[Texascavers] headquarters commission report
I have been maintaining a blissful ignorance of the whole business of relocating the NSS "headquarters." But somebody posted something on the Texas cavers' e-mail list pointing to the commission's report for the April BOG meeting and urging us to send opinions to the BOG. So here's one (that you will take for what it's worth since I don't really know what all has been going on for the last few years about this). There is a conspicuous lack of bottom line in all the options. How much would remodeling existing buildings cost? How much would it cost to build on the open-land options? Looks like a progress report, but nothing one can base any decisions on. I am impressed by the low cost of the rural land in the Mammoth Cave area. Around here (Austin, Texas), you'd be looking at $10,000+ an acre for large parcels of anything that can be built on. My five acres, worthless for agriculture, twenty miles from the middle of town, and on an unmaintained road, is assessed at $20,000 an acre. I keep hearing about a thousand-member drop over the last year. Is this a time to create a monument to the NSS or to hunker down and pay attention to business? I realize that the plan is to raise donations for whatever is bought or built, but what about future operating expenses? Do you plan to raise again as much as an endowment to cover things like utilities and repairs, or will that come out of (apparently decreasing) dues income? It looks to me like all the plans assume doing more than just increasing the amount of space available for existing NSS services. The Huntsville buildings are five to ten times as large as what we're presently getting by with. The discussions of the Kentucky options emphasize the proximity to tourists. Clearly plans for expansion include some public-outreach sort of things--a museum with displays and so on. Don't forget that that sort of thing comes with lots of expenses for additional staff, etc. There would be a great danger that the tail would end up wagging the dog, and the NSS would turn into a museum with a national association attached. That's exactly what happened to that American Cave Conservation Association. I recall when some BOG members were really worried that it would steal our members and our franchise as a nationwide cave-conservation organization, and it turned into nothing more than a musuem and show cave in Horse Cave, Kentucky. One advantage of the rural locations in Kentucky is that we wouldn't have to build more than we really needed immediately, provided, of course, that those NSS members with an edifice lust can be sat on. On the other hand, I suppose some excess space in the Huntspatch buildings could be rented out. -- Bill Mixon If a thing is not worth doing, it is not worth doing well. You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] headquarters commission report
I have been maintaining a blissful ignorance of the whole business of relocating the NSS "headquarters." But somebody posted something on the Texas cavers' e-mail list pointing to the commission's report for the April BOG meeting and urging us to send opinions to the BOG. So here's one (that you will take for what it's worth since I don't really know what all has been going on for the last few years about this). There is a conspicuous lack of bottom line in all the options. How much would remodeling existing buildings cost? How much would it cost to build on the open-land options? Looks like a progress report, but nothing one can base any decisions on. I am impressed by the low cost of the rural land in the Mammoth Cave area. Around here (Austin, Texas), you'd be looking at $10,000+ an acre for large parcels of anything that can be built on. My five acres, worthless for agriculture, twenty miles from the middle of town, and on an unmaintained road, is assessed at $20,000 an acre. I keep hearing about a thousand-member drop over the last year. Is this a time to create a monument to the NSS or to hunker down and pay attention to business? I realize that the plan is to raise donations for whatever is bought or built, but what about future operating expenses? Do you plan to raise again as much as an endowment to cover things like utilities and repairs, or will that come out of (apparently decreasing) dues income? It looks to me like all the plans assume doing more than just increasing the amount of space available for existing NSS services. The Huntsville buildings are five to ten times as large as what we're presently getting by with. The discussions of the Kentucky options emphasize the proximity to tourists. Clearly plans for expansion include some public-outreach sort of things--a museum with displays and so on. Don't forget that that sort of thing comes with lots of expenses for additional staff, etc. There would be a great danger that the tail would end up wagging the dog, and the NSS would turn into a museum with a national association attached. That's exactly what happened to that American Cave Conservation Association. I recall when some BOG members were really worried that it would steal our members and our franchise as a nationwide cave-conservation organization, and it turned into nothing more than a musuem and show cave in Horse Cave, Kentucky. One advantage of the rural locations in Kentucky is that we wouldn't have to build more than we really needed immediately, provided, of course, that those NSS members with an edifice lust can be sat on. On the other hand, I suppose some excess space in the Huntspatch buildings could be rented out. -- Bill Mixon If a thing is not worth doing, it is not worth doing well. You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
