Quote from Sara Booth on November 8, 2024, 2:20 pm

November 7, 2024

Presentation: None, Election of Officers

Meeting called to order by Chris @ 6:40. 

            Attendance: 17 in-person, 5 by Zoom

 

Trip reports:

Dave went to North Cave, hauled out lots of material but no breakthrough today.  Larry recently also went to North Cave and reported that the alternate route to the cave, while bumpy, was better than the road that had recently been graded.

Sara reported her, Olivia, and Henry went to Rushmore Cave as part of the “Haunting of Keystone” and got to experience the cave in a whole new way.

Rene went to the north zone of Wind Cave with Blaze and Theodore.

Larry went on a 3-day camp trip into Wind Cave with Rene, Adam, and Holly. They were attempting to find a connection to Persistence Cave. They were unsuccessful on this trip. Larry described it as “brutal”

 

Trip Planning:

An already full trip is planned to Sand Cave Nov 17. As grotto access to this privately owned cave has only recently been granted, a waiver is being created that all cavers will need to sign before entering the cave.

Rene is planning trips back to the north zone in Wind Cave for Thursday Nov 14 and Friday Dec 13. She’s planning 8-10 hour trips with about 1.5 hour travel time to the survey area.

Reed’s Cave is still closed to caving due to quarry activity. If and when it ever reopens is unknown.

An indoor Vertical Practice is planned for Sunday Dec 8, 2-5 pm at the Custer County Search and Rescue garage. Anyone interested in Frog-System, Single Rope Technique (SRT) is welcome to attend. Please bring what vertical gear you have. If you have no gear, please come anyway. Gear can be resized and shared. Questions and RSVPs to Sara.

 

Business:

• Dan gave a monthly report on Forest Service cave management. In August, the Forest Service renewed the cave closure order with new caves added to the list. The list of caves is available on-line. Forest Service caves are closed generally from August 15 – May 31. Some caves are closed year-round. The closure order says caves are closed to the “general recreating public” but makes exception for members of the NSS and members of the grotto working with the Forest Service. The parameters of this exception agreement are still being finalized.

The Forest Service caving permit process is also being revised so the permit requests are reviewed locally by Dan rather than the regional personnel that previously reviewed them for approval.

Dan has been “ground checking” data points on Forest Service caves revealed by Lidar. He is working on this with Karl Emmanuel. He reports only about a dozen data points have been checked off the list of data points needing confirmed.

Dan plans to report on Forest Service cave management monthly as a line-item on the grotto meeting agenda.

• Grotto memberships have come due. Annual dues remain $12. Paying for memberships using the Grotto’s new website is still glitchy. Payment can be made through PayPal by sending payment to paypal@pahasapagrotto.org. Payment is also possible at any meeting using cash or check.

 

Treasurer’s Report:

Dave reports the Grotto has a combined total of $7,484 in checking and savings.

 

Election of Officers:

Discussion ensued to outline the job duties of the grotto officers.

Expectations: officers must be members of NSS and current on dues to the Grotto. All positions are one-year terms that begin in January.
Job Duties (list not exhaustive and includes Other Duties as Assigned)
Chairperson: Prepares agenda and runs the monthly meetings; Represents the Grotto to media and landowners
Vice-Chair: Support chairperson; Arrange monthly presentations; Arrange meeting locations.
Secretary: Take meeting minutes and make minutes available to grotto membership; Maintain email list of members.
Treasurer: Monitor bank balances; Report monetary activity to grotto officers and members; Advise on grotto spending; File annual financial reports to NSS and IRS, as required.

Kristina was nominated for the position of chairperson, unopposed, and was unanimously elected to the position of chairperson.
Larry and Rene were both nominated for the position of vice-chair. Larry declined the nomination; Rene was unanimously elected to the position of vice-chairperson.
There were no nominations for the position of secretary. Sara agreed to continue the position for another year.
Jordan was nominated for the position of treasurer, unopposed, and was unanimously elected to the position of treasurer.

New slate of officers for 2025
Chairperson – Kristina
Vice-Chair – Rene
Secretary - Sara
Treasurer – Jordan

Next meeting Dec 5, 6:30 at Mangiamo’s Pizza in Hill City or by Zoom

Adjourned at 7:50 pm