July 2022 - Member Meeting

July 30, 2022 - Member Meeting

7/30/2022 - Area 515 Member Meeting

Total Number of Full Members Attending: 9 + 4 by proxy

Quorum was reached (12 Full Members were required)

Board of Directors Attending:

  • President: Dave

  • Vice President: Jake

  • Treasurer: Meg

  • Secretary: Brad

  • Director: Carlin

This meeting took place with some members in person and others attending via Google Meet.

State of the Space

  • Current Member count: 84

  • This number has fluctuated in recent months. We were in the low 90s, then went down to the 70s for awhile and now we've come back up.

Red Bull Tournament

  • Our participation in the Red Bull tournament got us some notice. Some new members first noticed us there.

  • We need to obtain pics and video from the event so we can make a blog post on our website about it

  • Everyone involved felt it was a lot of fun and provided great camraderie.

Tool Additions

  • We have a sawstop table saw now

  • We have a morticing machine

  • Wood Shop will probably start an "In for $10" soon to raise funds for upgraded dust collection. Plan is to enlarge pipes from the tablesaw to 6" and improve the efficiency of our dust cyclone.

  • More electrical work is planned in the Wood Shop. We are currently planning that a member will let us borrow a lift and that the electrician will use it to reach the ceiling, thus saving us the money of renting the lift ourselves.

  • In the Metal Shop Carlin will be moving his knife production home. The space is investing in tools to replace or offset the ones he will be taking home.

  • The board agreed to a deal to acquire a TIG welder. The next step is for the owner to physically transport the TIG welder to us.

  • The Auto shop has acquired a number of new users. Two of whom are either professional mechanics or professionally knowledgeable.

  • We have had some difficulty with a truck being parked in the courtyard so as to block entrance to our lift. That seems to have been resolved for now.

  • Both lasers are back up and running.

  • 3D Printing expects to have the TAZ up and running again soon.

  • In the CNC area, the Piranha is now working again. We have 2 working CNC machines.

  • Dave purchased a new knob for our front door but the mounting screw holes don't align with the pre-existing holes on the door.

  • When we are able to borrow the aforementioned lift we will also put up a security camera outside.

  • The board approved purchase of a new carpet for the classroom and piano rooms. Meg now needs to call the place and schedule installation.

Financials

  • We're operating in the black and have been for a long time.

  • Our money is currently divided between 3 locations. I bonds currently have a 9.6% interest rate for 6 months (then they get revalued). This large percentage rate is based mainly on inflation. The i bonds have a 30 year term. We can pull the money out early for a penalty. Max amount is $10k

  • Before the space invests that kind of money, it should have an Investment Policy to set limits on how the space invests. The Treasurer came up with an Investment Policy, and ran it by several colleagues and Jake on the board. The policy was sent to the board of directors but not to the members at large. Therefore the policy was not voted on by the members. Instead, it was proposed that the members vote to give the board the ability to approve an investment policy. Rather than vote on this right away, the meeting moved to the next agenda item and then back to it.

Vote to Promote Supporting Members to Full

  • Cody Henry was nominated to become a Full member, and has been a member of the space for over 6 months.

  • John Whiteman and Derek Vermeland have not been members for 6 months, but were each nominated by 3 Full members.

  • All 3 members were voted on at once.

Vote to promote Cody Henry, John Whiteman, and Derek Vermeland to Full members.

Yes: 6 + 4 by proxy

Abstain: 3

No: 0

Result: Passed

Back to Financials

Vote to give the Board of Directors the right to set an investment policy on behalf of the members.

Yes: 11 + 4 by proxy

No: 0

Result: Passed

Sub Committee Formation Discussion

  • Several members wanted to form a committee. It has been referred to as the "Science Center Volunteer Committee" and the "Welcoming Committee." Regardless of the time all agreed that they had gotten off on the wrong foot because our bylaws require that all committees have a member of the board on them and this group did not.

  • The members who wanted to form this committee spoke with members to explain what they want the committee to be about.

    • In summary, they were/are looking for community engagement.

    • They want to do things to bring members of the space together.

    • Cody and John already agreed to help teach a class at the Science Center, and the committee would like to do more kinds of community outreach like this.

    • The recent Red Bull event was cited as inspiration for the committee's formation.

    • The committee would be self-funded. They do not plan to get money from the Board.

    • They would also like to get a core group of people to clean. They mentioned getting people to "own" certain overlooked parts of the space.

  • Everybody at the meeting appreciated the energy and enthusiasm of the members who wanted to form this committee. A number of other views were discussed as well.

    • Some members of the board felt the scope of the committee as described was too broad, and should be narrowed down.

    • Some members of the board expressed concern that if space funds start being used for projects involving other organizations, that it would be to the detriment of the space. The organization Habitat for Humanity was specifically mentioned in this context.

    • Some members of the board would like to see more focus on training and educating more members of the space to be caretakers of it.

  • A compromise was proposed wherein the committee would host one inside-the-space event for every event it hosts outside the space.

  • The members wishing to form this subcommittee were asked to officially write up a summary of what they want the committee's scope to be. It will be discussed further at the next Board of Directors meeting.

  • Ultimately there was a lot of passionate discussion from many people about this topic.

Classes

  • The President put out a call to all members to think of a topic that they might teach a class about at the space. The more hand-on it can be the better. We would like to start holding more classes at the space, the way we did pre-pandemic.

  • The President will purchase materials to teach soldering classes again. This class was reguarly held at the space pre-pandemic and it's time we started holding it again.

Meeting Adjourned

  • "The green tea popcorn tastes as good as it sounds." - referring to a snack that a member left at the space

Last updated