April 2018 - Member Meeting

4/19/2018 - Area 515 Member Meeting

Total Number of Members Attending: 20

Total Number of Full Members Attending: 12 + 6 by proxy

Quorum was reached (13 Full Members were required)

Board of Directors Attending:

• President: Tim

• Vice President: Don

• Treasurer: Meg

• Secretary: Brad

• Director of Education: Bailey

• Director: Chris

Absent:

• Director: Tom

Upgrading Memberships from Supporting to Full

• We discussed the need to trust members who wish to upgrade their memberships from supporting to full

• Taylor K introduced himself and explained why he wished to become a full member, after which 3 full members nominated him to become full.

Number of Full Members: 26 Number of Full Members Present: 12 + 6 proxy voters

With proxies, we had enough voting members to reach quorum.

   Vote to upgrade Taylor K's membership from Supporting to Full
   In Favor: 13 (3 proxies abstained)
   Opposed: 2 
   Result: PASSED - Taylor K became a Full member

State of the Space

Financial Update

April 2018 Financial Statement of Activity (PDF)

• We have about $25k in savings

  • $5k of this was put into CD in November

• Yearly operating expenses are about $15k a year.

• Last year generated slightly less revenue than past years because of greater expenses, like increasing our insurance coverage.

• Net Operating Revenue last year $3,093.16

• We received $800 grant from Bravo to help fund our Artists in Residency program.

• Other grant applications are pending

• Donations can be made to us through Amazon Smile!

Artists in Residency

• New Artists in Residency will start May 1. There are 6 artists filling 5 program slots (Two people working on the same project were accepted for one slot)

• Art Show will be on October 18, and include a section for members to display their work.

• It was asked if we considered holding an auction at the art show. We are not planning one, but art work can be for sale there. The space would appreciate any donations made from sales by members.

• It was asked if we can see individual purchases made from each tool account. In the document linked above the amount in each tool account is visible, but the individual purchases are not.

Lease for New Location

• We have a proposed lease for Jerry, our expected new landlord. A copy was available online for all members to read, and was shown on the overhead projector during the meeting. The proposed lease was sent to Jerry, who made modifications and then sent back to us with a couple blanks for us to still fill in.

• Together, we went through and briefly summarized/discussed each paragraph of the lease.

• Stipulations about owner's access to our tools and our possible access to his tools was intentionally left out of lease to give both sides the ability to change their minds without jeopardizing space location.

• We discussed possible scenario of one of our members trespassing on owner's space. We felt our group's ability to make rules and expel members meant this scenario need not be included in the lease.

• We may need to sign up for new internet service at the new location.

• The biggest decision to make was whether it should be set up as a monthly, or fixed lease. Jerry left that for us to decide. Given what we know of our new landlord's background and previous tennants the group largely felt comfortable going either way since we feel he is likely to keep his word. Pros and Cons were discussed.

  • Monthly Lease Pros:

    • With no fixed expiration date, may be slightly less likely for rent to be increased in the future.

  • Monthly Lease Cons:

    • Donors are often uncomfortable with organizations that don't have a long term lease.

  • Fixed Lease Pros:

    • Donors might like us more

    • Some members are more comfortable with fixed lease.

    • Upon expiration of Fixed time period, lease become monthly by default

  • Fixed Lease Cons:

    • What if we want to move again right away?

   Vote to make lease fixed vs monthly
   Monthly: 2
   Fixed: 11
   Abstained: 5
   Result: Leased will be for fixed time period

• The length of the fixed lease was discussed and agreed to be one year. Making the lease stretch from Aug 1, 2018 to Aug 1, 2019. It's possible that we'll be given access earlier than that, but August would be the first full month we could have access.

   Vote to accept and sign lease
   In Favor: Unanimous
   Result: Lease is accepted and will be signed

Moving Discussion

• Dave C has been having monthly meetings to plan the move and new space layout. A few specifics were discussed but overall it was agreed that the main discussion of this should be kept in those meetings. Among the specifics that were discussed:

  • Metal and Wood shops will need to be physically partitioned.

  • We will need at least 6 volunteer days to prep for and execute move.

  • We should start purging junk from the space (especially garage storage area) now.

  • Should set up a google poll to choose dates for the volunteer days.

Tool Purchases

• Coil Suspension Compressors

  • As these are available to rent from autoparts stores, and working with coil suspensions can be extremely damaging and deadly, it was decided it isn't worth the risk to get these for the space.

• Torque Wrench

  • A member offered to bring one in. It was also discussed whether to get a "click" or "beam" version. It was generally agreed the next step is to locate a specific model and present it to group.

• Jointer

  • We have an 8" Powermatic Jointer for the space that's not set up.

• Frankenmogul Refit

  • A member, Beau, offered to donate parts to build a larger machine. Beau, Dan and Brad formed a committee to compile a parts list for the new machine. With that we can figure out the funding and make it happen.

• Desoldering Gun

  • Don will do an In for $10 to purchase.

• Blast Cabinet

  • No specific plans were made for this

• Painting Area for the New Space

  • This should be part of Dave's planning committee.

End of Meeting

• Paraphrased Quote of the Meeting: "The contract says it will expire on or about August 1, 2019 11:59:59 PM. Can we take off the seconds?" - Zeke