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Board of Directors
Heberling Associates
Alexandria, PA
September 27, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 1:40 p.m. with President, Paul Raber presiding.
A quorum was present. Attendance attached (1 proxy)
The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as distributed on a motion
by Amanda Valko, seconded by Paul Cowin. PASSED
Treasurer’s Report—a written report Ed Dlutowski, seconded by
Amanda Valko, accepted the report on a motionaccepted on a motion by Ed Dlutowski,
seconded by Amanda Valko. PASSED
Old Business
Financial Discussion:
Treasurer’s Bond a notification of an increase in the Treasurer’s
bond with audit restrictions was received by the Society. In lieu of
the insurance, the Society accepted a personal bond from the Treasurer.
A $10,000 bond will be held by the Secretary as security for the integrity
of the Treasurer’s office. The Board of Directors witnessed the transfer
and a receipt was issued.
Elmer Erb Permanent Fund reorganization has advanced with the
transfer of records. The Board was informed that the life membership
(74) have been remitted to the general fund and the remainder of the Certificate
of Deposit has been rolled over into a CD bearing 1.3% interest with no withdrawal
penalty. A formal report will be given after transfer is complete.
The death of Robert Bonnage, life member was reported.
Grants—Final expenditures for the current grant funds will be
for printing of the Discover and Preserve brochure, new membership forms,
bulk mailing envelopes and Society stationery with the remainder to fund
postage. The grant password needs to be exchanged by responsible parties.
The current new$5,000 PHMC grant will involve National Register sites.
A committee was formed to work on the site reports for National Register.
Members of this committee are as follows: Verna Cowin, Brian Fritz, Dick
and Donna George, Philip Perazio and Paul Raber with Kurt Carr advising.
Pennsylvania Archaeologist Status/Special Publications-A
written report was sent by Editor Joe Baker outlining the status of the publication
schedule. The PA Archaeologist is three issues in arrears. This
is seriously affecting the membership numbers for 2003 and renewals for 2004.
The board feels that this must be resolved immediately to halt the decrease
in Membership. If possible, all three volumes should be mailed at once
with an apology letter. The bundled mailing will be more economical
for postage fees and will bring the issues up to date. Substituting
the special publication being edited by Dick George and Bill Tippins is a
possibility as well as an issue containing PAC papers. The PAC issue
is least desirable since PAC has their own publication vehicle and many PAC
members are not SPA members. After a lengthy discussion to identify
and resolve the problem, it was decided to meet with the Editor to outline
expectations. Paul Raber, Verna Cowin, Edmund Dlutowski will arrange
a meeting with Joe Baker. The meeting will:
- Outline and document the problems resulting from publication
delays
- Examine and define the current procedures, i.e. editors, vendors,
turn-around-time
- Outline and document solutions, i.e. guest editors, new printers,
etc. on an acceptable schedule to resolve the delinquent journal issues and
membership decline
Collections and Curation Committee—Steve Warfel has completed
the “Discover and Preserve” brochure to promote proper recording of artifacts
and collections and to encourage donations of collections to proper repositories.
Copies of the brochure were available to the board and chapters. A
supply will be housed at the SPA archives at the State Museum. Contact
Steve for additional copies.
The Board of Directors would like to thank Steve for the completion
of this informative brochure, which will serve as an excellent tool for collections.
The brochure is extremely well done and we are grateful for the time and
effort involved.
SPA Website—Brian Fritz is the web-master for the new SPA website
which is on-line at www.PennsylvaniaArchaeology.com.
The discussion of content is open to all members. The site will be
refined as information allows. The site will be a working site for
Society business with chapter report, awards, and membership forms available
on-line. The site will also be a public forum for information about
the society and its activities. All chapters are invited to submit
announcements and comment on content. Since the Pennsylvania list of CRM
providers is on the state website, they will be included on the SPA site.
This is not a recommendation or endorsement. Brian has also expressed the
need for someone to audit the website for appropriateness before each annual
meeting and report to the web-master and the board. A motion
to do an annual website audit was entered by Noel Strattan, seconded by Verna
Cowin. PASSED It was decided that the board will ask Mark McConaughey
to perform this audit.
The domain information and passwords were deposited with the Secretary.
Domain fees were submitted to the Treasurer for payment.
Archaeology Month Planning—Amanda Valko submitted an outline
of guidelines for Archaeology Month. The Secretary will help to add
the needed numbers and details for the guidelines. The guidelines will
be universal so they can be passed to anyone responsible for the Planning.
A finished product will be made available.
It was noted that again the Archaeology Month Website listed on the poster
is inactive. There is also an incorrect telephone number listed on
the poster. It was decided that PAC should be contacted to ask them
to discontinue the site if it is not being maintained and if the SPA has
no access to it for editing and updating. The president will directly
contact the PAC president on this issue.
2004 is the SPA’s year to produce the poster for Archaeology Month.
It was decided to return to the series theme that was started several years
ago. Ed Dlutowski and Jim Herbstritt will work on the poster on behalf
of the SPA.
PASS files/Issues Committee—Kurt Carr reported that the access
to the files is status quo as per the last discussion. The information
is not available on-line. If that changes, we will be notified.
Byrd-Leibhart Site—Paul Nevin reported that the debate continues
on permitting the site for development with a number of legal actions and
lawsuits pending.
The PASS file and Byrd Leibhart discussion centered on the interpretation
of the regulations, zoning, tax status and recorded sites protection of archaeological
resources in Pennsylvania. Outcomes seem subject to individual interpretation
by regulators, realtors, developers and townships. It was decided that
the SPA should join with PAC and other CRM organizations to ask the legislators
to repeal Act 70. Paul Raber will re-draft a letter for distribution
to the membership and chapters to send to their local respresentatives to
this end.
Commonwealth Archaeology Program—Doug McLearen’s report on the
CAP sites was published in the SPA Newsletter and well received. The
program needs help. Staffing cuts are diminishing the state’s ability
to do archaeology on endangered sites as well as necessary permitting survey
work. A site that will need help and volunteers is the Quaker Hill
Quarry Site in Lancaster County. Contact Doug McLearen for information
or to volunteer.
New Business
The SPA Board of Directors meeting usually held in conjunction with the ESAF
meeting will not be held this November. The board will conduct any
new or impending business by email or telephone.
ESAF update from representative Amanda Valko included meeting place and time
directing members to the website for registration and hotel information.
Amanda also asked for direction in handling the journals that are received
in exchanges. The Secretary also receives random exchange and sample
journals. The board decided to include these journals in the auction
at Annual Meeting.
Discussion for the Good of the Society
Pandy Yeakle recipient of a 2003 Archey Award has expressed her thanks for
the honor.
Edmund Dlutowski suggested that a new President’s notebook be made with all
appropriate information contained for conducting the business of the Society.
The Secretary will make copies of the records and policies of the Society
for this notebook. The notebook will be passed along to each succeeding
president.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy M. Duritsa
Secretary, SPA
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