May 2018 - Board Meeting
5/2/2018 - Area 515 Board Meeting
Attending:
President: Tim
Vice President: Don
Secretary: Brad
Director of Education: Bailey
Director: Tom
Absent:
Treasurer: Meg
Director: Chris
Announcement
Thanks to member Ryan R, Area 515 is now listed as a resource on the governor's STEM advisory council. http://iowastem.gov/node/1709
Liz, our intern, has agreed to help manage our intern program
Moving Discussions
Using a Commercial Mover
A moving company estimated $1500 for 3 guys and a truck for 8 hours in a back-of-the-envelope estimate for Tom when he called them.
The previous move from the Whittier building was discussed. Different people remember it different ways. There was one big volunteer day for members to help with the move, and while some remember the majority of the work getting done in that one day, others remember spending weeks afterwards individually moving everything that wasn't done on that volunteer day. It was estimated that only half of the space got moved on volunteer day, and the rest was done by individuals working in the evenings.
All agreed that whether or not we use commercial movers, we would move sensitive items ourselves, items like the 3D printers and laser cutters, etc.
In general, the space move would proceed in 3 steps:
1. Packing up
2. Physically moving
3. Unpacking at new space.
When items are physically being moved, ideally there would be at least 3 people at each location for directing the movers.
Pros:
If movers are scheduled for a definite day, it will give us all a deadline to pack up the space.
Movers tend to work very fast and efficiently. Less time will need to be spent physically moving items.
Some argued that the space saves up money for expenses like this.
Cons:
At last year's savings rate, it took the space about 6 months to save $1500. Not everyone was convinced it would be worth the money.
Ultimately it was decided that Bailey and Tom would call several moving companies and get quotes. We want to have member input before making this kind of expense.
At the end of the meeting Bailey offered to create a fundraiser on Facebook for $2500 to help pay for the move ($2500 = cost of moving company + cost of new space improvements)
Volunteers
Even if a moving company were hired, we would still need volunteer days. We discussed whether it was better to have volunteer days to do the packing up before the movers, or to have the volunteer days during the move for unpacking.
The expectation is that the tool stewards will each be in charge of setting up the equipment for their area in the new space.
Tim will create an online poll to decide when to schedule packing days.
There is a lot of member enthusiasm for the move right now, but ultimately volunteer time and energy is finite and should be harnessed in the most efficient way.
Bailey is working to get Buffalo Wild Wings to donate food for the move. If enough people volunteer, we may need to also set up a night where we specifically ask our members to go eat there.
Notice to Current Landlord
We have not physically signed the new lease yet.
We shouldn't give notice to current Landlord until we at least have the new lease signed.
Normally for month to month commercial leases notice must be given at least 31 days in advance (For example, if we were moving out July 31, we would have to give notice by June 30.)
New lease is to take effect August 1, 2018 and we will pay double rent for that month, therefore notice need not be given until July 31 if all goes to plan.
Insurance
Tim will call our insurance broker to discuss impact, if any, of the new location on our current policies.
Changing Address Listings Online
Bailey and our intern Lizzie will look into making a list of everywhere we need to change our address so that it can happen rapidly when we move. (For example, change our address on Facebook, our website, Google maps, etc.)
Budget for Internet
We will try to transfer our current internet service to the new location
Current download speeds is around 8 Mbps, upload speed is around 1 Mbps
If unable to transfer, we will plan to spend around $100 a month on internet for new location. We will get quotes and vote on it.
It may also be possible to work out a way of sharing the cost with Jerry.
Budget for New Space Improvements
Planning committee has discussed many different improvement ideas. The purpose of setting a budget is to allow the planning committee to prioritize their improvement ideas and make specific plans.
Among the improvements being discussed: RFID system for door, freedom cleat storage system, possible new utility sink?
A second walkthrough of the facilities should be planned, but Bailey recalls the walls being in good condition and may not even need painting.
Ultimately the board set $1000 as the maximum budget for new space improvements.
Packing Up the Space
Before we physically move anything, we should
1. Decide what things we should throw away
2. Put as much other stuff as we can in boxes
This Friday evening, Tim and member Taylor plan to go through the space
Brad made a series of 4 videos documenting everything we have that's not in the garage. The videos take up about 10 Gigs of space on the space's Google drive.
Brad offered to send a plea to members to bring in medium sized boxes and packing material like peanuts/newspaper/etc
Moving Members' Stuff
If the new lease starts Aug 1, then we should be able to start throwing stuff away by Saturday, July 14. That means that we need to set June 30th as the deadline for when members' things must be labeled.
By June 30th all member's belongings at the space should be labeled and taken home if they intend to move it themselves. Anything unlabeled will be collected and put on the hack rack for any member to take. Articles left unclaimed after July 14 will be thrown away.
Items that are labeled and left in the space past July 1st may be packed into a box for the move. We will make an effort not to damage anything during the move, but the space is not responsible for any damage to items that are not moved by their owner.
Brad agreed to send out the notice to all members of this policy.
Tim agreed to try and contact any former members who still have stuff at the space and notify them of this policy.
On July 1 we will try to set up a photo album of the unlabeled items that have been put on the hack rack, and send a link of the album to members to help if they forgot something.
PayPal Membership Payment Automation
After extensive testing, it was decided to make live the code for automatically updating membership expiration dates when paid through PayPal.
End of Meeting
Quote of the Meeting: "I didn't watch all the video so if there's anything embarrassing on there I apologize." - Brad F
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