Meeting Minutes 11-6-09

Posted on Updated on by webmaster

NSS-CDS Board of Directors

Meeting Minutes

11/06/2009

  1. Call to order

Jeff Loflin called to order a regular meeting of the NSS-CDS Board of Directors at 6:06pm on 11/06/2009 in at the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando, Fl.

  1. Roll call

Bill Dunn conducted a roll call. The following directors were present: Forrest Wilson, Jeff Loflin, Bill Dunn, John Faircloth, Harry Averill, Tom McMillan and Frank Ohidy. Other persons in attendance: approximately 6 to 8 members were present – names not recorded.

  1. Approval of minutes from last meeting

Bill Dunn presented a written copy of the minutes from the last meeting and a written copy of the Board actions between meetings report. The minutes and the Actions between meetings report were both approved as presented by unanimous vote.

  1. Officers reports/Old Business
  2. Committees report by Frank Ohidy.: Kelly Jessop was selected as Chair of the Conservation Committee.
  3. Properties report by Frank Ohidy: Mill Creek Sink – Property report submitted to NSS. Everything OK. Cow Spring – Discussion of incident of trespassing at Cow. Member taking a non-member in.  School Sink – New guide system is working well, so far. General – Discussion of trespass at all CDS properties
  4. Treasurer’s Report by Tom McMillan: The Section has approximately $14,000 in the bank currently with approx. $6,000 in outstanding checks.
  5. Training Report by John Faircloth: Since the last BOD mtg., CDS Instructors have issued 42 certifications at various levels. The Training Director has also issued 1 training waiver during that period.
  6. Vice Chairman’s Report by Forrest Wilson: The section held another successful Missouri Mini-Workshop on 9/19 in Poplar Bluff, MO organized by Ed Pavey. We also sponsored successful Socials at Jackson Blue Spring on 10/9 organized by Edd Sorenson and a TAG Social near Summerville, GA. on 10/24 organized by Bill Dunn.
  7. Communications Report by Harry Averill: New website launched on October 22. In the 2 weeks since it was launched, it has had thousands of hits. Members email addresses: It turns out we have about 600 email addresses out of approx. 800 members. We need to try to get valid email addresses on as many of our remaining members as possible. Advertising: Current UWS advertisers were given banner ads on the new website as a thank you for their support of the section. “Drupal” software allows us to track viewing of these ads. Info collected shows that website ads are likely seen by 10 to 20 times the no. of viewers as print ads in UWS. Also the no. of “click throughs” from our website banner ads has been running over 3 times the industry average for banner ad response. We need to exploit the potential of banner advertising as a source of revenue. Polls: 33 members responded to a poll on the new website asking what was the primary reason they joined the CDS. Results were as follows: 18% said it was to get UWS; 21% said it was to get access to our dive sites; 61% said it was to support safety and conservation.
  8. Chairman’s Report by Jeff Loflin: The new online store is doing well. There has been approx. $4,000 in sales since it re-opened.
  9. New business
  10. Discussion of allowing the Administrative Mgr. to pay regular/recurring bills using automatic payments/debits. No decision.
  11. Discussion of the situation that there appear to be current members of the section who are not listed as members on our database.
  12. Discussion of hiring part-time temporary help for the Admin. Mgr. to assist with all aspect of the Admin. Office including checking and updating the membership database. No decision.
  13. Discussion of proposed steps at Cow Springs. We have received 2 quotes. First is approx. $1,200 for design and materials (no labor) from “Stairman?”. Second is approx $500 for design, materials, and possibly installation (not sure) from James McMichael. No decision.
  14. Discussion of membership perception of access to CDS dive sites.
  15. Motion to allow the North Florida Springs Alliance to use the copyrighted map of Madison Blue Spring as an image on a fund-raising T shirt for their organization. Motion approved unanimously.
  16. Motion to allow the Conservation Committee Chair to write a periodic column on cave conservation topics for inclusion in Underwater Speleology. Motion approved unanimously.
  17. Motion to give a partial years CDS membership to Tim Owens to correct a processing mistake and get his membership back in sync. Motion approved unanimously.
  18. Brief discussion of the size of the Banner ads on the CDS website.
  19. Brief discussion of when and where to hold the next BOD meeting. Next meeting to be held sometime in Feb. 2010, possibly at HECC.
  20. Adjournment

Jeff Loflin adjourned the meeting at 8:46pm.

Minutes submitted by:  Bill Dunn, Secretary