Time and Location:

May 26, 2021 at Virtual Meeting - 7:00pm

Call to Order

Meeting called to order at 7:00

Consent Agenda

Newly proposed agenda items appear in the consent agenda. Any member present at the meeting may pull an item out of the consent agenda for discussion, at which point it goes under "New Business". If nobody objects to the solutions presented by the consent agenda, everything in the consent agenda passes by consensus. Items that have more than one proposed solution should be moved to the "New Business" section.Any member may propose an item on the agenda. However, discussion of agenda items should be done via Slack. The cut-off time for addition to or revision of the consent agenda items is 48 hours prior to the meeting. Please note, agenda items (Consent, New, or Old) that request spending $250 or more must include a section on "Relevance to our tax exempt purpose".

CA1: Absorb New Member Orientation Committee into Membership Committee (Scott Newman )

Issue: There is much overlap in the membership and function of the New Member Orientation Committee and the Membership Committee. The members of both committees have agreed to combine them into one committee.

Solution: Absorb the functions of the New Member Orientation Committee into the Membership Committee.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: No impact on tax exempt status

Motion: Transfer the functions of the New Member Orientation Committee to the Membership Committee and disband the New Member Orientation Committee.

Discussion: Scott - easier to combine the two since they are so closely aligned.

CA2: Full Memberships (Scott Newman )

Issue: 

1) Michael Davis is an Associate Member requesting election to Full Membership. Michael writes: "I am currently an associate member and I would like to apply for full membership. I understand the Bylaws and Standing Rules, volunteer expectations, and community spirit of the makerspace and agree to abide by them."

2) Andrew McKinney is an Associate Member requesting election to Full Membership. Andrew writes: 

“Board of Directors,

I would like to request an upgrade to full Makersmiths membership. I believe that I fully understand the Bylaws and Standing rules of the organization, the volunteer expectations, and the community spirit of the organization. I believe that I would make a great addition to the roster of full members. I plan to continue to teach classes in blacksmithing and learn more from others in other parts of the workshop, and hope to assist with other needs that the space has as a volunteer.

Thanks for your consideration,
Andrew McKinney”

Solution: Approve Michael Davis' and Andrew McKinney's request for election to Full Membership.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None.

Motion: Approve election of Michael Davis and Andrew McKinney to Full Membership.

Discussion: Michael spoke briefly about support at Purcellville on electrics.

CA3: Maintenance Budget (David Painter )

Problem: The current $200 per month allowance for building and equipment maintenance is not enough to keep the Purcellville site maintained. 

Solution: Raise the monthly allowance to $500

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: none

Motion: Raise the monthly maintenance allowance for Purcellville to $500 per month.

Discussion: Dave explained the that we need to replace the blades on the planer and jointer.  Also need to purchase additional belts for the sander.  Some other small parts to be replaced.  John asked to clarify that this was through the next budget cycle and Dave agreed.

CA4: Project Reports (David Painter )

Problem: This board has approved expenditures for the Ceramics dept and Framing Shop but is not tracking progress and spending.

Solution: Require monthly progress reports from person in charge of each project.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: none

Motion: Require monthly progress reports from person in charge of each project.

Discussion: Dave wondering if there were updates regarding the expenditures that have been approved.  IT budget in the committee notes.  Need to add the power hammer.  Jonathan suggested adding a section to the agenda for this.  Dave wanted to have visibility of how much was committed, how much has been spent, and the progress of the projects.  Mary confirmed that expenditures are tracked and these could be easily added.  Also need a status update as to where the project is.  Ceramics have been claimed and most frame shop have been claimed.  Plasma cutter and power hammer have been claimed.  Items to track: money allocated, money spent, project status update, next steps, any roadblocks to completion.

CA5: Complimentary Memberships (John Dubelko  )

Problem: Kenzie Green is a prospective new member of Makersmiths that is requesting a Complimentary Membership.  She writes: "I first started using maker technology when I was in elementary school as a member of a FIRST Lego League robotics team. My team competed on the international level, and I began learning Adobe Illustrator and CAD software to design on the Laser Cutter and 3D printer respectively.  In middle school, I learned mig welding and built a recumbent bicycle. I continued growing my passion for laser cutting, and joined TechShop during this time. 

In High School, I helped design and build my school’s maker space, after an alumni donated funds for the space with the only stipulation that the students build it. I was on the Executive Committee of the design team for the space in my freshman year, and became an intern for the space once it was completed. I taught classes on Adobe Illustrator and Laser Cutter Certification to both students and teachers alike. I additionally started my own small business where I shared my laser cut designs. This past winter, I began working as I private tutor for Adobe Illustrator, but have found myself without MakerSpace access for the duration of the pandemic. I did, however, grow interested in Blacksmithing. My passion for both MakerSpace technology and Adobe Illustrator has led me to discover MakerSmiths, where I hope to volunteer as an instructor and grow my knowledge in other types of maker technology.

In the coming months, I hope to teach Adobe Illustrator classes, with a focus on using AI in tandem with the Laser Cutter. The “basics” class would focus on the essentials of AI and how to make sure your design is Laser Cutter ready. More advanced classes would look at design elements such as adapting photos and images into vector graphics and creating text-based graphics. I would also feel comfortable teaching the “intro to Laser Cutter” course as needed.

I would additionally teach workshop style classes, where students would utilize both AI and the Laser Cutter to design and create a final project, an example being decanters for Father’s Day. The workshop classes would (depending on class size and entering knowledge base) probably run about  2-3 hours, whereas the into to AI classes would most likely be 1.5 hours. I currently volunteer as an EMT / Firefighter in Loudoun, and work as a Covid Vaccinator. In my spare time, however, I’d love to volunteer at MakerSmiths! "

Jason Hill would also like to renew his complimentary membership. He is working to get the ceramics program up and running.  Jason plans to offer classes soon and open up the ceramics studio. 

Solution: Grant Kenzie Green and Jason Complimentary Membership for 3 months.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: none

Motion: Approve granting a Complimentary Membership to Kenzie Green and Jason Hill in exchange for teaching classes as outlined above.

Discussion: Some questions about period of complimentary memberships.  Existing two complimentary memberships are either converting to regular membership or dropping off.  The addition of these two people would mean we have two complimentary members.

Vote: Unanimous approval on consent agenda.

Prior minutes

2021-04-28 Meeting of the Board of the Directors - Agenda/Minutes

Vote: All in favor.

Officer Reports:

Chairman:

Everyone has heard about KidWind by now.  In first year, our groups did very well - both junior and high school.  Last year, they went virtual due to COVID which made it harder to complete projects.  They picked back up in 2021 and the program introduced solar power as well as wind.  Our team picked up last year's wind project and started on solar.  One group made an audio cube for the kiosk at Purcellville and another created a sea water powered solution, and a solar powered plant watering system.  The awards were earlier today and the Junior High School Team swept the awards for the competition.  When Diane submitted all of the documents, they submitted to the National Competition instead of VA.  By the end of the day, two of the KidWind team videos were up on the national KidWind site.

Site manager - we currently have Brad in Leesburg and Tom in Purcellville.  Need to find out if they are interested in continuing to serve in those roles.  Dave will talk to them about this.

Board Elections - next week.  Five people running so far.  Bev Murdock, Scott Newman, Ed Gabb, Mike Dewann, Chris Chatfield.  Voting will be setup by Jessee.  All blurbs will be posted so that people can review before voting - likely Friday or Saturday.  Erin is working with Jessee on it.

Secretary: 

Wiki to be locked down

Treasurer:

Financial Statement: 

Member Reports:

Committee Reports:

New Member Orientation Committee (Chairperson Jessee Maloney)

Committee disbanded per Consent Agenda and merged into Membership Committee.  

Website Committee (Chairperson Jessee Maloney)

Jessee has been reporting activity in the Wiki.  Added folders and photos for newsletter.  Added form to submit requests and ideas from the Makersmiths website for members, website and marketing committee.  Members area reorganized on website.  Committee menu was added.  Laser reservations page updated.  2021 board of directors candidates pages added.  Moved YouTube link from under classes to Get To Know Us.  Additional links added for marketing activities.  

May 2021: Website, Design & Maintenance Committee Notes

Membership Committee (Chairperson Scott Newman 

In summary, after adjustments, we have 199 members, and 133 memberships at the end of April.  90.3 FTE memberships preliminary at the end of May.  Committee met to discuss COVID restritctions.  Updated wiki with current members, meeting schedules etc.  Posted open houses in anticipation of COVID restrictions being lifted.  New corporate member, hasn't paid yet.  Octo Consulting in Reston.  They are a sub to Mitre who want to complete drone research.  Using the same space as Mitre.  

Leesburg Facility Committee (Chairperson Brad Hess)

No report for Leesburg other than if anyone wants to put their name in for being the Leesburg Facility Chairperson.  Air conditioning is still down but should have someone to fix tomorrow.  Window air conditioning is keeping up.

Purcellville Facility Committee (Chairperson Tom Hill)

Good news - new sign is almost done and ready to be mounted.  Progress in the ceramics department - Jason is experimenting with glazes.  Expecting to restart classes in June.  Jason is also working on the pug mill that was donated.  Machine has been fired up once and vacuum is not working, expect it is a matter of seals that may have dried out.  

Completed electric upgrades needed in the lower building.  Frame shop wiring is complete.  All outside lights working. Wiring done for air compressor - second one will be installed outside the lower building, primarily for blacksmithing but also for ceramics and frame shop.  Also have new outside power drops for blacksmithing and ceramics end of the building.  Landscaping looking - thanks to Mary for getting plants in the ground around the upper building.  Blacksmithing - lots of classes recently.  Jim building the power hammer.  Small kiln purchased for foundry.  Couple of 1-2-1 lathe classes completed in metal shop.  Next work day is June 5th.  Weed trimming, clean out wood rack, paint doors on lower building, vinyl siding to install, pour two concrete pads at lower building, lot of drywall work to be done in frame shop, then install inside unit for minisplit unit.  Scott and Dave redid the door handle.  Need to install hasp on door next.  Manhole cover receivers moved over for planters.  

Jonathan - may need some help putting up new sign.  Also suggesting we have a class to create signs for outside and inside at Purcellville.  Jim would like some in metal if possible.

Scheduling Committee (Chairperson Diane DeMott Painter) 

Special Projects Committee (Chairperson Mike Werling)

Welding Committee (Chairperson Arthur 'Skip' Smith))

Newsletter Committee (Chairperson @Melissa Kowalski)

No report this month.

IT Committee Chairperson Michael James)

PCs, and Corel Draw have been ordered. Talking with Adobe on the 26th about best options. I worked with my Dell Federal Rep to get 3 brand new Dell OptiPlex 3080 Micro PCs. With Discounts and donations, the Total for all three came out to $1,679.72. The List price would have been $3,467.13 plus tax. They all come with a 3 year warranty. 

Video Committee (Chairperson Adam "Squirrl" McClintock)

No report this month.

Custom Frame Shop Committee (Chairperson user-17f4a) 

No report this month. 

Radio Club Committee (Chairperson Allon Stern )

No report this month.

Marketing Committee (Scott Acting Chair)

Meeting held, actions taken to contact local newspapers.  Working on landing pages for those efforts to track progress.  Complete minutes of the meeting are on the Wiki.  2021-05-16 Marketing Committee Meeting notes.  Need people to execute on those ideas.  Focus on getting members from the committee.  

Old Business:

OB1: Machine Access Controls (James Waldron)

Problem:  We are not currently able to gather machine operating hours or control machine access. Anyone can use any machine whether they have taken Red Tool training or not. This sometimes leads to machine damage and expensive repairs. Lack of usage information means that preventive maintenance is not related to actual machine time, may be overdue, or be performed too often.

Solution: Fit select machines with access controls. Device to allow only authorized users and to log usage information. There are both home grown and commercial options available. Home grown solutions are less expensive but initially have fewer features. Commercial options are more expensive but more fully featured. Integration with our existing systems and data stores are likely easier for home grown solutions, possibly harder for commercial solutions.

Relevance to our tax exempt status:  None

Proposed Motion:  Adopt Machine Controls for Select Machines. Establish a small Machine Control committee to; determine which machines need to be controlled, investigate the current commercial and home grown solutions and select 3, present those to the Board at the February meeting. The Board to select a solution at the February meeting.

Discussion: Jim says he probably has enough parts to build some working prototypes.  Dave - would like to see building a few of these and putting them in place and testing.  We almost had to buy a new tablesaw this week given the Delta organization being onsold multiple times.  This would have been $250 in parts that aren't available anymore.  Jim said it would be made available for Android and iPhone and you would use an app.  It would enable the machine for an hour at a time and sense current that would then extend the machine on time automatically.

Amended Proposed Motion: Establish a small Machine Control committee to test a machine control solution and present the results and proposed costs to the Board at the February meeting. 

Vote: Unanimous in favor.

Follow up on 02-24-2021: Delays due to snow storms but not ready to demo yet.

Follow up on 03-31-2021: Jim showed the prototypes.  Dave suggested we put it on table saw in Pville.  One could be repurposed to make a 3 phase version.  Nothing to vote on at this time.

Follow up on 04-28-2021: Dave suggests putting it one on table saw and one on the miter saw for testing purposes.  Jim will get prototype up and running in the next few weeks.  

Follow up on 05-26-2021: First unit ready to go for beta period.  Has an override button it during trialing.  Need a couple of static IP addresses for Purcellville.  One for table saw and one for mitre saw.  

New Business:

NB1: Membership Levels (Scott Newman )

Issue: 

At the 2021-04-28 Board meeting the Chair asked the Directors to consider changes to membership levels that might coincide with the transition from COVID policies back to “New Normal”.

The Membership Chair met with each Director to determine perspective on Membership levels. In summary, most expressed concern about $100/month being a barrier to entry for new members. 

Leadership Concerns:

Monthly cost: 6/8

Administrative overhead with multiple levels: 2/8 (A single level of membership was desired by several to “simplify administration”. It is the Chair's position that multiple membership levels do not seriously increase administrative overhead and might be beneficial to expand support in the future, so the committee does not see this as a material concern.)

Future Space utilization: 3/8

Member volunteer participation: 3/8

Impact of removing access for Associate Recurring Memberships (ARMs): 3/8

Mentorship: 3/8

Limit revenue impact: 2/8

Solution: 

Proposed Levels:

Individual Membership

Equivalent to current Associate Membership with two changes: 24/7 access, eliminates mentorship mention. 

Household Membership

Equivalent to current Full Membership, with one change: Does not require Board Approval.

Complimentary Membership

One change: Equivalent to Individual membership.

Corporate Membership

No changes

Guest Membership

No current changes, committee discussing potential changes and additional levels of membership for future proposals

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None

Proposed Motion: 

Makersmiths, Inc. adopts to following Membership levels effective June 1:

Guest Membership

-Receives invitations to our events.
-Receives our periodic Newsletters keeping you informed of what's happening here, new projects and events.
-Use of space at invitation of Individual or Household Members.
-Can pay online for classes, workshops, tool time, etc.
-Considered Supporting Member for By-laws purposes

Individual Membership

-All of the Guest Member benefits noted above.
-Special Discounts on classes, workshops, materials and tool use time like discounts on use of laser cutter.
-Permission to bring a (1) guest who shall remain under the control of the Member. The guest is required to have a signed waiver on file. The Member accepts full responsibility for their guests actions.
-Use of all our tools (subject to safety and training requirements)
-Considered Regular Member for By-laws purposes (1 vote per membership)
-Requires minimum 2 volunteer hours per month.
-The Individual Monthly Membership fee is $50 per month

Household Membership

-All of the Guest Member and Individual benefits noted above.
-Occasional additional discounts on classes, workshops, materials and tool use time like discounts on use of laser cutter.
-Permission to bring up to (3) guests who shall remain under the control of the Member. The guest is required to have a signed waiver on file. The Member accepts full responsibility for their guests actions.
-Membership may include adult household members living at the same address, together a "Member" at the discretion of the primary member.
-Considered Regular Member for By-laws purposes (1 vote per membership, cast by the primary member)
-Requires minimum 2 volunteer hours per month.
-The Household Monthly Membership fee is $100 per month

Discussion: Scott Newman, Membership Chair: I believe this addresses the primary concerns raised by managing the monthly cost. If there is an inclination to raise costs I suggest that they be announced now and effective in 2021. As mentioned above the administrative overhead to the levels as proposed are within reason and manageable.  As to future space utilization, I think that is a problem that we should be happy to solve if it becomes one. Member volunteer participation is a historical issue to address and the Membership Committee is talking about potential options to address that, and we are actively trying to form a Volunteer Coordination Committee as a result of our discussions on this topic. This proposal neutralizes concerns about potential impacts on membership retention of removing ARM facility access, Finally, it should have minimal impact on revenue because it doesn't change anything about the status quo so should give little motivation for resignations or level drops, although I acknowledge that predicting the future is tricky business.

Members who have asked for access to go from Associate to Full were either households where 2 or more people wanted to use the space, and where they wanted the laser discount.  Having the space be open for people seems to be the biggest driver for people to join for $50.  Space utilization - would be a good problem to have.  Having a line for machines would be a good problem to have.  Volunteerism - looking to create a committee for volunteering so that we can have shovel ready projects for people to work on at various levels of competence.  Also some ideas being discussed for people who do not fulfill their volunteer hours.  Leaving access for previous "Associates", it might have people drop down to lower level, however that option was not taken up during the last  year while associate members were allowed door access.  There should be minimal impact on revenue.  Renaming from Associate to Individual should clarify that Individual Memberships are Individual Memberships.  

Dave - Check out Jim's spreadsheet.  Dave wanted it to be fiscally neutral and easy to administer.   We have not changed our fees since we started, so every dollar of membership that comes in buys $0.84 of goods versus when the organization began.  

Discussion about expectations, potential impacts on existing full members of changing membership access for both Associate and Full members.  Giving fair warning is important.

Motion: Michael James called vote on Scott's motion. No second to vote at this time.

Moved on to discuss COVID restrictions and future space usage, door access.  All agreed that door access for Associates will be provided  until July 1st.  John will communicate to members that door access for Associates will continue until July 1st, after which they have to become full members in order to continue to have door access.  Members should contact the membership committee chairman to move to full membership so that it can be voted on at the next board meeting.  Needs to be clear that they can be Associate members with no door access and upgrade at any time.  

Motion: John moved that all current Associates are automatically approved for Full membership during the next month.  Brandon seconded.  Unanimously approved.

NB2: Leesburg Woodshop Planer (John Dubelko)

Problem: The planer in the Leesburg woodshop has reached end of life, has many broken parts, and has an unstable base that may have caused it to fall onto the floor. It was co-located.

Solution: I talk with the owner, and he agreed to donate the damaged planer to the space. This settles any liability issues Makersmiths would have had with getting the old planer fixed. Parts have been savaged, and the rest will be disposed of. I purchased a new Dewalt #735 planer and stand. I am asking for reimbursement and transfer of ownership to Makersmiths.  If this motion does not pass then I will co-locating the equipment for one year.  The planer was $571.45 with 10% discount, and the stand was $189.33. The total is $760.78.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: none

Motion: Add $760.78 to the 2021 budget under new equipment, reimburse John Dubelko for the same and Makersmiths accepts ownership of the planer and stand.  

Discussion: John asking the board to update the budget for that amount and reimburse. 

Vote: Unanimous in agreement to reimburse John for the planer.  

Open Discussion

Adjournment

Chairman adjourned at 9:20.