September 30, 2001 – Meeting Minutes

The 13th meeting of the Carroll Cave Conservancy convened at 1:00 p.m. at Truman Lake. The meeting was called to order by Rick Hines. Members were asked to sign the attendance sheet. The attendees were as follows:

Greg Buckley, Bill Copeland, Terry DeFraties, Travis Eastburn, Gerry Gattenby, Robert Gattenby, Carolyn Hartley, Michael Hartley, Peddgie Heinz, Kay Hines, Rick Hines, Kristin Kyle, Bill Pfantz, Kathy Sumner, Carl Wagner

Kathy Sumner summarized the minutes of the last meeting.

Rick Hines reported that there is $3,801.47 in the treasury.

News since the last meeting:
The silo has been dismantled and moved to the dig.

Kerry Rowland is now working on the air compressor.

Plans:
Blasting: Rick met at the dig site with Dr. Paul Worsey, Director of the Explosives Research Lab at the University of Missouri at Rolla.  Dr. Worsey discussed drilling 4 or 5 holes and blasting from the bottom up.  The possibility of moving the hole 30’ or 40’ northwest so there will be more room for debris to fall down the hole was discussed.  However, an attempt to blast in through the existing hole will be attempted first.

Dr. Worsey expressed concern that a 36” hole will not be big enough to work in.  Rick mocked up an area that size and it seemed workable.

The cost of blasting will be approximately $500 to $1,000.  There is a possibility that the dynamite maybe donated.  Dr. Worsey will handle the necessary permits and transportation of the explosives.

Daniel Schupbach (Journagan in Springfield) has offered to help with electric or pneumatic drills.

Work weekend at dig, Oct 6-7:  Projects are as follows:
Install breaker box and outlet panel, cut and weld hinges on tank door, weld tripod to top of tank over 9” hole, video the 9” hole (possibly with help of Jerry Vineyard), plans for installation of field phones (Kerry Rowland may purchase the phones), start drilling holes to prep for blasting, cleanup of old dig site.

Camping will be behind the schoolhouse.  Please contact Rick if you plan on attending Oct. 6-7.

New business:
Discussion of the need for a culvert or bridge to span the ditch near the schoolhouse.  Mike Hartley may be able to procure a culvert for that purpose.

Spring MVOR as Fundraiser for CCC:
CCC will be able to use www.MVOR.org (the MVG’s MVOR website) to promote the spring MVOR hosted by CCC.

Bill Copeland, Fundraising Committee Chairperson, reported that the date for CCC’s Spring MVOR is set for May 17-19, 2002. The site chosen is Bird Island on the Niangua River, near Eldridge and south of Camdenton.  Rick showed attendees photos of the Bird Island site.

MVOR Site:
Attendees discussed the practicality of using Bird Island as the site for the spring MVOR:

Points in favor:

The site has power, a stage, 5 showers (we need to confirm for certain they are all working), some “port-a-potties” already onsite, ice available for purchase onsite, river access for canoeing, owner operates the site primarily for concerts, etc. – so our type of event will not be something out of the ordinary for him.

Points not in favor:
A visit to the site after approximately 1 ½” of rain revealed mud puddles and soggy terrain as shown in the photos. Someone at the site said that it had flooded twice since they had been there (not quite a year).

Attendees discussed these issues at length:
Some members don’t think the site is large enough for up to 500 people to camp.  The owner told Bill Copeland and Eddie Simmons that more of the area will be mowed and they believe that will provide adequate space for everyone to camp.

Judging from the appearance of the site after 1 ½” of rain, some members believe that rain before or during the event will create too much mud causing vehicles to get stuck and need assistance.  Other members believe that muddy conditions and getting stuck in the mud is something that MVOR attendees are used to.

Members discussed the possibility of the site flooding to the point where attendees could not even get into the site from the beginning, which would require refunding all pre-paid entrance fees. Members agreed that for that reason, a backup site should be chosen, as well as backup plans for getting a stage and electricity, etc. to the backup site if needed.
 
There was discussion regarding whether some of the neighbors could be contacted to see if they would be willing to use their tractors to pull people’s vehicles out of the mud for a fee.  One member has heard that neighbors of Bird Island don’t like the fact that the owner is using the site to host “parties”.

Rick Hines requested that the written agreement with Bird Island should state that as a condition of payment, the site roads must be adequately graveled before the event.  Terry DeFraties (who visited the site with Rick) suggested specifically, the roads should be graveled from the boat ramp to the dumpsters and from the dumpsters up to the hill.  Rick further requested that the written agreement should state that as a condition of payment, the dumpster should be empty prior to the event.  Kathy Sumner suggested that the additional mowing the owner stated he would do should also be spelled out in the written agreement, again, as a condition of payment.  Rick requested that the written agreement specify that if these items are not taken care of before the event, the expense for having them done will be deducted from the payment to the Bird Island owner.  Bill asked for suggestions on someone to prepare the written agreement. Kathy Sumner volunteered to type the written agreement after these matters are further discussed with the owner.

Guidebook and Cave Trip Locations:
Bill reported that a preliminary list of caves for MVOR trips has been prepared and plans for the guidebook are underway. Help will be needed for talking to landowners, etc.

Food:
Bill reported that Chris St. George is on board for catering the Saturday evening banquet.  There are also plans for a Burrito Breakfast on Saturday morning that will need to be worked by CCC volunteers.

Band and entertainment for Saturday evening:
Bill reported that the plans are for the band to start playing at dinnertime on Saturday night and stop at  8:00 pm, to be followed by a guest speaker and a bonfire. Bill said the committee is looking for suggestions on a local bands to perform.  The committee is open to any type of music but would not prefer hardcore county/western.

Beer:
Pros and cons of the “bottomless beer cup” were discussed at length.  Bill’s research shows that  MVOR’s for the last 20 years have featured a bottomless beer cup and he feels strongly that it would not be wise to alter this tradition.  Some members were concerned that a bottomless beer cup would adversely effect beer profits and tend to encourage excess drinking.  Bill stated that the last Spring MVOR’s slim beer profits were more the result of using premium beer and offering the bottomless cup for too long a time.  He suggests using less expensive beer for the bottomless cup and limiting the bottomless beer cup serving time from 6 pm to midnight on Saturday night only.  The general consensus was that although we need to take steps to insure that the crowd does not get too drunk and rowdy, not offering the traditional bottomless beer cup might not be the best way to achieve that end.  Anyone wishing to purchase a bottomless beer cup will have their ID checked at registration and will be issued a nontransferable bracelet if they are of legal drinking age.

Security:
Most attendees agreed that security should be a three-step process:

1)    We will have approximately 4 suitable CCC members visible to the crowd wearing “MVOR Security T-Shirts”.  This MVOR security team will make every attempt to diplomatically gain compliance from any attendee or group of attendees exhibiting unacceptable behavior.
2)    We will have a uniformed “rent-a-cop” on duty at critical times.
3)    We will call the local law enforcement authority to eject any attendees who refuse to cease intolerable behavior.
Our policy on dealing with intolerable behavior will be spelled out to all attendees and volunteers prior to admission.

Volunteers needed:
Bill will provide Rick with a list of MVOR tasks needing volunteers and Rick will forward the list to CCC members.

The meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm.