Milwaukee Makerspace Board of Directors Meeting - September 15, 2016
Held at the Milwaukee Makerspace craft lab
Attendees
Present
Lance Lamont
Carl Stevens
Dan Jonke
Keith McMillan
Adrian Volden
Absent
Guests
Rick Bowman
Karen Pauli
Steffanie Maher
Tony
Steve Pilon
Tom Gralewicz
Minutes
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Lance Lamont.
Review and approval of the Minutes of the previous meeting
The meeting minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
Reports of Boards and Standing Committees
Treasurers Report
Membership numbers are relatively stable (net loss of 2 members last month)
Net income positive about $11,000
Cash on hand less committed reserves $19,857.96
Space Equipment Inventory
New Equipment/Donations
Building Maintenance/Issues
Reports of Special (Select) Committees
Space Projects Update
4x8 CNC Plasma Cutter
Kuka
Wood shop dust collection
Unfinished Business
Property tax exemption
Previous Status
Our lawyer (Stephanie) has agreed to help us, but we have missed the window for this year. Tom and Stephanie will work on this later in the year for next year.
Keep on agenda and nag Tom in December (per Tom)
Utility rates
Previous Status
Ongoing sales tax exemption secured
Lance to pursue getting past sales tax back from State of WI
Rick Bowman volunteered to file this for the board
New camera system
Willy's Boat
Previous status
The board will continue to request updates and monitor the progress
Lance spoke with Willy and he believes he is two months behind
Project continues to be live
Dan and Lance have seen Willy working on the project, but it will likely not be ready for Maker Faire
Board will continue to monitor the project
Member Survey
Previous status
Carl volunteered to take this on, and sync up with Brant to get some input
Lance forwarded the most recent member survey for reference
Signs & Awnings Outside
Improvements to Entryways & Meeting area
Craft Lab II: Trade Craft!
End of Year Filings
Long-term Budgeting
Maker Faire
Last Status
The board agreed to have a question on supporting Maker Faire 2017 on the annual survey
The board voted 5-1 to approve the position of area champion for Maker Faire (Keith voted no)
All the board members present voted unanimously to approve 4 stipends for other Maker Spaces at $250/per to reimburse actual travel expenses to send a representative to Maker Faire
Additional stipends can be made by individual donation by members
Brant has one Maker Space that has expressed interest - Lance responded
Lance raised the question about renting a truck to transport projects to Maker Faire
Carl reviewed the list of people expecting to be part of the Milwaukee Makerspace booth at the Faire - Carl has secured a 10×30 space for the booth
Carl to start a thread on the boards on what should be taken to the Faire
Amy is coordinating a party for Saturday night - the board unanimously voted to approve $250 for funding the party
Member Free Storage Space
Vault Activity (or lack thereof)
Lance mentions that some vaults don't seem to have any activity, and there seems to be very low turnover. Perhaps we should find a way to inquire if they are being used.
Last Status
Almost all vaults reported as active, vaults 5, 8 and 9 have not reported in
The board discussed what changes to make with storage if any - no particular conclusions were reached
Consulting key fob records, it was determined that the members renting these vaults are not frequent users of the space
Carl will draft an email that we can send to these members asking that they consider giving up their vaults
Calendars / Class Signups / Events
Calendars are a challenge, only board members can update the GCal, the groups aren't well suited to signing up for classes, not everyone has access to update the Wiki (or the knowledge about how to do so)
Keith will look in to this
Dan says the next version of Wild Apricot may very well have some help for us
Still pending
Website redesign proposal
Weapons and Firearms at the 'space - do we need clarification on what is acceptable
Last status
A
FAQ should be put out to clarify that it is illegal to manufacture firearms at the space.
-
New Business
I would like to request that the BOD consider a gift of $1,000 to show support for Doors Open Milwaukee, its organizers, and volunteers. I believe that the work they are doing is both relevant and important and Milwaukee Makerspace has benefitted from their efforts. If the BOD feels the $1,000 amount is not feasible, I would like to instead consider either a $500 or $250 donation.
To sweeten the deal, if the BOD agrees to any of the aforementioned amounts, I will personally commit to research, apply for, and purchase a Milwaukee Preservation Commission Historic Property Plaque for our building. The plaque fee will be paid for myself on behalf of the group.
A
FAQ about being declared a historic site can be found here:
http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityHPC/PRESERVATIONTOPICS1.pdf
You can read more about the plaque program here:
http://city.milwaukee.gov/cityclerk/hpc/hpcplaques
Good of the Space
Announcements
Close
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25