Makersmiths Leesburg Lower Classroom and on-line
7pm ET, Virtual Meeting at https://meet.google.com/cih-ehxi-wbc
Meeting called to order by Evin at 7:02 pm.
| Name | Position | Term | |
| Jonathan White | Board Member | 2023-2026 | Y |
| Brad Hess | Board Member | 2025-2028 | Y |
| Jim Waldron | Board Member, Secretary | 2025-2028 | Y |
| Jennifer Chu | Board Member | 2024-2027 | Y |
| Bo Wernick | Board Member | 2024-2027 | Y |
| Evin Grano | Board Member, Chairperson | 2024-2027 | Y |
| Mary Waldron | Treasurer | 2025-2026 | |
| Diane Bollinger | President | 2025-2026 | |
| Christa Stern | Bookkeeper | 2025-2026 | Y |
2025-02-25 Meeting of the Board of Directors
Motion by EVIN to approve prior meeting minutes
Second: Brad
Vote: Passes by Voice Vote
Any Board Member may make a motion in the Consent Agenda. The purpose of the Consent Agenda is to propose motions that have been discussed by Board Members in advance and/or are expected to pass without objection. If the item does not fit this description, it should be proposed in New Business. Discussion of Consent Agenda items should be done via Slack prior to the meeting. Any Board Member present at the meeting may request that an item be moved from the Consent Agenda to New Business. The motions in the Consent Agenda (after any items are moved to New Business) may be passed as a group if there are no objections. Any motion that requests spending $250 or more must include a section on "Relevance to our tax exempt purpose".
Issue: Purcellville Lower Classroom Steward not needed.
Solution: Remove need for Purcellville Lower Classroom Steward.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to Remove need for Purcellville Lower Classroom Steward
Moved to New Business
Issue: The LEF2-200’s white and color heads are out of alignment, resulting in unacceptable results for members who use the white ink print jobs. Alignment test prints have been documented and sent to the Roland Technician for verification. Only a Roland technician can re-calibrate the machine and the last time it was done was over three years ago. Per our lease agreement, we are required to use a Roland technician for these types of repairs/maintenance. This issue was brought to the board in early 2025. The motion was passed, allocating $1000 from the Equipment Reserve Fund (ERF) to cover the cost. Bringing a technician on-site for the maintenance was not scheduled prior to the funds expiration.
Solution: UV printer co-steward Dana E. would like funds to be allocated to the current year’s maintenance budget for the UV printer to cover this technician visit.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to add $500 to budget 62165 MLS UV Printer from the operating budget to supplement the $300 already in the budget to bring out the Roland technician and calibrate the UV Printer.
Consent agenda: Passes by voice vote
Chairperson:
Evin on time crunch until 8pm.
President:
Not in attendance.
Secretary:
Candidates for the upcoming election of Board Directors will be announced at the next member meeting and the election will be opened once the candidates have had a chance to address the membership. 2 positions to fill. So far 1 nomination, Rob D.
Johathan White advises he will run.
Consent in Lieu - one item - Laser upgrade - passed
Inbox
Makersmiths Secretary
Mon, Mar 30, 2:32 PM (16 hours ago)
Jonathan White is asking for Consent in Lieu for a CO2 laser upgrade. This Upgrade will help us avoid damage to the CO2 laser. DIRECTORS, YOU MUST CLICK REPLY T
Makersmiths Secretary
Mon, Mar 30, 2:34 PM (16 hours ago)
Yes
Jonathan White
Mon, Mar 30, 2:36 PM (16 hours ago)
to me, Jennifer, Evin, Brad, Bo
Yes.
Evin Grano
Mon, Mar 30, 2:58 PM (16 hours ago)
to Jonathan, me, Jennifer, Brad, Bo
Evin Grano - YEA
Brad Hess
Mon, Mar 30, 5:21 PM (14 hours ago)
to Evin, Jonathan, me, Jennifer, Bo
YeaSent from my iPhone> On Mar 30, 2026, at 2:58 PM, Evin Grano <evin.grano@makersmiths.org> wrote:
Bo Wernick
Mon, Mar 30, 9:24 PM (10 hours ago)
to Brad, Evin, Jonathan, me, Jennifer
Yes
Jennifer Chu
Mon, Mar 30, 11:50 PM (7 hours ago)
to me, Jonathan, Evin, Brad, Bo
I vote Yea for the laser upgrade.-Jen
On Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 2:32 PM Makersmiths Secretary <secretary@makersmiths.org> wrote:
Jonathan White is asking for Consent in Lieu for a CO2 laser upgrade. This Upgrade will help us avoid damage to the CO2 laser.
DIRECTORS, YOU MUST CLICK REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AND INDICATE IN YOUR REPLY YOUR YEA OR NAY VOTE.
Issue: People are not using/forgetting to turn on the air compressor on the Leesburg Nova 51. Too little pressure leads to burnt out lenses ($65 a piece), dirty nozzles, and the increased potential for fire on the material surface. Too much pressure, caused by setting the regulators too high, can cause issues with the pneumatic air system. There is not enough funds in the Pville budget for 2026 to cover this item, and I want to reserve the existing budget for Leesburg as this item wasn't contemplated in the 2026 budget.
Solution: Increase the CO2 laser budget in both locations to cover purchase of a kit from an Etsy seller (may even be a Thunder Laser employee), endorsed by the Thunder Laser technician JW exchanged emails with, that causes an "Air-assist error" message to appear on the LCD screen if the pressure is not between thresholds we set. The unit is hard wired into the laser (and can be removed without damage later if needed) and without going through complicated programming steps, cannot be overridden. Once the sensor is in place, a shell may be put over the top of the sensor to further restrict anyone from even reaching the buttons to change settings.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to increase the 62126 MSL CO2 Laser Cutter Maintenance Budget and 62230 MSP CO2 Laser Cutter budgets each by $140 to cover the sensor kits, tax and shipping.
Treasurer:
.
Membership Committee (Ken Fuentecilla)
,
Marketing Committee (Vacant)
.
Leesburg Facility Committee (John Carter)
Purcellville Facility Committee (Dave Painter)
Not in attendance
Scheduling Committee (Jennifer Chu)
IT Report
.
Newsletter Committee (Meaghen Flynn - pending)
Newsletter went out April 2nd.
Grant Committee (Jim Waldron)
Nothing to Report
Standing Rules Committee (Jonathan White)
No report received
Finance Committee (Mary Waldron)
No Finance Committee meeting was held. Nothing to Report
Issue: In an emergency injury situation, dialing 911 might prove difficult.
Solution: I'd like to get some parts to build and test an Emergency Call Button prototype. Create an Emergency Call box with a big red button that will text a 911 message to the 911 center (Bryan, our 911 center member, is getting details). Pressing the button will send a text to 911 requesting ambulance assistance at our facility. Box will have a red flashing activation button, and a green heartbeat light. Heartbeat will go solid green on text message accepted. Will use BulkGate SMS service. Not free, but has a charge of only $0.02 per message sent, no recurring subscription. If the 911 center will not accept a text message, this project will not be started. (We'll confirm it's possible first - we believe it is, but we need to check and confirm.) We'll placard the box with the necessary instructions and admonitions (and a note indicating that message delivery is not 'guaranteed' (any emergency notification system always has a chance of failure) and a follow up 911 call should be made if possible.)
This project suggested by Ra Walmsley. If successful, we may want a few for other shops. Cost per unit can be significantly reduced after the prototype stage.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Allocate $100.00 from the Equipment Reserve Fund to wire the new circuit. Funds will be expended by June 30 with any remaining funds returned to the Equipment Reserve Fund.
Second: Erin
Vote: Passes by voice vote, 1 abstention for conflict of interest.
Issue: The California Air Tools compressor attached to the Leesburg NOVA51 laser has a leak that cannot be repaired by Makersmiths members. We may or may not have a warranty claim on the current compressor - this is being looked into now. A temporary compressor is on loan from Chris Chatfield, but is not a permanent solution.
Solution: Investigation of whether or not the existing compressor can be repaired under warranty is underway. CA Air Tools have a lifetime warranty against manufacturer's defects for the initial purchaser and Jonathan White is looking for the receipt and will then contact CA Air Tools. We will first try to get the current compressor repaired under warranty and spend existing maintenance budget, but this will at least incur shipping costs. This request is to allocate enough funds to replace the existing air compressor if it cannot be repaired/replaced under warranty within current budget.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to approve $240, allocated from the Equipment Reserve Budget, to purchase a new compressor for the NOVA51 air compressor (https://a.co/d/0crJ1bbo) in Leesburg, to be spent by 05/30/2026, with any remaining funds to be returned to the Equipment Reserve Budget.
Second: Erin
Vote: Passes by voice vote. 1 abstaintion
Issue: The Leesburg Sewing & Craft Shop needs additional attention after both Jessee Maloney and Mary Waldron stepping down.
Solution:
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move that Amy Copley be appointed Leesburg Sewing & Craft Co-Steward.
Second: Jim
Vote: Passes by Voice Vote.
Issue: Federal Tax Law regulations have changed to indicate that assets of a value less then $2,000.00 do not need to be listed in the Federal Tax Asset list
Solution:
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to change the floor for our Federal Tax Assets to $2,000.00
Second: Erin
Vote: Passes by Voice Vote.
Issue: Purcellville Lower Classroom Steward not needed.
Solution: Remove need for Purcellville Lower Classroom Steward.
Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None
Motion: Move to Remove need for Purcellville Lower Classroom Steward
Second: Jonathan
Vote: Passes by Voice Vote.
Do we want to allow other groups (ie. the Gourd Group) to use our facilities for their regular/irregular meetings ? Do we wish to place any limitations on other organizations ? If we allow this, we will need to have an executable Agreement outlining the terms and conditions for any outside group using our facilities.
Meeting adjourned by xxxx at 0:00
Next Board Meeting will be May 27th