View source for BoardMeeting202402

== Board Meeting: ==

=== Time & Location ===
*Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 4pm 
*Virtually via Big Blue Button

=== Attendees ===
*Board: Issac M, Billy H, Bryan H, Russell P, Sean S, Jondale S, Sue J, Tracy H 
*Members: Joe H, Andrew M, Larry G, Thia J, Rhubarb R, Daryl H, John N, Amos M

===Pre-Board Czar meeting===
**Most recent grant spending went about $200 over but the general fund will cover it rather than make the zone budgets eat it
**Electrical work coming up - we're on the list to be scheduled!

===Meeting minutes===
*Financial Update
**Nothing particularly interesting this month
**Sue's been looking for a CPA to do our 990 this year - getting a full review was too expensive 
*Membership update: 355
**A little down from last month but Tracy is being diligent about culling delinquent members
*Mary Thom is retiring from Spark but unknown when (sometime this year), nor do we know who will be her successor. 
**We want to make sure we have the same good relations with whoever takes over
**Andrew has suggested we consult with a lawyer to make sure we fully understand our status with our sub-lease
*Transforming Western update:
**Issac met with our contact at KCDC and requested a meeting with Issac alone. Topic - pricing
**The initial pricing of 'zero' is not on the table any more 
**Their costs have gone up and funding has not come through like they hope, so the cost to us will be more like $5-6/sq foot
***(about $60k per year, plus utilities)
**They were very regretful that it is turning out this way but Issac did not immediately shut it down
**They will be looking for some type of commitment in the next few months
**In the end, there is no reason for us to say 'no' until they make us say it
**So we will continue to research and look into our options
*Andrew has been tasked to look at what it looks like for us to purchase our own building
**Market, our money and income, interest rates, etc.  
**All this means we can't afford jack squat - by quite a bit - probably years away from finding an appropriate facility
**We should look at some other angles - further outside city limits, different type of building, etc
**What a bummer....
**The locations that Andrew saw that "probably work for us okay" are about 1.5mil
**If we spent $7000 on a mortgage, we'd be at a $900,000 loan (hint: not enough)
**Lets hope that interest rate decreases
*Jondale update on Mayor's Maker Council
**The last meeting was mostly to introduce the new Director of Maker Initiatives - Anne Templeton
*And Maker Experience - we have a corner in the main area where we will have a large workshop tent and some spots for demos and classes
**Knox Makers has 4 people that have submitted
*Scholarship Program
**TCAT is super jazzed about this program
**Next step is the TCAT organizer will bring a group of their instructors to Knox Makers - for a tour and presentation - so they get our vibe
*Maker Market - May 5th - that is soon!
**We have tweaked a few things to make it easier for vendor sign up and pay process but mostly we are ready to go!
*Other maintenance issues?
**We have permission to repair the hole in the fence so if anyone wants to volunteer to do that....
**The koi pond drainage system is broken and draining into the parking lot instead of the drain
**The unhoused population in Knoxville has been increasing so lets be extra vigilant about locking the gate when we are away
*Next Board Meeting:  March 24, 2024 - see you there!



=== Votes ===
*Voted unanimously to hire a CPA to do our 990 and provide accounting support
*Voted unanimously to pre-authorize the expenditure of a lawyer to look over our lease (probably less than $1000 but un-researched at the moment)