BOARD OF THE UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MEETING MINUTES
UGS Conference Room
Salt Lake City, Utah
April 27, 2001

Attendance

Excused:
Craig Nelson

Staff:
Richard Allis
Kimm Harty
John Kingsley
Cheryl Ostlund
Grant Willis

Chair Robert Robison called the meeting of the Board of the Utah Geological Survey to order at 8:43 a.m. and welcomed everyone. The new members of the Board were introduced.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Charles Semborski made the motion to approve the minutes of the January 19, 2001, meeting of the Board of the Utah Geological Survey. Deedee O'Brien seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Director Allis welcomed the new Board members and stated his appreciation for their willingness to serve. Director Allis reported the names of a couple of UGS programs have changed to better reflect their actual responsibilities. The Economic Geology Program has been changed to Energy and Minerals Resources Program; Applied Geology is now Geologic Hazards; and the Geologic Extension Service is now the Geologic Information and Outreach Program. He gave a brief overview of each program and its responsibilities.

The mission statement for the Survey has been reviewed over the past few months. The mission statement is not in the Utah Code, but needs to be aligned with our responsibilities as outlined in the code. Deputy Director Kimm Harty summarized the duties of the UGS as stated in the code and gave a copy to the Board members. Director Allis asked for comments from the Board about the new mission statement. The Board felt the new mission statement was too passive, and made recommendations. The revised mission statement reads:

The Utah Geological Survey is an applied scientific agency that creates, evaluates, and distributes information about Utah's geologic environment, resources, and hazards to promote safe, beneficial, and wise use of land.

Ms. O'Brien made the motion to accept the mission statement as modified, Mr. Semborski seconded, and motion carried unanimously.

Budget Status
Overview of UGS Operations - Director Allis gave a brief overview of the budget. The majority of revenue comes from state general funds and the major expense is personnel costs. Associate Director John Kingsley reported to the Board that to date we are on track for budget expenditures and revenue. Expenditures are a little high, but that is due to purchasing some much needed equipment with excess revenue from mineral-lease revenues.

Mineral-Lease Revenues - Associate Director Kingsley reported the mineral-lease check for March came in yesterday at approximately $186,000. Mineral-lease revenues to date are $782,000, which is considerably higher than projections.

FY01 and FY02 Budget - Director Allis indicated the UGS is in a very good financial position this year as compared to last year. We want to only have $300,000 as our carry forward in mineral-lease funds.

Director Allis reported to the Board that revenue projections will be high again next year, and we have been looking at how to deal with this surplus. He is recommending that the programs put forward proposals for work that has not been able to be done in the last several years. One proposal is through the Geologist Hazards Program for a match for a federal grant for a trenching program. Another would be to subcontract some 30x60 geologic mapping to reduce more of the backlog.

New Energy Office
Director Allis reported to the Board that there have been two energy offices in state government - Office of Energy Services and Office of Energy and Resource Planning. The governor decided, primarily based on the energy crisis in the West, to re-combine these two agencies. The governor assigned Kathleen Clarke, DNR Executive Director, to oversee this directive. She has, in turn, assigned Lowell Braxton, DOGM director, and Director Allis to serve as interim director and deputy director respectively. They are charged with determining how best to combine these offices. Director Allis will keep the Board informed on this issue.

2001 Legislative Session Review
Deputy Director Harty reported to the Board that at this year's legislative session there were a lot of new members on the committees that UGS falls under. At the end of the session, we found out that some money was put into our budget to facilitate preservation of the dinosaur tracks recently discovered near St. George. Director Allis reported there has been a lot of infighting among the various local entities about how these funds should be used. St. George City will manage the track site and will build a structure to house the tracks. Dr. James Kirkland, State Paleontologist, will do some track stabilization work, and provide advice on how to display the track way site. Any remaining funds will go to St. George City.

We recently held a field trip for the governor's and legislative budget analysts and also invited local legislators. The field trip was an opportunity to inform the budget analysts and legislators about the Survey's mission and programs. Rep. Margaret Dayton, Utah County, attended and had a lot of questions about issuing building permits on unstable lands. Deputy Director Harty and Gary Christenson will be meeting with her in the coming months to discuss this issue.

Deputy Director Harty reported that geologist registration will probably be introduced at the next legislative session. The group drafting the legislation has gone to the occupational licensing board to determine how to address licensing of geologists.

ACTION ITEMS

Selection of Board Representative on State Mapping Advisory Council
Grant Willis, Geologic Mapping Program Manager, briefed the Board on what the State Mapping Program is. The program is a component of the National Geographic Mapping Act. STATEMAP has been around for about eight years. The State Mapping Advisory Council (SMAC) is a requirement of the state map program. The SMAC is comprised of non-UGS members, and is a subcomponent of the Board. The SMAC meets once a year in late September or early October. Chair Robison asked if any of the Board members would be willing to represent the Board on the SMAC. Geoff Bedell said that he would. Stephen Church made the motion to designate Geoff Bedell as the UGS Board representative on the SMAC. Chuck Semborski seconded, and the was motion unanimously approved.

Amend Policy for Foreign Travel by UGS Employees
Director Allis informed the Board that over the past few years the UGS administration has received several requests for foreign travel. We are asking to modify the existing policy to include the statement that foreign travel, using state funds, is discouraged. Mr. Semborski made the motion to accept the amendments of the policy, Mr. Bedell seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.

Amend Policy for Proposal Feasibility Review
This policy was reviewed extensively at the last Board meeting. Staff asked for some minor changes to be made. Ms. O'Brien made the motion to accept the revised policy. Ronald Bruhn seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Amend UGS Supported Memberships Policy and Plan
The Board made some suggestions to amend this policy at the last Board meeting. The policy is being amended to allow an employee one membership or licensure up to $100 based on the director's approval. Mr. Church made the motion to approve the policy and plan as amended in the meeting. Mr. Semborski seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

Selection of Crawford Award Recipient
Director Allis briefed the Board on the Crawford Award. At the most recent Program Managers' meeting, the Crawford and Employee of the Year awards were discussed. Director Allis' recommendation was to defer the outstanding employee of the year award to the same time that incentive awards are processed. Director Allis recommended to the Board that the Crawford award be deferred until the end of the calendar year. He felt the nominees received this year did not seem to have enough substance to them, and there was not time to get the nominated products out to the Board. After a brief discussion and review of the nominated products, Mr. Bedell made the motion that Hellmut Doelling be given the award, and that the nominating period for the award be deferred until the end of the calendar year. Mr. Church seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

Staffing Issues
Director Allis reported to the Board that there are several positions that are currently vacant because there is no funding available to fill them. At the recent Program Managers' meeting, the list of vacant positions was reviewed and four positions were eliminated. The other vacant positions are being kept to use if the need for the position occurs and funding becomes available. In accordance with Board policy, no new permanent positions will be created without Board approval.

We will be hiring a paleontologist, in a time-limited position, to assist with some upcoming contract work.

September Field Trip
The Board members discussed possible dates and itineraries for the September field trip. The consensus was to tour southwestern Utah September 28-30. The Board members want to view the St. George track site and the Hurricane fault study. Staff will develop a draft itinerary for the field trip for review at the next Board meeting.

UPCOMING BOARD MEETING

The next Board meeting will be August 10.

ADJOURNMENT

Ms. O'Brien made the motion to adjourn the meeting of the Board of the Utah Geological Survey. Dr. Bruhn seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.

Meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.