Time and Location:

7pm ET Virtual Meeting https://meet.google.com/cih-ehxi-wbc

Call to Order:

Meeting called to order by Jonathan White at 7:05 PM

Consent Agenda

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".

CA1: Appoint Ralph Pugh as CO2 Laser Cutter Co-Steward (Scott Silvers)

Issue: The CO2 Laser Cutters need more consistent maintenance and cleaning.

Solution: Add Ralph Pugh as Co-Steward of CO2 Laser Cutters

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None

Motion: Move to add Ralph Pugh as a CO2 Laser Cutter Co-Steward

Second: Jim Waldron

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

Approval of Prior Minutes

2025-01-29 Meeting of the Board of Directors

Motion: Motion to accept minutes as written (Jonathan White)
Second:  Jim Waldron
Vote: Motion carried by voice vote

Officer Reports

Chairperson:

Thank you to everyone in the organization for your continuing volunteer efforts and standing up some new committees and working groups. 

We're always looking for volunteers to help lead efforts and steer the ship in the right direction.   If you see something not getting done, jump in and do it, or approach a steward or board member for help.

Secretary:

Need more reports from Stewards and Committee Chairs.

Treasurer:

President:

No report

Committee Reports:

Membership Committee (Ken Fuentecilla)

Marketing Committee (Sally Soles)

No report

Website Committee (Vacant)

Leesburg Facility Committee (John Carter)

Purcellville Facility Committee (Dave Painter)

Lots of small maintenance projects around the site getting completed.  Door hinges have been replaced, drains have been cleared in the Lower Building, air compressor has been returned to service. etc.
Held an event with the Scouts to help them with their pinewood derby projects.
Need to develop a recap plan for majority of the equipment as it is all old and parts are getting hard to find.

Scheduling Committee (Jennifer Chu)

Newsletter Committee (Jenna Conn)

No report

IT Committee (Scott Silvers)

NTR

Standing Rules Committee (Jennifer Chu)

NTR; No meeting this month

Finance Committee (Mary Waldron)

NTR: No meetings this month

Unfinished Business

New Business

NB1: Reinstate Grant Committee (Jim Waldron)

Issue: Grant Committee has been inactive and we would like to resurrect activity in the arena.

Solution:   Reinstate the Grant Committee.  The committee will put together resources and procedures to be used to apply for grants and will apply for such suitable compatible grants as can be found.  The Treasurer is on-board to support tracking and reporting.  The committee will also look at donation processes and potentially instate a sub-committee.  The committee will be active on the Slack grant_writing channel, will hold regular meetings, post minutes of those meetings, and report monthly to the board (as required by our Standing Rules).  Where necessary, any procedures will be brought to the Board for review (i.e. approval of submissions, signature of the president or chair).

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None

Motion:  Move to reinstate Grant Committee with members John Carter, Diane Bollinger, Owen Dohtery, Carol Grigg, Mary Waldron, and Jim Waldron – chair.

Second: Scott Silvers

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

NB2: New CNC Plasma Table Steward (Jim Waldron)

Issue: Additional CNC Plasma Table Steward

Solution: New CNC Plasma Table at Purcellville is under repair and we hope to have it operational soon. Ian Schue has been doing the lion's share of the work on replacing the mouse eaten wiring and various other parts to bring this project to fruition.  As a result, he has gained a deep understanding of the machine, its operation, and repair. Name Ian Schue as additional Steward.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status: None

Motion: Move to name Ian Schue as a co-steward for the CNC Plasma Table

Second: Jonathan White

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

NB3:  Purcellville 3D Printing Steward (Jim Waldron for Dave Painter)

Issue: Purcellville could use it's own 3d Printing Steward to manage and maintain the 3D printers at Purcellville

Solution: Appoint Robert Johnson

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move to appoint Robert Johnson as Purcellville 3D Printing Steward.

Second: Jonathan White

Motion to amend: Move to amend the motion to "Move to appoint Robert Johnson as 3D Printing co-steward" (Jonathan White)

Second: Jennifer Chu

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

Amended Motion: Move to appoint Robert Johnson as 3D Printing co-steward

Vote: Amended motion carries by voice vote

NB4:  Sewing Machine Donation (Scott Silvers for Jessee Maloney)

Issue:  Sew Margarbo wants to donate a Janome MC15000, retailing for $13k currently, to Makersmiths.
https://www.janome.com/product/horizon-quilt-maker-memory-craft-15000/

Solution: Accept the donation.   The Sewing, Arts & Crafts (Jessee) would like to take the machine. She has the exact same model at home and can train all the sewing instructors / students on how it works.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move to accept the donation from Sew Margarbo.

Second: Jim Waldron

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

NB5:  Roland LEF2-200 UV Printer Maintenance. (Scott Silvers for Jessee Maloney)

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 tests have been documented and show that it’s getting more out of alignment each week. Only a Roland technician can re-calibrate the machine and the last time it was done was over two years ago.  Per our lease agreement, we are required to use a Roland technician for these types of repairs/maintenance. We are waiting on a quote from Roland and the cost may change. 

Solution: UV printer steward Jessee M. would like $1000 added to the yearly maintenance budget for the UV printer to cover this technician visit and possible others.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move to add $1000 to the UV Printer Maintenance Budget.

Second: Jim Waldron

Motion to Amend: Move to amend the motion to "Move to allocate $1000 from the Equipment Reserve Fund (ERF) to the UV Printer Maintenance Budget. Any funds remaining on 12/31/2025 will be returned to ERF" (Jim Waldron)

Second: Scott Silvers

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

Amended Motion: Move to allocate $1000 from the Equipment Reserve Fund (ERF) to the UV Printer Maintenance Budget. Any funds remaining on 12/31/2025 will be returned to ERF.

Vote: Amended motion carries by voice vote

NB6:  Lower Building Classroom Upgrades (Scott Silvers for John Dubelko)

Issue:  The chairs in the lower building classroom need replacing and only five of the chairs fit below the tables. The chairs are over 7 years old and were donated to Makersmiths used. The lower building classroom is hosting more and more classes, speeding the delamination of the faux leather. Kidwind, Ceramics, Stained Glass, Cricut and other classes are held in the lower building classroom on a weekly basis.

Solution: Buy new chairs and a larger table for the lower building classroom.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move to allocate $1,300 for six chairs in the lower building classroom and one table. The chairs must be purchased by April 30, 2025 and any remaining allocation of funds returned to the general fund. Funds will come from the operations account.

Second: Jonathan White

Vote: Motion fails by voice vote

NB7:  Transfer Funding from Shop Budget to Facility Budget (Jim Waldron for Treasurer)

Issue:  

Now that we have a facility account budget separate from shop budgets then items dealing with the facility is the site steward’s responsibility.  Things like painting walls, flooring, fixing doors, plumbing, electrical wiring, HVAC, furniture and fixtures, shelving, windows are all a part of the facility budget maintenance and repair or a separate budget for facility improvements/enhancement.

However, some stewards included some of these items in their shop maintenance and repair budgets misunderstanding that their 2025 budget now only dealt with equipment and tool maintenance and repair.

Solution: Transfer the funding for these items from the Shop budget to the Facility budget.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:   Move $5,000 from MSP Lower Building classroom to MSP Facility budget.

Second: Jennifer Chu

Motion: Move to postpone until next board meeting to allow discussion with John Dubelko, Steward of the LB Classroom.

Second: Jim Waldron

Vote: Motion to postpone carries by voice vote 

Vote: Postponed

NB8:  Transfer Funds to Appropriate Account (Jim Waldron for Treasurer)

Issue:  Some items in the stewards’ budgets were not correctly placed in the proper account budget.  Some consumables (cleaning supplies) were placed in maintenance and repair budget. Beverages are a snack/beverage account expense and not an individual shop consumable expense.

Solution: Transfer the funds to the proper account.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:   Move to Transfer the funds to the proper account as indicated in the table below. 

Second: Jennifer Chu

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

NB9:  Access Revisions (Jim Waldron for Treasurer)

Issue:  A list of members with access to Makersmiths software/operations was compiled and provided to the Board with recommendations.  The Officers do not know if the recommendations were acted upon and do not have a revised list.  A revised list needs to be available to the Board and Officers and updates to the list provided on a regular basis.

Solution: Update and provide a Quarterly List

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move that a comprehensive list of members that have been assigned as administrators or with access to manage Makersmiths software/operations shall be maintained by the IT Steward and they shall post an updated list quarterly on a secure site with access only to Board Directors and Officers.

Jim Waldron requested to withdraw the motion, which was granted by the Chair.   This will be handled via IT Policy

NB10:  Remove items from online store (Jim Waldron for Treasurer)

 Issue:  All equipment use and consumable fees are in Square.  A few equipment use fees are in the Online Store and are seen by members when they reserve the equipment so that they can pay at the time of reservation.  These Online Store payments go through Stripe.  It appears that these Online Store equipment use fees were added by an administrator or member who had access to the Online Store.  The payment of equipment use fees through both Stripe and Square creates more effort to automate and consolidate financial processes and records.  If all equipment use and consumable fees go through Square then a comprehensive record and analysis can be provided by Square.

Solution: Remove items from online Store

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move that equipment use and consumable fees shall be paid through Square or by cash.  The Board authorizes the Treasurer to remove these fees from the Online Store.

Second: 

Vote: 

Jim Waldron requested to withdraw the motion, which was granted by the Chair.   Website will point to our Square storefront for items.

NB11:  Complimentary Memberships (Bo Wernick)

 Issue:  The ceramics studio has grown significantly since it was re-opened about two years ago. We went from 1 firing per month to 8 per month and over 200 pieces. Without the efforts of Kate Amstutz and Eleanor Corcoran voluntarily running the kiln, this would not be possible.  They put in about 15-20 hours per month each and the ceramics studio would be greatly limited if we had to scale back the firings. We are currently limiting pieces per person but I imagine the volume is going to go way up when it gets warmer out.

Solution: Give complimentary memberships to Kate Amstutz and Eleanor Corcoran.   We are permitted 5 total Complimentary Memberships per our Bylaws, and are not currently using any.

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move to provide Complimentary Memberships to Kate Amstutz and Eleanor Corcoran.

Second: Scott Silvers

Vote:  Motion fails by voice vote

NB12:   Extend the Electronics/Classroom project until the end of April  (Jen Chu)

 Issue: Construction, electronics, and furniture budgets for the Electronics/Classroom buildout were approved at the October 30, 2024 BOD meeting.  Per the approved budget motions, any remaining funds are to be returned to the Operating Budget within 3 months.  Progress has been made in the Electronics/Classroom buildout, but the Electronics/Classroom steward would like more time to use the funds to complete the project.

Solution: Extend the Electronics/Classroom project until the end of April

Relevance to Tax Exempt Status:  None

Motion:  Move to allow the Electronics/Classroom steward to use the approved funds for the Electronics/Classroom buildout through the end of April 2025

Second: Jim Waldron

Vote: Motion carries by voice vote

Open Discussion

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned by Jonathan White at 9:10 PM