August 2022 - Board Meeting
8/3/2022 Area 515 Board Meeting
8/3/2022 Area 515 Board Meeting
Attending:
President: Dave
Vice President: Jake
Treasurer: Meg
Secretary: Brad (remotely)
Director: Ryan
Director: Tom
Director: Carlin (remotely)
Also Attending:
Member: John Whiteman
Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting
Vote to approve minutes from the July board meeting
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
Financials
Investment Policy
One member of the board, Jake, had read it and also given feedback on it.
Reluctantly, several board members admitted that although they did have the opportunity, they had not read through the Investment policy document yet, so a brief review was given.
Vote to accept the Investment Policy
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
The investment policy requires the creation of an Investment subcommittee.
Vote to create the Investment Committee with board members Meg, Ryan and Jake as members.
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
The Investment Committee will convene and then make an official proposal. The notes from their meetings will be posted online.
Current Members: 86
Membership has been holding steady lately.
Space Updates
No TIG update yet.
We still need to solve the front door handle problem.
The AC has been dripping a lot of late. The AC cools the rooms that are not in the big shop area and it is undersized for the volume it handles. Additionally, the rooms are not well sealed from the larger shop area which makes the AC work even harder. Some ideas were batted around...
We could install a window AC unit between the classroom and the shop area. Downside of that is that the shop would get even hotter.
We could put a mini-split unit that connects to the outdoors through the window in the laser room. A number of members mentioned how well these units work.
Ultimately Dave said he would have a chat with our landlord about possible options.
Jake was working on some grant applications for the space. One was a $100k grant through Polk County. We seemed to be a good fit for the county's goals, but we didn't get it submitted before the deadline. The next due date is the end of the next year so we will try again.
The Wood Shop dust collection system needs to be improved and Jake discussed some options with the board. When the current dust collection system was made there were fewer Wood Shop users and the capacity was adequate. The number of users has since expanded greatly. Part of the decision is whether to try and upgrade the home brew system that we have, or to purchase an already built solution. The largest cost in the system is the motor. A good one can cost $3,500. The good news is that they tend to maintain their value over time. Several board members said that they would rather spend more money on a bigger system that would meet our needs longer, rather than spending less money to get a system that is just adequate.
Jake is considering taking the broken drill press to a local shop he found for diagnosis. Acme could repair the drill, but their employees aren't expert repair people.
The Ameribrade tool for the Metal Shop will be arriving on Tuesday.
Carlin is busy enough with classes that he hopes to have the new Metal Shop tools paid off by the end of the year.
Interesting Note: The name Davin Jones appears on some of our financial accounts and documents (like for instance our PayPal account). Davin Jones was the name of the space's first treasurer.
Community Engagement Committee Proposal
John Whiteman submitted a written proposal for the Community Engagement committee. At the meeting he spoke about what he and the other potential members had in mind.
The written proposal was not intended to be a comprehensive or finalized vision for the committee. Rather the committee would be a collaborative process with the board of directors and the space's members.
John gave us a little background on himself. He is or has been an active participant in all of the organizations he gets involved with. His skills include logistics, planning and project management.
The committee would have 2 main objectives. In no particular order they are:
Increasing the value of membership for already existing members of the space
Reaching out to non-members to increase awareness of the space in the hopes they might one day become members.
Some board members felt the committee's objectives needed more refining. The idea of them scheduling events was liked by everyone.
It was requested that taking charge of our social media accounts be one of the committee's objectives. Some board members offered to help automate the process of cross posting from one platform to another.
Carlin offered to be the board liaison to the committee as required by the bylaws. He wanted all to know that if the majority of the committee had something to bring to the board, that he would bring it even if he didn't personally support it.
John said he would like the committee to help divide up the logistics of events, for example dividing up event promotion and social media promotion.
It was agreed that things like maintenance and cleaning would not be within the purview of this committee.
It was proposed that the committee should regularly host at least 2 events per quarter. One event being targeted towards existing members, and the other targeted towards people who aren't members.
Vote to create the Community Engagement Committee with the initial members Carlin Al-Andas, John Whiteman, Cody Henry, Kevin Fusselman and Frank Waterman.
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
A budget for the committee was then discussed. $250 was proposed as a starting budget to fund the committee for the rest of this year. Next year that number can be adjusted up or down.
The idea of having money raised from classes go to the Community Engagement Committee fund was discussed (minus the money from Carlin's classes).
Vote to provide the Community Engagement Committee a budget of $250 for the remainder of this year.
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
John asked for clarification on when a decision should be sent to the board vs when the committee should make the decision itself. It was decided that the committee should submit a report every month to the board of directors for them to review and discuss. Members of the board also mentioned that most of their meetings are open to the membership, and that the committee members are welcome to attend if they wish.
It was decided that an area515.org email list should be created for the members of the Community Engagement Committee.
John also requested access to the Trello board.
Next Member Meeting Date
It was decided to be held on October 22, 2022, from 4-6pm
The Community Engagement Committee (CEC) pitched the idea of holding a team building activity with snack that day.
Meeting Adjourned
Secretary: "Sorry I'm late. Thanks for waiting!"
Director: "We would've started without you if anyone had been willing to take notes."
Something about "fish on a stick" was discussed as well, but the Secretary is grateful that the remote meeting's audio wasn't able to pick up most of the details.
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