Minutes of WVAPSS Annual Meeting 6/14/02
The annual meeting of the West Virginia Association of Professional Soil Scientists was held at Smokey's Restaurant (Class VI River Runners) near Fayetteville, WV on June 14, 2002. The following members were in attendance; Larry Emerson, Ron Estepp, Stephanie Connolly, Jeff Skousen, John Sencindiver, Frank Tettenburn, Patrick Drohan, Jared Beard, Charles Delp, Katy McBride, B.J. Shoup, Rob Pate, Walter Winant, Mary Ellen Cook, Tony Jenkins, Beth Adams, Skip Bell. The following persons attended as guests; John Cook, Timmy Cook, Jim Kochenderfer, Teresa Huffman, Joy Drohan, Laura Bell, Steve Baker, Pamela Schmidt.
Before the business meeting , 2 speakers gave presentations. Jim Kochenderfer, a hydrologist with the US Forest Service gave a talk titled "The Relationship of Large Peakflows and Landuse in Central WV". Tony Jenkins, a soil scientist with USDA-NRCS presented "New River Gorge Characteristics and Recent Geomorphic Activity".
Business meeting
President Emerson called the meeting to order at 1:25 pm. He introduced those members who had joined in the past year.
S. Bell read the minutes of the most recent council meeting (5/9/02). There was no discussion. B. Adams made a motion to accept the minutes as read. J. Skousen seconded. Motion carried.
New Business
Treasurer's report
S. Bell presented the annual treasurer's report. It shows a balance of $1023.68 in the treasury. There was no discussion. The treasurer's report was accepted by acclamation.
Results of Election
L. Emerson announced the results of the 2002 election of officers. The newly elected officers are; Patrick Drohan-Vice President, Stephanie Connoly-Executive Council (Chairperson Ethics and Registration Committee), Skip Bell-Secretary-Treasurer.
Old Business
Committee chairmanships
R. Estepp reported on the results of his research of the WVAPSS Constitution regarding the appointment of standing committee members. Committee members will be appointed as needed by the committee chairperson.
Smithsonian project
P. Drohan spoke on the progress of the Smithsonian Soil Science Project. He discussed the roles of the primary stakeholders (SSSA, NRCS, USFS, NPS, Smithsonian). Plans for fund-raising were discussed. The first design meeting is going to be held in July, 2002.
WVAPSS Registry
S. Connoly will follow up on the work of W. Noll on updating the WVAPSS registry.
WVAPSS web site
There was a general discussion of the WVAPSS web site. Some members thought that it would be desirable for WVAPSS to have its own domain instead of being attached to Shepherd College's web site. P. Drohan and S. Connolly will investigate new possibilities.
Next executive council meeting
The next council meeting will be held at the USDA Service Center at Mt. Clare at 10:30 on August 8, 2002.
New President addresses members
L. Emerson passed the gavel to new President Ron Estepp. Ron thanked Larry for his leadership during the past year. Ron announced that his goals for WVAPSS were; 1) get the membership more involved in the newsletter; 2) address any problematic constitutional issues; and 3) support the Smithsonian project. Ron thanked T. Jenkins and J. Kochenderfer for their presentations.
The meeting adjourned about 2:00 pm. It was followed by a white water rafting trip on the New River. About 20 members and guests participated.
Respectfully submitted,
Skip Bell
Secretary-Treasurer