National Center for Preservation Technology and Training
National Park Service
Lee H. Nelson Hall
March 30, 2006
Minutes
Preservation Technology and Training Board
Preservation Technology and Training Board Members Present:
Mr. Robert Silman (chair), Mr. Jim Garrison, Mr. Rob Pahl, Dr. Frank Preusser,
Ms. Suzanne Turner, Ms. Patricia O’Donnell, Mr. Horace Foxall and Mr. Norman
Koonce
Members absent:
Ms. Suzanne Lewis, Dr. Judith Bense, Mr. Roy
Graham and Mr. Norman Weiss.
Designated Federal Official:
Mr. John Burns
Northwestern State University of Louisiana Representatives:
Dr. Randy Webb, Dr. Greg Granger.
National Center for Preservation Technology and Training Staff:
Mr. Kirk Cordell (Executive Director), Mr. Kevin Ammons, Mr. Andy Ferrell, Mr.
Jeff Guin (recording), Dr. David Morgan and Dr. Mary Striegel.
CALL TO ORDER:
Chair Silman called the meeting to order at
9:04 a.m.
Introduction of New Board Members and Special Guests:
Chair
Silman welcomed board member Mr. Horace Foxhall, who was attending for the first
time. Silman also recognized the Designated Federal Official (DFO), Mr. John
Burns.
Certification of the meeting:
Chair Silman asked Mr. Burns,
DFO, to certify the meeting. Mr. Burns informed the board the meeting had been
announced in the Federal Register as required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (43
CFR Part 102-3.150 (a)). He certified the meeting and said that a quorum was
present in compliance with the Board’s by-laws and charter.
Welcome:
Mr. Silman and Mr. Cordell welcomed the members of
the Board and discussed the logistics of the meeting.
Approval of the Minutes:
Chair Silman asked for comments on
the Fall 2005 PTTBoard Meeting Minutes. Ms. Turner made the motion to approve. Dr.
Preusser seconded the motion.
The motion passed
unanimously.
NPS National Report: Cultural Resource Program Status, Budget
Outlook, Policy Trends, Status of PTTBoard Membership
: Mr. Burns reported
that Secretary Norton will be retiring effective March 31. The Governor of Idaho is
being appointed to the post. He has a mixed environmental record, though he has been
generally supportive of parks in his state. He will have to go through an approval process. Paul Hoffman has been appointed deputy assistant secretary for
performance, accountability and human resources. Hoffman wrote the
controversial revision of the National Park Service Management Policies guide, which proposed
to loosen pollution and activity regulations and prevent the public from suing NPS
for not complying with its own management policies. The proposal was subsequently revised
and is up for public comment on the NPS website.
Ms. O'Donnell asked about the review period for the newest
version of the draft.
Mr. Burns will check into that.
Budget Outlook:
Mr. Burns reported that as of February NCPTT
is currently in the 2007 presidential budget for the first time in three years. An
across-the-board rescission was smaller than feared at less than two percent.
There has been a shuffling of responsibilities and positions at
WASO with a lot of positions in acting status. The Chief Historian and Chief of
National Register positions are to be advertised.
Policy Trends:
In Washington, Burns is working with a
committee of the National Park Service advisory board which is working on the Preservation Tax
Act report. A 22-page draft is out for review. Windows are a contentious issue. Modern
laws make things tough for historic windows, which are defined as being more than 50
years old with historic and character defining qualities. One committee member, who owns a
hotel, says controlling noise with historic windows is a major issue in that industry.
Ms. O'Donnell asked about the tone of the CR program offices
these days. Mr. Burns said there is uncertainty because so many positions still have to be
filled.
He also noted that being in the president’s budget means they
will fight for your program, though it's still up to Congress to approve the budget. Mr.
Silman said the agenda is focused on making NCPTT invulnerable to being zeroed out again.
Dr. Morgan asked if Mr. Burns foresaw a change anytime soon in
the NPS travel policy prohibiting international travel. NCPTT is missing many
important opportunities to share its research and expertise because of this policy.
Mr. Burns said he and Mr. Cordell supported a measure to allow
Dr. Morgan to go to Belgium at the request of the National Guard. Most of the
expenses were going to be reimbursed, but a deputy director in NPS denied the action.
NPS has been criticized for international travel in the past.
Mr. Burns said requests are evaluated on an individual basis and other people are being
approved for international travel, however. Many employees are taking personal leave or
leave without pay to act on these opportunities.
Mr. Cordell said there have been four instances in the past six
months in which the Center had international involvement where travel was denied.
Mr. Burns said the issue is one of policy and not budget.
Mr. Silman asked what the board could do. Ms. O'Donnell said NPS
employees should continue to make the travel requests to show the need for
international travel and the board should draft a statement supporting lifting the
restrictions due to the global impact of NCPTT's work and mission.
Dr. Preusser said requests should be documented well enough to
make it tough to reject.
Dr. Morgan said the existing documents to justify international
travel are already very extensive. Mr. Cordell said he has instructed his staff to
request travel when it was needed regardless of policy.
Mr. Garrison moved that the board should send a letter of
concern to the director of the Park Service regarding this policy. Mr. Pahl seconded.
The motioned passed unanimously.
Mr. Silman will draft the letter.
Dr. Randy Webb, president of NSU, joined the meeting and
welcomed the board members to Natchitoches. He expressed the importance of NCPTT to
Natchitoches and NSU. Many changes have occurred. Dr. Kass Byrd, NSU's former
NCPTT liaison, retired. Dr. Tom Hanson and Dr. Steve Horton will be the new
co-liaisons. Dr. Webb said the new Master of Arts in Heritage Resources that started last
fall is going well under the direction of Dr. ElizaBeth Guin and labeled it a cherished
program. The destruction from 2005's hurricanes was devastating. Natchitoches was in the path
of Rita. More than 1,400 evacuees stayed on campus, some for more than a month. Dr. Webb
said he considers NSU's partnership with NCPTT one of the university's most
valuable.
Mr. Silman expressed the board's appreciation for the
University's support.
9:49 a.m. State of the Center:
Mr. Cordell welcomed
preservationist Saidee Newell to the meeting. The State of the Center is good and is even
strengthened since the last meeting.
Personnel:
Staff members Andy Ferrell and Mary Streigel were
detailed to FEMA in the hurricane recovery efforts. Other staff members have contributed
to FEMA as well. NCPTT continues to be active in the recovery efforts and
partnered in the development of wet recovery workshops held across Louisiana over the past few
weeks.
Staff members continue to present papers and go to professional
meetings to raise the Center's profile in the field of preservation and within NPS.
NCPTT's Summer Institute will begin in June, comprised of
archeology, architecture and cemetery training. The regional CMC workshop will be held in
Virginia City, Nevada in September.
Cordell and Lance Ellis attended a course on the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, which will affect the board somewhat. These rules will be reviewed in
tomorrow’s discussions.
With the departure of Lou Gallegos, the Center is looking for
another board member.
Members were asked to have their pictures taken at some point in
the meeting so that the pictures and bios could be posted on the website.
Ms. O'Donnell said the board members should write one-paragraph
biographies illustrating their geographic and disciplinary diversity and
send them to NCPTT for the website.
Mr. Silman instructed the board to write their 100-word bios
within the next week and send them to Cordell electronically.
Kim Bowen left the Center recently to take a management position
at LSU in Baton Rouge. The Heritage Education coordinator position was
advertised and interviews are expected to begin next week.
The paperwork hiring Andy Ferrell's previous position is in
Washington preparing to be advertised.
Paperwork for the chief of historic landscapes position is being
prepared.
NCPTT has advertised for six summer interns and many quality
applications have been received.
The Materials Research program was awarded a NPS diversity
internship.
The National Cemetery Association is sending a fellow to NCPTT.
NCA will be paying for travel and salary costs.
The NCPTT organizational chart has been reorganized and is in
the board notebooks.
Building:
A new surround sound system was recently installed
as well as new multimedia presentation equipment. Exterior windows are being
repainted, remediating premature paint loss. As the board meets, a handicap ramp is
currently being constructed for the front entrance of the building. Jeffrey Carbo from
Alexandria, La., has been hired to implement the Lee Nelson Hall landscape plan. Construction
and planting should take place later in the year.
After Secretarial approval of the 2004 Annual Report, the
publication was sent to the White House, the congressional delegation and NCPTT mailing list
with NCPTT’s product catalog. A rough draft of the 2005 Report will be
distributed to the Board today for comment.
About $400,000 has been budgeted for the PTTGrants program this
year. Suzanne Turner is the Board representative to the grants review panel, which
will be held April 12 in Natchitoches.
Marketing/Website:
The
website continues to see increased traffic, with the product catalog seeing a phenomenal increase.
A list of recent acquisitions for the library is in the board
notebooks. Comments are invited for the library list.
Budget:
NCPTT submitted a
request for an operating increase for 2008. The Center has never submitted such a request before. Nelson Hall has some
major issues that need to be fixed.
Program Activities:
Mr.
Cordell highlighted program activities that will be reported in detail later in the meeting.
In January Mr. Cordell and Mr. Ferrell participated in the
annual face-to-face meeting of the Education Committee of AIA’s Historic Resources Committee,
whose activities the Center supports with both staff and financial resources. Working
with this group on such initiatives as the Cranbrook Seminar, which this year is devoted
to Preservation Education. The Center was invited back for the AIA
Sustainability Roundtable, which fit well with the Center’s current interest in this topic.
Proposed Cooperative Agreements with US/ICOMOS and APT, both
still in early stages of development, both focused on partnerships, training,
internships, and research.
The limewash durability study was expanded and research is now
complete. Research Assistant Sarah Jackson and Dr. Striegel will present findings
at the Traditional Building Conference in April and at the AIC meeting in June Dr. Morgan will meet with the Archeological Technology Research
Consortium at the SAA meeting in Puerto Rico in April and present a paper there as
well. The Center hopes for concrete plans to come out of this meeting for effecting
change in remote sensing policy and practice.
After several years of false starts, the Western Region of the
NPS successfully used NCPTT grant funds to host a preservation seminar in Pohnpei,
Micronesia, with an excellent slate of instructors. Student evaluations were glowing
and Dr. Morgan, as grant manager for the project, has plenty of documentation on it.
Jason Church has completed phase one of the cemetery cleaning study for the Department of
Veterans Affairs and is beginning his rounds of field visits for the next phase of the
work.
Just over $47,000 has been allocated for Heritage Education
grants for FY06. Transfer of money to the Louisiana SHPO has been arranged, though the SHPO
says they may administer the grants in the Historic Preservation Division
instead of the Archeology Division this year, as they expect to have their own heritage
education grants program this year out of that Division
NSU Partner Reports:
Ms. Laura Gates, superintendent of Cane
River Creole National Historical Park (CARI), stated she was previously an
architectural historian and is now in charge of 65 historic structures at CARI. She offered to provide
a tour of the park for the board members. She said budget issues continue to be a concern
with stated budgets being significantly less by the time they reach the parks. She
gave a brief history of CARI and the Cane River National Heritage Area (CRNHA). She stated
the importance of leveraging funds with partnerships in such times and referenced
the limewash study performed in conjunction with researchers at NCPTT. Preservation
Briefs may come out of this effort.
Federal executives in the area meet regularly to discuss issues
in dealing with management in the government, including budget issues.
CARI staff have attended the Summer Institute and provided tours
for Summer Institute staff.
CARI annually hosts a Youth Conservation Corps group during
which they visit the Center. Students are taught character and work ethic.
Dr. Nancy Morgan, executive director of the (CRNHA), distributed
a briefing sheet and summarized the program's activities.
The City of Natchitoches and CRNHA received one of the first
Preserve America grants to implement a signage program. Preserve America has been
championed by the Bush administration.
The Heritage area is planning a visitor's center off of
Interstate 49.
NCPTT and the Center will jointly sponsor an intern working with
the GIS program.
Details are still to be worked out.
Ms. O'Donnell asked about how the visitors center will be
handled, as an information center or something else and how sustainable the building would
be.
Ms. Gates said the partnership has a place picked out for the
building but there are many "ifs" at this point. Much depends on the organizations' ability
to find funds for exhibits.
She reiterated the dire nature of the NPS budget.
Ms. O'Donnell said that there are rules for fit-outs that can
help make the CARI and Heritage area efforts on the building sustainable. She said
exhibits can be made to fit the budget and expanded later. She also said the iPod phenomenon can
help make tours more
cost effective. Visitors can make a donation to have an
interpretive sound file downloaded for them to tour on their own.
Ms. Gates said the hyperlink http://parkplanning.nps.gov
contains a plan for the park, which is available for comment.
Ms. O'Donnell asked about how comprehensive the GIS mapping will
be.
Dr. Nancy Morgan said the GIS program would be implemented as
activities develop that will need it.
Dr. Greg Granger, acting head of the NSU School of Social
Sciences, spoke about the Heritage Resources graduate program.
Graduates are required to complete service learning hours.
Students attended NCPTT's wet recovery workshops. Local NPS staff members have lectured in
the classes. The program has students from every region of the country except the
Northwest. The state Board of Regents recently approved a new Bachelor’s of Heritage
Resources at NSU, which will be a feeder for the Master’s Program School of Social Sciences faculty members have reviewed PTT
Grants as well.
11:15-11:30 BREAK
Budget:
Mr. Kevin Ammons spoke about the budget. The NSU
employee costs are combined with the federal employees costs in this board report
and reflect 51 percent of the total budget going to personnel costs. The HVAC system has
been problematic and needs to be replaced.
The Center is exploring a partnership that will allow some
international cooperation through U.S. ICOMOS.
A new five-year agreement is being worked out with APT since the
two organizations have very similar goals.
Printing and janitorial work are funded through NSU. Other
funding includes the NPS Tel-Net satellite training system and a corneal imaging product.
2006 PTTGrants program:
Dr. Mary Striegel reported a total
of 45 complete applications requesting about $2 million. Grants awards may
total as much as $400,000 if enough worthy projects are received.
Andy Ferrell reported improvement in the online process over the
past three years. The review process includes sending grants to reviewers in
categories, who rank the proposals. Twenty proposals will be going to the final review
panel, of which approximately 12 will be funded.
Reviewer comments will be available online in the future for the
benefit of those wishing to know why their proposals were not selected.
David Morgan said proposals have declined gradually over the
past few years. The current application pool may be deciding that applying for a
PTTGrant is not worth the effort. Morgan requested the board's expertise in reversing the
trend, if needed.
Mr. Weiss said this could be a process of self-selection in
which applicants are realizing their non-relevant or inferior proposals will never be funded.
Dr. Morgan said many of the grants he recently saw in review
were not high quality.
Dr. Preusser said there was no problem getting enough
high-quality projects to fund when he served on the review panel last year. As long as there are
enough quality grants to fund, NCPTT shouldn't worry about how many poorer quality
submissions it gets.
Mr. Koonce said the Call for Proposals requests should be very
specific to grow certain areas of research.
Dr. Striegel said research priorities do this to a certain
extent. She said it will be hard for NCPTT to request more funding when fewer proposals are coming
in. She is concerned that the Center has too many repeat applicants who know how to
successfully apply for a PTTGrant.
Ms. O'Donnell agreed with Weiss' comments about self-selection.
She said the fact that past applicants were coming back for follow-up grants indicates
confidence in the
NCPTT system and mentoring among the past grants recipients to
extend research.
This allows the Center to excel in targeted areas of research and
leverage its limited funds. She said the past grants lists and bar charts should be
included on the website so people can tell if their projects have a chance of
being funded. She added that 100-word testimonials from past grant applicants may
instill confidence also.
Mr. Weiss asked if staff were allowed to give information to
applicants that will indicate potential partner programs that could match funds.
Dr. Morgan said this could only be done in a conversation before
the application was submitted.
Dr. Preusser said we should not be involved in directing people
to other organizations anyway. The applicant should be resourceful enough to figure
those things out.
Mr. Foxall said the bar chart demonstrates that early on, there
was a very small chance in getting a grant and many people aren't coming back because of
that memory. He also mentioned shaking up the mailing list may help bring up numbers.
Architecture and Engineeering:
Mr. Ferrell reported he
worked with FEMA in October to assess buildings damaged by the hurricanes. He assessed
buildings in the 20 landmark districts affected, with special consideration for red-tagged
buildings. He also worked with the Louisiana SHPO to determine Ponchartrain Park’s
eligibility for landmark status.
The Summer Institute has two additional programs that begin in
June. This is a venue for NCPTT's partners as well.
NCPTT signed a five-year cooperative agreement to work with the
AIA Historic Resources Committee to incorporate preservation training in
architecture programs.
Mr. Ferrell is trying to find partners for a program on
Sustainable Preservation.
An article on concrete is being developed to submit to the APT
Bulletin as a product of the research being funded by NCPTT at the Athenaeum in
Philadelphia.
The NCPTT landscape plan balances safety, functionality and
faithfulness to the historic nature of the landscape. It is available for board members to
review.
Archeology and Collections:
Dr. Morgan reported that Kim
Eppler was hired as a summer intern to assist with the Summer Institute.
NCPTT participated in the Preserving the World's Heritage
workshop with NPS and Hamline University. Mr. Cordell and Dr. Morgan both contributed
papers to the
workshop, which will result in a publication through a
university press.
Morgan discovered significant architectural remnants in a test
trench during research on Creole identity formation. This information will be used in the
“Prospection in Depth” Summer Institute training. Brochures were just distributed to
over 8,000 archeology professionals. Three people have already applied.
Morgan just presented at the "Who Owns the Past?" meeting at the
Enome Center in Belgium, which was very informative and important. He traveled
on his own time at the Louisiana National Guard’s expense, since the National Park
Service would not approve the trip.
The Archeology and Collections web presence is being designed
and will be improved in the coming months.
Research Investigations:
Cost benefit study of
conventional versus robotic total stations
Laser diffraction particle
size analyzer pedogenesis
A research priority for archeology is being developed. A draft
was crafted last year.
Ms. Turner asked how many spots are available for Prospection in
Depth.
Dr. Morgan said courses will have no more than 25 participants.
Five student scholarships are available.
Mr. Silman asked if Dr. Morgan could develop some kind of
training for the NPS since archeology is considered very important in the Park Service.
Dr. Morgan said the summer institute could fill some of this
need
1:45 Materials Research:
Mary Striegel reported that the
project for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs “Evaluation of Cleaners for Federally-Issued
Headstones,” is proceeding according to plan. Initial work has been done at five
VA cemeteries across the country, chosen for their geographic and climatic distribution.
There are 48 stones per cemetery.
A project on “Durability of Modified and Traditional Limewashes”
has been undertaken in partnership with Cane River Creole National Historical Park.
Research includes 12 limewash recipes applied to wood and brick samples. The
preliminary report on wood is complete. Testing methods included ASTM standards. Final test
results were complete this week.
Research is finished on the project for the General Services
Administration, “Evaluation of Vitrification as a Treatment for Terrazzo,” and the report is
complete. The project evaluated how the vitrification process changes terrazzo.
NCPTT’s research on air pollution deposition on consolidated
stone will soon be on track after upgrades to the environmental chamber.
The Materials Research Program has also been researching
alkoxygermanes as potential stone consolidants. Striegel said the synthesized mixtures did
not result in an effective new consolidant, but one substance seems to add biocidal
characteristics to one of the commercial products. Last week, the researchers received
bacteria that will help further of this project.
Work has been done to develop new audiences, research, workshops
and lectures for NCPTT’s National Cemetery Preservation Initiative. The Monument
Builders of North America (MBNA) organization, which has been a strong advocate
for the initiative to people in the field, has nominated NCPTT for the Association of
Gravestone Studies’ Forbes award. MBNA has also invited NCPTT to hold a workshop at
its next national conference.
Last weekend, MRP staff held a Cemetery Conservation Basics
class in Oklahoma. This is the program's "public face." Registration was $25 per person
and focused on amateur or non-preservationists who are interested in cemeteries
The 2006 Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop will be
September 26-28 in Virginia City, Nevada. This year’s special focus is on the
conservation of wooden headstones, which are common in the Southwest.
The CMC Advanced Cemetery Techniques workshop will be held as
part of the Summer Institute. The workshop is open to people who previously took a
CMC course.
NCPTT worked in conjunction with the American Institute for
Conservation to produce the workshop series, “After the Storm: Recovery of Wet
Collections,” which was held in March. Workshops were held throughout Louisiana:
March 16, National D-day
Museum, New Orleans
March 17, LSU Rural Life
Museum, Essen Lane, Baton Rouge
March 20, National Center
for Preservation Technology and Training, Natchitoches
These workshops provided attendees with hands-on training in
treating museum and archival objects that had been immersed in water.
Dr. Striegel said that during her FEMA detail, she visited the
New Orleans Clerk of Court, which is responsible for the evidence rooms. The evidence
rooms were submerged at levels of 8-10 feet. She also assisted at Dillard University
and Dr. Michael White, who is a professor at Xavier University and a musician who lost all
of his instruments.
Mr. Silman asked about the potential impact of the Terrazzo
study and would anyone with a terrazzo floor be interested in this research. He said
building managers groups may be interested in having a presentation of the research. Striegel
said she believed the research does have that potential.
Dr. Preusser asked if abrasion tests were included in the
terrazzo study, as it is a major concern. Striegel said that could be easily added to the
project if the Center has enough samples left over.
Ms. O'Donnell asked about coefficient of friction standards.
Striegel said this was considered.
Wingspread Conference:
Mr. Silman referenced the
Sustainability Conference discussed at the last board meeting. He said the goal for this
conference would be fall 2007. The board previously agreed to pursue development of this
conference.
Silman said he is interested in the "why" of this topic rather
than the "how-to," which has already been covered many times. He wished to explore how to
organize and implement the conference. He called for discussion.
Ms. O'Donnell said she has been in meetings in which such
declarations have been made.
She said it takes much planning because position papers should
be distributed and discussed. No one has crystallized the link between preservation
and sustainability.
Preservation is inherently sustainable because it’s about
reusing.
Mr. Foxall said proper management should be considered as key to
sustainability.
Mr. Silman asked who among the board would participate in
organizing the conference.
In addition to Silman, volunteers included Foxall, O'Donnell,
Preusser, Garrison, Turner, Weiss, and Koonce.
The board decided to have the accompanying board meeting after
the conference since planning would still be going on before.
Mr. Silman said the nature of the Wingspread Conference "traps"
participants in a scenic and remote location that encourages interaction.
Mr. Foxall said the board should be a trendsetter in this area,
since much of the focus has been on how to implement a concept without much thought into its
meaning.
Mr. Silman asked who should be invited to the conference. The
board's role should be as a convener of experts.
Ms. Turner said she thinks the conference should start off very
conceptual before addressing policy issues as no one would want to hear two days
of policy discussion.
Dr. Preusser said in architecture, this concept is about making
a structure last longer.
Conversely, conservators' concepts of sustaining are putting
something storage or archives.
O'Donnell said she participated in a conference in Vienna that
was politically charged and sought to place its imprint on policy. However, there were
some very good papers presented in advance, including Heritage Area case studies, so
there was substantive material for discussion. She also cited the example one of her
clients who used synergistic and common sense choices to accomplish
sustainability on their farm property, despite having little money. Their mission is respect
for the place, which is what preservation deals with. In order to go to the policy
discussion and charter declaration, you need the shared examples of attendees.
Dr. Preusser said some conservation treatments are not
reversible but have to be done.
These exceptions need to be considered in this conference.
Mr. Foxall said a variety of professionals need to be invited.
Dr. Preusser said at least one person needs to come from outside preservation.
Mr. Silman said this event could be an internationally attended
event since it will be funded privately. The purpose of this conference is to
strengthen the Center and not the board. This conference goes back to the basics to provide a
basis for sustainability that doesn't now exist.
Lee H. Nelson Award:
Mr. Silman asked where this project was
currently. Pat Tiller and Roy Graham had championed this effort.
Mr. Cordell said APT is developing a Lee Nelson award as well.
Mr. Weiss and Ms. O'Donnell said having two Lee Nelson awards would dilute its
importance. Dr. Striegel said NCPTT being a part of the APT effort may result in more
coverage for the Center.
Mr. Burns said APT founding members died recently and the
organization is struggling with how to create awards in their names that are slightly
different.
O'Donnell said the Center and board should begin discussions
with APT about a joint effort. Mr. Weiss will approach APT.
Mr. Burns volunteered to talk to Pat Tiller about his continued
involvement.
Preservation Crafts Training:
Mr. Silman showed a document
that Roy Graham sent about this topic. He was asked by Graham to have the board
consider a meeting about how to teach preservation to people working in traditional
building.
Mr. Cordell asked if the board had the resources to have a
meeting on this scale.
Dr. Preusser stated that the need for this is too big for the
Center or even the Getty to handle.
Mr. Cordell said the Center could help in convening part of the
effort, but not the larger objectives.
Mr. Weiss said the National Trust abandoned a similar effort
years ago.
O'Donnell said the NCPTT's representation of this could include
having referral links on the website. This is a UNESCO topic that is global. Also, the
technology component is missing.
Mr. Cordell said NCPTT is small enough that it has to focus.
Mr. Pahl said the market has to be developed in this area before
people will be willing to make the investment.
Mr. Garrison said that in the West, there is a perception that
hands-on people are leaving the National Park Service.
Mr. Burns relayed the information that Laura Gates was losing
her trades people because many of them have been project funded rather than base funded.
This is not unique to the West.
Establishing a 501(c) 3: Renewing the Friends of NCPTT:
Mr.
Silman broached the idea of bringing back the friends groups for NCPTT.
Ms. Saidee Newell said there was a statewide effort to establish
a group when the Center was formed. There are currently funds in the Northwestern State
University Foundation, of which Newell is president. There was never a 501(c)3, but the
funds are available for transfer if needed. A professional consultant was brought in who
suggested spending $50,000 for a feasibility study, but the money was never raised.
Mr. Koonce initiated discussion on forming a group. He said it
costs money to start and manage a group. It would have to be established and operated
completely independently of NCPTT. He says contributions can be made from corporations,
organizations and individuals. To qualify, there has to be a compelling need for
support. The process includes a detailed 28-page document. Several attachments are
required. It will take about 100 hours to compile, but odds of approval are good. The first
step would be to incorporate the Friends group in Louisiana and then have
incorporators to take over the legal formation of the group. A CPA and lawyer are recommended
for the process. A management structure or board would have to be put in place for
management of the group and fund. Bylaws would have to be clearly defined.
Dr. Preusser said the ideal board should consist of people with
name recognition and connections. Someone has to be willing to actively ask for the
money or otherwise raise funds. Two major expenditures exist: one for the legal aspect
and one for the people who would establish the group.
Mr. Koonce said a quality-consulting firm is the best method to
go about establishing such a group. It takes a large investment to get a quality
expert on board to manage the group. Dr. Preusser agreed and said it is an interactive
process.
Dr. Striegel said the process should be broken down into small
steps to get the friends group off the ground. The need exists, as NCPTT is unable to
take money for its training and products.
Ms. Newell said NSU exceeded its goal in raising capital and had
a consultant come up from New Orleans to get the effort started one and a half years
ago. She suggested getting all the money in one place before initiating the 501(c)3. Ms.
Turner asked if the NSU staff are professional fundraisers. Ms. Newell said they are
not, though they have some training.
Ms. Turner said this is not an effort that should be undertaken
unless there is a larger purpose than moving money around. No one would want to be on a
board that is essentially a façade.
Mr. Weiss said the possible uses of 501(c)3 funds should be
listed as a first step in determining the worth of establishing one.
Mr. Pahl said the