To the Caving Community:
In the name of the TCMA Board, I would like to address what I
know has been the subject of much recent discussion in some quarters: the
decision to remove the second floor of the porch structure at the Deep and
Punkin Preserve, at a work day that will be scheduled at the site in April
or May.
The Board deliberated long and hard on this decision, given that
it undoes some work generously donated by some of Texas caving's most
enthusiastic supporters. As TCMA Vice-President Aron Wertheim has expressed
in an email: "The decision to remove the second floor portion of the porch
was not taken lightly, and it was voted on with heavy hearts and much
concern for everyone who has so generously donated their time, money,
materials, and sweat to get it to its current station." That I would like
to underscore and reiterate.
This unfortunate but necessary result points to some growing
pains within TCMA, as we learn long-term planning and management strategies
for our assets. We are slowly learning to deal with on-going financial
challenges (ones which continue), and to work with preserve managers to
guarantee that precious volunteer hours and donations do not go to waste.
The basic issue for the DP porch is that the project design got
ahead of the Board, and so there was no detailed oversight of the
construction -- proper plans were not exchanged between the volunteers and
Board, and the result was that the structure was never engineered to
standards that would answer to liability concerns. When the Board started
to discuss the ingenious porch structure that was taking shape, a number of
people thought its safety was the matter of a few work days and some more
material. That doesn’t seem to be the case, and so the Board voted to stop
any expenditures in that direction and to guarantee safety to the degree
possible, in light of the information gathered.
The Board reluctantly agreed that it would be cheaper in funds
to start over than to fix this ambitious but unfinished structure -- and at
the same time, we realized that it might cost us good will. Nonetheless, we
felt we had no other choice. Again, as Wertheim summarized:
Unfortunately, the TCMA, in analyzing the structure's potential costs and
our available resources, determined that we are not in a position to fund
further modifications. Simply, the structure requires A LOT more heavy
steel and different building methods, and there is still no guarantee it
will be stable.
We have solicited bids from several engineering firms to evaluate the
structure, only one was willing to even see it in person. . . . [It would
cost] $1000 each time the engineer went to see the structure, $2500 for
plans and drawings that correct any problems. This $3500 is just for an
professional engineer to look at our issues: once. The amounts required to
modify and correct any building errors are in addition and would easily run
many, many more thousands of dollars, even if cavers did most of the work.
And these consulting fees would be multiplied by additional construction
costs. The structure design was never certified by a Professional Engineer,
and it seemed at the end of our Board deliberations a bad use of resources
to try to remedy construction that probably needs to be completely redone. The
Board's decision was to leave the ground floor of this multi-story
construction in place, which should serve as a porch until it can be
reevaluated for its future and for its stability as part of a permanent
solution. The existing, unfinished structure is indeed attractive in its
inspiration, but the Board felt that this was the only way to avoid
potential injury or damages -- one liability suit could threaten the
preserve's whole existence.
To all who have contributed their time, expertise, and money to
this project: we apologize sincerely if our failure to monitor design and
construction up to the professional standards necessary for such a site has
caused you to feel that your contributions were diminished. Such generous
work and contributions on the part of Texas cavers are rare assets that we
do not want to squander. We need your continuing participation, excitement,
talent, and support, if the Punkin and Deep Preserve is to continue being
the resource for Texas caving that it has been under Geary Schindel's
exemplary preserve management. We would welcome ideas for how a safe and
low-cost structure could be planned as a permanent porch, probably as a
single-story structure with a larger footprint and much diminished
possibility of liability from the various groups who have used the property.
The TCMA Board wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the
many people who have devoted so much time to the porch projeqct under the
direction of Jon Cradit over the last two and a half years, and especially
to the Fort Worth-Dallas area cavers who provided the building materials and
talent, to the cavers from the Austin and San Antonio areas and beyond who
provided labor, and especially to Geary Schindel and to all of Texas'
grottos who have made this whole endeavor possible.
Rest assured: the TCMA will honor your contributions in the
name of the cavers of Texas by seeing that materials from the structure see
use on the property for the benefit of all, and that we do a better job as
we learn to function as a mature karst conservancy -- only so little time
after Texas pulled off the miracle of burning the Deep/Punkin mortgage. We
are learning what responsibilities must be upheld and what kinds of
communication are necessary between the Board, the membership, the cavers of
Texas, and the Preserve Managers; we ask for your tolerance and continued
support as we grow.
One final note - a bummer, but a necessary one: anyone who goes
out on the property before the deconstruction work trip, please stay
*off*of the porch.
It qualifies as unfinished construction and should not be used under any
circumstances.
William H. Russell, President
Texas Cave Management Association
--
William H. Russell
4806 Red River
Austin, TX 78751
PH 512-453-4774
Cell 512--940-8336
