville, Alabama

March 21, 1998

The 178^th regular meeting of the NSS Board of Governors was held on Saturday, March 21, 1998, in Huntsville, Alabama. These minutes, when accompanied by corrections accepted by the Board, will constitute the official record of the meeting.

In the absence of President David Luckins, Executive Vice President Fred Wefer chaired the meeting. The meeting was called to order by Executive Vice President Fred Wefer at 9:12 am. Lee Stevens was present as Recording Secretary.

1. Roll Call, Announcement of Proxies, and Introductions

OFFICERS:

Fred L. Wefer, Executive Vice President
Douglas Medville, Administrative Vice President
G. Thomas Rea, Operations Vice President
Paul J. Stevens, Secretary-Treasurer

DIRECTORS:

Bob Addis
Nancy Aulenbach
Dave Belski
Bill Bussey
Linda Devine
Louise Hose
Ray Keeler
Bob Liebman
Gary Moss
Philip Moss
Ed Sira
Tom Strong

PROXIES:

Avis Van Swearingen for Linda Devine as noted
Cheryl S. Jones for Bill Bussey as noted

ABSENT: David E. Luckins, President

Vice President Wefer introduced Roger Haley, of the Huntsville Grotto, who welcomed everyone to Huntsville and outlined the schedule for the day.

2. Approval of the November 8, 1997 Board of Governors Meeting Minutes

P. Moss moved that the minutes of the November 8, 1997 meeting be approved as published. Seconded by Liebman.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

3. Officer’s Reports

A. President’s Report - David E. Luckins - Attachment A

On behalf of President Luckins, EVP Wefer requested the Director’s support with efforts to increase funding opportunities for the NSS.

Corrections to the President’s Report are as follows:

A. Page 8 – The heading "NSS Legal Committee" should be inserted before Mr. Carl Dworkin’s name at the bottom of the page.

B. Page 3 - Ray Keeler noted that the Ad Hoc Committee on Cave Fee Demos should not be disbanded at this time since the proposed agreement with the U.S. Forest Service has not been signed.

B. Executive Vice President’s Report - Fred L. Wefer - Attachment B

EVP Wefer reported that the 1996 SpeleoDigest is now available. He noted that plans are to publish one more volume before the 1998 NSS Convention and another volume before the end of the year.

C. Administrative Vice President’s Report - Douglas Medville -Attachment C

AVP Medville announced that the NSS now owns Tytoona Cave in Pennsylvania.

He also reported that the 1997 NSS Convention Committee had reimbursed themselves approximately $10,000 from the convention surplus for expenses they incurred for travel, meals and lodging in connection with hosting the 1997 NSS Convention in Missouri. A discussion of this expenditure ensued since prior convention committees had only received a $500 honorarium.

D. Operations Vice President’s Report - Tom Rea - Attachment D

OVP Rea reported that he had received a request for official NSS endorsement, before the April 1, 1998, publication of a book authored by Bert Webber on Oregon Caves. Tom said that there simply wasn’t enough time to review the book before that date since NSS endorsement requires Board approval. The general consensus was that NSS would review the book and stickers with the NSS endorsement could be placed in each book at a later date if endorsement is granted.

E. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report - Paul Stevens - Attachment E

Linda Devine arrived at the meeting at this point.

4. Other Reports

F. 1998 NSS Convention Committee Report – William Shrewsbury - oral

William reported that preparations were proceeding on schedule.

G. Internet Committee Report – Josh Abdulla - oral

Josh gave a Viewgraph presentation on the NSS’ new world wide web site.

H. Shelta Cave Report – Paul Meyer, Huntsville Grotto Conservation Chairman – oral

Paul gave a view graph presentation of the scientific studies currently being conducted by the Huntsville Grotto in Shelta Cave. (See Attachment H)

Old Business

5. NSS Convention Discount for New Members

Medville moved: Effective January 1, 1999, people joining the NSS for thefirst time shall receive a non-transferable, non-replaceable coupon entitling them to a one time, 30 percent reduction in the registration fee for an NSS Convention. Addis seconded.

P. Moss moved to amend, inserting "non-transferable, non-replaceable" before the word "coupon."

Accepted by unanimous consent.

VOTE on the amended motion:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Hose, Belski, Liebman

PASSED

New Business

6. NSS Personal Property Committee Chairman

Luckins moved: Mike Gunderloy of Seattle, Washington, is confirmed as Chairman of the NSS Personal Property Committee. Rea seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: None

Absent: Wefer PASSED

7. Awards Committee Chairman

Luckins moved: William Tozer of Pendleton, Indiana, is confirmed as Chairman of the Awards Committee. P. Moss seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

8. Closed Cave Data Base Committee

Medville moved: A Closed Cave Data Base Committee in the Department of the Administrative Vice President is created. This Committee will attempt to ascertain the extent to which caves in the U.S. are closed or have access limitations that reduce visitation. The Committee will obtain its information

by gathering and consolidating existing closed cave lists that are available to the caving community. For caves on such lists that are either closed or have access limitations, the Committee will analyze the reasons for closures, the extent of the closures, the means of closure, and other information available from such lists. The Committee will communicate with NSS Internal Organizations and other knowledgeable groups to maintain a current list. Information obtained by the Committee will be used for statistical and analytical purposes only and will not be used to create or publish a national closed cave list or to publish any cave locations. Bussey seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Strong, Belski, Hose

Abstaining: P. Moss

PASSED

9. Ralph W. Stone Grant

Wefer moved: Act 43-378 is amended to read: Pursuant to the agreement with the National Speleological Foundation, an annual grant, known as the Ralph W. Stone Research Grant, consisting of $1,500.00 $1,700.00 will be given to a graduate ... Rea seconded.

Addis moved to amend, deleting "$1,500.00" and inserting "$1,700.00."

Agreed to by unanimous consent.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

Suspend the Agenda

By unanimous consent, the Board agreed to suspend the agenda to consider the motions on the NSS Convention Surplus Restricted Fund and the 1998 Members Manual budget at this time.

10. NSS Convention Surplus Restricted Fund

Rea moved: Item 34, Convention Surplus Fund, from the Summer 1997 Board of Governors Meeting recorded as Act 18-598 is repealed. Surplus from the 1997 NSS Annual Convention is to be reflected in the 1998/99 NSS Operating Budget as 1997 NSS Convention Surplus income. Belski seconded.

Addis moved to substitute: "The implementation of Act 18-598, Convention Surplus Fund, be delayed until after the 1998 NSS Convention." Baker seconded.

VOTE on the motion to substitute:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: G. Moss, Rea, Strong, Belski, Hose

PASSED

VOTE on the substituted motion:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

11. Members Manual

Luckins moved: The 1998/99 NSS Operating budget is amended to add $10,000.00 to the 1998 Members Manual expense to facilitate printing of a 1998 edition. Liebman seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

Recess

EVP Wefer declared a recess for lunch and the closed meetings of the Directorate and the Board at 12:55 PM.

Reconvene

EVP Wefer reconvened the meeting at 3:10 PM. Director Bill Bussey was absent and seated later as noted. Cheryl S. Jones served as Bill’s proxy until he returned to the meeting.

12. Report of the Closed Session of the Directorate

Dave Belski, Chairman of the Directorate, reported that Fred Wefer had been elected President-elect.

13. Report of the Closed Session of the Board of Governors

EVP Fred Wefer reported that the recipients of Society Awards and Honors to be presented at the 1998 NSS Convention had been selected.

Suspend the Agenda

EVP Wefer asked if anyone objected to considering a motion by Stevens at this time to adjust the FY 97/98 budget to reflect what is being proposed for the FY 98/99 budget.

Agreed to by unanimous consent.

14. FY97/98 Budget

Stevens moved that the FY 97/98 NSS News budget be reduced by one twelfth (1/12) to reflect the decision to budget the May 1998 NSS News issue in the FY 98/99 NSS Operating Budget. Jones seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Medville

PASSED

15. Advertising Income

Wefer moved: ACT 80-178 is amended to read as follows:

The advertising income of the News shall accrue directly to the News account. Journal income from advertising and voluntary page charges shall accrue directly to the Journal account. The anticipated advertising income shall be shown as income in the Income Budget and also as outlay in the Operations Budget, for the respective committees. The relevant Operations Budget line items shall be ‘Advertising Income’ and ‘Printing less Advertising Income.’ The total Operations Budget for the committee reflects the amount the committee is authorized to spend during the fiscal year. Addis seconded.

Keeler moved to amend deleting: "The anticipated advertising income shall be shown as income in the Income Budget and also as outlay in the Operating Budget, for the respective committees. The relevant Operations Budget line items shall be ‘Advertising Income’ and ‘Printing less Advertising Income.’ P. Moss seconded.

Agreed to by unanimous consent.

Rea moved to amend, inserting the following as the last sentence: "The budgeted advertising income may not be more than the actual income from the previous year."

Jones seconded.

Moss moved to call the question.

VOTE to call the question:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: None

Abstaining: G. Moss

PASSED

VOTE to accept Rea’s amendment:

In favor: Sira, Liebman, Rea

Opposed: Rest

Abstaining: G. Moss

FAILED

VOTE on the motion as amended:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Rea

Abstaining: Aulenbach, G. Moss

PASSED

16. FY 98/99 NSS Operating Budget

Stevens moved the approval of the FY98/99 NSS Operating Budget, Enclosure 1 of the Secretary-Treasurer’s Report with the following changes:

Delete the note for "Convention Surpluses." (Page 3)

Increase the budget for the 1998 Members Manual to $20,000.00 with appropriate breakdown. Delete the "Note." (Page 8)

Decrease the budget for "Capital Accumulation" to $5,214.00. (Page 13)

Delete the lines "Printing less ad income" and "Advertising " from the ACA, Journal, and NSS News budgets. (Pages 7 and 8)

G. Moss seconded.

Keeler moved to amend the FY98/99 Operating Budget, President’s Budget, Executive Travel, page 6: delete "$4,000.00" and insert "$3,000.00." P. Moss seconded.

By unanimous consent, the agenda was suspended to consider the following motion by Tom Rea.

Rea moved to substitute: "Act 16-439 is amended to change Executive Travel from "$3,000.00" to "$4,000.000." Keeler seconded.

VOTE on the motion to substitute:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

Keeler then withdrew his proposed amendment.

Agreed to by unanimous consent.

VOTE on the FY98/99 NSS Operating Budget:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

17. FY 98/99 NSS Capital Budget

Stevens moved the approval of the FY98/99 NSS Capital Budget, Enclosure 2 of the Secretary-Treasurer’s Report. Hose seconded.

Hose moved to amend, delete the line item for The Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains from the FY98/99 NSS Capital Budget and request the Executive Vice President provide a report on this publication to the Board at the summer 1998 Board meeting. P. Moss seconded.

VOTE to amend:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Addis, Rea

Abstaining: G. Moss

PASSED

VOTE on the amended motion:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

18. Loans

Stevens moved: The Secretary-Treasurer is authorized to obtain a loan of no more than $25,000 at a rate not to exceed 2% over the prime rate for a period not to exceed three years.

Moss seconded.

VOTE: Unanimously in favor

PASSED

19. Sullivan Cave Purchase

Keeler moved: The NSS shall donate up to $5,000.00 from the Cave Acquisition Restricted Fund to the Indiana Karst Conservancy to assist the purchase of Sullivan Cave, Lawrence County, Indiana.

Liebman seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

20. Association Software Committee

Rea moved: The Association Software Committee is renamed the Office Automation Committee. Aulenbach seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

21. Criteria for NSS Cave Ownership

Medville moved: Appendix AK (Criteria for NSS Cave Ownership) is deleted.

Addis seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

22. Act 26-585

Medville moved: Act 26-585 is modified. The phrase "See Appendix AK" is changed to "See Appendix L." Sira seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

23. Referendum

Philip Moss moved: If fifty (50) regular or higher NSS members sign a petition requesting a referendum on an issue or issues then such referenda will be sent to the membership with the ballots for the next Director’s election.

Medville seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Hose, P.Moss, Medville

Opposed: Rest

FAILED

24. Cave Management Access Policy

Medville moved: Appendix Z (Outline for Writing a Cave Management Plan) is revised by substituting the following for paragraph 2 of the section describing Access Policy:

"Your management plan should reflect the fact that all Society cave properties should be managed in such a way as to minimize the Society’s liability in case of accidents. The management plan should state that NSS caves shall be managed in such ways as to qualify under state or local landowner liability exemption laws; to legally define unauthorized visitors as trespassers under local law, and to inform authorized visitors of the hazardous nature of the cave by requiring them to sign a liability release as directed by the Legal Committee." Sira seconded.

Addis moved to amend, inserting "as directed by the Legal Committee."

Accepted by unanimous consent.

VOTE on the amended motion:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

25. Section Status

Philip Moss moved: The Operations Vice President shall request The Internal Organizations Committee reconsider existing Sections of the NSS in terms of whether they might be more appropriately classed as Affinity Groups, i.e. the Speleophilatelic Section, the Underground Lighting Section, and the Arts and Letters Section. Medville seconded.

Bill Bussey returned to the meeting at this point.

VOTE:

In favor: Addis, Aulenbach, Keeler, Liebman, P.Moss

Opposed: Rest

Abstaining: Stevens

FAILED

26. Frequent Flyer Fund

Philip Moss moved: A Frequent Flyer Fund shall be established. The Fund Raising Committee shall solicit frequent flyer miles from the membership to make them available to members of the Board for the purpose of attending Board and/or Executive Committee meetings. Hose seconded.

Addis moved to refer to the Fundraising Committee for a report at the summer 1998 Board meeting. Liebman seconded.

VOTE on the motion to refer:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Sira, Bussey, Rea

REFERRED

27. Tytoona Cave Preserve

Medville moved: The Management Plan for the Tytoona Cave Preserve(Attachment C-1) is approved. Liebman seconded.

Moss moved to refer to the Administrative Vice President for further consideration.

Belski seconded.

VOTE on the motion to refer:

Unanimously in favor

REFERRED

28. NEW BUSINESS

Closed Cave Database Committee Chairman

Luckins moved that Bill Carr (NSS 15821) of Harrison, Ohio, is confirmed as Chairman of the Closed Cave Database Committee. Bussey seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

B. NSS Convention Surplus Restricted Fund

G. Moss moved that Act 18-598, Convention Surplus Restricted Fund, is amended as follows: Insert "A minimum of 25% of the" before the word "Convention" in the second sentence.

Bussey seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: Addis, Belski

Abstaining: Hose

PASSED

NSS Office Equipment

Stevens moved that the National Speleological Foundation transfer $11,404.00 from the Headquarters Trust Fund to the NSS to reimburse the Society for the cost incurred to improve NSS office computers.

Medville seconded.

VOTE:

Unanimously in favor

PASSED

D. Shelta Cave

Medville moved that the Huntsville Grotto is authorized on behalf of the NSS to develop plans to:

Improve the design of the Shelta Cave gate.

Reduce the NSS’s liability due to Shelta Cave visitation.

Prepare a proposal to federal or state agencies for funding a new Shelta Cave gate.

The Grotto shall provide a progress report to the NSS Board at the summer 1998 Board meeting.

Rea seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: None

Abstaining: Hose

PASSED

29. Suspension of the Agenda for General Discussion

Wefer moved: In accordance with Act 04-472, the agenda is suspended for informal discussion among all present for up to twenty minutes. P. Moss seconded.

VOTE to suspend the agenda:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: None

Abstaining: Keeler

PASSED

The following topics were discussed:

1. Conservation Grants - Keith Dunlap requested more information concerning the exclusion of cave gating projects from conservation grants. Doug Medville stated that conservation grants are intended for research purposes. He noted that if cave gating grants were allowed the NSS would be flooded with requests and the conservation grant fund would be quickly exhausted. Philip Mosss stated that the NSS often can’t act on these requests in a timely way. Kathy Welling asked if there was anything that prevented the Conservation Committee from deciding to fund gating projects as opposed to the other projects on which they currently make decisions? Kathy also recommended the use of Challenge Grants to stretch scarce conservation grant dollars.

2. 1997 NSS Convention Surplus - Kathy Welling urged the Board to aggressively pursue recovery of convention surplus money that was claimed as "expenses incurred" by the Missouri cavers for running the 1997 NSS Convention.

3. Area Code Change for Huntsville, Alabama - Bob Liebman noted that the telephone area code for the NSS Office changed on March 20, 1998 to (256). He suggested printing stickers showing the change for our current membership application brochures and other Society publications.

4. Reduced Cost Life Membership - Bob Liebman recommended that the Board investigate Bill Varnadoe’s suggestion to offer Life Membership at a reduced cost for NSS members over 50 years of age. Nancy Aulenbach volunteered to investigate further and report to the Board at the summer 1998 meeting.

5. NCRC Week-long Course - Butch Feldhaus announced that those Board members who desired to take the NCRC week-long course should let him know immediately so that slots that were held for Board members who are not going to use them could be offered to others.

30. Appreciation

Liebman moved: The NSS Board of Governors expresses its appreciation to the Huntsville Grotto for its warm, Southern hospitality and excellent meeting arrangements. Keeler seconded.

VOTE:

In favor: Rest

Opposed: None

Abstaining: P. Moss

Absent: Hose

PASSED

Adjourn

Wefer moved that the meeting be adjourned.

Agreed to by unanimous consent.

EVP Wefer declared the meeting adjourned at 6:08 PM.

Lee Stevens,
Recording Secretary

Addresses:

Bill Carr, Chairman
NSS Closed Cave Database Committee

212 Lyness Avenue
Harrison, Ohio 45030-1586
H: (513)367-5092
E-mail: robinhd@one.net

Mike Gunderloy, Chairman
NSS Personal Property Committee

1916 Pike Place, #12-1242
Seattle, WA 98101
H: (206)722-1937
Cell Ph: (206)618-8732
Sat. Ph: (888)420-9872

William F. Tozer, Chairman
NSS Awards Committee

9698 S County Road 150 W
Pendleton, Indiana 46064
Tel:(765)778-3259
E-mail: wtozer@aol.com