GSM Board Minutes

 Geologic Society of Minnesota

 Board Meeting Minutes

 

October 20, 2011

  

Meeting called to order

  

The following GSM members were present: Dick Bottenberg (President), Allan Bowles (Secretary), Sherry Keesey (Treasurer), Harvey Thorliefson (Board Member), Doug Zbikowski, Theresa Tweet (Board Member), Alan Smith (Board Member), Dave Wilhelm.

 

 

 

Dick Bottenberg welcomed Dave Wilhelm to the meeting

  

Reviewed Agenda

 No additions were made to the agenda.

 

Review and approve minutes from the August 2011 Board Meeting

 The August meeting minutes were sent to Board members from the Secretary via e-mail for review.  Comments were provided and final minutes posted on the GSM website.  There were no changes or additions to the minutes.

  

Treasurers Report

 

Sherry presented the treasurers report which was accepted with the following corrections:

 1.      On the income statement, the $63.00 shown under member dues should be under Video Library

 2.      On the balance sheet, change the title to “Balance Sheet through September 30, 2011” (was May 31, 2011)

 

This report is the year-end report for the GSM’s fiscal year which runs from October through September.  The net income (loss) for the 2010/2011 fiscal year was ($876).

 

Sherry raised the question about needing additional authorized signatures for GSM’s Certificate of Deposit in our ING account. Dick provided the ING account authorized signer’s form which Sherry and Theresa signed to become authorized signers.  Dick remains a signer, but he will relinquish once a new President is elected in December.

 Budget Committee Report

 The Budget Committee consisting of Dick, Harvey, Ed, and Sherry met twice and presented a proposed budget that was organized to show 5 years of actuals and the proposed budget.  The following was discussed regarding some of the budgetary numbers:

 

Insurance - Do we need the insurance?  Ed had recommended that we keep the insurance to handle some unexpected accident. It was agreed to continue funding insurance for the GSM.

 

Telephone – Sherry was asked to investigate whether we are getting enough calls through the Minnesota Geologic Survey telephone fielded by Fran to justify this expense. 

 

Field trip expenses - We should make sure that GSM breaks even.

 

Outreach income - Doug donates any money coming to him from any rock boxes to GSM.

 

Video library income – people who use the video library pay a lifetime fee of $15 plus a $ 1 rental fee.

 

As the discussion did not change the proposed budget, it was recommended and seconded to accept the budget as presented.

 Internet Committee

 Harvey commented that the web site was in good shape with a few minor adjustments required.  Alan has done some web site housekeeping.

 Recognition Committee

 Theresa is still looking for help on the committee.  Dick asked if Dave could lend a hand.  This would give Theresa more time to work on donations for auction items.

 Marker Activity

 Doug noted there was no activity.  He commented that the GSM does have a commitment to spend $1000 to upgrade markers in the Minnehaha Falls Park.

 Field trips

 The San Andreas Fault field trip scheduled for the middle of April 2012 remains on plan.  Dick was tasked to ask Bill Robbins to update the Board on the latest plans and status.

 Programs and Lectures

 The GSM October 10^th Anne Bancroft talk held at the Minneapolis Convention Center was quite good.  This was part of the Geologic Society of America October Convention held in Minneapolis.

 

There was a question about how many people will attend the planned tour of UM’s Rock Magnetism Lab.  At the next lecture we will survey the audience to see how many will come. Harvey commented that this is an outstanding lab, one of the top Rock Magnetism labs in the world.  Dick will get in contact with Steve and Bill regarding the lab tour.

 Newsletter

 Harvey will send out the autumn newsletter in pdf format.  The autumn issue will list all new members.  The question was raised, “do we stress membership in the newsletter?  Dick commented that we need a plan for sending out the newsletter.  Harvey will send out hard copies Nov 15^th.

 

Membership

 The membership chairman, Darrel Mytty, has resigned his position due to the fact that he has taken a job out of state.   His wife, Faith, will get his membership list and files to us.  We thank Darrel for his 2 year tenure on the Board and wish him well in the new career. 

 

The board needs to find a new membership chairman.  Dick thinks that Ly Preece would consider taking over the position.  Dick will ask him.  A meeting to discuss membership issues is set for Nov 10^th  7:00 pm at the survey office.  Those planning/invited to attend includeDick, Sherry, Harvey, Alan, Ly Preece and Bill Robbins.

 

Public Service

Doug reviewed the successful history of the rock box program that provides these boxes to teachers as a classroom resource and noted that he has 20 rock boxes made up.  We are looking for a new Chair for this committee, and Theresa requested information from Doug regarding the ins and outs of this project.

State Fair

The board felt that the GSM State Fair booth was very well done and well received.  Congratulations to Joanie who did a nice job taking this project over.

History and Archives

Harvey is in the process of getting the GSM history scanned for the Minnesota Historical Society.

Leadership Position Status

Currently 7 of 9 GSM Board positions are filled (after Darrel Mytty’s resignation).  Two of these members are in their 4^th year on the Board and will retire this December.  Assuming that all remaining Board members remain on the Board, we will have 5 returning and will need to add 4.  One GSM member is considering joining the Board; additionally the Board would like to find a member of the Minnesota Geological Survey or the University of Minnesota Geology Department to join.  We also need to recruit a Newsletter Editor, Publicity Chair and Public Service Chair.

 

Web Site Questions/Support

Web site requests for information or presentations on geology topics can’t always be fulfilled.  Theresa felt she was doing OK with responses at the present.  Theresa has been sending some of the requests on to Jeff at Carleton College.

Research Report

Doug’s research paper relating seismic and volcanic events to polar drift is taking on new directions of investigation and is not ready for publishing.  He expressed concern about future volcanic activity around Mount Vesuvius in Italy.

 

The board has not completed the policy for publishing papers on the GSM web site.

New Business

The December board meeting is scheduled for December 3^rd and will be held at Ed and Sandy Steffner’s home.  It was moved and seconded that the GSM offer/give them $ 200 to help with some of the expenses of the Christmas party.

 

The meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted

 

Allan Bowles

 

GSM Board Secretary

 

  

 

 

 

 

Geologic Society of Minnesota

 

Board Meeting Minutes

 

 

August 18, 2011

 

 

Meeting called to order

 

 

The following GSM members were present: Dick Bottenberg (President), Allan Bowles (Secretary), Sherry Keesey (Treasurer), Harvey Thorliefson (Board Member), Doug Zbikowski, Theresa Tweet (Board Member), Steve Erickson, Alan Smith (Board Member).

 

 

Review and approve minutes from June Board Meeting

 

 

We reviewed and agreed on the minutes.  There were no comments or concerns and the minutes were approved. 

 

 

 

Review Agenda

 

 

 

The agenda for the evenings meeting was reviewed with no additions.

 

 

 

Treasurers Report

 

 

 

Sherry reported that nothing has changed in GSM’s Budget and Expenses.  Rick Uthe has made a $150 donation to GSM.  Rick is an honorary lifetime member of GSM.

 

 

 

There is still the discussion about whether to keep the Certificate of Deposits (CDs)  account with a Minnesota firm or with a large firm.  As the GSM Treasurer, Sherry has the responsibility to recommend which firm we use for our investments. 

 

The Budget team meeting is scheduled to meet next Monday at 6 pm. Their task is to develop a budget for the next GSM fiscal year (October 2011 through September 2012) and present it at the next board meeting.  Dick, Ed, Sherry and Harvey are the team members.

 

 

 

It was moved and seconded to accept treasurer’s  report and it was accepted. 

 

 

 

The Minnesota Geologic Survey supplied GSM with a Minnesota Geology Bedrock map to use at the State Fair.  It is a very nice map printed on substantial material with grommets for hanging.

 

 

 

 

 

Internet Committee

 

 

 

Harvey believes that the web site is doing well, and Alan and Bentley are doing a good job supporting the web site.

 

 

 

Recognition Committee

 

 

 

Theresa would like to have other people working with her on this committee allowing her more time to spend looking for donations for auction items. A discussion continued from last meeting regarding holding the recognition banquet every other year.  Theresa moved that we set the recognition banquet and auction for May 7 2013.

 

 

 

Dick discussed Steffners holding the Christmas party and how much of their own money they end up spending.  The question was raised about whether GSM should contribute $200 or so to cover their costs.  The budget committee was asked to address and make a recommendation.

 

 

 

Field Trips

 

 

 

Sherry attended the Upper Michigan field trip and thought it was  good field trip.  It covered parts of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and included copper mining, faults, and a mineral show at the end. 

 

 

 

Bill Robbins is working on San Andreas Fault field trip the middle of April 2012.  Steve recommended placing information about this field trip on the GSM web site.  Plans for this field trip should be in place by October.

 

 

 

Program, Lectures & Labs

 

 

 

Steve has finalized the schedule for GSM’s Seminars and Labs.  It is being printed up and will be available for distribution at the State Fair.  He brought up the point about our seminar meetings at the U of Minnesota and the fact that Washington Ave. will be closed to vehicle traffic.  People attending the lectures will find it more difficult get to the building.  Steve and Harvey plan to provide recommended driving routes in the Newsletter.  Steve also indicated that his fall work schedule will interfere with him attending lectures and therefore Dick will open up the lectures.

 

 

 

The GSM lecture for October 10^th is the Anne Bancroft talk.  It will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center and is sponsored by the Geological Society of America (GSA).  Admission is free.  Harvey will provide details on how to get into the Convention Center for the talk.

 

 

 

Geologic Society of America Convention

 

 

 

Harvey confirmed that the board of Geologic Society of America has agreed to provide a certain number of passes to our organization.  Each board member will receive one and each committee leader will receive one, and there will be a drawing for 3 additional passes at the fall banquet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newsletter

 

 

 

Harvey will have the newsletter finalized and out next week.  There was additional discussion about the option of e-mailing and/or mailing the newsletter.  The Board decided that we should e-mail the newsletter to as many members as possible in order to reduce the $500 per edition distribution costs.  Those who want to continue to receive via US Mail will need to so indicate when they renew their membership in the Fall.

 

 

 

Membership

 

 

 

Theresa asked about different levels of membership and the different levels were explained. 

 

 

 

Public Service

 

 

 

Doug is still looking for someone to fill this position.  This position entails outreach to the community including requests for people as speakers in classrooms.  Theresa requested a waiver for pictures.

 

 

 

Publicity

 

 

 

Doug met with Janine and explained his duties as he saw them.  Janine took notes and therefore has the information.

 

 

 

Doug has them made up State Fair Brochures and just needs someone to take them to Office Max or Kinko’s to be printed.  Last year they printed up 4500.   Theresa volunteered to take this into Office Max and take care of the printing. She will call Ed to see how many brochures he has left and she will print up the balance to provide 4500 brochures. Doug will e-mail a PDF to Theresa.  The schedule must be printed on heavier stock.  Anchor express will supply the paper.

 

 

 

History & Archives

 

 

 

Harvey will contact state historical about scanning the GSM historical archives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Business

 

 

 

Doug’s Research Report

 

 

 

Doug recently gave an 'Earthquakes' talk to some gifted and talented students and received a question from one of the parents in attendance.  The question was about volcanic eruptions and whether they responded like earthquakes do—to the forcing of equatorial-bulge migration, as it occurs under slow drift of the rotational pole.  Doug indicated that he and his mathematician have shown with various graphs that volcanic eruptions do seem to be controlled, in part, by the same spin dynamics of Earth.  This result supports the correlation observed between quakes and eruptions.

 

Doug's team plans to next evaluate the Icelandic history of accumulated equilibrium adjustments required under polar drift and its resulting seismic and volcanic events.

 

Doug wants to post his paper on the web site and the board is interested in posting it. Dick said he and Sherry would put together a policy for presentation at the next meeting.

 

 

 

Web site questions

 

 

 

Theresa is receiving many requests for speakers through the web site. She asked if we have enough volunteers to speak. Dick stated that we should consider changing our web site to not offer to provide speakers if we cannot provide them. We can make recommendations as to who to contact. There are several groups that can respond. AIPG, Women in Earth Sciences, MN Geologic Survey.

 

 

 

Nominating committee

 

 

 

GSM will need three board members plus committee heads for the publicity, public service, and newsletter.

 

 

 

Harvey will not be on the board because he has served 4 years.  Doug suggested that we fill Harvey’s position with another representative from the Minnesota Geologic Survey because of the contacts and help they provide.

 

 

 

The next scheduled board meeting is Thursday October 20^th.

 

 

 

The meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted

 

Allan Bowles

 

GSM Board Secretary

 

 

 

 

Geologic Society of Minnesota

 

Board Meeting Minutes

 

 

 

June 16, 2011

 

 

 

Meeting called to order

 

 

 

The following GSM members were present: Dick Bottenberg (President), Allan Bowles (Secretary), Sherry Keesey (Treasurer), Harvey Thorliefson (Board Member), Doug Zbikowski, Ed Steffner, Joan Furlong and SteveErickson.

 

 

 

 

 

We reviewed and agreed on the agenda.  There were no comments or concerns and the agenda was approved.  Dick questioned whether there was a board quorum – we did not a have a quorum, but decided to conduct the meeting.  Activities that require Board approval will be reviewed and acted on at the next Board meeting.

 

 

 

Reports

 

 

 

Treasurers Report

 

 

 

Sherry reported that we currently have about $ 10,000 in our account. Dick is working with Paul Jensen (former Treasurer) to transfer the Ing Direct Account which contains the GSM’s investment in Certificate of Deposits (CDs) over to Sherry’s control and is working with Paul to accomplish this.  There was discussion about whether to keep the account with a Minnesota firm or with a large firm.  The Board made no recommendation.  As the GSM Treasurer, Sherry has the responsibility to recommend which firm we use for our investments.  Currently GSM’s expenses are running ahead of income.  It was moved, seconded and passed to accept the treasures report.

 

 

 

Harvey proposed that a Budget team develop a budget for the next GSM fiscal year (October 2011 through September 2012) and present it at the August Board meeting. A four person budget team consisting of Sherry, Ed, Dick, Harvey was proposed, moved and accepted.

 

 

 

Sherry reported that the GSM was contacted via the GSM website and requested to pay a $30 check written to another party.  The check was not one of ours but one from another entity with initials similar our organization. Sherry will respond to the request and close this matter.

 

 

 

State Fair Report

 

 

 

Joan Furlong reported that she has contacted the volunteers and all preparations are on track for this year’s GSM State Fair Booth.  Joan provided background to the Board on the activities related to setting up, manning and tearing down the booth.  The major yearly costs are the State Fair booth fee and the printing of the brochures and lecture schedules.  The total yearly cost is ~$900 to $1100. 

 

Joan mentioned that there have been questions about the booth layout and signage.  Harvey brought up the question, “What attracts people to the booth?”  This resulted in a good discussion about the impact of signage and the reasons the GSM has a booth at the State Fair.  It was decided that after state fair we would ask for people to be on a committee to put forth ideas and recommendations for updating the booth.  We have left the option open to Joan to redo signage for the booth this year. 

 

 

 

Doug’s Report

 

 

 

Doug presented some graphs which show data supporting his hypothesis.  He is relating the occurrence (timing and location) of great earthquakes (M8.0 and above) to the movement (speed and acceleration) of Earth's rotational pole. 

 

 

 

He has hired a mathematician to help him.  In addition he has some other project benefactor.  Doug is very passionate about his paper and asked if GSM could provide some funding.  Dick indicated that it is too early to consider any funding for the project, however it could be considered by the Budget Team.  Doug thinks his report will be ready in about a month.

 

 

 

 

 

 To address the issue of whether GSM should post member publications on the GSM website, Sherry raised many discussion points with Dick in an email exchange.  She distributed copies of the exchange to everyone.  Doug presented a draft policy proposal that could serve as a starting point about which to add additional clauses or changes.

 

It was requested that any additional comments be sent to Dick and Sherry who will collate the comments and present at the next board meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

Internet Committee  

 

 

 

The Internet Committee had nothing to report, however, Harvey is going to schedule a meeting of the internet committee.

 

 

 

Recognition Committee

 

 

 

Dick reported that the Recognition Committee recommends that the GSM Auction and Recognition banquet be held semi-annually; with the next event to be held in January 2013 (there will not be an Auction/Recognition Banquet this January).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field Trips

 

 

 

Joan reported that 40 people attended the fossil collecting field trip to Cannon Falls.  The next trip is to upper Michigan.  Details are on the website.

 

 

 

Program Lectures and Labs

 

 

 

Steve presented next year’s schedule. The March 5^th and 19 lectures will be a mini-series on Climate change that Steve is working on with Don Shelby.  Discussed the current practice to pay labs a $250 fee and no changes were recommended. For the Oct. 10^th lecture the GSM will recommend attending the GSA lecture by Ann Bancroft (preeminent polar explorer).

 

 

 

Newsletter

 

 

 

The board discussed the proposal to e-mail newsletters to GSM members rather than send them via US mail.  Members would still have the option to receive newsletters via US mail if they so request.  Steve further recommended that during membership renewal all indicate how they want to receive their newsletter. This will be voted on at the next Board meeting.

 

 

 

There was discussion regarding plans to publish a Directory this year and the future of the Directory.  This will be an item for the Budget Team to discuss.

 

 

 

Membership

 

 

 

Darrel was not present – no report.

 

 

 

Public Service

 

 

 

Doug – nothing to report

 

 

 

Publicity

 

 

 

Janine and Allan – nothing to report

 

 

 

 

 

History and Archives

 

 

 

Steve and Harvey – nothing to report

 

 

 

Marker Committee

 

 

 

Ed and Doug – nothing to report

 

 

 

Old Business

 

 

 

Web Site Questions

 

 

 

Theresa is concerned about the ability of the GSM to respond to all the inquiries we receive via the GSM website.  The board will address at the next meeting.

 

 

 

Nominating

 

 

 

Dick expressed concern about filling positions for next year.  We all can be advocates for recruiting/selling and encouraging people to volunteer.

 

 

 

The meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted

 

Allan Bowles

 

GSM Board Secretary

 

 

 

Geologic Society of Minnesota

Board Meeting Minutes

 

April 21, 2011

 

Meeting called to order

 

Dick Bottenberg (President), Janine Atchison (Vice President), Allan Bowles (Secretary), Darryl Mytty (Membership Chairman), Sherry Keesey (Treasurer), Theresa Tweet (Board Member), Harvey Thorliefson (Board Member), Doug Zbikowski, Ed Steffner, Alan Smith (Board Member) were present.

 

Old Business

 

Responding To Web Site Questions

 

Theresa is the person from the GSM who coordinates a response to the questions received from the general public via the GSM website.  In general she thinks things are going OK.  She noted that schools are looking for an outreach person, someone to work with a group of students.  Doug has done this in the past.  He said to contact him and he provide contacts for questions about agates, opals, fossils.  It was suggested that any lapidary questions be sent to the mineral club.

 

Research Report

 

At the last meeting, Doug Zbikowski had requested putting his report on seismic activity on the web site.  Doug thinks his work is unique and would like to post it on the GSM web site. There was a question about legal concerns which Janine checked into.  She had checked with a couple of lawyers who responded that there should not be an issue with the GSM posting papers. Janine made the point that we should set up our own guide lines for accepting papers and that we may want to limit the number of papers we accept.  There was also discussion about reviewing papers before we put them on the GSM web site.  Harvey suggested that Doug post the paper on the internet with a link from the GSM web site.  The end result of the discussion was that Doug and Alan would work out the mechanics of placing the paper on the GSM web site and that Sherry will develop a tentative set of guidelines for posting papers on the web site by the next meeting June 16^th.

 

Discussion and reports

 

Treasurer’s report

 

Dick helped Sherry with the EXCEL spread sheet and report.  Sherry reviewed the balance sheet and income statement.  There was the following discussion: on the income side $364 was made on the fundraiser, the interest income was estimated, and total net income for the first six months of the GSM year (since 30 Sep 2010) is

($238).  Harvey moved that we accept the report and Alan seconded the motion. 

The report was approved.

 

Internet Committee

 

Alan and Harvey reported that the process to upload legacy newsletters is in good shape and he is getting close to posting on the GSM website.  Ly is working to post the missing board meeting minutes.

 

Recognition Committee

 

Theresa brought up two questions: 1. Do we want the recognition banquet every other

year and 2. Are people happy with holding the banquet in January? Ed said there are many things going on in January and maybe a different month would be better.  Janine is for every other year.  Teresa will come up with recommendations for the next meeting.  Dick agreed to remain on the committee.

 

Field Trips

 

Janine had attended the field trip meeting and reported on the meeting as Janet was not at

the board meeting.   Randy is working on a field trip to theKeewatinPeninsula in

Michiganfor one week Aug.6-12.  The trip will include a mineral show at the end of the

trip.  Randy also proposed a one day field trip to Cannon Falls and a trip to Crystal Cave. 

There was no discussion about the trip being planned to visit theSan Andreas Faultin the spring of 2012.

 

Program Lectures and Lab

 

Steve Erickson was not at the meeting, howeverHarveycommented that some of the

plans for co-sponsoring a lecture during the Geological Society of America’s conference inMinneapolisnext fall are still up in the air, but they are making progress on them.

 

Newsletter

 

Harveystated that the newsletter will come out May 15^th.  He needs articles by next

week.  There was a question about posting the newsletter on the web site.  Janine wants

the newsletter to be mailed as an incentive for membership.   It was suggested that we

take a look at making a digital newsletter, PDF format and e-mailing it to all members.

The next newsletter will be will be printed and mailed.

 

 

 

 

Membership

 

Darrel reported that the enrollment membership keeps trickling in.  He sent out about 60

postcards and has received 15 to 20 returns with money.  Membership for new members

runs to Sept. 30th 2012.  Current member’s membership runs Oct 1, 2011 through

Sept. 30, 2012.

 

Public Service

 

Doug has been explaining to Janine what his public service duties are and she will come

up with job write up. Doug gaveHarveythe jobs manual with the duties of each chair

person/officer.  He has some outreach programs going on with the Boy Scouts.  In addition he needs some GSM flyers to hand out.  We need these for the state fair.  They should be updated by June in order to be ready for the state fair.

 

Shows & Exhibits

 

Tom has been handling the organization and scheduling for the State Fair for many years and has now handed over the responsibility to Joan Furlong.  Tom and she will line up the people for the booth. There was discussion regarding upgrading the booth, but no specific actions.

 

 

History & Archives

 

The State Historical Society has requested all of GSM’s newsletters.  Harvey will request

a proposal from the State Library Services Division to scan all of the back issue

newsletters and make a hardcopy to provide to MN Historical Society.   Harvey moved

that we request support to scan the newsletters by the State Library Services division,

Alan seconded the motion and it was approved.

 

Marker committee

 

Doug stated that nothing is happening on Minnehaha Creek project.  Doug wants to be

relieved of the marker responsibilities.   Ed is questioning whether he wants to continue

to work on the marker committee.  Theresa had talked toDian Loeffler,NEMinneapolis

state representative to try to seek support for the marker project.   Diane Loeffler was pivotal to the GSM getting the Sesquicentennial funding to build 7 markers.  On the last attempt, the GSM had applied for Legacy funding from the Minnesota Historical Society.  We didn't get it.

 

 

 

 

 

New Business

 

Spring banquet

 

Dick will conduct a survey of the attendees to determine if the GSM membership is interested in receiving the newsletters via e-mail instead of via the US Post Office.  Janine will have new job descriptions to bring up.

 

Nominating committee

 

Dick pointed out that we have many positions that need to be filled:  publicity committee chairman, editor for the newsletter, public service committee chairman and 3 new board members. He suggested expanding the nominating committee by getting all of the board and officers involved. 

 

Other Discussion

 

Teresa had questions about adding links to the web site. Alan thought it was OK to add

links. A suggestion was made demonstrate the GSM website at the first fall meeting. 

It was suggested that Dick open our scheduled lectures before Steve introduces the speaker.  Dick could talk about upcoming events.  This would give other people such as Randy talk about field trips, things that people attending the lecture have some interest in.

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted

Allan Bowles

GSM Board Secretary

 

 

Geological Society of Minnesota

Board Meeting Minutes

 

February 17, 2011

 

Meeting called to order

Dick Bottenberg (President), Steve Erickson, Allan Bowles (Secretary), Harvey

Thorliefson (Board Member), Alan Smith (Board Member), Doug Zbikowski, Teresa

Tweet (Board Member) Ed Steffner, Darrell Mytty (Board Member), Ly Preece, Janine Atchison (Vice President) and Sherry Keesey (Treasurer) were present.

 

Treasurer’s Report

Dick and Sherry reported that the process of transferring the Treasurer’s responsibility to Sherry has started and is expected to be complete in the next few weeks.  A Treasurer’s report will be submitted when the process is complete.  Currently there is $ 4,437.66 in the GSM checking account.  Harvey offered to work with Sherry to develop a new reporting format similar to that used by the Society of State geologists.   Sherry would like to do this once she has taken over the Treasurer’s job.

 

Sherry gave a run down on the results of the auction and banquet. She deposited $641.60 into the GSM account.  Disbursements were on the order of $ 370.00 plus $ 22.58 for cake and ice, so once again the auction was a money making event. 

 

Internet Committee

Dick noted that the GSM web site does not have all of the minutes from the board meetings this year posted and most of the recent Newsletters are not posted.  Alan and Ly will look into this.

Alan stated that that he will need to pay some minor internet usage fees this month (~$5/year).

 

Recognition Committee

Teresa stated that the banquet went very well with around 45 people attending.  The rocks, maps, books and donated items all sold well and folks had a great time.  Teresa had cleaned up Steve Erickson’s agates and placed them in nice jars which helped them to sell. Steve reported that he is now out of rocks that had been donated to the GSM by former members. Teresa said that some members expressed a desire to not have the banquet in the middle of the winter.  There do not appear to be many other viable options; however the committee and the board will look at this suggestion.  Teresa sent out hand written thank you notes to all of the businesses who donated to the auction.

 

Marker Committee

Doug queried the State Historical Society who reports that the state’s grant cycle is in question for the near future.  Doug does not expect grants this year.  The committee was asked to review the Minnehaha Park marker project and determine options for what can be done this year.  The GSM received a $1000 donation a few years ago for this effort.

 

 

Field Trips

Janet H was not present.  There is serious discussion regarding a field trip taking in

the San Andres fault.  Bill Robbins has been talking back and forth with Dave Lynch

(Sherry’s brother) who would be the guide in California.  The field trip would be scheduled in the spring of 2012 to avoid the hot weather.  They would look at taking in other points of interest on the trip.

 

Program Lectures and Labs

Steve discussed the scheduled dates for next fall and spring and requested lecture topics from the board.  He is trying to schedule around the Geological Society of America’s (GSA) Minnesota Convention Oct. 9-12. Steve proposed that the fall lectures begin Sept. 12th with the last lecture Nov. 21^st. 

On behalf of the GSA Harvey proposed holding a joint GSM/GSA lecture on Oct 11^th at the convention center. Dick moved that we work with GSA to co-host the lecture and Steve seconded.  The motion enthusiastically passed. Steve will work with Harvey to determine the agenda and the lecture(s).

 

Labs

Steve has been discussion lab topics with Jeff Thole of Macalester College in his efforts to identify topics.  One of the suggestions for labs was to conduct a map lab, covering map reading such as topographic maps.  It was suggested that Steve check with St. Thomas’s Geology department and Steve agreed to do so.   

 

Newsletter

Harvey is leading effort on the newsletter and he proposed changing the front page format to draw attention to our history with photos from the past.  All agreed with his sample.  Dick pointed out that we will need an editor and Harvey pointed out that he is willing continue to be in charge of the newsletter for the short term.

 

 

Membership

Darrell reported that 70% of the members (204) have paid their membership fees for this year.  He is sending out post cards this week to remind the 30% of the members who are in arrears.

 

Public Service

Doug Z reported that he would like to retire as chair of this committee sometime this year.  As usual, Doug attended the annual MN Earth Science Teachers Conference on Feb. 1 where he passed out info on GSM and provided rock boxes.  Doug will represent the GSM at the Ramsey County Environmental Expo 22 Feb.

 

Publicity

Janine and Allan plan to meet with Doug Z to find out what he does so we can use this information to enlist a new chair for this committee.  Doug mentioned that he would put together a tick list of the Publicity Committee activities along with a timeline.

 

 

History and Archives

Harvey found someone within the state organization who is willing to scan GSM archives. 

There was discussion regarding making the documents searchable on the internet.  Steve E. has rescued old archives and there was a discussion regarding placing them in better boxes.  The

Minnesota State Historical Society is interested in taking the original GSM archives.

Dick pointed out that the Minnesota Historical Society has requested copies of the GSM newsletters from over the years.  Harvey asked that Dick forward the request and he will take care of it.

 

Old Business

 

Responding To Web Site Questions

Theresa said that she is receiving good support from various GSM members and from the Minnesota Survey in support of her effort’s to respond to the many questions the GSM receives from our web site.  She reports that there have been some very interesting requests for information.

 

 

Research Report

Doug Zbikowski is doing research on seismic activity and what drives seismic activity.  He has put together a 90 slide program and a paper and has requested the posting of his paper on the GSM Web Site.   There was a question about GSM criteria for accepting papers for posting on the GSM web site.  It was generally agreed that GSM should establish paper criteria which includes the board reviewing the paper.  Janine A will talk to attorneys about the legal aspects.  Allan is to check to see if there are some existing standards or criteria for other organizations.

 

New Business

Janine brought up the fact that 2013 is the 75^th anniversary of GSM and that we should somehow highlight our diamond anniversary that year.

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted
Allan Bowles
GSM Board Secretary

 

 

 

GSM Board Meeting
2010 June 17

Present:  Judy Hamiliton (Newsletter), Theresa Tweet (board member), Darrell Mytty (board member, Membership committee), Alan Smith (board member, Internet committee), Dick Bottenberg (President), Harvey Thorliefson (board member), Ly Preece (Secretary).

There is a quorum present.

Approval of minutes

March Minutes

The following corrections are required:

• Minutes not signed
• Washington misspelled
• Darrell misspelled
• Put both names, especially in motions

Harvey Thorliefson moved to approve the minutes, Darrell Mytty seconded the motion, and the motion was approved.

April Minutes

The following corrections are required:

• Judy listed twice in attendance.
• Darrell misspelled
• Under treasurer report, remove Harvey's name
• "CSM archive" should be "GSM archive"
• Put both names, especially in motions
• Correct numbering
• Remove note about Social Committee
• Minutes not signed

Ly Preece moved to approve the minutes, Harvey Thorliefson seconded the motion, and the motion was approved.

Judy says there's a white minutes book where Need to find minutes book and keep it up to date

Treasurer's Report

Presented by Dick B.

There is still $1500 earmarked for marker project for installing the final marker.  This has been delayed because the park is not ready to receive it.

Paul Jansen has retired from the position of Treasurer, and needs to be replaced.  Dick Bottenberg is currently performing the functions, but this is not tenable long-term. 

Theresa moved to accept the treasurer's report, Darrell Mytty seconded the motion, the motion was approved.

Public Service and Publicity

On Tuesday, Doug submitted proposal to Minnesota Historical Society Legacy Fund Grants, Dick and Harvey in attendance.  There were 7 proposals.  Met as a board with everyone present.  Proposal was not accepted this time, but we were encouraged to resubmit later.

State Fair

There will be a meeting Monday at Katy Paul's home at 7:00, called by Tom Schoenecker.

Katy says the State Fair Committee proposes that GSM pay the entrance fee to State Fair for people manning booth at State Fair.  Tom can get a discount, $8 instead of $10.  Will have about 72 people.  Judy Hamilton says this was done once before, but wasn't continued because it costs too much.

Dick Bottenberg moves that the GSM pays the entrance fees for members that staff the booth at the state fair.  There was no second to the motion.

Lectures

Dick Bottenberg provided the proposed schedule for the 2010-2011 lecture schedule, and suggested that the schedule needs to be approved so that the schedule can be printed up for the state fair.

It was note that the lab should be Nov. 13, not Nov. 14.

Dick Bottenberg moved to accept the schedule.  Ly Preece seconded the motion.  The motion was approved.

History and Archives

Harvey Thorliefson said there has been partial progress, and noted that Steve Erickson also has some archival material.

The archive committee has sent out a listing of archive contents in boxes #1 to #14 (but some numbers missing), and also a report done by archive committee in 1998.

Harvey suggested that some materials don't need to be maintained, such as Mn Geo Survey publications, which are not available public on website.

Harvey offered the Minnesota Geological Survey resources to organize and prepare for scanning the archive material of GSM at MGS.  Judy Hamilton offered to help.  Dick Bottenberg moved to accept the MGS offer. Darrell Mytty seconded the motion. The motion was approved.

Darrell Mytty said he has a box he received from Katy, but he doesn't know what's in it.

Harvey suggests coming up with policies for what should be in the archive.  General consensus.

Newsletter and Membership

Harvey Thorliefson would like to publicize the GSM and encourage people in the MN geology community to become members, as part of trying to build a larger geology community in MN.  This would include soliciting content for the GSM newsletter, and soliciting content for the MN Geology web site.  This would help promote MN's public image for the upcoming GSA 2011.

No motion made or needed, but the board enthusiastically supports Harvey's vision.

Field Trips

There was no discussion.

Social Committee

Theresa Tweet asked about scheduling the silent auction.  There seems to be no good time to schedule it.  We should have this listed on the lecture schedule, like the banquets, etc.

Dick Bottenberg moves to schedule the GSM banquet and silent auction for the 2nd or 3rd Sat in January. He'll check with Hopkins to see whether and when they're available. Harvey Thorliefson seconded the motion.  The motion was approved.

New Business

Theresa Tweet talked about the National Fossil Day, Wed. Oct 13.  She asked for a link on the web site to a MN park website with activities, but wants to verify with the rangers first.

Board discusses whether the GSM can leverage this for publicity.  Could Steve Erickson organize a fossil-based lab which could be promoted with local schools?

Theresa suggested a field trip to Lilydale directed towards kids.

Darrell Mytty asked whether the Science Museum has any related activities.

Dick Bottenberg said he will bring up the topic with Doug Zbikowski.

Adjournment

Dick Bottenberg moved to adjourn the meeting.  Alan Smith seconded the motion.  The motion was approved.

The meeting adjourned at 8:47.

Respectfully submitted by Ly Preece, Secretary.

Geological Society of Minnesota
Meeting Minutes: April 22, 2010

Present: Paul Jansen (board member), Theresa Tweet (board member), Ed Steffner , Doug Zbikowski, Darrell Mytty (board member), Janine Atchison (vice-president), Alan Bowles (board member), Janet Hopper (board member), Harvey Thorleifson (board member), Alan Smith (board member), Judy Hamilton (newsletter).

There is a quorum present.

1) Agenda: The agenda was presented to the members present and approved.

2) The Minutes for April were not available, therefore, were not voted on.

3) Committee Reports:

a) Treasurer: Paul Jansen presented his final treasury report- the checking account was doing well and the Savings Certificates mature mid-May.   It was restated that all money from the state grant for the markers project have been spent. However, there remains $2659.07 from the GSM $5,000.00 donation, (including the $1,000.00 set aside for the Minnehaha marker) which gives us our total of $2,659.07. Janine moved to accept the treasure’s report; Darrell seconds it. The motion was approved.

b) There was some friendly discussion on sales tax reimbursement. Paul stated that according to the history of the organization, that since the GSM is a tax exempt organization, with a tax exempt number, that GSM does not reimburse sales tax. Doug brought up the fact that sometimes there is a need to buy supplies and the tax exempt number is not available, and that since volunteers pay for their own gasoline and use their own time, that GSM volunteers should be authorized reimbursement of sales tax up to $10.00 “to facilitate efficient and practical use of volunteer time and energy.” This “friendly” amendment was accepted unanimously.

c) Paul restated his intent to resign as treasurer- Janine moved to accept his resignation; Theresa seconded the motion, the motion was approved unanimously- along with a profound Thanks to Paul for all of the fine work he did as treasurer.  Bill Robbins had sent out an email on and offered to send out a mass email to find a suitable replacement. Judy Hamilton offered to follow up with a note in the newsletter.

d) Public Service and Publicity – Doug would like to split this into two committees:

I.  Shows & Exhibits (Tom Schoenecker is doing this now with his organization of the GSM State fair Exhibit).

II.  History and Archives – Steve Erickson –

III.  Status of inventory of GSM archive. No action was taken at this time.

4) Committee: Doug Zbikowski  

Plans to complete the 2009 effort- Doug will get a final date (May 24 / 26) in which the Legacy Grant will be presented to the Minnesota Historical Society board and e-mail it to board members. This would give available members a chance to speak out in favor of the grant, and perhaps get it passed. We should be hearing something by the end of June as to whether it is accepted or not. It will be a couple of months before we hear about the new markers as well as the Interstate Park status.

5)  Field trips- Janet Hopper-Status of this summer’s field trips:
a) Colorado with Randy in June
b) Swampville with Randy August 14,
c) Dianne- Thunderbay (tentative).

6) Internet committee:
Harvey began with the history of the new website (mngeology.net) and its meager beginnings at a town hall meeting in Woodbury- organized by Kathy Ahlers. This town meeting made him aware of all of the other groups around the state who were interested in various aspects of geology. Harvey thought that it would be a great idea to reach out to these other groups and do pieces on them in the GSM newsletter regarding these other groups. Allan then discussed some of the positive purposes of the website such as the ease of sign-ups and cancelations for GSM field trips and events. Also discussed were issues that were not so positive which concerned group events, the chance for bogus sign-ups, and the need for login identification/passwords.

7) Social Committee (originally known as Recognition Committee).

8) Newsletter: Judy Hamilton

9) Membership: Katy Paul

a) Katy will publish the new membership directory and hand it out at the banquet on May 3rd Darrell Mytty will then take over.

10) Old Business: GSM involvement in 2001 GSA Convention. Dick is to be the liaison for this event. It will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center and will last for several days. There will be volunteer opportunities available to those interested with Harvey Thorleifson to keep us posted.

Meeting adjourned at 8:50- Respectfully- Theresa Tweet

Geological Society of Minnesota

Meeting Minutes: April 22, 2010

 

Present: Paul Jansen (board member), Theresa Tweet (board member), Ed Steffner , Doug Zbikowski, Darryl Mytty (board member), Janine Atchison (vice-president), Janet Hopper (board member), Alan Bowles (board member), Judy Hamilton (news-letter) , Janet Hopper (board member), Harvey Thorleifson (board member), Allan Smith (board member), Judy Hamilton (newsletter).

 

There is a quorum present.

 

1) Agenda: The agenda was presented to the members present and approved.

 

2) The Minutes for April were not available, therefore, were not voted on.

 

3) Committee Reports:

 

1. Treasurer: Paul Jansen presented his final treasury report- the checking account was doing well and the Savings Certificates mature mid-May.   It was restated that all money from the state grant for the markers project have been spent. However, there remains $2659.07 from the GSM $5,000.00 donation, (including the $1,000.00 set aside for the Minnehaha marker) which gives us our total of $2,659.07. Harvey Janine moved to accept the treasure’s report; Darrell seconds it. The motion was approved.

 

1. 2.    There was some friendly discussion on sales tax reimbursement. Paul stated that according to the history of the organization, that since the GSM is a tax exempt organization, with a tax exempt number, that GSM does not reimburse sales tax. Doug brought up the fact that sometimes there is a need to buy supplies and the tax exempt number is not available, and that since volunteers pay for their own gasoline and use their own time, that GSM volunteers should be authorized reimbursement of sales tax up to $10.00 “to facilitate efficient and practical use of volunteer time and energy.” This “friendly” amendment was accepted unanimously.

 

1. 3.    Paul restated his intent to resign as treasurer- Janine moved to accept his resignation; Theresa seconded the motion, the motion was approved unanimously- along with a profound Thanks to Paul for all of the fine work he did as treasurer.  Bill Robbins had sent out an email on and offered to send out a mass email to find a suitable replacement. Judy Hamilton offered to follow up with a note in the newsletter.

 

1. 4.    Public Service and Publicity – Doug would like to split this into two committees:

 

4.1.1.Shows & Exhibits (Tom Schoenecker is doing this now with his organization of the GSM State fair Exhibit).

4.1.2.History and Archives – Steve Erickson –

4.1.3.Status of inventory of CSM archive. No action was taken at this time.

4.1.4. Committee: Doug-

1. a.     Plans to complete the 2009 effort. Doug will get a final date (May 24 / 26) in which the Legacy Grant will be presented to the Minnesota Historical Society board and e-mail it to board members. This would give available members a chance to speak out in favor of the grant, and perhaps get it passed. We should be hearing something by the end of June as to whether it is accepted or not.
2. b.    It will be a couple of months before we hear about the new markers as well as the Interstate Park status.

 

         II.      Field trips- Janet-Status of this summer’s field trips:

a)    Colorado with Randy in June

b)   Swampville with Randy August 14,

c)    Dianne- Thunderbay (tentative).

 

     III.      Internet committee:

 Harvey began with the history of the new website (mngeology.net) and its meager beginnings at a town hall meeting in Woodbury- organized by Kathy Ahlers. This town meeting made him aware of all of the other groups around the state who were interested in various aspects of geology. Harvey thought that it would be a great idea to reach out to these other groups and do pieces on them in the GSM newsletter regarding these other groups. Allan then discussed some of the positive purposes of the website such as the ease of sign-ups and cancelations for GSM field trips and events. Also discussed were issues that were not so positive which concerned group events, the chance for bogus sign-ups, and the need for login identification/passwords.

 

   IIII. Social Committee (originally known as Recognition Committee).

 

1. 5.    Newsletter: Judy (4.III)

 

7.  Membership: Katy

Katy will publish the new membership directory and hand it out at the banquet on May 3^rd. Darrell will then take over.

 

1. 6.    Old Business: GSM involvement in 2001 GSA Convention. Dick to be liaison for this event. It will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center and will last for several days. There will be volunteer opportunities available and Harvey will keep us posted.

 

1. 7.    Meeting adjourned at 8:50

 

 

Present were Dick Bottenberg, Paul Jansen, Teresa Tweet, Janine, Ed Steffner, Alan B., Ly Preece, Janet Hopper, Steve Erickson, Harvey Thorliefson, Alan Smith.

 

Dick proposed an agenda for the meeting.  Steve moved to adopt it, Janine seconded, and the motion was appropved unanimously.

 

The following changes were proposes for the February meeting minutes:

 - Janet noted that Alan Smith is a board member, she is not.

 - Dick said that the note on color cost was not for color and that we would provide corrected information.

 - Paul mentioned that for the markers contractors, we sent out 1099s not W-2s.

Ly moved to accept the minutes with the proposed changes. Harvey seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

Treasurer's Report (Paul Jansen)

 

The GSM accounts contain $2659.07 which is restricted to markers program:  $1659.07 for the continuing markers program, and $1000.00 dedicated to the Minnehaha marker.  Total expenses were $16733.32.  There is currently $2983 in checking. 

 

The Ameriprise savings certificates will mature in May.

 

The recognition party net an income of $187 over expenses from the silent auction.

 

Generally, assets are holding constant over the last few years,.

 

Ed asked how donation to Duluth is accounted.  Paul didn't know, will look into it

 

Dick moved to accept the report, Janet seconded; passed unanimously

 

Dick asked to discuss whether the GSM should adopt a budget committee.  Paul (the current treasurer) approved of the idea, and Steve suggested the treasure shoud be the chair of the committee.  Ed volunteered to server on the committee.  Dick moved to re-establish budget committee with Paul and Ed serving.  Harvey seconded. The motion passed.

 

Paul suggested that GSM move to online banking.  You need a PIN to bank online, you need an ATM card to get a PIN.  Janine says debit card is invaluable, and that we should have a $200 limit, but also noted that whoever has the card is the gopher.  Steve agreed that a limit is necessary.  Paul said the ability to deposit at ATM's would also be useful.  Janine moved to adopt online banking with 2 debit cards, one for treasurer and one for president to designate. Daryl seconded.  The motion passed

 

Internet Committee 

 

No progress to report since previous month.  Agreed that the committee needs to draw up plans for allowing other organization to use the MNGeology pages.

 

Social Committee 

 

Dick asked whether the GSM should resurrect the Social Committee, which Steve E. and Don Swensrud used to lead.  The committed could handle the annual recognition party, cookie signups, the Christmas party, arranging the fall and spring banquets.  Ed says she and Sandy don't mind doing christmas party.  Ly suggested just renaming the Recognition Committed to the Social Committee.  Dick moved to disband the Recognition Committee, and to resurrect the Social Committee from members of Recognition Committee to take over the Recognition Committee duties.  Paul seconded, the motion passed.

 

Ed wants help with christmas party (especially invitations). 

 

Janine moved that the Social Committee is also responsibile for cookies, banquets, christmas party. Dick seconded, the motion passed

 

Marker Committee 

 

Ed will provide an electronic copy of report to secretary.

 

Janine said that the board needs to approve the legacy proposal tonight.  If there are issues, we can call an emergency board meeting to address.  Harvey asked whether there are differences from previous proposals, and are there risks that need explicit approval?  Ed said that the basic plan was approved by the board last December.  If review by state requires major changes, board will need to approve; minor changes can be handled without meeting.  Steve asked whether there is any financial risk to GSM.  Ed and Janine said No,  there is no matching from GSM as before, but review may ask for this, which would need board approval.  Janine moved that committee can proceed with the proposal if there are only minor changes, but major changes need to be approved by board.  Harvey moved instead that committee can proceed with submitting the proposal, but will provide the proposal to board, and board can intervene if required.  Alan seconded, the motion passed.

 

Janet asked about the sites for the Minnehaha Park marker. Ed said that Doug has already agreed on sites with parks, and suggests this project needs to be on the back burner until Legacy project is worked through.  Teresa agreed we need to do one thing at a time.  Ed will let donor know about board discussions.

 

Field Trip Committee 

 

Randy Stroebel is putting together field trip to Golden CO, tentatively Jun 13 through19.  He's looking for local guides, and may need to adjust dates.

 

Randy also planing trip to the Louisville Swamp, maybe Aug 14.  This needs to be before the Renaissance Festival.  He's also trying to get into quarry there, but no contacts yet.

 

Diane Lynch planning a field trip to Thunder Bay in Sept.

 

Janet asked for suggestions for May and July field trips.  Suggestions were Granite Falls, Pipestone, Prairie Couteau.  Steve E. suggests calling Jim Welsh at Gustavus.

 

We will announce the Colorado field trip on Monday Night.

 

Program, Lectures, Labs 

 

St. Anthony Labs - asked for Apr 24 (Sat) or 26 (Mon). 

 

Steve has not arranged any speakers for next year yet, but asked for suggestions for fall labs.  Teresa requests basic mineralogy.  Steve suggested it would be good to have a related Monday night lecture before the Saturday lab.  Steve suggested a follow up lab with rock identification, including minnesota rocks and stratigraphy.

 

Washington Ave.  Plans are to close Washing Ave to all but bus traffic from river to University.  Access to ramp will be on Harvard from south, or Church/Harvard from north  (Needs to keep access to hotel.)  Starting spring 2011.  St. Thomas may be an option but has parking problems.

 

Membership 

 

Katie wants to resign, needs a new chair.  Daryl may be interested, but needs to know what's the commitment.

 

Publicity and Public Service 

 

Doug would like someone to take publicy, will continue public service.  May not need to actually split committee, if someone will do publicity.  Publicity is mostly brochures for state fair.  Harvey suggests maybe Doug just needs help.  Steve said that by May 1 we should have schedule, then can start reworking brochure, and he (Steve) may be able to handle this.  We'd need a task list from Doug.

 

Shows and Exhibits 

 

Tom S. and Roger B. do state fair.  Daryl will consider helping.

 

History and Archives

 

Harvey will show archives to Steve after meeting.  Janet interested in helping.  Records should be scanned.

 

GSA 2011

 

The GSA 2011 convention will be at the Minneapolis convention center.  Harvey suggests GSM should be involved.  Could we staff a booth?  Could we be involved in the committees?  They need volunteers to help.  Board supports the idea. Steve, Daryl, Janine are interested in participating.  The GSA organizing committee is about 24 people, but there are subcommittees organizing right now.  Need to commit by Apr 27.  Also need link from MNGeology.

 

Dick moves to adjourn. Motion passed

 

Adjourned 9:20

 

Geological Society of Minnesota
Meeting Minutes
2010 February 12

PRESENT: Paul Jansen (treasurer), Theresa Tweet (board member), Bill Robbins, Ed Steffner, Darrell Mytty, Janine Atchison (vice president), Janet Hopper (board member), Alan Bowles, Harvey Thorliefson (board member), Dick Bottenberg (president), Ben Preece (secretary), Allan Smith.

There is a quorum present.

Agenda

The agenda was presented to the members present and approved.

Welcome and Introductions

Because this is the start of the new year, and because Darrell Mytty and Allan Bowles are being presented as candidates for the board, Dick asked all present to introduce themselves and discuss their interest in geology, the GSM, and the board of directors.

Dick reviewed the GSM structure, discussed the bylaws on the web site, including the officers and committees.  He asked that anyone on the board should take ownership for some aspect of the GSM activities.

Ed suggested that there is a need to reconstitute the Social Committee, and there was discussion whether the recognition committee could be subsumed into the social committee.

December Meeting Minutes

Dick said that Judy Hamilton pointed out an error in the previous meeting minutes.  The cost of color printing for the newsletter would be $300, not $400 as reported.

WIth the given correction, Janine moved to accept the previous meeting minutes; Harvey seconded the motion; there is no discussion; the motion passed with unanimous approval.

New Board Members

Dick nominated Allan Bowles to serve on the board of directors; Ly seconded the motion; there was no discussion; the motion passed with unanimous approval.

Dick nominated Darrell Mytty to serve on the board of directors; Alan seconded the motion; there was no discussion; the motion passed with unanimous approval.

Committee Reports

Treasurer

Paul Jansen presented the treasurer's report.

The GSM's Form 990-EZ has been filed with the IRS.  The due date is February 15.  Paul said that though the form is long, it's very self-explanatory.  There were no anomalies, difficulties, or other issues.

All monies from the state grant for the markers project have been spent. There remains $1659.07 from the $5000.00 set-aside.  Together with the $1000.00 set aside for the Minnehaha marker, this is $2659.07 in restricted funds.

All subcontractors for the marker projects have been sent their W-2s.

The two outstanding checks have been returned to the income side of the ledger.

Janine moved to accept treasure's report; Harvey seconded the motion.  Janine asked for a comparison report with previous years.  Paul said that this is done at the end of the fiscal year (October to September).  The motion to approve passed with unanimous approval.

Internet committee

Alan Smith and Dick discussed the reason for rewriting the GSM web site, including the need to allow other people besides Alan to update the site.

Dick, Ly, and Harvey discussed the townhall meeting and the need for a common geology resource web site.  Harvey reminded us the the Geological Society of America will be coming to Minnesota 2011 October, and the geology web site could be a large part of the impression Minnesota leaves with the visiting geologists.

Janine said she likes the new format for the GSM web site much better than the old.  Darrell suggested there should be captions on the field trip photos.

Harvey asked to have the old site completely taken down.  Allan Bowles suggested that the old site should stay up for a few more months, with a message saying it's being obsoleted, and a link to the new site.

Alan Smith showed how the board-only permissions work on the GSM web site, and asked whether there was a use for pages which only the board members could access.  Janine suggested minutes should not be public until approved.  Ed proposed instead that minutes should be available, but noted as not approved yet.

Janet asked for a way to put meeting dates on the web site calendars.

Ed asked for pages dedicated to each of the committees.  Janine agrees.  Ly asked whether the forums page may be the way to handle this.  Ed thinks not.  Janine says maybe but that would not be intuitive.  Dick said the forums are needed, however, as a way to get feedback from the organization's members.

Dick suggested that the "About this site" link on the GSM web site should say instead "About GSM".

Allan Bowles suggested that the site seems a bit complicated.  Harvey agrees we should not overcomplicate the site.

Harvey suggested that, instead of emailing minutes out, they should be posted to web site, and then an email should be sent with a link to the web page.

Recognition Committee

Janet reported on the recognition banquet.  She said it went well, with a turnout of 55 people, and suggested that may have been lowered a bit because January was not a good time.  Paul says he though turnout was good for a first time.  Theresa reported a profit from the banquet:  $692.80 revenue, $357.12 expenses, althougth there are still other items to be reconciled.

Dick says he thought it was a success, but asked the committee for a recommendation on whether to do this again next year.  Janet said she thinks we should.

Marker Committee

Ed reported that we will still need to spend another $400-$600 Interstate Park marker to place a boulder.  The money is available.  Dick asked Ed to get a report from Doug Z on whether  there are still more additional expenses to be expected.

The new project which the GSM submitted to the state last November was not considered because information was absent, and it came in after the deadline.  There will be an opportunity to resubmit the proposal sometime in March.  As structured, the proposal offloads much of the financial responsibility from Paul to Ed, but Ed will need authority to write checks.  Janine asks to join marker committee (saying she speaks fluent bureaucracy).  Dick asked the committee to visit Greta to make sure we know what she wants before resubmitting the proposal.  Ed agreed, but said she has not been available.

Janet aske about Minnehaha Falls project.  Ed did not think we should address another project until the current one is wrapped up, and we know the disposition of the new proposal, but agrees we still have an obligation to do Minnehaha when we have the opportunity.

Field Trip Committee

Janet reported that there will be a meeting of the Field Trip Committee on March 1 at Janet's house.

Programs and Lectures

Steve Erickson was not present.  Dick said this is the time of year to solicit suggestions and provide them to Steve.  Darrell mentioned a recent project of Mark Jirsa on PGE mining opportunities in Minnesota, and Harvey agreed that would be a good topic.

Newsletter

Judy Hamilton was not present.  Dick told all they should feel free to submit articles to Judy.

­Membership

Katy was not present.  There was no discussion.

Public Service

Doug Zbikowski was not present.  Dick mentioned our recent presence at MESTA.

Shows and Exhibits

Tom Schoennecker was not present.

History and Archives

Harvey has volunteered to help Steve inventory and update the GSM archives.  Janet suggested that some could be scanned and uploaded to the web site.

New Business

Ed said that quarterly meetings are too infrequent.  Janine agreed.  Dick said he thinks we should meet in March and April, then bimonthly afterwards.

Agreed that the 2010 board meeting schedule will be March 18, April 22, June 17, August 12, October 21, and a date in December to be decided closer to the time.

Paul moved to adjourn the meeting; Allan Bowles seconded the motion; the motion passed with unanimous approval.