Member Meeting Minutes for June 7th, 2023

Called to Order

• The meeting was called to order by Becky Zajdel at 7:35 PM

Attendees

• Becky Zajdel, President
• Brian "Beebo" Esch, Treasurer
• Kirk Hendricks, Secretary
• Lucian Chapar, Director of Operations
• Aaron Voegtle
• Geno Soroka
• Candi Achenbach
• Chris McCann
• Chris Napolitano
• Dan Trafton
• Kiefer Mansfield
• Maggie Miller
• Doug Shipe
• Wilkes Vaughn

New Members

• Candi A. Chad was the first person she met in Pittsburgh, so she has always known about Hack. Came to use the CNC because it can handle a full sheet of plywood.

Quote

"Every time we think we’ve measured our capacity to reach a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that capacity may well be limitless." - Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlett in "The West Wing"

Previous Events

• Thank you to everyone who attended our two shop cleans!

Upcoming Events

https://hackpgh.org/calendar

• Kiefer's MIG Welding class is this Saturday at 11AM
• Chess Club is every Tuesday at 7PM
• Keep Calm and Carry Yarn is this coming Wednesday (June 14th) at 6PM
• Game Night is next Friday (June 16th) at 6:30PM. Becky will be bringing hot crab dip.
• As always, shop tours and tool training (by appointment) takes place every Saturday and Monday evening starting at 7:30 PM.

Organization Updates

• Important News from the Board!
  • Alisa has officially stepped down from the Board of Directors. We thank her for her year (almost exactly!) of hard work, dedication, and many donations to the organization!
  • Even right before COVID, Hack went into a bit of a "survival" mode. We went through periods where we only had one or two Board members, and changes weren't posted (from rules to classes) on the website. It wasn't until this year that we started to grow our bank account a bit, schedule more than one type of class, and host multiple clubs.
  • The Board will be spending summer updating the Bylaws and Constitution and making them more easily accessible on the website.
    • Or goal is to make the rules and generally how HackPGH is run as transparent and democratic as possible.
    • Please remember that board members pay member dues and put in countless volunteer hours to make this place run, so please be patient with us. But if you are interested in joining the Constitution Working Group down the line, please email or PM the Board.
  • On a related note, if you have a genuine concern or if you feel uncomfortable about something at Hack; from an event that occurred to the way things are run, please let us know. You can PM a Board Member with whom you have trust, use the anonymous posting method, or simply email the info account. We are open to feedback. This is YOUR organization.
    • One issue that has been brought to the attention of the Board by several people: we WILL be setting up a more streamlined, concrete rule about donations of items to the shop. We only have a set amount of space. HackPGH is not storage for old/broken tools and scrap parts that remain in the shop unused for months at a time. In the past, if a large (used) tool or machine was donated to the shop, it was approved by the membership beforehand. New machines that replace broken or poorly-performing ones are a bit different. That being said if you donated something and it was approved by the membership and/or the Board, it will NOT be disposed of without your consent. We will be in touch.
• Sad news: We have been informed that our amazingly supportive landlords, Dale and Jeanne McNutt, will be selling the whole building sometime in mid-2024. They are moving to Maine!
  • Although they have potential buyers narrowed down, they haven't chosen our new building manager yet.
  • Unfortunately this does guarantee a rent-increase. We currently pay (regarding building expenses) electric, business internet, rent, and garbage fees. As some of you may know, utility prices have gone up exponentially. Dale has eaten the increased gas prices without ever increasing our rent. The only rent increase EVER (since the expansion to both sides) came in late 2020 when we began paying him $120 for our garbage disposal. We pay $2,120 a month. He is trying to grandfather us into a good lease that won't bankrupt us, but we really have to focus on fundraising, increased memberships, and perhaps even down the line a move.
  • The "six month emergency fund" of $12,500 is no longer a faraway goal, it's a downright bare minimum for our survival. Our goal is to have this in the bank by autumn.
• Tustin Tot Lot
  • Adam Longwill came and worked with a handful of our members during the last two weeks to not only fix the WiFi link between our shop and Tustin, but also for the Womenspace next door. Thank you, Adam!
• Fire safety plan
  • The electrician (Garrett) will be here this coming Saturday to install the four new hard-wired smoke/fire/CO detectors and two wall-mounted air quality detectors. Please give him a wide berth and be safe around the ladder! We will post a reminder in announcements a day or two before.
• Unfortunately, HackPGH did NOT receive the $3,000 grant from the TRCF. Remodeling the (dirty side) bathroom to make it more accessible and generally less gross will always be a goal of ours. We even have some existing match pledges to do this. Contact us if you are interested in working on the bathroom or donating to this cause.
• CLASSES
  • Kiefer has two MIG classes scheduled (one full, another half-booked)
  • Kiefer also has a SMAW/stick class (with two people already signed up!)
  • Spencer has a woodworking class scheduled on the 17th. It has two spaces left so please sign up if you are interested!
  • Geno is planning a mini-piano soldering class.
  • Rob is waiting for supply-side issues before scheduling his mechanical keyboard class.
  • Morgan and Lucian have both expressed interest in doing CAD classes to teach FreeCAD/Fusion360/etc.
  • Maggie wants to teach an animation class using an open-source program like Blender.
  • Wilkes would like to teach a class on the Unreal engine.
  • Mark H. is planning on teaching an electronics class.
  • Tracey Donahue would like to teach ceramics and either fire the projects at home or get our own kiln up and running to use that.
  • Any others? Contact the Board! The most difficult part of planning is coming up with a price components list. The Board will help people write a syllabus, come up with dates, publish it on social media, and more. Remember that the teacher gets 50% of the proceeds of any class!
• CLUBS
  • We have gone over the clubs in the past, but please contact us if you would like to set up a new club or event.
  • Geno's Ukrainian Language Club. Similar to the Russian language meetup, but it will be hosted here at Hack!

Treasurer's Report

• We have $5,890.07 in the bank account, and exactly $1,604.73 in PayPal (totaling $7,494.80).
  • We just paid rent, insurance, utilities, and a handful of annual subscriptions. But compared to last month at this time, we have almost $1k more than we did!
  • We will have details on net profit or losses and a detailed breakdown of May available by the next Members' Meeting.
• We WILL be launching our "Justa Cuppa" fundraiser in the next few weeks. We ask that all members share it with friends, family, and social media. We know that almost everyone is struggling right now, which is why we are not raising dues prices. We simply want to prepare for the upcoming changes we discussed before.
  • Aside from the vacuum donation mechanism on the clean side of the shop, we will NOT post any additional donation collection jars, bins, or other similar items.
  • Remember that all donations, including in-kind donations for tools, consumables, etc, are tax-deductible. Ask a board member if you want a receipt!
• On a positive note, we have reduced the price of Red Bull from $2.50 to $2.00 and Crystal Light packets from $0.50 to $0.25. We MAY even get a Red Bull sponsor, which is insanely cool. But please, PLEASE. Always pay for your consumables!
  • Our payment rate for consumables/laser time/etc has increased from about 20% to the mid 80% range, so thank you all very much!
  • Paypal charges us fees, so if you have a choice, use other methods, like Wild Apricot donation or cash.

Shop Updates

• Metal Shop Revamp
  • Lucian, Ankur, and Z thoroughly cleaned and organized the metal shop area, thank you!
• Garbage stuff
  • We now have TWO locked black bins to ensure that groundhogs and passerbys don't tear up or add to our garbage. Please ensure that you put any food-adjacent garbage in the black bins.
  • Recycling bin has also been cleaned out and fitted with a lock.
    • Combinations to these locks are the same as the lock on the Watson Street door
• Announcements from Dale and Jeanne:
  • The garage door will be painted as well as the Watson Street door. We will keep you apprised on dates and times.
  • We have three metal weatherproof "no dumping signs" that Dale would like installed on the outside building wall near our garbage bin area. We need a volunteer to do this!
• Garage Bay Area Cleanout
  • Similarly, the Garbage Bay is going through a massive re-organization and cleanout.
  • Thank you to Spencer for setting up the successful sale of the bandsaw and the planer! (And to Kirk for getting rid of any mummified rodents therein)
  • We will be contacting members who have stored or donated tools and machines in this area to help us either move, re-organize, re-purpose, or even sell the items that have been in front of the Garage Door Bay for quite some time.
• Air Conditioning install
  • It is hot outside, we are on a 17-day streak with no rain (the record for Pittsburgh is from 1874 with 26 days), and the air quality is poor. We are working to install the A/C ASAP!
  • Kris Kunihiro has been working on this throughout the year, but we will also be consulting the electrician Garrett about getting this in sooner rather than later.
  • The main AC donation funds, membership discussion, and approval from our landlord indicated that both units would be installed on the CLEAN SIDE. The "dirty side" is almost always ten degrees cooler and the garage door can be opened. Another AC unit for the dirty side can be fundraised later.
  • Lots of decisions still need to be made, including the location of the air conditioner units, where the electrical lines will be run, and how to fit everything in with other expansions to the shop like the metal shop three-phase or an electric car charger?
• We have SEVERAL amazing donations to the shop!
  • Wilkes Vaughn has donated an Ender 3 3D printer and encasement. Thank you!
  • Lucian Chapar reached out to his contacts at LDO Motors and convinced them to donate a $1,300 Voron Trident Kit (250mm x 250mm x 250mm build volume). It's a state of the art printer with fast printing speeds, incredible print quality, and a full open source design. This 3D printer will take about 10-20 hours to assemble, so the new 3D Printing Club (WHICH HAS TO DECIDE ON A DATE AND TIME) should have a fun new project to work on! He has also secured a $500 donation from Polymaker for filament.
  • Three brand new machines/tools have been donated to the wood and metal shops:
    • A new HP Wood Lathe with Reversible Head (12 in. x 33-3/8 in. 3/4)
    • A new Work Sharp "Elite Sharpening Machine": all-in-one professional sharpening machine of knives, tools, and anything with an edge. This will be here Friday, June 9th.
    • A new Corded Orbital Sander with Dust Management and several grades of disc sandpaper. This will also arrive on Friday, June 9th.

Project Updates

• Would anyone like to share a completed project?
  • Geno and Kirk visited our "sister" space, Akron Makerspace!
  • Lucian pulled out the BoxYZ from upstairs, which can be used for milling, 3d printing, and laser cutting, and got it working.

Recognition for AWESOMENESS

• Spencer for organizing the sale of our old tools
• Doug Shipe, Wilkes Vaughn, Geno Soroka, and Dean Roth for helping Kirk Hendricks with the Tustin USBs
• Neil Kownacki, Mark Hofmeister, and Beebo Esch for helping Adam Longwill with the Tustin WiFi project
• Mark Gaudio for fixing a ton of things like the soldering irons, desoldering guns, and working on the mill motor
• Matt Dube for weedwacking the ever loving crap out of our parking lot AND for helping arrange the delivery of the donated sharpening machine
• Clarissa Somers for 3D printing toys for Susan and her children next door
• Ankur and Z for helping to clean up the metal shop area
• Kris Kunihiro for steadily working on the A/C
• Lucian and his business partner Stephan from their company Opulo for organizing the generous donation of the 3D printer and filament

Move to Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 PM

Notes by Becky "The Icebox" Zajdel and Kirk Hendricks