Board of Directors Meeting 20150923

This meeting will be held in Modified SRC3 format.

Time, location

20:00, Dallas Makerspace

YouTube Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVc6XuCgY98

Prior minutes

Board_of_Directors_Meeting_20150823#Minutes

Financial Statement

As of 8/31/2015, our estimated General Funds stands at $7092.96. This is an increase of $13842.47 over the negative balance last month.

Surplus is attributed to conscientious budgeting (good job), sales of donated server equipment (recuperating from the server purchase in July). Also note the Dallas Makerspace received approximately $1100 on September 16th from a variety of donations (spread across General Funds and Maker Fellowship funds).

Current trends in September show continues growth in the General Funds, on par with the growth in August. I am hesitant to release this balance at the moment in fear that it will encourage spending and break the still fragile trend.

I am please to state the current September committee balance for Wood Shop shows a significant portion of their negative balance recuperated (-729/61 as of 09/21/2015).

Treasury advises continued caution, but with a positive feeling to see the balance back in the positive.

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 edit this wiki page and place an item on the agenda. However, discussion of agenda items should be done via the forums. 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".

Negative woodshop committee balance (Brandon Green)

Problem: Woodshop has negative balance, which makes general fund looks bigger than it should (wood is effectively borrowing out of general fund)

Solution:

• Transfer enough money from general fund to woodshop committee to raise them to a $1 balance
• Increase monthly woodshop allocation from 700 to 1000
• Suggest delaying more woodshop spending until after committee funds have grown some from monthly allocation

Appoint Jay Johnson as Digital Media Chair (Kent Bowling)

Problem: Natasha has stepped down as Digital Media Chair and a new chair must be identified for the committee.

Solution: Jay Johnson has offered to chair it after discussing it with various people (including Natasha's first choice of Chuck Graf), and outside of any other objections should be named Digital Media Committee's chair. Digital Media discussed this in a recent meeting: Digital Media Committee Meeting 20150913

Appoint Luke Olson as Laser Committee Chair (William Petefish)

Problem: I will have to take a step down at the end of the month to take care of some personal business. This will make me unable to perform duties as the Laser Committee Chair.

Solution: I have asked Luke Olson if he would be willing to step up and take the job. He has agreed that he would be willing and able to take it as of 9/31/15.

Fund Fall DMS Racing Season, $1,000 (Brandon Green)

Problem: As we prepare DMS's race car for the fall racing season, we will need funds for some improvements that we previously did not have time to do, such as repairing leaking diff, replacing shocks, adding electronics and remote telemetry, replacing fluids, spare wheels, etc. (All other funds and recent $650 from lift class have been spent on tools, gokart project, lift install, lift accessories, safety equipment)

Solution: Allocate $1,000 to auto committee for use on our race car.

Relevance to our tax exempt purpose: Funding the efforts of DMS Racing will allow us to hold classes / build sessions to educate members on mechanics and auto technology and have a successful entry to the next 24 Hours of Lemons event, which will generate a good amount of PR for DMS.

Purchase Software for JUMP Server (Brooks Scharff)

Problem: When we moved to Hyper-V (from Proxmox) for the purpose of hosting our jump server, we lost the ability to forward USB ports to virtual machines. The jump server requires a USB drive to be plugged in for the purpose of licensing FeatureCAM. This effectively rendered FeatureCAM unusable without this. I have installed a trial version of FabulaTech's USB over Network, but the trial is running out and we need to purchase the full version.

Solution: Authorize purchase of 1x USB over Network (1 USB device) software package for a total of $119.96. This includes the 20$ nonprofit discount.

Voting for Committee chairs (Alex Rhodes)

Problem voting for committee chairs varies by committee and can be confusing at times.

Solution Anyone running for a committee chair should email [email protected] with their wish to run.

Committee chairs will be announced at the October (8th) member meeting. We will list people running for the chairs at that meeting. Anyone running for a chair position should be at the meeting to discuss why they are running. They will be given only 2 minutes apiece. If you cannot make the member meeting, email admin a short page with what you want said and a board member will read it for you.

Voting will be done in person and we will allow proxies, no meetings will be held online. Meeting must be between October 8th and the October board meeting. If you cannot make the meeting please find a proxy. All members in good standing are able to vote, no need to be on a wiki list. It is suggested that committee voting meetings should be added to the calendar by October 3rd to allow people to schedule for them.

New Business

Grow savings fund (Brandon Green)

Problem: Not enough in savings to cover even 1 month of expenses

Solution: Setup a monthly recurring transfer of $5,000 from general fund to savings fund, until we have at least $60,000 in savings (will take 8 months)

Relevance to our tax exempt purpose: Not going broke due to unforeseen expenses will allow DMS to continue to exist

Create a moving/relocation fund (Walter Anderson)

Problem: We need to plan for upcoming move/relocation expenses.

Solution: Setup a monthly recurring transfer of $2000 from general fund to a moving expense fund. No cap, since we will regularly have to move until we purchase a permanent location. Further, the previously proposed savings fund should only be used to cover emergency, and hence unepected, needs. Any predictable expense should be financed properly.

Relevance to our tax exempt purpose: The financial stability and our ability to deal with predictable expenses are a vital part of all of our purposes.

South workshop committee locations (Brandon Green)

Problem: Committee positions were shuffled during the south workshop reorganization

Solution: Ratify the committee locations / footprint based on current taped boundaries as the accepted committee locations

Raise monthly membership dues 30%, cut honorarium spending (Brandon Green)

Problem: Costs are growing faster than funds, we need to be able to afford employee and saving for future growth. Any change to new member fees will take many months to make an impact.

Solution: (Consider all possible options)

• Remove committee part of honorarium, instead of 50 to person and 50 to committee, have only the 50 to person with that money optionally going to committee. (cuts $5,000+ / month honorarium spending in half)
• Remove directors fund, has potential of saving up to 1000 / month
• Increase regular member rate from $50 to $65 (all existing active memberships grandfathered at previous rate)
• Increase family member rate from $10 to $20 (all existing active memberships grandfathered at previous rate)

Personal storage box fee (Brandon Green)

Problem: All 168 available personal storage box slots are filled, leaving no room for new members despite the rules mentioning everyone gets a box. There is not enough room in the galley to implement parks pantry solution. We need more floor space in galley.

Solution:

• Create an add on fee of $15 / month for having a personal storage box, will potentially raise $1,000 / month in additional revenue
• Give a two week grace period where members can either sign up for extra fee, remove their box, or request someone move their box to project storage if they need a couple more weeks
• At end of two week period, throw away all boxes whose owners took no action
• Remove two of the personal storage shelves from the galley(going from 6 to 4), downsizing to max of 112 boxes instead of 168 boxes

Parks Pantry Service (Brandon Green & Brooks Scharff)

Problem: Keeping galley stocked takes a lot of volunteer effort, we can't afford improvements like a fridge.

Solution: Sign up for Parks Pantry service that Robert has been looking into, and transfer responsibility of snacks and drinks to Robert Davidson, from Logistics. Additionally, zero-out and dissolve the Snack Fund (future deposits from the current snack fund cycle can be deposited into the General Fund).

Excessive Fees and Rules (Stan Simmons)

Problem: Some new class fees, and other fees implemented and suggested are excessive. Some new rules on equipment seem to be designed to force members into having to pay these fees. Specifically, the mandatory class fee of $50 for the lift, coupled with the rule of only lifting your own vehicle, seems like a money grab by the automotive committee. It appears to be designed to prevent "fly by" memberships and to extract money from the membership that might need to use the lift.

It is the ONLY piece of equipment that does not allow a member to help another member.

• 3D Fab has free mandatory classes, only charges for using DMS materials, and members can print for other members.
• Laser has free mandatory classes, only charges for laser time to pay for replacing consumables, and members can cut for other members.
• The CNC HAAS mill has a $75 mandatory class, and the fee goes towards new tooling on the mill, which wears out over time and accidents, members can mill for other members.
• The CNC Router has a $50 mandatory class, which goes towards tooling for the router, members can route for other members.

If the lift was expected to have ongoing maintenance costs, I could see a fee; if the lift needed regular replacement of parts, I could see a fee... neither of these is true.

Due to lease and/or insurance reasons we are not allowed to do commercial automotive work at DMS. We already have a rule against doing commercial auto work at the space, having the "only your car" rule on the lift is redundant and excessive. Running another members car up the lift is hardly "commercial automotive work".

Brandon, and others are also advocating raising membership dues, creating new fees for personal storage boxes, and cutting committee honorariums (thus increasing the need for committee fees). Before we look at increasing fees, we need to look at where our money is going and how to properly manage that.

Solution:

• Think about being excellent to other members who may not be able to afford extra fees
• Don't put a mandatory fee on equipment that will not regularly need replacement parts
• Don't create rules that have their primary reason for being to separate members from their money
• Think about the appearance of fees and rules
• Don't be TechShop

Fundraiser for FLIR ONE for Android Thermal Camera (Richard Alexander)

Problem: Science, along with several other committees, could use thermal imaging diagnostic equipment, but none currently is available. Thermal imaging allows the visualization of relative temperatures of materials. This is useful for finding hot spots in electronics or biological tissue. Quite often, these hot spots represent points of failure or disease. Other times, components that have failed operation will be cold, when they should be warm. Other applications include finding leaks in insulation or clogs in clogged pipes.

Solution: Allocate matching funds for a fund raiser to purchase a FLIR ONE for Android. The advertised price is $249.99 with availability expected in late October (a FLIR rep just told me that they have already begun shipping pre-orders; if we order today, we could expect to receive it in three to five weeks). Surplus funds could be used to purchase accessory items, such as a case, battery and extended warranty. The FLIR ONE is an entry-level tool, intended mostly for domestic use. Although it does not have the thermal and spatial range of professional units, it is intended to provide basic thermal imaging in non-critical applications at a small fraction of the price of professional units. Science Committee is working with a FLIR salesman to obtain a FLIR C2 in exchange for providing lesson plans. Additionally, Science Committee is investigating additional cameras, software and accessories that would be beneficial to the community. This additional equipment would need to be purchased through fundraisers, with the proposal of matching funds from the Board. These funds would be dedicated specifically for obtaining a thermal imaging camera of equal or greater capability than the FLIR C2, as well as analysis software, accessory equipment and training material. Some example cameras would include:

Flir C2 Pocket Portable ...................... - $699.00
Flir Model i5 ....................................... - $799.00
Flir E4-B ........................................... - $850.00
Flir EX ............................................. - $995.00

Flir i3 ..................................................... -$1,195.00
FLuke TiS55 30hz .................................. -$1,199.00
Fluke TiS10 9hz ...................................... -$1,199.00
Flir E5 ..................................................... -$1,495.00
Flir i7 ....................................................... -$1,495.00
Extech i5 AC118 ..................................... -$1,595.00
Testo 870-1 ............................................. -$1,695.00
Ideal 61-844 Heat Seeker ....................... -$1,876.00
HT Instruments THT47 ........................... -$1,995.00
Fluke FLK-TIS 9hz tis ............................ -$1,999.95
General Tools GTi10 "Predator" ............. -$1,999.99
FLir(tacticool) 4127617 "security Cam" ..-$2,082.00
General Tools GTi50 THerm/Vis Hi-res . -$2,199.00
Fluke TI100 9hz ................................. -$2,450.00
Milwaukee 2260-21 M12 160x120 ........ -$2,575.00
Testo 875i-1 vis integrated .................... -$2,606.00
SKF TKTI 21 ........................................ -$2,638.00

FLIR E30 w/visual augmentation ............ -$3,334.00
Wahl Z150 Building / Industrial THerm ... -$3,356.00
FLuke FLK-TIS45 ................................... -$3,850.00
Testo 875i-2 w/vis-cam augmentation ..... -$3,866.00
Flir e60-EDU
Exx
E40 ..................................................... -$4,000.00

Fluke TiS0 9hz ....................................... -$4,000.00
FLIR k45 ................................................ -$4,195.00
E40-kit with MSX Enhancement ..........-$4,240.00
E40bx-kit ............................................ -$4,240.00
Argus TT169A TT 50Deg FOV 9hz .......... -$4,450.00
Fluke TI110 30hz Industrial ...................... -$4,500.00
TiR110 9hz .......................................... -$4,500.00
TiS55 30hz Industrial/Commercial
FLIR E40bxKit .......................................-$4,640.00
64501-0101-kitnist E-series ................ -$4,640.00
Argus PY320 -4F to 302F ....................... -$4,680.00
Testo 875i-2 Deluxe ................................. -$4,950.00
FLIR E40SC (64501-0114) ................... -$4,995.00
Fluke Ti25 Industrial -4 to 662F ....... -$5,400.00
Fluke Ti125 Commercial -4 to 482F .... -$5,500.00

https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/any-interest-in-a-thermal-imaging-camera/5097/43

Relevance to our tax exempt purpose: Just about any thermal imaging camera would enhance the diagnostic and educational capabilities of DMS, but FLIR has programs in place to encourage app development education. So, the FLIR ONE would promote the purpose of DMS not only by the educational and practical uses of the device itself, but also by the community hacking the device under FLIR auspices.

http://developer.flir.com/?_ga=1.132239944.717301116.1441609179
http://www.flir.com/science/display/?id=66558
http://flir.com/science/display/?id=68388

Specific Use Cases

Electronic Circuit Board Diagnostics
Many electronic circuit boards contain several components and traces in a small area. Occasionally, one of these components will malfunction, but, inasmuch as they have no moving parts and defective units often look the same as functional units, troubleshooting is a tedious process of hunting down electrical signals. However, defective parts often change temperature when compared against normal operation. Thermal imaging often can show quickly which components are defective, either too hot or too cold.

Insulation Assessment
Insulation reduces the flow of heat across boundaries, so thermal imaging can reveal where insulation is failing to block heat flow, either in buildings, cars or appliances.

Parts Wear
When parts rub against each other, they generate heat. Thermal imagining can reveal when, for example, brake pads are rubbing against a brake disk, or a spinning shaft is rubbing against an obstruction. Thermal imaging sometimes can reveal when bearings are experiencing excessive wear as they spin; excessive friction in the bearing shows as heat.

Locating Uneven Heating
Thermal imaging shows heat gradients in 0.2 degree increments or finer, allowing the visualization of the rate of heating across an object. This could show when a heated bed is defective, as from a crack or broken circuit.

Gas Composition Analysis
Some thermal imaging systems can identify or track gases from their infrared signature.

Several other use cases have been suggested on the Talk forum, and even more are likely to be discovered through familiarity with thermal imaging.

Recuperate Logistics Funds (Benjamin Groves)

Problem: Logistics is responsible with the fundamental operations and procurement of such for the Dallas Makerspace. While Allen Wan manages this effort with integrity and efficiency, their balance stands at -$1,563.21 as of 9/21/2015 (was -$1,440.90 as of 8/31/2015). Some of this deficit can be attributed to leaking ac units and preparation of the space for the September Open House.

Solution: Allocate one-time $2000 to Logistics Committee from General Funds. This alleviates the burden of deficit from Allan Wan. Do not increase monthly allocation to Logistics until a deeper spending pattern can be established. Worst case, this one-time allocation staves off a significant debt in Logistics Committee for a few months.

Starving Hacker Modifications (Brooks Scharff)

Problem: Starving Hacker memberships are currently approved very liberally (per the rules), but we do not have anything in place to verify their student status on a recurring basis. Due to this, it is possible that someone who has graduated from college (who had joined under the starving hacker membership) is still taking advantage of the Starving Hacker pricing. While this is likely not a large problem, we should establish a few additional rules governing Starving Hacker memberships as we continue to grow.

Solution: Amend to the rules that any NEW Starving Hacker memberships expire every 3 billing cycles (WHMCS has a built-in option for this). Members will be required to re-request the starving hacker rate every 3 billing cycles (starving hacker can only be paid for on a monthly basis, so it would effectively be three months). Students will be required to provide proof of enrollment provided by their educational establishment. If a member is retired, they can gain approval from a single board member and their billing account can be changed such that they do not have to have to re-join every three billing cycles.

Return $1500 to Laser Committee (Frank Lima)

Problem: During the last meeting $1500 from the Laser Committee was allocated to purchase parts for the workstation in Digital Media. During the meeting this was talked about as though the Board was "borrowing" $1500 from Laser.

Solution: Transfer $1500 from Digital media fund back to Laser Committee

Relevance to our tax exempt purpose: It important for us as an organization to ensure that each committee is able to operate properly and with complete trust and faith in the Board.

Minutes

Dallas Makerspace Board of Directors Meeting notes : September 23nd, 2015

In attendance:
- Alex Rhodes
- Kent Bowling
- Benjamin Groves
- Andrew LeCody
- Robert Davidson


Meeting called to order at 8:00pm


*** Prior Minutes ***
- Prior Minutes Pass


*** Financial Statement ***
As of 8/31/2015, our estimated General Funds stands at $7092.96. This is an increase of $13842.47 over the negative balance last month.


*** Consent Agenda ***
This item passed with unanimous consent:
- Purchase Software for JUMP Server (Brooks Scharff)


*** Pulled Consent Agenda Items ***
Negative woodshop committee balance (Brandon Green)
- Dropped with unanimous consent of the board

Appoint Jay Johnson as Digital Media Chair (Kent Bowling)
- Action Item : Check on Adobe Licensing for installation on Jump Server
- Proposed as written by Andrew LeCody, seconded by Robert Davidson
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Appoint Luke Olson as Laser Committee Chair (William Petefish)
- Include Lisa Self as Co-Chair with both Luke and Lisa able to purchases on behalf of the committees
- Proposed by Andrew LeCody, seconded by Robert Davidson
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Fund Fall DMS Racing Season, $1,000 (Brandon Green)
- Proposed as written by Robert Davidson, seconded by Benjamin Groves
  - Motion passes with 4 approvals and 1 against

Voting for Committee chairs (Alex Rhodes)
- Proposed as written by Alex Rhodes, seconded by Andrew LeCody
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board


*** New Business ***
Grow savings fund (Brandon Green)
- Set up dedicated fund for savings accural and establish an automated payment of $2000 per month into this accrual fund
- Periodically these funds will get transferred into our dedicated savings fund
- Proposed by Benjamin Groves, seconded by Andrew LeCody
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Create a moving/relocation fund (Walter Anderson)
- Dropped with unanimous consent of the board

South workshop committee locations (Brandon Green)
- Proposed as written by Andrew LeCody, seconded by Alex Rhodes
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Raise monthly membership dues 30%, cut honorarium spending (Brandon Green)
- Dropped with unanimous consent of the board

Parks Pantry Service (Brandon Green & Brooks Scharff)
- Accept Parks Pantry service, naturally dissolve current inventory while transitioning
- Post sign to designate the upcoming change of service
- Robert Davidson is authorized to sign a contract with Parks Pantry / ProStar Services
- Proposed by Robert Davidson, seconded by Andrew LeCody
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Personal storage box fee (Brandon Green)
- Move Personal Storage to open space in the workshop
- Remove rule 5.5 from the Dallas Makerspace rules (induvidual storage)
- Proposed by Robert Davidson, seconded by Andrew LeCody
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Excessive Fees and Rules (Stan Simmons)
- Dropped with unanimous consent of the board

Fundraiser for Thermal Camera (Richard Alexander)
- Dropped with unanimous consent of the board

Recuperate Logistics Funds (Benjamin Groves)
- As written, also but increase monthly allocation for Logistics to $750 per month
- Proposed by Benjamin Groves, seconded by Robert Davidson
  - Motion passes with 4 approvals and 1 against

Starving Hacker Modifications (Brooks Scharff)
- Replace requirments for starving rate with the following wording: "This rate is for members who qualify under one of these three categories: currently in school, unemployed, or retired. Please see [email protected] to find out if you qualify. Eligible for voting rights after 3 months, see Voting Rights.
- Proposed by Andrew LeCody, seconded by Robert Davidson
  - Passed with unanimous Approval by the Board

Return $1500 to Laser Committee (Frank Lima)
- Dropped with unanimous consent of the board


Next Board Meeting Scheduled on October 17th at 11:00am

Meeting adjourned at 12:00am

August, 2015 Budget Report

Best Estimates for General Funds as of 8/31/2015 is $7092.96
This is the Committee Funds as of August 31st:

        3D Fabrication Committee                          584.46
        3D Printer Operations                           2,562.82
        Amateur Radio Committee                           456.66
        Authorized Spending Fund                          307.83
        Automotive Committee                              563.93
        Blacksmithing Committee                         1,105.34
        Classroom Committee                             1,595.60
        Creative Arts Committee                         3,214.63
        Digital Media Committee                         1,742.92
        Electronics & Robotics Committee                1,256.37
        Foundry Committee                                 886.31
        FUND_Adobe CC License                              14.00
        FUND_Cintas 1st Aid Maintenance                   173.86
        FUND_Delta 3d Printer                              72.70
        FUND_MultiCam CNC Router                         -543.41
        FUND_Offsite Storage                              165.69
        FUND_Premium Class                                350.96
        Infrastructure                                    -11.59
        Laser Committee                                 8,071.22
        Logistics                                      -1,440.99
        Machine Shop Committee                            350.57
        Maker Fellowship Fund                             679.15
        Metal Shop Committee                              185.64
        PR Committee                                      876.56
        Radio Control Committee                           645.03
        Savings Fund                                   20,004.77
        Science Committee                                 737.85
        Screen Printing Operations Fund                   555.39
        Snack Fund                                       -199.02
        Treasury                                        3,041.68
        VECTOR Committee                                  176.00
        Vinyl Cutter Fund                                  83.22
        Wood Shop Committee                            -2,143.28

Approved Purchase Tracking

Below is a condensed list of purchasing decisions made by the Board of Directors (above), and the status of these action items.

[✓]Authorize purchase of 1x USB over Network (1 USB device) software package for a total of $119.96
[✓]Fund Fall DMS Racing Season, $1,000 [TID#1477]
[✓]Set up dedicated fund for savings accrual and establish an automated payment of $2000 per month into this accrual fund [TID#1476]
[✓]Allocate one-time $2000 to Logistics Committee from General Funds [TID#1478]
[✓]Increase monthly allocation for Logistics to $750 per month