Meeting Minutes January 2019

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January 18th, 2019

Tukwila Community Center, Tukwila, Washington

Meeting Agenda of the Cascade Grotto

  • 23 Attendees: Daryl and Katt Greaser, Chris Larson, Ryan Maier, Chris Wittenbrink, Haley Maier, Paul Hill, Talon Swanson, Robert Mitchell, James Mooreshire, Caleb Lystad, Hailey Lystad and their 3 girls; Ivy Friedman, Brad Hutchinson, Choice Meyer, Eric Jorgenson, Tyrone Phillips, Julie Fortney, Elizabeth Betz, Maurice K.
  • Call to Order
  • Introductions (10 min)
  • Election Results:
    • Chair: Daryl Greaser
    • Vice Chair: Eric Jorgenson
    • Secretary: Chi Tran
    • Treasurer: Talon Swanson

PRESENTATION: YEAR END (BEGINNING?) WRAP_UP

  • Treasurer’s Report (Swanson)
    • (Inline below)
  • Secretary’s Report
    • Minutes from last meeting: 
      • Resolved:
        • $150 to the Wilsons for hosting the Holidays Party
        • $70 to Eric Jorgenson for building the grotto a squeeze box
        • Grotto will adopt the NSS Anti-Harassment policy now; will vote on formal ratification at the January meeting
        • Members will commit to buying at least 24 T-shirts from vendor (waiting on quote(s)
      • Action item: Need high-resolution scan of the logo
  • Old Business
    • Grotto T-Shirts ? (update) (Renato Dalle Mulle)
      • No response after repeated calls; we’ll look somewhere else. Anyone wanting to do this, PLEASE!
      • Chris Larson – will look into it; report next month
    • Website Update  (Greaser)
      • Informal poll results
        • Highest response: Events Listings/Grotto Calendar
        • Digital Library
        • Trip Reports/Photo submissions
        • Buy and Sell page
        • Directions to Caves / Locations
        • Links to NSS Resources – Vertical / Training
    • NSS Anti-Harassment Policy: (Greaser)
      • The NSS text is as follows:
        • This Anti-Harassment policy applies to all events sanctioned by the National Speleological Society. Internal organizations within the Society are independent organizations and may create their own policies. To remain compliant with the NSS Charter, they must also have in place an Anti-Harassment Policy, or agree to implement the NSS policy, or risk loss of association with the NSS.
        • The NSS is dedicated to providing a safe and harassment-free environment for our members and attendees at our events, on social media, and within our organization. We will not tolerate harassment in any form. Any attendee that violates this policy will be told to leave the event and may be subject to further disciplinary action at the discretion of the NSS Board of Governors, pursuant to Bylaw XI. B. Discipline of Members.
        • Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate sexual comments, inappropriate sexual behavior that warrants intervention, unwanted advances and touching, invasion of personal space in a sexual manner, deliberate intimidation, and unwelcome sexual advances. In addition, harassment includes unwanted verbal, physical, cyber, or aggressive behavior. If an incident of harassment is reported, the event staff, volunteers, or NSS representatives will take corrective action against any offenders at the time of the incident, ranging from verbal warnings to expulsion from the area and/or event and a referral of the offender to the NSS Board of Governors for consideration of discipline from the Society.
        • We value all of our members and attendees that come to caving events and want to ensure that safety and well-being of all participants is a top priority. Any person being harassed or witnessing another person being harassed should contact a staff member immediately. We will make every effort to assist and provide protection for our members and attendees.
        •  
  • New Business
    • Constitution, Bylaws, and Operating Policy Update: (Greaser)
      • Proposed Draft is published here: xxx
      • Will be emailed to all members for review
      • Will vote to ratify (by email and/or in person) following the February meeting.
    • Other New business?
  • Announcements
    • Renato Dalle Mulle will be going to visit Bill Halliday in Port Angeles, WA sometime in February. Contact him on Facebook or email him at: tubo_longo@yahoo.com
    • According to Larry McTigue, we ARE ALREADY a 501(c)3 non-profit!! Talon and Daryl are currently investigating what, if anything we need to do to maintain “active” status. Typically we don’t have to file taxes with less than $5000 in receipts!
  • Planning:
    • 70th Anniversary 2021!! Let’s start planning a CAVE CON!!
    •  
    • Programs
      • Need at least 4 people to volunteer to find a speaker or present a slide show, etc.
      • Dusty will do Lewis River Caves presentation
      •  

                        Training

  • Let’s set a goal of at least one basic SRT Training per quarter

                        Cave Con??

  • Beginner’s Trip (Spring)
    • Brad Hutchinson – “Lake Cave” 4/26-28
    • Beginner’s Trip (Summer)
      • James will lead
    • Beginner’s Trip (Fall)
    • Lewis River Horse Camp area caves by Dusty Goldscheider
    • Deadhorse Trip 5/11 -5/12
    • Wolff’s in May
    • Papoose in June – Daryl
    • Windy Cave Cave 3-day weekend in July
    • At cave vert practice SW WA (Wolffs, etc)
    • Vertical Training (Winter) (Dusty) 1/26??
    • James will do a Photo Trip
    • Eric will lead a Trip to Campbell River area
    •  Seattle Mountaineers Program Center… ?
    • February 23rd?
    • Caves near Concrete
    • Papoose in November
    •  
    • Cave Ridge every weekend in August
    •  
    • Vertical Training (Spring)
    •  
    • Vertical Training (Summer)
      • James will lead
    •  
    • Papoose (Spring)
    • Papoose (Summer)

2019 Treasurer’s Report

While the new year has officially only just begun, we wrapped up the fiscal year for the grotto on September 30, 2018, so I’ve already got some solid numbers to share with you as to the financial health of the grotto:

                                    Cash               Checking       Savings          PayPal                        Total

9/30/17 Ledger        $107.50          $775.53          $5,059.95       $69.12                        $6,012.10

9/30/18 Ledger        $231.50          $569.53          $5,100.42      $707.58          $6,609.03

Net Gain / (Loss)                                                                                                     $596.93

Overall, the grotto’s financial situation is looking much better than last year as we had a net gain of almost $600 for the year.  In comparison, last year we were looking at a net decrease in our financials of almost $200 from the year prior.  More impressive still, this gain comes at a time when our overall expenses have increased slightly as we have worked on revamping our website and have had to find a new hosting service.  Thankfully, other expenses, such as for the room rental at the Tukwila Community Center ($540), the Burien P.O. box ($108), and the holiday party ($100), continue to remain relatively steady otherwise.

One need look no further than the grotto’s increasing membership count to find the reason for this turn in good fortune.  In the past year, grotto membership has increased from 40 in 2017 to an astounding 86 in 2018.  Membership would be even higher had we managed to maintain all of our previous membership, but we did lose a few members to changes of location, changes of interest, etc.

Over the course of the 2017/2018 fiscal year, the membership brought in $1,443.33 in revenue (primarily in the form of membership dues, but also from things like donations at the new-caver event) with expenses totaling $846.40 for the year.  Of the members that paid membership dues during this time period, a full 42 of them paid via PayPal, proving the worth of accepting this form of payment despite the 4.4% cost that this incurs.

Looking forward to the 2018/2019 fiscal year, we can look forward to our expenses decreasing slightly (web hosting was paid for 3 years in advance) with our income set to fluctuate based on our membership.  Here’s to another great year for the Cascade Grotto!

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