User Tools

Site Tools


boardmeetingagenda:2014-02-20

Board Meeting Notes for February 20, 2014

Notes

Meeting Time: 7pm
Location: Lenox

  • 5 minute time limit per highest-level bullet point.
  • All members are welcome to attend, and non-board members can join the conversation when invited.
  1. Legal/Financial:
    1. 7:06 PM - Membership Management Software Discussion
      1. Tom, Dan, and Joe have been working on the Quickbooks software
      2. Joe indicated that we will be treating members as 'customers' per the software terminology
      3. We have been able to export member bio data from the current software
      4. DanJ and JasonG both have access to the AppEngine software
      5. There is more research to do regarding how the access control system will tie into Quickbooks
      6. We may want to keep the AppEngine for access/door keys only
    2. 7:11 PM - Taxes for 2013
      1. Tom suggested that to keep things simple, we use a CPA this year
      2. Tom proposed that a CPA would cost between $200-300/year (THE BOARD VOTED TO APPROVE THIS EXPENSE)
      3. Brant and Joe would send spreadsheets and balances to Tom and DanJ for their use in the taxes
      4. We do not believe Space Federation requires anything from us at this time
    3. 7:15 PM - Next Treasurer's Report
      1. January 2014 report requested for next week
    4. 7:17 PM - Lowering dues
      1. The Board discussed reducing dues as soon as possible and weighed the pros and cons of doing so
        1. Members will need to receive new invoices, this will require several hours in the member app
        2. Member storage will need to be considered, new pallet/shelf racks should be built soon
        3. It may be best to do this now before we enter it into Quickbooks, do everything at once
        4. No one wants to make any hasty decisions or lower dues prematurely, especially if it would require us to raise dues in the future
      2. Our finances (expenses vs. income) appear to support lowering dues
        1. The new rate would be $40 per month for 24/7/365 access and a reasonable amount of storage space
        2. Family can still join for $10 per month
        3. All other membership levels would be defunct
        4. Expenses average around $4,400 per month
        5. Incomes average around $5-6,000
        6. Projections, assuming…
          1. Average 120 members at $40/mo. = $4,800
          2. 20 or so family members at $10/mo. = $200
          3. Rental spaces and vaults = Additional $1-2,000
        7. The Board suggested we handle storage by providing each members with the equivalent of half a pallet (or one 3x3x3 shelf) from now on
      3. Charles asked what the original intent was for giving veterans a discounted rate
        1. The Board indicated it was mostly a gesture of appreciation
        2. It was also based partly off movie theaters and theme parks that offer student, veteran, and senior discounts. MMS offered student and veteran discounts, but not seniors.
      4. Charles expressed concern over veterans now having to pay more if they want a full pallet
        1. Tom suggested we grandfather in full sized pallets for veterans
          1. Current veterans can keep their pallet
          2. New members will not be eligible as we will no longer have a veteran membership level
      5. BOARD VOTED UNAMIMOUSLY TO LOWER DUES STARTING MARCH 1, 2014
    5. 7:30 PM - Classes/Seminars
      1. David Bryan from TCMaker/HackFactory was invited by ChrisH and MattW to join us and talk about classes and non-profit status.
      2. David said that TCMaker regularly offers welding classes.
        1. (2) 4-hour sessions given
        2. The first hour is devoted to safety
        3. Events are posted to Eventbrite and StarTribute's website, API
        4. Students/attendees sign up on those websites
        5. HackFactory collects the money from students/attendees
        6. This accounts for roughly $5,000/year income
        7. Instructors are paid by HackFactory, which is less than $800/year
        8. Guests/instructors can become temporary members under TCMaker's policies
          1. This differs from our current policies
      3. Tom, Dan, and others spoke about the concerns in Milwaukee and/or Wisconsin
        1. Our liability insurance is limited and does not cover compensated instructors
        2. Anyone teaching and receiving compensation needs professional liability insurance
      4. MattW explained he'd like to teach classes so he can purchase a new welder
        1. Cost of the new welder will be about $5,000
      5. Possibilities discussed, ways to teach classes within our current policies and insurance limitations
        1. Treating MMS as a fraternal organization rather than a club? Benefits?
        2. Can guests use power tools in classes? Not under our current policies.
        3. Classes taught by community colleges or other groups
        4. Classes outside the premises, off-site
        5. Consider adding a temporary membership level or class/instructor only level
          1. Examples given included having a crew of people help on a 24-48 hour project
          2. It was noted a full-time member should likely supervise or act as the responsible party for any person or group of temporary members
        6. Board to consider getting a quote on adding an insurance rider for teachers
          1. Could the revenue of classes help offset the cost of extra insurance?
    6. No action was taken on these topics at this meeting, only discussion
    7. 7:51 PM - Other insurance topics
      1. Insurance for the Board of Directors (Brant still hasn't sent in the quote)
    8. 7:53 PM - Partial payments/outstanding invoices - write off?
      1. Joe indicated that he has closed these invoices
      2. No one objected
    9. 7:54 PM - Donation boxes and Area Champions
      1. Topics discussed included
        1. Asking Area Champions for budgets
        2. Is it OK to stump/ask members for donations?
          1. No one objected, do at your own discretion
        3. Possible approaches:
          1. Submit budgets for Board approval
          2. Spend money and get reimbursed on a case-by-case basis
        4. How do people feel about collecting surplus/unused funds from donation boxes and allocating them to a general fund?
          1. Area Champions and others in attendance mostly OK with this, no objections noted at this time
          2. Most prefer soliciting donations from members for specific projects/repairs as needed
      2. The Board asked Area Champions in attendance for budgets/ideas
        1. Lexie/Colleen said a Craft Lab budget was coming soon
        2. (Lance submitted a budget for the Laser Cutter Room soon after the meeting)
  2. 8:20 PM - Policies and Procedures:
    1. New Member Orientation Classes
      1. Nothing happened in February, no one championed it, those interested were busy/forgot
      2. Brant indicated he would pick a date and post it to the mailing list to motivate us to start having them
      3. These will now occur the first Saturday of each month at 10:00 AM
      4. (First one occurred on Saturday, March 1st)
    2. 8:25 PM - Status of a task list for Safety Coordinator
      1. No news, nothing discussed
    3. 8:26 PM - Goals for 2014 (added by Pete)
      1. No news, nothing discussed
    4. 8:27 PM - Status of proposal for a new DVR/camera system (ChrisH,Brant)
      1. BOARD VOTED TO ALLOW FOR A MAXIMUM BUDGET OF $450
      2. Brant said he'd look up the model previously discussed on Amazon and buy it
    5. 8:29 PM - Status of wiki/website backups (Dan, Chris)
      1. Working like a charm according to ChrisH
    6. 8:30 PM - Parking flyer to neighbors
      1. Body of letter/flyer has been prepared by Brant
      2. Need to print several copies and get help distributing
      3. Tom suggested a neighborhood block party/spring cookout to help spread goodwill/educate community about us
  3. Check on progress of Building Topics/Projects:
    1. 8:35 PM - Air compressor
      1. Work in progress, some downtime planned but exact date/duration TBD, will post to mailing list
    2. 8:40 PM - Gas lines for forge/foundry/glass blowing
      1. BOARD VOTED TO PROCEED WITH PRICING/PLANNING
      2. Black steel piping being considered
      3. Tom and Dan to do most of the work, final connection by a plumber likely
  4. Check on progress of Member Projects:
    1. Nothing new discussed
  5. New equipment/donations:
    1. TomG brought in a new plasma cutter
    2. DanJ said we have some new forging tools
    3. Someone asked about helping to update the equipment photos online
  6. Events:
    1. None
  7. Any topics from members who are present
    1. Looking up Milwaukee Makerspace location on Google Maps takes you to the Whitewater Makerspace address
      1. Pete, Dan to review
    2. Someone mentioned we should review how they do training/classes at Phoenix Makerspace

Agenda

Meeting Time: 7pm
Location: Lenox

  • 5 minute time limit per highest-level bullet point.
  • All members are welcome to attend, and non-board members can join the conversation when invited.
  1. Legal/Financial:
    1. Membership Management Software Discussion
    2. Taxes for 2013
    3. Next Treasurer's Report
    4. Lowering dues
    5. Any insurance topics to discuss?
      1. Insurance for the Board of Directors (Brant still hasn't sent in the quote)
    6. Partial payments/outstanding invoices - write off?
    7. Donation boxes and Area Champions
  2. Policies and Procedures:
    1. New Member Orientation Classes (our first class will have happened by now)
    2. Status of a task list for Safety Coordinator (added by Brant)
    3. Goals for 2014 (added by Pete)
      1. For the Group
      2. For the Board
      3. For the Building
    4. Status of proposal for a new DVR/camera system (ChrisH,Brant)
    5. Status of wiki/website backups (Dan, Chris)
    6. Parking flyer to neighbors
  3. Check on progress of Building Topics/Projects:
    1. Air compressor
    2. Gas lines for forge/foundry/glass blowing
  4. Check on progress of Member Projects:
    1. MattN's email about connector for the Kuka
    2. CNC Router
    3. CNC Plasma
  5. New equipment/donations:
  6. Events:
  7. Any topics from members who are present
boardmeetingagenda/2014-02-20.txt · Last modified: 2014/03/16 19:00 by branth