RASS Record

1st Qtr, 2015

The RASS Record is to note, record, summarize and highlight significant plans, actions, achievements, elections,
events, awards, occasions and undertakings. The Record does not replace Board meeting minutes, but is intended
to make RASS information more widely available to the membership and improve the corporate memory. This will
be an occasional publication, perhaps quarterly. It will be the responsibility of the RASS Historian.

The first General meeting of the year was held on the second Thursday and,
perhaps for that reason, had light attendance (15) and no visitors. Those
who didn't make it missed an interesting presentation by Stevan Biggers on
the Germany Valley Karst Survey that included a video of the discovery of
caves in Germany Valley. There was also a video of Cave Sim which has
been at the last several Conventions. Margot collected dues.
The January Board meeting was held on the 15th at Kristen's and was
attended by eleven directors and one guest, Glen Todd. The first order of
business was the election of officers:
Chairman:
Rich Geisler was re-elected
President:
Jason Hart was re-elected
Vice President: Jeff Benford was re-elected
Treasurer:
Garrie Denson was re-elected
Secretary:
Kristen Taylor was elected. She replaces Jeanne
London who had served faithfully as Secretary for eight years.
Many of the other items discussed will be taken up at the Retreat in
February.
The February General meeting was held on a seriously (for Richmond) cold
night, but there was a good turnout of mature members, and two guests,
Pete from Williamsburg and Brian from Mechanicsville. In all there were
just under thirty in attendance. No one reported having been caving. The
program was watching the video on the forthcoming Missouri Convention.
It appeared that a whole lot of work had gone into making the video and it
was well received. Members were encouraged to attend the Convention.
On a cold and inclement Saturday, 21 February the Board of Directors met
for their February meeting and the annual Retreat at the home of Ted and
Cheryl Kayes. All officers and directors attended and Glen Todd was the sole
guest. As you will see from the matters discussed, it was a very full day:
1. Committee Chairs report on activities
2. Set RASS goals 2015
a. Conservation
b. Education
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c. Membership
d. Field Station
3. Review 2014 meeting/event attendance
4. Virginia Region support/attendance at the VAR meetings
5. Review RASS dues
6 a. Review 2014 budget results b. Create 2015 budget 7. Set 2015 calendar
The Chairman, Rich Geisler, chairs all Regular and Board meetings, but
the Retreat is chaired by the President, Jason Hart. All members are invited
to attend Board meetings and the Retreat. The reports and discussions
during the Retreat were wide ranging and most were informative. While
perhaps fewer firm goals were set at the meeting than might have been
hoped for, there will likely see a number of changes throughout the year as a
result of the meeting.
The Field Station is a special resource of RASS and received a
commensurate amount of consideration. The use of the Field Station by
other caving or conservation organizations can only be authorized by a
majority vote of the RASS Board of Directors after a written application has
been received. It is intended that the road into the Field Station will be
graded this year and the notice board at the entrance will be upgraded to
protect notices from the weather. Improving existing electrical service will
be examined and possibly undertaken this year.
Garrie Denson's Treasurer's report showed that the much admired fire
place at the pavilion was the only capital expense during 2014. RASS also
contributed a very important $50,000 matching grant to the National
Speleological Society during 2014 and enabled the NSS to raise in excess of
$100,000 during the Convention. RASS continues to be in a very sound
financial condition. No capital expenditures or large donations have been
budgeted or are planned for this year.
RASS shall undertake to increase its financial support to local
conservation activities, particularly in Virginia and West Virginia. Members
are encouraged to identify conservation projects that may be suitable for
RASS to undertake. RASS shall continue to provide stipends for members
attending the NSS Convention and various NCRC training programs. The
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2014 by-law changes slightly tightened the rules to qualify for such stipends.
The road side cleanups will continue during the spring and fall.
The Board will endeavor to have a RASS Board member at all of the
Virginia Region meetings; members attending VARs are encouraged to take
time Sunday mornings to attend the business meeting.
The current RASS dues arrangements are far more complex than can
be justified and do too little to encourage membership in the National
Speleological Society. A report will be provided on the attendance at
meetings and events.
The annual Calendar, which will be available on the RASS website
before you read this, reflects the prospective dates of 2015 RASS events and
the published dates of other caving oriented events and activities. The
RASS' dates are subject to change and such changes will be posted as soon
as possible.
Members identifying possible RASS website glitches can and should
notify the webmaster, Garrie Denson, directly. There is a link at the bottom
of the web page.
The March General meeting was cancelled because of snow and freezing
rain. Notification of the cancellation was sent out by e mail, posted on the
website and members were encouraged to tell others who might not have
gotten the word. It turned out that 7 o'clock was about when the Richmond
roads were at their worst.
The March Board meeting was held on the 12th at the home of Bob
and Patty Barns. Three directors were unable to attend due to other
commitments, but there was still a quorum and Patty Barns was the proxy
for Jason.
There was extensive discussion on what the new dues schedule should
look like and how much weight should be given to encouraging membership
in the NSS. The new schedule, when approved, will not be effective until the
2016 dues. In the end the subject was referred to a committee of Margot,
Jane and Ted.
The need to make the field station available to other organizations for
scientific and caving purposes was discussed. It was agreed that there was
no desire to use the property as a source of income, but it would be
reasonable to charge some amount of rent in many circumstances. This
subject was also tabled to a later meeting.
Summaries of Board meetings are just that. For more detailed information about what was
discussed and what transpired, I would refer you to the minutes which are produced by Kristen.]
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